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	<title>LaughingVulcan&#039;s Chess Blog</title>
	<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog</link>
	<description>A Club Player and TD&#039;s Observations on Chess</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:58:34 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Time Flies Like An Arrow, Fruit Flies Like a Banana</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So, after my last post where I debated the merits of taking a little break from correspondence chess, I got to thinking.
I thought, &#8220;hey, last time around it took a week or so to pair me up for a two-game match.  Class tournaments on IECC might take a little longer to find five players in my class range&#8230; why don&#8217;t I put my name in now and then I&#8217;ll still have a short break&#8230;&#8221;  (At IECC, a Class [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/09/06/time-flies-like-an-arrow-fruit-flies-like-a-banana/</link>
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		<title>And just that quick, it&#8217;s done!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Within the course of the week, in the other three correspondence games I was playing my opponents resigned their games.  In all three cases I had built up significant advantages, in two of them I knew exactly what I had to do next to win them.  
In the third I really wasn&#8217;t sure that I had a positive win.  It was Knight and Rook against two Bishops, though I also had a heavy pawn advantage and my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/09/03/and-just-that-quick-its-done/</link>
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		<title>Bradley Round 4 &#8211; Home Again, Home Again</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, it&#8217;s all said and done&#8230;  final round is over for me.  I ended up losing to a 1248 rated player.  This one, though, was one of those stimulating and even games that will be most fun to analyze.  I ended up trading off Queens and getting powerful counter-threats as Black against a backwards pawn.  The problem was that I just didn&#8217;t have enough to execute the attack and White had just enough tempos to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/28/bradley-round-4-home-again-home-again/</link>
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		<title>Bradley Round 3</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, now I finally have a little bit of time.  3:42 PM; my game took about 45 minutes and the next round starts at 5:00.  So I can talk just a little more&#8230;
This is my first time on the Bradley University campus in Peoria.  I&#8217;m actually glad to be at a college campus for a tournament&#8230; reminds me of the happy days when I was a student myself.  I must admit to missing campus life!
It&#8217;s a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/28/bradley-round-3/</link>
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		<title>Bradley Round 2</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Must be even faster here&#8230;  Lost again to Sam Heil, a local scholastic player&#8230; but he&#8217;s rated 1496.
Hope for round three?     It begins in about ten minutes&#8230;
Play Online Chess



[Event "47th Bradley Summer Open"][Site "Peoria IL"][Date "2010.08.28"][Round "2"][White "Erickson,  Darren"][Black "Heil,  Samuel"][Result "0-1"][WhiteELO "2685"][BlackELO "2063"][WhiteElo "844"][BlackElo "1496"]
1. e4 g6 2. d3 Bg7 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nc3 d5 5. Be2 Bg4 6. Ng5 Bxe2 7. Qxe2 Nf6 8.Nf3 d4 9. Na4 Qa5 10. Bd2 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/28/bradley-round-2/</link>
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		<title>Bradley Open Round 1</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Must go quickly, as I am scarfing lunch while doing this.  Round two starts officially at noon, in about eight minutes.
First game was Black against a player rated 1616.  I lost a pawn early on, and that turned out to be my undoing.   
Oh well.  A fun game, and next round coming up!
Play Online Chess



[Event "47th Bradley Summer Open"][Site "Peoria IL"][Date "2010.08.28"][Round "1"][White "Bruemmer,  Don"][Black "Erickson,  Darren"][Result "1-0"][WhiteELO "2685"][BlackELO "2063"][WhiteElo "1618"][BlackElo "844"]
1. d4 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/28/bradley-open-round-1/</link>
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		<title>A Quick Decision to join a Tournament, Plus Game Test</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So I was scanning the tournament listings a few days ago at the Illinois Chess Association website, and came across the 47th Annual Bradley Open happening in Peoria this weekend.  It&#8217;s a little longer time control than I really like, but also figured, &#8220;Hey, why not?&#8221;  I can use a day of chess playing without directing, and the four games will count very nicely towards getting off my provisional rating for Regular rated games.
(I also found out that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/27/622/</link>
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		<title>My &#8220;First&#8221; Correspondence Game Complete</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve mentioned in the last couple of posts that I&#8217;ve gotten back into correspondence play again.  I began four games on May 19th.  Almost three months later, the first of them is finished.  It turned out to be a miniature of 18 moves, and my opponent resigned when I forced mate in 3.  It was a long time for a short game, even by correspondence standards, but I gave my opponent some extensions on time.
The vast [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/14/my-first-correspondence-game-complete/</link>
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		<title>The Hot New Post (Hot as in Temperature!)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Long long time since I&#8217;ve blogged&#8230;  But I&#8217;ve got a few minutes while I&#8217;m waiting for my wife&#8217;s flight to arrive from Chicago.  (Much like a recent blog post by Mig!)
I&#8217;ve had a number of things keeping me busy since we went to St. Louis.  (BTW, the facilities there are as good as the August Chess Life makes them out to be!)
Non-chess wise, aside from work, home life, etc. I&#8217;ve taken up poker online (and winning at [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/08/11/the-hot-new-post-hot-as-in-temperature/</link>
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		<title>From the World to the U.S.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The World Championship is a memory now &#8211; congratulations to still-champion GM Viswanathan Anand!
Now it&#8217;s the U.S. Championships.  A different sort of format, 9 rounds leading to a single Quad final.  I (along with a half dozen or so others) will be heading down this Saturday to St. Louis watch the second round of the three quad finals games.
And the results are interesting so far.  After four rounds, there are seven players tied for first place with [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://laughingvulcan.org/blog/2010/05/17/from-the-world-to-the-u-s/</link>
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