2015 NM G/15 Championship & Sandager Simul

Simultaneous Exhibition:

I would like to start off by saying thank you to Master Sandager for affording chess community the rare opportunity to compete against a player of your caliber and status.  I know Steve doesn’t compete like he used too, but he put up impressive score of 13-2-0, especially considering the strong field he competed against.  Out of the 15 players, (at the top) was three A players and three B players, no easy task!  As Steve would make his rounds, I have to admit I was extremely impressed. 

Usually, when a master gives a simul, he/she will generally play a few tricky openings against the weaker players, plays solid against the top rated players, offers a few quick draws, and then attempts to vanquish those left standing.  Well not Master Sandager.  He played proper chess, creating complications in every game, and pressing to win each battle, the thought of a draw never entering his mind.  He gave each and every player his/her monies worth!  I think he might of made his games a little too complex.  I remember at one point, I walked around each board and I thought to myself, “all of these games are super complex, I would need at least 15 minutes to spend on each of these games to ensure I didn’t blunder.  I don’t know how he is managing this!?!?”  I’m not yet on his level, but I am getting reasonably close and there is no way I could’ve done what he did.  Steve, made moves for three and a half hours straight, without taking a single break!  The man is a machine, but unfortunately even top notch engines overheat.  Inevitably, he ended up blundering in a few of his games leading to his 2 losses. 

I would like to congratulate the two victors of the Simul, Eddie Sedillo and Christian Von Huene.  Well done gentlemen, beating Master Sandager, under any conditions is a feat that very few have the pleasure of saying.  Christian gets an extra pat on the back, he played extremely well.  Played Steve to a dead even game for 30-40 moves, and when he made a single mistake, Christian pounced his opportunity. 

I have never organized a simul, and I had no idea on how long it would take.  It ended up going about an hour longer than I had anticipated, Steve ended up playing up until the start of the first round of the G15.  Even though I am sure he was exhausted, he still wanted to play.  What a cool guy.   

 New Mexico G15 Championship:

Before I mention the winners, I am going to start off by expressing my gratitude to all of those who participated.   We didn’t hold many events in the first part of the year, because I was taking an HTML 5 class so I could learn how to design our new site.  So in June of this year, I wanted to set up several events for the second half of 2015.  I noticed NMCO didn’t have their dates set for any of their remaining events.  So I contacted Oren Stevens, asking him to set up the dates for his events, giving him the first choice.  He set the NM Blitz tournament for August 15, I didn’t want either event to affect the attendance of the other, so I set mine for August 29.  Oren waited too long to secure a site, so he could no longer hold the Blitz tournament August 15.  I was worried, he would put the blitz tournament the weekend after or before this tournament.  So I emailed him and Larry Kemp, asking them not to hold the blitz within two weeks of my mine.  I think they got a little confused, and decided to hold a tournament the weekend before and after my tournament.  So it really means a lot to me that we had such a great turn out.  Thank you all for your support. 

An extra special thank you to Will Barela for bringing up an entire crew to play from Las Cruces.  To Ben and Ron Coraretti for making the same trek up I-25, also because Ben helped us class up the joint by giving us another master to compete against, Ron for deciding to dust off his old pieces after a long hiatus from competitive chess.  Also, to Carlos Santillan, who decided to spend one of his few days a year in New Mexico to come down and play.   

On to the winners.  Congratulations Eric Stuart, for winning the NM G15 Championship for the second year in a row.  Eric finished with a perfect 6-0.  Don’t worry everyone, he has officially been banned from competing in this event in the future, he is simply too good. Congratulations to Ben Coraretti for taking 2^nd, 1^st U1800 Peter Cuneo (also tied for 2^nd overall), 1^st U1600 a three way tie between Greg Stricklin, Jesse Vicario, and Christian Von Huene, 1^st U1400 Will Barela 1^st U1200 Joseph Wang.  Well done everyone!

G/15 Updated players list

There seems to be confusion, as to whether or not there is on-site/late entry, there is.  Yes, you may enter on-site.  Also, there have been questions as to what rating will be used, for pairings and prizes.  This is a quick event, as such we will use your quick rating for all pairing and prizes, if you don't have a quick rating, we will use your regular rating.

