Kings

Today I learned that kings are really powerful pieces in the endgame and you should often try to get them centralized.

Rooks

Today I learned that rooks should be placed on an open file (well, I already knew that part), that they are strongest when doubled or tripled, and that a queen behind two rooks on an open file is named after Alekhine because he did it in a game once. I also learned that getting both rooks on the 7th rank is super strong and often leads to victory.

Bishops

Today I learned that there are good bishops, bad bishops, and active bishops (which can be either good or bad). A good bishop is one that has open diagonals, a bad bishop is one that is blocked by pawns, and an active bishop is simply one that is playing an active role in the game, putting pressure on an important space. To turn a bad bishop to a good bishop you can either open up the diagonals by moving your other pawns or pieces, or by maneuvering the bishop so that it is outside the pawn chain. Also, since bishops are the only pieces on the board that can access only one color square, they work best in pairs, and it's possible to end in a stalemate with a bishop and a rook-pawn.

Knights

Today I learned that a knight is powerful when it has a secure, protected post in the middle of the board. If a pawn can challenge the knight's position, it is not a secure post. Find a good spot for the knight!

Chess

Today I learned that, if I manage to get a material advantage in chess, I need to consolidate my position rather than attacking.

Chess and taxes

Today we finished reading "play winning chess". I learned not to weaken my kings position.

I also learned that taxes are calculated differently based on what time of business structure a business has. I already knew that someone with a sole proprietorship has to claim all of the company profits on his personal taxes in the year they were earned, but I learned that for some types of companies, you can choose whether profits are claimed on personal taxes or by the business as a separate entity.

Chess and Snakes

Today I learned that if I am behind in space during a chess match, I should trade some pieces, and, likewise, if I am ahead in space, I should avoid trades.

Also, Adam told me that it's illegal in Klamath Falls to kick the heads off of snakes on sidewalks here. Apparently they used to have wooden sidewalks with spaces where snakes would sometimes stick their heads up into the walkway. Weird. I wonder why they didn't want people to kick them?

chess and scriptures

Today I learned how to get a checkmate if I have a queen and a king versus a king and if I have a rook and a king versus a king. Since I tend to lose endgames very very badly, this will be helpful in my chess endeavors. I need to learn more checkmates but it's a good start.

Also, since it's Sunday, I've been working on memorizing scriptures. The LDS church has what we call scripture mastery. Church leaders picked out 25 scriptures each from the old testament, new testament, book of mormon, and doctrine and covenants. LDS youth who go through seminary in high school learn all 100 scripture masteries. Since I never went through seminary, I never learned them, and have decided to learn a few each week during church, since, honestly, I barely ever pay attention to the lessons in Sunday school or relief society anyway. I only have a few more in the new testament section, though I need to work on solidifying some of the ones I've already learned. After that, I'm moving on to the old testament. My goal is to learn all 100 by the end of the year.

Chess and forgetting

Today I learned something that would've made a great blog post and then forgot about it, so I guess I should say I've learned to write things down right away. 

On the chess front, I learned that I can almost lose a game when I am astonishingly ahead (I had two rooks, two knights, and a bishop left, the computer only had a knight) and I also learned a little about the history of chess. It used to be more boring until they spiced things up, giving the queen much more power, introducing castling, en passant, and the pawn trade rule, and changing how the bishop moves. The Italians called the newly improved queen "furioso" and called the game "rabid chess" because it was so much faster. Considering that tournament games are still several hours long, I would have hated to see chess back in the day,

Chess, chess, and more chess

Adam and I pick a new activity to try every year. So far we've done golf,  cake decorating, fencing, and drawing. We alternate who gets to pick each year (and I bet you can guess which years I was pregnant) and this year it was Adam's turn to pick. He picked chess. Historically speaking, every time we play chess I end up in tears so I am giving myself mucho credit for not vetoing his choice. Today I learned that I like playing chess on the computer even less than I like playing it in person, but such is life. The plan is to play online and get ranked so that we will be playing people of our own skill level so that I might enjoy it more. I think the only way I will learn to like chess is if I get really good at it and that, my friends, would take a lot of study.... A lot of study that I'm not sure I have the will or the time to do.