State No. 37 - Louisiana

This was a very fun trip.  Unlike Hawaii, nearly every decision I made chess & non-chess wise on this trip was good.

I guess we should start with the food I ate.

I was told from multiple personal sources that New Orleans is known for food.  I tried to eat as many foods known to New Orleans as possible: Po-Boy, Muffuletta, Gumbo, Beignet, & Jambalaya over the 3.5 days I was there, & you can see Some Food Pictures from NOLA right here along with their locations.  Everything I ate there was excellent.  They probably have even more good food down there, but as my stomach isn't in the capacity of Jughead, Yoshi, Garfield, Kirby, or Pac Man, I am definitely going to have to come back for a return trip to discover more.

On the Friday of the trip, I went to the National World War II Museum.  There's 5-6 buildings & lots of things to see.  They have included a dog tag card that lets you follow the story select person as you follow along through the various galleries in the museum.  (You see a picture of the dog tag card as the last picture of museum pictures in this instagram link.)  Now, you are supposed to go through the train car at the beginning of the museum to introduce you to this idea, but I was running nearly late for one of the add-on shows I added to my visit.  They do have the dog tags in the area after that first train & before you pass on to the path of the various galleries.  The only criticism I have is that to hear the story, there are old school telephones connected to the stations.  There are stations all over the museum galleries where you tap the dog tag card & then you pick up the phone to hear the story. While I am okay with this as a person who used old school telephones before cell phones exploded in popularity, I know there are people who don't like the idea of using something someone has used previously.  If there was an additional option to use your phone to follow the story through your own headphones, that might improve the situation for those not comfortable with using the old school phones.  

After a short break to eat gumbo (I wanted the meat, but because it was lent, they did seafood.  It was still very good.), I drove over to Mardi Gras World.  (Hint: There is free parking along Tchoupitoulas Street within the shoulder. I agree with the staff that there is no need to pay $26 for parking in Lot G nearby just to visit.) 

This is a parade person's dream place!  They craft the floats here for the various Mardi Gras Parades that you see between January 6 & Fat Tuesday (for the uninitiated, the day before Ash Wednesday).  They don't just build the floats & characters for their own parades though.  They rent out these floats &, well, characters to other entities (E.g. Disney, anyone?).  The only rule is that anything created for one parade has to be recolored or changed in some way or shape if it is going to be reshown in a future event.

I know in the instagram post I mentioned I would share a few more pictures I took here, so here we go.

This has to be of Baron Davis.

In looking up New Orleans Players wearing Number 1, the likeliest best players were Baron Davis & Zion Williamson.  Zion has hair, so I am assuming Baron Davis was the intended player for this statue.  (Chris Paul is #3)

You bet I am taking a picture of French Fries

Marilyn Monroe in the front, Supergirl behind

The Fleur-de-lis, Saints symbol

I did nickname my trip location an NFC South Location for purposes of hiding my exact location from higher ups who did not need to know.  Incidentally my coworker also vacationed in the NFC South, but when we discussed this, I had to point out that if we were vacationing in the same city, I would have joked about the specific city instead.  He did land on New Orleans as a guess after knowing my previous trip history.

Cat in the Hat

Peter Rabbit Characters!  I recognize Benjamin Bunny.

Superman Logo

Darth Maul

Crescent City Connection?

Mississippi River

3rd shot of my panoramic view of Mississippi River

Inside the gift shop for Mardi Gras World, a random pair of large figurines

Penguin

Penguin #2

Penguin #3

So the Chess Tournament was held at the University of Holy Cross, in the southern part of New Orleans.  As per tradition, I dressed up in cosplay as another character for at least one round like I promised to do until my first convention, A Video Game Con, comes back for its full convention.  However, this time, I introduced a new character on the road, Blue Drill Toad, from Super Mario Brothers Wonder.

Blue Drill Toad, Drill Hat

Blue Drill Toad, Blue & Black Toad Hat

You can see the reference character on the second picture of this instagram post.

I had a lot of extra time after my first round, which was only 22 minutes long I think.  I ended up playing some pool for kicks.

I was playing fairly well on Day 1.  I opted to wear the video game hats through Day 1 just for kicks.  I started the tournament 3.5 points out of the first 4 Rounds, including this fun game in Round 4.

