50th US Amateur Team East/World Amateur Team

So, I went to the 50th running of the US Amateur Team East/World Amateur Team Tournament in Parsippany, NJ on President's Day Weekend.   This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year, as I get to see plenty of chess players, organizers, & even a few chess vendors from all over the place as 1300+ players plus untold numbers of others converge the Parsippany Hilton for one long tournament chess weekend.

Since this is the 50th year, I decided to lend my traveling hashtag for our team name.  However, during registration, the # symbol was dropped from our team name by mistake, so the wall charts have just fiftystatesofchess instead of #fiftystatesofchess.  It made for some interesting talk as everyone asked about the team name.

So, in most rounds (Except Round 5), Chief Organizer Steve Doyle gives away random prizes at the start of the round.  He calls first people up for orange pens, or previous amateur team t-shirts, or other random subjects.  (Sample minute video on the instagram post: KEC's Instagram Video on Prize Giveaways) I was laughing on Saturday because he called for a green shirt in Round 3 (Day 2), & I had worn two green shirts on Day 1.  (See team picture below)

#fiftystatesofchess Team: Todd, Todd II, Doug, & myself.

Similar regrets for when he called people up for born in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, but no 80s as well as being late with a MetroCard on Day 2!    It was okay though because he finally did call people born in the 80s before Round 6 & I won the book Champions of the New Millenium below:

Prize before Round 6, players born in the 80s. 
Book Title Champions of the New Milleniums

I did buy several other books, but the books that promise to be the most interesting are Winning Ugly in Chess by Cyrus Lakdawala & The Secret Life of Bad Bishops by Esben Lund.  Now, while I post very good games from various places, the reality is that most games are nowhere near 100% start to finish dominant by the winning side.  There are lots of ebbs & flows that happen, & games can swing wildly.  If nothing else, these books have the potential to have entertainment value, but I'm sure they can keep my spirits up as I try to recover from the bad chess play over the tournaments between Oklahoma City & Parsippany.

When you have to try to save at least a draw from a lost position, you know something went horribly wrong.
Round 6: Ratner-Chen, Rook Smart Not Street Smart vs. #fiftystatesofchess, Board 1, White to move, #19

This is one of those games that really swung wildly.  I should easily have lost this game, as White's attack hit hard & fast here.  In fact, after 19. Qf4, I cannot avoid mate, as 20. Qh4 guarantees 21 Qh7#, 19. ... Re8 surrenders the dark squares to 20. Bxf6, 19. ...Kg7 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Rh7+ Kg8 22. Qxf6 & 23. Qh8#, & 19. ... Bxg5? allows 20. Rh8#.  

If your opponent lets you hang around in a lost game, make things difficult for him!
Round 6: Ratner-Chen, Rook Smart Not Street Smart vs. #fiftystatesofchess, Board 1, White to move, #19

I ended up going into a Rook ending & my opponent offered me a draw on move 46 that I happily took, which ended up being critical as my team won the last match 2.5-1.5 to finish with 3 match points out of the 6 rounds.  

Here are our results with quick commentary (Our results in Win Draw Loss Format)

Round 1: #fiftystatesofchess vs. Drafting Pawns WLWW
The opponents thought my Board 3 & 4 teammates were brothers.  Todd Senior appreciated the thought!  I'll present a key position on the instagram post tonight.

Round 2: Black Mambas vs. #fiftystatesofchess DWLL
I won a pawn on the 10th move (see the instagram post coming from http://instagram.com/thekecmaster shortly) but played inaccurately from move 17 on & had to take a draw in an otherwise losing position as my opponent was short on time.

Round 3: #fiftystatesofchess vs. Caruanavirus (2020 Best Team Name) LDLL
My Board 2 Doug had to use a 3rd scoresheet in this game as this game was somewhere north of 130 moves & had a hard time demonstrating repetition of position.  (Each scoresheet issued by the staff was 60 moves.)  My opponent came back after getting coffee & said that there was no way repetition of position didn't already happen.  Doug eventually demonstrated it, but I think 50 moves may have been quicker to demonstrate.  My good friend Shelby Lohrman from American Chess Equipment was our opponent on Board 4.

Round 4: Parsippany Chess Club vs. #fiftystatesofchess WWLW
We got to see two more of our local chess playing friends as our opponents on Boards 2 & 3.

Round 5: #fiftystatesofchess vs. Vassars Earth Wind & Skewer DLLL
Mr. Ernest Johnson happily remembered that we played in the past and that game was also a draw!  (Look up 2009, same Team Tournament, but colors were reversed.)

Round 6: Rook Smart not Street Smart vs. #fiftystatesofchess DWWL (Forfeit Loss on Board 4)
We had a forfeit loss on Board 4.  Todd II went back to college on Monday (he had classes), so Todd Sr. moved up to Board 3 & an unrated player from the Navy joined us in Round 5.  Due to a misunderstanding & miscommunication, he played on another team and not ours for Round 6.  (Not his fault, which I want to make clear.  I also want to make clear that I feel bad that the opposing Board 4 had to wait an hour before claiming the forfeit win.  I was too busy getting beaten up early in my game & didn't notice until 45+ minutes in that my Board 4 didn't show up.)

After Round 6, there was a gentleman named Joshua Anderson who was conducting random interviews for http://www.chessjournalism.org about the oral history of the US Amateur Team East Tournament.  I consented, & it was a fun interview going back & forth.  I don't know when they are going to finish the compilation of their project, but I think I gave some good insight into things I have witnessed in my 15 consecutive years of playing at the Team.  They will post a compilation of audio quotes at some point in the coming months, & I will let you know once that goes up.

Well, that just about wraps it up.  There will be a post for State No. 28 soon - expect it in about a month or so!