Last night I went to bed at 11pm and fell asleep quickly but
woke up at 4:30 and probably just catnapped after that finally getting up at
6:30.
I copied a list of “Things to do in Chicago” onto my flash
drive for Jose; now all I have to do is find a copy center that’s open on
Sunday. Not bloody likely!
My original plan was to wear shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt
but we had rain overnight and it was a very cool morning plus Jose emailed me
that he was wrong and he believes I will not be playing against a blind man
this morning so I wore jeans and a short sleeved shirt.
I left the apt at 8:55 and walked down to the metro. The sidewalks were almost deserted. I had no problem getting on a train but I
didn’t get a seat.
When I got off the metro at Estadio Station I heard a lot of
barking; the street and sidewalk was full of people with their dogs. Today must be a dog parade.
I found Jose waiting for me.
His first game was against someone very strong – rated 1900+. My first game I had the Black pieces against
Juan Felipe Lopez Castaneda with a rating of 1368. I was able to practice the Sicilian Defense
against him and I think he would have taken the advantage had he pushed his
center pawns. He didn’t and he
miscalculated his 16th move and I gained a piece. Now all I had to do was keep up the pressure on
him and not blunder myself. He resigned
on his 31st move.
Jose lost his game to the strong player so we were both 2-2
win/loss wise.
Jose and I walked over to Obelisco mall and ended up eating
at one of the small mom & pop restaurants.
He had steak and I had ribs.
We were still 2 hours from the next round so there was no
hurry getting back. We walked around the
mall a bit. I made a trip to the
restroom for 500 pesos. I declined the
offer of the toilet paper as I carry my own.
In the stall there was no seat on the toilet and when I bent over I had
to raise my head and even then my nose was right against the door. With quivering thighs I finally finished my
business. (That last sentence sounds like a romance novel.)
We walked back to the chess league and they had posted the 5th
round. I had White against Jhon Jairo
Ortiz who was unrated. He played well
but a little too quickly. (It’s a good
thing when Jose and I play we use the same time control; good practice.) After my 26th move I offered him a
draw but he decided to keep on playing.
By the 40th move or so I was drawing fumes – less than 2
minutes left on my clock. I threatened
his king and he misdefended and I mated him with my bishop on my 42nd
move.
Jose also won so we are both 3-2 for the tournament.
One interesting observation is that I haven't felt exhausted after my tournament games.
We walked out to the street and caught a taxi and they
dropped me off at the metro station. I
called Teresa from the metro bus and she was at the apt and asked me to return
right away as she was hungry and wanted to go out.
When I returned to the apt she wanted to go to the Envigado
restaurant are Buena Mesa (good table).
A little later she changed her mind to Otra Parte.
With Laura we walked down the hill and right away Teresa was
being negative – “it’s going to be difficult getting a taxi today because of
the Flower Festival”. A minute later we
were in a taxi on our way to Otra Parte.
It was a cool night but we thoroughly enjoyed our
dinner. Laura and I even shared an apple
pie ala mode. The total bill was 106,000
pesos (about $37) and I tipped the water 5,000 pesos.
We quickly caught a taxi back to the apt.
Teresa informed me she has to take her mother to the doctor
tomorrow about 7am. She wanted me to
wake her up at 5am. I told her that’s
not in my job description.
Today’s Step Count was 9,452. I think I’ll be able to beat that tomorrow.
T-shirt of the day: Laundry today or maybe tomorrow.
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