Greetings from lovely La Guardia airport where I am waiting to catch a flight to Dallas, and then from there Wichita, KS. This one of those "kill two birds with one stone trips". I'm visiting with my sister and her husband who live out there, and I'm playing in the Kansas Open giving me state #25 of my 50 states quest.
Unlike last my last trip, the airport scene has changed. On my trip to the National Open the airport looked like a ghost town. I flew through security because there was no one on line in front of me. Today was a different story. The line for simply showing your boarding pass and ID was going around the corner. Fortunately that line moves fairly quickly, though the Japanese family in front of me had their Chicago to Tokyo boarding cards out instead of New York to Chicago. I got to admit I've done that before; having wrong leg of the trip boarding card out.
I know once I get through that line I'll be able to go through the priority line because of my frequent flier status. I think the guy looking at my boarding pass was asleep, because he tried to send me to the other line. I show him the card again, and he sends me to the right line. That line wasn't exactly a bargain. The woman right in front of me had on the most ridiculous shoes for traveling. They were a pair of very stylish strappy high heels. Taking them off was a major production. There were two different buckles on the straps that had be undone to get out of the shoe. How the hell do people schlep around airports wearing shoes with a 4 inch heel? Myself, I wear a pair of really comfy Merril slip ons. They have good supprt, but no laces. Out and in. No sweat!
There was family of 5 that looked like they never had gone through security before. Don't ask me how they ended out on the priority line. The kids loaded up their bins with stuffed animals. One of their bags had a DVD player that should have been taken out of the bag. Then it took mom about 5 passes through the scanner before she didn't set it off. She kept standing in the middle of it. The guy kept saying stand behind the linr, then come back through. They sent her for a hand screening.
While I'm watching all of this I'm rolling my eyes and thinking to myself "Have they ever been on an airplane before?" Then the x-ray screener holds up my bag. "What's in the bottom of that bag?" Oops. For the first time ever my Chronos chess clock threw off the screener, so I had to pull it out of the bag. I guess that will teach me to moan and groan about rookie travelers.
Just about time for boarding. At least I can get on the plane right after 1st class and the ultra elite travelers. The ultra elite are the ones that fly 100,000+ miles a year. Unless someone starts paying me to travel all over he place, I will never make Executive Platinum status. I have enough trouble getting in my 25,000 to stay Gold. The double points in May and June helped. This trip will put me over.
Maybe in Dallas I'll post a game from Saturday. I behaved myself, and did not go to New York on Sunday for the Marshall "Cracktion". Maybe there's hope for me yet.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A Doggone Chess Analogy
Yesterday before I went down to New York City, I took about a one hour walk. Often when I go out for walks I pass houses with dogs out on the front lawn. Sometimes they're big dogs and sometimes they're little dogs. No matter what the size, they always bark like crazy when I walk by. They are defending their turf. Fortunately for me, most people have "Invisible Fences" so the dogs will not be coming after me, and taking a bite out of my calf.
Yesterday I walked past one house that had a big yellow Labrador retriever out front. As soon as he saw me he started barking. Labs are wonderful dogs. My parents had one when I was in high school, and my sister has one. If anyone ready this post from September of 2007, you've met my sister's lab Willie. Willie is the son of my sister's previous lab, Mickey. Mickey was awesome with my nieces and nephew when they were little, but he made a lousy watch dog. He he didn't bark very much, and he always was wagging his tail. He certainly didn't do anything to deter the thieves that broke into my sister's house years ago. The thieves let him loose in the yard and did their thing.
Unlike Mickey, the lab I met yesterday barked a lot. However it's hard to take a dog's bark seriously when at the same time his tail is wagging as if to say "Do you have a ball I can retrieve? Come play with me!" I was walking in one direction and another walker came by in the other direction. Now the dog didn't know who to bark at. He looked at me, and then he look at the other walker. Then he would turn his head and look at me again. It was as if he was thinking; "Who's the bigger threat to my turf? The man or the woman?" Eventually the owner came out to bring him back inside.
