Garden State Chess League Round 2

The DOCA Knights have defeated Hamilton Chess Club at Hamilton 2.5-1.5 to kick off Round 2 matches.

Round 1 for the DOCA Knights will take place Thursday vs. lehigh Valley.

#gardenstatechessleague

KEC vs. MS - one-on-one 8-game match

One of my DOCA Knights teammates has challenged me to a one-on-one match, similar to the World Championship matches.

We have agreed to play 8 games on roughly alternating Friday nights.

11/7

11/21

12/5

12/19

1/9/15

1/23/15

2/6/15

& 2/20/15.

Scheduling Notes: 1/2 I'm not here, 2/13 is the World Amateur Team Tournament in Parsippany, NJ.  (Hint: play in that.)

Start Time 7:30pm

Time Control G/60, 10-second increment.

The Utah Open + the Conclusion of State # 7 Trip

Photos from the Utah Trip

First off, the link to the tip photos are above.  Second, the pgn display of the third round game is above.

The tournament was pretty fun.  I got to the University of Utah around four hours before the start of the tournament, so I did some random stuff & walked around campus a bit.  The tournament had a slightly rough beginning with room conflicts & people searching for the playing rooms, but overall, I thought the tournament was run acceptably.  They used SwissSys for the pairings (I got a glimpse of the laptop while waiting for one of the rounds), which is also used in New York but not in New Jersey.  NJ uses WinTD.  What was strange for me was the open section finished before the other sections did.  

There were roughly 27 players in the Open Section.  For NJ players, this may seem small, but one has to remember that there aren't that many chess players in Utah, either.

My round results in order were loss, win, win, draw, & win.  The person I lost to in Round 1 ended up jumping from B-player to A-player at the end of the tournament.  My last opponent was at the 2014 US Open for one of the invitational tournaments (Denker?) & hopes to come back in Phoenix next year.

The Utah Chess Association was pretty nice.  Gina kept in constant contact with me as I was setting up this trip, & Grant the Chief TD was solid.  I won a trophy & some cash for my efforts as the top U2000 player.

So the tournament ended on Saturday, & I planned to use Sunday to go sightseeing in Salt Lake City.  This did not work out too well.  I did go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance at Temple Square, & then I walked over to the Cathedral of the Madeleine.  However, I opted to take lunch after the mass, which was a mistake.  I ended up walking between an 60-90 minutes since most of the places I considered going to for food were closed or dodgy.  Interestingly, between the Cathedral & Dim Sum House, you could count on 4 hands or less the number of people walking around.  I thought I was in a ghost town rather than a big city.

I went to Dim Sum House, & Dim Sum was still open.  However, since I was by myself, I ate a little too much & had to go back to the hotel.  By the time I was done in the hotel, it was past 4pm Mountain Time & just not worth it to get to the Capitol Building, which closes at 6pm Mountain Time.

Side note on weather: Friday & Saturday, according to the locals, was 3 degrees higher than the previous record high.  Wearing a sweater & the New York Giants jacket was a clear mistake.

So, on Monday, I had to travel home with the trophy.  I get to the airport early, & ask the ticket agent if I was allowed to carry the trophy onto the plane.  She redirects me to the TSA staff 100 feet to her right.  They give me the okay on the trophy, & I'm in business.  The flight path going home included a connecting stop in Dallas Fort-Worth.  When I stopped in DFW, the odd thing about this airport was that there were not one, but two Dallas Cowboys apparel stores in Terminal C.  I don't think I have seen even one sports apparel store in an airport before, & I see two of a rival team in one place.  Luckily, at least 13 people between the first two airports stopped to ask questions or comment on the trophy, which drew attention away from the fact that I was wearing my Giants jacket so I didn't have to hold it.  When I got to the final airport, I told my dad picking me up, "I'm holding my trophy.  You shouldn't have a hard time finding me - I don't think there will be any other trophies visible at the airport."

Quick Intro To State #7

It has been an interesting trip so far.  I am blogging live at the University of Utah, site of the Utah Open, which starts at 5pm Eastern time, 3 pm Mountain time.

This is the first time I have entered a different time zone in over 7 years.  Last night, my body & cell phone was telling me 1005pm while I was eating dinner, but the local time showed 805 pm.  I had the same problem today, when I arrived here at 1pm eastern time, approximately four hours before the tournament.

