MY TIME at SAN QUENTIN PRISON in California . . . (MEMOIR)

They didn't have cell phones yet in those days. . .DENVER

They were all dial up type. . . 

I still have one in my home kitchen . . .

Denver

You should write an Autobiography. 

I have written several hundred memoirs but don't know how to post them. . . .

DENVER

Sir DENVERHIGH the story was amazing. 

@  abhinav0121

Thanks for the read an commenting . . .

இதுவும் கடந்து போகும்.

NO RELIGIOUS OR GOD ALLOWED TO BE POSTED . . . PER ERik

I think he wrote, "even this will pass.." in Tamil, which is widely spoken in southern parts of India. I believe he was replying to your post #68. He did not mention any Gods or religion. 

Thanks for your version . . . I got a different version from Google translations . . .

Now Corona Vrus-19 has hit San Quentin and no way can they play chess vs outside chess clubs . . .

They are going to release many non violent convicts with only 90 days left . . .

Two were executed last week in one of the states that retained the death penalty . . .

Hey let's get back to the focus of this post "Going to San Quentin to Play Chess!" . . .

A very good read, thanks.

Regarding convicts some are fighting the fires here in my Sonoma County and after the might get their records expunged and can become hired as fire fighters for the State of California . . .

Tthe aren't forced to do this they have to volunteer . . .

Hey San Quentin prison is letting half of the prisoners transferred because

28 have died because of the virus . . .

So some of the chess players might be gone also. . .

The transfer will be those with lessor convictions and have served at least 25 years of their sentences . . . There will be other restrictions . . .

They are only allowed to keep 1750 prisoners . . .

Good story and I enjoyed reading it. If I add up all the time I did in Los Angeles County Jail, it adds up to about 1.5 years. I played chess for fun and wasn't serious about the game. But I started to get tired of losing to the same more skilled players. During a longer stint maybe six or nine months, I was transferred to Wayside and in many of the dorms, four games would be going at the same time. Some of the "boards" were hand-drawn pencil lines and squares on the steel tables for eating. 

I could beat the newbie players but continued to lose to the same three or four better players. Then one day I was looking at books in the library and I spotted a book called, "How to Open a Chess Game." I think that was the title and it was a thin, well-worn, soft cover book, maybe 100 pages max. 

When I got back to the dorm I excitedly and surreptitiously started reading the book. I had no idea how to properly open a chess game and most of the time reverted to a formation of pawns that looked like an upside-down  V which I thought was smart because the pawns were all protected by the pawn behind them one space below, and one space to the right or left. 

I was trying to keep my studying private and I didn't want any of the chess players to see me studying the book. I'm not sure exactly why that was important to me at the time, but I think it had something to do with surprising them with my newfound skills, if in fact, the book delivered that power. 

I memorized the one I wanted to use and wrote down the moves on a small piece of paper and had it in the pocket of my LA County medium blue shirt. I got into my first game and played every move exactly like the book taught until about six moves in or so, then I had to adjust to threats and opportunities to take pieces. I won the first game with the new opening. II won the second game, but both of the opponents in those first two games were newbies.

My third opponent for the evening was a guy named Carlton and he was a really smart but somewhat cocky and arrogant Black dude. He was one of the players I could never beat. We said hello and made the usual jail small talk and I proceeded to develop my opener with ease He seemed to be focused on developing and getting his own opening setup in place that I don't think he noticed I had not made an upside down V this time. 

I started winning his pieces by my pieces being in the right place when opportunities emerged. My pieces all seemed to work together! They cooperated and coordinated well when attacking, and they had each other's back to fend off attackers. 

I figured that this is one of the benefits of having a solid opening position. I beat Carlton fairly easily and he said, "Hey, good game. I think your game is getting a lot stronger." 

I said, "Thanks, I've been spying on your games," and grinned. 

I won all four games that first night and I was excited to see what would happen tomorrow night. The next night I won all five of my games including matches with Carlton and another player I had trouble beating, a big tall Native American guy we called Wolf. 

I continued my winning streak for four nights then lost a game to a low-intermediate player. Overall, I became known as the toughest player in the dorm and it was all due using a proven opener. 

Which makes me wonder, now that I have joined Chess.com a little over a month ago, why am I having so much trouble learning a good opening? I've been trying to learn the Queen's Gambit both declined and accepted. I was trying to use Evan's Gambit for more aggressive play in the opening. But I often get confused and my opening setup looks like a mess and hinders my play. It is due to having to react to my opponent's play. 

I'm having fun learning the game and I am taking it a little more seriously and I'm actually studying the game using the resources on Chess.com, YouTube, and I want to find a good Chess Coach who doesn't charge high rates. If you know any good coaches or if you are a coach and you charge a reasonable fee, please shoot me a message. 

Reid (current ranking 973, goal to get to 1,400 by year-end, about 1.5 hours to two hours a day to play and study)

I forgot to put this in earlier in the post but I am a songwriter and wrote a song about my LA County Jail experience. If you'd like to hear it:  https://soundcloud.com/reidmoto/stuck-in-county

I went to the link of the song, very nice . . .

Nice post narration of your opening adventure . . .

You should get a book on endings because the endings never change . . .

Openings come and go as well the variations . . .

This is the book i suggest . . .

Buy it used try thrifty books on line . . .

Hey Denver, nice! Thank you for taking a listen to the song. I don't have any books on endings yet, but something I read yesterday said it would be wise to study opening, middle-game, and end-game strategies simultaneously. This is contrary to what I was doing because it seemed logical to start with each phase in order as I progress. 

I saw your ranking and you had hit 1,700+ six years ago I think. AMAZING! If you would be willing to do a little coaching, nothing too serious or time-consuming. For example, maybe we could play a game sometime and you can just give me some feedback after the game. I'd be willing to pay you for your help. 

Best, 

Reid

This post has nothing to do with murder . . .