State No. 33 - North Dakota

The North Dakota State Chess Championship was well run.  No delays that I noted.  Pairings were available by email or phone 10-15 minutes before each round started, & they were also posted on https://caissachess.net/live/2636 including the standings, etc.

There were a few oddities 

1) A 6 Round tournament over two days, players playing four games the first day & two games the second day. This made decisions in the third round & fourth round interesting. Most tournaments limit themselves to 3 rounds a day unless there is an abbreviated schedule.

2) A change in time control in the tournament, which usually only applies to an abbreviated schedule. We did G/75 D:05 the first day & G/90 D:05 the second.

3) I was the second highest rated player to play in this tournament.

None of these are bad, just unusual in the now 33 states I have covered.  (Yes I really did reach Patrick Ewing's number)

What I am finding is that since the pandemic started, you really have to throw out the USCF "ratings" published for the tournament.  More & more players have found the game online & play online much more than over the board.  I'll talk about that more with regards to our first position.  Still, there are times when you can tell these online players have not played over the board much, such as offering draws at the incorrect time or not writing down the moves after move 6.

Side note: the correct time to offer the draw [not claiming a draw, which is slightly different based on the method of the claim] is the period between when you make the move & when you hit the clock. Offering a draw during your opponent's move can be construed as annoying the opponent (I based an amateur team name in Parsippany on this rule if you remember - "Rule 20G - Annoying Behavior Prohibited") Offering a draw before you move is not illegal, but the opponent has the right to ask you to make your move first before responding. Once you offer the draw, you cannot take it back!

So we have a position from Round 2. My opponent said he had a 2050 rating on lichess & an 1850 rating on chess.com.  These I think are higher than my online ratings, so I was forced to ignore his 1470 USCF rating. However, his inexperience over the board showed in that he stopped writing down moves after move 6. Now, since I didn't notice this until well after move 20 when the game had already turned in my favor, I decided not to make an issue out of it. I ended up with the beautiful zugzwang shown below.

Black to move after 46. Kg8

Black's pawns can't move, his King can't move, his Bishop has no safe squares to go to, & his Rook is stuck on my 3rd rank pinning my dark Bishop to stop Bxg5#. He resigned here as giving up a Bishop only slows down his demise.

My third round was the game I was struggling with the most in the first 5 rounds. Even looking back at it now, I am amazed I won this game.

[Event "North Dakota State Championship"] [Site "Bismarck, ND"] [Date "2023.04.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Schlangen, Landon"] [Black "Chen, Kevin E."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1526"] [BlackElo "1822"] [Annotator "Chen,Kevin E."] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2023.04.15"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 {I used to play ...Bd6, but I prefer to keep watch over the d5 square} 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Qc2 Nf6 10. b3 {with this move, I have to try to watch the long diagonal in case it springs open for his dark cleric.} h6 11. Nbd2 Be6 12. Bb2 Nbd7 13. Rfe1 Re8 14. Rad1 Rc8 15. h3 Nf8 16. Nf1 Qc7 17. Bc3 Rcd8 18. c5 b6 19. Qd2 Ra8 {didn't like this undeveloping move, but I did have to address a potential Ba5 skewer.} 20. cxb6 axb6 21. Ne5 c5 {this was an attempt to get uncramped.} ({ Stockfish 15:} 21... Ne4 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. Rxe4 Nd7 24. Nxd7 Qxd7 25. Re2 Bg5 26. Qc2 Bf5 27. Rxe8+ Rxe8 28. Qb2 Be4 29. Bd2 Bf6 30. Bc3 {0.00/32}) 22. Bb5 Bd7 23. Nxd7 N8xd7 24. Ng3 Bf8 25. a4 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Rc8 27. Nf5 Ne4 { Desperate attempt to trade off the dark Bishop before it can combine with the Knight & Queen.} 28. Qe3 {Tide turned after he let me trade his dark Bishop off.} ({Stockfish 15:} 28. Rxe4 dxe4 29. d5 Re8 30. d6 Qd8 31. Qf4 Re6 32. Bc4 Rf6 33. Bxf6 Qxf6 34. Qxe4 Qa1+ 35. Bf1 g6 36. Ne7+ Kg7 37. Nc8 Nf6 38. Qd3 Qe5 39. g3 Qe6 40. Nxb6 Bxd6 41. a5 Bb8 42. Nc4 h5 43. Qd8 Nd7 44. h4 Ne5 45. Nxe5 Qxe5 46. a6 {4.10/25}) 28... Nxc3 29. Qxc3 Nf6 30. dxc5 Bxc5 {now I am eyeing . ..Bxf2+ & ...Ne4 ideas} 31. Nxh6+ $2 ({Stockfish 15:} 31. Kf1 Qf4 32. Qf3 Qd2 33. g3 g6 34. Re2 Qc1+ 35. Re1 Qd2 {0.00/30}) 31... Kf8 (31... gxh6 $2 32. Qxf6 {was his hope, but I am not required to oblige him.}) 32. Qd2 Ne4 33. Rxe4 { Now he sacrifices lol, but he should have done this earlier!!} dxe4 34. Nf5 Rd8 35. Qe2 Qf4 36. Ne3 f5 37. Qh5 Bxe3 38. Qh8+ (38. fxe3 Qxe3+) 38... Kf7 { I can deliver mate without the Rook, so just don't walk onto mined squares & I should be okay.} (38... Ke7 39. Qxg7+ {forces me to take a King walk I don't want}) 39. Bc4+ Kg6 40. Qxd8 Qxf2+ 41. Kh1 (41. Kh2 Bf4+ 42. Kh1 Qe1+ 43. Bf1 Qxf1#) 41... Qg1# 0-1

My fourth round was a repeat opponent, Todd Wolf, from the last round of the 2016 US Open. He remembered me from our conversation before that game when I mentioned I was hoping to play ultimate frisbee one last time before leaving.  This time around, we fought to a draw, as I won a pawn but then gave it back, & neither of us felt like we could press home any miniscule advantage on the fourth game of a long day.

