Competent Communicator

This Friday I gave my 10th and final speech out of the Toastmasters Basic Communication manual, earningn me the "CC" award. I've been working toward that goal since joining the Naval Postgraduate School Toastmasters Club in July '06.

The entire Toastmasters program is perhaps equal to earning a Masters degree in Public Speaking. The amount of work required to reach "Distinguished Toastmaster" is considerable and should not be taken on half-heartedly. In fact, nothing worth doing in life should be done half-heartedly, right?

My 10th speech was entitled "Roads." I talked about key roads in my life, including US 35 South, leading away from Point Pleasant, WV. My '73 Pontiac Ventura caught fire on that road in the summer of '79. I made the front page of the Point Pleasant Register! Feels good to survive such things and look back years later from a comfortable vantage point.

Pirc Punishment

Alas, the Pirc (pronounced "peerts") Defence is worth studying. The final game today against David Book at the NPS Chess Club is a study in Goodwill donations of spare bishops:




Duh. Utterly blunderlicious. I'm convinced that the path to high ratings is littered with occasional wreckage such as this!

Back to the drawing board (here's a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirc_Defence

Cheers!
GT

Tolle vs. Arquilla, Round 3

My third crack at the NPS Chess Club Godfather, Prof. Arquilla, resulted in "Death by Caro-Kann (ECO B12--Caro-Kann, Advance Variation). Result=Tolle sleeps wit da fishes.




7. h3 gave my opponent a free pawn. Such freebies tend to haunt you in the end game, usually in the form of a renegade pawn racing to the back rank on the King side supported by a couple of rook goons. Also, 20. ...Ne3 proved to be an lasting thorn in my flesh until an ignomious concession before move 40. (The game actually lasted a few more moves than what is posted, but you don't have to drink the whole gallon to know that the milk is sour. Bleechh...)

I'll be better prepared for the next Caro-Kann!

--GT