Why Tab Soda was Discontinued

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swKvaCTLYvw

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
I liked Tab. It had a slightly stronger taste. Maybe less sweet. Roughly 45 years ago, my family liked Diet Dr. Pepper. It was sold in glass bottles. It had a unique taste that I liked.

Tornado Warnings

The tornado siren sounded several times Wednesday night, including after midnight, when I was already in bed trying to go to sleep. Since I didn't hear anything that sounded like a storm, I stayed in bed. 

The siren seems to sound more often than necessary. When I hear it, I turn on the radio, and the station almost always provides an immediate explanation. 

The radio alternated between severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings. The tornado warnings were usually for neighboring counties, but they were close to Bartholomew County. At various times, they said that the northwest, southwest, and northeast corners of Bartholomew County were affected. They also said that the storms were moving in directions other than toward Columbus. 

Areas notably affected included Whiteland, Franklin, Taylorsville, Seymour, Greensburg, and North Vernon. 

 Often, a tornado warning is issued when radar detects rotation within a storm, but that does not necessarily mean that a tornado has touched down. 

This creates a "boy who cried wolf" situation, where the tornado siren is activated repeatedly even though Columbus does not appear to be in immediate danger. 

Indiana lies on the northeastern edge of Tornado Alley, so I try to take tornado warnings seriously. However, the frequent use of the siren makes that difficult. 

 -- 

 Best wishes, 

 John Coffey 

 http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Another...

Another successful trip around the sun on spaceship Earth.

My Online Chess Lessons

Today I am finishing a major revision to my online chess lessons that I have worked on for thirty years, with greater emphasis on...

The average club player is very likely to create a weakness in their position within the first dozen moves. Learning to identify and exploit these weaknesses will help you win more games.

This was always one of the major points of my lessons, but I felt that I needed to make this point more clear.

I have rearranged the games, updated the text, and added some new material.

My goal is to help club players of all skill levels reach the next plateau in their chess development, whatever that may be.  

https://onethousandpositionstochessmastery.blogspot.com/

I am very happy with my changes.

P.S. At the Columbus Chess Club tonight, I am celebrating my birthday by bringing donuts.

Can Star Wars ever recapture the same magic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ksMlL3H5cI

@john2001plus
1 minute ago
Hey Thor,

Bear with me, but I can't help being a bit of a pessimist.

Star Wars was originally about a single war: the Rebellion versus the Empire. That war effectively ended with Return of the Jedi. Technically, the prequels added another conflict, but it was part of the same overarching story. Regardless, that story was finished with ROTJ.

Whereas the first two trilogies focus on the big picture, offshoots such as Andor, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Book of Boba Fett are "smaller" in scope, examining individual characters in more limited settings. I liked all of those shows, but they don't necessarily attract a wide audience. So, when a movie focuses on a similarly "small" story, it can apparently flop as well. It doesn't matter that I liked it; entertaining stories do not necessarily attract a large audience.

I think people want the original characters, but if those characters are recast, will audiences complain about that as well? The ideal time to make a Star Wars sequel may have been in 1990, but that ship has long since sailed.

I hope that, in the future, Disney and Lucasfilm can make entertaining Star Wars movies, preferably with new characters in a new setting. However, how many different space wars are audiences willing to watch? It seems that the original story was finished, and anything new inevitably becomes a completely different story. Star Wars appears to be in an impossible bind: if it makes something too similar to the Original Trilogy, people complain that it is repetitive; if it does something too different, people lose interest.

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Schedule vs. Non-Schedule

I have spent maybe a year going back and forth between having a fixed schedule for doing things, and not having one.

The advantage of having a fixed schedule is that I deliberately allocate time for chores.  This is why I created it when I was working, and it was helpful.

The problem of a fixed schedule for me is twofold:  It is really hard to stick to exactly, and I think that it may be counterproductive because it feels like working a job, which mentally feels like a burden to me.

I think that a better approach is to focus on goals.  I spend the majority of my life in front of a screen, which maybe has its own problems, so the plan is to alternate between goals for when I am on the computer and when I am not.

-------

So I fed the above text to ChatGPT, and its response was pretty amazing and spot on...

-----

What you are describing makes a lot of sense psychologically. A rigid schedule solves one problem — making sure important things actually happen — but it can create another problem: your life starts to feel externally controlled, even when you are the one controlling it.

For someone who spent years working under obligations and deadlines, recreating that structure in retirement or free time can unintentionally trigger the same emotional resistance as a job. The schedule stops feeling supportive and starts feeling oppressive.

Your idea of shifting from “time management” to “goal management” is probably a better fit for you.

What stands out is that you are not rejecting structure entirely. You are trying to create a structure that preserves autonomy. That is a very different thing.

