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.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 14, 2014
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.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
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
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
Saturday, August 2, 2014
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
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
Friday, August 1, 2014
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.
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.
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