State No. 29 - Maine

I took a short trip to Maine to cover my 29th State. Unlike most state trips on the #fiftystatesofchess journey, I drove to Maine, as it seemed taking an airplane or train ride was too inconvenient. The Maine State Open was played in Waterville, Maine, about 90 minutes north of Portland. For possible additional pictures please see the two instagram links below. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdAPB98MGRx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CdAPcSIskfC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

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

State No. 28 - North Carolina

Well, I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened over the last year & a half.  With the pandemic affecting everything in life, it's been hard for a lot of us to do even "normal" things, let alone other stuff.

I had originally planned to travel to Arkansas last March for State No. 28, but with the pandemic raging, I opted to cancel my trip & wait for a better time period to travel.  I personally waited until I was vaccinated before I started planning this trip.

It should be noted that even for vaccinated people, masks are still required at airports, public transportation systems, private shared ride services (e.g. Lyft, Uber, etc.), & random private businesses.

I first traveled to the Carolina Raptor Center on Thursday, June 17.  Through this area, you get to see several different birds of prey & learn about fascinating things & how the volunteers here are trying to keep them going through conservation, education, & rehabilitation of the various birds.  Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good pictures, so I can't show any on this blog.

I next traveled to CrossFit Eternal to do my road drop-in to a crossfit affiliate.  Coach Dell was pretty good, & I saw him interact with others & myself, giving tips on our techniques as we were performing our strength movements & then the metabolic conditioning piece.  The place is well sized & there were boxes (outlined with tape) for each athlete to stand in to leave their stuff & do the workout.  I took a few pictures of the walls & the setup, really nice art they have that you can see here: IG Pic Post of the space & the WOD.

The next day, I walked the majority of the Charlotte Rail Trail from south to north, which included a slight detour stop at Paper Skyscraper.  Here are some photos, more in a bit.  It was a nice scenic walk that included quite a few art pieces as you traveled parallel to Charlotte's Blue Line Lynx system.  They did include on the trail a series of colored poles on each side.  It was called Color Forest, but someone graffitied the description, so I have no idea why they built it.  As you walk from one end to the other, the colors change aesthetically.

After the Charlotte Rail Trail, I continued up to the Mint Museum.  I thought it was going to a museum about the science of breathing or money, but it was neither.  I did stumble on a few cool pieces though, & you can see them in my instagram post right here.

That was practically it for sightseeing, as my first round started later that Friday evening at 6:30pm & I wanted to shower & rest up before then.  It was interesting to see the precautions the tournament organizers took, 

I only took video of the top playing room, but you can see it through my IG Post here.  They put two tables together, but only one game per table, so there was plenty of room & space.  It felt nice that they extended this perk to all the players, not just the top boards in the open section.  Masks were advertised as required, so you did have to wear your masks at all times in the tournament playing hall or the tournament corridors.

6/29 Addendum Note: You might see me rocking some #cosplay outfits, whether full or partial.  This is to make up for the fact that my favorite video game convention is delayed until 2022, I intend to dress up as at least one character (most likely Super Mario Franchise character) in each tournament until the next A Video Game Con occurs.

This is my third round game, where my engine didn't keep up with my endgame play for some reason.