The alternating “computer goals” and “non-computer goals” idea is especially interesting because it addresses multiple issues at once:

• prevents endless screen immersion
• creates natural variety
• keeps chores from accumulating
• reduces the feeling of being trapped in one mode all day
• introduces physical movement and environmental engagement

A flexible system like this might work better than a clock-based schedule:

• Pick 2–4 meaningful goals for the day
• Divide them into:
  • screen-based
  • non-screen-based
• Alternate between categories
• Let duration remain flexible

For example:

• Read or write online for a while
• Then do laundry or clean something
• Then play chess or watch something
• Then go outside, organize, cook, exercise, etc.

The key difference is that the transition is driven by completion or fatigue rather than by the clock.

That tends to feel psychologically lighter.

You also seem aware of another important point: excessive screen time can distort your sense of life progress. Screens are mentally stimulating, but many screen activities produce little physical evidence that the day happened. Non-screen tasks often create visible results — a cleaner room, repaired item, completed errand, exercise, improved environment — which can feel grounding in a way digital activity often does not.

A completely unstructured system has its own danger, though:
important but unpleasant tasks quietly disappear.

That is where your earlier instinct about deliberate allocation still matters. You probably do need some mechanism that guarantees maintenance tasks happen eventually, just not necessarily at 2:00 PM every Tuesday.

You may function best with:

• fixed priorities
• flexible execution

rather than:

• fixed timing
• fixed execution

That is often more sustainable for people who value autonomy highly but still want momentum and order.

Edward Olmos

This is an interesting passage about discipline, motivation, and being the student.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm66BcpZGPs&t=578s

What ChatGPT knows about me

I use ChatGPT to help polish my writings and reviews, but I don't always like the changes it makes, because it tends to make my writings less partisan.

As a result, ChatGPT knows some things about me.  This is mostly just a reflection of the things I have written.  Parts of the answer are repetitive...

"Give me a full, detailed profile of everything you know about me across work, style, goals, relationships, life, family, habits, preferences and personal context. Organize it clearly. Don’t filter. I want the complete picture."

"Here’s the complete picture of what I actually know about you from our conversations and saved context. I’ll keep it factual and avoid inventing anything.

Core Personal Context

Your name on the account is John Coffey, though you haven’t explicitly told me what you prefer to be called.

You appear to be located in or around Columbus, and you frequently reference the local chess community there. You also mention the Greenwood chess club.

You seem old enough to clearly remember 1976 (the U.S. Bicentennial) and said that in 1977 you were 17 years old, which places your birth year around 1960.

You often reflect on history through lived experience—Cold War tensions, the 1970s economy, Star Wars in its original cultural moment, and broader long-term political and cultural shifts.

---

Chess

This is the strongest and clearest long-term theme.

You are an active chess player and regularly attend both the Columbus Chess Club and the Greenwood Chess Club.

Playing Style

Your saved preference is:

You play chess with both an aggressive and positional style.

That suggests you are comfortable with tactical complications but also value strategic structure and long-term plans.

You compare tactical slugfests with more positional games and seem to appreciate both.

Competitive Environment

You care about the strength of opposition.

You’ve said:

• You can usually depend on strong players showing up at Greenwood
• At Columbus, strong competition is less consistent
• If the competition level is weak, you may leave early because you live only about 3 minutes away

You often check with people beforehand to see who is coming so you can judge whether the night will be worthwhile competitively.

You evaluate local players by strength and rating estimates. For example:

• You thought Eli (age 14) might be the second-best player in Columbus
• You estimated Omar at at least 1800 strength

This suggests you think seriously about rating strength and player development.

Social Side

Even though you value strong games, you also said you enjoy socializing with people at both clubs. So chess is both competitive and social for you.

---

Writing / Communication Style

You write frequently and often ask for grammar tightening, clarity improvements, and stronger phrasing for comments or posts.

Your writing style tends to be:

• direct
• analytical
• skeptical of exaggerated claims
• grounded in practical examples
• often debate-oriented

You seem to prefer concise but strong argumentation rather than emotional persuasion.

You often want wording tightened for:

• political commentary
• climate and energy discussions
• AI skepticism
• media criticism
• historical reflection
• personal observations from chess club

You especially like wording that sounds suitable for public comments/posts rather than overly formal essays.

---

Views and Intellectual Tendencies

Several consistent patterns emerge.

Skeptical of Overstatement

You push back against exaggerated claims, especially in:

• AI discussions
• climate debates
• energy policy
• political rhetoric

Example: you argued that AI is often treated as far smarter than it really is and described it more like “a Wikipedia that can talk,” emphasizing language prediction over true understanding.