[Event "New Orleans Open"] [Site "New Orleans"] [Date "2024.03.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "Phillips, Rene W."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1824"] [BlackElo "2105"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "171"] [EventDate "2024.03.23"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] {Turns out he's played in NJ before & we both know or heard of FM Tommy Bartell} 1. d4 Nc6 {This was definitely not the opening I expected.} 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 a6 5. Bd3 Bg6 6. O-O e6 7. Qe2 Bd6 8. Nbd2 $6 (8. c3) (8. Bxd6) 8... Bxf4 9. exf4 Qf6 10. Bxg6 ({I didn't see} 10. g3 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Qxd4 12. f5 {wins the Bishop due to a pin on the e-pawn}) 10... hxg6 11. Qe3 Nge7 12. c3 Nf5 13. Qe2 O-O-O 14. b4 Nh4 15. g3 Nxf3+ 16. Nxf3 Qf5 17. Rfb1 Qg4 18. Qd3 Rh3 19. a4 Rdh8 20. Kg2 {I wanted the Queen to be able to capture on b5 without worrying about guarding the Nf3} ({Deep Fritz 14 x64:} 20. b5 {I thought live during the game about this continuation.} axb5 21. axb5 Nb8 22. b6 c6 23. Ra8 Qf5 24. Qxf5 gxf5 25. Kg2 R3h7 26. Rh1 f6 27. Re1 Re8 28. Nh4 Rh5 29. Rea1 Reh8 30. R1a7 g5 31. fxg5 fxg5 {1.07/19}) ({Stockfish 16:} 20. b5 Na5 21. bxa6 Rxh2 22. Nxh2 Qh3 23. a7 Kd7 24. Qb5+ Nc6 25. Qxb7 Na5 26. Qb5+ Nc6 27. Qd3 Nxa7 28. a5 Nc8 29. Qf3 Qxh2+ 30. Kf1 Nd6 31. Ke2 g5 32. fxg5 Qh7 33. a6 Ra8 34. Rh1 Qg6 35. Qe3 Ne4 36. Kf1 Nxg5 37. a7 Qe4 38. Qxe4 Nxe4 39. Rh7 Ke7 40. Rxg7 Nxc3 41. Ra5 {3.13/28}) 20... Qf5 {I think my opponent feared the Rook & Queen joining forces on the b-file. This Queen trade, however, seems to harm his attacking chances more than mine.} 21. Qxf5 gxf5 22. a5 ({As pointed out the next day by my third round opponent Mark Kislingbury} 22. Nh4 $2 {does trap Black's Rook & force an exchange sacrifice.} R8xh4 23. gxh4 Rxc3 {however, Black has too much play for the exchange & five of my remaning seven pawns are weak.}) 22... Na7 23. Rh1 (23. Nh4 $2 {See my 22nd move note.}) (23. Ng5 $2 Rxh2+) 23... R3h6 24. Ng5 Rf8 (24... f6 $2 25. Nf7 {forking the two rooks}) 25. h4 {fortress set up!} Kd7 26. Rhe1 Nb5 (26... f6 $2 27. Nxe6 Rf7 (27... Re8 28. Nc5+ Kd8 29. Nxb7+ Kd7 30. Nc5+ Kd8 31. Rxe8+ Kxe8 32. Nxa6) 28. Nc5+ Kc6 (28... Kc8 $4 29. Re8#) (28... Kd6 $4 29. Re6#) (28... Kd8 29. Nxb7+ Kc8 30. Nc5 Kd8 31. Nxa6 $18) 29. Re6+ Kb5 30. Nxb7) 27. Rac1 Na3 28. Nf3 {I wanted to play Nd2/Nf3 & c4} f6 29. Nd2 Rfh8 30. Nb3 b6 31. axb6 cxb6 32. Re2 ({I almost overlooked} 32. Ra1 $4 Nc2 {picking up an exchange.}) 32... g5 33. fxg5 fxg5 34. hxg5 Rh2+ 35. Kf3 Nb5 36. c4 ({Stockfish 16:} 36. Ra2 {This was the other move I contemplated in the game} Ra8 37. Nd2 Ke7 38. Ke3 f4+ 39. gxf4 Rh3+ 40. Nf3 Nd6 41. Ke2 Kf8 42. Ng1 Rh1 43. Kf3 a5 44. bxa5 bxa5 45. Kg2 Rh4 46. Ne2 Kf7 47. Kg3 Rah8 48. Kf3 Kg6 49. Rb1 Nc4 50. Rb7 R4h7 51. Rxh7 Rxh7 52. Ng3 Rh4 53. Re2 Kf7 54. f5 exf5 55. Nxf5 Re4 56. Ne3 Nxe3 57. fxe3 {1.96/35}) 36... dxc4 37. Rxc4 Nd6 38. Rcc2 Ne4 39. Nd2 Nxg5+ {I actually forgot that I had a pawn there as I assumed he would pick it back up eventually & that is why I overlooked guarding it.