[Event "Carolinas Classic"] [Site "North Carolina"] [Date "2021.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "Carrasco, Christian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C63"] [WhiteElo "1860"] [BlackElo "1727"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 6. Nf3 (6. Qh5+ $2 g6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 {& the Qd4 protects the Rh8, but this is a trap I saw in a Bruce Pandolfini Chess Openings Traps and Zaps book, so I immediately discarded it.}) 6... Qxe4+ 7. Qe2 Qxe2+ 8. Kxe2 Nf6 9. Re1 Bd6 10. Kf1+ Kd8 11. Nc3 Re8 12. Rxe8+ Kxe8 13. d3 h6 14. h4 Nd5 $2 {while this undoubles his queenside pawns, his unopposed light bishop will have future endgame problems.} 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. Bd2 Kf7 {Draw offered} 17. Re1 Bd7 18. Bc3 Re8 19. Rxe8 Bxe8 20. Be5 $2 { Rushed} (20. g3) 20... Bxe5 21. Nxe5+ Ke6 22. d4 f4 23. Ke2 Kf5 24. f3 c5 25. c3 cxd4 26. cxd4 Bb5+ 27. Kf2 h5 28. Nf7 Kf6 (28... Ke6 29. Nd8+ Kd6 30. Nxb7+) 29. Ne5 Kf5 30. g3 {I had to try to win this game somehow.} fxg3+ 31. Kxg3 Bc4 32. a3 Bb5 33. Nf7 Kf6 34. Nd6 $5 Bc6 35. Kf4 g6 {This seems to eventually trap the Knight, but I think it can live long enough for me to do something.} 36. Nc8 a5 37. b3 b5 38. Nb6 a4 39. b4 Ke6 40. Kg5 Be8 ({Fritz 11 SE: 1)} 40... Be8 41. Na8 Kd7 42. Nb6+ Kc6 43. Nc8 Kd7 44. Nb6+ {0.00/36}) ({Fritz 11 SE: 2) } 40... Kf7 41. f4 Kg7 42. f5 gxf5 43. Kxf5 Be8 44. Nxd5 Bf7 45. Nf6 Kf8 46. Kg5 Ke7 47. Nxh5 Bg8 48. Nf6 Bc4 49. h5 Bd3 50. Nd5+ Kd6 51. Ne3 Ke6 52. Kf4 Kf7 53. d5 Kf6 54. Ng4+ Ke7 55. Ke5 {4.39/35}) 41. f4 {I was laughing because the engine never considered this continuation after initially looking after white's 40th move, but once Black plays the ...Be8, it changed the evaluation from = to 2+!!} Bf7 42. Na8 Kd6 (42... Ke7 43. Nc7 {I can either escape with Na6 Nc5, take whichever pawn the Bishop doesn't guard, or trade knight for Bishop at e8 & eat the g6-pawn.}) (42... Kd7 43. Kf6 Be8 (43... Bg8 44. Kxg6 Kc6 45. f5 Kb7 46. f6 Kxa8 47. f7 Bxf7+ 48. Kxf7 Kb7 49. Ke6 Kc6 50. Ke5) 44. Nb6+ {double threat - Nxd5, or Nc8-Ne7}) 43. Kf6 Be6 (43... Be8 44. Nb6 Kc6 45. Ke7 {& the Bishop is actually lost for Black, and with that the game.}) 44. Nc7 {I had foreseen that this works & had enough reservations about eating the g6-pawn, so I went with it.} (44. Kxg6 {is actually faster.} Kc6 (44... Ke7 45. f5 Bg8 (45... Bc8 46. Nb6 Bb7 47. Kg7 Bc6 48. f6+) 46. Kg7) 45. f5 Bg8 46. f6 Kb7 47. f7 {does also work & may be faster than the game continuation}) 44... Bd7 (44... Kxc7 45. Kxe6) 45. Na6 Bf5 46. Nc5 {Not only does the Knight get to an outpost, Black can't guard e6 & d3 simultaneously. This should be an easy win for me now.} Bc2 47. Ne6 Kd7 48. Nf8+ Ke8 49. Nxg6 Be4 50. Ne5 Kf8 51. Ke6 Kg7 52. f5 Kf8 53. f6 Kg8 54. f7+ Kh7 {[#]} (54... Kf8 55. Nd7+ Kg7 56. f8=Q+) 55. Kf6 {The Bishop can't check me, & nothing stops f8Q & Qg7#.} (55. f8=Q Bf5+ 56. Kxf5 $4 {is a stalemate.} (56. Qxf5+ {avoids the stalemate, but I decided on a unique approach to avoiding stalemate.})) (55. Kf6 Bd3 56. f8=Q Bg6 57. Qg7#) 1-0

And this is my last round game, where I missed a win on the 27th move.