2015 Outstanding Contributor of the year award

About a decade ago, when I started business school, I was taught the three most important keys to success are knowledge, communication and recognizing those who do an exceptional job.  In New Mexico, it can be tough to get people to volunteer, and it is infinitely more difficult to find people to support chess.  Of those who do volunteer, some do a good job, others not so much, but in rare instances, you get an individual who does an outstanding job.  Unfortunately, as a chess community we don’t always do the best job in recognizing those who dedicate their precious free time towards things that are important to us. 

This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Contributor Award, is the person who is truly the unsung hero of our community.  This individual, has donated thousands of hours of his time to NM chess.  He is the one that keeps us informed about all of the events around the state, and he enables us to communicate with one another.  I would go so far as to say, he is the MVP of NM Chess. 

It is my honor to announce that Jeff Sallade is the winner of the 2015 Outstanding Contributor of the year award.  Last night I presented this award (see picture below) to Mr. Sallade to commemorate his selfless devotion to our game, along with a token of our gratitude. 

Jeff, on behalf of Charlie’s Chess Club, the New Mexico Chess Community, and myself, I would like to say thank you for all that you do.   

A wounded lion can still bite!

Hello, so this is the first annotated game I’ve posted on this blog, which will eventually appear in Charlie’s Chronicle.  I would like to say a few words about the publication.  We are creating this periodical for a couple of reasons: first, because we have had some of the state’s strongest players compete in our tournaments and their games are of interest, secondly, we want to create a publication that a player can read and genuinely learn a lot from, by playing over the annotated games and doing the puzzles (much in the same way you would do with a book), third, because too often I feel like some of this smaller publications give either bad information, or information generated primarily from computer analysis.  As a human, it’s difficult to do things in the same way a computer does, so we may use computers to aid us, for the most part we give human developed variations.  We will also note where and how we used a computer for a particular game.  Which means we have spent a lot of time and effort on each game to give accurate assessments. 

So what games are included, well a lot of the games will probably be my own, the main reason is because it can be rather difficult to get scoresheets from people even though it is mandatory per USCF and FIDE rules; and guess what I have all of my games.  Also, I will occasionally solicit the advice of a GM on a few of my games that I am unsure of, which means I usually have extremely accurate assessments.  With that said, I have asked other strong players to annotate their games for inclusion in this publication.  It is my preference that I would only include one game of my own per tournament, and the rest be from others.  Regardless of your rating/level if you feel like you had a rather brilliant game or one where you have no idea where you went wrong, and would like me to analyze it; send me a pgn file to charlieschessclub@gmail.com with accurate notation (if I feel like there is something instructive to be learned) I will gladly analyze the game for you and include it in the publication. 

Our mission as a club is to promote and grow chess in New Mexico, this periodical is our attempt to serve this goal by helping all players improve.  Consequently, as the editor I make you a promise, that we will strive to only give you excellent advice.  Now on to the first game, I hope you learn something.

Event: 116^th U.S. Open

Date: 8/7/15

White: Andrew Richard Flores (2124)

Black: FM Robby Adamson (2360)

Opening: B99 Sicilian Najdorf - Main Line (early 8…h6)

Background information: Going into the 7^th round of the U.S. Open, I was having a rather lackluster tournament, but it’s amazing how much one day can make a difference.  Robby is the highest rated player I have faced in a regular rated game, and the only Fide Master.  So when I defeated him it completely changed my perspective about the event.  I went from doubting my own chess abilities to feeling vindicated in thinking that I am a much stronger player than my rating would indicate.  A few of you will see the opening played, and think “makes sense, Andrew beating a higher rated player in the Najdorf,” because a lot of my victories come from brilliant attacks against my opponents’ kings, or from dazzling tactical blows.  Well, not this game, matter a fact in this game I only made one mistake, where on move 32 I couldn’t find the easy win.  On move 30, I actually thought for a long time and I couldn’t find the winning variation.  I ended up playing the first two moves of the combination, but since I couldn’t find the rest of the variation I decided to play it safe and to continue the endgame with an advantage.  Which in a way worked out better for me, because I won this game in a way no one thought I could, demonstrating my technique! Making it even more of an impressive victory.  