} 40. Kf4 R8h5 41. Nf3 ({Stockfish 16:} 41. Nc4 Kc6 42. Re5 Rh1 43. g4 Nh3+ 44. Ke3 Rh6 45. gxf5 Re1+ 46. Kf3 Ng5+ 47. Kf4 Rg1 48. d5+ exd5 49. Ne3+ Kb5 50. Rxd5+ Ka4 51. Ra2+ Kb3 52. Rxa6 Nh3+ 53. Kf3 Rg8 54. Rd1 Kxb4 55. Raa1 Kb5 56. Rd5+ Kc6 57. Rc1+ Kb7 58. Rd7+ Ka6 59. Nd5 Ng5+ 60. Kf4 Rh4+ 61. Ke5 Re8+ 62. Ne7 Nf3+ 63. Kf6 Rh2 64. Rd5 Reh8 65. Ra1+ Kb7 66. Rd7+ Kb8 67. Ra2 R8h6+ 68. Ng6 {1.88/31}) 41... Nh3+ {I thought this was trying too hard to win & let me get my knight & rook into action vs. the Black king.} 42. Ke3 Rh1 43. Ne5+ Kd8 44. Rc6 Rd1 45. Rxb6 Ng5 46. Rxa6 Rb1 47. Ra7 {can't hurt to keep Black's king out of the action.} Rb3+ ({Even though he had under 2 minutes left, he saw through} 47... Rxb4 $4 48. Nc6+) 48. Nd3 Ne4 49. Rc2 Rh1 50. Ke2 ({Stockfish 16:} 50. Rcc7 Ra1 51. Ke2 Raa3 52. Rxa3 Rxa3 53. Rg7 Nc3+ 54. Kf1 Ra6 55. Rb7 Rd6 56. Nc5 Kc8 57. Re7 Kd8 58. Rxe6 Rxd4 59. Re3 Rc4 60. Re5 Rxb4 61. Kg2 Rb5 62. Rxf5 Ke7 63. f4 Nb1 64. g4 Nd2 65. Rd5 Rb2 66. Kg3 Kf7 67. f5 Rc2 68. Ne6 Ne4+ 69. Kf4 Nf6 70. Rd4 {3.50/41}) 50... Nc3+ 51. Ke3 ({Stockfish 16:} 51. Kf3 Nb5 52. Ra8+ Ke7 53. Kg2 Rbb1 54. Rc4 Rhd1 55. Ne5 Rdc1 56. Rxc1 Rxc1 57. d5 exd5 58. Ra5 Nc7 59. Kf3 Rc3+ 60. Ke2 Rc2+ 61. Ke1 Kd6 62. Nd3 Rc3 63. Kd2 Rc6 64. Ra7 Rb6 65. Ke3 Rb8 66. Ra1 Re8+ 67. Kf4 Rf8 68. Ra5 Ke6 69. b5 Rb8 70. Ra7 Kd6 71. Kxf5 Rf8+ 72. Kg4 Nxb5 73. Ra6+ Kc7 74. f4 Re8 75. Nb4 Kb7 76. Rg6 Nc3 77. Kf5 d4 78. Nd3 Ne2 79. Ne5 Rf8+ 80. Ke4 Rd8 81. g4 Nc3+ 82. Kd3 Nd1 83. f5 Nf2+ 84. Ke2 {2.14/54}) 51... Nd5+ 52. Ke2 Rxd3 53. Kxd3 Nxb4+ 54. Kd2 Nxc2 55. Kxc2 Rf1 {I cursed because this endgame is now theoretically drawn. I knew I had to force my opponent to prove drawing technique, however.} 56. Kd3 Rxf2 57. Ke3 Rf1 58. Ke2 Rg1 59. Kf2 Rd1 60. Ke3 Rg1 61. Kf4 Re1 62. Kf3 Re4 63. d5 {I like this idea of a pawn sacrifice, forcing the opponent to capture it less comfortably. Here it isolates his remaining pawns.} exd5 64. Rf7 Re5 65. Kf4 Re4+ 66. Kxf5 Re1 67. Ra7 d4 68. Ra4 {I remembered this trick from reading a Rook vs passed pawn position years ago. Here, his King being on the same file as the pawn hurts as a correct check can freeze the action.} Rd1 (68... d3 69. Rd4+ {just eats the pawn cleanly.}) 69. Ke4 d3 70. Rd4+ Ke7 71. Rxd3 Rf1 ({If he was really going to trade Rooks, this was a better time to do so, forcing me away from my pawn.} 71... Rxd3 72. Kxd3 Kf6 73. Ke4 Kg5 74. Kf3 Kf5 {and he has opposition}) 72. Rf3 Rxf3 73. Kxf3 {[#]} Kf6 $2 {this was an unfortunate misplay for my opponent with 10 or less seconds left.} ({My opponent was right in that he had opposition, but it wasn't the short opposition he calculated, it was the long one.} 73... Kf7 {long opposition draws as I can't make headway.} 74. Kf4 (74. Kg4 Kg6) 74... Kf6 75. Kg4 Kg6) 74. Kf4 {What follows is textbook way of winning King & Pawn vs King when you have the opposition.} Kg6 75. Kg4 Kh6 76. Kf5 Kg7 77. Kg5 Kf7 78. Kh6 Kf6 79. g4 Kf7 80. g5 Kg8 81. Kg6 Kh8 82. Kf7 Kh7 83. g6+ Kh8 84. g7+ Kh7 85. g8=Q+ Kh6 86. Qg6# 1-0

