I flew into Chicago Midway on Tuesday & drove up to Madison. For some reason, when I planned this trip, I completely missed that Southwest flies to Milwaukee. I might have done that instead as Milwaukee is only 1.5 hours from Madison, rather than the 2.5 - 3 hours to Chicago. Since I was driving up from Chicago, I took a quick stop at Level 257 since they had free bowling on Mondays - Thursdays during the daytime (you only had to pay for renting shoes, but I had my own shoes...) & I had $5 on my card I wanted to use up.
The second stop on the trip was the Beloit Travel Wisconsin Welcome Center. Two years ago, I made a similar stop at a rest stop & picked up a map that persuaded me to pursue the Garfield Statue Hunt in Indianapolis. So, I did the same thing & identified a few different places to go: Nitty Gritty, Dotty Dumpling's Dowry, & Ehlenbach's Cheese Chalet. As Ehlenbach's was only a half hour or less up the road from Madison & they were still going to be open when I got there, I made the trip detour.
So Ehlenbach's Cheese Chalet (https://ehlenbachscheese.com/) is family owned & operated. Now, being on vacation, I wasn't going to buy or order cheese to send home since I don't usually eat a lot of cheese. However, I did pick up a pair of cheese coasters for a Packers fan, some double chocolate chip cookies produced by a local farm, & a bag of pretzels produced by the store. The last two items were for emergency tournament eating.
I had planned to travel straight to the hotel in Middleton (the US Open Chess Hotel was just north of the Madison border in Middleton) after the cheese chalet. However, my traveling bad luck that I typically experience out of New Jersey decided to strike right there. A message popped up on the dashboard saying that the air pressure was low in one of the tires. I pull over at a gas station, trying to figure out how I'm going to tell which tire was triggering the message. Well, a tire with a missing tire cap would suffice. I drove to an advance auto parts store to take care of that problem, but boy, that could have been a lot worse. (And yes, the cap was on the tire when I left the airport.)
I next drove to Nitty Gritty in Middleton, as the Rest Area Map made a claim about burgers & birthday celebrations. I went to this place & the very first question that a host asked me was, "Is it your birthday today?" When I said no, the host did not hide disappointment on his face. They apparently have celebrated over 700,000 birthdays since 1985, with their oldest patron being I think 108 & their youngest patron born just the day before.
While at Nitty Gritty, I discovered a local soda called Blumer's Cream Soda. This soda was sweet enough to drink, not too sweet to overpower, & can be used to fake drinking alcohol even better than ginger ale with no ice & an orange slice. I so wish I could bring some home to to NJ, but I guess I have to wait.
CrossFit Games - Day 1
When I got to the CrossFit Games, my lyft driver dropped me off at the wrong spot - I think he dropped me off at the spot for athletes, organizers, etc. It took me a bit to find the back of the line. The line seemed long - maybe a 1/4 mile, but once it moved, it moved pretty quickly.
I crossed the road & noticed that there was a maroon banner that said finish. Since this happened to be the finish line for the Criterion, I decided to watch the Women's & Men's Criterion. This was a hard event to watch live as you really only saw the athletes drive by at the point you are standing at. Thankfully, the voice of Sean Woodland & the other commentators carried through on the microphones & you could hear them describe a few of the events that happened on the course at other points, such as the chain coming off of Pat Vellner's bike. It was still awesome to cheer for different athletes as they passed by, like Marquan Jones. (Center biker)
Marquan Jones is my sister's CrossFit Coach at CrossFit Roseland. My sister gave me a shirt with his name on it, so if you look at replays of the Criterion event, you might be able to see me there.
The grounds at the CrossFit Games are pretty large. (See picture below)
I approached my Day 1 Visit of the CrossFit Games similar to how I like to visit the US Open for Chess: Try to go to as many different events as possible, visit all the different areas, see what is around. I was very lucky with my Day 1 visit, as even though I did not have Coliseum access, most of the events were not in the Coliseum. I got to see at least one heat of every event except for Team event 1 - the Bike Deadlift. (The Bike Deadlift was at the same time as the Criterion, so I couldn't watch them both)
I watched Doubles & Oly for the Masters in the Age Group Pavilion, & one of the athletes (Terry Howard) actually gave me a high five after his attempt at finishing double unders & squat cleans finished. It was fun to watch this guy & cheer for him as he attempted to finish his double unders & cleans. (This was the 50+ bracket, which did 4 rounds of double unders & squat cleans - also 14-15. 16-17 & 35-49 did double unders & squat snatches.)