Watching the dog having this debate, reminded me of how some chess games go. If I have several different ways of attacking, I'm looking at which way I should go. King side, or queen side? Go after the backward pawn, or the isolated pawn? Go after the king right away, or pile on a pinned piece? Do I lead with the queen or lead with the rook? If I'm defending, what is the bigger threat? Do I need to worry about the opponent's passed pawn, or his attack on my backward pawn? Is he coming in on the king side or the queen side? Should I block with the bishop or with the knight? Coming up with the right answers to these questions can make the difference between winning, losing or getting a draw.
Last Sunday I went down to Westfield, New Jersey to play in the quads. I wasn't going to get involved with the pairings, or give the TD any advice. I'll wait until they get Version 8, and make sure Murphy isn't sneaking a ride with me. Even Murphy stayed away from the tournament he sure was a pain in the butt during the drive. It took me forever to get out of New York. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it in time so I had my husband call, and tell them I was coming. I made it with about 10 minutes to spare. Not to mention they waited another few minutes to see if they'd get a 40th player, which they did.
In round one I played Alice Dong. She was White again. Like our last game she attacked king side while I went queen side. Both our attacks fizzled, but she ended out ahead by a pawn and a big edge on the clock. Don't ask me how I survived the position below with 5 seconds left on my clock.
Yesterday I walked past one house that had a big yellow Labrador retriever out front. As soon as he saw me he started barking. Labs are wonderful dogs. My parents had one when I was in high school, and my sister has one. If anyone ready this post from September of 2007, you've met my sister's lab Willie. Willie is the son of my sister's previous lab, Mickey. Mickey was awesome with my nieces and nephew when they were little, but he made a lousy watch dog. He he didn't bark very much, and he always was wagging his tail. He certainly didn't do anything to deter the thieves that broke into my sister's house years ago. The thieves let him loose in the yard and did their thing.
Unlike Mickey, the lab I met yesterday barked a lot. However it's hard to take a dog's bark seriously when at the same time his tail is wagging as if to say "Do you have a ball I can retrieve? Come play with me!" I was walking in one direction and another walker came by in the other direction. Now the dog didn't know who to bark at. He looked at me, and then he look at the other walker. Then he would turn his head and look at me again. It was as if he was thinking; "Who's the bigger threat to my turf? The man or the woman?" Eventually the owner came out to bring him back inside.
Watching the dog having this debate, reminded me of how some chess games go. If I have several different ways of attacking, I'm looking at which way I should go. King side, or queen side? Go after the backward pawn, or the isolated pawn? Go after the king right away, or pile on a pinned piece? Do I lead with the queen or lead with the rook? If I'm defending, what is the bigger threat? Do I need to worry about the opponent's passed pawn, or his attack on my backward pawn? Is he coming in on the king side or the queen side? Should I block with the bishop or with the knight? Coming up with the right answers to these questions can make the difference between winning, losing or getting a draw.
Last Sunday I went down to Westfield, New Jersey to play in the quads. I wasn't going to get involved with the pairings, or give the TD any advice. I'll wait until they get Version 8, and make sure Murphy isn't sneaking a ride with me. Even Murphy stayed away from the tournament he sure was a pain in the butt during the drive. It took me forever to get out of New York. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it in time so I had my husband call, and tell them I was coming. I made it with about 10 minutes to spare. Not to mention they waited another few minutes to see if they'd get a 40th player, which they did.
In round one I played Alice Dong. She was White again. Like our last game she attacked king side while I went queen side. Both our attacks fizzled, but she ended out ahead by a pawn and a big edge on the clock. Don't ask me how I survived the position below with 5 seconds left on my clock.
But with 3 seconds left on my clock, and who knows how many moves later we reached this position with black to move. She resigned.