It has been different so far, as compared to home.   There are traffic signals that have 6 signal heads on one mast arm that is at least 72 feet long.  Most of New Jersey doesn't have mast arms that long.  The sidewalks are more offset from the road, showing at least 8 feet of grass buffer on the road by my hotel.  I'll provide the link to some pictures once I get home.  More posts to come soon.

New home for NJ Chess Articles

http://www.nj.com/inside-jersey/index.ssf/2014/10/chess_mate_a_new_beginning_to_the_game.html#incart_river

It should be noted that I forgot to mention last Sunday that the new chess column is on NJ.com under entertainment.  Please put some welcoming comments so that they know people are there reading it.

Star Ledger Chess Problem

Pete Tamburro sent the following email this morning.  I implore you, if you like reading the chess article in the Star Ledger, do something about it.  In the meantime, I will continue to post NJ Chess news or links as I find them.

To friends of chess in NJ,

If you bought the Star-Ledger this morning, you will see that Steve and I have been replaced by the syndicated "Chess" column by Selby Lyman. If you want NJ chess news to appear in the newspaper again, it would be a big help if you wrote to the editor/publisher and the letter to the editor page about this. Some of you have had your games published or your kids' games published or just like to read state chess news. If you have a personal reference, please mention it. Form letters don't work. Please encourage your chess friends to write.

Thanks,

Pete

The respective emails:

publisher@starledger.com

eletters@starledger.com

NJ Open Roundup

I apologize for the delay, but I am finally home to blog about the NJ Open.

First we have the obligatory links to games & results.  The games were compiled by Pete Tamburro, the Star Ledger Chess Columnist.

NJ Open Selected Games

NJ Open Results List

This was one of the strongest NJ Opens I can ever remember.  The Organizers wanted to invite two GMs to the tournament.  They initially struck out on the second person, so they got a third person.  However, the GMs might have a chess playing thread active, as after the first two accepted, 5 more GMs came!  We had 7 GMs & 5 IMs, the most that I could ever remember, & over 1/3 of the Open Field was Master Level Strength (2200) or higher.

The only lowlight of the tournament was an outburst in the 5th Round.  I was tucked away in a corner when all of a sudden a player on the other side of the room starts slamming pieces at his opponent.  After he was escorted out, he yells even louder - so loud that you could hear him through the closed doors.  I really hope that all the other players don't get scared off of this tournament by this guy.  I have since been informed that he will be dealt with, as his behavior was extremely unprofessional & extremely childlike.

The Morristown Hyatt is a really nice site.  There are places galore to eat within a mile walking distance.  The hotel staff is very attentive, the playing room was nicely lit, & the parking situation is not problematic for the players.

I finished with 3 points out of 6 rounds.  You can see some of my games, especially the losses to both IM Zlotnikov & NM Milovanovic in the first link above.  I went up a piece against Zlotnikov, but there was really no choice but to offer a draw as he had perpetual check.  I opted to press on & eventually lost the game.

Against Milovanovic, we played a deep main line of the King's Indian Defense.  The game was very exciting, & both of us squandered at least one or two chances to take control of this game.

Pete was nice enough to help me out going over some games after a few of my rounds.  He published a book earlier this year called Openings for Amateurs.  I am about a third of the way through the book, & it's a really good resource for players 1300-1900.  He's really instructive, & actively challenges you to find out what you did wrong, as well as ask you why you did what you did in the game.

That concludes my brief report.

NJ Open Link & Short Preview

68th Annual NJ Open - Click Left for event details.

It should be interesting.  I don't think I have seen 7 combined IMs & GMs in a single NJ Open.  IM Dean Ippolito is trying for a record 6th NJ Open First Place Finish.

According to Ken Thomas's website, GM Alex Stripunsky won this event back in 1999.  Things should be interesting.

Karl Dehmelt is a FIDE Master (FM), so this is a stacked Open Section so far: 8 of the 16 players are FMs or higher.  There is an interesting 200+ point spread between Karl & the next highest rated advance entry.

Of the advance entries, I am apparently the 10th seed.  I have no wins against any of the top 8 players, although I have a draw against Dean in a simultaneous exhibition he did a few years ago.  I have played against GM Alex Fishbein, Ippolito, & Dehmelt in the past.

It should be a fun tournament.  Unless I end up paired against Dean, I would love to see Dean go 6-0.  Meanwhile, for me, I would love to see how I fare against the top competition.

