State No. 39 - Alabama

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay.  The middle part of the trip was hard to write as I had serious flashbacks that affected me deeply.

I flew down to Birmingham via Charlotte.  I had some trouble on this flight because American Airlines scheduled a 30 minute layover in Charlotte.  I don't mind the short layover, but it was quite a walk from Gate B to Gate E.  When I got to the gate, Group 5 of 9 was already boarding!!  That was quite a close shave!!

After getting some rental car called a Mustang, I drove from Birmingham to Huntsville to go to the US Space & Rocket Center.  (There is a reason I mentioned the convertible & it will come up later.)  All throughout the drive up, I kept hearing car noises whenever a car passed me on the right or I passed a car that was on my right side.  I kept looking at the windows & checking to see that they were closed, but nothing unusual there as I saw that the driver & passenger side front windows were closed.

It was interesting when I got to the US Space & Rocket Center.  I didn't know that they had made a working replica of the Lunar Roving Vehicle to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 in 2019.  Also there was the Huey, Little John, Honest John, & a memorial to the first US animal to fly in space.  The US Space & Rocket Center also has a restaurant in the middle of the grounds, perfect for eating lunch.  For the selfie enthusiasts, the staff marked out selfie spots. 

Replica of the Saturn V

Cosmic Apple Tree (seeds traveled with an astronaut in space, then were planted here at some point after returning)

Little John

Honest John

Atlas-F - the first US ICBM

The Huey!

Working Replica of the Lunar Roving Vehicle

After the visit ended, I started the drive back to Birmingham so I could check into my hotel & eat dinner.  After checking into the hotel, I decided to drive to the dinner place with the top down & see if I would enjoy driving without a roof over my head.  The entire 15 minutes, I was scared that my sunglasses would fly off or some loose paper would fly off!  Not only did I not enjoy it, I discovered when I got to the food place why I had been hearing car noises - the mustang doesn't close properly when putting the roof back!  The Passenger Side Rear Seat Window doesn't close all the way!  I told Enterprise about this, & they were very helpful - they switched cars for me, & I ended up driving an SUV for the rest of the trip.

A word of note: I was not actually affected by the Cloudstrike Shutdown that affected the airline industry.  I flew into Birmingham on Thursday, & Cloudstrike happened on Friday.  I am so glad that my laptop was not with me on the trip, as that might have been another headache to deal with.

County Route sign in Alabama

State Route sign in Alabama

Random sign saying alcoholic beverages are permitted within the district boundary

After getting breakfast at a diner along the way to Montgomery, I arrived in Montgomery to visit as many historical places that I could for the afternoon.  

Rosa Parks Statue

I visited the Rosa Parks Statue, the National Memorial for Peace & Justice, The Rosa Parks Museum, & the Legacy Museum (I didn't make it to Freedom Monument Sculpture Park as it had already closed for the day by the time I got there).  I knew this was going to be a difficult trip in terms of learning more about horrific times in American history, but I had to go through it.  

Now if you have met me in real life before, you know darn well I am neither black nor white.  However, in going through the National Memorial for Peace & Justice, there were thousands of black people (& many more undocumented) who were horribly killed (I apologize, I can't bring myself to type the word for the specific horrific killing endured.  I have already nearly thrown up twice just seeing the word again.) back in those times, the overwhelming majority of which weren't even criminal.  While picture taking was not allowed at the memorial (according to the website) or the museums, I vividly remember reading some of the actions that lead to these horror killings, like false accusations, simply being the wrong person, asking a white woman for a drink of water, voting.  There were many more reasons, & reading through several times where even being in prison or in the custody of law enforcement didn't save the person because the mob killing crowds would break into prison or take the person away from law enforcement with no resistance was really unsettling.

