LCCC at the US Open - Day Eight

This is what 552 chess players look like when every section merged.

This is the scene prior to today's Blitz (5 minute) Championship!

Warming up before the Blitz Tournament.

Pondering: "I go there, then .....Knight takes, Bishop takes, castles...then Bishop takes pawn check!" 

LCCC at the US Open – Day 7

Time to post my “best” game from yesterday…..and my best game of the tournament!

Yeah, it’s a loss and it still is the best game I’ve played so far.

I think they are using the same brain wave interference equipment the Russians used on Fischer and Korchnoi in those matches against Spassky and Karpov on me.

Yeah that’s it. It’s all a conspiracy. It can’t be me.

I have White against Elliott Tong (1820) who was too busy chatting with his friends prior to our game for me to get his state or age (probably 16).

1. d4   d5

2. Bf4   Nf6

3. e3   e6

4. h3   Be7

5. Nf3   O-O

6. Be2   Nbd7

7. O-O   c5

8. c3   b6

9. Nbd2   Bb7

10. Ne5   Ne4

11. Bb5   Nxe5

12. de   c4?

It’s been a snoozer until this blunder by Elliot.

13. Nxe4    de

14. Bxc4   Qc7



After 14.  .....    Qc7

Elliot took a long time on this move, obviously taking stock of the position and looking for revenge. Yes, he is down a pawn but I am the equivalent of being down a bishop on the queenside! My goal is to get the d-file, free my bishop and to an endgame as soon as possible.

15. Bb3?   ……

Keeping an eye on d1 to help my rooks battle for the file while hopefully allowing my queen access to the kingside with a rook to the g-file someday. This bishop also prevents f6 or f5 by Black……but looking back, Elliot is not going to play that! It frees my imprisoned bishop. My white squared bishop belonged on e2.... I think.

15. …….Rfd8

16.  Qe2    Qc8

17.  Rfd1   Ba6

18. Rxd8+   Bxd8

19. Qd2    Bd3

20. Bc2    Qa6

21. f3    Bxc2

22. Qxc2   ef

23. gf     Be7

I took a long time on my next move. Obviously I want my rook on d1, but how to do it without giving up my extra pawn or the d-file? What do Jason, Chris, Matt or…Fritz say I should do? I say:

24.  a4!     Bc5

25.  Rd1   Qc4

26.   b3??  Qxf4

I sat there in stunned disbelief! We have all been there. But I seem to be "there" every game this tournament.

I played on for another 28 moves but to Elliot’s credit, he would not allow any endgame tricks.

They (who is "they" anyway?) say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger....and your losses make you  a better player.

Well I should be a power-lifting Grandmaster when I get home at this rate.

LCCC at the US Open - The Last Piece of the Puzzle

Here are the Top Gums in the 4 - day schedule.

Obviously this group was scared to take me on in the 6-day bracket. Cowards.

They will play 3 rounds today and 4 rounds tomorrow!

Good luck with that.

Your humble scribe Mikeniks is still looking to play a full round himself.

Showing some life, I FINALLY played well. For a half-a-round anyway in round 4....but threw it away.

It will probably be the game I blog tomorrow morning.

Record: 1 -3

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and the chess life you have given me. It means a lot to me.

LCCC at the US Open - Some Obserservations

Showed this just to drive Vince crazy!

Lets discuss the Open!

It returns to Wisconsin for the first time since 1953, so having it here is special to the chess enthusiasts of the Cheese state.

Wisconsin was part of the American Chess Association that included Illinois and Minnesota, which merged with other associations to form the United States Chess Federation. 

So they can rightfully claim - and do - that they are co-founders of the USCF.

Now for my commentary on how the Wisconsin Chess Association and USCF is doing with the tournament.

The Good:

1) The lighting is fine. Could be a little brighter.

2) The seating is very good! Not perfect. Not crowded side to side. Two per table so there is plenty of room. Could be a little wider in between rows, but they obviously were trying to stay as far away from the entry doors a possible as a noise buffer.

3) The pairings are up early and are posted in two places and TWO different ways. One, the usual by table number and player with White first, and the other by alphabetical! You can find your name quickly, then see what color you have, who your opponent is and what your board number is! Very nice! Never more than two people standing at the pairing boards - ever!

4) There is a Chess Central location with someone there to answer any and all questions, sign you up for side events, direct you to meetings, and take your bye requests.

5) The top tables are sectioned off, but close enough where you can see the game being played.

6) The kids tournaments were very well done. They were treated like royalty, complete with their state flags in holders next to their boards. They are the future of chess and the USCF is showing them they matter.

7) The hotel is a great venue for a tournament this size, and they have experience doing this type of thing.

8) Bathrooms clean, close by and numerous.

The Bad:

1) The US Open Women's Tournament, and for that matter all women's tournaments, need to be stopped and like right now. There were exactly 18 11 players entered. There were 20 females in just the last row of the regular tournament! So what is the point? Enough already. Everyone knows they need to end it, but no one has the guts to say it. So I just did.

2) They are running out of drinking water in the playing hall EVERY round. You would think that someone running the show would have the hotel on it, and remedying the situation.

