Fifty States of Chess Map + CrossFit Games Update

As I wait for Chess Tournaments to advertise their tournaments for 2017, a couple of developments have sprung up.

1) The CrossFit Games will be in Madison Wisconsin during 2017-2019.  (See the Facebook post dated November 20, 2016, at 8:38 pm for the video announcement.)  The US Chess Open will be 6 miles away or so in 2018.  If the dates lineup, I will likely be a spectator at the CrossFit Games.

2) I would like to produce a visual map of my journey so far, so here is one, produced from https://mapchart.net/usa.html

This map is accurate as of now & is subject to updates in the future.

State No. 14 (Ohio) & No. 15 (Indiana)

It was an interesting trip, covering two states in one vacation.  I flew into Indianapolis, drove to Cincinnati, drove back to Indianapolis, took a 1-day side trip to Chicago, & then back to Indianapolis.

In Cincinnati, I visited the American Sign Museum.  This museum displays signs from various time periods...business signs.  You walk through & see descriptions on the colors, the lights, the lettering, etc.  This museum take about 60-75 minutes.

After this, I drove over to the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, which is the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge.  I understood the similarities as I walked on the bridge & noticed that the suspension cables were very similar to the suspension cables on the Brooklyn Bridge.

I also visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  When I was there, they not only covered the period up to & including the Civil War & Restoration, but they also touched on slavery in different forms going on in today's times, & how they are trying to fight it on those multiple fronts.  Below are two pictures of how a few people were able to escape.

And the following two pictures show how they disguised messages back then.

I then walked over to the beginning & endpoints of US Route 22.  US Route 22 actually starts off as US Route 22 North, & then goes as US Route 22 East.  The signed end point is two blocks or so different from the end point listed on their Straight Line Diagram.

I think I played pretty well in Cincinnati, though I didn't win any money.  Below is a 3rd round game versus a local master where I had to fight to save a draw.

2 points (+1, =2, -1) out of 4 rounds.

On the way down to Cincinnati, I discovered that 11 different Grant County communities erected a Garfield statue.  Garfield is the legendary fat cat comic character created by Jim Davis, & his home county growing up was Grant County.  So, after visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum (60-75 minutes), I drove around Grant County taking pictures of each Garfield Statue.

After a day long side trip to Chicago (Who knew "Keep me in the loop" is a reference to downtown Chicago?), I went to the Benjamin Harrison House.  There were plenty of interesting facts I learned on this 60-75 minute tour, including but not limited to:

First president to electrify the White House

Digs into his own money to provide fire protection for the neighborhood, & is given a lamp at the stair base

Loved Cherry pie, said it was sweeter than beating a Democrat

Brought 6 states into the Union, most by any President

Last president to have a beard

At the US Open, the hotel rooms provided for the USCF players & staff was terrible - I thought these rooms were worse than college dormitories.  Stuff was broken, requests for items didn't get fixed, hallway continuously smelled of smoke, rooms were in terrible shape upon arrival, desk was sticky - I would recommend not staying at the Indianapolis Conference Center Hotel ever again. 

Below is my fourth round game to put me at 3 points after 4 rounds, ensuring that I played up rating-wise until my score drew back to even prior to the final Round 9.

Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than to be good.  5 points (+4, =2, -3) out of 9 rounds.

Chief TD Brian Yang ran a pretty good tournament.  I didn't witness any problems during the tournament, & there were no missing results in the first 8 rounds.

I also visited CrossFit NapTown.  Coach Rachel did a fantastic job in demonstrating the movements & working with each person individually to ensure that everyone was doing the movements correctly.

I thought that I would not have a chance to play Ultimate Frisbee during this vacation as I missed a chance to play on the first Sunday due to the Hunt for the Garfield Statues.  Luckily, my opponent on the second Sunday lost early (dropped a piece on move 15), so I got to play Pickup with the Tuesday & Thursday Indy Frisbee Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/downtownindyfrisbee/

They also play Sundays at 4pm - 6pm or later.

This was a good group of athletes, & I highly recommend playing if you can.  Parking is free on Sundays.

I also did a hunt for the Ndy Statues (Warning: They can be moved without notice, so keep this in mind.)  This hunt was inspired by a woman from CrossFit NapTown doing a handstand for the I!!  While I cannot do that, I did find all three of them listed on the website, even though one of the locations was outdated.

And that concludes this post.  #fiftystatesofchess

State No. 13 - Georgia

CDC Museum
The David J. Sencer Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Museum was a fun museum.  Admission is free & it takes about 60-90 minutes to go through the entire museum.  The first two levels (ground, 1 level below ground) have a lot of user-created maps, & the bottom level takes you through the history of the centers for disease control.

Civil Engineering (Walking Routes) Map! I would be excited to design this.

How food production errors cause bad things to happen. 