Since I don't know how to display partial game replay, you'll get a bonus game - my fifth round.

[Event "North Dakota State Championship"] [Site "Bismarck, ND"] [Date "2023.04.16"] [Round "5"] [White "Schill, Kevin"] [Black "Chen, Kevin E."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1378"] [BlackElo "1822"] [Annotator "Chen,Kevin E."] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2023.04.15"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nf3 d6 7. b3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Bg4 10. Kh1 Ne5 11. Be2 Nxf3 12. Bxf3 (12. gxf3 {is what I expected with the King sliding over for the Rook to access g1.}) 12... Bxf3 13. Qxf3 c6 14. Bf4 Qa5 $2 {I was trying to move my Queen away from pins on the d6-pawn, but this was the wrong square to move to.} (14... Qb6) 15. e5 dxe5 16. Rxe5 Qc7 ({Stockfish 15:} 16... Qa3 17. Re2 Rae8 18. Be5 Bd8 19. Rd1 Re6 20. g3 Qa5 21. Bd4 Rxe2 22. Qxe2 Re8 23. Qf3 Qc7 24. Kg2 a6 25. h4 h6 26. b4 Be7 27. Bxf6 Bxf6 28. Ne4 Be7 29. Nc5 Rd8 30. Rxd8+ Bxd8 {-1.30/27}) ({I am more embarrassed that I didn't realize 16. ...Qa3 was a possibility during the game. } 16... Qa3) 17. Re6 Qd7 18. Re3 Rfe8 19. Rd1 Qf5 ({I liked} 19... Qg4 { right away because the Queens are forced off.}) 20. Re5 Qg4 21. Qe3 Bb4 { I wanted to hit the c3-knight protecting the d1-Rook, but 21. ...Nd5 is a more effective way of doing so.} ({Stockfish 15:} 21... Nd5 22. Rexd5 cxd5 23. h3 Qg6 24. Qf3 Bg5 25. Nxd5 Bxf4 26. Nxf4 Qe4 27. Qxe4 Rxe4 28. g3 Kf8 29. Kg2 Rc8 30. h4 Rc2 31. a3 Ke8 32. Rd5 Re7 33. Rh5 h6 34. a4 a6 35. Nd5 Ree2 36. Rf5 Rcd2 37. Nb6 g6 38. Rf4 h5 39. b4 f5 40. a5 Kf7 41. Nc4 Rd8 42. Ne3 Kf6 43. Rc4 {-6.00/39}) 22. Re1 h6 {I figured opening the escape hatch & setting up a future trade & development was the best course of action.} 23. f3 Rxe5 24. Bxe5 (24. fxg4 Rxe3 25. Rxe3 Nxg4 {wins a second pawn & is starting to overload that Rook.}) 24... Qg6 25. Rd1 Re8 26. Qd4 {[#]} Bxc3 {I meant to say "cold-blooded" mentally, but the early game stress made this word slightly audible to my opponent. But what I see coming is that my knight on d5 will be the most powerful piece in the coming ending.} 27. Qxc3 Nd5 28. Qd4 f6 29. Bg3 Qc2 30. Rd2 Qb1+ 31. Qg1 (31. Rd1 Qxa2) 31... Qxg1+ 32. Kxg1 h5 33. Bf2 a6 34. Bd4 $2 ({I liked} 34. g4 {for my opponent, trying to control the light squares his bishop cannot.}) 34... f5 35. Kf2 Kf7 36. h3 g6 {now everyone is out of reach from the dark Bishop. It feels like it is only a matter of improving the position of my Rook Knight & King} 37. a4 b5 38. Rc2 Re6 39. g3 Nb4 40. Rc3 ( 40. Rc1 $4 Nd3+) 40... Nd5 41. Rc2 Ke8 42. f4 $4 {now the e4 square is available for my pieces.} Kd7 43. h4 Re4 44. Bc5 bxa4 45. bxa4 Rxa4 46. Rb2 Rc4 47. Bf8 Kc7 48. Kf3 a5 49. Kf2 Nc3 50. Rb3 Ne4+ {...Rc3 to follow} 0-1

The fifth round put my tournament score at 4.5 out of 5 rounds, heading into the last round vs. the only other A player in the tournament.  I lost that game, which bumped my opponent at 5/6 into second place. I ended up winning the money for the Class A Prize, & since there were no other Class A players from North Dakota there, I got the Class A trophy too. (We had a funny moment where I had a double take when they said Kevin you forgot your trophy.  As my fifth round opponent was also named Kevin, I thought they meant him.)

These are most of the trophy winners, with the non-trophy holder being the tournament director.

My friend Todd Wolf on the right.  He won the tournament 5.5/6

Updated combined map.

For more chess tournament pictures, please see my instagram post here or the instagram post three posts back.

Update: My rating got updated as I did the non-chess blogpost.  Since my opponents were very lower-rated, my rating did not change despite the 4.5/6.  So I remain at 1822.

Update #2: I found out late in the tournament that one of the participants runs her own youtube channel on her chess improvement. I regret not talking to her more about it, but I plan to view her youtube videos & her tweets soon.  She played Todd Wolf to a very competitive game in I think Round 5. Here's a link to her twitter: https://twitter.com/kamrynheidi & to her youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kamrynheidi

And that concludes the chess portion of State No. 33 for #fiftystatesofchess.  I will do the non-chess stuff in a separate post coming up!