Repost of 2014 US Open Round 8

I just realized that my posts were lacking diagrams.  I am reposting the Round 8 loss because I think it was the most instructional of them all, & I was proud that I was still in prize contention that late into a tournament.  There are still some issues I have to work out, but at least you can now look at actual positions in my games without having to download them.  I'll continue to upload selected games from various tournaments as I see fit.  My losing blunder was too hasty chesswise - it was the second time I completely overlooked an exchange sacrifice.  Unfortunately, this oversight costs me a game.

2014 US Open Day 6

The conclusion of the delegates meeting (for the USCF) was very interesting.  Some of the issues I expected to be controversial were not, but some that should not have been controversial became so, like changing the USCF rule about castling, where you now must touch the king first.  Touching the Rook first requires you to make a legal move with the Rook, if any exist.

The general joke ran something along the lines of, "We have the utmost confidence in ___'s competence," or something like that, whenever a motion or amendment became too picky.

I declined a draw offer in the 20s, & was validated in the Queen + Bishop ending when I picked off the Bishop & then advanced the passed pawn to induce resignation.  There were some errors along the way, but I got the job done to improve to 5 points out of 9 rounds.  I finished in 143rd place.

I came back to watch the playoff between the top two guys, GM Conrad Holt & IM Michael A. Mulyar.  Holt was Black in Round 9 vs. Mulyar.  Holt had the highest tiebreak, so he chose the White pieces.  White had 5 minutes, Black had 3 minutes & draw odds, but no delay on either side.  However, it became clear after the first two moves that Mulyar is not a blitz player as he never made up the time difference.  In fact, when Mulyar resigned, the time difference was more than two minutes.  Another GM recorded the game on the Monroi & the US Open website may have the game as well as pictures.

I uploaded my pictures so far to Facebook, but for those of you without Facebook, I will post a link to selected pictures from this trip.

This link should have all the games, partially annotated.

KEC's US Open Games - All Rounds

And this link contains the full standings.

US Open 2014 - Final Standings

2014 US Open Day 5

It was a strange day that ended with a bad loss.

The New Jersey State Chess Federation listed me as an alternate delegate.  I asked them to do this because as of Thursday, I didn't think we had any delegates from New Jersey.   I turned out to be wrong, but that is okay.

Most of my friends in the New Jersey chess scene, the CrossFit scene, Ultimate Frisbee, work, & other interests & places probably would not describe me as a boring person.  However, during the delegates meeting, I felt like the most boring person in the room.  It seems like most of the delegates talked multiple times throughout committee reports, motions, amendments, etc.  Some delegates did strange stuff - several were on laptops surfing the USCF Forums, one was cutting nails (I heard the nail cutter, sadly & disgustingly), side conversations were drowning out the speakers in the back.  We only got through 3 of the 7 delegates agenda pages with two sessions down & one session to go.

I found the Uno restaurant I wanted to go to yesterday, where I ended up at Twin Peaks instead.  I looked at the create a deep dish pizza section & realized that pepperoni, chicken, & hamburger were available as toppings.  Since I was allowed three toppings, I put all of those on & ordered a chocolate dessert drink to go with it.

There were trolley issues getting to & leaving Uno.  The break of the delegates session was roughly 12pm.  I got to Uno at 1pm, & at 155pm, the trolley text said 41 & 54 minutes.  So I walked the 2+ miles back & was 30 minutes late to the second session.

I forgot to mention in the delegates summary of the two sessions that it felt strange that several times, a presenter modified his/her own motion before presenting it to the delegates.  All delegates received a delegate book which contains the motions intended to be introduced.  But more than half of them were amended by the original sponsor/co-sponsor!  I think that's strange.

After the session, I went up to my room & got downstairs to the playing room.  I ran into the Executive Director of the USCF along the way.  She was really nice & thanked me for my feedback on the USCF Website.  She promised to talk to me tomorrow about it.

The game itself was strange.  I developed a small stomachache in the first ten moves that may have been caused by the dessert drink.  But I digress.  He played the Scotch game, & despite my knight vs. his Bishop, I seemed to get a better game because his pressure wasn't much.  I briefly toyed with forcing a repetition of position on the 21st move, which he says he would have accepted given the tournament situation.  Both of us had 4 points after 7 rounds.  However, I correctly thought that I should try to win this.  Unfortunately, I hurried my knight to a good square only to overlook another exchange sacrifice.  This time, the Bishop springs to life, & I end up having only a Rook for the Queen, which then got picked off.

Well see what tomorrow brings.  I need to win to finish with a plus score, & must avoid losing to finish with a negative score.  The updated pgn link is posted below.