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 The Najdorf variation, theoretically speaking the best opening for black in all of chess! For me this was the first fork in the road, against the Najdorf I play pretty much anything under the sun 6. Be3 (the English Attack) , 6. Be2 (the Karpov System), 6. Bc4 (Fischer-Sozin) and of course the Main Line (6. Bg5). When afforded the opportunity to play the most complex, dynamic, theoretical and sharpest opening variation in all of chess against someone rated about 250 points above me; that was simply a challenge I couldn't pass up.6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3  h6?!This move is considered to be dubious, and has only been played twice at the top level, because h6 is a very committal move and often it just weakens black's kingside, which is generally not a good thing when white can advance with g4 and g5 and black is relatively helpless against it.  With that said, black makes this move because it limits the possibilities that white can steer the game. So it's not completely without merit.9.Bh4 Qc7 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.Be2 0-0 12.Bd3!? Initially, black's last move looked really bad to me, he is just castling into an attack, but it turns out this is a pretty good move, and has a great theoretical standing.  So at this point and time I'm on my own, and we'll say with my last move I came up with a novelty ;). Didn't white just move his bishop on the last move, why would he move it a second time on the very next move? Doesn't this violate opening principles, is he at a loss on how to continue? Objectively speaking, my last move, though a novelty, is actually a really good move. Although, the Najdorf is known for being extremely tactical, this position doesn't require a lot of calculation, mostly strategic thinking (mid to long term planning with identification of tactical ideas in the positions likely to arise). The bishop on e2 doesn't stand very well.  In this position, black's main plan is to play with...b5, ...b4 to kick the knight away from the defense of the white king, the d5 square, and the e4 pawn.  After ...b4, if the light square bishop remains on its current square the knight will be relegated to a4, and will be shut out of the game for a long time. White's king is perfectly safe, and black won't be able to play d5 without making some serious concessions. So the only threat white has to worry about is the safety of his e4 pawn, because eventually black will play Bb7 and Nc5 exerting pressure on whites center. So my plan is to move the bishop (d3), followed by playing g4, Nce2 and Ng3.the queen's knight, stands better on g3 than c3, from g3 he can still protect e4 and can join the party in laying siege to the black king. b5 13.g4 b4  14.Nce2  Bb7  15.g5 hxg5 16.BxgS Rfc8= both sides are executing pretty standard plans for this type of position. 17.Rhg1 Nc5 18.Ng3 Nxd3+?! Releasing the tension a little too early, and fundamentally going against the grain of the opening. Also, heading for an endgame that is better for white. 19.Qxd3 Qc4  20.Kb1  Qxd3  21.cxd3±  Garry Kasparov made a dvd series on the Najdorf, and he said something like, the Najdorf doesn't guarantee the stronger player victory, but provides chances for both sides, in a later clip he continues ... unless the direction of the game goes down a positional path. Then the stronger player is almost always assured victory. What can I say, Kas was right! ;) When determining when the endgame begins, I generally agree with the old Soviets definition of after the queens are exchanged. What's the evaluation of this endgame?

Material is equal, white has more space, better piece coordination, but more importantly a safer king! My opponent decided to go in for this line, because he felt like with queens off the board his King would no longer have anything to worry about, objectively (computer wise) speaking he is fine, but unfortunately for him from a practical stand point his weakening 8th move is about to haunt him. 21…Kf8  22.Rdf1 Nd7? Black's one trump in this position are his two bishops advantage, but he's trading it away?!?! 23.Bxe7+ Kxe7 24.f5! He who stands better has the right and obligation to attack. It's time to get this party started. 24…Rg8 25.Nh5 Nc5? [ 25...g5 Was the only way for him to maintain the balance. Up to this point, my opponent made a few positionally dubious moves, but for the most part was objectively playing the top move at every turn. Here he slips up, and gives me a definite edge]. 26.Rxg7 Rxg7 27.f6+!+- Capitalizing on my opportunity , by gaining a passed pawn on the seventh rank. I now have my teeth around his neck. 27…Kf8 28.fxg7+ Kg8 29.Rf6 Rc8 At this point in the game I was up about an hour on the clock, something like 1:13 minutes to O:15. I could smell the blood in the water , and I knew I had to be up something big on the computer evaluation like +10.00, well I was wrong I was up +16.53.  So I spent some serious time trying find the win, 39.36 to be exact, and I simply couldn't find the win.  I was very frustrated with myself at the board, so I decided to make a practical decision and play the game out with an advantage.  I ended up playing the first two moves of the combo, but could find the rest of the continuation. If you would like to try and beat the expert, cover up the rest of the game and trying and find the winning combo. See diagram below. I'll write the winning combination at the end of the game.  

