For most of my travels in South Dakota, please see the previous post where I covered North Dakota non-chess items as well. We're going to cover in this post the tournament, & last minute sightseeing on that Monday before I traveled home.
The Paul Salem Sioux Falls Open was run pretty well. The first round was delayed 15 minutes due to a few late registrants, but nothing terrible.
In this tournament, there was an unusual way for reporting results that I had never seen before in any of the previous 33 states. It was so unusual I had to take a few pictures of it.
So, the players have to fill out the information on the card - names, round, section, & result. The cards had different colors for each section. Players submit this along with one of the copies of the scoresheet to the director. Of all the tournaments I have played in over the previous 33 states, only the US Amateur Team East has a separate reporting card, & no other individual tournament has a separate result card that I can recall. It's an interesting attempt to have backup to illegible scoresheets in order to verify results entered in the chess tournament computer files. We'll see if other states have this, but if other states have this, please let me know & I will update this stat.
So, in Idaho 2022, I saw one of my opponents from a previous tournament, Eric Hon (Utah 2014). I played against Todd Wolf (US Open 2016 in Indiana) North Dakota the previous weekend. Here in South Dakota, I saw three famous people - Dane Zagar, organizer of the 2022 US Amateur North in Minnesota where the Masters was a side event; GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez, who I played in Idaho in Round 2, & Megan Chen, another chess player featured earlier this year in Chess Life as she also tries to play chess in every state in this country! South Dakota is her 44th state, so I wish her luck in her quest as she will likely finish her 50th state before I do.
I didn't do very well in this tournament. In fact, I did the opposite - fail to record a win for the second state in my career (Maryland). I finished with two losses & two draws (had a 2nd round full point bye), making this the third state (Pennsylvania, New York) with a multiple game deficit under .500. I guess I will have to come back to try to even this out.
I hallucinated a position in Round 1, dropping a piece cleanly for nothing, which turned into an exchange-down ending I could do nothing in. I got the full point bye in Round 2, & then I ended up facing Megan in Round 3
[Event "Sioux Falls Open"]
[Site "Sioux falls"]
[Date "2023.04.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Chen, Kevin E."]
[Black "Chen, Megan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D32"]
[WhiteElo "1822"]
[BlackElo "1803"]
[Annotator "Chen,Kevin E."]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2023.04.22"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.01.07"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. dxc5 {I wasn't prepared for advancing the pawn directly
here, so I took the pawn instead. This isn't common, but I did beat NM Arthur
Feuerstein in 18 moves once with this opening.} e6 ({I stunned Feuerstein in
2009 (only the moves provided - my commentary & the variations are not & may
be a separate post in the future) as follows:} 3... Na6 4. Nc3 Nxc5 5. g3 a5 6.
Bg2 g6 7. Nh3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nf4 d6 10. Qc2 a4 11. Nfd5 e6 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6
13. Bf4 Rd8 14. Rfd1 a3 15. Bxd6 Rxd6 16. Rxd6 axb2 17. Qxb2 Qxc3 18. Rd8+ {
deflecting the g7-Bishop from protecting the Queen 1-0}) 4. Nf3 Bxc5 5. e3 {
I am sure there are other ways of protecting against ...Ng4, but I did not
seem to mind this one.} d5 6. Nc3 O-O 7. cxd5 {Played not necessarily to give
the isolated pawn but rather to avoid having to move the Bishop twice if she
initiates the capture on d4.} exd5 8. Be2 Nc6 9. O-O Bf5 10. b3 Rc8 11. Bb2 d4
12. exd4 (12. Na4 d3 (12... b6 13. Nxc5 bxc5 14. exd4 cxd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16.
Qxd4) 13. Nxc5 dxe2 14. Qxe2 b6 15. Rad1 Qe7 16. Nd3) 12... Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4
14. Rc1 a6 {Megan didn't like this move. I didn't like it either, but I wasn't
sure how she planned to meet Bf3.} 15. Bf3 Bxc3 16. Rxc3 Rxc3 17. Bxc3 Ne4 18.
Bb4 Re8 19. Re1 $2 (19. Qxd8 Rxd8 20. Re1 {is legitimate, as a future ...Rd1+
is met by Re1 for the time being.}) 19... Qb6 20. Bxe4 Qxb4 21. f3 Qb6+ 22. Kf1
{moving to the corner reintroduces back rank troubles.} Bxe4 23. Rxe4 (23. fxe4
{allows Black to gang up on the e4-pawn.}) 23... Rxe4 24. fxe4 Kf8 25. Qd3 Qc7
26. g3 {I don't remember all the rules for pawn placement in Queen endings,
but I doubt placing them all on White squares to ghost opposing dark clerics
will work versus the Queen. Better to limit the range of the far-reaching lady.
} Qc1+ 27. Ke2 Ke7 28. Qd5 {with the Queen & the pawn in a mutual protection
scenario, I am free to take a King Walk as I see fit. Kb6 would be golden if I
could get it.} Qc2+ 29. Kf3 Qc3+ 30. Kg4 Qc8+ 31. Kf4 Qc1+ 32. Ke5 Qg5+ 33. Kd4
Qd2+ 34. Kc5 Qf2+ 35. Kb4 Qb6+ {this felt wrong. Keep checking from the back &
I can't make progress.} ({Stockfish 15: 1)} 35... Qe1+ 36. Kc4 Qf1+ 37. Kb4 {
0.00/45}) ({Stockfish 15: 2)} 35... Qb6+ 36. Kc4 Qc7+ 37. Kd4 f6 38. a4 b6 39.
e5 Qc2 40. exf6+ Kxf6 41. Qe5+ Kf7 42. Qf4+ Ke6 43. Qe4+ Qxe4+ 44. Kxe4 a5 45.
