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So on Thursday, after running into a few traffic pockets & stopping at the wrong welcome center (I stopped at the New Hampshire Welcome Center rather than the Maine one) out of necessity, I took a detour to the Portland Lighthouse (officially the Portland Head Light) at Fort Williams Park (in Cape Elizabeth, Maine). If you see postcards from Maine, many of them contain a picture of this lighthouse. It was windy & cold, & definitely not near sunrise when I went. But I knew in the back of my head I might not make it back here, so I made sure I took a few pictures of it.
After that, I took a trip to Becky's Diner. Somehow, it was the second-liked place for lobster roll in Portland according to Trip Advisor, but I guess my taste buds just don't like lobster roll.
They do have a nice chocolate cream pie, so be sure to get some!
I had talked with a parent of one of the players in between rounds. On the last day (Sunday) of the tournament, this parent mentioned a two-cent bridge within the town boundary that might be worth checking out. Since my 4th round on Sunday ended really quickly, I opted to make a quick trip to the Two-Cent Bridge.
It was built & washed away several times, & the toll to get across between 1903 & 1960s was two cents, which is how it got its name. They added some bicycle racks that they designed in the shape of the bridge, which was a really nice touch.
I played acceptably in the tournament. I struggled against two of the three lower rated players, but won all 3 games, & lost against both higher rated players. Since the rating spread of the lower rateds was very high, it wasn't enough to outweigh the losses & my rating dropped to my floor of 1800.
I had the pleasure of playing the tournament organizer & current Maine Chess Association president Michael Dudley. He's a good person & is really passionate about promoting Chess in Maine. Very friendly & welcoming, I hope to return at some point in the future!
Below is our third round game.
[Event "Maine State Open"]
[Site "Waterville, ME"]
[Date "2022.04.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Chen, Kevin E."]
[Black "Dudley, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B44"]
[WhiteElo "1804"]
[BlackElo "1541"]
[Annotator "Chen,Kevin E."]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2022.04.22"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.03.05"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Be2 {I am not sure if I have ever
played this variation before, but I have struggled using the Bind recently & I
would rather try something different.} Nf6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bf3 Qc7 8. O-O Be7
9. Re1 d5 10. exd5 {This is simply so I don't have to be stuck guarding the
e-pawn.} cxd5 11. Be3 Bd7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Qd2 Rac8 14. Rad1 Bb4 (14... Rfe8 {
Based on his admittance in the post-mortem that this two move Bishop shuffle
wasted time, this preparatory move first is better. Bonus if he can ever play .
..e5 without losing the ...d5 pawn.}) 15. Bd4 Be7 {The d5-pawn now hangs
because an e6-pawn capture exposes the unprotected Be7.} (15... Qd8) 16. Nxd5 {
I chose this move because I thought the two Bishops would be better in the
open position than the BIshop & Knight.} (16. Bxd5 exd5 (16... Nxd5 17. Nxd5
exd5 18. Rxe7 {is even better as the path to g7 is even clearer if Qg5 is
allowed.}) 17. Rxe7) 16... Nxd5 17. Bxd5 Qxc2 18. Qxc2 Rxc2 19. Bb3 (19. Be4
Rcc8 (19... Rc7 $2 20. Be5 {hits both the c7-Rook & the d7 Bishop.}) 20. Bxa7 {
is even better than the move I originally saw in the game.} (20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21.
Rxd7 {wins a pawn but I have to be careful about how I trade pieces as
opposing bishops now lurk.})) 19... Rc7 20. Be5 Rb7 21. Re3 a5 22. Red3 Bb5 23.
Rd4 Rc8 24. h3 {Some luft in case I get careless about my first Rank.} h5 25.
R1d2 Bc5 $2 26. Rd8+ Rxd8 27. Rxd8+ Kh7 28. Bc2+ f5 ({I take no objection to}
28... g6 $4 29. Rh8#) (28... Kh6 29. Bf4+ g5 30. Rh8+ Kg7 31. Be5+ f6 32. Rh7+
Kf8 33. Rxb7) 29. g4 hxg4 30. hxg4 Kg6 (30... Rd7 {may be Black's best chance
here.}) (30... Bd7 $2 31. gxf5 exf5 32. Rxd7 Rxd7 33. Bxf5+ Kg8 34. Bxd7) 31.
gxf5+ exf5 32. Rd5 Be7 33. Bc3 Bd7 34. Rxa5 Bb4 35. Ra6+ Kh7 36. Bxb4 Rxb4 37.
Bb3 Rg4+ 38. Kh2 (38. Kf1 $4 Bb5+) 38... Rf4 {he offered a draw here} 39. Kg3
Rg4+ 40. Kf3 Bb5 41. Rd6 Bf1 42. Bc2 Bg2+ 43. Ke3 g6 44. Rd4 Rxd4 (44... Rg5 {
gives slightly better chances for survival, but not much.}) 45. Kxd4 Kg7 46.
Ke5 Kf7 47. f4 {Not allowing any ...g5 counterplay later.} Ke7 48. Bb3 Bc6 49.
Bc4 Bb7 50. b4 Bc6 51. b5 Bb7 52. a4 Bf3 53. a5 Kd7 54. Bd5 1-0
I also got to talk to Chief TD Alex Relyea in between Rounds. I have a feeling that since I have not yet played in Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, & Massachusetts, I will happily see him soon.
Interesting tidbits: The son of one of my prior opponents has won this tournament a few times, & I faced last year's champion Max Berube in the last round.
That concludes State No. 29. I hope to see Michael & Alex soon, & you will see State No. 30 later this year.
#fiftystatesofchess
