Sunday, October 17, 2021

MegaMind Championship 10.16.2021 (Round 1, Loss as Black)

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 d5 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3 g5 6. Bg3 h5 7. h3 Nxg3 8. fxg3
Bd6 9. Ne5 Bxe5 10. dxe5 c5 11. Nc3 a6 12. g4 h4 13. Qf3 Nd7 14. O-O-O Nxe5 15.
Qf2 b5 16. Ne2 Bb7 17. e4 Qa5 18. Kb1 Nd7 19. exd5 Bxd5 20. Nc3 O-O-O 21. Nxd5
exd5 22. Qxf7 d4 23. Bd3 Rhe8 24. Bf5 Qc7 25. Rhe1 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 c4 27. Re8 Rxe8
28. Qxe8+ Qd8 29. Bxd7+ Kc7 30. Qxd8+ Kxd8 *

I forgot how to play the Trompowsky and immediately overlooked the standard reply of 3.Bf4 with ...c5 instead of ...d5 !!  

I let my opponent get after my King.  I blundered a piece.  I lost.  The kid was rated around 1000 ELO

This is what happens when you go long periods of time without playing, my friends!

- Lizzi

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Upcoming Tournament

 I'm going to play in the Megamind G/30 USCF rated chess tournament this weekend on Saturday, 10.16.2021.  It will be my first chess tournament in well over a half a year.  I did this strictly out of boredom.  But, who knows what may come out of it?  Maybe, I'll make some new friends or meet a girl.  IDK.  Or maybe I'll even win all three rounds and get first place (this has happened before).

This tournament is at the Saint Louis Chess Club.  It is their first standard rated Over-The- Board tournament since all this Corona shit started.  Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.  It's a 36-player tournament, I'll upload my games here at my blog.

I took lessons from the Iranian Chess Queen - Derakshani.  She's younger than my step-sister and is already an International Master.  She gave me some good general tips for guidance.  One thing she told me that really hit me, "I don't think chess players ever really quit playing chess".  Amen!  We all go long periods of time without playing but almost always come back to the game!  

Wish me luck!

Thursday, October 7, 2021

I Lost !!!

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2021.10.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "cterlizzi"]
[Black "kamenozrout"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1853E"]
[BlackElo "2121"]
[ECO "C44"]
[TimeControl "900"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 Nf6 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8.
fxg7 Rg8 9. Qe2+ Be6 10. Ng5 d3 11. Qe4 Qd5 12. Qxd5 Bxd5 13. Nxh7 O-O-O 14.
Nf6 Rxg7 15. Nxd5 Rxd5 16. Bf4 Rxg2 17. Bg3 Ne5 18. Nd2 f6 19. Rd1 Ng4 20.
Ne4 Rf5 21. Nxc5 Nxf2 22. Bxf2 Rfxf2 23. Rb1 Re2+ 24. Kd1 Rd2+ 25. Ke1 Rxb2
26. Rxb2 Rxb2 27. Rf1 b6 28. Na6 Re2+ 29. Kd1 Rxa2 30. Rxf6 Rxa6 31. h4 Ra1+
32. Kd2 Ra2+ 33. Kd1 Rh2 34. Rf4 b5 35. Rd4 Rc2 36. h5 Rxc3 37. h6 Ra3 38. h7
Ra1+ 39. Kd2 Rh1 {cterlizzi resigns} 0-1

I had several winning chances here...

Friday, August 6, 2021

If I Was Given $20,000...

You hear people ask the question, if someone gave you a million dollars what would you do with it?  The idea is, as we all know, that what you would do with a million dollars is what you should be doing for a living.  This question is asked to find out what you should do with your life.  If you would travel if given a million dollars, then you should travel for a living, like..be a truck driver or flight attendent.  Or, you'll hear people ask, if you were given $1,000 what would you do with it?  The idea of this is to figure out the best way to maximize and manage what money you do get.  But, I have been thinking.. if I was given $20,000 what would I do with it.  I mean, who knows, maybe I can win 20 large at the casino.  But, if I got 20 large, I'll tell you what I wouldn't do.  I wouldn't buy a new car.  New cars tend to turn in to pieces of junk 5- 10 years later, and you end up being left with next to nothing.  

If I was given $20,000 I would spend about $2,200 - $3,000 on some flashy clothes and a little bit of gold jewelry.  I'm a bit of a dapper (sort of).  I would spend close to that much to pay off some debt that I owe.  Now, I have about $15,000.  With that, I could buy residency in Thailand.  But, I'm not sure that's what I would do with it... maybe, but probably not.  I would probably then put around $10,000 in my brokerage account and invest in some REITs to get a few hundred dollars in returns every so-often.  Half of what is left would be spent on some computer hardware and software and the other half (about $2,000 - $3,000) would sit in my bank account for emergency funds.  