[Event "Carolinas Classic"] [Site "North Carolina"] [Date "2021.06.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "MacCaulay, Daniel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "1860"] [BlackElo "1725"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2021.06.18"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 {Playing for the endgame immediately.} exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. O-O O-O-O 9. Be3 Ne7 10. Nc3 Ng6 11. f3 Bd6 12. Rad1 c5 13. Nde2 f5 14. Rd2 (14. exf5 Bxf5 15. Ne4) 14... f4 15. Bf2 Ne7 16. Bh4 Rdf8 $6 17. e5 Nf5 (17... Bxe5 18. Bxe7 Re8 19. Bxc5) 18. exd6 Nxh4 19. dxc7 Bc6 (19... Kxc7 20. Nd5+ Kc6 21. Nexf4) 20. Nd5 g5 (20... Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Kxc7 22. Rxc5+) 21. Nec3 h5 22. Ne4 Bxd5 23. Rxd5 g4 24. Rxc5 Rh6 ( 24... Rf7 $4 25. Nd6+) 25. Rd1 Nf5 26. Rdd5 Ne3 {[#]} (26... Rhf6 $4 27. Rxf5 Rxf5 28. Rxf5 Rxf5 29. Nd6+) 27. Rxh5 $4 (27. Nd6+ Kd7 (27... Rxd6 28. Rxd6 { should be enough for me to convert.}) 28. Ne8+ {I missed this move in the game. I Queen the pawn with either check or saving the d5-rook with a Re5+. Black should be lost now.} (28. c8=Q+ $2 Rxc8 29. Nxc8+ Nxd5 30. Rxd5+ Kxc8 31. fxg4 hxg4 32. Rf5 Rc6 33. Rxf4 Rxc2 {was sadly all I saw in the game.}) 28... Kxe8 ( {Fritz 11 SE: 1)} 28... Ke7 29. Rd7+ Ke6 30. c8=Q Nd5 31. Qxb7 Rxe8 32. Qc6+ Kf5 33. Rdxd5+ Re5 34. Rxe5# {#6/7}) ({Fritz 11 SE: 2)} 28... Nxd5 29. c8=Q+ Ke7 30. Qxb7+ Ke6 31. Qxd5+ Ke7 32. Rc7+ Kxe8 33. Qd7# {#5/7}) 29. c8=Q+ Kf7 ( 29... Ke7 30. Rc7+ Kf6 31. Qxf8+ Ke6 32. Qd6#) 30. Rc7+ Kf6 31. Qxf8+ Ke6 32. Qd6#) (27. Rd6 Rh7) 27... Rxh5 28. Rxh5 Kxc7 29. fxg4 Nxg4 30. h3 Ne3 31. Kf2 $2 Nd1+ 32. Kf3 Nxb2 33. Nc5 Rf6 34. Rh7+ Kc6 35. Nxb7 $6 (35. Nd3) 35... Nc4 36. Nd8+ Kd5 37. Rd7+ Ke5 38. Rd3 Rg6 39. Nb7 $4 ({Fritz 11 SE:} 39. Nf7+ Kf5 ( 39... Ke6 40. Rd4) 40. Rd5+ Ke6 41. Rd4 Na3 42. Rxf4 Nxc2 43. g4 Rg7 44. Nd8+ Kd5 45. Rf5+ Kd6 46. Ra5 Rc7 47. Rxa6+ Ke7 48. h4 Kxd8 49. h5 Rc3+ 50. Ke4 Rc4+ 51. Kd3 Rc7 52. Rb6 Ke7 {2.52/21}) 39... Ne3 {[#]} 40. Rxe3+ {I thought I was losing here.} ({Fritz 11 SE:} 40. g4 Rh6 41. Nc5 Rxh3+ 42. Ke2 Rh2+ 43. Kf3 Rh3+ {0.00/21 likely drawn by repetition here.} 44. Ke2 Rh2+ 45. Kf3 Rxc2 46. Nd7+ {pushes Black's king away from the f-pawn which I missed}) 40... fxe3 41. Nc5 Kd4 42. Nb3+ Kc3 43. Kxe3 Rxg2 44. Nc5 a5 45. Kf3 Rxc2 46. h4 Kb2 47. Nd3+ Kxa2 48. h5 Rh2 49. Kg4 a4 50. Kg5 a3 51. h6 Kb3 52. Kg6 {I offered a draw here, knowing I'm likely lost if he finds a way out} Rh1 53. h7 a2 54. Nc1+ Rxc1 55. h8=Q a1=Q 56. Qb8+ Kc2 57. Qh2+ Kb1 0-1

So I had chances to win in the last round, but I failed to do so.  I guess I'll get it next time!

