Shira Chess Challenge!

Training Update: Those of you who follow this blog know that I am "in training" for an upcoming three-game match against Shira Evans, which will start on July 31, 2009. Periodically I will be reporting here on my training progress. This is my second Update. (First Training Update) Don't ask me how I did it darlings, because I have no idea! But somehow I did finally get the Chessbase Lite thingy that Chess Daddy had sent to me to download properly to my computer. Or I should say, I managed to get it unzipped using a free unzip program, as I had managed to get it downloaded during First Training Update. I can now open it and "virtually press" all of the buttons and everything, like opening and closing the program! Except I cannot figure out how to get the data bases into the thingy. No data bases, no training. There's nothing inside of the thingy to do. End of story. You may no doubt have deduced by now that I am technologically challenged, just as I am chessly challenged. That's what comes from learning chess at the ripe old age of 18 - NOTHING! So, I am now into Plan B, and scrupulously avoiding calling Chess Daddy to see if he can talk me through how to get the data bases into the thingy. Plan B is to play as much chess as I can squeeze in. I am playing "correspondence" chess. I have two games going at present. They are both in early days (very early days). One is going okay, I think. The other - ohmygoddess! Let me put it this way, I should have resigned on move 6. I started with a standard opening, 1. e2 to e4. But early on I moved my left hand knightess out, thinking that, you know, like "control the middle of the board." BAD MOVE. The other side proceeded to make a series of moves that had me moving my knightess all over the place while he (or she) was slowly and steadily developing pieces. I saw exactly what was happening and I was helpless to stop it. CHESS SUCKS. Well, okay, to be absolutely fair, chess is a fine game but JAN AS A CHESSPLAYER SUCKS. But rather than resigning, that old Newton stubborness came to the fore and I stuck with it; I finally got my knightess out of danger (temporarily) and have now also managed to move a few other pieces into some semblance of defense (flimsy) - which isn't saying much as I'm playing WHITE. EEK! I fully expect to go down in flames (soon) in this game, but not without the best fight I can muster. We Newtons do not know the meaning of the word surrender. Ha! I swear to the Great Triple Chess Goddess, POLGAR SISTERS, that I will NEVER EVER move my left knightess out on move 2 again. EVER. No matter how tempted I may be to do so. EVER. I can tell you this much - I am now really THINKING about each and every move I make before I make it. And thank the Triple Chess Goddess that this is correspondence chess because I really do get a "take back" because I've been making some really crappy moves and then looking at the board a 40th or more time and going OHMYGODDESS, WHY DID YOU MOVE THERE?