State No. 28 - North Carolina

Well, I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened over the last year & a half.  With the pandemic affecting everything in life, it's been hard for a lot of us to do even "normal" things, let alone other stuff.

I had originally planned to travel to Arkansas last March for State No. 28, but with the pandemic raging, I opted to cancel my trip & wait for a better time period to travel.  I personally waited until I was vaccinated before I started planning this trip.

It should be noted that even for vaccinated people, masks are still required at airports, public transportation systems, private shared ride services (e.g. Lyft, Uber, etc.), & random private businesses.

I first traveled to the Carolina Raptor Center on Thursday, June 17.  Through this area, you get to see several different birds of prey & learn about fascinating things & how the volunteers here are trying to keep them going through conservation, education, & rehabilitation of the various birds.  Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good pictures, so I can't show any on this blog.

I next traveled to CrossFit Eternal to do my road drop-in to a crossfit affiliate.  Coach Dell was pretty good, & I saw him interact with others & myself, giving tips on our techniques as we were performing our strength movements & then the metabolic conditioning piece.  The place is well sized & there were boxes (outlined with tape) for each athlete to stand in to leave their stuff & do the workout.  I took a few pictures of the walls & the setup, really nice art they have that you can see here: IG Pic Post of the space & the WOD.

The next day, I walked the majority of the Charlotte Rail Trail from south to north, which included a slight detour stop at Paper Skyscraper.  Here are some photos, more in a bit.  It was a nice scenic walk that included quite a few art pieces as you traveled parallel to Charlotte's Blue Line Lynx system.  They did include on the trail a series of colored poles on each side.  It was called Color Forest, but someone graffitied the description, so I have no idea why they built it.  As you walk from one end to the other, the colors change aesthetically.

After the Charlotte Rail Trail, I continued up to the Mint Museum.  I thought it was going to a museum about the science of breathing or money, but it was neither.  I did stumble on a few cool pieces though, & you can see them in my instagram post right here.

That was practically it for sightseeing, as my first round started later that Friday evening at 6:30pm & I wanted to shower & rest up before then.  It was interesting to see the precautions the tournament organizers took, 

I only took video of the top playing room, but you can see it through my IG Post here.  They put two tables together, but only one game per table, so there was plenty of room & space.  It felt nice that they extended this perk to all the players, not just the top boards in the open section.  Masks were advertised as required, so you did have to wear your masks at all times in the tournament playing hall or the tournament corridors.

6/29 Addendum Note: You might see me rocking some #cosplay outfits, whether full or partial.  This is to make up for the fact that my favorite video game convention is delayed until 2022, I intend to dress up as at least one character (most likely Super Mario Franchise character) in each tournament until the next A Video Game Con occurs.

This is my third round game, where my engine didn't keep up with my endgame play for some reason.

