Reminder: Chess is Fun!!
Ok, chess has lots of interesting things to it, but for me the most fun has always been to really go for it, and score a knockout. It doesn't happen all the time, but honestly, all those other games where I grind away for 60 moves to win or lose a pawn... are just part of the waiting process for the slugfests. Today I did not have a chance to work on any of my goals, but I had a blast!
Also of note: this morning, my coach sent me an email: a chess poem. Although we only have a few free minutes in the morning between shower, breakfast and dressing and the commute, I felt I wanted to call him and thank him quickly on the phone. We had not spoken in a bit, but he'd been reading my blogs and approved of what I'm trying to do right now with my chess, which meant so much to me. It was really encouraging; I felt so good because of that.
In other tournament news, Kayden won again, with black, against an IM! He was up a piece after about 12 or 13 moves; looked like a really easy game for him. So now he has 3.5/4, about half-way to his first norm. Hopefully he's not thinking about that too much, because he has to keep his present form all the way through round 8 or 9 probably to make it. He still has a bunch of tough games ahead of him, but right now he's looking so good, it's really awesome and exciting for those of us who know him!
Finally, I think there have only been 2 draws so far through 4 rounds, with one game still being played (atoufi-banawa, for the first time, Kostya's game was not the last to finish).
Peace!