50th US Amateur Team East/World Amateur Team

So, I went to the 50th running of the US Amateur Team East/World Amateur Team Tournament in Parsippany, NJ on President's Day Weekend.   This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year, as I get to see plenty of chess players, organizers, & even a few chess vendors from all over the place as 1300+ players plus untold numbers of others converge the Parsippany Hilton for one long tournament chess weekend.

Since this is the 50th year, I decided to lend my traveling hashtag for our team name.  However, during registration, the # symbol was dropped from our team name by mistake, so the wall charts have just fiftystatesofchess instead of #fiftystatesofchess.  It made for some interesting talk as everyone asked about the team name.

So, in most rounds (Except Round 5), Chief Organizer Steve Doyle gives away random prizes at the start of the round.  He calls first people up for orange pens, or previous amateur team t-shirts, or other random subjects.  (Sample minute video on the instagram post: KEC's Instagram Video on Prize Giveaways) I was laughing on Saturday because he called for a green shirt in Round 3 (Day 2), & I had worn two green shirts on Day 1.  (See team picture below)

#fiftystatesofchess Team: Todd, Todd II, Doug, & myself.

Similar regrets for when he called people up for born in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, but no 80s as well as being late with a MetroCard on Day 2!    It was okay though because he finally did call people born in the 80s before Round 6 & I won the book Champions of the New Millenium below:

Prize before Round 6, players born in the 80s. 
Book Title Champions of the New Milleniums

I did buy several other books, but the books that promise to be the most interesting are Winning Ugly in Chess by Cyrus Lakdawala & The Secret Life of Bad Bishops by Esben Lund.  Now, while I post very good games from various places, the reality is that most games are nowhere near 100% start to finish dominant by the winning side.  There are lots of ebbs & flows that happen, & games can swing wildly.  If nothing else, these books have the potential to have entertainment value, but I'm sure they can keep my spirits up as I try to recover from the bad chess play over the tournaments between Oklahoma City & Parsippany.

When you have to try to save at least a draw from a lost position, you know something went horribly wrong.
Round 6: Ratner-Chen, Rook Smart Not Street Smart vs. #fiftystatesofchess, Board 1, White to move, #19

This is one of those games that really swung wildly.  I should easily have lost this game, as White's attack hit hard & fast here.  In fact, after 19. Qf4, I cannot avoid mate, as 20. Qh4 guarantees 21 Qh7#, 19. ... Re8 surrenders the dark squares to 20. Bxf6, 19. ...Kg7 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Rh7+ Kg8 22. Qxf6 & 23. Qh8#, & 19. ... Bxg5? allows 20. Rh8#.  

If your opponent lets you hang around in a lost game, make things difficult for him!
Round 6: Ratner-Chen, Rook Smart Not Street Smart vs. #fiftystatesofchess, Board 1, White to move, #19

I ended up going into a Rook ending & my opponent offered me a draw on move 46 that I happily took, which ended up being critical as my team won the last match 2.5-1.5 to finish with 3 match points out of the 6 rounds.  

Here are our results with quick commentary (Our results in Win Draw Loss Format)

Round 1: #fiftystatesofchess vs. Drafting Pawns WLWW
The opponents thought my Board 3 & 4 teammates were brothers.  Todd Senior appreciated the thought!  I'll present a key position on the instagram post tonight.

Round 2: Black Mambas vs. #fiftystatesofchess DWLL
I won a pawn on the 10th move (see the instagram post coming from http://instagram.com/thekecmaster shortly) but played inaccurately from move 17 on & had to take a draw in an otherwise losing position as my opponent was short on time.

Round 3: #fiftystatesofchess vs. Caruanavirus (2020 Best Team Name) LDLL
My Board 2 Doug had to use a 3rd scoresheet in this game as this game was somewhere north of 130 moves & had a hard time demonstrating repetition of position.  (Each scoresheet issued by the staff was 60 moves.)  My opponent came back after getting coffee & said that there was no way repetition of position didn't already happen.  Doug eventually demonstrated it, but I think 50 moves may have been quicker to demonstrate.  My good friend Shelby Lohrman from American Chess Equipment was our opponent on Board 4.

Round 4: Parsippany Chess Club vs. #fiftystatesofchess WWLW
We got to see two more of our local chess playing friends as our opponents on Boards 2 & 3.