3) The pre-round announcements are loud and dragged out. Some new person is given the microphone every time to thank people or give an award of some kind. That's nice and all, but these speakers think it is open mike night at a comedy club or worse, a political speech. Let's keep it brief shall we?

4) Here is the worse over-sight. There is no souvenirs concessions at all. Nothing but a cheap t-shirt iron-on logo vendor, who was here on the weekend and doesn't return until this coming weekend.

No vinyl boards, no chess bags, no key chains. Not even a cheap pen thas says 2013 US Open!

Maybe the stuff will show on the weekend. 

And maybe it is because US Open souvenirs have been a financial loser. But you can fix that by not gouging the customer with the price. I mean what is the risk of printing the boards used in the US Open and selling them after the tourney? You can always unload them at cost to chess clubs later. If handled right it's a small profit or worse - a break even venture for the USCF - and advertising for a long time.

But over all, so far, this has been a very well run tournament.

LCCC at the US, Open – Day 6

First……..the good news. I slept well, at night, and even through my games.

Now the bad news.

I am playing just awful! Let’s see, plenty of rest. Good food without over-eating. Drinking nothing but bottled water and Gatorade on occasion. Getting a nap in between rounds. Going over openings and studying a few tactics in between rounds. Keeping up on my Chess dot Com games at meals, where, by the way, I seem not to be “losing it”.

But I am getting in that tournament hall – and there is no other way to say it – and go brain dead …… and blind.

Is it nerves? Is it the lack of distractions or company? I don’t feel nervous and I don’t feel like doing anything else right now but play chess. But I sure picked a bad time to “lose it.”

But – as hitters in a slump would say – keep working and swinging. The fog will (should) clear someday.

Round 3 – I did win, but it felt like a loss because I played so poorly. My opponent had a 900 rating, and played like it. I squeaked out an upset win - by playing like a 700. Wish it was chess-baseball. I need a relief player. My fastball is flat and I am hanging curves (pieces).

So let's talk about Round 2 – With the White pieces, I faced a really nice guy – Brian Villarreal, rated 1820. We talked before and after the game. He said he played my first round opponent when Troy was in elementary school and rated 1000. Now he is 2000! Brain also stated he just got over 1800 after a long stint in the 1700’s. He said he did it by playing the better people at his chess club!

White to move.

Here is the position at the turning point. As I stated, I am not playing well. Post game analysis showed that although my position is not strong, it’s not terribly weak either. 

But I had to come up with the right plan. 

I had two options: 1) challenge for the e4 square with Bf3 and then e4!, or 2) play it safe with Nf3 adding protection to the e5 pawn and putting the knight on a primo square.

I chose Bf3, but not for the correct reason. I only see that unguarded bishop at b7 and don’t concern myself with my opponent’s possible moves.

12. Bf3    Qc7

Of course. But I never considered it. So if I didn't see that, there is no way I see e4!

13. c4?   Nxe5

14 .Kh1    Bd6

15. Qa4+?   Bc6

16.  Qc2   Nxf3

17.  Nxf3   Bxf4

18.   ef      Qxf4

I am down two pawns, so now I decide to play some chess. I always like to be down material or crushed in a position before I start playing well.

19. Ne5    Bb7

20.  cd      Bxd5z

21.  f3       O-O?

Rarely is castling a bad move, but it was here.

22. Nd7    Rfd8

23. Nxb6   Rab8

24. Nxd5?!   Rxd4

Well so much for a short run of decent chess assisted by my opponent's over-confidence. I have not analyzed it, but hanging on to material when down material is usually best. But his bishop is going to be much stronger in this open position. Especially since my knight at a4 is on the rim and grim. I blunder it up the rest of the way anyway.

25. Re4   Qg5

26. b3??  ......

Worried about his c-pawn and my b-pawn and not worrying about my king or queen.

26. .....     Rd2

27. Rg4    Qf6

28. Qc1    Rad8

Resigns

Record: 1-2 but should be 0-3.

Other stuff. The President of the Michigan Chess Association, Jennifer Skidmore, saw me and said there will be an attempt made to get all the Michigan attendees together for a Team picture Friday night. If it happens, I will try to get one myself or have her email it to me so I can post it here before it comes out in the MCA magazine (whenever that is published again).

LCCC at the US, Open – Day 5

Six Day Schedule top players.

The six – day schedule guys got started tonight – which includes your humble scribe.

As you can see, some more “big” names arrived to challenge for the title.

Now that the kid’s tournaments have finished, the eight electronic boards that show the top games LIVE on line, are now split between the 9-day and the 6-day top boards.

The link to watch or review games that have been played on the top boards can be found at   uschess .org/tournaments/2013/usopen .

I am sure you can find it from there.

I missed my online poker league round tonight to play chess at the same time on a Tuesday evening. Maybe Tuesday night is the problem, because the result was the same – I got crushed and left with nothing.

I was playing black versus a young man Troy Zimmerman, from Wisconsin, rated 2008. My rating is a paultry 1513, but I have been studying my responses to both e4 and d4 and I should be ready to at least hang in there for a while.

