I heard it predicted on Thursday morning that the final would probably consist of these two men. I am not able to attend the final games this year like I did last year. It is a bit of a disappointment. The problem is that they are playing an hour and a half out of town and I had a few other events today. I will watch it online as much as possible for the final round tonight.

I did grab some audio the other day at the chess tournament but it had a horrible buzz in it. I was not able to salvage anything. Nor did I really get to listen to it. The whole time I was trying to listen a young teenager was trying to be friendly and talk. I hate telling people to buzz off, but I wanted to. Then when my son got through playing his match he took the receiver from me and listened to it himself.

My son finished the tournament with just 2 out of 6 possible points. We did not prepare well for this week and it shows. We did learn though that taking a bit of time to focus on an upcoming tournament can really help your outcome. Maybe the 5 Christmas parties, Tae Kwon Do belt exam and other extra activities this week did not help.

Tomorrow he plays rounds three and four with five and six being on Friday.

Last year’s overall winner, Vassily Ivanchuk, also started his tournament today. Many of the top players are participating in two types of tournaments this week. The first, which started last Saturday, is a standard tournament. Each player plays a set number of rounds and the person with the most points after the end of the week is the winner. The second tournament is called a Wimbledon style tournament. I am not sure of all the rules, but it seems like it is a single or double elimination type event.

It is fun to be around all these Grand Masters, many of whom I do not know anything about, but I am still in awe of their abilities.

This year there is a new service that the tournament is providing. While the big boys play on stage there is a group of people analyzing their games. They are transmitting the analysis through a closed radio transmission. You can listen in while the games are being played. I will try to grab some audio from one of those tomorrow and stick it on the blog. It will most likely be in Spanish, but for a few moments it would be interesting to hear.

UPDATE: I just read that Ivanchuk knocked out Bruzón. They are the two who fought head to head in the championship game last year with Ivanchuk winning. It is too bad they faced each other so early this year. Bruzón was the winner two years ago when Ivanchuk was not able to attend.

I did not win anything. In fact, besides byes and forfeits, I have not won a single game in a tournament since last year.

My son’s chess club tied for 3rd place in the team competition. He won 2.5 (out of 6) games in that tournament, but it did not get him any prizes this year either. We walked away empty handed. But, we still enjoy the game.

He actually played 2 tournaments this last week. In the second one he won 3.5 games out of a possible 5. That was not quite good enough to place in his division, but he did really well in the tournament.

While I really don’t watch many video podcasts, this one appeals to me. She is planning to keep the shows short (1 to 3 minutes). It is also much easier to follow chess moves when you can see them as opposed to just hearing the positions read.

If you are into chess at all, then Alexandra has some great tips. She obviously knows what she is talking about since she has been a Grand Master since the age of 14 and is currently ranked #6 in the world for women. Much of her stuff is understandable by the common man. But, some of it is pretty advanced and it takes me much longer to think through it than she gives me time for. With the video podcast it is pretty easy to pause and see the moves as they happen.

I have only watched a couple of episodes so far. She is planning to put a new one out several times a week. I think this is a great tool for anyone wanting to improve their chess skills.

Thank you Boylston Chess Club. Link to me anytime.

Second round ended oddly. The round started 25 minutes late. How strange! Because he knew when the third round was supposed to start, he did not feel they had enough time to play out the whole game. When it got close to time that the third round would be underway, he offered a draw and his opponent accepted. My son did not realize that because round 2 started late that round 3 would start late as well. That is just the way a 9 year old mind works. I have beat into him that when someone says they will be there or start at a certain time and then don’t, that is being disrespectful and lying to the other person. So he expects others to start when they say they will. [1/2 point]

Round 3 he won. Not handily. It took some work, but he did it. [1 point]

Round 4 was a handy win. Quick and to the point. [1 point]

Round 5 did not go so well. He got off to a poor start and had trouble recovering. [0 point]

Total of 3 1/2 points out of a possible 5. I think he ended up in the top 5 players. There were 50 something contestants in his category. He played against kids in 4th through 6th grades. He is in 4th. We should get the final standings tomorrow.