I actually had a flashback during my time, I think at the end of my visit, at the Memorial to a Mock Trial I participated in during 8th grade.  For this mock trial, I was an accessory defendant, & there were clear instructions that I could only be found guilty if the main defendant was guilty. (Sorry, I don't remember the rest of the details of the mock trial.) I remember seeing three people in the jury vote me guilty despite voting the main defendant not guilty.  I remember at the time being angry that someone would vote me guilty when they voted the main defendant not guilty, & those three guys laughed when the teacher wasn't looking.  (I believe the jury voted x-1 to 1 the main defendant was not guilty.  I don't remember how large the jury was, but it wasn't only 12 people.) I am 99% sure those three would not have cast a guilty vote on me if I was white.  At the Memorial, at the end of this flashback, the flashback mutated into one of the many scenarios I read.  I realized that had I been in the wrong time & the crowd was thirsty enough, I could have been horrifically killed for simply not being white, trial or no trial.

I definitely needed some time to recover mentally after that flashback & the flashback mutation.

Rosa Parks Museum

When I finally went over to the Rosa Parks Museum, I was happy to learn about details during the boycott I don't think I ever knew.  There were people who left the bus before her arrest, which I didn't know about previously.  I wonder what their thoughts were when they found out the next day or some time later that Rosa Parks had been arrested.  It was interesting to see how everyone boycotting the bus services got around the bus system, how they organized things, & the detail about the rides & how the supplemental cars avoided becoming taxis, which would have been illegal.

The Legacy Museum expanded on the racial injustices, providing info & facts as early as the colonial times & as recent as the COVID-19 pandemic.  Additional accounts from all levels are given, including but not limited to the incarcerated, the loose opinions of those actively supporting the injustices, & various court timelines showing how various parts of the racial legal fights were concluded.  When I got to the part about racial injustices in the 2010s, I actually had a flashback to an incident where I was frisked because someone thought I had a gun in a federal park where guns were not allowed.  I am not giving year or location to where this happened to me as it's taken me a long time to even talk about it, & I don't know if I will ever disclose this information to the blog, but know that it happened to me.  

After trying to go to the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park 1-4 minutes too late, I rested for another 15 minutes to catch all my thoughts & clear my mind so I can resume my trip.

I did a quick search for CrossFit Places in the area, & I decided on the spot to go to 2 Legit 2 Quit Fitness.

Workout for the Day

A Wall with artwork!

The coaching was good, the instruction was good, & this was a hard workout.  I think I managed the workout pretty well.  I did as many strict pullups as I could, then used the band to do as many of the remaining pullups I could.  Once I hit the first minute, I switched to ring rows just so I could move on to the second movement (dumbbell bench presses) & then hit the calories.  My result was 7-7-5-6-5, 30 calories total, so that wasn't too bad a result.  I was impressed that I saw someone crack triple digits on this workout.

Eating local food isn't always a good thing.  I insisted on eating Mexican food & went to some place that had karaoke night.  You could hear the bad singing in the parking lot as the voice was escaping the building.  The singing took up all the hearing space in the room that the waitress mistook my request for Jarritos for a shot of something.  Oh & the burrito I had was terrible -  even Chipotle & Qdoba have better burritos.  (My dislike for Chipotle & Qdoba is known by my friends, so for me to rate these places above this place (which shall remain unnamed) tells you all you need to know.

I woke up the next day & drove over to the tournament.  I dressed up as Dr. Hint Toad (a mix of Dr. Toad from Dr. Mario World the mobile virus fighting game that ran from 2018-2021? & Hint Toad from Captain Toad Treasure Tracker), but wearing my St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Tie in support of my annual fundraiser.  By the way, if you would like to donate to my fundraiser, please use the link for my annual hope fundraiser.

I played better here in Alabama than I did in Massachusetts, but I finished with an even record (1 win, 1 loss, 2 draws).  I may showcase the win on my instagram profile, but there's not really much to talk about as my opponent simply hung a piece for nothing.  I found out I did have an advantage or a chance of advantage for at least 3 of the 4 games, so I might still remember how to play well.

I will show instead my draw from my fourth round.