If I had $20,000 ...I imagine that's what I would do with it.  

I got my Cultured Monk Media business cards yesterday that I ordered from VistaPrint.  Groovy!

- Lizzi 

 


Friday, July 30, 2021

My Amazon Kindle Chess Book

Yes, I uploaded my first ebook that is about chess. Here is the link to my Kindle book - "What You Need to Know Before Your First Chess Tournament".  Please read, rate and review!  All of my Kindle books are available for purchase for $1.75 regardless of the length in page numbers with the exception of my (short) memoir which you can buy for 99 cents.  

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and it looks like this saying can now apply to my official chess career.  I don't believe I will play in any more tournaments.  I streamed a video on Twitch.TV about why I'm giving up the game.  Essentially, it all comes down to focusing.  Unless you are an elite chess professional, there's just no money in the game.  Chess has been good to me, I'll still play and broadcast online games from time to time and I willl still keep up the posts here at this blog.

Don't forget to check out all of my web presence through the links at the footer of this blog - "Terlizzi:  Life & Games".  'till next time, friends!

- Lizzi

Monday, July 26, 2021

I Gave In To Consumerism

I got my check from work last Friday. I went out to the mall and Best Buy and bought a bunch of stuff that I don't need. *Sigh* How foolish! I gave in to the American way of consumerism. I learned that the temporary high of buying a ton of stuff I don't need quickly wears off and you are left with a vapid and dull aftertaste. I bought an iPhone 12 with unlimited data, HBO Max, and I also bought some shoes and more stuff for my computer. I didn't need any of it, of course. In my head, however, I had a justification for everything I was buying. What am I to do if I'm not going out buying things I don't need? Isn't that what living is? This is what we have been indoctrinated to believe at a very young age here in America! Well, there are plenty of things I could have done. I have a lot of books here in my apartment that I've always meant to get around to read. Instead, I thought of more books to buy on Amazon. Or, I could have spent that money to pay off part of the loan I took out from my bank a cuople weeks ago! Oh well, lesson learned. I've revised to do better. I won't buy with my next work check those new Ray Ban sunglasses I looked at on Amazon.com. I won't buy more clothing from VANS. I won't go back to the mall for a while.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Let's Get Real #LGR

Life is hard. We all know this. I am working around 20 - 25 hours a week now and thought there for a while that I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I'm delivering pizzas in Saint Louis, Missouri and it really sucks! But, we all have to start somewhere. Mid 30's and just now trying to build a resume. But, let's get real! Life is hard! You can't half-ass your endeavours. No, success takes a lot of work. This has been a recent rude awakening for me. I very recently published my first Amazon Kindle book that is about chess. I hired an amazing graphic designer from Africa (check out twenty4hrdesign on Fiverr.com) to design the cover for it. I'm starting to realize that if you're going to do something, it's either go all-out or don't bother at all.. otherwise, you are just wasting your time. It looks as though things are finally starting to work out for me. I've got more money coming in every month and finally working hard to build my brand - "Cultured Monk Media". I recently re-opened the personal homepage - https://calvinterlizzi.com I'm going to start selling "Cultured Monk Media" merchandise when I get a little bigger web prescence and following. I have a couple ideas for my brand's slogans. I still have a lot of thoughts about going into professional gambling... bought a bunch of books on the subject a couple months ago. Yah, sounds so cool! And, obviously can potentially pay a Hell of a lot better than chess. I am in a room from someone's house. I found a pretty good deal. One of my roommates has two dogs. I love animals - especially dogs! Wildlife has always been a fascination of mine.p Anyways, guess that's all. And, sorry it's been so long since I've posted! Life is hard, let's get real! - Lizzi

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Bhoga

 Bhoga is Yoga.  The Bhogi enjoys to live while the Yogi lives to enjoy.  Ultimately both paths lead to the same end, but we must learn to combine the two.  If we have no goal, we will get nowhere.  If we do absolutely nothing to enjoy ourselves in the moment, we will also get nowhere.  To clear things up a bit, bhoga is more the lay life which in part involves more going out and having fun.  While the Yogi's goal is God-Realization before his life comes to an end or perhaps in one of his next incarnations as a human.  We must learn to combine the two paths.  If we strictly follow one or the other we may go insane.  The Buddha also taught the importance of "the middle way", which sort of applies here I suppose.  

I'm almost finished reading Thich Nhat Hanh's "The Heart of The Buddha's Teaching".  This may be the greatest and most important book I've ever read regarding Buddhism.  Yes, Thich Nhat Hanh is the closest human being you will find that is comparable to Lord Buddha.  

