Winning

[Sept 2010 - after losing a chess game where opponent wanted me to fill in both result slips and hand in the result - I think it is usual for the winner to hand in the result and for both players to fill in a result slip, if only to make sure the correct result is handed in. Don Heron]

Do you want to win twice?
Where is your heart?
Where is your art?
Is it as cold as ice?
Do you want to win twice?
Where is your grace?
Give me some space.
What about me?
Please let me be.
Do you want to win twice?

Bearded Dragon

It was reported in the Scotsman on Wednesday 15th August 2012 that Scottish SPCA workers reported a sighting of a bearded dragon on a country road in Kirkudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway. It was spotted by a couple walking on Sunday morning. The bearded dragon was spotted sitting in the sunshine on a country road. The Scottish SPCA staff at Cardonald, Glasgow are puzzled as to how it came to be there, in such a remote location.

Incident at the Winter Gardens

The last time that the Blackpool congress was held at the Winter Gardens, one of the players was sitting quietly, outside the playing area, drinking a coffee. Suddenly someone, with a mad look, stands behind him and punches him twice then runs out the building.

Digital Chess Clocks

Earlier this year (2012) three players in the Wandering Dragons Chess Club; Alan Minnican, Nicol Bathie and Richard Carter; bought very good digital chess clocks (Saitek Competition Pro Game Clocks - better than most other clocks and only one step down from the Chronos game clock) for the club. The actual purchase of eight clocks at thirty pounds each was made by Alan Minnican from Chess and Bridge when he was down in London. We had seen other clubs getting digital chess clocks: namely the Edinburgh Chess Club and Edinburgh West Chess club. I (Don Heron) remember playing against Edinburgh Chess Club when they first got theirs: I was black and they had set the clock on my left hand side and, as is my right, wanted it moved to my right hand side but the only way they could do it was to move the players. At present we too are afflicted by a lack of understanding although Alan Minnican keeps reassuring us that they are easy to set. I (Don Heron) have since taken one home to play with it and I know how to set it to the time control of the Edinburgh Chess League. I will now pass on these instructions:-

• Turn clock upside down and observe the on/off switch and the notes of the different modes. Note especially mode 3B (second tournament mode) and 7A(first user mode).
• Move on/off switch from off to the other extreme (on with no sound or light).
• Press pause then hold down pause for a while.
• Observe the big round button on the left. Note that it is actually 4 buttons in one: up, down, left and right.
• Press left until the narrative "tournament" and possibly also -- appears on the left hand clock.
• Press down twice: 3A appears then 3B. You are now in tournament mode B (i.e. 3B).
• Press edit button. The left/right buttons now point to the setting to be adjusted and the up/down buttons change them.
• Change the primary to 1:25, the number of moves to 34, the time added to 0:00, the secondary to 00:20, the number of moves to 00 and the time added to 0:00.
• Press store.
• Use up button to get to 7A.
• Press store again.
• To start the clock for the game make the button which is going to be on the black side up (ready to press down).
• Press pause the hold down pause until the number of moves (34) and the time control (1:25) appears.
• You are now ready to start by black starting white's clock.
• If the clock is not on the side of the board that black prefers then simply press the black button and pause and hold pause as before.
• I recommend that we reserve user setting 7A on all the clocks for the time control of the Chess Edinburgh League otherwise it would take too long to set them up for a league match. In the meantime we could start by using one or two on top boards.

As mentioned before the top chess clock is the Chronos which has hundreds, maybe thousands, of modes (I have not counted them) and twelve user modes. As a consequence, setting up the user-modes is more complicated: the first problem is deciding which mode to use as a starting point for a user-mode. To get into edit just pause the centre-button (the only movable part) then hold the button until it beeps. Then do your editing. Then save by holding the button until it beeps. To enter any of the first 4 user settings just press the red button - once for setting 1, twice for setting 2 etc. To reset to the start of the game press the red button 5 times. To turn off press and hold the red button and touch the left-hand clock "button" 5 times. Note that the "buttons" to start/stop black's/white's clock do not move but are heat sensitive which means that touching them with a chess piece does nothing. The things I like most about the Chronos is that it has only one moving part and has a large 6 digit, easy to read, display. What I like least is setting it up and the cost. On the other hand the club clocks seem easy to set up and were a reasonable price and seem tougher and a better display than most of the other chess clocks in use.

Updated Oct 2012