My second round game was very interesting. I dropped a pawn early, but got lots of counter play. Unlike the game from Thursday where I thought I had an attack, I really did have an attack. However like the lab who didn't know who to bark at, I didn't find the right square for my rook. This is the crucial position.
King side or Queen side for White's e1 rook? I played 33. Re3, with the idea of going to g3 and piling on his backward pawn. 33. Rc1 was the right move, which forces him to sac the exchange to stop my threat of 34. Rxc6+. My plan was too slow, and gave him time to consolidate on the queen side. Here's the game.
PW-WDubinsky062809.pgn
In the last round I played a teenage kid who seemed to just want to simplify and offer a draw. Considering how long and how draining my first two games had been, I happily accepted the draw. That gave me time to complete the true mission of my trip.
True confession time. There is an ulterior motive to my trips to Westfield. After all, schlepping 38 miles in New Jersey traffic is a lot of work for playing in a quad. My mission in three words; Three Buck Chuck, Trader Joe's ultra cheap wine. We can't get it where I live because in New York you can't buy wine in a grocery store. You have to go to a liquor store. In New Jersey you can buy wine in a grocery store.
It's actually decent wine. I wouldn't serve it if I was having a dinner party, but it's perfect to have with pizza, and other foods like that. I'm not going to have a $50 bottle of wine with pizza. Actually Trader Joe's has a nice selection of wines at varying price points, so I usually pick up other wines that I never see in my neighborhood wine shop.
On this particular trip I wasn't just shopping for my husband and me. We introduced our neighbors to it, so they wanted me to get some for them too. So after my last round game, I went over to Trader Joes which is about two blocks away from the Westfield YMCA where we play. I loaded up on wine for the neighbors and us, and found the food items they were out of stock at the Traders Joe's near us. I got enough to last us through the summer. I'm in no hurry to go back down there after sitting in George Washington Bridge traffic for over an hour. Note to self: Don't come back from New Jersey on a Sunday until after Labor Day. Summer traffic on the George Washington sucks.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July!!
As you may have guessed from the lack of blog posts from Philadelphia, I'm not at the World Open. Somehow paying a $300+ entry fee to get hammered by 1600 rated masters playing in the under 1800 section didn't seem like such a good idea. Paying that entry fee to play up a section was even a dumber idea. So what does a chess junkie do on the 4th of July, when she can't afford the World Open? She gets on the train and heads to New York City.
Welcome to Grand Central! 
Rush hour on the 4th of July?
As a kid, one of my mother's frequently used expressions when our house was overrun with all of our friends was; "It looks like Grand Central Station in here." The above photo is the real Grand Central. That's what it typically looks like during rush hour, but today lots of people were looking to leave the city. All these people are standing on line to buy train tickets. I don't know where everyone was going, but certainly not to the Marshall Chess Club.
World Open alternative. Marshall CC Saturday G/60
Round Four
There were a grand total of 12 people playing. By the last round two players had dropped out. I lost to Raven Sturt in the first round. He won the tournament 4-0. It was an unusual tournament for me. My remaining three games were all draws. They were all hard fought draws. I'll post some of the games later.
I've never seen the club clear out so quickly at the end of a tournament. When I left at 9:00 pm the only person left besides the manager was one of the members who didn't even play in the tournament. He was going over some game from a book. I guess everyone else was off to late 4th of July barbecues, or going to see the fireworks. I decided I would go take a walk up to 34th St and over to the West Side for the fireworks.
Empire State Building lit up in Red, White & Blue
I guess for every one person who got on a train to leave the city, ten people came into the city to see the fireworks. I got as far as 33rd and Tenth Avenue and decided I could see well enough from there. It wasn't a bad spot for watching and taking pictures, except when a stupid bus would block our view. I probably should have crossed the avenue, but too many people over there! I took these pictures without a tripod so some of the effects are kind of interesting.