After Terry Howard's heat, I walked around some & came back to the Age Group Pavilion. The next event I watched was the 50+ Masters Women doing two 40-foot handstand walks sandwiching 20 wall balls. I talked to another fan in a random lane, & it turned out that not only was her mother competing, but she was competing next. So, I ended up joining this fan & cheering for Monique Londeree. It was thrilling to cheer for Monique - she did well with the handstand walks.
I went back to North Park to watch the 30 Muscle Ups Event. The individuals had 5 minutes to complete 30 ring muscle ups & cross the finish line. I tried to take additional pictures & videos, but my phone overheated & the camera function didn't work.
I dropped by the Airrosti booth, & gave my information in case I won a prize. They had me do an instagram post on my account (@thekecmaster) & used the hashtag #airrosti. They left me a comment that I won a foam roller, so I knew that my return trip on Saturday would involve picking up the foam roller. (Don't worry, we will revisit the foam roller later in this post.)
Thursday - Day 1 of the US Chess Open
I entered the 4-Day Section of the US Open, as I knew I wanted to visit the CrossFit games & I did not want to take two 1/2 point byes just to do so. The 4-Day Section was very strong - by my count, there were 9 Grandmasters in this schedule alone, as compared to 10 combined in the traditional 9-day (1 game a day schedule) & the 6-day schedule.
Time trouble was a big problem for me in this tournament. In the first 5 rounds, except for the 4th round when I trapped my opponent's Queen, the most amount of time I had at the end of a game was 5 minutes 39 seconds. The first 6 rounds of the 4-day schedule were of the G/60, 5 second delay time control, so you played 4 rounds on Thursday & two rounds on Friday afternoon at this faster time control before merging for Round 7 on Friday night at the standard time control of 40/120 SD/60, 5 second delay. It's a tough schedule, & I think the only way I would play this schedule again is if the US Open returned to New Jersey, as I would rather use my vacation day traveling the rest of this country.
It should be noted that I did have a forfeit win in the 6th round as my opponent withdrew from the tournament, but did it way too late where pairings could not have been adjusted. I should have been lucky for the start of the 7th round, but my time trouble woes continued & played into the end result as I only had 3 seconds left to make my 40th move. (My opponent was even worse...only two seconds.) It was unfortunate as I thought I played a decent game with my first attempt that I can recall using the exchange variation against the French. The link takes you to my notes & the diagram below is for quickly playing it through.
Chen-Thangavel - Round 7 - US Open
[Event "US Open"]
[Site "Madison"]
[Date "2018.08.03"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Chen, Kevin E."]
[Black "Thangavel, Gokul"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "1937"]
[BlackElo "2099"]
[Annotator "Chen,Kevin E."]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2018.08.02"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.02.10"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 {Spur of the moment, I decided to try to play for a win from
an equal position. Equal positions don't necessarily mean automatic draws.} 3.
exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Bd6 6. O-O O-O 7. h3 Nbd7 {Hinders his development
unnecessarily.} (7... Be6) 8. Re1 h6 9. c4 (9. b3 c6 10. c4 {is another idea})
9... dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nb6 11. Bb3 c6 12. Nc3 a5 13. a3 Nbd5 $6 (13... Bf5) 14.
Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 cxd5 16. Qd3 b6 17. Ne5 Qh4 {This was after a nearly
47-minute think} (17... Ba6 18. Qf5) 18. Nf3 (18. Bd2 Ba6 19. Qe3 Rae8) 18...
Qf6 19. Bd2 Ba6 20. Qe3 a4 21. Ne5 Bb5 22. Ng4 Qg6 23. Qf3 Rfd8 (23... Qd3 {
was what I was afraid of}) 24. Re3 Bc4 25. Rae1 f6 $2 26. Re6 Bf8 {[#] At this
point, I had 12 minutes to his 5 minutes. I knew that the quickest way to win
was a sacrifice to rip the Kingside open. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong one.
} 27. Bxh6 (27. Nxf6+ gxf6 (27... Kf7 28. Ng4+) (27... Kh8 28. Ng4 Qh7) 28.
Rxf6 Qd3 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Bxh6) ({Fritz 11 SE: 1)} 27. Nxf6+ gxf6 28. Rxf6 Qh7
29. Qg3+ Kh8 30. Ree6 Ra7 31. Rxf8+ Rxf8 32. Rxh6 Qxh6 33. Bxh6 Re8 34. Qg6 Rg8
35. Qh5 Rga8 36. Bf4+ Kg8 37. Be5 Kf8 38. Qh6+ Kf7 39. Qxb6 {4.40/20}) ({
Fritz 11 SE: 2)} 27. Nxh6+ Kh8 28. Nf5 Bb3 29. Nh4 Qh7 30. Qg4 Bc2 31. Rxb6
Rdb8 32. Rxb8 Rxb8 33. Bb4 Bxb4 34. axb4 g5 35. Nf3 Qf7 36. h4 gxh4 37. Qxh4+
Bh7 38. Qf4 Rxb4 39. Ne5 {2.28/20}) 27... Rd6 {Granted, I'm still up a pawn,
but this conversion is not easy.} 28. Rxd6 Bxd6 29. Bf4 Bf8 30. Ne3 Qd3 {
draw offered. I declined.} 31. Rc1 b5 (31... Rc8 32. Nxd5 Qxf3 33. gxf3 Ba6 34.