CrossFit Identity
They do a social question of the day in order to learn something new about members & drop ins.  The question of the day when I was there had to do with the last time you ate taco bell when you were sober.  (failing or absent any taco bell trips, any fast food)
Strength
High hang Squat Snatch
Masters Qualifier WOD #4 from 2016
55 Bar Facing Burpees, 34 OH Squats, 21 Muscle ups

After the workout, while I was waiting to get a T-shirt, I noticed that the Vending Machine had a Pure Protein Shake Can.  I tried it, & it is good.  It gave me the extra time I ended up needing in order to get food.

I wanted to go to Stone Mountain, but allergies acted up after the WOD & I was forced to check in to a nearby hotel & then go out to get dinner instead,

In going to get food, I saw at least ten & maybe twenty strip clubs & sex shops galore in less than a mile off Cheshire Bridge Road.  (No, gentleman's club is a phrase play fake that doesn't work.)  It should also be mentioned that I thought I saw 5 drunk driving defensive course locations along the same stretch.

Restaurant #1 was attire-restricted, Restaurant #2 had a loooooong line.
Restaurant #3 was Grindhouse.  Their sauce didn't taste good simply in terms of the ingredients don't taste well combined.

Emory University - The Tournament site.

The campus is entirely tobacco free.

This increased the beauty of the university, not that it was ugly to begin with.  

A sign to warn about distracted walking. 

Brick Paver Detectable Warning Surfaces

Nice Entance.

Tournament - Saturday Sunday
Stole a draw in Round 1, Won by time forfeit in an otherwise potential draw situation, narrowly avoided a checkmate & then rolling to a win in Round 3, Won in Round 4, Missed a winning advantage in Round 5 & settling for a draw.

Saw two fellow NJ players there, one of them was an assistant TD.  The other thought someone was a doppelganger of me!!
Full Results Here

After the Tournament, I went to Palookaville Fine Foods to try the a decadent delicious chocolate dessert in Atlanta
(https://www.zagat.com/b/atlanta/10-decadent-delicious-chocolate-desserts-around-atlanta)

Another 50/50 decision in my favor in that they were closed for two months & just reopened the previous week.  Their milkshakes are very popular & for good reason!  I was amused that the owner/manager there was stunned that the milkshakes were so popular that they ran out of cup holders!!  The bartender was awesome there & I enjoyed a nice conversation while I downed lunch & savored my chocolate milkshake.

I'll conclude with milkshake pictures:

#fiftystatesofchess

State #12 - Missouri

There are two games in this post I will show you.  One is my Round 4 win, & another is a 9-move miniature that happened on the board next to me in Round 3.  (Names in Game 2 have been withheld from this post, but I have played the losing player in a previous tournament back when he was a C player.)

I didn't do great in the tournament (2 wins, 3 losses), but at least I avoided upset losses.

World Chess Hall of Fame
The World Chess Hall of Fame was a fun stop.  They showcased the largest chess piece in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, at 14'7" tall & 6' wide at the base.  Inside the first floor was the exhibition titled Ladies’ Knight: A Female Perspective on Chess.

Inside this exhibition was different chessboards & even one video, containing a variety of themes, all made by female artists.  It was really fascinating to be able to go through this exhibit & see the different ways that the artists interpreted the game that I love to play.  I didn't take a lot of pictures, but you can see the pictures through the museum's link Ladies' Knight exhibition.  (Warning: Link is not safe for work & not safe for anyone who cannot drink.  Link may expire May 1 when it gets moved to the exhibition archive.)






Milkshake Place & Gilbert Gottfried
After doing Open WOD 16.4 at CrossFit St. Louis (173 scaled reps, 12:29 tiebreak time), I visited a place called Crown Candy Kitchen (Crown Candy Kitchen's Website).  I found this place via an article that my sister sent me detailing the best milkshake in every state in America.  I figure that I would go to this place & drink it.  It was really thick, & it took me 45 minutes to finish one.

I bring this up because of their policy since 1913: If you order 5 milkshakes at once during a non-busy period, & finish them within 30 minutes, you don't have to pay for them at all.  Link to the 5 Malt Challenge.  They have a plaque with all the successful people who did it.  The record holder did it in 2 minutes & 29 seconds!!

If that wasn't wacky enough, my waitress thought I looked like Gilbert Gottfried.  Don't worry folks, I'm not that funny, & I definitely don't promote problem children into the 6th grade in order to get rid of them from my school!

Other tidbits:

Panera Bread is called St. Louis Bread Company - It was founded in Saint Louis.  I was confused for a bit when I saw the Panera logo but not the Panera name.

My waitress at Pi Pizzeria looked quite a bit like Mayim Bialik.  I figured no harm no foul on the Gilbert Gottfried mention, so I told her as much.  She was confused at first until I explained which current famous TV show she's a character on.  She was definitely fantastic as a waitress the entire time.  I would definitely go back, as the service was good & so was my Kirkwood Deep Dish Pizza.  They also have pi glasses, which are awesome.  #fiftystatesofchess

State #11 - Mississippi

I had been thinking about this blogpost for a while.  It is not usual for authors to present a game where the author loses.  However, when the opponent goes on to win the tournament, that feels like a justifiable exception, even if the game lasted only 18 moves.

