Our new season officially started October 1 and ends May 1. We continue to meet in the same place at the Helm/ Bridge Room. Our meeting time remains the same: Tuesdays 10 a.m. to noon. We never know for sure if we are always in the Bridge Room. If you come to the Helm looking for us and we are not there, most likely we’ve been moved to the Compass Room. On December 3, they have us meeting in the Compass Room.
Our club unofficial champion, Tom Poulos, recently played in a chess tournament held October 4-6 at Embassy Suites Hotel in Estero. Over 100 players participated. The skill levels ranged from novice to grand master. There were five sections, and you could play in the section corresponding to your skill level. The cash prizes totaled $9,000. If interested, talk to him about the details. Perhaps several of us should go with Tom next year to this tournament in Estero. Tom would have to give us some lessons on use of chess clocks and other rules of tournament play.
I experienced two epiphanies about improving my chess play. My style of play is attack, attack, and attack (especially when I’m playing white pieces). When thinking about this style, I realized there needs to be more time devoted to planning where my opponent is going to move. It is a balance. I must be thinking about where I’m going to move, but also an equal amount of time speculating where my opponent will move.
A VERY QUIET ROOM DURING A CHESS TOURNAMENT (PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM POULOS)
My other bright idea is to improve my endgame play. During the endgame, there are fewer pieces on the board. You would think you should be able to play faster because of fewer pieces to worry about. My conclusion is that during the endgame, one needs to think longer and harder as to the correct move. During the opening and middlegame, I may spend five minutes on figuring out where to move. But during the endgame, I need to spend ten minutes or more figuring where to move.
Don’t forget to protect your king (and your queen!).