Round 5: #fiftystatesofchess vs. Vassars Earth Wind & Skewer DLLL
Mr. Ernest Johnson happily remembered that we played in the past and that game was also a draw!  (Look up 2009, same Team Tournament, but colors were reversed.)

Round 6: Rook Smart not Street Smart vs. #fiftystatesofchess DWWL (Forfeit Loss on Board 4)
We had a forfeit loss on Board 4.  Todd II went back to college on Monday (he had classes), so Todd Sr. moved up to Board 3 & an unrated player from the Navy joined us in Round 5.  Due to a misunderstanding & miscommunication, he played on another team and not ours for Round 6.  (Not his fault, which I want to make clear.  I also want to make clear that I feel bad that the opposing Board 4 had to wait an hour before claiming the forfeit win.  I was too busy getting beaten up early in my game & didn't notice until 45+ minutes in that my Board 4 didn't show up.)

After Round 6, there was a gentleman named Joshua Anderson who was conducting random interviews for http://www.chessjournalism.org about the oral history of the US Amateur Team East Tournament.  I consented, & it was a fun interview going back & forth.  I don't know when they are going to finish the compilation of their project, but I think I gave some good insight into things I have witnessed in my 15 consecutive years of playing at the Team.  They will post a compilation of audio quotes at some point in the coming months, & I will let you know once that goes up.

Well, that just about wraps it up.  There will be a post for State No. 28 soon - expect it in about a month or so!

State No. 27 - Wyoming

I apologize for the post delay.  I had some issues to take care of when I got home, but I think they are good now.

So it was an interesting start to the trip, which took place Nov. 7 - Nov. 10.  I flew in using American Airlines to Cheyenne via Dallas-Fort Worth.  Sadly, #thecurseofthetravelingKEC struck again, this time early.  While I made it to Cheyenne personally without a problem, my checked bag did not.  Now, they did find the bag quickly at Dallas-Fort Worth.  However, since Wyoming is a small airport (one terminal, only one way into the airport area in general) & American only flies once a day on this route, I had to wait until Friday 1pm local time for the next day's plane to bring my bag.  American was helpful as best they could throughout, giving me a bag of toiletries to use for the night while waiting for my checked bag to come in.  It should be noted, however, that the spare underwear, socks, & shirt in my carry-on saved me from further problems.

As an aside, the trend of everyone using roller bags as carry-ons really slow down getting on the plane.  It is of course, a byproduct of most airlines charging for checked bags & most people trying not to deal with the problems of checked bags in general (lost bag problem above, baggage mishandling).  Hopefully, I can resume flying Southwest at some point, even if it is only return flights, & not have to pay to check a bag.

I did take a photo while waiting for the American Airline Ticket Agent to finish the baggage handling from the flight (yes, ticket agent apparently does do that at CYS) of one of the many boots setup all over Cheyenne.  Cheyenne has an interesting program to set up development all over the City, & their project theme is, "If this boot could talk, what story would it tell?"

This hunt was similar to the Hunt for the Garfield Statues & the Hunt for the (I)ndy Statues in 2016. So there are 25 known boot sculptures on the map. One of them, #8, was in storage due to the area being under construction. However, I did find a bonus boot that was not on the guidemap.  The guidemap claims that the boots do change locations from time to time, but an 8 foot tall, 8.5 foot long, & 2.5 foot wide boot is much heavier & harder to move than than the (I)ndy Statues.

Guide map & other information about the boot hunt below, including the $5,000 cost for a boot.

https://www.cheyenne.org/listing/cheyenne-big-boots/263/

They also provide a telephone number you can call to hear the artist tell stories about 18 of the boots they made.  The lettered boots have not been added to the audio tour yet & neither has the bonus boot that I found.

Boot No. 11 - Blue Skies over Cheyenne - CYS Airport - by John Guthrie

Might as well start the hunt while waiting for the whereabouts of my checked bag.

Boot No. 18 - Milestones - Chamber 100th Anniversary aka We've Worked Hard to Get Here - in front of Cheyenne Depot Museum - by Jill Pope

Jill Pope had some funny stories about this & at least one of the other boots she made, including her dog running over the boot & spreading paint all over her living room floor!  I think she is now one of the two contacts involved if a business wants to commision a boot.