Amazingly I fixed 6 clocks. Or, approximately 6. I don’t really remember now. They were mostly simple solutions and none of them needed any parts. I don’t think any 2 had the same problem.

This last week the teacher sent home one more clock to be repaired. When I saw what the clock was doing, I knew exactly what was wrong because I hade experienced that problem with one of the previous clocks. I pulled it apart and was able to fix it in just a few minutes. I am starting to feel like an expert.

What makes a chess clock so special? Really they are just 2 (somewhat) normal clocks that have a system for starting one clock while stopping the other. The only thing that makes them different from a normal clock is they have a flag that drops when the time runs out. But, since they are analog, they continue to run.

One of the interesting rules of chess is that if you run out of time, you do not automatically lose. Your opponent has to claim the win because your time ran out. So if you are able to put him in checkmate before he calls the win on time, you win.

In the first picture you can see the black bar is just a teeter-totter. When you push one button down, it stops that clock and starts the opponent’s clock. And vice versa.

In the second picture you can see where one arm is pushing down on the thingy in the clock that rotates back and forth. I am not a clock person, so I don’t know the technical name for the thingy, but it is probably something like “doo-ma-flatchet”.

Click the pictures for bigger versions.

I have put together a photo album of the event.

Enjoy!

It was pretty obvious though, that even if Jaan Ehlvest had arrived at the final games that Ivanchuk (ranked 7th) would likely have won. Ivanchuk seems to be on top of his game. He arrived here fresh off of a win at the Cuban Capablanca tournament. I don’t know how big of a deal that tournament is in the rest of the world, but here in Yucatán it seems to be well respected.

I won’t go into all the gory details as to how the games went down. You can go to the official website for that and watch the games played on the site. What I would like to share is the atmosphere.

My son played in this tournament last year, but it was our first big tournament. We still were unsure how accessible these players are and what happens in the final moments. We chose not to stick around for the next to the last round early this afternoon. Hunger got the best of us and we returned home for food. The final round was to start at 5:00. I expected it to take several hours, so did not arrive until a bit after 7:00 to see the match. It ended up that the first round today was a draw and the afternoon round drew as well, but before I arrived.

When I got to the auditorium, there were people hanging around and there was a buzz. I knew that they ended up going into playoff games. The first would start at 8:00. They each get 15 minutes on the clock. Ivanchuk played Black in the first round of the playoff. When they each had just a few seconds left on the clock they agreed upon a draw.

The second playoff game had Ivanchuk in command of the position and the clock, but Bruzón had definitive control of the material (value of pieces left on the board). I saw a line of play that would have evened up the game material wise, but Ivanchuk took a different route. He had several minutes left and Bruzón had just a couple. The ending was so dramatic and quick, I really don’t know how much final time was left.

Ivanchuk made a move with his Queen that caused Bruzón to think long and hard. Finally Bruzón extended his hand and surrendered to Ivanchuk. Ivanchuk shook hands and jumped up and pumped his fists in the air. It was the first time I saw him smile all week. The auditorium of about 250 people gave a standing ovation.

Ivanchuk ran out the door of the auditorium and I figured that would be the last we would see of him until the awards ceremony tomorrow. Instead he was running out to see his wife. I did not know she was here and never saw her. I just saw a press release that said she was there with us tonight and that she was waiting outside the auditorium.

He stuck around for a long time and signed books, posters, hats and just about anything else that people put in front of him. He seemed pretty personable, though I would have never guessed that from the rest of the week.

I also got Jaan Ehlvest to sign the book I bought from him yesterday. Guil Russek, a Mexican Grand Master signed a book that I have from him as well.

