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Chess is often thought of as a complex game, but can really be easily learned. The key to becoming a better player is to never get stuck on one level of play. Always be adding to your game by learning and trying new strategies. Heres a few tips to start you off.

Whats A Good First Move?

Want to get the most freedom of your pieces right off the bat? Move the pawn in front of your king forward. While this may seem like it is leaving the king in a vulnerable position, it is also freeing up the queen and bishop to wreak havoc on your opponent!

Get Them In Checkmate In Just 4 Moves

In this series of moves, the bishop and queen are used to get your opponent into checkmate in just 4 moves. For your first move, move the pawn in front of the queen forward by 2 spaces. Your opponents move is next. Then move the bishop diagonal 3 spaces. After the next turn of your opponent, move your queen to the diagonal 2 spaces and let it sit in front of the pawn. Now, depending on your opponents next move, you can zip the queen straight up to his pawn, capture it and get the king in checkmate! Then king cannot capture the queen as he will then be captured by your bishop, he cannot move away from the queen as he is blocked by his own pieces.

Sacrificing Pieces

While nobody likes to lose a key piece, there are times, however when it makes sense to sacrifice one of your pieces. If an opponents piece is taking up a spot that you need open, putting one of your pieces in a position to lure his piece out to capture you is one way to move your game forward. Since you will be losing a piece, be sure to check the board carefully to make sure this really will result in the move you wanted!

Put Your Pieces In Play

The pieces in your back row are key to winning the game so you must move them out at first chance. At first you may reluctant to use your more powerful pieces for fear that they will be captured. Put them into play! The sooner you get those pieces out the sooner you will be able to invoke a strategy that will result in checkmate!

posted by g72850  # 10:32 PM 0 comments

Are you trying to please Mom? Dad? Spouse? Friend? Grandma?

You may think this is a strange question. It can be a subconscious and hidden revelation that's not even recognized, but for many folks in search of a career it plays a BIG part in the decision making process.

Truth is.... YOU are the only one who needs to be 'pleased' when it comes to deciding on your career choice. No one else matters! If that sounds harsh, reality tells us no one has a right to 'control' another persons future.

Many Dads' get caught up in their own shortcomings. It can be your Mom or Spouse, maybe just a close friend.... even the "grands" want to put in their 2 cents worth. Some parents played sports in school and want to see their children follow the same route. You see it on the ball fields - football - baseball - soccer - basketball - and more.

Don't get persuaded to seek a career path because.... someone you love and respect wants to influence your chosen life's work based on something they missed in their own career choice. YOU are the KEY player in this picture and it's important that you "snap" the right picture.

It's NOT your responsibility or obligation to meet peer pressures, society pressures, or any other pressures from the outside. Let your own personality rise to meet the demands from within yourself.

Never let Dad's or Mom's career choice dictate your own. Too many Preachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Business Executives and others are the result of following in the footsteps of their parents or grandparents. A bad idea UNLESS it is YOUR chosen field of influence and persuasion.

Deep conflicts come from accepting the path of least resistance. Yes, it may be a real challenge to choose your own path, but nothing in your future is more important when it comes to happiness in your work and family life. Lotsof good feelings will arise when it's your choice, not those of anyone else.

One final thought - it may seem selfish to you, ruling out the desires of your family members who want you to follow in their foot-steps. Failure to make your own choice will have you working in a position you do not like or enjoy and in the end it will be a disappointment for those you wanted to please inthe first place.

posted by g72850  # 7:12 PM 0 comments

Investors love to make a high return on their money. That's why so many millionaires invest in real estate. You can leverage your money using other peoples' money when you finance real estate.

Many real estate investors make $5,000 to $10,000 or more by flipping houses. These investors buy a home from a distressed seller and resell it quickly for a profit. Just because a seller has serious problems like a pending foreclosure or divorce doesn't mean the house is a fixer. Many distressed sellers offer prime houses in perfect condition discounted for a quick sale.

Distressed sellers jump at the chance to get out from under their overwhelming problems with an offer to close in ten days. To purchase a home quickly, you need to be prepared to offer cash or a have secure loan in place with a reliable mortgage lender.

Other real estate investors prefer to buy fixers from distressed sellers. Distressed fixers present the best bargains to make the highest return on your money. For instance, if you put 5% down on a $200,000 home, spend $5,000 fixing the house up, and another $3,000 in payments, your cash investment totals $18,000. If you sell the home for a $70,000 profit like many rehabbers, you can see that your return on your investment of $18,000 for two months exceeds most other types of investments.

This investment plan assumes that you have the knowledge and skills, time to work on your fixer, and that you sell the house as soon as its finished to a qualified buyer. Home improvement centers help you with how-to classes, brochures, and advice. You need to give up your free time--TV, parties, leisure activities and work on your fixer. You could hire workers, but contractors and laborers work slowly and eat up your profits.

The last part of the equation, selling your house quickly to a qualified buyer means you need to do your homework. Many investors seek free help from a loan officer to price the house right and to qualify their buyers. These investors earn the sales commission by selling their houses by owner.

The most important issue, how you fix up your house, ensures that you quickly attract a buyer willing to pay top dollar for your transformed property. Investors using Design Psychology strategies for fixing houses sell their homes, for more than the asking price, three hours after putting the yard sign out.

Whether you want to make money investing in real estate by flipping or fixing houses, you need to understand your market. To get started in your real estate business, go house shopping. You'll soon learn how to pick up a flip or a fixer and be on your way to making a high return on your money.

Copyright Jeanette J. Fisher.

posted by g72850  # 1:46 AM 0 comments

Fall normally means the beginning of football season. To the Lake Erie bass angler it means jumbo-size, `football' shaped smallmouth bass. August to late October/November is when Lake Erie's fat-n-sassy bronzebacks begin to put on the feed bag and begin to stock up for winter. Now is the time to catch one of the lake's best game fish and certainly regarded by many as Erie's best battlers.