[Event "Alabama Dual Rated State Championship"] [Site "Montgomery"] [Date "2024.07.20"] [Round "4"] [White "Decord, Aaron"] [Black "Chen, Kevin E."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E14"] [WhiteElo "2130"] [BlackElo "1816"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2024.07.20"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Bb7 7. e3 Ne4 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Bd3 f5 10. O-O d6 11. Nd2 Nxd2 12. Bxd2 Nd7 13. e4 Qf6 ({Stockfish 16:} 13... Qh4 14. exf5 (14. f3 fxe4 15. fxe4 Rxf1+ 16. Rxf1 Rf8 17. Rxf8+ Kxf8 {Stockfish 16:} 18. d5 Nf6 19. Bc3 e5 20. h3 Qf4 21. Qd2 Qxd2 22. Bxd2 h6 23. Kf2 c5 24. Bc2 Ke7 25. b4 Ba6 26. Bd3 Bc8 27. Bc2 g5 28. Kf3 Bd7 29. bxc5 bxc5 30. Ba5 Be8 31. Bc7 Kd7 32. Ba5 {0.00/45}) 14... Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Qg4+ 16. Kh1 Qf3+ 17. Kg1 Qg4+ 18. Kh1 {0.00/37 White can't escape perpetual check}) (13... fxe4 14. Bxe4) 14. exf5 exf5 15. Bc3 Qg5 16. f4 Qh5 17. Rae1 Rae8 18. d5 Nc5 19. Rxe8 Rxe8 20. Bxf5 Re2 21. Qd1 Qe8 22. Be6+ {[#] I had seen he was trying to capture an exchange.} Qxe6 $1 23. dxe6 ({Stockfish 16:} 23. Rf2 Rxf2 24. dxe6 Rxg2+ 25. Kf1 Nxe6 26. Qa4 Rg4 27. Qe8+ Nf8 28. Bd2 Rg2 29. Qb8 Rxd2 30. Qxb7 Rd4 31. Ke1 Rxf4 32. Qxc7 Rf7 33. Qxd6 Rd7 34. Qc6 Kf7 35. b4 Ke8 36. c5 bxc5 37. Qc8+ Kf7 38. Qxc5 h6 39. b5 Ne6 40. Qc8 Ke7 41. a4 Nc7 42. Qb8 Nd5 43. a5 Kf7 44. Kd2 Ke6 45. Kc1 Rc7+ 46. Kb2 Kd7 47. b6 {3.24/29}) 23... Rxg2+ 24. Kh1 Rf2+ (24... Rd2+ 25. Qf3 Bxf3+ 26. Rxf3 Rd1+ 27. Kg2 Nxe6 {[#] I had not foreseen this capture or else I would have gone after this variation.}) 25. Kg1 (25. Qf3 Rxf1+ 26. Kg2 Rxf3 27. e7 Rxc3+ 28. Kf2 Rf3+ 29. Ke2 Kf7) (25. Qd5 Rxf1+ 26. Kg2 Rxf4 27. e7+ Bxd5+ 28. cxd5 Re4) 25... Rg2+ 26. Kh1 Rf2+ 27. Kg1 Rg2+ 1/2-1/2

Tournament was run pretty well, no issues other than my opponent's phone going off in the 3rd round.  Luckily, that was after he blundered, so nothing was going to save his game.

This officially ends the trip for State No. 39 - Alabama, but if you wish to read about the details of my return home, go on.

Now, after the tournament, I began my drive to Atlanta (GA).  The reason I chose to fly out of Atlanta was my original flight had me coming back to the Garden State at the 5pm time frame.  However, once I found out that Charles Martinet, the voice of Super Mario from 1995 to the early 2020s, was at Collect-A-Con New Jersey, I figured I may never have a chance to meet him so close again.  I changed my return flight before I left on the trip to Alabama so that I could arrive back in NJ before lunchtime & try to get his autograph before the convention closed at 5pm that Sunday.  