Boot No. 14 - Where the Deer & the Antelope Play - Cheyenne Depot Plaza - by Liz Gnagy

These two would fit in with my college friends playing spades & pitch!

Boot No. 03 - Licensed to Boot - Wyoming State Museum - Carey Junior High Art Club 

I have to admit, when I saw the title, my first thought was, "Is this a parody of a James Bond movie?"  However, this is obviously based on License Plates. 

  

Add. Boot G - Happy Birthday Cheyenne! - near the Cheyenne Municipal Court - Ross Lampshire

I found a knight parking post near here too.

Bonus Boot - Title Unknown - Wyoming Trust & Bank - near Boot No. 02 - artist unknown

This was the bonus boot I found while having difficulties finding one of the boors on the map.

Add. Boot F - Walmart Boot - Walmart Distribution Center - Amber Kubot

Location Note: Google Maps takes you down the truck entrance driveway.  Don't go there.  Use the associate/visitor driveway instead.

Boot No. 04 - Atmospheric Research aka NCAR Boot - National Center for Atmospheric Research Supercomputing Center - Ross Lampshire

Images based om computer generated images of atmospheric events like Hurricane Katrina.  More on this location in a bit.

Boot No. 02 - Springtime in Cheyenne - Random Businesses near the Bonus Boot - Rose Burrows

I had a very hard time finding this boot as it blended in and was hidden.

Boot No. 10 - Outlaws of Wyoming - Holliday Park - Cheyenne Artist Guild

22 members painted this. (!)

Boot No. 07 - LCCC Eagle Eye of the Future - Laramie County Community College, South Side of Campus - Ross Lampshire

Same location as the Wyoming Open Chess Tournament, school mascot.

It should be noted that Boot No. 08, LCCC 40 Years of Excellence, was in storage as the area on the north side of Campus was under construction.

There were a few other interesting pieces of artwork that I remember seeing during the Hunt for the Boots.

Artwork on a Traffic Signal Controller - George Cox Parking Facility

Knight post, Cheyenne Municipal Court (Near Add. G)

So, I did visit the National Center for Atmospheric Research Supercomputing Center during the Hunt for the Boots.  It was a fascinating place that explained how they used supercomputers to do calculations of atmospheric events from the past & how they try to model atmospheric events of the future.  While the museum part itself was not very large, they still had numerous stations explaining the atmosphere, the sciences behind the research, the calculation powers required, the methods of cooling the supercomputers to prevent overheating, & the supercomputers themselves.  They are in the process of taking the old supercomputer out, with the current one from 2017 fully in, & a newer supercomputer is scheduled for 2021 +/-.  I was unlucky that particular Friday as the main tour guides were traveling to do a presentation somewhere else and there might not have been a tour on that particular day, but the security guard told me that if you call ahead, sometimes they can do a tour on fridays at noon to bring you into the same room as the supercomputers.  And yes, there were actual people handling the process of the removal of the supercomputer when I was there.  

My original plan was to do the CrossFit Open 20.5 WOD at CrossFit Cheyenne at the 12pm local time frame.  However, since my athletic gear was in the checked bag, & I had to wait until 1 pm to retrieve said checked bag, this delayed my try at the WOD to the 4pm local time spot.  Coach King was very nice to me, reminding me that working out at elevation (Cheyenne is approximately 6000 feet above sea level), may cause additional difficulties.  

So I did 20.5 Scaled

Partitioned anyway you want.

40 muscle-ups pullups

80-cal. row

120 wall-ball shots

Ladies 14-lb. ball to 9 ft.  10#

Gentlemen 20-lb. ball to 10 ft.  14#

Time cap: 20 minutes

Tiebreak time awarded when you finish both the 80 calories & the 120 wallballs.

In this workout, there are many ways to attack this.  I chose this method: (15 Wallballs, 10 Calories, 15 WB, 10 Calories, 10 Pullups) x 4 Rounds

This gives your legs a rest while still doing work. If you struggle with 10 pullups, then stop and continue with next set of WB calories to try to reach your tiebreak time.

When doing this, A) I forgot about the pullups and kept struggling rather than advancing to the next wallballs, & B) the elevation took out my legs as the rowing was more difficult than it should have been.  I finished with 195 reps.