Warming up
I have the camera set to shoot multiple frames in sequence. These next three pictures are the same sets of shells, but with no tripod it's an interesting sequence of movement.
One!
Two!
Three!
Getting bigger!
More colorful!
Big Bang!! (Polly's brain in time pressure)
Get your 4th of July tacky souvenirs!
Even managed to make a train leaving at a civilized hour. That's two hours earlier then the train I make on Thursdays. I even made it with time to spare. The fireworks finished around 9:55. I walked from 10th Ave and 33rd to Vanderbilt Ave and 42nd in less then 25 minutes. Not bad, considering all the people I had to maneuver around.
If I'm crazy enough I can go back to the Marshall on Sunday and play 5 more games in the Sunday Action. I think I'll go ride my bike instead. Next weekend Polly's traveling chess circus is off to Kansas. My sister lives out there; so combining family visit with chess. No I'm not going by broomstick. "I'll get you, and your little doggie too!!"
Welcome to Grand Central! 
Rush hour on the 4th of July? As a kid, one of my mother's frequently used expressions when our house was overrun with all of our friends was; "It looks like Grand Central Station in here." The above photo is the real Grand Central. That's what it typically looks like during rush hour, but today lots of people were looking to leave the city. All these people are standing on line to buy train tickets. I don't know where everyone was going, but certainly not to the Marshall Chess Club.
World Open alternative. Marshall CC Saturday G/60Round Four
There were a grand total of 12 people playing. By the last round two players had dropped out. I lost to Raven Sturt in the first round. He won the tournament 4-0. It was an unusual tournament for me. My remaining three games were all draws. They were all hard fought draws. I'll post some of the games later.
I've never seen the club clear out so quickly at the end of a tournament. When I left at 9:00 pm the only person left besides the manager was one of the members who didn't even play in the tournament. He was going over some game from a book. I guess everyone else was off to late 4th of July barbecues, or going to see the fireworks. I decided I would go take a walk up to 34th St and over to the West Side for the fireworks.
Empire State Building lit up in Red, White & BlueI guess for every one person who got on a train to leave the city, ten people came into the city to see the fireworks. I got as far as 33rd and Tenth Avenue and decided I could see well enough from there. It wasn't a bad spot for watching and taking pictures, except when a stupid bus would block our view. I probably should have crossed the avenue, but too many people over there! I took these pictures without a tripod so some of the effects are kind of interesting.
Warming upI have the camera set to shoot multiple frames in sequence. These next three pictures are the same sets of shells, but with no tripod it's an interesting sequence of movement.
One!
Two!
Three!
Getting bigger!
More colorful!
Big Bang!! (Polly's brain in time pressure)
Get your 4th of July tacky souvenirs!
Even managed to make a train leaving at a civilized hour. That's two hours earlier then the train I make on Thursdays. I even made it with time to spare. The fireworks finished around 9:55. I walked from 10th Ave and 33rd to Vanderbilt Ave and 42nd in less then 25 minutes. Not bad, considering all the people I had to maneuver around.If I'm crazy enough I can go back to the Marshall on Sunday and play 5 more games in the Sunday Action. I think I'll go ride my bike instead. Next weekend Polly's traveling chess circus is off to Kansas. My sister lives out there; so combining family visit with chess. No I'm not going by broomstick. "I'll get you, and your little doggie too!!"
Friday, July 3, 2009
Returning To The Scene Of The Crime - Part II
Where were we? Oh yes, I have one point going into round three. I would be paired up again. I was paired against a 1900 who I've had good results against lately. I have a win and draw against him in the last two games we've played. My overall record against him isn't so hot, but I was more focused on how I've done recently. Sometimes it's probably better that I not think about how I've against someone recently. It can be a distraction from the game at hand, and cause me to overlook my opponent's chances. After I made my 21st move Re3, I felt I had an overwhelming advantage. I'm ahead on the clock, his rooks were out of play, and I was preparing to bring both my rooks to the king side and perhaps be able to take advantage of his h6 pawn.
