How I spent this coming weekend...

Early on after going full-time in the translation business, I joined the American Translators Association. I did so purely as a marketing tactic, figuring that ATA membership would look good on my marketing materials (especially after I passed the accreditation exam). Soon after joining, I learned that most people who buy translation services didn't really care whether you were an ATA member or not, and many of those who did care made lousy clients. Nonetheless, I maintain my membership, mostly because of the opportunity to associate with some pretty professional folks, and for the conferences.

The first ATA conference I attended was in Austin in 1994, and I've only missed two conferences since. I find these annual events to be an ideal venue for meeting friends, renewing contacts, learning some new tricks, and doing a little marketing.

One of the tricks I learned in the software business was that the best way to gain visibility - for yourself or for your company - is to sign up to do a presentation at events such as conferences. This year, I submitted a proposal that, unfortunately, did not make the first selection cut (serves me right for submitting it a day late). The letter informing me of this remained upbeat, however, telling me my presentation might be included in the program if other presenters were forced to cancel out.

So, here I am, less than a week before the start of the conference, and ... yes, you guessed it ... I find out I'm in the program. Leaving aside issues related to "Gee, it was nice of them to tell me," (I found out from an acquaintance, not from the organizers), this leaves me basically this weekend to come up with a reasonable presentation on the subject of Building an English-Russian "Lexicon" of Specialized Terms and Acronyms for the International Space Station Program.

Actually, since I have a 45 minute slot, putting together the presentation shouldn't take too long (in fact, if anything, I'm going to have to struggle to cut what material I have to fit, and leave a few minutes at the end for questions). Then, of course, there will be a couple of run-throughs to make sure everything hangs together.

In the end, I am a little bugged about two things: (a) my presentation is scheduled for the last time slot on the last day of the conference, and (b) I am not at all sure that my current travel plans don't call for me to leave before my scheduled presentation. Ah, well, those are the breaks. My acquaintance tells me that she is looking forward to my presentation. May her tribe increase.

Cheers...

Venturing back onto the chessboard.

I've been playing chess ever since I was a small kid home sick from school. Of course, for those first few "games," I was playing against an invisible opponent and I kinda played fast and loose with the rules (my "opponent" and I played by civilized rules, with regular prisoner exchanges).

Several years later, I learned the rules for real and developed a real liking for the game. As far as talent is concerned, well...some of that developed, too, I suppose, but it soon became evident that I was not going to be the next Bobby Fischer.

At any rate, chess for me over the past couple of decades has been an on-again, off-again type of affair. There simply isn't enough time to spare to go play with any regularity. I've even given up correspondence chess (where moves are sent by postal mail or, more recently, by e-mail) because I just don't have the time. I joined the Internet Chess Club a couple of years ago, but let that membership lapse, because of the same reason.

So it is with some interest that I find out that the U.S. Chess Federation is offering much the same kind of service as part of its membership package. Since I am a member, I decided to sign up and see what I could see. My first game, played yesterday, was a satisfying win after about a year away from the board. It's a so-called "Sicilian Defense," an opening that generally promises a no-holds-barred brawl.

[Site "GamesParlor.com (U.S. Chess Live)"]
[Date "2000.09.13"]
[White "AlexPGP"]
[Black "BobbyTal"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e5
{I'm feeling pretty good here, since an early ...e5 on the part of Black in this opening is generally Not A Good Idea.}
7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. Nf5 Bxf5 10. exf5 Nc6 11. Bc4 b5 12. Bb3 Nd4 13. O-O Rc8 14. c3 Nxb3 15. axb3 a5 16. Qd3 Rb8 17. Rfc1 g6
{At this point, Black has a slightly inferior position. He probably should have developed the Bishop to e7 instead of playing ...g6.}
18. fxg6 Bh6??
{White's capture provided Black an opportunity recapture with the h pawn and develop pressure on the King's side. Black intended 18 ... Bh6 to be a zwischenzug - an "in between" move - that would force me to drop what I'm doing and move my Rook, after which White could recapture the pawn at his leisure. However, White has a zwischenzug of his own to play here, and it's more compelling as it checks the Black King. I think Black's 18th move loses. Here is the position after Black's 18 ... Bh6??


}
19. gxf7+ Kxf7 20. Qf5+ Kg8
{An alternative was 20. ... Kg7, but then I'd play 21. Rxa5 and the Queen recapture is impossible owing to White's threats on the King's side. After the text, Black's Bishop on h6 is now dead meat, though that won't become a fact for a few more moves.}
21. Nf6+ Kg7 22. Nh5+ Kg8 23. Qe6+ Kf8 24. Qxh6+ Ke7
{Making it easy on White. The rest of the game is a mop-up.}
25. Qf6+ Kd7 26. Qxd8+ Rhxd8 27. Nf6+ Ke6 28. Nxh7 Rh8 29. Ng5+ Kf5 30. Nf7 Rh4 31. Nxd6+ Ke6 32. Rd1 Rbh8 33. h3 e4 34. Rxa5 Rd8 35. Ra6 e3 36. Nb7+ (1-0)

Cheers...