Gotta tell you, that trip was another close shave, as I had to wake up in my hotel at 2:30am.  Due to some difficulties (How big is Hartsfield-Jackson Airport??, & why the heck are the workers not giving clear directions to non-Delta airlines??), they were already boarding Group 5 when I finally got to the gate.

They actually had a keep right sign at the airport.  I was very tempted to take a selfie, but discretion kicked in as I realized that I was already cutting it close to make my 5am flight.

No difficulties the rest of the way - I got to EWR when scheduled & made it to the convention at about 12:30pm.  If you want to see a few pictures from the convention, see this instagram post: KEC's Quick Visit to Collect-A-Con NJ 

State No. 38 - Massachusetts

Unlike most states so far, I have actually been to Massachusetts a long time ago.  I believe I went at least once if not multiple times before high school, & definitely at least once if not multiple times in high school.  

I drove up with my mom on Friday midday & reached Worcester in the 1 pm hour.  After a spot of lunch, she wanted coffee, so we walked three blocks west to a Dunkin Donuts.  The problem was, my stomach started to rumble (must have been the teriyaki glaze, as I am noticing something recently) on the walk to the Dunkin Donuts (with no restroom) & my desire to get to a restroom elevated significantly.  We got to the Worcester Art Museum & I was so rattled that I did not realize that I followed Google Maps blindly & I parked in the wrong parking lot!!

After using the restroom, I walked through the various levels of the art museum.  I wasn't 100% sure of the photography rules, so I didn't take any photos of the art pieces that I liked.  I did, however, take a picture of the comment card (there was a section in middle of the second floor that had a comment drop box).

Someone put together a linear collection of water bottles I think connected by linear flattened paper clips.  There was also a Chinese artist that illustrated overdevelopment by painting a piece where every part of the mountain is developed with something.  I thought both pieces were excellent.

After I finished walking through the museum, I saw my mom reading a book or two.  I know the lady at the ticket counter kept trying to get my mom to come back the next day for a museum event, but my mom didn't want to because she did not want to get lost driving my car & she hadn't learned how to use uber or lyft yet.  After this, as I walked back to the car, I realized I parked in the art museum employee lot of the religious lot rather than the separate art museum visitor's lot.  Luckily, I got no ticket so we could continue on.

We took a short drive to Bancroft Tower, also in Worcester.  Bancroft was apparently the founder of the US Naval Academy, & his friend built this tower in his memory after he died.

Bancroft Tower

Saturday Morning, after not getting quite enough sleep (I may have a sleeping issue & will get that checked out soon), I taught my mom how to use Uber & Lyft, then took her to Westborough to a diner called South Street Diner.  My mom tried to order grits, & the waitress replied, "I don't think I can teach them how to make grits," or some quip similar to that.  (My mom mentioned grits before I could even warn her that grits are a southern food and that they might not have grits in New England.)  I was laughing so hard as this reminded me of the 2006 or 2007 work trip to Louisiana where a coworker tried to order a Sam Adams there & the bartender told him, "I'm sorry sir, we don't serve anything that foreign around here."

So after a strange & fulfilling breakfast, I dropped her off back at the hotel we were staying at & I drove over to the chess hotel.  The intention was that my mom would use uber or lyft when ready to go somewhere. 

I get to the chess hotel & I start an ongoing dialogue with the Chief Tournament Director.  It turns out, I played against & lost to his uncle in South Dakota!  So that was an interesting tidbit of information.  The pairings were posted early, & I went to my board.  However, the Chief was inundated with last minute entries & playup revisions for this Northern New England Class Championships Tournament.  He made a revision error to the pairings & declared me as the odd man in the Class A section.  I didn't realize until a round later that there was no way it should have been me in the first round as I think I was rated #5 in the section.  

He did offer an extra rated game for me against a provisional 1200 that had a higher online rating than me.  This extra rated game ended up being my best game of the tournament & I present it here.