(There really isn't much to say from my point of view from the actual game.  I played too loose in a tight game & went from slightly worse to dead lost in two moves.)

I had achieved a similar position a few years ago, where I blunted White's attack by trading off first the minor pieces, then forced an endgame where I used the e-file to good effect.  I haven't really gotten good results since, so it may be time to explore castling long to avoid this attacking setup.

My fourth round featured a game where my opponent mixed up ideas, playing closed opening moves when the position was fairly open.  I used this opportunity to grab a pawn & hold on.

I would like to comment that the Mississippi Chess Association members that I saw there were very accommodating.  Chief TD Mark Nicholas & Assistant TD Jeff Hensley were very kind, & ran a pretty good tournament.  Virtually all the local players that I got to talk to were very nice.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/115931459677/
Misissippi Chess Link via Facebook

There were a few tidbits about the tournament that I found interesting:

• The highest rating according to the wall chart was 2004, so anyone can really win the tournament.

• The players in Mississippi don't get to play rated tournament chess as often as we do here (As a reminder, I live & play in New Jersey.).  I believe I heard the Chief TD remind the players before Round 1 that it is touch-move.  (For the non-chess players, if you touch a piece, you must move it.)  I've only heard the touch-move rule mentioned in scholastic tournaments here at home, but I guess you have to adjust to your clientele.  (I have no problem with the reminder itself, just so you know.)
• The MCA holds their annual business meeting in between rounds of their state tournament.  I have a feeling that in states with smaller chess playing populations, it is popular to have your business meetings (where you elect officers, etc.) in between rounds of the state tournament, knowing that a large percentage of your players will be there to vote on issues.  If I remember correctly, Utah did this as well when I was there in 2014.

This concludes my year of traveling to new states for 2015 for #fiftystatesofchess.  If things go according to plan, Massachusetts, Delaware, & Montana may be on deck.

Other Non-Chess Topics

The roads in Mississippi are not very well constructed.  Light drizzle/rain caused some roads to have lots of standing puddles.  Drivers in Mississippi also like to accelerate all the time & get uncomfortable if you set your cruise control to a certain speed.  Luckily, there usually are so few drivers that driving around isn't a problem.  Pass them or they pass you; either way, you never see them again.  You could go 60+ miles without hitting traffic signals along the correct roads.  (I-61, anyone?)  When you do hit them, they tend to be uncoordinated.  I have a higher appreciation of cross-section drainage slopes in road design after driving 750+/- miles in Mississippi.

Vicksburg National Military Park is one of the important battle sites of the Civil War.  Vicksburg was dominated by cannon fire on both sides.  As you drive through the park, the

cannons can be seen pretty much everywhere.  It was interesting that the veterans of this battle went back in the early 1900s to mark out the locations where they fought; this became one of the most accurate historical sites in the country. This park is a drive-through park where you can spend 2-4 hours in it.  As you drive through, they let you know when you enter Union Lines & Confederate Lines.  I wish they had a few more walking paths to the educational structures, but I guess you can't control everything.  The hardest part to get to is the surrender interview site structure.  If you plan your trip, you will know where you can park on the main road & then take a short walk to the surrender interview site structure.  $8 for park entrance, no other charges to drive yourself through the park.

I also traveled to Birthplace of Kermit the Frog Museum.  Jim Henson was born in Greenville, MS but was raised for part of his childhood in Leland, MS.  He brought to life many, many characters.  I can't imagine growing up without Kermit the Frog & Big Bird from the Muppets & Sesame Street, respectively.  He was a very nice man with a vast imagination.  The museum itself is a small museum - it takes 30-60 minutes to go through.  The lady working at the museum indicated that they are photo-friendly museum & that visitors come from all over the world.  A group of people from Germany came in about 20 minutes after I did.  This was a great place to see pictures of Jim Henson, his family, & many of the different characters that he created.  No charge to enter, though donations & purchases are encouraged.

Additional trip photos can now be seen here.

Statistic of the return flight home: My flight from Memphis to Chicago Midway had 8 wheelchair people & 3 dogs.  I can't remember previously seeing more than two of the either category on any flight!

Edited 2015.11.01 10:24 PM because I found some additional trip notes of random interest that I forgot to mention.

Someone was playing Mario Kart Double Dash on the plane from EWR to MSP & actually tried to go underwater on the Daisy Cruiser Course.  I'll have to investigate this path.

The airport massage therapist at MSP I visited has actually been to 45 out of the 50 states, so it was fun to hear her describe selected states she visited.

Churches are so prevalent in Mississippi that there are warning signs for churches on some part of US 61!