[Event "Carolinas Classic"] [Site "North Carolina"] [Date "2021.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "Carrasco, Christian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C63"] [WhiteElo "1860"] [BlackElo "1727"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 6. Nf3 (6. Qh5+ $2 g6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 {& the Qd4 protects the Rh8, but this is a trap I saw in a Bruce Pandolfini Chess Openings Traps and Zaps book, so I immediately discarded it.}) 6... Qxe4+ 7. Qe2 Qxe2+ 8. Kxe2 Nf6 9. Re1 Bd6 10. Kf1+ Kd8 11. Nc3 Re8 12. Rxe8+ Kxe8 13. d3 h6 14. h4 Nd5 $2 {while this undoubles his queenside pawns, his unopposed light bishop will have future endgame problems.} 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. Bd2 Kf7 {Draw offered} 17. Re1 Bd7 18. Bc3 Re8 19. Rxe8 Bxe8 20. Be5 $2 { Rushed} (20. g3) 20... Bxe5 21. Nxe5+ Ke6 22. d4 f4 23. Ke2 Kf5 24. f3 c5 25. c3 cxd4 26. cxd4 Bb5+ 27. Kf2 h5 28. Nf7 Kf6 (28... Ke6 29. Nd8+ Kd6 30. Nxb7+) 29. Ne5 Kf5 30. g3 {I had to try to win this game somehow.} fxg3+ 31. Kxg3 Bc4 32. a3 Bb5 33. Nf7 Kf6 34. Nd6 $5 Bc6 35. Kf4 g6 {This seems to eventually trap the Knight, but I think it can live long enough for me to do something.} 36. Nc8 a5 37. b3 b5 38. Nb6 a4 39. b4 Ke6 40. Kg5 Be8 ({Fritz 11 SE: 1)} 40... Be8 41. Na8 Kd7 42. Nb6+ Kc6 43. Nc8 Kd7 44. Nb6+ {0.00/36}) ({Fritz 11 SE: 2) } 40... Kf7 41. f4 Kg7 42. f5 gxf5 43. Kxf5 Be8 44. Nxd5 Bf7 45. Nf6 Kf8 46. Kg5 Ke7 47. Nxh5 Bg8 48. Nf6 Bc4 49. h5 Bd3 50. Nd5+ Kd6 51. Ne3 Ke6 52. Kf4 Kf7 53. d5 Kf6 54. Ng4+ Ke7 55. Ke5 {4.39/35}) 41. f4 {I was laughing because the engine never considered this continuation after initially looking after white's 40th move, but once Black plays the ...Be8, it changed the evaluation from = to 2+!!} Bf7 42. Na8 Kd6 (42... Ke7 43. Nc7 {I can either escape with Na6 Nc5, take whichever pawn the Bishop doesn't guard, or trade knight for Bishop at e8 & eat the g6-pawn.}) (42... Kd7 43. Kf6 Be8 (43... Bg8 44. Kxg6 Kc6 45. f5 Kb7 46. f6 Kxa8 47. f7 Bxf7+ 48. Kxf7 Kb7 49. Ke6 Kc6 50. Ke5) 44. Nb6+ {double threat - Nxd5, or Nc8-Ne7}) 43. Kf6 Be6 (43... Be8 44. Nb6 Kc6 45. Ke7 {& the Bishop is actually lost for Black, and with that the game.}) 44. Nc7 {I had foreseen that this works & had enough reservations about eating the g6-pawn, so I went with it.} (44. Kxg6 {is actually faster.} Kc6 (44... Ke7 45. f5 Bg8 (45... Bc8 46. Nb6 Bb7 47. Kg7 Bc6 48. f6+) 46. Kg7) 45. f5 Bg8 46. f6 Kb7 47. f7 {does also work & may be faster than the game continuation}) 44... Bd7 (44... Kxc7 45. Kxe6) 45. Na6 Bf5 46. Nc5 {Not only does the Knight get to an outpost, Black can't guard e6 & d3 simultaneously. This should be an easy win for me now.} Bc2 47. Ne6 Kd7 48. Nf8+ Ke8 49. Nxg6 Be4 50. Ne5 Kf8 51. Ke6 Kg7 52. f5 Kf8 53. f6 Kg8 54. f7+ Kh7 {[#]} (54... Kf8 55. Nd7+ Kg7 56. f8=Q+) 55. Kf6 {The Bishop can't check me, & nothing stops f8Q & Qg7#.} (55. f8=Q Bf5+ 56. Kxf5 $4 {is a stalemate.} (56. Qxf5+ {avoids the stalemate, but I decided on a unique approach to avoiding stalemate.})) (55. Kf6 Bd3 56. f8=Q Bg6 57. Qg7#) 1-0

And this is my last round game, where I missed a win on the 27th move.