White to move and win

30.Rh6  f6 31.Rh8+  Kf7 32.Rh6?? See the end of the game for the winning variation . Nxe4 Unfortunately, I can't take the knight because of a trap he set for me. 33.Nb3± [ If 33.dxe4  Bxe4+ 34.Nc2 Bxc2+ 35.Kc1 Bg6+ 36.Kd2 Bxh5 37.Rxh5 Kxg7-+ ] 33...NcS 34.Rxf6+ Ke7 3S.NxcS dxcS 36.Rg6  Kf7 37.Rf6+  Ke7 38.Kc2  Rg8 39.Rg6 Kf7 40.Rg3 Here I thought it was kind of cool, I was getting a little low on time, so I repeated the position a few times in order to make time control. So the dust had settled, my opponent and I both made the time control and had about an hour each to make all of our remaining moves. Let's take stock of the position.

On move 32, I thought for about 15 minutes, and instead of continuing to try and find the immediate win, I calculated out this resulting position. Going in for this hinged on my evaluation of this position. I'm up a passed pawn on the 7th rank, and I also have passed pawn on the h-file, plus his rook is consigned to preventing my g pawn from promoting, and his bishop looks good but it is hitting thin air. Also, since my pawn is on a dark square he can never win it without me allowing it. His only hope of attempting to win it would be to kick my knight off of the h5 square, but my rook controls f3 so he would have to go to e8 with the bishop; but in doing so he would have to move his king away from the g pawn.  So white hold all the cards, he just has to restrict blacks activity and start suffocating him, much like a lion does to his prey. 40…Bd5 41.Nf4 In the endgame, its often important to take your time and to slowly improve your position. Bc6 [ 41...Rxg7 42.Rxg7+  Kxg7 43.Nxd5 exd5 This king and pawn ending is completely winning for white].

42.Nh5 Bd5 43.b3 Fixing his weak pawns on c5 and b4. 43…a5 44.Nf4 Bb7 45.Rg5 Clearly he's not going to allow me to trade off pieces into a winning king and pawn end game, so here is the fork in the road, how do I try and win? Do I advance the h pawn and try and promote one of my two passed pawns or do I gobble up all of his pawns on the queenside and relinquish my pride and joy on g7 which is serving as a pretty effect bone in my opponent's throat, decisions, decisions. 45…e5 Both plans are good, but one is safer and limits all of blacks counter play. 46.Rxe5!  Rxg7+- good bye my friend 47.RxcS  Rg4 48.Rf5+ With a bishop over a knight, black had hoped he had some drawing chances even a few pawns down.  But unfortunately for him, all of his pawns a fixed on dark squares and in this position, he would  be much better off if they were on light squares so that his bishop could protect them. Ke8  49.h3 Rg3 50.Rxa5  Rf3 This is the last time in the game I really had to think , and decide how I was going to win the game. In endgames, when you're better but can't calculate the game out all the way to victory. You should think where you want your pieces placed, a general plan, and then find the tactical means to achieve your goal.  In this position, I want to trade my h pawn for his b pawn. When that happens, he is going to get some activity and his bishop will come alive, so I want to find a way to protect all three of my pawns, and stop his counter play while I regroup my pieces (i.e. getting my king in the center, my rook behind my pawns, then advance my a and b pawns to the promise land). 51.Ne2! My knight is headed for c1 where it will protect all three of my pawns, and ensure I won't lose any of my pawns. Plus, I can now win his b4 pawn at my leisure, because black can only defend it with his rook from the h4 square, but then I can play Rc4 forcing a trade of rooks or the immediate loss of the b pawn. 51…Rxh3 52.Nc1 Rh2+ 53.Kb1 Bc6 54.Rc5 Bf3 55.Rc4 Bd1 56.Rxb4 The rest of the game is pretty straightforward, and I play it quite well so it is worth looking at the last few moves. 56…Rd2 57.Rc4 Kd7  58.Rc3  Kd6  59.a4 Rh2  60.a5  Rg2  61.b4  Ba4  62.Ra3 Bc6 63.Ra2  Rg1 64.Rb2 Bb5 65.Kc2 Ba4+ 66.Nb3 Kc6 67.Kc3 Kd5 68.Nd4 Rc1+ 69.Nc2  Kc6 70.Kd2 Rh1 71.b5+  Kb7 72.Na3  Ra1 73.Nc4 Bd1 74.Kc3 We continued on for about 20 moves longer, but we both we're below five minutes so I stopped taking notation. This was the final position.