[Event "New England Class Championships"] [Site "New Orleans"] [Date "2024.06.15"] [Round "1"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "Rigault, Drew"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A52"] [WhiteElo "1852"] [BlackElo "1240"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2024.06.14"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] {Extra Rated Game as I was the odd person in the section for some reason. It should have been someone else though} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bf4 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. a3 Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 (8. axb4 $4 Nd3# {is a known opening trap.}) 8... Nxe5 9. e3 (9. axb4 $4 Nd3# {is the same opening trap from earlier.}) 9... Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 d6 11. Be2 b6 12. O-O Bb7 13. b4 O-O 14. Rfd1 Rfd8 15. Rac1 a5 16. Qc3 Ng6 17. Rd2 Nxf4 18. exf4 Qh4 $6 (18... Re8 {or anytime before I play a Rook to the e-file was necessary.}) 19. g3 Qe7 20. Bf3 Bxf3 21. Qxf3 axb4 22. axb4 Ra4 $2 ({Last chance for} 22... Re8) 23. Re2 Qd7 24. Rce1 d5 25. Re7 {[#] all the back rank mates remind me of the techniques shown in Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.} (25. Qxd5 h6 {& Black can escape into a drawish Rook ending.} (25... Qxd5 $4 26. Re8+ Rxe8 27. Rxe8#) (25... Qc8 $4 26. Qxd8+ Qxd8 27. Re8+ Qxe8 28. Rxe8#)) 25... Qc8 (25... Qc6 $4 26. Qxd5 $3 {where ...h6 just allows a forced mate} h6 (26... Qxd5 27. Re8+ Rxe8 28. Rxe8#) (26... Rxd5 27. Re8+ Qxe8 28. Rxe8#) (26... Rf8 27. Qxc6) 27. Qxf7+ Kh8 28. Qxg7#) 26. Qxd5 $1 Rf8 (26... Rxd5 $4 27. Re8+ Qxe8 28. Rxe8#) (26... Ra8 27. Qxf7+ Kh8 28. Qxg7#) 27. Qb5 {this in betweeen move eliminates ...Qa8 as a possible defense/counterattack, as black has to really guard the last rank.} (27. Qc6 Qa8 28. Qxc7 Ra1 {could potentially be annoying.}) 27... Ra8 28. Qc6 Rb8 (28... Ra7 29. Re8 $1 Qb7 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. Qe8#) 29. Rxc7 Qd8 30. Rd7 Qc8 31. Qd5 {sidestep the Queen trade & now Black is lost as he either loses big material guarding against Ree7 or gets mated.} (31. Qd5 h6 (31... Qe8 32. Rxe8 Rbxe8 33. Qc6 {& If nothing else, I can go Q+2QP vs R to win.}) (31... Re8 32. Qxf7+ Kh8 33. Qxg7#) (31... Rd8 32. Qxf7+ Kh8 33. Qxg7#) 32. Ree7 {and I eat up on the 7th rank.}) 1-0

I started struggling in both Rounds 2 & 3 as I ended up losing both games.  None of my plans worked in those games.  I'm sure the lack of sleep played some part, but it wasn't everything.

I took Mom to a 110 Grill Place for dinner, & that's when I found out that she stayed in the hotel all day, just reading & eating leftovers from the previous night's dinner for lunch.  I had noticed that strip malls on the main road close to the tournament had everything she could do, so the next morning (Sunday), after eating at a random Panera, I showed her twice how to get to the strip malls & back to the chess hotel.

I won my Round 4 game, & because the section was so small (x players to start) & so many withdrawals, there were only 7 people remaining & an even score might have had as good a chance as any to win money.  The Class A section was the smallest of the classes as a lot of As decided to play up in the Expert/Master section.  This was an option available to players as you could pay the $50 playup fee (in addition to the tournament standard entry fee) to play 1 section higher than your class.

I played well in my Round 5 game but still had to take a draw as I could never get a favorable minor piece trade to work & had to settle for Bishops of opposite colors.  I ended up not winning any money but at least I won a game & Massachusetts is an even record state for me.

