SUCH A NIGHT

In the words of an old Elvis Presley hit:"It was a night, what night it was, it really was such a night!"I only just got the photos, which is why I hadn't posted anything before.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, back in February, one of my courses ended and the students suggested having dinner together to celebrate. Well, I always enjoy an evening out with my students, and in this case even more so because they were all women, ALL young, and ALL attractive. Wow! Was it going to be fun!

We met at 9 pm at the local "Vienna", where we ordered a wide variety of goodies. I had a small salad, a chicken roll and a Diet Coke. We talked, we laughed, we cracked jokes, we recalled special moments in class. Some of them showed photos of their children, we exchanged gossip and, in general, a good time was had by all.

At about 11 o'clock, one of them suggested going on to a bar for drinks, so I took them to a friend's bar - a Heavy Metal bar, I should stress - to help him out a little as times are a bit hard at the moment. We piled up into a couple of cars and headed for the joint. When we got there, there were exactly six guys inside! Well, it was a Thursday night! Naturally, he was delighted to see me arriving with a bevy of beautiful maidens and was already counting the "Cuba Libres" he expected to sell. Anyway we all crowded around some stools near the stage and placed our orders.

Just then a couple of guys went on stage with their guitars, and a third one sat at the drums.
That night was "Jam Session" night, so we were going to have some live music. After about forty-five minutes, my friend came and said he was going on the drums and would I like to go on stage. Well, I'm not Elvis, or anything like that, but I do give a reasonably good rendering of one or two of his songs. However, they wanted to play something with a bit of a beat so I suggested an old Black Crowes number with a simple chord sequence: SHAKE YOUR MONEY MAKER - you can listen to them live at the following youtube.com link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QK8cHwv6I0

By then, the place started to fill up, though not excessively. The girls couldn't believe I was going on stage so they all crowded in the front, forcing the rest of the drinkers, well, the shorter ones, to stand on their toes or a stool. Anyway, no sooner had I launched into the song that a scream was heard, then another, an another. The girls literally went "beserk". One of them got on stage to hug me, another tugged at my sweater (well, it was february and there was no heating on), while the others danced frenetically and screamed. The public couldn't stop laughing and pointing at them. Nevertheless, THEY ALL CLAPPED ON AND ON when I'd finished!
NEEDLESS TO SAY, I FELT LIKE A STAR

Later on, the mood quietened down a bit and I gave them my very own version of Hank Williams's classic "Your Cheating Heart", a favourite at parties, I might very modestly add (See youtube.com for an Elvis Presley version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpYH7t0NrVc&feature=fvw

By about 2.30 in the morning I was absolutely shagged out. The girls started to get their bags and coats and called over "Are you coming with us". I said "Sure. Which one of you is taking me home?"· "Home?" they replied, "We're not going home. We're off to the all night disco!" Well, I think you can guess what my answer was... so I won't print it here.

THEY ALL LEFT .... AND I .... WAS LEFT WITH THIS WONDERFUL MEMORY OF A NIGHT TO REMEMBER.

UK GENERAL ELECTIONS

I've been living away from home for so long now that I honestly don't know what's going on there. I counldn't even tell you what the price of a loaf of bread or a pint, or is it a litre now, of milk is these days. I wonder whether any of the three main candidates shown below know the answer.

I'm a socialist at heart, though I liked Ted Heath and was sorry when he lost out after the "Three-day week". I finally left England, however, mainly in order to get away from the Thatcher doctrine.

I found Spain a much more dynamic country where I was able to bring up my kids in a much healthier and much better political, cultural, culinary, educational, and social environment. They now all speak Spanish and Catalan as well as their native English, and needless to say, so do I. Did you know that Spain leads the way in many sports, including Football? Motorcycling? Cycling? Motor Racing (Rallies, Formula 1 (until very recently)? etc.? Where's britain now, I wonder, and will it get back on the track in time for the Olympic games?
I have found, through my Spanish experience especially, that hung parlaments usually produce coalition governments that cannot be as radical as those with an overwhelming majority. Instead, over a period of time, the partners learn to work together to produce laws and policies that benefit more people. In Catalonia, three parties have been working successfully together now for several years; The "Tripartito" they call themselves, or the "Three-party party".
I sincerely hope both the Labour and Liberal parties come to an "entente" and govern jointly for a while in the UK. I'd hate to see the tories back in power, even though it wouldn't be me who would have to live under their nightmarish rule!