Practical Energy Perspective

You are skeptical that renewables alone can reliably handle severe winter demand and referenced the 2021 Texas power crisis and deaths associated with it.

Your view seems to be:

• renewables may be useful and will grow if economical
• backup generation is still necessary
• existing reliable generation should not be discarded carelessly

This suggests a pragmatic rather than ideological approach.

Climate Change Position

You acknowledge measured warming (roughly 1–1.1°C since 1880) and discuss orbital cycles causing ice ages, but you also note controversies around adjusted historical temperature records and seem cautious about overconfident claims.

Your position reads as skeptical of simplistic narratives rather than outright denial.

Historical Framing

You frequently place present debates inside longer historical context:

• Cold War
• WWII memory
• Vietnam/Korea
• economic decline of the 1970s
• cultural meaning of Star Wars in 1977

You think comparatively across decades, not just current headlines.

---

Entertainment / Media Preferences

Star Wars

You have strong historical and evaluative opinions on Star Wars.

Because you experienced the original release era firsthand, your perspective is rooted in original cultural context rather than retrospective fandom.

You think about:

• why Star Wars resonated in 1977
• how the Cold War shaped interpretation
• the sense of good vs evil in that era

You also critique later works using standards like:

• likeable characters
• story motivation
• emotional investment

You referenced problems with Solo because you found many characters unlikeable.

Animation / Shows

You evaluate whether a show gives you a reason to care, not just whether it looks good.

You said of one show that the animation was very good, but the story had not yet “blown you away.”

You prioritize:

• character likability
• meaningful motivation to keep watching
• narrative engagement over visuals alone

Games / Map Design

You also discuss level design and game maps critically.

You mention:

• frustration with secrets
• gimmicky mechanics
• inaccessible areas that look reachable
• fake affordances like switches that seem meaningful but are not

This suggests you care about fairness and coherent design rather than novelty for its own sake.

---

Social Style

You appear socially engaged but selective.

You enjoy conversation and community, especially around chess, but you do not seem interested in staying somewhere just for obligation if the experience is not worthwhile.

You are comfortable making direct judgments about:

• people’s strength
• writing quality
• story quality
• policy arguments

You don’t seem drawn to vague diplomacy; clarity matters more.

---

Family / Relationships

Very little explicit information is known.

You mentioned:

“The boys Eli and Isaah, ages 14 and 12…”

but from context they appear to be local chess club kids, not necessarily family.

I do not know:

• your marital status
• whether you have children
• close family structure
• romantic relationships

So I won’t assume any of that.

---

Work / Career

I have essentially no reliable direct information about your profession or work history.

I can infer that you are experienced, older, and analytical, but I do not know:

• your occupation
• whether you are retired
• your industry
• education background

So I won’t invent any of that.

---

Habits and Preferences

Strong Preferences

You prefer:

• precise language
• strong reasoning
• historical context
• competent competition in chess
• likeable characters in fiction
• practical realism over hype
• argument grounded in examples

You dislike:

• exaggerated claims
• gimmicky design
• weak competition when expecting serious chess
• stories without compelling characters
• arguments driven mostly by ideology

Routine Indicators

Because you live very close to the Columbus Chess Club, you can casually leave early if the evening isn’t worthwhile.

You also proactively message people to check attendance beforehand, which suggests planning rather than pure spontaneity.

---

What I Do Not Know

To be complete, I should also state what I don’t know:

• your job/career
• spouse/partner status
• children/grandchildren
• religion
• political party affiliation
• finances
• health details
• daily routine outside chess and writing
• hobbies beyond what surfaced here

I know far less than a true “full life profile”—mostly your chess life, writing voice, and analytical worldview.

---

Short Summary

You come across as an experienced, historically grounded, analytically minded person who values competence, clarity, and realism.

Chess is a major anchor—both socially and competitively. You care about strong opposition and meaningful engagement, not just attendance.

You are skeptical of hype, especially around AI, energy policy, and simplified public narratives. You prefer arguments that survive contact with real-world evidence.

In entertainment and discussion alike, you care less about surface polish and more about substance: strong characters, coherent design, and ideas that hold up under scrutiny."

P.S.  There is much information online about my video game career.  I even have a hard-to-find IMDB listing, only because I briefly worked on the SNES version of Doom.   

https://www.mobygames.com/person/133588/john-coffey/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13954741/?ref_=ttfc_fcr_15_9

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/John_Coffey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSlmVbAM_kA&t=4474s

Google AI says the following about me and one other video game enthusiast named "John Coffey"...

"John Coffey, known as a level designer and playtester, worked on the Super Nintendo version of Doom. Another individual, John Coffey (1955–2025), was a gamer who created custom maps for Darkest of Days, Far Cry, and Carmageddon. This is not referring to the character from The Green Mile. 