1-0

The winning combo from the first diagram follows: 30. Rh6 f6 31. Rh8+ Kf7 32. Rxc8 (is the simplest but starting with Nc6 also works). 32…Bxc8 33. Nc6 Any move, 34. Ne7 and now black can’t stop white from queening.  

New Mexico G15 Championship

Above you'll find an updated list of registered players for the upcoming event.  To make the picture bigger, click it, and it will enlarge.  I have received a few questions about the tournament: 1.) Will this tournament affect my regular rating?  No, its quick rated only.  So you can relax and just have fun.  A lot of us take chess so seriously we forget that we originally started playing it because it was enjoyable.  2.) How many sections are there?  There is only one section, with class prizes.  So if your a lower rated player you'll have a pretty good chance to play an expert or a master, than you may otherwise.  

Lessons Learned

The 116th annual U.S. Open, for me was filled with excitement, anticipation, shortcomings, bad luck, disappointment, and ultimately glorious conquest.  What can I say, a lot can happen in 9 days. From this array of emotions I gleaned several important lessons I hope I (and others) can build on, in the future.  

1. Decide & Define – Are you going on vacation or are you going to play chess?  If you’re a Class D player or below, you can do both, but as you ascend up the echelons of chess you have to make a choice. Are you going to see the sights and stay up till 4 in the morning carousing with people in the pool, or are you going to prepare during the day and be well rested and mentally focused for game time?  

So if you’re a Class D player or below why can you do both?  You can because you’re opponents generally don’t take chess that seriously, so they’ll be at the pool and vacationing most of the day.  Which is an excellent opportunity for you to gain a lot of points if you do decide to take a more serious approach to a tournament.   

In this past tournament, I failed to make this distinction.  Up until Friday (the day of round 7), I had an all-day activity planned and I looked at zero chess during the day.  That coupled with the fact I took full advantage of the resorts 12 pools that were open 24/7, probably didn’t benefit my performance.  I went there for a chess tournament, but I was more focused being on vacation and having a good time and my performance suffered greatly.  If you’re going for a good time and you don’t care how you do, by all means live it up.  

Define what means success or failure for a particular event.  If you’re going for a good time, how many points are you willing to lose?  What kinds of things do you want to do while you’re on vacation?  If you’re going for glory and victory, how many points do you hope to gain, and/or what experiences do you hope to have (i.e. do you want to play a B player, A, Expert, Master, FM, IM, or GM)?  What side events do you want to play in, who do you hope to meet?  Your goals and expectation are ones you’ll need to come up with for yourself, these are just examples to illustrate the difference between the two experiences.  

Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, even if you go to a tournament with serious ambitions it doesn’t mean you still can’t have fun and see some of the sights, but you probably shouldn’t be focused solely on non-chess activities before and after the games while not treating your body properly. 

2. Plan, Prepare & Execute – In Texas we have an old saying, “If you make a plan, work your plan, you can make your plan work.”  Chess is a very methodical game, comprised of logic, planning and decision making.  So your preparation for any tournament should mirror the same type of thinking.  

After you have defined your personal goals for an event both chess and non-chess wise, determine how you are going to achieve your goals.  How and what will you study, for how long, when will you pack, what errands do you complete before you leave?  All important things to consider if you want to have a successful event.

I did pretty well in preparing for the event, accomplished all of my errands, tied up all loose ends at work, and studied a respectable amount.  I even played a mini match against my main competition in this state two weeks before the start of the tournament.  Where I failed in my preparation is I stopped studying the Wednesday before the tournament, and I ran around town like a mad man trying to get everything done before I left; not to mention working 10-12 hour days in the weeks leading up to the event.  

Since I had been so busy before I left to Phoenix, I decided I needed to spend an hour a day doing tactics before each game, well that idea lost out to off-roading in a hummer, wakeboarding, indoor skydiving, kicking it in a cabana at the pool, and visiting the Musical instrument Museum among a few other things.  