THERE'S HOPE FOR US YET

A couple of weeks ago I was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties. The medical team diagnosed coronory failure and sent me for a "catheterism" operation. This is not as complicated as it sounds. The surgeon introduces a very thin catheter through one of the main arteries to check out the bloodflow in your heart and repair the damage (see image on the left). The following link explains it in more detail. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4491

The whole procedure took less than an hour and I was fully conscious during the whole operation. Really, I felt like a car being taken to the garage to have a faulty valve replaced!

Anyway, the extraordinary thing was that afterwards, the surgeon approached me to check if I was OK and asked me where I was from (all this took place in a Spanish hospital). I said I was English and he looked surprised. "From your name I thought you were Jewish," he said. "No," I replied. "In fact I'm Catholic." "OH!" He said, "I'm Palestinian!" I just stood there staring at him for a few seconds and finally we both burst out laughing. The man had operated on me as best he could, even though he thought I was a Jew!

I don't remember his name, now, but I really do want to thank him from the bottom of my heart.

UP?....OR .... DOWN?

Some years ago, on a visit to the South of France, I was horrified to find a hole in the ground where I had expected to see a gleaming, white toilet bowl. Not long afterwards, this time in Spain, I once again found myself transported to the middle ages (and to my early years in North Africa) when the hole-in-the-ground fixture stared at me from the bowels of the earth. Needless to say, I restrained myself on both occasions and waited until I was back at the hotel - not out of prudishness, I might add, but because of a bad back!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet
Modern toilets, the kind you sit on, are not as modern as we mught think - circa 2800 BC- though their use was restricted to the affluent classes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_toilet#History
It was not until the middle of the 19th century that they became common in Europe. I suppose that is when the Great Debate began!

SO, women want it down, so they can sit on a clean, dry seat, whereas men prefer it up so they can aim directly into the bowl. Here's a part of a lovely poem I came across on the www. It clearly, and poetically, illustrates the"loving" consideration that women expect from men.

But of all the signs depicting love,
there are few that can compete
with the man-of-the-house remembering to
put down the toilet seat!
http://www.theplumber.com/wclid.html

I won't argue with THAT!

HOWEVER ... It would appear that the OTHER alternative, leaving both the seat AND the cover down are not acceptable either by the more-and-more-demanding female population. Apparently, when women want to pee, they wait until the very last minute and then rush into the smallest room in the house (and God help us if it's occupied!) like a bull in a china shop. Then, with their back to the toilet bowl, they spectacularly carry out three actions simultaneously. They pull up their skirt (with jeans, of course, things get a bit more complicated), they pull down their nickers, and they let themselves plop down onto ....... the lid, where all their accumulated-under-pressure liquid reserves are released! UGHH!

WELL, I ASK YOU!

I love women and would never dream of offending a single one of them. I hope they'll take all this with the same dose of fun and good humour I felt when writing it, and then reflect on my conclusion.

FLUSHING the toilet, may seem to have nothing to do with this "battle-of-the-sexes" debate. But in fact, it has everything to do with it. I take it we all agree that whether you've been "weeing" or "pooing", flushing the toilet is a "follow-up" must. Did you know that when a toilet is flushed, it sprays droplets of its contents into the surrounding air? Millions of parasites floating freely and happily in your bathroom, eagerly clinging to the tiles, to the mirror, to your bath curtain, to your toothbrush even! Cryptosporidium & friends are absolutely thrilled when you fail to put the lid down before flushing your toilet! Read about Dr. Charles Serba's work at
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/23/health/scientist-at-work-charles-gerba-on-germ-patrol-at-the-kitchen-sink.html?sec=health. I'm sure you'll end up convinced

SO, LADIES, LET'S DO A DEAL. We will be delighted to put the seat, and the lid, down before flushing the toilet, and leave them down, with no strings attached. Perhaps you might just like to think about planning your visits to the loo just a little better and, just like in any self-respecting airport, get there in plenty of time. BY JOVE, I DO LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

2010 - HAITI

Belatedly, I'm afraid, I'd like to wish you all a happy new year.