I took my mom miniature golfing (we need to do something after sitting on our butts reading or playing chess) at the Apex Entertainment in Marlborough.  For some reason, I was on fire during miniature golf as I somehow finished with a score lower than total par.

The next morning was Monday, time to drive home.  We had more issues than normal (almost every Dunkin Donuts was eastbound, finding the correct gas station, not being able to drive the Merritt Parkway, & three traffic lights on the Saw Mill River Parkway), but made it back to home safely.

Here are the updated #fiftystatesofchess maps:

That concludes State No. 38!

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.

State No. 36 - Hawaii

I had ideas of what I wanted to do in Hawaii & play on this trip, but execution on this trip was one of the worst all time.

I looked back in my chess career & noticed I have played four events in the week between Christmas & New Year's.  2007 Quad in Somerset, 2008 Quad in Somerset, 2011 NYC 5 Round Tournament (Took a bye during one of the original six rounds), & 2013 NYC 6 Round Tournament.  Total Record, 2 Wins, 9 Draws, 6 Losses.

My event end of year struggles continued to Hawaii, where I blew at least 3 games when I had the advantage in the main event (at least one of which I was outright winning) & followed it up with two games in the blitz where I repeated said meltdowns.

I was the low person in the field, so I had a full point bye in the first round as there were an odd number of players in my section for that round.  I was assigned an extra rated game against another odd player from a lower section.  I lost that game but figured, well, better get the bad play out now than later.  

I lost the second round after successfully surrounding a pawn, but didn't realize I didn't have to interpose on the Queen check.  After missing my chance to win that pawn, said pawn successfully cracks open my position & I stumble into a mating net.

The position in Round 2 After 27. Rd5 Qb1+, when I played 28. Rd1 by mistake

After blundering into a quick mating attack in Round 3, I finally played fairly well in the late ending to win in Round 4.  This time, instead of my patented Knight vs Bishop endings, it is a Queen ending for your enjoyment!

After Round 4, I thought maybe I had a chance to salvage things as I got a big advantage in Round 5, but then I let that slip to a quick tactic & eventually lost.

You can see both games below.

The tournament format was nicely setup, one of my favorites in my career.  Joe Hanley (Hanley Chess Academy) organized the tournament into 3 main event days & 1 day for the side events.  It went Thursday 12/28 Rounds 1 & 2 10am & 4pm, Friday 12/29 Rounds 3 & 4 10am & 4pm, Saturday 12/30 Rounds 5 & 6 10am & 4pm, & Sunday Action 9:30am Blitz 1:30pm & Quick (I think 4pm) events.  

With the time control of G/90 +:30 Increment, there was too much time in between the two rounds, which some of us players not from Hawaii commented to Joe.  I did however like the fact that we didn't start too early & the times were the same for each day of the main event.  I personally would have liked Rounds 10am & 3pm or even 9am & 2pm.

The strangeness of the field in the Over 1800 Section was, there were no 2000 or higher players.  I can't recall very many open sections or top sections I ever played in before not having an expert or higher during the tournament (the only one coming to mind was North Dakota).  This, however, resulted in exciting games, even if I was on the wrong end of 2-3 of them.  TD Damien Nash ran the Main Event Sections well. If I have a chance to go back & play in this tournament, I probably would.  

I have dressed up loosely in cosplay for every chess tournament I participated in since the 2019 A Video Game Con 's last main convention event.  I plan on doing so until they come back with their main event or I find out they are done.

Hint Toad - Day 1 Main Event

Fire Luigi Alternate - Blitz Event

Here are the #fiftystatesofchess maps, with Hawaii being the third biggest negative differential state (-4) in my career (New York -17 & Pennsylvania -24 are the top 2 in this category).  This record only considers games where notation is required.  I'm going to have to add this note in at some point on the maps, & at some point, I hope to reverse these negatives into positives.

I still made friends amongst a few chess players on this trip, & I hope to see them again soon!

Now we get to the non-chess parts of the trip

For the second trip in a row (see State No. 35 Oregon + Bonus Trip), I was sick.  Someone around me got sick, & I ended up sick on the trip because of that & eating something bad on the airplane.  So my exploration game was a bit off.