3. Carefully consider your environment – I knew it was going to be hot in Phoenix, I did some research and during August 1st -10th  of each year, for the past 5 years, Phoenix on average is about 16.7 degrees hotter than Albuquerque.  I tried to prepare myself for the change in temperature, I played golf in the middle of the day, did hours of yard work on the hottest days, and spent hours in the sauna at the gym.  With all that said, nothing could prepare me for the heat of southern Arizona, which I seemed to find myself in every day.  

While at the Biltmore, I became an acquaintance of one GM in particular, and he told me (to paraphrase), you’re playing poorly because I am in the sun too much and I have no energy left for the game.  He said, “I wake up at 11, order room services, look at chess for 2-4 hours, then I go to the pool for 30 minutes to freshen up, eat a small snack and play then play like my life depends on it.”

4. Play to your ability – Once I made Expert, I stayed right around 2000 for a long time, never really improving.  Until it was brought to my attention, that I was eating the cheese.  I believed because I was an Expert I should be able to beat lower rated player without trying, matter of fact without even showing up to the game.  This of course bit me on the backside quite a few times.  Confidence is one of your greatest allies in chess, but if you’re not careful, it can also be your undoing.  

I once had a GM tell me, “Andrew, you’re just as likely to lose to player rated 500 points lower rated than you, as you are to a player rated 500 points above your level.”  This of course was a bit of an exaggeration, but somewhat true.  Too often I play to my opponent’s ability instead of my own.  Which partially explains how I can lose to some rated 300 points below me, and crush someone rated 300 points above me in the same tournament!  

I have mostly cured myself of this problem, but like Tim Tebow, when I am tired and unable to focus mentally I revert to my old habits.  

You must find a way to play every game like it is your super bowl, and you’re facing the 1992 Cowboys!

5. Draw is infinitely better than a loss – Part of my ascension to 2100 was learning this lesson, until this past week I hadn’t lost a game since December of last year, and the sad part is I could’ve continued my streak.  I was playing an A player in the second round, looked past him, was trying to get done quickly and I blundered a pawn early on, worst part is, I was hoping to make the game a lot more interesting than it was, so I left a few key weak squares in my position.  Well I outplayed him in the middle game, because the game went from him completely winning to a dead draw.  Then being overly hopeful I thought I had some really strong practical chances of winning, and I may have, but I was short on time and I ended up flagging for the first time in my life.  I should’ve just taken an easy draw, because drawing to a lower rated player will always be better than losing to one.  

6. Document & Reflect - I know a couple of chess players whose results vary from truly awesome to quite miserable.  I ask them what they did differently in their victories than their pitfalls.  They always say, I’m not sure, or I think I did this or that differently, but I can’t really remember.  If you can’t recall what was different about tournaments you had successes in from your less than desirable days; then you need to write down and catalog what you did and how you prepped for every event.  

Once you have done that, you have to be honest with yourself, is what you’re doing really working or do you have to rethink somethings.  

7. Adapt – What I was doing in Phoenix clearly wasn’t working, so on Friday (the day of round 7), I decided, I needed to sleep in until 11.  I went to lunch, saw a movie at a dine-in theater (reclining so far back I was basically laying down), then went back to the hotel and did tactics for 2 hours before the game and ate my dinner while practicing at the board.  Guess what, it worked, I faced my highest rated opponent ever in a regular rated game, and I was successful.  What was different?  I was well rested, relaxed, I studied chess before the game getting me in the right frame of mind, and I was triumphant.  Of course, that confidence thing played a large part in it as well.  My opponent, was much higher rated than me, and he offered me a draw several times, even before I was clearly wining, but I had the confidence that I would prevail even after all of my short comings earlier in the week! Confidence really is a double sided blade, which one must learn to wield before attaining true success.  

8. Don’t listen to Guy – There is a show on the food network called Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, where the host Guy Fieri travels the U.S. and finds some of the “best” food in all of the land.  Well, I have been to over 15 restaurants he has featured on his show, across 7 different states and every single one of them the food is, well, meh.  It’s never bad, just not very good.  Which is rather disappointing because I really like/d his show.  You used to be my homie Guy, but now, I just don’t know….

These rules are meant primarily for playing in tournaments out of town, but they of course hold quite a bit of merit for all competitions.  