In saying this, I am deeply conscious that for thousands of people in Haiti this year will be anything BUT happy.

It really is so dificult to understand that with dozens of governments involved, thousands of soldiers and volunteers in situ, and millions of dollars in help pouring into the banks, the thousands of tons of supplies already delivered are not getting through fast enough to the people who need them. They're just sitting there, at the airports and in the docks, rotting away in the hot Haitian sun, acting as detonators for violence in the street. Well, what else can these people do? If you're going to die anyway of hunger and thirst, at least go down fighting for a drop of clean water or a crust of stale bread. Surely there are plans traced for just such disasters; or have we not learnt anything from the Tsunamis, the Katrinas, and the other world-wide catastrophes we have been experiencing lately in these rapidly changing climatic conditions? Heads should roll. HEADS MUST ROLL.

INEFFICIENCY ON THIS SCALE CANNOT BE TOLERATED.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.... NOW!

MAKE Vs DO (Part 1)

Last week, during my usual Wednesday class, I was asked to explain the difference between the verbs “make” and “do”; no easy matter, I can tell you! I started by saying that we use do mainly for duties and obligations, whereas make is used for building something (this was no time, and certainly not the right level, for complicated explanations). Some of the examples I used were, “make a car” and “do your homework”. The ensuing silence seemed to indicate that no further explanations were needed.

I was just about to change the subject when someone asked:” Can I make a favour?” “No,” I said. “You don’t make favours, you do favours”. “And, can I do a suggestion?” “No, you can’t,” I replied. “You make a suggestion.” Fifteen pairs of unconvinced eyes stared at me during several seconds. They were obviously confused. Just then, a shy female voice from the back row asked: “Why?”!!!!! I was trapped. “Look,” I said, “I understand you. You’d like to know the difference, but it isn’t easy to see it. English is based more on the evolution of the Anglo-Saxon languages and the influences of French and Latin than on rigid rules. So, you will find occasional contradictions and/or situations where both verbs can be used. Why don’t we discuss it at our next lesson and I’ll bring you some notes to help you see it more clearly.”

So, there goes my weekend! I shall prepare the material I need for my class and post it here at the same time. In the meantime, here are some links with interesting quizzes to test your understanding of the two verbs in question. Some are aimed at Spanish speaking students so the instructions may be in Spanish. Enjoy.
Quiz http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blmakedo1.htm
http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary/makedo.htm
http://www.quia.com/pop/84958.html?AP_rand=840467976
http://www.iescampanillas.org/ingles/activities/make%20and%20do/make_do.htm
http://www.iescampanillas.org/ingles/activities/make%20and%20do/makedo2.htm

I'M NOT WRITING..... JUST THINKING!

I've sat in front of my PC, day in, day out, for the last ten days trying to write something.... but No, nothing comes out. My mind has gone dry and I cannot think of anything I really want to talk about. I feel like a desert in search of an oasis, a sky looking for a star, a field without a single tree in sight. How can that be, considering the number of things happening around the world, around the country, around me! It just doesn't seem possible: the financial crisis, the anniversary of the Berlin wall, Obama's visit to China, this latest animal flu, my grandson's birthday, the local wine trade fair.... my goodness there are hundreds of subjects out there I could write about, but NO, NOTHING COMES OUT!

So, I have resolved to leave it at that. My current post will be a non-post. In other words, I'm writing about NOT WRITING, if you can follow me.

I'm sure this NON-WRITING phase will not last very long and I'm confident that very soon I shall have something interesting to put down on paper. Bye for now.

