On Holiday

It's the weekend, so it doesn't really feel like it yet, but thus begins my vacation. Holiday, some might say. I had decided that I would take a walk every morning when I got out of bed during my vacation, and so far I'm 1 for 1. It wasn't a long walk this morning, maybe 30-35 minutes, but it's a start. I slept a little late and had a busy morning, so it was the best I could do. I left my house at around 8:15, and I had a chess game scheduled at 9.

Speaking of that chess game. Wow. I hate to accuse people of such things, but I think my opponent was cheating. It's part of the reason why Sean stopped playing in the "teamchess" league. I had stopped as well, but was asked this season to play on a team, so I agreed. Why do I think that my opponent cheated? I think that because we were both playing a little quicker than we should have. When that happens, there are bound to be some mistakes. We're just not that good. So after the game I had Fritz 9 analyse it as I left to go bowling. When I got back a few hours to check out the analysis, I was a bit surprised. It had plenty of advice for me... and for the first 3/4 of the game, none for my opponent. He was playing solid until he had a winning position. Hmm... What are the odds?

Here is the game with the fritz analysis:

[Event "ICC 45 45"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.03.25"]
[Round "?"]
[White "EdBorowski"]
[Black "rjml"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "2027"]
[BlackElo "1988"]
[Annotator "Fritz 9 (60s)"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]

{A46: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6: Torre, London and Colle Systems} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6
3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 b6 5. e3 Bb7 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. Bd3 d6 8. Qe2 Nh5 9. Bg3 Nd7 {
last book move} 10. e4 a6 {Consolidates b5} 11. Nc4 Nxg3 12. hxg3 {
Black has the pair of bishops} b5 {Black threatens to win material: b5xc4} 13.
Ncd2 Qc7 14. a4 bxa4 15. Rxa4 cxd4 16. Nxd4 {White has new hanging pawns: b2äc3
} Nc5 {Black threatens to win material: Nc5xa4} 17. Ra2 (17. Ra1 $5 $15 {
is worth consideration}) 17... Nxd3+ $17 18. Qxd3 d5 19. O-O dxe4 20. Nxe4 O-O
21. Rfa1 Rfd8 22. Qe2 Qe5 23. Re1 $2 (23. f3 $142 $5 $17) 23... Qd5 $19 24.
Raa1 (24. b4 f5 25. Ra5 Qxe4 $19) 24... f5 25. f3 (25. Nxe6 Qxe6 26. Nf6+ Qxf6
27. Qxe7 $19) 25... fxe4 26. fxe4 Qc5 (26... Qe5 {might be the shorter path}
27. Kh2 Rf8 28. b4 Bxb4 29. Qc4 $19) 27. Kh2 (27. e5 {does not improve anything
} a5 $19) 27... Rd6 (27... Qg5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 28. Qe3 Qg6 29. Ra5
$19) 28. Qg4 (28. e5 {does not help much} Rb6 $19) 28... Rb6 29. Nxe6 (29. Re2
$19 {no good, but what else?}) 29... Qe5 30. Nd4 (30. Nf4 {is the last straw}
Rf8 31. Qe2 $19) 30... Rg6 31. Qf3 (31. Qh3 {what else?} Rh6 32. Qxh6 gxh6 33.
Nf5 $19) 31... Rf8 32. Qe3 Bd6 33. Nf5 Rxf5 34. exf5 (34. Qf3 {
cannot undo what has already been done} Rxf3 35. Kh1 Rh6+ 36. Kg1 Bc5+ 37. Re3
Bxe3#) 34... Rh6+ 35. Qxh6 (35. Kg1 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} Bc5 36.
Qd4 Bxd4+ 37. cxd4 Qxd4+ 38. Kf1 Rh1+ 39. Ke2 Rh2 40. Rg1 Bxg2 41. Raf1 Bxf1+
42. Ke1 Qe3+ 43. Kxf1 Rf2#) 35... Qxg3+ (35... Qxg3+ 36. Kh1 Qxg2#) (35... gxh6
{is not possible} 36. Rxe5 Bxe5 37. Re1 $14) 0-1

So I sent a message to speedtrap on the ICC to report it. It could be nothing, but it made me feel better about myself ;).

After the game I went bowling. I love bowling! My new bowling shoes came in yesterday so I was pretty excited about being able to wear them today. I know, lame. They have a good slide to them too. I did a few "test" slides on the approach before throwing my first ball. It took a little getting used to. A few times at the foul line when releasing my ball Adam and Dave got to see me do a little dance. The shoes felt a little loose when I first put them on, so Dave suggested that I tighten the laces. Interesting advice. It worked great!

and we bowled...

I took pictures but they aren't making it into this post. I tried. I'll have to put some up later. For now, here are the scores:

Game 1:
Dave 119
Ed 190
Adam 202

hmm... and apparently someone named Becky bowling down on Lane 2 bowled a 97. Dave was using one of his older rubber balls because he had it drilled fingertip and wanted to try it out. It's drilled dead center, so it's not going to get any natural hook. But if he likes it, maybe next time.

Game 2:
Dave 161
Ed 165
Adam 141

Game 3:
Dave 142
Ed 212
Adam 176

And that's it from Northampton Bowl.

Later on I stopped at the chess club for about an hour. When I got home I went onto the Internet Chess Club for a minute and ended up analyzing a game with "miles72" again for about an hour. Chess, Chess, Chess, Chess, Chess, Chess Chess. When does it end? It never ends.

But my post does. So until next time!

Ed.