Kd4 Kd6 46. Kc4 Kc6 47. b4 axb4 48. Kxb4 g5 49. h3 h5 50. g4 hxg4 51. hxg4 Kb7
52. Kb5 Kc7 53. Kc4 Kc6 {0.00/45}) 36. Kc4 Qc7+ 37. Kd4 Qd6 (37... Qb6+ 38.
Qc5+ Qxc5+ 39. Kxc5 {should be winning for me.}) 38. Qxd6+ Kxd6 39. e5+ Kc6 {
this felt wrong.} 40. a4 b6 41. b4 h6 {this felt wrong, but I didn't
capitalize on this.} 42. g4 ({Stockfish 15: 1)} 42. Kc4 f5 43. exf6 gxf6 44. g4
Kd6 45. Kd4 Ke6 46. Ke4 a5 47. b5 Kd6 48. Kf5 Kc5 49. h4 Kb4 50. Kxf6 Kxa4 51.
g5 h5 52. g6 Kxb5 53. g7 a4 54. g8=Q Ka5 55. Ke5 Kb4 56. Qd5 b5 57. Kf5 a3 58.
Qa2 Ka4 59. Ke5 Kb4 {10.97/24}) ({Stockfish 15: 2)} 42. Ke4 h5 43. Kd4 g5 44.
Kc4 a5 45. b5+ Kd7 46. Kd5 g4 47. Kd4 Ke7 48. Ke3 Kd7 49. Kf4 Ke6 50. Ke4 Kd7
51. Kf5 Ke7 52. Kg5 Ke6 53. Kxh5 Kxe5 54. Kxg4 Kd5 55. h4 Kc4 56. h5 Kb4 57. h6
Kxa4 58. h7 Kxb5 59. h8=Q a4 60. Qf8 f6 61. Qxf6 {10.23/24}) 42... g6 43. h4 ({
Stockfish 15:} 43. a5 Kb5 (43... bxa5 44. bxa5 Kb5 45. Kd5 Kxa5 46. Kd6 Kb5 47.
Ke7 a5 48. Kxf7 a4 49. e6 a3 50. e7 a2 51. e8=Q+) 44. Kd5 bxa5 45. bxa5 Kxa5
46. Kd6 Kb4 47. Ke7 a5 48. Kxf7 a4 49. e6 a3 50. e7 a2 51. e8=Q a1=Q 52. Qe4+
Kb3 53. h4 g5 54. Qe6+ Kc2 55. Qe2+ Kb3 56. h5 Qh8 57. Kg6 Kc3 58. Qf2 Kd3 59.
Qf6 Qg8+ 60. Kxh6 Ke2 61. Qf5 Ke1 62. Qf3 Qd8 63. Qf7 Ke2 64. Kg6 Qd3+ 65. Qf5
Qd6+ 66. Kxg5 Qe7+ 67. Qf6 Qe3+ 68. Kh4 Ke1 69. g5 Qe4+ 70. Kg3 {6.79/24})
43... Kc7 44. Kd5 Kd7 45. b5 a5 46. g5 h5 47. Kd4 Kc7 {first draw offer} 48.
Ke4 Kd8 49. Kd4 Ke7 50. Kd5 Kd7 51. Kd4 Ke7 52. Kd5 Kd7 53. Kd4 Ke7 1/2-1/2
After the game, Megan & I got together for a quick picture & had a brief conversation (it was already 10pm CDT after we finished) about our respective journeys & states left.
In Round 4, I faced a player who was apparently well known for time trouble (he admitted it after the game). At least three times, he made a move & then waited several minutes until he punched the clock. (To non-chess tournament players, if your move doesn't create checkmate, stalemate, or an immediate draw based on insufficient material left on both sides (e.g. King vs King), you must complete your move by punching the clock, which is the act of stopping your clock & starting your opponent's clock simultaneously.) The game went back & forth a few times, & we both executed beautiful knight sacrifices in the game. Unfortunately, he did checkmate me on Move 51, so I jokingly said, "You don't have to punch the clock now."
In Round 5, I used an exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez on my opponent, but he correctly traded his Bishop for my Knight & I couldn't find a win in the King & pawn ending. Bonus sign this tournament wasn't going well for me - My 4th round opponent lost his 5th round game in 5 moves. (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 e6?? 5. g4 & he resigned as the Bishop is trapped.)
In an unusual move, my flight departing Sioux Falls didn't board until 10:32 am CDT or something like that. Since I solved my North Dakota trophy problem by successfully playing tetris with my carryon the night before, I had a little bit of extra time to go for last minute sightseeing. I tried look at some sculptures along sculpturewalk, & I checked out Arc of Dreams. I also found primary & secondary truck route signs that I had never seen before. You may check out these pictures Part 1 & Part 2 of my last minute sightseeing.
So, despite the lack of performance in South Dakota, overall, this was a very fun 10-11 day trip, I won a little money & a trophy, & I made a few new friends.
Here is the combined map, simplified to try to use the 6 Toad colors from Super Mario Run mobile game (or to try to use the primary & secondary colors)
And that concludes State No. 34 for #fiftystatesofchess
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