THE "ROCIO" MASS

(Pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Rocio in Spain)

Last Sunday I went to mass; not something I've been doing a lot just recently. The occasion was very special. A close friend invited me, just as she had done several years ago, to attend a "Rocio" mass in the near-by town of Badalona, a very short distance from Barcelona. This particular mass takes place on the last Sunday of every month. It's actually called "Misa Rociera" in Spanish and is named after Our Lady of Rocio.

It would seem that during the XIII century, King Alfonso X, known as "the Wise", had a chapel built in the territory known as "Las Rocinas", an area he had reconquered from the Moors and where he enjoyed hunting. This sanctuary contains a life-size wooden statue of Our lady, apparently found by a hunter. Further information of interest can be found at the following link.

http://www.elrocio.net/page2.html

The special feature that makes the Rocio mass so unique is its music. A group of "Rocieros", devout followers of Our Lady of Rocio, dressed in the typical Andalusian costumes of the region, sing the official songs of the mass, as well as others, in the traditional flamenco style of the South of Spain. The experience is so emotive that it really is difficult to hold back the tears; I certainly couldn't. The high point of the mass is usually the "Salve", though there are times when they don't sing it.

Here's a video with a selection of photographs (I couldn't find a decent film of the mass) and the "Salve" sung by "Ecos del Rocio" or "Gente del Gines" - I'm not quite sure - and offered by kakiera on youtube.com. Lyrics follow the video in original language (Spanish). Translation, and other pictures, on the left.Thank you kakiera and thank you youtube.com for your excellent iniciative. I really do hope you'll enjoy this and that you'll find the experience as. or at least almost as, spiritually enriching as I did.

For other versions of this beautiful song, try searching for "salve rociera" in youtube.com. In particular, I recommend this other version from Isabel Pantoja's concert at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. The standing ovation lasted four minutes! The song comes after the ovation-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YClSepfy_BM

There's also a beautiful version by Rocio Jurado-namesake of the virgin- who died a couple of years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrxsfBkszdQ&feature=related

For a more popular version, try this one from the singers at the Virgin's Sanctuary of Almonte, the village where it all took place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ6Y-dP1lnc&feature=related

Dios te salve María, del Rocío Señora, luna, sol, norte y guía, y pastora celestial.

Dios te salve María, todo el pueblo te adora, y repite a porfía, como tu no hay otra igual.

Oléééééé, olé / olé, olé, olé / olé, olé, olé, olé, olé,olé, olé, olé,olé,olé,olé / olé, olé, olé,

al Rocío yo quiero volver, a cantarle a la Virgen con fé,

con un Oléééééé...............................................................................................................

Dios te salve María, manantial de dulzura, a tus pies noche y día, te venimos a rezar.

Dios te salve María, un rosal de hermosura, eres tú, madre mía, de pureza virgina

Oléééééé, olé / olé, olé, olé / olé, olé, olé, olé, olé,olé, olé, olé,olé,olé,olé / olé, olé, olé,

al Rocío yo quiero volver, a cantarle a la Virgen con fé,
con un Olé...............................................................................................................

MIQUEL VIVES ARTÈS - R.I.P.

Sadly, he passed away during the night of the 29th/30th of September. Curiously enough, it was his Saint's Day, Saint Michael. He was well over eighty.

Miquel Vives was my children's maternal grandfather, my father-in-law. I hadn't seen him in over 25 years, but I retain fond memories of us walking in the mountains of Vandellos, in Spain, or collecting olives on his land in those same mountains, and of our after-dinner conversations over a good glass of brandy and a strong "Faria", the Spanish cigar from Galicia. I remember, especially, that night during the winter of '70/'71 when, driving up the mountain in a heavy snowstorm, his car got stuck. My two baby kids were in that car with their mother! Jaume, her brother, had to walk in the freezing cold and thick snow to the next village for help.

Miquel was an educated man with a vast and varied experience in a dozen different fields, ranging fron the Spanish Civil War, in which he participated, to running businesses, driving taxis, building and modernising houses and working the land.

We quarelled back in '82 and never saw each other again, mainly because of his poor health, and also to avoid causing each other unnecessary stress. We did, however, respect each other. I am sure he will be sadly missed.