We went to register for the tournament today and met with some typical frustration. Registration is to be Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm of this week. Today is Tuesday. We were there at a little after 11:00. They could not take our registration information because the computer was not on site yet. This is the computer that holds all the rating information to verify which group each participant will play in. We were told to come back in an hour and the computer should be there and be set up.

I was a bit frustrated with this. That meant that anyone who showed up previous to that time (at least 2 hours worth of people this morning) were turned away and told to come back to register. This is an International event. We have several Grand Masters from around the world who will be participating with us. Vassily Ivanchuk, the Ukrainian Grand Master and number 1 ranked player in his country will be here as well as Sergey Tiviakov the number one ranked Grand Master in Holland. The current champion of Cuba will be with us…and the list goes on. But yet, we can’t register because the computer has not arrived.

I later asked about what they did for registration yesterday when they said they did not have $7 change for my $20. “Registration yesterday?” Yes, you guessed it. They did not even have anyone there the whole registration time yesterday even though it is on the first page of the registration guidelines that were given out to all hopeful participants.

So, anyway, we left and came back about 30 minutes later. This was only because there was also a book fair going on near there that we had planned to attend. When we returned there was a computer on the table with a mouse and keyboard, but no monitor. We were assured that the monitor would be right there and they would be able to start registration very soon.

Twenty minutes later when the monitor arrived, I knew registration would not start in any reasonable time. The monitor was brand new. I looked at the computer, it too had evidence of having been freshly unpacked. Keyboard and mouse were pristine. I suspect that there was not a bit of software on that computer except the operating system. We would have had to wait through the whole setting up a new computer mess before we could register.

About that time my son’s chess teacher arrived. He greeted us and I begged to be allowed to register and they could look up the info later. The teacher talked them into it.

In the process the teacher pointed me to a rule in the guidelines that I was hoping did not apply to me. It says “All international players who do not have FIDE rating and are over the age of 16 must register in the [I don't know the translation into proper English chess terminology] first force [primera fuerza].” This basically means that I would be playing in the same category with the Grand Masters and International Masters as well as all those with a rating over 1900. My rating (sub-1100) would normally put me in the fourth force. But my rating is with the Mexican Chess Federation and not with FIDE, the World Chess Federation.

If I got paired with Vassily Ivanchuk (currently ranked #7 in the world), that would have been an honor to play with him. But, that would not have been a fair game for him.

But the real problem for me is that to play in the fourth grouping would cost $35. Which is a lot of money for me to go in and play knowing that I have little to no chance of making any of it back by winning. Especially since I have only been playing a little over a year and not seriously at that. But, registration for the first grouping is $90. That is out of the question. So, I am not playing. Just my son.

The tournament starts on Thursday of this week, but my son’s rounds won’t start till Tuesday of next. He is in a sub-10 year old category which only plays 6 rounds instead of the 9 rounds the big boys will play.

As you may know, my son and I played in a chess tournament over the last two weekends. We did not do very well. But, we did place. We each took 5th place in our divisions. And there were even more than 5 people in each!

For his 5th place spot, he won $150 (MXP). My 5th place garnered me $250 (MXP). That is about $36 US Dollars. That will keep us eating for a few days.

I think I will hold off on contacting my source of income for a little while until I know we can do this well on a regular basis.

My rounds:
Round 4 was lost to Andrés. I was not sure how to evaluate him as a player going into the round. I had seen him play in an earlier round. He became pretty frustrated with his opponent’s lack of attention to the game. The other player was not just up and down quite a bit throughout the game (which is not unusual), but he was goofing around with other players like he would rather be out on the playground wrestling than playing chess. The opponent was about 12 years old and I would guess Andrés to be 16 or so. He ended up tying that round. When we played I tried to get an early win with a “Mate al Pastor.” I am not sure what it is called in English, but its translation is “Shephards Mate.” It is a short 4 move checkmate. It did not work. I don’t remember much from the round other than I lost.

The fifth round was a bye. Automatic 1 point.

My opponent never showed on the sixth round. I won by forfeit. A cheap way to win, but a win none the less. Some day I will win a game on my own. Until then, I will be happy to take a hand out.