KEC's US Open Games - Rounds 1-8

2014 US Open Day 4

I went to CrossFit Kings Point to do the August 1 WOD.

After the workout, I had to laugh.  I did the cooldown, & finished between 910 & 920.  But due to my bad road luck, no cab came until 950am!!  I had called the cell phones of three cab drivers, & they were all an hour north!  It was bad enough that I debated walking the 2.5-3 miles west to Universal Boulevard in hopes of catching the I-Ride trolley back.

Round 6 was interesting.  My opponent offered a draw in a position where I had a winning move.  I ended up with a Queen vs. Rook & Bishop that I eventually converted.  My opponent saw the final checkmate & wanted to see me do it, so he allowed it.  Even if he didn't allow it, I had an unstoppable passed pawn by that point as any Rook coverage results in the Rook being lost to a Queen fork.

After that came lunch.  I was originally looking for Uno Pizzeria & Grill since I had never been there before.  However, I couldn't find it easily since I was on the wrong trolley stop.  I saw a restaurant called Twin Peaks & actually wondered what the appeal was.  I step in & realize that the waitresses wear...skimpier clothing than most waitresses.  But since I'm single & here, an occasional look can't hurt.  The food was okay, & I watched first Michelle Beadle on Sports Nation followed by the first few games of Steve Johnson vs. Milos Raonic.  My server was pretty accommodating in the food industry service sense, so I tipped her fairly well.  Heck, she offered a to-go cup so I wouldn't lose my soda after I was done.

I head back to the hotel & find out that I have been added as a Delegates' alternate for New Jersey.  On the way back, I saw plenty of interesting chess people - & by interesting, I mean known names for whatever reason in the USCF.

I had an even stranger Round 7.  My opponent had a cramped position, but when I tried to break through in the center, he sacrificed an exchange & made it difficult for me to operate.  Fritz 11 suggested several different moves, but I missed them all, gave back the exchange, & then dropped a piece.  I then did something I definitely never did before & wouldn't be surprised if it is extremely rare: I offered a draw, with my move being a move that put my opponent in double check!  He accepted on the spot, as the only path to avoid a sure draw or quick checkmate sees his King travel in a curved path from e7 to at least c4!

I saw a frog eating a snake on the way back from Sizzler.  I guess this is normal for Florida.

The following link should work for the first 7 rounds.

KEC's US Open Games - Rounds 1-7.

2014 US Open Day 3

One of the things that is interesting is that you never know what will happen in each round.

My fourth round, I played a 1600+ player in which I didn't get any advantage in the middlegame.  I tried to force an endgame I wanted, but in doing so I dropped a pawn & nearly walked into a mate on the side of the board.  My saving grace was that the opposite colored Bishops allowed me to hold the position.

My opponent from the fourth round then lost his 5th round game in 28 minutes!!  He dropped a Bishop for nothing.  When I saw this to my immediate left, I couldn't help but wonder, "Why couldn't he have done this against me?"

My fifth round was worse than the fourth.  I blunder the opening position, allowing him to trade knights on c3 where the recapture was with the b-pawn instead of a Rook or the Queen.  Then, he offers a draw on the 25th move.  I saw what would happen with this game, but after he made his move (improperly offering a draw before moving) I declined it in frustration trying for more.  Nine moves later, the position is completely lost, & I'm scrambling for ways to save this game, when he offers a draw again!  I again ask him to make his move on the board first.  As soon as he plays his move, I jump & accept this offer.

As badly as I'm playing, I still have 2.5 points out of 5 rounds, so I really can't complain too much.

I found out between Rounds 4 & 5 that New Jersey might not have any delegates at the delegates meeting since one moved to California & the rest are unavailable.  The NJSCF board was helpful in this regard & it looks like I may be an actual delegate at the delegates meeting.  I'll post more on this tomorrow.

I apologize for the lack of the game scores so far - scattered internet & laptop not fully functional yet.  Links to the pgn games will be posted soon.

2014 US Open Day 2

I played a Master (2200+) in Round 2.  He chose a line in the Scotch Gambit that was very unfamiliar, turning it into a position more commonly seen in the Ruy Lopez.  I got my center solidified at first, but then I overextended it & watched it collapse slowly but surely.  Even Bishops of opposite colors with a Rook on each side can't save a 3-pawn deficit.