His favourite song was "j'attendrai" by Dino Oliveri and Louis Poterat/N.Rastelli. It's a French wartime song, based on an Italian song, that tells of waiting for one's loved one's return. Here it is, sung by Tino Rossi, courtesy of Youtube.com and maldoror26, thank you both.

The song is, of course, quite old and so is the arrangement. Perhaps a more modern, and possibly more popular, version was Dalida's (1975), but this one, Tino Rossi's, retains a certain melancholic flavour which, I think, is particularly suitable for the occasion.

J'attendrai,
le jour et la nuit, j'attendrai toujours
ton retour.
J'attendrai,
car l'oiseau qui s'enfuit vient chercher l'oubli
dans son nid.
Le temps passe et court
en battant tristement dans mon coeur si lourd.
Et pourtant, j'attendrai ton retour.
Les fleurs palissent, le feu s'éteint,
l'ombre se glisse dans le jardin.
L'horloge tisse des sons tres lent,
je crois entendre ton pas.
Le vent m'apporte des bruits lointains
que dans ma porte j'écoute en vain.
Hélas, plus rien,
plus rien ne vient.
J'attendrai...(etc.)

NEW COURSE AND THE CRISIS

Summer's over and classes have begun. The new course has been inaugurated and the first students have started to learn English or, in the case of previous years' students, are busy revising what they've learnt so far.

The CRISIS, however, has taken its toll and I thought the cartoon on the left was particularly apt for the occasion! It reads:

We’re sorry… we just can’t afford to send you to the kinds of schools where the guys who wrecked the economy went! )

There are fewer classes; fewer students; fewer grants; less work; less teaching hours. Result: more time for writing. So, I'm taking advantage to put on paper some ideas, revise my work and send copies to book competitions, agents and publishers in the hope that someone will, in the words of ABBA, "take a chance on me"!

Getting a book published is proving to be really difficult. Publishers don't want to take risks on new, unknown writers and prefer to stick to classics and outstanding authors. Unfortunately I'm neither one nor the other; I just write reasonably good (I am told) stories for children and adolescents.

However, time will tell. In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

COMMUNICATING IN ENGLISH – BY PHONE

It is widely accepted that, at an international level, people tend to communicate in English. In this age of mobile phones, this is especially more and more frequent. Could that be the reason why there are so many misunderstandings in the world of international politics? Those who cannot speak and understand this language find it very difficult to progress in their career and run the risk of making fools of themselves.

The following was sent to me recently and appears to be copyright of a certain Morten Ingemann. The document is entitled “communication.jpg”. I have decided not to reproduce the drawings in order to avoid offending anyone. The dialogue, though, is absolutely hilarious and clearly illustrates the dilemma. That particular telephone conversation, in Spanish or French, would have taken a different turn, of course. It would not, however, have been anywhere near as funny!

- Name?
- (Any foreign name will do) (my remark)
- Sex ?
- Three to five times a week.
- No, no… I mean, male or female?
- Male, female. Sometimes camel.
- Holy cow!
- Yes. Cows, sheep, animals in general.
- But isn’t that hostile?
- Horse style, doggy style, any style.
- Oh dear!
- No. no! Deer run too fast.

OF COURSE, IT MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE TYPICAL UNREQUESTED MARKET RESEARCH CAMPAIGNS DONE BY PHONE, IN WHICH CASE I WOULD HAVE PROBABLY GIVEN VERY SIMILAR ANSWERS!

AUGUST

In deference to my cousin's family, I shall not be posting any articles during this month either. You can of course scroll down and read some of my earlier postings. You'll find articles on a wide variety of subjects. I wish you all a happy summer holiday. Back in September.

LAURA RAHAL - R.I.P.

A whole month has gone by and it all becomes clear now.
Like Ceasar, she came, she conquered and now she's gone.

I never met her. I never got to know her.

Yet, there she was, my cousin's only daughter;

a gift from heaven, an angel in disguise

on loan to us, headed for paradise.

Her smiling face will live forever after.

Her time with us, so full of happy laughter,

was not in vain. Her mission over, she said goodbye

and flew out of that plane and headed for the sky.

