So, my 47th different state that I played a chess tournament in was Alaska. I gotta say, airline flight patterns are strange...how else do you explain a flight going Newark to Anchorage via Dallas??
Normally, I would fly into a new state on Thursday, do the sightseeing before the tournament, & play in the tournament before flying either home or to the next destination. However, due to New York Comic Con being on Thursday, I ended up flying to Alaska on Friday.
I got to Alaska...& it was warmer than expected. The temperature was generally in the 40s & the snow hadn't hit yet in Anchorage. The tournament was held at the Lakefront Anchorage, but since I was staying an extra night to do sightseeing, it was cheaper for me to stay at a Marriott a few miles away.
A strange thing happened when I got to the tournament. Apparently I did not pay my entry fee previously. So when I registered in February, there wasn't a link to pay, but I kept forgetting about it & I missed all the windows to pay reduced entry fees, because I kept thinking that I already did because I registered. Ultimately, it is my own fault for not double checking that. However, in the future, all tournament organizers should have the payments options ready when tournament registration opens.
Once I paid the tournament fee, I checked out the main tournament room. It was a really nice setup. See the sixth picture in this instagram post. The rows were spaced nicely & there were only 4 boards to combination tables. The top board in the open section had the privilege of playing on a DGT board, which allowed the game to be broadcast live.
Speaking of ratings, I found out before my trip that I was the top-rated player in the tournament, & there were no late entries that affected that status. So I ended up playing on Board 1 three times, Round 1, Round 2, & Round 6.
The tournament was well run, the TD staff was very organized, & every round was pretty much run on time.
In my Round 1 game, my opponent was right to be fearful of ...Nb4, but his f4 bishop was the more immediate issue. After 11. a3? (11. Bg3 & 11. exf6 were both better) I grabbed two pieces for the Rook with 11. ...fxe5 12. Bxe5 Rxf3! 13. Qxf3 Nxe5.
I eventually won once all the pieces pointed at the king.
There's no safe squares for White's Queen to save herself & guard against ...Qxc2#
There was something weird that happened in Round 2. After dropping the exchange 27. R1xd4 cxd4 28. Rxd4
Someone's cell phone went off with an ESPN Update Ringtone! I immediately thought of the mid-2000s ESPN Ad where Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander slips in his kitchen & falls down, and then you hear the voice of John Clayton saying, "Breaking news, Shaun Alexander is questionable with a foot injury." The ad concluded with Shaun Alexander ducking beneath his counter & looking around to see how they knew about his slip so quickly.
I survived this position after my opponent botched a chance to set up a double rook linear mate & forced a repetition of position, securing a Round 2 draw.
I won Round 3 by winning an exchange after exposing the c-file & my doubled rooks. (23. Rec1 was a mistake, almost any reasonable other move should be okay, though he is two pawns down.)
Round 4 I won, but I did see an interesting trap that would have caught many players off guard, especially if playing too quickly.
you have to play 49. a3!, forcing Black's King to go the long way to eat the queenside pawns. After 49. ...Kc5 50. Kxf6 Kd4 51. b4 axb4 52. axb4, he resigned.
In Round 5, my opponent in a rough position cut off his back rank defense (25. ... Nd6-c8??) & allowed a winning deflection (26. Nc5-a4!).
There's no way to save the Queen & stop 27. Rd8#
So the stage was set for Round 6. My opponent was playing very well (+189 on his rating increase after this tournament!!), sitting at a perfect 5 points (out of the previous 5 rounds) & I was the only 4.5 point player. Winner wins the tournament, & if a draw occurs, he wins the tournament outright.
So, after my Round 6 game, I rushed back to my hotel to pick up an extra sweater for my northern lights tour scheduled after the tournament & then I went back to the Lakefront Anchorage. It was fun to see the award ceremony (the first picture is me with the trophy) and see all the different trophies players earned, including the Alaska State Champion (the top playing Alaska Resident, which I am not eligible since I don't live in Alaska).
I went on the Northern Lights Tour that night (got picked up from the Lakefront Anchorage). Parts of the sky were clear & we were able to see stars, but the part where the northern lights would have been visible from were obscured by clouds, so that was disappointing.
Next morning, I went on the glacier & wildlife tour, & that was a lot of fun.
After the glacier & wildlife, our driver took us to
and we got some interesting views
Warning: the Virgin Creek Falls Trail is narrow, & the lower level near the falls is hard to get to. Only three of us max got to that lower level.
After the tour, a couple of people gave me a few additional suggestions, & I ended up eating at BEar Paw & Grill where I had Alaskan Meat Lovers Pizza (Reindeer Sausage, pepperoni, hamburger, mozzarella and marinara sauce.) It was delicious!!
Bonus food in Anchorage. The tour guide & other visitors suggested Orso, which I had earlier in the trip with the alaskan salmon & the glacier brewhouse cream soda. Fantastic food and drink!
Here are the updated maps for my journey
And that concludes State No. 47 - Alaska for #fiftystatesofchess!
I took the Bonus trip to Los Angeles after my adventures in Alaska. I will try to keep this brief.On Wednesday, I took a Lyft over to Super Nintendo World at Universal Hollywood. On this visit, I purchased a Daisy band and played on Team Daisy. Daisy is one of my favorite characters, having first been introduced to her on Mario Kart Double Dash, and I am hoping she gets her own game in the future. (The Toads have their own game, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker)
I knew I had to move fast, as the only way to earn a Princess Daisy crown in the hourly team competition was to do it in the morning before the ratio of Princess Daisy players to other players got huge.
I was meeting up with my cousin for dinner, so in between Super Nintendo World & dinner, I walked part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame trying to get pictures of the stars I wanted to capture. I also captured many more star square during the walk, so I didn't quite finish. I am obviously not posting all 227 star squares I took pictures of, but I did find a few that I will post here.
I went on the WB Studio Tour the next day & saw a lot of fun things
I took a quick detour to Burbank High School. If you never watched the Victorious show, you'll see why I took a picture of the pillar structure below.
I walked through the Hollywood Walk of Fame to catch the squares I missed.
And that concludes the bonus trip! Three states for #fiftystatesofchess left!
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