In Round 3, I played a 1700+ player.  I declined an invitation into the French defense & then he declined an invitation into the Nimzo Indian, so we ended up in the Queen's Gambit Declined.  In this game, I couldn't get any middlegame advantage, & then I failed to get the ending I wanted.  My opponent missed a chance to maximize his winning chances, & then our exposed kings lead us to the repetition of position.

The full score of both games will be available soon...I am having connectivity issues on the road.

2014 US Open Day 0 Extended & Day 1

Day 0 Extended will cover Sunday & Monday.  Day 1 covers Tuesday.

I flew down Sunday morning, & the rest of the family (parents, sister) flew down Sunday evening.

We went to both parks at Universal, including Islands of Adventure.  The experience was amazing, I hit most of the places & rides I wanted to do for Wizarding World of Harry Potter, with a bonus Hulk at the beginning & Men In Black after lunch.  I really loved the Hogwarts ride, & the Honeydukes/Zonko's shop, as evidenced by the treats I purchased.  

Selected pictures will be uploaded when I return home.

Day 1

I went out to CrossFit Kingspoint in Orlando, their original 8,000 square foot location with my sister via cab for the 9 am class.  Coach Roy was excellent in demonstrating specific improvements that we each needed to do.  

The workout today was 5 sets of 3 pull ups for the strength portion, followed by a 21-15-9 for time of Front Squats (115/75 pounds) & Pull ups.

At the moment, I can only do the blue band during the WOD.  However, I did challenge myself on the last three strength sets on the red band & found that I could do them.  I also did three attempts at the unassisted pull up.  My arms did tire & I had to switch to the ring rows at the end of the second set of the WOD, where I used 95 lbs for the front squat.

After lunch, my parents, sister, & I walked around for a little bit & then walked back to the hotel.

I took a nap & then felt nervous when I woke up.  I wanted to go out to eat for dinner, but the weather did not cooperate, sending cats & dogs down three times.  So I bought a salad at the hotel deli.  Needless to say it was cold & awful.  So, I bought two cliff bars expecting to eat them during the game.

On my way to the tournament room, I spot the T-shirt seller.  I see my name on the roster & ask for a medium shirt with a front logo & the roster in the back.  She is skeptical at first, but I took off my jacket & she remarked that the jacket made me look bigger than I actually was.

After getting my orange shirt, I put my jacket back on & head to the tournament room.  For the uninitiated, tournament rooms are typically cold with the air-conditioning running at or close to maximum power.  Over the years, I have found wearing a jacket or zipper sweater to be the most useful.

I look at my pairing & the rating difference is over 600/points lower.  I'm a little nervous because there is some added pressure to win with a big rating gap.

What is interesting about the US Open is that the organizers provide the boards & sets.  Usually in the US, players have to bring all of their own equipment.  However, here, you only have to bring the clock & your score keeping device!

My opponent transposes on the third move to a Queen's Gambit Declined, where I expected the NimzoIndian.  I traded off my dark Bishop early, but I was able to play Nge2 & castle.  After trading his last knight, he plays the anti-positional ...b5, ensuring that I have permanent control over c5 since his dark Bishop can't push the knight out, while the eventual trade leaves my Rook unopposed.

He tried to advance on the Queenside, but I stopped that with a4, knowing that a pawn trade invites my light bishop to hit the c6 pawn.  Playing b4 ends the Queenside counter advance & allows me to play vs the c6 pawn & or the king.

I end up lining the Queen & Rook on the 5th rank to snatch the a5-pawn.  When I relined my Queen & remaining Rook on the fifth rank, he sacrificed another pawn to separate my heavy pieces.  Fortunately, he used his kingside pawn cover & I started thinking of ways to checkmate him.  I used a simple linear mate & did it on move 34.

Full game score will be provided at a later date.

Introduction

My first name is Kevin.  I like playing chess, & I am attempting to play a rated chess tournament in all fifty states.

My stipulations are as follows:

1. Absolutely avoid Presidents Day Weekend (US Amateur Team East in Parsippany, NJ) & absolutely avoid Labor Day Weekend (NJ Open).  Most other weekends are fair game.
2. For new states, try to do one non-chess attraction or event.
3. Minimum time control should be G/30.
4. Try to get all 50 states done before I turn 50.  I have less than 20 years left.
5. Try to visit the less popular states now while I am single.  I can always convince a family to go to California or Massachusetts, less likely Utah.

It will be interesting to see if I can do it.  If you have any suggestions on things to do/where to play, please let me know.

#fiftystatesofchess