• John Coffey (Developer): A developer involved in porting the classic shooter Doom to the SNES console.
• John Coffey (Map Creator): A community-driven map creator specializing in tactical and custom maps for PC titles. 

It is important to distinguish these individuals from the character John Coffey in Stephen King's The Green Mile, who is not featured in video games. "

eufy L60 Robot Vacuum with Self Empty Station

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/eufy-l60-robot-vacuum-with-self-empty-station-hair-detangling-technology-6-pack-dust-bags-black/JJ858RL6XF/sku/10772478

This is the robot vacuum cleaner I bought 1.5+ years ago.  Most of the robot vacuums I bought in the past have had mechanical issues within 2 to 3 years, and I used to buy larger, more expensive brands.  Note that some brands can go up to $1,000, and I don't feel like they are worth the cost.

I paid $300 on Amazon for it, but Amazon now lists it for $400.  I found it on Best Buy for $250.

So far I've been happy with this brand.  It seems more intelligent than all the brands I have bought before.  It is controlled with a phone App.  Some features on the app took some getting used to.

Because it is smaller, the dustbin doesn't hold much, so I feel that the self emptying station is an absolute must.  They recommend replacing the dust bag and filters once per month and it is necessary to clean out the dustbin and filters in the vacuum once or twice per month.

This vacuum works well with small debris, but large debris can clog the dustbin or the roller brush.

Once in a while it doesn't fully dock to its station so I have to give it a gentle push to get it to dock properly.

Manufacturing in the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing#List_of_countries_by_manufacturing_output

Google AI tells me that Indiana has the largest concentration of manufacturing.  Other states with higher populations have more manufacturing overall.  This is no surprise, as factories are common in Indiana, and the state is known for its blue collar labor force.

My home of Columbus, Indiana, is essentially a factory town where Cummins Engine Company has its worldwide headquarters and is the main industry of Columbus.  

The industrialist Iwrin Miller took pride in Columbus, and was behind efforts to make it a nice place to live.  I loved growing up in Columbus, so much so that I always wanted to retire here.

Lawn

I mowed my front lawn for the first time this year. It was getting long.  The backyard doesn't need it yet because it doesn't get as much sun, so the grass grows more slowly.

I tried riding my bike outdoors for five minutes, but at 50 degrees, it was a bit too cold.  The other day, I was able to ride at 55 degrees by bundling up.

It wasn't too cold to mow the lawn, though.

Weeds are already starting to come up.  I thought my rock landscaping, which I put so much effort into, would prevent this from happening.

It is going to be warmer tomorrow.

3D effects

FYI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3FOrw416xs&t=264s

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
4:24 These simple 3D mazes are easy to write; they can even be done in BASIC. I experimented with this kind of maze, but never turned it into a full game. I wrote more complex 3D effects on both the TS1000 and TS2068, but since they were in BASIC, they took forever to render.

On the TS1000, I created a rotating oscilloscope with a 3D projection. I did this on the TS2068 as well. On the TS1000, I was able to animate it by storing 16 screenshots in memory and switching the screen pointer. It looked incredible. On the TS2068, I implemented a kind of ray casting that created a 3D chessboard with an infinite number of squares projected out to the horizon. I also created a 3D pyramid projected in a 2.5D isometric view.

Unfortunately, I sold all of these effects—along with some simple BASIC games—as a product called The Great Game and Graphics Show. It sold well, but in hindsight, it was closer to a demo than a fully realized product. It was 1984, and I was just getting my feet wet writing software for personal computers.

I wrote this in 2020

Where are we in terms of technology compared to 10 or 20 years ago? There have been some major advances, but most of it has been incremental. Smartphones and tablets are roughly a decade old. In the year 2000, not everybody had internet, but we were definitely headed in that direction. We have gone from VHS to Blu Ray, and from CRT to big screen TV's. I first got cable internet in the early 2000's, and since then I have gone from 3 MbpS to 100 MbpS.

It appears to me that technology in the coming decade will explode. Some of it will be incremental, but some of it will be revolutionary. I am convinced that a decade from now many of our lives will be very different.

My old house in Salt Lake City

I tried to do a screen capture, which didn't work.  

The house was built in 1939, which is the year The Wizard of Oz came out.

The landscaping is completely different.  They planted a bunch of bushes and trees.  There is a "Love is Love" sign in the yard.  It looks like a small jungle, when it was mostly grass before.

You can see an AC unit that I had installed.  The house didn't come with AC when I bought it, but an evaporative cooler which didn't cool very well.