Rxc8 Bxc8 35. Nxb6 Bxh3 36. Nxa4) 32. Rxc4 {Sadly, I had less than a minute
here & my opponent had about 1 minute & a half after his reply, so this game
devolved.} (32. Nxc4 Qxf3 (32... bxc4 $4 33. Qxd5+ Kh8 34. Qxa8) 33. gxf3 bxc4)
({Fritz 11 SE:} 32. Rxc4 dxc4 33. Qd5+ Kh7 34. Qxa8 c3 35. bxc3 Bxa3 36. Nd5
Qb1+ 37. Kh2 Bc1 38. Bxc1 Qxc1 39. Qb7 a3 40. Nxf6+ Kg6 41. Nd5 Qb2 42. Nf4+
Kf6 43. Qf3 Kg5 44. Ne6+ {4.81/19}) 32... dxc4 (32... bxc4 $4 33. Qxd5+ Kh7 34.
Qxa8) 33. Qxa8 $2 (33. Qd5+ Kh7 34. Qxa8) 33... Qb1+ 34. Kh2 Qxb2 35. Bd6 Qxf2
36. Qxf8+ Kh7 37. Ng4 ({Fritz 11 SE:} 37. Nd5 Qe2 38. Qf7 Qxg2+ 39. Kxg2 b4 40.
axb4 Kh6 41. Bf4+ g5 42. Nxf6 gxf4 43. Qh7+ Kg5 44. Ne4# {#18/18}) 37... Qxd4
38. Bg3 $2 (38. Bb4 Qf4+ 39. Kg1 Qc1+ 40. Kf2 (40. Kh2 Qf4+ {is an easy
perpetual}) 40... Qc2+ 41. Kf3 Qd3+ 42. Ne3 {stops all the checks. In time
pressure, white likely has a perpetual.}) 38... c3 39. Qf7 c2 40. Qh5+ Kg8 {
3 seconds for me, 2 seconds for him from the first time control.} 41. Qe8+ {
I sadly offered the draw here. I realize now that there had to be a way out
for me in this position, but my brain was fried after being in time pressure
each of the previous rounds plus this one.} (41. Qe8+ {Fritz 11 SE:} Kh7 42.
Qc8 Qb2 43. Bf4 b4 44. axb4 a3 45. Bd2 a2 46. Nxf6+ gxf6 47. Bc3 c1=Q 48. Qf5+
Kg8 49. Qg6+ Kf8 50. Qxf6+ Ke8 51. Bxb2 Qc7+ 52. Kg1 Qa7+ 53. Kf1 Qa4 54. Qe6+
Kd8 55. Bf6+ Kc7 56. Be5+ {4.51/21}) 1/2-1/2
Before I forget, I should mention that I visited Mickie's Dairy Bar for breakfast on Friday morning. It is a good place to eat at, but make sure you have cash on you as they don't take credit cards. The atmosphere resembles a college town atmosphere, which is appropriate since the University of Wisconsin-Madison is pretty much right next door.
I watched the Jump Finish Event for the Masters women, but I didn't exactly preview all of the athletes that would be at the games. I was very surprised to see 2013 CrossFit Games champion Samantha Briggs competing in the Masters division, mainly because I didn't think she was that old. I happened to be standing only two to three lanes away, so I had an excellent view as I watched her win this heat, which turned out to be an event win. See https://games.crossfit.com/workouts/games/2018?division=18 for the full workout descriptions of the muscle ups, back squats, & box jumpovers.
After I watched Briggs, I walked over to North Park to hang out at the finish line & try to cheer on Marquan Jones during the Triplus (Swim, Paddleboard, Run).
I headed back to the Age Pavilion to check out more of the Jump Finish Event when I happened to catch up with the same fan who was cheering for her mother Monique Londeree (Instagram: mo_molonderee) on Wednesday. So I cheered for her again during Jump Finish. Monique struggled a little bit during this event, but it was fascinating to watch her fight through & eventually do as many muscle ups as she could. Her coach was to my left giving her tips to remember as she did the muscle ups. She fought really hard & I loved watching her perform, even if she didn't finish the event. She gave it her all & that's all anyone could ask for. I gave her a high five after her heat.