R.I.P. - LAURA

LAURA RAHAL, MY COUSIN'S DAUGHTER FROM SWEDEN, DIED IN THE AIR FRANCE CRASH. SHE WAS ONLY 27.
Please light a candle and/or say a prayer for her soul.
Thank you.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=206635395625

CHESS AGAIN ? I'M AFRAID SO!

It's been almost a month, now, since my last posting and truly I didn't know what to write about. I still don't!
Let me explain:
Our team 's achievement in the Catalan Chess Championship has left me so astounded that I haven't really recovered yet. To make matters worse (or better, depending on one's point of view), a few days later I won First Prize in my category in an Open Tournament - the Terrassa Open Chess Tournament - where I tied in 8th place with several other much stronger players. So, as you can well imagine, to win two championships at my age, and in my chess category, is not an everyday event. Please, allow me to savour the moment a little longer.
Here is the game for those of you who are interested in the technical aspects.
29) Torras González,Ramiro (2016) - Rahal,Joe (1740) [D35]
Open Terrassa 2009 Terrassa (9), 23.05.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Ktc3 c6 4.Ktf3 Ktf6. 5.cxd5 exd5 6.g3 Bd6 7.Bg2 0–0 8.Bg5 Re8 9.0–0 Ktbd7 10.Qc2 h6 11.Bxf6 Ktxf6 12.Rad1 Bg4 13.Rfe1 Qd7 14.Ktd2 Re7 15.f3 Bh5 16.e4 Bg6? dxe4 17.Ktdxe4 Ktxe4 18.Ktxe4 Rae8 19.Rf1 Bg6 20.Qb3 b6 21.Rc1 Bb8 22.Qc4 Bf5 23.Kh1 Be6 24.Qxc6 Qxd4 25.b3 Rd7! 26.Ktf2 Qf6 27.f4 Red8 28.Kte4 Qe7 29.f5 Bd5 30.f6 Qe5 31.Qc2 Rc7 32.Qe2 Rxc1 33.Rxc1 Bxe4 34.Bxe4 Qxf6 35.Rf1 Qd6 36.Qf3 Rf8 37.a4 g6 38.Bd5 Qe7 39.Qg4 Kg7 40.Qf3 h5 41.Kg2 h4 42.Rf2 hxg3 43.hxg3 f6 44.Re2 Be5 45.Bc4 Rh8 46.Qd5 Rd8 47.Qc6 Qd6 48.Qb7+ Rd7 49.Qa8 Bxg3 50.Qg8+ Kh6 51.Bf7 Qd3 52.Bc4 Qd6 53.T
Re6 Qf4 54.Re2 Bh4 0–1
For more detailed info, please send a mail (joesabadell@yahoo.es)
Photo on the left

OH! VICTORY, HOW SWEET THY TASTE!

The following is the sms I sent my sister. There is little I can add to express how I felt after, first, winning my game on Sunday and, then, seeing how we absolutely thrashed our opponents 6-2.
"Dearest sis, I'm over the moon, love. I'm floating on cloud number nine and I can't find my way back to earth. I'm revelling among the stars, way up there, on the edge of the milky way, where the bright lights leave you blind and time is never-ending. I feel wholly and utterly fulfilled. And, no, It isn't love! We've won the championship! First we made it to the top of our group. Then, we went through the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and yesterday the final, which we won 6-2. I am now a (the oldest) member of the winning team of the Catalonia Chess League Championship - II category....."
For those of you who are interested in the full story, go to:
http://escacspec.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=354&Itemid=48
You may need a text translator (eg. babelfish.yahoo.com) as the article is in Spanish.

I THOUGHT THIS VIDEO CLIP WOULD BE THE IDEAL "FINALE" TO THIS SERIES OF ARTICLES BASED ON MY VERY OWN CHESS EXPERIENCE (and thanks to ASIMOS78 for posting it on youtube). ENJOY!

FINAL - HERE WE COME!