My son’s rounds:
He had a tough fourth round. I did not see much of the game, but when I looked back and saw his game on occasion, I noticed that he did not have many pieces on the board while the other player had most of his pieces left. Needless to say, my son was in material trouble throughout the game and the resultant loss was not a surprise.

Fifth round pitted him against Sarah. She was probably 10 years old and the daughter of a chess teacher. She did a good job, though sick with a cold, of winning the game. She had to think to do it, but she was confident in her moves and knew her end game strategy well.

The sixth round netted my son his second point. He won against a young boy of probably 7 or 8 years of age. Somehow the boy got my son’s queen early and really had a material advantage for a long time during the game. But little by little he lost his advantage. My son was able to get him trapped on the back row behind several of his own pieces. It only took a rook to get the mate.

Awards ceremony is Tuesday. We certainly did not place, but we will go to the event just to cheer everyone. This was a rated tournament. My son has an official rating while I do not. I am curious as to how this event will affect his number and where I will land after the event.

My rounds:
Round 1 was Saturday night against a very nice older man named Carlos. I would guess that he is probably 70+ years old. He played well and it was obvious from the outset that he was the superior player. Our round lasted almost 2 hours though. That was definitely my longest game to date. I was doing very well on an offensive tact and he seemed to just be playing defense. What I did not realize was that he was slowly getting set up. Once, I was just one move away from setting up a checkmate against him. But that is when he started his attack and forced me into some moves which blew my strategy. I held on to the end. I even made him work real hard to not stalemate me.

Round 2 was against my team captain from the last tournament. Daniel and I have played several times against one another in class. Daniel has always won. So, he had a psychological advantage going into the round this morning. He made an aggressive move early in the round putting one of his knights behind enemy lines. I knew it was a bold move for a reason, I just never could displace it or capture it. That ended up being my downfall. He sat there with that knight not really threatening me in any way, but always present. When it came time to finish the game, it was very obvious that he was in control from early on. If I get a chance to get my notation back from that game I will post it with comments.

Round 3 was this evening and I played against Andrés. He is probably 14 years old. I have seen him around some. I got one move on him that I thought was going to bust up the game in my favor. He had a bishop sitting off to the side that neither one of us considered a threat at any time in the game. When I made my stellar move, it took him about 10 minutes to find that bishop (which I never saw) and make his move. That was the end. He won.

So my record is 0-3 through 3 rounds.

My son’s rounds:
Round one was well fought. He thought he had the win at a couple of points, but then she forced a few moves that cost him his opportunities. He lost that one.

Round two was easy. He had a bye. Somehow though, there was another boy who had a bye. After 30 minutes of enjoying his free point, the head judge came to him and asked him to play with the other boy. They sat down and started talking. I am not sure if they actually started their game or not. But their conversation was something to the affect that they both won a point for having a bye. If they play, best case scenario is that they will tie and get a half point. Or, one will lose the game and their point. They went to the judge and said they would not play. I was glad to see that.

I was quite torqued over the fact they they would be awarded a point as if they played and beat their opponent, then be told that that game did not count and they would have to play again. The Chess Association of Yucatán will be getting a letter from me concerning this. This is the second time something similar took place. Last time it was against me.

Round three had his team captain from the last tournament as his opponent. Carlos is ranked as the number 1 player in that division. My son is ranked 12th out of 18. The fact that Carlos won every game in the last tournament and that he is ranked number 1 and that my son has only ever tied against him once before, kinda spelled out a bleak ending. My son was not disappointed. He knows he will get more chances to play Carlos in class.

So that leaves us with scores of 0 for me and 1 for my son. We have three more rounds next weekend. These things are kinda fun.