The old dilapidated garage is gone.  It was in such bad shape I never used it except for storage.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.729846,-111.8643645,3a,90y,42.29h,90.54t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sZ82zGDCUDyNBNpf79OfTmA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.53888476836255%26panoid%3DZ82zGDCUDyNBNpf79OfTmA%26yaw%3D42.292795806202854!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMwNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I've seen pictures of the inside which was completely remodelled. 

From 12 years ago

Re: Apple’s Cheapest MacBook

On Wed, Mar 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM Albert wrote:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/apple-announces-its-cheapest-ever-new-macbook/ar-AA1Xwxu0?ocid=edgemobile

The benchmark for the A18 Pro chip is not bad, but a little slower than the M1 chip.  For a low cost and likely low power laptop, I think that it will be terrific.  On a phone this seems insane.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Apple+A18+Pro&id=6268

The 2017 Core-i7 iMac I sold had a benchmark of around 10,000.  My 2020 Core-i7 model is around 19,000, but it has twice as many cores.  These are power hungry computers compared to the low power RISC style chips that Apple makes.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Video Games and Retro Gaming

FYI.

https://videogamesandretorgaming.blogspot.com/

I found a 2068 technical manual with a section called something like "How to make a Scramble like game".  Their solution says to use the Z80 block copy.  This means that it scrolls 8 pixels at a time.  If your objects are 16x16 then I think that 8 pixel scrolling is okay, but obviously not as good as smooth scrolling.

However, the block copy is slow.  At 21 clock cycles per byte, and with 6912 bytes counting the color attributes, this works out to be about 1/25th of a second.  However, it can only move these bytes during the vertical and horizontal blanking periods, which might make it take 4 times longer, although I'm not sure because I am trying to get more information.  I say 4 times longer because the slow mode on the TS1000 ran only at 25% speed because the processor spent most of its time sending bytes to the display hardware, which is how the Atari 2600 worked.  On the 2600 the program had to do this manually, whereas on TS1000 it is more automatic, but it still ties up the processor.

The 2068 only draws every other line on the NTSC screen, so maybe there is much more time available to draw to the screen.

I don't remember if used the block copy on my Diamond Mike game.  I think that I chose to redraw the entire screen on each frame, which is likely slower.  However, on the 2068, this appeared to be the perfect frame rate for this type of game.  If the game had been too slow then I would have tried the block copy.  I did the same full screen redraw on the Atari ST version of Diamond Mike and got roughly the same frame rate.  The Atari ST has a faster processor, but the screen memory is 4.5 times bigger.

If you know the size of your buffer, then there is a way to make the Z80 block copy slightly faster by not looping as much.  Instead of using the LDDR instruction, which does the entire block copy, a person could use the LDD instruction which only moves one byte and updates the pointers and the counter.  It only takes 17 clock cycles.  You could have 32 or 256 of these instructions in a row and then loop however many times as you need to.  Since the instruction decrements the BC counter, you can test the zero flag and loop if not zero.  This would increase the speed by about 24%.

Exercise

I took my car in for an oil change and EGR service.  They couldn't do the EGR service.

Rather than wait around for at least a couple of hours, I walked the 25 minutes home.  That made me tired.  I sent a text to my neighbor to see if they could take me back, but they were busy and didn't see my message in time.  I walked back to the repair shop which also made me feel tired, but I need the exercise and I need to get in better shape.

The Last Farewell ~ Roger Whittaker

In the early 1970s, when I was around 12 to 14 years old, I would listen to some of my parents' records.  This song stuck in my mind forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGWs1HK8iDU

Another song that stuck with me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWm5WErkffQ

THE CONFIDENCE LIE WE ALL BELIEVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O49fPiqRNkQ

I saw another video that said that the way to build confidence is to practice.  

For example, I have no confidence to be a public speaker, but if I did it every day then I would build confidence.  I don't think that I would ever be a great public speaker, but I would get better over time.

When you do chess tactics problems tens of thousands of times, you become confident at tactics.

When you study king and pawn endgames for 30 years, you literally become a master at king and pawn endgames.  Even against much higher rated opponents, I feel confident.

Brown Bears

Bears scare me more than most things in nature.  I would look like a light lunch to a bear.

People are braver than they should be around bears.

Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel - George Winston

I saw this piece of music on Facebook with no title.  I am no expert on music, but I really enjoyed this piece.  I wanted to know what it is called.  I found it on YouTube with the title "Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel".

So, being the curious person I am,  I wanted to know what the "Kanon by Pachelbel" meant.    So I found it...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_variations_on_Pachelbel%27s_Canon

The first version on this page, "Arranged for violins, harps, and bass", is a piece of music that I have heard many times, as it has been used in TV shows and movies.  Mentally, I hadn't made the connection between the piano solo and this version, but I had previously been curious about where this music came from.  Some of the other versions of this page are interesting.