Positions like this can be dangerous for me if I don't keep my mind totally focused on what's happening on the board at that moment. As soon as I start thinking about how many rating points I'll gain, or who I might play in the next round if I win the game at hand I get myself in trouble. Sure enough my mind is wandering because I'm a little too confident about my attack, and his out-of-play rooks. In the meantime I'm overlooking how much trouble his queen can cause all by herself. Instead of blocking her pathway into my second rank by putting one of my rooks on e3, I decide to chase his queen with my g3 rook.
PW-EKopiecki062509.pgn
A wise chess teacher once said "Never drive your opponent's piece to a better square." My move 24. Rf3 chases his queen to d2 where he is attacking my suddenly vulnerable rook on e1 and my pawn on b2. After moving the rook away and 25...Qxb2 I'm down a pawn and I'm the one having to play defense. Sheesh! How did that happen so suddenly? It happened because I lost sight of what his queen could do and the suddenly annoying bishop on c4. I thought I was going to trap his queen, but she slipped away on the queen side, and came back in on the king side.
This not so wise chess teacher has another piece of wisdom to impart. "Don't make the same mistake twice in the same game." With 38. Rg3 I chase his queen once again to a much better square (f4). With four seconds left I find the worse possible move on the board with 39. Kg1?? after 39...Qxf2+ I'm toast.
So how does one bounce back from a loss like that? Learn from one's mistakes, forget about the ugliness, and move on. That's what I would tell my students, and that's what I told myself. However sometimes I'm incredibly thick-headed, or I find something else to screw up instead. I wasn't even thinking about that game when I sat down for the last round. I got paired way down against a kid rated 1247, and figured perhaps I could salvage an even score out of this mess. I put up good fights against my higher rated opponents in rounds one and three, and won in round two. Certainly I could beat a player I out-rated by over 400 points. Right??
Okay the game wasn't as bad as all that, but what can I say about a game where less then 10 minutes have elapsed on the clock and I get my queen trapped on the 11th move? If I had come to the tournament by train, I probably would have resigned on the spot and tried to make the 11:14. However I got a ride down, and I had make sure I waited with one of the kids until his mom met us where we would be dropped off after the tournament. So what else was I going to do while waiting for Josh and Michael to finish their games? So I decided to make this kid earn his win.
It turned out to be a pretty interesting game. Even though I eventually lost, I got some decent counter play. Having nothing to lose at that point, I think I was able to just play the game and not worry. Queen for a bishop? No problem! What's the worse thing that can happen now? I can lose sooner, then later.
PSchepel-PW062509.pgn
Actually the worst thing that happened was the drive back home. The problem with "the city that never sleeps" is; that the construction crews don't sleep either. No matter which way one tries to leave Manhattan, there is always going to be lanes closed for construction, and lots of cars going nowhere fast. Normally if I take the 12:30 train home, I'm back at my house by 1:15 AM. I think I got home closer to 2:00 am. I guess Murphy does traffic too.
Positions like this can be dangerous for me if I don't keep my mind totally focused on what's happening on the board at that moment. As soon as I start thinking about how many rating points I'll gain, or who I might play in the next round if I win the game at hand I get myself in trouble. Sure enough my mind is wandering because I'm a little too confident about my attack, and his out-of-play rooks. In the meantime I'm overlooking how much trouble his queen can cause all by herself. Instead of blocking her pathway into my second rank by putting one of my rooks on e3, I decide to chase his queen with my g3 rook.
PW-EKopiecki062509.pgn
A wise chess teacher once said "Never drive your opponent's piece to a better square." My move 24. Rf3 chases his queen to d2 where he is attacking my suddenly vulnerable rook on e1 and my pawn on b2. After moving the rook away and 25...Qxb2 I'm down a pawn and I'm the one having to play defense. Sheesh! How did that happen so suddenly? It happened because I lost sight of what his queen could do and the suddenly annoying bishop on c4. I thought I was going to trap his queen, but she slipped away on the queen side, and came back in on the king side.
