So, State #9 was Illinois, where I opted to play in the Chicago Open. It seems that they book the same hotel every year, The Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, IL. The notable places before/during the tournament that I visited were CrossFit EPC in Buffalo Grove, Willis Tower, Begin Historic US Route 66 Sign, Crown Fountain in Millenium Park, Giordano's near Millenium Park, Level 257 (The Pac Man Restaurant) in Schaumburg, & Lou Malnati's in Buffalo Grove.
Wheeling is a NW suburb of Chicago. Public transportation is pretty lacking here. The best bet to go downtown is to arrange for a hotel shuttle or cab to Wheeling or Lake Cook Train Stations & then take the Metra to get to Union Station in downtown Chicago. Otherwise, if you don't rent a car, Uber becomes important.
CrossFit EPC was nice. I had conversed with the owner briefly by email. Their facility, while a bit small since they can only accommodate 10 students at a time, is really well organized & conducive to CrossFit WODs. Their board is organized by warmup, strength, & WOD portions for the current day's workout. The instructor when I was there, Philip, is very good at guiding you through the movements in all the stages, & gives great advice. The classmates there were awesome - I talked with a few before, & many more after. Their community post-WOD was awesome.
I took my first ever free Uber ride from the hotel to CrossFit EPC, but since the distance was 3 miles, I thought I could just walk home. I gotta tell you, walking in the suburbs is a bad idea. I saw less than ten people walking anywhere in the entire trip in the suburbs. Portions of sidewalk often disappear, bugs hang out near any kind of water, & don't forget about extra stuff on the ground from geese.
Next day, I went up to Willis Tower, the new name of the Sears Tower. You should remember this place from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, as Ferris once mentioned in that movie, "Anything is peaceful from one thousand, three hundred and fifty-three feet." On the way back down, I bought two comedic books, one about facebook & one about only words in funny combinations.
After doing the obligatory picture taking, including non-selfie shots, I walked over to the Begin Historic Route 66 Sign, where I just asked a random person to take my picture with this sign. I'll try to make a trip to the End Historic Route 66 Sign in Los Angeles at some point.
I walked on over to Crown Fountain in Millenium Park, where two structures display random faces & every 10-15 minutes (or whatever the actual time was), the faces would make the spitting motion & the structures display water. There were a few people who ran to the falling arc of water & several women running around in the water between the two structures barefoot.
Since it was already after 2 PM central time, I opted to walk to Giordano's for the first of two deep dish pizza stops I planned on this trip. There was no table open, so I was offered a seat at the bar. This couldn't have gone any better, as I strike up a conversation with a random attractive dietitian from Las Vegas who also happened to be eating deep dish pizza for the first time. I remember this conversation fondly because we asked each other about first time for deep dish pizza & I mentioned that I was supposed to be on a diet. She joked, "What's a diet?" & then drops about 30 minutes later that she's a dietitian.
After enjoying the deep dish pizza here, I make a timing error at 330pm. The Chicago art Museum closes at 5pm, so $23 for a 1.5 hour visit didn't seem worth it. My phone was dying (22%, & I still need to call my friend), so I opt to go back to the hotel, drop off the books, & try to get to Level 257 as early as I can. However, I miss the 357pm train heading back, so I have to wait for the 440pm train. I luck out when the hotel shuttle picks me up right away while we wait for the other three people who ended up going to Wheeling Train Station instead. However, when I go back to the room, I panic because I couldn't find the charger. I whiffed because I had it the whole time! I could have gone straight to Level 257 & had a better chance to be in the first 257 people to earn a prize, which was free 30 minutes of game play on another day.
After charging the phone, I utilize my second free Uber ride from the Hotel to Level 257. The place was really more than I expected. I got there at 730pm, bought an item at the store (Pac Man Party for Wii) & then proceeded upstairs to wander around & play games while waiting for my friend to show up. I saw people play Level 255, the last level of Pac Man, where the ghosts only reverse directions on the power pellet, & then play Level 256, where half the screen is gobbledeygook! There are bowling alleys with pac man themed bowling balls & pac man & ghost icons for your names! Plenty of games abound the place. Since this was Pac Man's 35th birthday, play was free for all visitors.
My friend gets there, & we're seated at roughly 8pm. This is the big negative about the place in my opinion: It took us 2 hours to eat dinner. The service was slow, & they forgot items or got items wrong. (Items missed: Cappucino for my friend, my fake alcoholic drinks, ice in my sodas when I specifically said no ice) We walk around the place after dinner (lots & lots of people playing &/or waiting to play, trust me.) & then head back downstairs to the store so I can buy more items.
The next day, I went to Lou Malnati's in Buffalo Grove. Another deep dish pizza place. So having eaten at both deep dish pizza places, I feel qualified to review the two.
Giordano's had the slightly better deep dish pizza. While both were good, the deep dish at Giordano's did not leak on to my hands. (It is hot when it does.) However, the customer service was better at Lou Malnati's - the wait staff provided better service, where at Giordano's, the only reason I didn't notice the long periods of service at first was the dietitian to my left.
By the way, deep dish pizza takes 30-45 minutes to make. If you are not talking to anyone in particular there (friend or random other customer), you may want to order an appetizer.
And now for the Chess...
Since this is an event organized by the Continental Chess Association, the new rules about electronic devices are in effect. The cell phones have to be completely off, & you cannot bring them into the bathroom with you. A TD is sitting at each bathroom entrance saying, "No cell phones, please." They say it even if you make multiple trips in the same round. It is best to leave your phone in your bag, leave it in your room, or give it to your significant other so she/he can hold it. Since I normally use my cell phone for step tracking, I now have to get a non-Internet pedometer for big tournaments.
Before I forget, I saw a few people from NJ, & A few people from Utah! I enjoyed talking to them for a little bit in between rounds!
The play was interesting, if not great. It seemed like I would make a small mistake between moves 12-20 in each game. When I lost, I compounded the mistakes, creating my own avalanche. I had 2.5 points after 4 rounds, but struggled the rest of the way & finished with 3 points out of 7 rounds total. Rounds 1 & 5 featured opponents who went on to win money. Rounds 5 & 7 are roommates who drove from Ohio.
Statistical oddities: I never won with Black in 5 opportunities (4 rated) between the US Amateur Team East & the Chicago Open. The trend reversed in Wheeling, where I never won with White in 4 opportunities.
A 14-year old IM won the tournament, earning a GM norm & a 5-digit prize. (Source: chicagoopen.net)
The best games were my 4th round, when I turned down a draw offer to win a knight ending, & the 7th round, when I fought for a 103-move draw when neither of us would offer a draw. The last round went 5 hours & 13 minutes, easily my longest game this year in terms of moves (2nd closest is 80) & actual time elapsed (This game took 5 hours & 13 minutes).
That concludes State #9. State #10, barring anything unforseen, will be a little farther away. #fiftystatesofchess
