Celebrations timely and premature

Ellen celebrated her birthday this past week. Exciting in its own regard, this was especially momentous for us as it was our first special occasion since returning from the honeymoon. Since her birthday fell in mid-week, Ellen had to put in a full day at work, but we managed to properly observe the occasion all the same.

On the subject of holidays, we stopped at a nearby Kohl's earlier in the week. What to our wondering eyes did appear but ... Christmas decorations! Ellen and I were duly aghast. I can understand retailers' wanting to get an early jump on the Christmas shopping season by preempting Thanksgiving by a few days, but putting up decorations more than a quarter of a year early is just tasteless.

From the chess world, the Olympiad is currently underway in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. After five rounds, the U.S. men's team is in a large tie for sixth place with four wins and one loss (to Russia) while the U.S. women's team is tied for third-fourth place with four wins and a draw (to Hungary). Monday's matchups feature the men in action against Vietnam while the women take on Georgia. Go USA!

Closer to home, I won the Troy Fall Octos on Saturday. Sponsored by the Knights Chess Club of Keene, New Hampshire, the tournament was run as two four-player sections ("quads") instead of one eight-player section (an "octo") as originally advertised. This meant stronger competition and more exciting games, so I didn't mind the change. After three hard-fought and exciting games, I finished with a score of +2 -0 =1. It was only my second over-the-board tournament since January, but I was pleased with the result as well as with my games themselves.