After eating lunch at Sofra Family Bistro in downtown Middleton, I saw a sculpture that an artist create of Bucky Badger in Builder's clothes, called Bucky the Builder.
Driving around, I stumbled onto Hurts Donut Company, which had a hilarious sign about Dos & Donuts that you just have to read.
The two donuts I ended up eating eventually were
Very delicious donuts. I didn't eat them right away, but I had a feeling that I would eat them during the tournament.
Final Round, Sunday, 3:05 pm start
I would like to point out that a chess player actually died in the final round of the US Open. I will discuss briefly about what happened, but only as much as I actually saw & what I know. I anticipate the US Chess Federation may bring more details to the surface as they know it. Below is the announcement:
https://new.uschess.org/news/announcement-us-open/
Please pray for the player's family.
----------------------------------------------
I was playing the last round, & thinking about what to do on my 17th move. All of a sudden, I heard a flop, thump, & a medical emergency shout. Players from other areas of the room (yes, even kids) began to flock over to see what was going on as two people nearby started to perform CPR. My opponent & I agreed to stop the clock, & eventually walked away from the area to give space. The TDs were able to direct everyone else away from the area, trying to pause as many clocks as they could. Tables & chairs surrounding the fallen player were moved in an attempt to give space for treatment of the player.
Two people (I believe both were other tournament players but I am not 100% sure) were close to the fallen player were performing CPR, & the nearest TD called 911. The operator, while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive, was giving step by step instructions. Emergency Personnel came, though it took a while for them to get there, maybe 15-20 minutes after the initial medical emergency call.
Emergency personnel took over & kept trying to work on the fallen player. At some point during this process, the chief organizer ordered everyone to clear the room. I remember all the players I was surrounded by hoping first & foremost that the fallen player would be okay, though I did hear secondhand that some players were complaining about others getting free thinking time in their games. I am horrified that these people actually complained about this (I trust & believe my source) & am disgusted with these few players. Hopefully these aren't the majority.
The TDs would come out at semi-regular intervals, asking if players agreed to a draw that the results would be honored on the spot, though no one could get back into the tournament room to retrieve their items until the police/emergency personnel were done. The Chief TD, at 6:30pm, then indicated that play would not resume until at least 8pm. The majority of players decided to get dinner. I stayed back & conversed with a few other players.
We were not permitted back into the room until 7:30-7:45, & play would resume at 8pm, about 3 hours & 25 minutes after the emergency started. The organizer, just before play resumed, indicated that the fallen player had died & asked everyone for a moment of silence. It was really hard to finish the game after that, as I couldn't help but think more about the player dying than the actual game I was playing. It's really shocking to think that a player could die during a chess tournament, & to hear it & watch part of it unfold in front of me really left me unbalanced.
I offered my opponent a draw, but he wanted to play it out since we waited this long & finally got back to the board. He mentioned that if I had offered it right away after the medical emergency, he would have taken it, but I didn't think that the resumption would occur as late as 8:00 when the event first happened. There have been two other medical emergencies similar to this in prior tournaments I played in, but the player in question in those cases survived & the resumption of play was within a half hour.
It didn't really help that he was a local, living 30 minutes away, & I still had to drive back to Chicago. Since I couldn't legitimately resign the game at that point since I thought I had a slight advantage, but my mind was jumbled with hearing a player just drop to the floor, I played the rest of the game in speed mode, using less than 41 minutes over the final 60 moves. I ended up losing the game, & making the long drive back to Chicago so I could fly home the next morning.
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The donuts I purchased at Hurts Donuts Company were a bit of fortune, as I didn't get to eat anything else that night/late morning. I left Middleton at or around 10 pm, & the drive back was wet, with lightning & thunderstorms nearby, & hazardous since I-90 was a construction zone. The rest area that I stopped in only had McDonald's open at 12 midnight, & I wasn't waiting on a 20-person line for that. I arrived at my hotel in Chicago on Monday 1:00 am +/- & left it at 5:30 am +/-, shortest hotel stay ever. The foam roller I won was checked in as a second bag, conditionally accepted. However, when I got to Newark, said roller wasn't found. Thankfully Southwest was very nice through the process, filling a lost item form for me, & they found the foam roller on a later plane from Midway to EWR. They offered me a $100 travel voucher if I picked it up, or I could have it delivered. I'm not passing up the travel voucher, so I picked it up on Tuesday along with the voucher.
I just hope my next trip has a better ending, as this will do it for Wisconsin. #fiftystatesofchess
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