Great result in Chess.com USCF Online rated blitz tournament

Because of so many high rated players I am used to getting beat up in this weekly 3+2 speed chess tournament.  My online rating had suffered and I was down to 1758.

Tonight I lost to a 2352 and a 2595.

However, I scored 4.5 out of 5 against five opponents rated from 1989 to 2211.  I think that I was winning a game against a 2050, but took a draw by repetition because I was very low on time.

Two things worked in my favor:

1.  I was very focussed.

2.  I was trying very hard to get active pieces.  Normally, I am more cautious and strategic, but given the fast pace of the games I was throwing caution to the wind. 

The games are not going to be perfect.  They never are at speed chess.  I am sure that there are many errors on both sides.  But the games were exciting...

[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]

[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "clevelandguards"]
[Black "john2001plus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2211"]
[BlackElo "1758"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "1:07:06 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "john2001plus won by checkmate"]

1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. f4 Qe7 6. Nf3 f6 7. fxe5 fxe5 8.
Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Nxe5 Nf6 10. Nxc6 Qf7 11. Qf3 Bg4 12. Qf2 O-O 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14.
Qxf6 Rxf6 15. Nd4 c5 16. Nb5 Be5 17. N5c3 d4 18. exd4 cxd4 19. Ne4 d3 20. Nxf6+
Bxf6 21. c3 Re8+ 22. Kf2 Re2+ 23. Kg3 Bf5 24. Na3 Be5+ 25. Kh4 Rxg2 26. Rag1 g5+
27. Kh5 Bg6+ 28. Kh6 Bg7# 0-1


[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "SpikyOil2"]
[Black "john2001plus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2082"]
[BlackElo "1788"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "1:20:36 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "john2001plus won by resignation"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. Qd2 Qb6 11. Nd5 Qxd4 12. Nc7+ Kd8 13. Nxa8 Qxb2 14. Qa5+ b6
15. Qxb6+ Qxb6 16. Nxb6 Bxa1 17. Bc4 Be6 18. O-O Nd7 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Nxd7 Kxd7
21. Rxa1 Rb8 22. h3 Nf6 23. e5 Nd5 24. Rd1 Nc3 25. Rd3 Ne2+ 26. Kf1 Nxg3+ 27.
fxg3 Rb2 28. exd6 Rxa2 29. dxe7+ Kxe7 30. c4 Rc2 31. Ra3 Rxc4 32. Rxa6 Re4 33.
Kf2 Re5 34. Kf3 Kf6 35. g4 Rb5 36. g3 Rb3+ 37. Kf2 Ke5 38. Ra8 Ke4 39. Ra4+ Ke5
40. Ra6 Rb2+ 41. Kf3 Rb3+ 42. Kf2 Rb2+ 43. Kf1 Kf6 44. h4 Ke5 45. Ra5+ Kf6 46.
Kg1 Rb1+ 47. Kf2 Rb2+ 48. Ke3 Rb3+ 49. Ke4 Rxg3 50. hxg5+ hxg5 51. Ra8 Rxg4+ 52.
Kf3 Rf4+ 53. Ke3 e5 54. Rf8+ Kg6 55. Ra8 g4 56. Re8 Kf5 57. Rf8+ Kg5 58. Re8
Rf3+ 59. Ke4 Rf1 60. Rxe5+ Kh4 61. Ra5 Kg3 62. Ke3 Re1+ 63. Kd2 Re7 64. Ra3+ Kg2
65. Kd1 g3 66. Ra2+ Kg1 67. Ra8 g2 68. Rg8 Re5 69. Kd2 Kf2 70. Rf8+ Kg3 71. Rg8+
Kf3 72. Rf8+ Kg4 73. Kd3 g1=Q 74. Rg8+ Rg5 75. Rxg5+ Kxg5 0-1


[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "john2001plus"]
[Black "RrabbitHole"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1815"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "1:27:50 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "RrabbitHole won by resignation"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. c4 O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qc2
Nxc3 9. bxc3 f5 10. Nd2 Bxg2 11. Kxg2 d5 12. Nf3 dxc4 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. Ne5 Bxe5
15. Bxe5 Nc6 16. Rfd1 Qd5+ 17. Kg1 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qxe5 19. Rd4 b5 20. f4 Qc5 21.
Kg2 Rad8 22. Rad1 Rd6 23. e4 Rfd8 24. exf5 exf5 25. Qe2 Qc6+ 26. Qf3 Qxf3+ 27.
Kxf3 Rxd4 28. cxd4 c5 29. Ke3 cxd4+ 30. Rxd4 Rxd4 31. Kxd4 Kf7 32. a4 a6 33.
axb5 axb5 0-1