[Event "Carolinas Classic"] [Site "North Carolina"] [Date "2021.06.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "MacCaulay, Daniel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "1860"] [BlackElo "1725"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 {Playing for the endgame immediately.} exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. O-O O-O-O 9. Be3 Ne7 10. Nc3 Ng6 11. f3 Bd6 12. Rad1 c5 13. Nde2 f5 14. Rd2 (14. exf5 Bxf5 15. Ne4) 14... f4 15. Bf2 Ne7 16. Bh4 Rdf8 $6 17. e5 Nf5 (17... Bxe5 18. Bxe7 Re8 19. Bxc5) 18. exd6 Nxh4 19. dxc7 Bc6 (19... Kxc7 20. Nd5+ Kc6 21. Nexf4) 20. Nd5 g5 (20... Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Kxc7 22. Rxc5+) 21. Nec3 h5 22. Ne4 Bxd5 23. Rxd5 g4 24. Rxc5 Rh6 ( 24... Rf7 $4 25. Nd6+) 25. Rd1 Nf5 26. Rdd5 Ne3 {[#]} (26... Rhf6 $4 27. Rxf5 Rxf5 28. Rxf5 Rxf5 29. Nd6+) 27. Rxh5 $4 (27. Nd6+ Kd7 (27... Rxd6 28. Rxd6 { should be enough for me to convert.}) 28. Ne8+ {I missed this move in the game. I Queen the pawn with either check or saving the d5-rook with a Re5+. Black should be lost now.} (28. c8=Q+ $2 Rxc8 29. Nxc8+ Nxd5 30. Rxd5+ Kxc8 31. fxg4 hxg4 32. Rf5 Rc6 33. Rxf4 Rxc2 {was sadly all I saw in the game.}) 28... Kxe8 ( {Fritz 11 SE: 1)} 28... Ke7 29. Rd7+ Ke6 30. c8=Q Nd5 31. Qxb7 Rxe8 32. Qc6+ Kf5 33. Rdxd5+ Re5 34. Rxe5# {#6/7}) ({Fritz 11 SE: 2)} 28... Nxd5 29. c8=Q+ Ke7 30. Qxb7+ Ke6 31. Qxd5+ Ke7 32. Rc7+ Kxe8 33. Qd7# {#5/7}) 29. c8=Q+ Kf7 ( 29... Ke7 30. Rc7+ Kf6 31. Qxf8+ Ke6 32. Qd6#) 30. Rc7+ Kf6 31. Qxf8+ Ke6 32. Qd6#) (27. Rd6 Rh7) 27... Rxh5 28. Rxh5 Kxc7 29. fxg4 Nxg4 30. h3 Ne3 31. Kf2 $2 Nd1+ 32. Kf3 Nxb2 33. Nc5 Rf6 34. Rh7+ Kc6 35. Nxb7 $6 (35. Nd3) 35... Nc4 36. Nd8+ Kd5 37. Rd7+ Ke5 38. Rd3 Rg6 39. Nb7 $4 ({Fritz 11 SE:} 39. Nf7+ Kf5 ( 39... Ke6 40. Rd4) 40. Rd5+ Ke6 41. Rd4 Na3 42. Rxf4 Nxc2 43. g4 Rg7 44. Nd8+ Kd5 45. Rf5+ Kd6 46. Ra5 Rc7 47. Rxa6+ Ke7 48. h4 Kxd8 49. h5 Rc3+ 50. Ke4 Rc4+ 51. Kd3 Rc7 52. Rb6 Ke7 {2.52/21}) 39... Ne3 {[#]} 40. Rxe3+ {I thought I was losing here.} ({Fritz 11 SE:} 40. g4 Rh6 41. Nc5 Rxh3+ 42. Ke2 Rh2+ 43. Kf3 Rh3+ {0.00/21 likely drawn by repetition here.} 44. Ke2 Rh2+ 45. Kf3 Rxc2 46. Nd7+ {pushes Black's king away from the f-pawn which I missed}) 40... fxe3 41. Nc5 Kd4 42. Nb3+ Kc3 43. Kxe3 Rxg2 44. Nc5 a5 45. Kf3 Rxc2 46. h4 Kb2 47. Nd3+ Kxa2 48. h5 Rh2 49. Kg4 a4 50. Kg5 a3 51. h6 Kb3 52. Kg6 {I offered a draw here, knowing I'm likely lost if he finds a way out} Rh1 53. h7 a2 54. Nc1+ Rxc1 55. h8=Q a1=Q 56. Qb8+ Kc2 57. Qh2+ Kb1 0-1

So I had chances to win in the last round, but I failed to do so.  I guess I'll get it next time!