Marshall Beaners

Sarah, manager at the Beaners in Marshall, called today gave us the go ahead to play chess there on Sunday afternoons.

That's great! I'm looking forward to making a new blog dedicated to Marshall Beaners Chess.

Battle Creek Chess

I managed to talk my family in going with me to the chess club at Barnes & Noble in Battle Creek yesterday afternoon. My mission had 3 objectives:
1. Spend time with family.
2. Recruit some players that may want to play in Marshall on Sunday afternoons.
3. Get a game of chess in.
All three objectives were successfully met. I actually played 3 games - one with Nathanael & two with Jim. Jim's a very good player & he is better than I am (who's not these days?). I managed to win the 2nd game by winning a bishop & trapping his queen. I think it was just luck. I hung a pawn & he grabbed it, allowing me to develop with tempo & eventually his queen got trapped on the kingside of the board. It was difficult enough to win when I was playing all the time so, winning one was unlikely.

I got to watch Christian play against Larry. Larry's such a good sport - tolerating my 3 year old's way of playing. They split, by the way. :) 6yo Nathan also played Larry & he lost one & drew one.

The 200 lb Barrier

Finally, it seems I've broken the 200 pound barrier - weighing in at 198 this morning. That's 15 lbs of weight loss since mid-July. Again, it's all basically from not over-eating or snacking before bed.

It seemed like I was at 200 - 201 for such a long time.

Gonna try to hit the chess club in Battle Creek tonight.

A Michigan Man?

Sam McGuffie, an unreal running back from Texas is said to be committed to the University of Michigan for the 2008 recruiting class. It seems he may be the closest thing to Barry Sanders since Barry Sanders except Sam seems to hit the hole a little faster and he's already better than Mike Hart!

Funk

It seems I'm past the infectious funk experience of strep blood. No fevers & I'm feeling less & less fatigued everyday & more motivated to get more things done around the house.

I miss playing chess - still haven't played any. But when I do manage to start again, I think I'll start from square one & coincide it with this blog. You know, basic principles first. Those are always good things even for advanced players for some reason. A little reinforcement helps sometimes, I guess.

Starting slow might be a good idea - like longer games against Fritz or Chessmaster. Then I could progress to faster games on the internet once I've acquired a level of comfort again.

Better

I'm feeling much better, now. No fever - feeling as if I'm well on the path to full recovery. I'm still taking antibiotics, tho.

After my boy's birthday get together this weekend, I hope to be able to concentrate a little more on some chess and that I feel enough like cutting some wood! It's starting to get rather chilly.

I Got A Fever!

And the only prescription is ...MORE COWBELL!