[I redid this when I got home & got 232 scaled reps with a tiebreak time of 16:20.  When I dropped off the pullup bar in the early sets, I went straight to the next set of Wallballs to eventually earn the tiebreak & then chip away at pullups.  I ended up doing 24 of the 32 pullups within that 3:40 remaining.]

The downside of working out so late in the day was that my first round started at 7pm, so I had very little time to shower & down some food before play started.  I remember my heart rate increasing when I had a hard time finding the tournament room at Laramie County Community College, but that's because there was an unintentional error & the wrong room was posted!  Luckily I called the TD Brian & he helped me out to get to the room.

I didn't play well at all in the tournament (Result Link: https://www.wyomingchess.com/2019WyoOpen.html), struggling to win the two games that I won in Rounds 3 & 4.  The TD admitted to wanting to publish my Round 1 loss when I said "Ouch." when I got checkmated by the top seed & eventual tournament winner, so I'll let him publish that.

This trip's game is from Round 3.  I just tried to use his dark squares against him & there wasn't much of an answer.

I didn't think that I won a prize after coughing up the first two rounds, but the TD emailed me on Monday after I returned saying he needed my address.  So I gave him that & received a small prize check.

And this updates the win-loss state map.  Once I'm done with the original 50 states, I will make revisiting the states in red a top priority, saving New York & Pennsylvania for the last two (both are negative double digit differentials).

There's nothing more to report from Wyoming, so unless I take a quick trip somewhere else, I'll see you in Parsippany, NJ in 2020 for the 50th World Amateur Team/US Amateur Team East Tournament!

Note: 2020 may have less states than normal due to some obligations that may take up a big chunk of time.  I will still try to go to at least 2 states, but not likely to hit my normal 4 states that I visited in the last several years.

States No. 25 & 26 - Oklahoma & Kansas

This was a 10-day trip spanning Oklahoma & Kansas.  I'm very late (for reasons I shall not discuss), so let's do this.

I went to Crossfit OKC on Friday afternoon.  Coach Ginny was very good, checked on the athletes as we were doing the strength & then the metcon.  Programming made sense, movements made sense, strength & metcon were pretty good.  Staff & other athletes made me feel welcome.  This place was so good I revisited on Monday with a different coach & got the same results.  If you are in the area, I suggest you drop in!

At the Jerry Spann Memorial, the Tournament Theme was opposite color Bishops.  Each of my last 3 rounds had opposite color Bishops featuring prominently into the decision of the game, & one of the other games that affected the distribution of the Top A prize also had opposite color bishops.

(Note: For some reason, I am having difficulty getting the code to work with my game on the same page.  It has something to do with my annotations where part of the game will publish on my page & then cut off.  Please use the links to view the game in its entirety.  If I get a chance to fix this for good, I will.)

Round 5 - Jerry Spann Memorial, Oklahoma City, OK
http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2019/8/11/Game639909343.html

Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.  This museum has exhibits, pictures, & videos detailing the attack that happened on April 19, 1995.  There is a lot of information covering the days before, the day of, the recovery, & the time period after the event.  One of the criticisms I did have of the museum was that a majority of the videos were too long.  There were at least three videos that I thought circulated more than ten minutes, & that seemed too long if you wanted to watch the entire videos.  I did see the Survivor Tree, the tree that survived the attack, but there weren't many good pictures I could take because museum staff was fixing a display about the tree.

There were quite a few murals & other pieces of artwork in the Bricktown section of Oklahoma City, but I only captured 1 mural & one bridge on my phone.

I encourage you to visit & see these & more.  Miniature golf is nearby, & if you hit a hole in one on #18, you get a free game of laser tag.  If you can, however, please change out of a lime green shirt.  It stands out alot in the dark...

On the next day (Tuesday) I traveled a bit on US Route 66, visiting the Nut House & the Blue Whale of Catoosa.  I picked up a new, neutral hat so I can go back to places where Giants & Knicks hats are not welcome. 

Useful for visiting places like Cream Cheese City, which is decidedly not friendly to Giants & Knicks items.

I also picked up a piece or two of some really good fudge.  Pretty good selection there & plenty of other fun items centered around US Route 66, make sure you drop in. 

The Blue Whale is best to bring kids around to climb up into the structure.  The only thing that would interest adults is the multiple town mileposts.

I just realized I have been to three towns on this post.

