Announcing a new chess club: Sugar House Chess Club

Club:   Sugar House Chess Club  (Replacement for the now defunct Coffee Club.)

Information:  All Skill Levels Welcome!

Location:  Chick-fil-A, 1206 East 2100 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84106

Web page:  http://www.entertainmentjourney.com/  

Time:  Meets Tuesday nights from 6:30 to 10 PM.

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

University of Utah Chess Club going strong

The Fall of Hyperion

Just read Hyperion and and its second part: Fall of Hyperion (audio books). This is one of the most deeply rich science fiction books I have ever read.

Quick note on studying chess tactics

Kevin,

 

Lately I have been studying tactics pretty heavy.  I am most likely averaging at least an hour a day, although much of that time has been on the weekend.

 

I have been mostly focused on the chess tactics trainer because Josh said that he made it to 2000.   On the iPhone, after much effort I made it up to the 2025.   I am still in the 1900’s on the iPad but working on it.

 

I find that my head is swimming with tactics, especially the kinds of positions where you would not suspect that a tactic existed.   I dream about tactics, which is a good thing.   My goal here is to get to 2100 at tactics within months, and maybe 2200 at tactics in a year or two.

 

I find that if I focus on one thing, that I can make big advances in that one thing before moving onto something else.  For example, I was way behind on my goals on the tactics on my website, but after days of repetition I was somewhat surprised to make my goals.

 

I have seen some improvement in my results and my rating.

Best wishes,

John Coffey

 

2011 Utah Team Chess Championship

And to think the other day I left the gas cap off.

We were at the Franklin Covey building temporarily for a year. The views were great.

Cason Nuss soccer game Russiaville Indiana Western High school 2013-09-04

My Nephew, Carson Nuss

Geneva Belding, Bill Hannah, Paul Belding outside Olive Garden, Clarksville Indiana

Hop

Double Rainbow. Rocky Mountains

re: Long Days of Summer chess tournament in American Fork Utah.

Shahram and I left my house 8:45 Saturday morning and thanks in part to traffic problems got back to Salt Lake City 10:30 that night.   We were both hungry since there was no dinner break, so we stopped for food and didn't get home until about 11:20 PM.  

Although it was fun tournament, this felt for me like too long of a day.  I remember in the last round I had a headache, probably from the tension in the tournament.  (Ibuprofen should be standard chess tournament equipment.)   Shahram commented that in the future he didn't want to drive this far to play such a long tournament.

On the other hand, I would probably do this again because I am such a masochist for chess.  However, I was pretty tired the next day.  Sometimes in the past when I would overexert myself I would get sick later.  I am hoping that this doesn't happen.

We moved out of the Franklin Covey building after 1 year. Packed up cube in preparation to move.

Fwd: Chess

John,

I wanted to thank you again for the chess instruction you gave me back
in June. Your insights were extremely useful, and pointed me in the
direction I needed to go to improve my chess skills and understanding
the game. I followed your advice and ordered the two books you
recommended, specifically Bobby Fischer teaches Chess has been of
great help. I've also been studying tactics off of your website, not
as often as I'd like, but as often as possible.

I wanted to verify that you'll be at the coffee shop tomorrow night as
I have a few things I plan to leave at the counter for you to thank
you for your time. It was great to meet you.

Thanks again,
Kate Pettipiece

RE: Amazon Prime?

I have Amazon Prime because they discounted it down to $59 late last year.

 

The video selection is so bad that I don’t use it. 

 

I just signed up for Netflix streaming.

 

The free 2 day shipping is nice.   It makes buy from Amazon more often.

 

 

Saw at my barbershop.

Hot

Record heat hits Utah, more expected this weekend :: The Salt Lake Tribune

http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile3/56526586-219/record-heat-broke-utah.html.csp

Franklin Covey Building (where I work)

Re: Tournaments this Saturday

I went into this tournament to get Grand Prix points but failed completely.  I think that my problem was recent poor sleep. I was actually extremely pleased with the way I played my first three games until I hung my queen late in the third game.  Finally in the 4th round I thought that my opponent Abhinav played like a 2000 player and I appeared to run out of steam and play at best like an 1800.  The previous time that I faced him I thought that he was very tough to beat so maybe this B player is someone to watch out for. 

After winning some tournaments recently, including the speed tournament last week, it was inevitable that I would have one bad tournament. 

For those interested, my  games can be found at ...  http://chessplayeratlarge.blogspot.com

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Next to the coffee shop where I play chess is a flower shop where they have a dog that I give treats to. Of course, he likes to see me.

His name is "Stack."

Meal at Persian restaurant: Lamb, chicken and Filet Minon

Goslings at work.

Sunset From the University of Utah

Re: Grand Prix Report – Game-in-Sixty

Allan,

So far this year I am the Utah state Senior champion, Game/60 champion, and Expert Class co-champion.  It seems not likely to me that I could win the actual State Championship in November, but it is a remote possibility. 

The best player in the state is a 15 year old boy, Kayden Troff, who is currently playing in the U.S. Championship because he got a special invitation as an up and coming player.   He is so far above everybody else in Utah that it is no contest.  He is an International Master and could turn pro. He mostly does not bother with Utah tournaments anymore. 

It doesn't take much to interfere with my concentration.  Cheerleaders would do it.   :-)

Best wishes,

John Coffey

On May 5, 2013, at 3:48 PM, Allan Branaman  wrote:

Way to go! Kick some ass! I'm cheering for you. Do they have cheerleaders there? I guess it'd be a big distraction.

 

From: John Coffey

Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2013 3:46 PM

 

FYI...

From: Steve Hoisington 
Date: May 5, 2013, 11:34:38 AM MDT

"A total of sixty-four (64) players have now earned GP Points in the six (6) GP events held so far...

The year-to-date race remains close between John Coffey and David Vasquez.  With his clear first-place finish on Saturday, John increased his lead in the Grand Prix standings from just one point to a somewhat more comfortable 8.5 points. "

The current leaders (top ten) are:

 

1                      John COFFEY                                 67.67                                                 

2                      David VASQUEZ                             59.17 

3                      Randy ZUMBRUNNEN                    31.5   

4                      Petro GRETCHANEI                        30.2                           

5                      Alex GUSTAFSSON                         27.87 

6                      Eric HON                                          26.67                                     

7                      José GARCIA                                   25

8                      Enriqué ARCE-LARRETA                21.5                           

9                      Kayden TROFF                                21

10                    Charles RASMUSSEN                     19.17 

 

Best regards,

Steve

This applies to me

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/the-check-is-in-the-mail-from-apple/

Chess players at the farewell party for Bulgaria-LDS-mission-bound Alex Gustafsson (Center with glasses.). To the right of him is 2500 rated International Master Kayden Troff. Wasatch mountain range in the background.

Goslings where I work

Baby Geese at Work