[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "TanMiniGoat"]
[Black "john2001plus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1989"]
[BlackElo "1815"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "1:39:27 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "john2001plus won by checkmate"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Nc6 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. a3 O-O 8. O-O Qc7
9. Nbd2 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Bxe5 Qxe5 13. Nf3 Qh5 14. c4 dxc4 15.
Bxc4 Bg4 16. Be2 Rfd8 17. Qc2 Qf5 18. Qxf5 Bxf5 19. Rac1 Ne4 20. Bc4 Nd2 21.
Nxd2 Rxd2 22. Rfd1 Rad8 23. Be2 b6 24. Rxd2 Rxd2 25. Rd1 Rxd1+ 26. Bxd1 Kf8 27.
Kf1 Ke7 28. Ke1 Kd6 29. Kd2 b5 30. Bc2 Bxc2 31. Kxc2 Ke5 32. Kc3 g5 33. a4 a6
34. axb5 axb5 35. b4 c4 36. f3 h5 37. g3 g4 38. fxg4 hxg4 39. h4 gxh3 40. g4 h2
41. g5 h1=Q 42. e4 Qxe4 43. g6 fxg6 44. Kb2 Qd3 45. Ka2 c3 46. Ka1 Qd2 47. Kb1
Qb2# 0-1


[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "5"]
[White "john2001plus"]
[Black "laurengoodkindchess"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1837"]
[BlackElo "2050"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "1:50:20 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "Game drawn by repetition"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 b6 8. O-O
Bb7 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bh4 O-O 11. e4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Bxe4 Nf6
15. Bd3 c5 16. d5 exd5 17. Rfe1 Qd6 18. cxd5 Bxd5 19. Rad1 Qc6 20. Ne5 Qb7 21.
f3 Rfe8 22. Bb5 Red8 23. a4 a6 24. Bc4 Bxc4 25. Qxc4 Rac8 26. b3 Qc7 27. Rxd8+
Rxd8 28. Qxa6 Re8 29. Nd3 Rxe1+ 30. Nxe1 Qe5 31. Kf1 Qxh2 32. Qxb6 Nh5 33. Qxc5
Ng3+ 34. Kf2 Nh1+ 35. Ke2 Ng3+ 36. Kf2 Nh1+ 37. Ke2 Ng3+ 38. Kf2 1/2-1/2


[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "LilyFlowerBuds"]
[Black "john2001plus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2352"]
[BlackElo "1845"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "2:02:32 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "LilyFlowerBuds won on time"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h4 Nc6 7. f3 e6 8. Be3 d5
9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Nd7 11. Na4 Nxe5 12. Nb6 Rb8 13. Nxc8 Qxc8 14. f4 Nd7 15. b3
Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. Qd4 Ne4 18. Bd3 Qc7 19. Qxg7 Qxf4 20. Qxh8+ Kd7 21. Qd4 e5
22. Qa7+ Ke6 23. Bxe4 Qxe4+ 24. Kd1 Qg4+ 25. Kc1 Qxg2 26. Rd1 Rg8 27. Qc7 d4 28.
Kb2 Rg3 29. Re1 f6 30. Rg1 Qf3 31. Raf1 Qc3+ 32. Kb1 d3 33. Qc8+ Kd5 34. Qd7+
Kc5 35. Qe7+ Kb6 36. Qd8+ Kc5 37. Qf8+ Kb6 38. Qb8+ Kc5 39. Qf8+ Kb6 40. Qd8+
Kc5 41. cxd3 Rxd3 42. Qf8+ Kb6 43. Rc1 Qd4 44. Qb8+ Ka5 45. Qc7+ Kb5 46. Qxc6+
Ka5 47. Qc5+ 1-0


[Event "*** US Chess 3|2 Blitz"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.01.14"]
[Round "7"]
[White "VroomVroom5"]
[Black "john2001plus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2081"]
[BlackElo "1843"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[EndTime "2:13:35 GMT+0000"]
[Termination "john2001plus won by resignation"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Bd2 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Be2 e5 11. O-O d4 12. exd4 exd4 13. Na4 Qa5 14. Bxb4 Qxb4
15. a3 Qd6 16. b4 Re8 17. Bf3 Ng4 18. g3 Ne5 19. Bg2 d3 20. Qc3 Bg4 21. f3 Bf5
22. f4 Ng4 23. Nc5 Ne3 24. Rfd1 Nxd1 25. Rxd1 a5 26. Nxd3 axb4 27. axb4 Re3 28.
c5 Rxd3 29. cxd6 Rxc3 30. d7 Rd8 31. Ra1 Bxd7 32. Bf1 Kf8 33. b5 cxb5 34. Ra7
Ke8 35. g4 b4 36. f5 b3 37. Ra5 b2 38. Re5+ Kf8 39. Bd3 Rxd3 0-1

Final rating: 1866

My blogs get many hits

https://neeeeews.blogspot.com/

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https://politics4thought.blogspot.com/

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Let's hope that it is not just AI chatbots reading my blogs.