I got into meditation right around my 20th b-day.  I went through an inner-transformation that lasted nearly 4 months, but ultimately ended up in a disaster.  I believe I combined bhoga with yoga by spending 5 years traveling North America (2014 - 2019).  I  needed to devote a significant amount of time enjoying myself living life.  Which I did because travel is my favorite activity.  Someday I will see Europe and Asia!

We must follow the middle way.

There will be another day!

- Lizzi

Sunday, May 16, 2021

A Recent Victory on FICS

 [Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2021.05.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "balovzky"]
[Black "cterlizzi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1630"]
[BlackElo "1767E"]
[ECO "A45"]
[TimeControl "900+5"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 (The London System) g6 3. Nc3 (Now white can play e4.  I wasn't sure how to handle this) Bg7 4. e4 d5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nxe4 dxe4 7. Bc4 e6 8. f3 exf3 9. Nxf3 O-O (always castle ASAP!) 10. O-O b5 11. Bb3 Bb7 (I was expecting Bxb5) 12. Ng5 h6 13. Nh3 a5 14. a4 bxa4 15. Rxa4 Qh4 16. d5 exd5 17. Bxd5 c6 18. Bb3 Na6 19. e6 Nc5 20. exf7+ Kh7 21. Rc4 (Bd6 looks winning for White) Nxb3 22. cxb3 Rad8 23. Qe2 Ba6 24. Bc7 Bxc4 25. bxc4 Rd7 26. Bxa5 Rdxf7 27. Rxf7 Rxf7 28. b4  (White's fatal mistake) Qd4+ 29. Kh1 Qa1+ and after Ng1, Bd4 wins for Black{balovzky resigns} 0-1

Sunday, April 25, 2021

The Need for Continuous Improvement

Things were going well for me.  I spent 6 years traveling North America (2014 - 2020).  Now my mind is collapsing, so it feels.  I was never happy.  But there was finally some peace.  Unfortunately, I became complacent.  There was more I should have been doing.  There was more I should have been striving for.  I shouldn't have given up the pizza job and left Tucson AZ back in 2018.  I should have been focusing on my physical health as well - join a gym, stop smoking, add in some supplements (I recently started a Super Greens and a protein supplement).  And, I have cut back on the smoking (tobacco).  But, I'm not in very good shape (mentally).  I can't stop thinking about "the narrow gates that lead to life".  I already mentioned in a previous post how much my OCD tortures me.  I start a new drug for it soon.  

We should always be working on improving ourselves in every which way possible.  The search never ends until we've merged with God... maybe even then it still isn't over!  I started reading a Wayne Dyer book - "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life".  I'm about seventy pages into it... maybe it's changing my thoughts a little.  Actually, any input into our minds is going to alter our thoughts.  This is where the importance of picking our friends and those who we associate with comes in.

I finished the book of Sirach in the Old Testament today.  What did I learn?  Blessed and wise is the man who fears God!  I also started a book which I would recommend to any Christian - "Philothea, or an Introduction to the Devout Life" by Saint Francis de Sales.  I always try to read as much as I can.  There's not much chess left in my life.  Although, I may fly out to the National Open in Las Vegas in June (or July, don't know the exact date) if my mental health improves.  I'm in no condition to be traveling or going anywhere right now.  All is not well, but I've been worse.  

There will be another day!

-Lizzi

   


Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Update 4-20-2021

 I'm opening up my homepage again - culturedmonk.com  Yeah, I just said I wasn't going to do anymore websites or Youtube videos in my last post, but I've got a lot to say and share with the World - I always have!  That being said, it will still be semi-anonymous.  I'm not opening up a domain in my full name again.

I started going to group therapy here at the home I'm staying.  They drive us to the Outpatient Services in a bus.  I do this on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Today I learned the importance of getting enough protein if you are a highly stressed individual.  Interesting!  I just started taking protein supplements a week ago.  I bought a few other supplements off of Amazon as well.  I get a lot of stuff delivered here.  Thank you Uncle Sam for that stimulus check!  jeje!  I've bought a lot of supplements because of how skinny I have got.  I'm well over six feet tall, and I weigh 135... I'm wasting away.  I had a psychiatrist tell me I'm feeling like shit because I'm not eating.  Also been buying a lot of books off Amazon.  I'll review some of them here on my blog.  I'm looking forward to reading UG Krishnamurti's "Thought is Your Enemy".  This guy is a genius.  I read 3 other books of his early last year.  He tells us that there is nothing mystical about the natural state - it's a biological transformation rather than a spiritual transformation.  

I started reading the Bible every day.  Going to keep at it!  I had a spiritual friend and author tell me that reading the words of Christ has healing power in itself, reading the Bible can heal you apart from just learning the teachings.  Yes, I want to be Holy.  Holiness is happiness. 

Matthew 6:33  "But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all else will be added unto you"

That's all for today.

-Lizzi