But before the library today I went to a friend’s house to see what was wrong with his computer. It is acting wonky. I think the biggest thing is that if he had a bit more RAM, that would really help. I did all the normal diagnostics and found nothing amiss. The good thing about the house call was that I got to eat “second breakfast” today. At home I had a couple bowls of cereal along with my coffee. Then I went to their house and had pancakes with real maple syrup from Ohio. A friend of theirs makes it.

That was at 8:00. About 10:30 we were ready to head to the library. But before the library we had to check the post office for new mail. Nothing. Then to visit the pastor of our church. He is a plumber by trade and I needed hot water heater recommendations. Off to buy a hot water heater. Then finally the library.

After our fun filled day at the library we hit our regular Friday eating out spot…Burger King. Costs just as much as it does back home. Maybe a bit more. But, they have free refills on their drinks. Also, air conditioning is always very nice to have when it is 99 degrees outside. And the kids like the play place. That gives us time to read a bit on the books or magazines we get from the library. Today I did not pick up any books, so we played Sudoku on the Palm Pilot.

Then we ran back home to get the baby down for a nap around 1:30. While she was sleeping, I worked on pulling the old hot water heater out of place. To do that, you have to shut off the water. The water shut off valve is up near the water tank on the roof. I don’t have a ladder that can reach that high. We live in a house with tall ceilings and two stories. I need a 20 rung ladder to make it all the way to the top. My ladder is 13 rungs. So, to shut off the water, I waited until the pump kicked on which let me know the water level was as low as it would go. I quickly shut off the breaker to the pump. Then turned on all the faucets and showers to drain off the rest of the water. I was able to get the water drained and the old heater pulled before 3:00.

At 3:00 we left to meet some friends at the bowling alley. Like always, they arrived late, and they are not even Mexican. I have always enjoyed bowling, but it is not something for which I have a passion. This was the first time since we have been here that we have bowled. We were there till just before 5:00. I rolled a 157. Much higher than my average in college which was 135. I was pleased.

At 5:00 my wife dropped me off at home and took our son to chess class. I installed the new water heater (at least enough to turn the water back on to the house) and showered before 5:40. At 5:40 I ran downtown to teach my class at the Deaf school from 6:00 to 7:00. I got home around 8:00 after talking to some friends for a while.

I am writing this at 8:30 and have to go get my son from a youth meeting at 9:15. Then home to relax for the evening.

So, that was our rest day. How was yours?

My son’s team took 2 1/2 points. Bringing their total score up to 12 1/2.

Round 5
My round
I fought very hard as black against an opponent that was closer to my abilities, though still superior. I got so excited when I came within 1 move of putting a mate on him. There was only 1 possible move he could make to stop me. Unfortunately, he saw it too.

I had to leave before Daniel’s game was over. Our other two players lost their games as well.

My son’s round
He ended in a draw. There was some confusion as to whether it was really a draw, but both agreed to it and signed their scorecards before the parent of the other boy stepped in. Because I was playing, I did not get a clear understanding of what happened. I will ask the teacher at class tomorrow. His team won 3 1/2 points this afternoon. Their final score was 16 out of 20 possible points.

Results
My team took 3rd in our division with 2 1/2 (or maybe 3 or 3 1/2 with Daniel’s game this afternoon) points out of a possible 20. Our average rating was 1085. Those who were not rated had a given rating of 1000, such as myself. We played against teams with ratings of 1270, 1380, 1596 and 1849 with a bye in the first round. The teams with 1270 and 1380 ratings were in our division. We had fun and are working towards stronger skills as we play more.

My son’s team surprisingly did not take 1st in their division. They took second. The team that took first ended up being an 11 and 12 year old team. My son’s team consisted of 7 and 8 year olds. There were 6 total teams in their group. Because of the strength of the 7 and 8 year old team and the few number of teams, the tournament directors decided to lump all the children together. I am sure some parents won’t be happy with that, but I believe all the kids get a certificate just for playing. Awards ceremony will be in a week.

It was a good tournament. Somewhat disorganized, but had a home town feel to it. There is a tournament this next weekend that we will play in. It is just Saturday afternoon.