I played miniature Golf at New Orleans City Putt.  On the New Orleans Golf Course Portion, each hole had a street name & a brief history, along with a few statues.  I didn't like the instagram post cropping my pictures, so here are some pictures:

I used this street to go to the restaurant I ate a po boy at

Street of the World War II Museum

Someone offered to take a non-selfie picture while waiting for the next mini golf hole, so why not?

I used this street to travel to the Tournament

Purely for pronunciation fun.

I came back for the Lecture which was promised before Round 5 on Sunday.  It was advertised as a lecture centering on Paul Morphy, but it ended up being a lecture on the New Orleans Chess Scene.  The lecture was choppy.  While the facts were there, I don't think the presenter did as good a job as he could have.

Round 5 was awful, & ended up knocking me out of prize contention.  All I will say is I will never combine 1. ... e5 & 2. ...b6 versus the English again.

I rebounded nicely in Round 6.

[Event "New Orleans Open"] [Site "New Orleans"] [Date "2024.03.24"] [Round "6"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "Small, James T."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C66"] [WhiteElo "1824"] [BlackElo "1400"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2024.03.23"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 Nf6 7. Re1 h5 {I didn't think this was right, but I didn't do enough to punish it initially, it seems.} 8. d4 Nh7 $2 (8... Be7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. Nxe5 Bxe4) 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. dxe5 g5 {he's all-in going for a kingside attack.} 11. exd6 Bxd6 12. e5 Be7 13. Qe2 Qd7 14. Nbd2 O-O-O 15. Ne4 g4 16. Nd4 Bd5 17. Bf4 Nf8 18. Rad1 Ng6 19. Qe3 h4 20. f3 Nxf4 21. Qxf4 Rdg8 22. Nf5 gxf3 23. Qxf3 Qe6 $4 {[#]} (23... Bxe4 24. Rxe4 Bc5+ 25. Kh1) 24. Rxd5 $1 Kb8 (24... Qxd5 $4 25. Nxe7+) 25. Nxe7 Qxe7 26. Nf6 Rg7 27. Red1 h3 28. g3 Qe6 29. Rd8+ Rxd8 30. Rxd8+ Ka7 31. Qe3+ b6 (31... Qb6 {was the best move but survival chances down a knight & a pawn are very slim for my opponent}) 32. Qe4 c6 (32... Qxa2 33. Ra8#) 33. Qd4 a5 (33... Qxa2 34. Qd7#) 34. a4 c5 35. Qe4 {mate is now inevitable. USCF Rated Win #500.} 1-0

Bonus about my Round 6 win was that USCF told me it was my 500th Rated Win.  Yay!

I missed out on winning prize money.  They advertised only the top spot in each section getting money.  Sadly, two U2000 Players reached 5 points, so my 4.5 points did not get anything.  (The tournament organizers calculated the tiebreaks two different ways & came up with the same result.) As far as I am concerned, my bad first two moves in Round 5 cost me the prize money.  Still, I had a lot of fun & I played a lot better overall.

I will give Louis Armstrong Airport (MSY) two serious downgrades. The security line organization was nonexistent - I wasted 10 minutes in the non-TSA Precheck Line.  Heck, even Newark (EWR) pre-airport upgrades had better security line organization.  Also, really Auntie Anne's personnel near Gate C4??  I wanted to buy pepperoni pretzel for lunch (I already ate breakfast) at 5:22 am, & you wouldn't sell me one until 6am??  That is bad business practice man.  I couldn't wait because my boarding time was before that, & at a different gate on the other side of the airport.  MSY, I can officially crown you as the worst airport I have ever been in so far.

I won't let that dim my trip memories, as overall this trip was still a big success.  I will see you later in another state!  We can now end our recap of State No. 37.