I would have liked to continue farther northeast to Mickey Mantle's Childhood Home & the Dairy King as other items/places to visit along US Route 66, but I knew the driving would have been too long for me on that day (6 hours minimum total, not including stops for food & such) & I was battling remnants of an illness. 

On Wednesday, I visited the Sedgwick County Zoo, the Nifty Nut House, & Crossfit Wichita.  For the zoo, a private tour was arranged by an acquaintance.  I loved the Zoo - I thought the zoo staff was delightful in explaining things. 

The Nifty Nut House  had all the main nuts in the center of the shop.  Workers would let you sample one, & then if you liked it, they would measure out in weight how much of the particular nut you wanted.  Warning: Lots & lots of nuts.  I didn't think 3/4 of the combinations I saw were possible.

CrossFit Wichita had a strange warmup: Row once, trying to get the display to stop at 125 meters exactly.  If you are off, the difference is the number of wallballs you have to do (e.g. 113 - do 12 wallballs because you are 12 away from 125).  Row twice, but blind - try to stop exactly at 125 without looking at the screen while rowing.  I was 15 over while sighted & 13 under blind.  Shows how much more I need to know for rowing.

For Thursday, the next stop on the trip was the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita, KS.

So there were interesting dinosaur skeletons that were found within the midwest in the first part of the first floor.  First floor also happened to have a section of the Berlin Wall, artifacts from the Chinese, Hindu, Buddhist, African, Egyptian, & Greek Cultures.  The second floor contained mostly items from various wars, & the US Presidents.  The third floor had items from the old west, but the sports & pop culture sections were sadly not there.

I didn't feel like the organization of the groups that they had was great...the timeline skipped & jumped in quite a few places.  Also, the disappearance of the sports & pop culture sections really was a letdown when I reached the third floor.

I did see an early version of the Kansas State Seal, which was fascinating.

The Keeper of the Plains is a 44-Foot Tall steel sculpture where the Big & Little Arkansas Rivers join together in downtown Wichita.  Recent Renovations, including two new pedestrian foot bridges, help people come to see the daily Ring of Fire show.  The Keeper of the Plains manually lights up for about 15 minutes at night & the scene is beautiful.

If you watched The Lion King back in the 1990s, you should know that the song came to mind when I saw this.

Daytime view of the Keeper of the Plains

Nighttime view, before the lighting

What a sight!

Even from the pedestrian bridge, you can feel the heat!

I struggled quite a bit in the second tournament.  I lost a pawn in Round 1 & had to fight hard to win that game against the same opponent who drew against me in Round 4 in Oklahoma City. 

Round 1 - Kansas State Open, Wichita, KS
http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2019/8/11/Game639982343.html

I got thoroughly destroyed in Round 2, using the Petroff Defense, as my kingside was ripped asunder & I lost in 22 moves.  I hung a pawn in Round 3, eventually losing, & may have stolen a theoretical draw in Round 4 in a Rook ending.  I was so tired from the remnants of the illness & my extended play that I offered a draw in Round 5 when I may have had an advantage!

I'll try to remember to put my reviews on Yelp in the next few days.  While I thought Raising Cane's was a disappointment, it should not have surprised me as I think Carl's Jr. & Hardee's have the same parent company.  However, I really liked

Hideaway Pizza, Oklahoma City, within a mile of the Memorial.

An appropriate use of Comic Sans Font!

Maui Magic with Parmesan-Herb Shake Added

Ziggy's, College Hill, Wichita.  Ordered the Costanzwich & loved it.  Also finished a pizza from someone else.

A specific size & the best 'Za in 'Ta?  I think so.

This is a nice piece of art.

Braum's, South of the Tournament, Wichita.  The chocolate Milkshake was heaven.  This is the fast food restaurant that I believe is better than: Raising Cane's, Hardee's, Carl's Jr., In-N-Out, McDonald's, White Castle, Wendy's, & Whataburger.  

Since I have passed the 25th state mark (actually 26), I will conclude this post with my normal updated map & a new map.

Updated #fiftystatesofchess map

New Map - States by Win-Loss Differential

And now onto State No 27, which I would like to do before Southwest Airlines leaves Newark International Airport in November, but the list of new states I can visit is pretty low and the dates I can do it are tight...