Grange over Sands continued ..

June 9th
Things turned out much better at Grage over Sands after my bad start on Friday night.
Friday

Fortunately I didnt get all that drunk on Friday. Geoff and I were staying in Lancaster and I had to drive usback so I couldn't drink more than a pint at the hotel. We just had a glass of wine while I was putting my gamein the computer, and then went to bed.
Saturday

There were a few problems at the B&B. There was an electrical failure, the fire alarm was bleeping non-stop andthe shower didn't work, so we had to have the old "sink baths" in the morning like my Grandmother did in the War. I hurriedly had some breakfast and then headed off to drive back to Grange. Half-way there I realised I'd not handed back the room key!
I got to the venue about 10 minutes late and discoverd that I was drawn against a blind player.

I've never played a blind person before though I've often seen them at tournaments before. They have a special set and they sit and feel the positions with their hands. The opponents call out their moves and the blind players use a tape recorder to record their moves. This chap was very nice and friendly. As the game went on, I started to feel as though it was a collaberative effort to make sure we didn't make a mistake with the position, more than a competitivechess game!

It must be amazingly hard to appreciate all the nuances and complexities of a chess game when you have to *feel*the pieces - most of us can't manage it with the benefit of full vision! - and before long I was a piece up becausemy opponent had missed the fact that in the middle of a series of exchanges I had an intermezzo check, thus winning a rook. After that it wasn't long before he resigned. I felt a bit bad beating a blind player , but then Im sure they dont want sympathy or special treatment, just an honest game.

Anyway it was a very short game and so I had time to drive all the way back to Lancaster to hand back the room key. The woman was very grateful - Geoff said she'd been rather stressed and annoyed in the morning with all the thigns that had gone wrong. Amusingly , she thought that Geoff and I were a gay couple I think: She was talking to me about the things he'd said to her that morning and kept referring to him as "your partner". We had shared a roombut since it had had twin beds, if we were a gay couple we were a very modest one!

I had a cup of tea and read the paper, a chance to enjoy the Labour party's drubbing the local elections, and thenheaded back. Dave had finished his game by then and so we had a drink and a chat.

In the afternoon I was playing another low-rated player, an older chap, but he proved a resiliant opponant. He playedvery passively in the opening, playing both a6 and h6 within the first 5 moves, but was good in the middle game andhad an edge for a while - in fact there were times when I felt really up against it and had to dig deep to find defences to some of his threats. In the end however he dropped a pawn and then his position fell apart very quickly and I managed to win on about move 50. Dave pointed out afterwards that shortly before the end I'd missed a way towin his Queen, but it was won by then so I won't hold that against myself.

I went through my games with Dave and had a pint. It has been a very long time since I'd won 2 games in one day! Both my opponents were very low-rated (54 and 47) so really no other result should have been expected, but thats noguarantee of victory as I have learnt - the guy I lost to on the first evening was rated 38!

In the evening I was staying at Geoff's place, so I drove 70 miles north to his house just south of the SCottishborder. I had a pleasant evening with him and his 2 girls, until they went to bed and he and I watched Gladiator anddrank rather more ice-cold vodka than I should have had in the middle of a chess tournament! I slept in a sleepingbag on the floor, and woke up at 7am without too much of a hangover.