SHAME ON ME! Just as quickly as I won last week, I lost this week. No excuses. I played badly and lost a pawn in move 21 as a consequence of my 12th move, a stupid move which was completely unnecessary. You can imagine how I felt. The psychological effect on the team, losing a game so early, worried me and I seeked refuge in the bar (coffee, of course! Well, with just a drop of brandy, of course!).

When I got back to the playing hall we were down 2-3 with three games to go. I thought we might just draw the match. We lost one game and the other two looked like draws. So, 3-3 and everyone tense; both our team and their team. A draw would have been good for us, but incredibly, we won both games. So, 5-3 and we're through to the final. Who would have believed it! At the start of the championship, our president told us our aim was just to maintain our category. We've actually gone up to the next one and we're now going to fight to be absolute Champions. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Wish us luck!

PLAY-OFF (2)

Incredible! We made it to the semi-finals.

The team we played against, Viladecans, was reputed to be much stronger and, on paper, they were. Their top four players all had much higher ratings than our top four players. Further down, the bottom four were more evenly matched. I was lucky and won in fifteen moves (anyone interested in the game can send me a mail. I'll be happy to provide it). Our top two players lost and then our player number 5 won. So, there we were, 2-2, with four games to go. Each team won and additional game. So, with 3 points to them, from the first four boards, and 3 points to us, from the bottom four boards, it looked as if the match would end up in a draw, which would have favoured them, as the top boards score more in a tie. However, Lady Luck was on out side and we managed to win the last two games, giving us an outstanding victory of 5-3.

We're now through to the semi-finals, which will be played on Sunday. Another strong opponent, apparently.

Wish us luck!

PLAY-OFF (1)

Those of you who are interested in chess will be pleased to know that our team won the first Play-off round. Our rivals were the Barcelona chess club "Peona i Peó", which means "Female Pawn and Male Pawn". They are reputed to be quite strong and, in fact, had two teams playing the first play-off round. Unfortunately for them, both teams lost their opportunity to go up a category.

In our case, the team in fact drew 4-4. However, draws are resolved by a special point system which gave us the victory (8 points for the first board, seven for the second, and so on). Boards number 1 and 2 drew. We won in boards number 3, 4 and 6 (total of 14 points), whereas they won in boards number 5, 7 and 8 (total of 8 points). My own rival, a seventeen-year-old girl with an enchanting smile, whose playing strength is similar to mine, asked me for a draw which my team leader would not allow me to accept. We both played on and, unfortunately for her she made a slight mistake which was sufficient for me to get a slight advantage. In the end, I sacrified my queen in a winning combination.

The position just prior to my sacrifice was as follows:

Whites (Joe Rahal): Re1, Kh1, Ph2, Qb3, Pg3, Re5, Pd7.

Black (Aina Delgado): Qf2, Pa7, Pb7, Rf7, Pg7, Ph7, Rd8, Kh8.

In this position, I played Queen takes Rook f7, to which she replied Queen takes Queen. I followed with Rook to e8 check, and she resigned. (After Rook takes Rook, Rook takes Rook, ckeck, she would be forced to take my Rook with her Queen and I, in turn, would take her Queen with my pawn giving checkmate). An interesting game which started off with Knight to f3, my usual opening move. For details of the full game send me an e-mail.

I drew in my other game, in the Terrassa open. So, one and a half points out of two is not at all bad for a weekend of chess. Let's see what next weekend has in store for us!

GROUP CHAMPIONS

I can hardly believe it myself. We started the championship pretty well as underdogs. We just wanted to maintain our position. In the end, we actually came top in our group.

CHESS - I'm talking about Chess of course, as anyone who knows me would quickly realise. I love the game and spend many hours analising positions and playing against my PC. Anyway, I changed clubs this year. I'm now playing for Cerdanyola Chess Club in team "D"(which shows I'm not a very good player!) Our team has eight players in it and we played in a group of ten teams from our area. Now, the champions in each group wil play the final phase to determine who will be the overall champion in our category in Catalonia.

The photo - taken outside Bar Grau in Cerdanyola del Vallès - shows only seven of us, the eighth couldn't make it. By the way, I played eight of the nine rounds ... and won seven of them!