On the plane about to enter Hawaii, there's a survey that everyone has to take to certify that they're not bringing in certain foods or plants into Hawaii.  It wasn't a bad or long survey, but it did get my attention as I had never heard of this before & wondered if this was similar to the rule about never speaking of that Brad Pitt Movie.

I dropped in at Crossfit Oahu.  The coach who greeted me was in the middle of coaching the 4pm class & would eventually coach the 5pm class.  I ended up doing bar dips for the first time so that was exciting, but I did struggle with turkish getups.  The facility was nice & the coach was good with adjustments, but I think the coach who led the 6pm class was better.

Wednesday Plan Fail + Pre-Tournament Call Hijinks

I did go to Pearl Harbor Wednesday morning.  Out of all the historical sites I have visited in my life, this is one of the top sites for being covered in school.  Still, there was still lots & lots of things I didn't know, and this was still a very eye-opening trip.  I did take a few pictures & those pictures can be seen in the link below.

Pearl Harbor Pictures I took

I went to Bishop Museum after that.  I was told by an outdated reference that there was a daily Hula show there, but there was none that I found.  I did enjoy going through the museum though & learning about the past & present for Hawaii, so I still recommend going.

Bishop Museum Pictures I took

Afterward, I ate dinner at Hula Grill Waikiki (one level above Duke's Waikiki) & this was the Sunset I was lucky enough to be able to see.

There was a pre-tournament zoom call I forgot I wanted to partake in, so I called in while I walked back to the hotel.  I dropped by a convenience store on my way back to the hotel while taking part of the zoom call, & I made the mistake of trying to cover the volume with my ear in line while my camera was still active.  The host was nice enough to point out that they had a closeup of my ear lol.

On Thursday - Saturday - I ate at a lot of local places, but the walk to the tournament (from my hotel to the Neil S. Blaisdell Center) did not feel like a Hawaii vacation. I felt like I was just in some random city that happened to be close to water.  I also had a hotel snafu where I saw a bug in an unusual place, killed it, & dumped the bugged towel outside my room on Wednesday night.  I called the front desk & they said that they would advance the housekeeping & clean my room to prevent occurrence.  I came back the next night & they did not do so.  A different hotel worker saw the note & wouldn't grant the advanced housekeeping request (they don't clean until the 4th day).  So, if I ever return to Hawaii, I know never to book at that hotel again.  (Which is sad because this is the first hotel in a long time that served breakfast that I ate at & didn't get me sick)

On Sunday morning, after the final round of the main event, I attempted to hike up one of the trails to catch a sunrise.  I was late, & unfortunately, I got sick again.  I only made it up to an unmarked viewing spot before deciding after about 20 minutes I could go no further.

I went to the Ala Moana Center & found the stage that they do a Daily Hula Show at 5pm. 

Unfortunately, I missed my chance to see it as I opted to go to a Luau show at the Aloha Tower that night after the Blitz Event.

These are a few pictures I took before the Luau show started.

I liked the show, but the details around were disappointing - the buffet closed early, the drink menu for the drink tickets was limited.  I was hungry afterward & had to go search for additional food later.

Monday - Since my flight was an afternoon flight, I killed a little bit of time at Tropics Mini Golf.  (See pictures below.

Tropics Mini Golf Pictures

At select holes, there's a wheel that you can spin to determine how you &/or your opponents are affected.  This seems like the type of mini golf course you play with friends or fun characters like Bugs Bunny.

I went back to the Ala Moana Center for lunch & then picked up my bags at the hotel & took off for the airport, where your bags have to through a USDA checkpoint to ensure you're not bringing banned fruits/plants/etc. prior to going to the mainland.

That concludes State No. 36 for me.  I probably could have enjoyed this trip more & played better, but it is what it is.  The next blog entry is anticipated to be in an NFC South location, unless something changes that I cannot forsee at the moment.