1.    c4

And then panic set in!

1. ….   Nf6
2. g3     d5
3. cd     Nxd5
4. Bg2   c6
5. Nf3    Bf5
6. O-O   h6
7. d5      Nb4?

As I played this move I literally could hear my coaches back at LCCC screaming from outside the cage (or ropes if you are a boxing fan instead of a UFC fan) screaming “Don’t do it! He’s setting you up!” But I didn’t hear them until the knight was on it’s way to try and trap the rook on a1. Yeah right, 2000 players fall for this all the time.

      8. Ne1   e6

I saw this but still thought I was ok. Well I was not. Lesson: never give tempos to 2000 players who know their openings and have White against you. Bad things will happen to you.

9. e4   Bh7

10. Be3   Nd7

11. a3    Na6

12. Nc3  Nf6

13. Nd3  Nc7?!

Well my knight is back home from his vacation but at such a cost. Five moves where White has developed and Black has shuffled pieces. And …Be7 was needed here.

14. Qb3  Rb8

The battle for the d5 square is in full engagement, but my poor a-pawn is asking “What about me?”

15.  h3   ……

Calmly playing a move to keep my knight from harassing his bishop x-raying my pawn at a7.

15.  …..    Be7

16.  Rfd1  O-O

17. Rac1   b6

After 17.  ....   b6

I love this man’s game. He keeps loading up and does not start pawn gobbling until he has his entire army engaged. Very nice! But I thought I may have found a way out of this. I took a long time on this move (12 minutes), and although it got fuzzy, I maybe saw a couple scenarios where I was even or only down a pawn, but either way had counter-play. The third scenario was not so good but I thought I still could battle on. So I went with it.

18. Ne5   Qe8

19. Qa4    Nb5!

My opponent took 22 minutes on his reply. I was sure he was making sure that his assault would not backfire. I could tell that he had missed my 19^th move. If Nxc6, my Nxc3 looks difficult for him, because with the c3 knight gone, his e-pawn is hanging. He looked concerned for the first time. It is a small victory taken from a stupidly played opening by yours truly.

20. Nxb5     cb

21. Qxa7    Bd6?

I was planning on playing Ra8 in this position back on move 17 during analysis when everything was getting foggy. But the bishop move looked better - for some reason that eludes me now - so I was probably right the first time. But I don't think it would have mattered.

By the way, my opponent has only 20 minutes now to make it to 40 moves, so I try to give him something to think about. But he only uses 5 minutes the rest of the way.

22. Nc6    Bxe4

23. Bxe4   Nxe4

24. Nxb8   Bxb8

25. Qxb6   f5

26. Rc6   Rf6

27. Rdc1   Qg6

28.  Qxb8  Kh7

29. Rc8   Qh5

30. Rh8+  Kg6

31. Rxh6+   Resigns

Well I have two rounds a day starting tomorrow. I will try to blog something in the morning. Probably the best of the two games played – win or lose.

LCCC at the US Open - Day 3, Day 4 of Tourney

Thought I would give you a look at the top players at the tournament - so far. I say - so far - because the 6 - day schedule starts tonight and a few higher rated players may join this nose bleed group.

Hey, wait a minute! I don't see my name!

Oh, that's right. I start tonight also. That explains it.

Yeah, right.

 Why is my state always the toughest in the country?

Michigan is always in the top five of virtually any category you want to name in the country.

Did you know we lead the nation in charity giving per capita almost every year?

Chess is no different.

Safal Bora is playing for the High School US Open Championship as I type!

Apurva Virkud is also playing for the title in the Girl's National Invitational Tournament!

Michigan is always a strong force to be reckoned with no matter what the competition is.

It must be the water.

Look at the ratings of these kids!!

Outstanding.

And then there is Edward Song bringing up the rear in the K-8 Championship.
Yeah, he is only tied for THIRD going into the last round!

So let's re-cap. Michigan is tied for 1st twice and tied for third.....in the three tournaments that are running!!

Just complete domination. No other state can claim this type of performance.


And then, another little personal note. I was browsing thru the chess store.......again.....but I am showing some restraint. It was only browsing session #14 in the 3 days I have been here. Something about looking chess sets and chess books......
Anyway, I am looking at a book "My 100 Best Games" by Alexey Dreev. I noticed that his style is similar to mine and he plays openings with Black I play and I am thinking about buying it. Maybe before I leave. I - of course don't need it. I have close to 100 chess books now I don't have time to digest.
But ......I've picked it up to flip thru it on probably 10 of the 14 browsing trips I've made. So, I'm probably ready to shell out the $30 + tax for it eventually. There are 5 copies there so I am not worried they will all walk off - like my bargain chess board did - should I delay.
The Proprietor walks by and says "You want that one?"
I say in my strongest negotiating tactics voice, "Yes, but I'll probably pick it up later. Can you hold it for me?"
I was playing hard to sell, and he fell for it.
He said, "I'll tell you what. You bought a board from us. How about $20 out the door right now?"
Sold!
Guess he didn't know who he was messin' with.