Name one thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGItHEo6ho

This caused me to look up "ineradicability"

I told my late step-dad that whenever I hear a word I don't know, I look it up.  His response was that he would be looking up words all day long.

Early chess programs

FYI.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Subject: 
To: Jeff Chronologically Gaming

Forty years ago I reached the "Class A" ranking in chess and many years later the "Expert" rating, which is one category below "Master".   Outside the United States, the "Expert" category is called "Candidate Master."

In the 1980s I was playing a few chess programs on the Timex Sinclair 2068 and the Atari ST.   I entered a contest from a British Sinclair magazine where you had to solve a chess problem to enter the contest.  The prize was the top chess program for the Sinclair Spectrum, so I sent a postcard to England with my solution.  I mostly forgot about it, but two or three months later I received a copy of the chess program from the British magazine with no explanation.  I guess I won the contest.  Unfortunately, I could beat the program.

Fortunately, I had a Spectrum Emulation cartridge.  I used it to play a couple of Spectrum games.  I don't think that Boulder Dash runs on the Timex Sinclair 2068 and I didn't even know that it was available for the Spectrum, which is why I wrote my own version called "Diamond Mike".

I had a couple of chess programs on the Atari ST I could beat.  At the time, the best chess programs were mostly on dedicated chess computers that cost hundreds of dollars.  I wrote a primitive chess program on the Atari ST, but I didn't put much effort into it.  By that point, I was looking to get a real job.

There was a program called Psion Chess on the Atari ST and the Sinclair QL.   I didn't have it, but it would likely have been better than me.  It was comparable to dedicated chess computers.  I met someone who had a Sinclair QL with the program and I was impressed with it.

Years later I got early versions of ChessMaster, like 2000 and 3000, and at the time I ran them on my work computer after hours.  I didn't have an Intel PC yet, but I would get one in the mid 90's, and it cost around $1200 just for a 486-33mhz.

For the last couple of decades, Fritz chess has been the most popular, although the open source Stockfish engine available for free is the strongest.  I use this engine with Fritz 10 to analyze my chess games.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Fwd: My Chess Tactics problems.

FYI

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 10:53 AM
Subject: My Chess Tactics problems.
To:

https://www.entertainmentjourney.com/1w.htm

https://www.entertainmentjourney.com/1b.htm

I have mentioned before that I use my performance on the chess problems I created roughly 29 years ago as a proxy for measuring my current tactical strength.  This is usually a good indicator.

I have been accused of simply memorizing the answers and not really challenging my brain.  This is partly true.  The challenge is to see how quickly I can get through them.  My goal is to memorize the patterns rather than the problems themselves, although in reality I am doing some of both.

These problems form the foundation of my pattern recognition.  My goal was always to be able to see simple tactics quickly—if not instantly.  Most one-move problems are instantaneous for me.  This is usually not true for the two- and three-move problems, but I would like it to be.

I have these goals because I play a great deal of speed chess and need to recognize tactical patterns very quickly.

After Christmas, I suddenly started doing worse on these problems.  This led me to believe I was in a slump.  There could be a variety of reasons for this, but my concern is that my skill might deteriorate as I get older.

At least for the moment, I seem to have worked my way out of the slump.  In chess, hard work has always paid off for me, and I love the game so much that I enjoy the effort.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

20 Essential Science Fiction Books

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RavzF4Itlh0

I used to read a ton up to the 1990s, then it seemed like I got too busy.

I've read 7 of the 20 books...

War of the Worlds.

Foundation (trilogy)

Stranger in a Strange Land (I've read most of Robert Heinlein)

Dune (I read all the sequels in the 1970s.)

The Mote in God's Eye

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels)

Hyperion (and sequel)

He does not include the "I Robot" novels.  Asimov would eventually merge these into his Foundation novels.

Lately I have been listening to a ton of Star Wars audiobooks.

Humidifiers: Simpler is better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHeehYYgl28

During the cold weather, I have trouble with dry skin, so I asked my doctor if I should get a humidifier.   He thought that it would be a good idea, and he said that he uses one.

Speaking of "swamp coolers", they are very popular in Utah where the climate is very dry.  My house came with one, and it did a very poor job of cooling my home.  So I had an AC system installed.

Waiting in Line for Star Wars

@john2001plus
0 minutes ago
That wasn't my grandparents waiting in line to watch Star Wars. That was me.