Charlie’s Chronicle

We have decided to create our own publication documenting the games and events for our tournaments (similar to the Desert Knight).  It will be primarily comprised of annotated games.  We will post one to two games a week here, so the majority of the content can be viewed for free via this blog.  We will however have several copies professionally printed and bound, the cost for each of these will be $10 (we’re not attempting to make money on this publication, simply recovering our expenses; Kinkos quoted me $9.10 a copy which was a 1.25 cheaper than Office Max).  They will be available to view/purchase at our future events.  The first annotated game that will appear on the blog will be my victory over FM (and IM elect) Robby Adamson from the 7^th round of the U.S. Open.  I’ll have it posted by Sunday so check back then.  

To Monroi, or not to Monroi?

I’m here at the U.S. Open and I’ve played three games so far, and literally I have been asked by over 20 people how I like my Monroi.  I get asked this question quite a bit, especially in New Mexico, but generally just by my opponents.  People are a bit more talkative out west.  I usually only share part of my opinion about the device, but since I always receive so many inquires about it, I figured I would share my thoughts here. 

So everyone always says, “I’ve been considering getting one of those devices for a long time.”  Well if you want my short answer as to whether or not it’s worth it.  It’s not. 

How much did the Monroi cost?  The sticker price is $359.00, but since it’s from Canada you can tack on $37 for international shipping, and your credit card company will add on a $25 foreign transaction fee.  For a total cost of $421 out the door.  For that amount you would assume it will work perfectly with any problems right?

I remember in the early 2000’s, when they came out with the first smart devices (PDA’s), and everyone went wild about them.  They utilized Nano technology, but as a computing devices they were left lacking in many respects.  Well this is exactly the same technology that the Monroi operates on in 2015!  So it’s rather outdated.  If you’ve never used a PDA, I would imagine it’s like taking a step back in time to another century.   Of course, you’re not using it as a gps, or to surf the web so as long as it works well as a personal chess manager that’s all that counts right?

Well, it’s not great as a personal chess manager.  It does the job, but each device seems to run into quite a bit of problems.  The first problem I encountered,   was after about 10 games recorded in the device, the SD card malfunctioned and stop recording games.  I had to contact Monroi 4 times before they sent me a new SD card, because they said I needed a “special SD Card,” I couldn’t use any regular ole card.  I didn’t believe them, so I decided to try by putting an 8GB SD Card in and it wasn’t recording any games.  So I waited for Monroi to send me a card, which it finally arrived 4 months after I initially contacted them.  So I popped it in, and I was back in business, or at least I thought.  I recorded 18 games with the new SD card, and guess what?  It stopped working again, and It lost my most recent 7 games.  Better yet, my Monroi stopped charging.  Turns out the ac adapter they provided me stopped working.  Luckily, it was still under warranty.  I attempted to contact Monroi, and they ignored my 3 emails I sent them, and I had to call them 5 times before I could get ahold of someone.  They we’re very pleasant when I finally spoke to someone.  They said they would send me a new SD card and a new charger, they stated they sent it “twice,” but I guess someone keeps stealing my packages from Monroi, because I never got them. Now 8 months from when from when I initially contacted them about the charger, and I have yet to receive anything they promised. The best part is that this is a Canadian company, and lucky for them, there is no Better Business Bureau in the province where they operate.  Consequently, there is no reprisal or additional assistance an American can receive for dealing with Monroi. 

I know a couple of people who have purchased a Monroi, and they have had the same problems with the SD card and the ac adapter.  It’s probably safe to say, these are design flaws and not just coincidences. 

What about the Software for you to manage your games on your computer?   The software is extremely glitchy, and it causes your computer to run slower. I wish I never downloaded it on my machine. 

So if I haven’t had received anything from Monroi, how have I been able to use it the past 8 months?  Well Robert Hampton kind of saved me, it turns out that Monroi will work with a 1GB SD card, but it’s too old of technology to recognize anything larger than 2 GB’s.  He gave me an SD card, because guess what, most companies stopped making 1GB sd cards about 4 years ago, you can still find them on the web for a hefty sum. 

The good news is, if you are terrible at taking notation like I am, Plycount now makes an electronic notation taking device.  It costs less than half as much of a Monroi, and it has its own internal memory.  So you don’t have to fiddle around with SD cards.  I know two people who have them, and they haven’t had a single compliant.  So I would say, if you want an electronic notation taking device, I would go with the Plycount any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.