With the unexpected introduction of the Zebra Muscle in the late 80's, the Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass really took off into something just short of spectacular. With the cleaner and clearer water resulting from the zebra muscles, bass will encounter with a vengeance any preferred bait when presentedcorrectly. Tip: Smallmouth bass are generally sight feeders. Which means once the bass visualize it's prey, it will attack and devour. Unlike Lake Erie walleyes, smallmouth generally are not boat shy and are not bothered bysunlight. This makes them an accommodating and easy target when located in both shallow and deep water most any time of the day.

Catching Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass takes nothing more then a bait box of soft-shell crayfish, a bucket of minnows, leeches, or a tackle box of properly selected artificial's (tube baits, crankbaits, spinners, etc.). While you can anticipate summer walleyes to roam the open, deep water flats, smallmouth preferhard structure. Bass in most cases are easy to locate. If you can find rocks,you'll find smallmouth.

Tip: A little pre-planning with a lake chart, a couple minutes of questions at the bait shop, or simply book a charter and pick your captain's brain for information, will remendously add to your success. Remember to always have a game plan whensmallmouth or "Jumper" fishing.

Some great areas to begin searching for fall Smallmouth Bass would be around the famous Bass Islands, Kelley's Island, Ruggles Beach off Huron, and of course the angler's choice at Pelee Island in Ontario waters. Tip: Remember whenlocating bass they are territorial fish. Smallmouth rarely roam open waters and will not migrate twenty miles like walleyes do each fall. When the bass move, they tend go deeper or even shallower around their home! If you find structure that is good for bass, expect to find them in the neighborhood again and again within close proximity on your next trip or even next season. If you locate a prime bass spot mark it with your Loran/GPS, landmarks or a means that will allow you to return another day. Good smallmouth spots aren't here today, gonetomorrow like walleyes! Keep in mind you'll not want to tell other serious bass anglers!

Once you have located a suspected prime bass hide-out, where do you begin? You have to decide if your going to anchor or drift. Drifting is preferred and you can drift with any bait that can be presented to a hungry smallmouth bass. If it's to windy in the area your fishing or your boat drifts so fast to properly present your bait, anchor safely at your spot and fish your areathoroughly. To cover more water while anchored, occasionally release or bring in anchor line. It's best either to fish shallow then move out to deeper water or deeper to shallow water, never in-between. This important step allows you towork over areas to eliminate unproductive waters. Tip: There is never any water to shallow or to deep for smallmouth. Any day of the fall season smallmouth could be found in any depth ranging from a shallow 8ft. to a deep 30ft. or at adepth in-between. Locate a good school of bass and to duplicate the drift each time, drop a marker at the beginning and at the end of your drift. This will keep you in preferred water and allow you to be more productive.

Markers or floats that are visible to boats are like a blue-light special. They tend to attract alot of people looking for a bargain or your easy fish! Tip: When in a crowd or around unwanted uncourteous anglers is to use your Loran/GPS to mark your spot when you reset your drift.

When fishing live bait such as soft-shelled crayfish, minnows, or leeches, you'll need proper hooks and have sinkers of various weights. Use of a sharp #1 to #4 hooks are the most common. Due to the rocky structure and occasional snags, wire hooks work best. The type of weight you use is optional. Slipsinkers, wrap around sinkers, and rubber core sinkers all work well. Placement of the weight should be 12" to 18" minimum above the bait for best results. Tip: Use only enough weight to keep the bait near the bottom. To big of weight for the conditions will result in lost strikes from the fish feeling theweight and dropping the bait before the hook set.

To avoid loosing bait to snags and bottom, drop your baited offering over the side of the boat until you feel bottom, shut the reel and simply fish. Remember, smallmouth are not boat shy! You'll often catch them right under your driftingboat! Occasionally lift and lower the bait to allow for extra movement similar to perch fishing. Wait for the pickup, feel the weight of the fish for a second, and set the hook! Tip: When using live bait, don't set the hook to hard. Inother words, don't use what I refer to as the "Bassmaster Whack". Use just your lower arms, keep the line tight, and have a correctly set drag. To much hook set with a heavy action rod can pull the bait and hook right out of the fish's mouth. To tight of drag will cause many broken lines or pulled hooks.Keep your drag on the loose side. Don't be greedy when the hard-fighting fish need line. In most cases your only lip hooking the fish. A good rod of choice would be nothing heavier them med/med-heavy or a rod action with a moderate to fast tip spooled with 6 to 10 lb. test line. If you do miss a strike,immediately drop your offering back. Many times there's competition for food within the bass community and there may be following fish which may strike any offering remaining on the hook. Tip: Bass anglers should constantly check yourline for nicks or cuts resulting from zebra muscles. These small scratches will weaken your line and you'll breakoff many fish! You are fishing a bottom covered by the muscles. Line can be weaken by the sharp edges of the mollusks shell. After each fish is landed, run your finger over the line a couple inches above the weight to the hook to check for bad areas. I've seen many big fish lost to damaged line.

In the Fall months, smallmouth generally prefer a more natural live bait presentation. As the water begins to cool, bass begin the stock up for the long winter. This is when these little `footballs' put on the weight and really show their muscle. If the angler is hardy enough, and doesn't mind missing alittlehunting, the angler can catch a real trophy. The 1994 fall Smallmouth Bass season was spectacular with the average fish falling between 14" to 16", with many over 17 to 21 inches and four pounds plus! Why miss out on the "best" of the "best" when it comes to fishing Lake Erie.Lake Erie's fall football season is just around the corner.

posted by g72850  # 12:31 AM 0 comments