This not so wise chess teacher has another piece of wisdom to impart. "Don't make the same mistake twice in the same game." With 38. Rg3 I chase his queen once again to a much better square (f4). With four seconds left I find the worse possible move on the board with 39. Kg1?? after 39...Qxf2+ I'm toast.
So how does one bounce back from a loss like that? Learn from one's mistakes, forget about the ugliness, and move on. That's what I would tell my students, and that's what I told myself. However sometimes I'm incredibly thick-headed, or I find something else to screw up instead. I wasn't even thinking about that game when I sat down for the last round. I got paired way down against a kid rated 1247, and figured perhaps I could salvage an even score out of this mess. I put up good fights against my higher rated opponents in rounds one and three, and won in round two. Certainly I could beat a player I out-rated by over 400 points. Right??
Okay the game wasn't as bad as all that, but what can I say about a game where less then 10 minutes have elapsed on the clock and I get my queen trapped on the 11th move? If I had come to the tournament by train, I probably would have resigned on the spot and tried to make the 11:14. However I got a ride down, and I had make sure I waited with one of the kids until his mom met us where we would be dropped off after the tournament. So what else was I going to do while waiting for Josh and Michael to finish their games? So I decided to make this kid earn his win.
It turned out to be a pretty interesting game. Even though I eventually lost, I got some decent counter play. Having nothing to lose at that point, I think I was able to just play the game and not worry. Queen for a bishop? No problem! What's the worse thing that can happen now? I can lose sooner, then later.
PSchepel-PW062509.pgn
Actually the worst thing that happened was the drive back home. The problem with "the city that never sleeps" is; that the construction crews don't sleep either. No matter which way one tries to leave Manhattan, there is always going to be lanes closed for construction, and lots of cars going nowhere fast. Normally if I take the 12:30 train home, I'm back at my house by 1:15 AM. I think I got home closer to 2:00 am. I guess Murphy does traffic too.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Returning To The Scene Of The Crime - Part I
Last year around this time, I recounted the story of my woeful performance in the 21st Annual Thursday Night Action Championship. Luck would have it that my second tournament back from my 9 day hiatus from chess would be the 22nd Annual Thursday Night Action Championship. Would it be another year of three games, three losses, good bye and good night? Follow along and you will find out just how my night went.
Once again Andre Harding was assisting Steve with the entries. He takes my money and says " Do I have to ask? Under 2200?"
"Yes, Under 2200 and that is all I have to say about it. No predictions after last year's disaster." He remembers last year, so no further explanation was necessary. This year's tournament was even bigger then last year's. There were 36 players in the Open, not counting a re-entry and a house player, and 48 in the Under 2200 not counting a re-entry. The tournament took over every bit of playing space in the club both upstairs and downstairs. The Open section had 20 players rated 2200 or higher. That meant even the lowest rated player at 1462 got paired against a master. Yes, if I had chosen to play up there would have been three players below me on the wallchart.
When I think about it, if I had played in that section the ratings of my opponents probably would not have been much different then they are on many Thursday nights. Most Thursdays I end out playing a master or high expert, a couple of 1900s and some random player rated anywhere from 1600 downwards. This tournament I would have played a low 2200, an expert, an A player and probably would have gotten the bye in round 4 or played one of the 1600s.
In the Under 2200 section I got paired against a 2040. It was an interesting game, and even though I lost I felt I made it some what challenging for him. I made a couple of small mistakes in the form of poor piece placement so I wasted a lot of time trying to untangle the mess I had made. Here's the game.
PW-CEvans062509.pgn
This year's tournament was bottom heavy so I knew that in round two I would get paired down. I ended out playing a kid who I've played a number of times before, and also know from a chess camp that I assisted at the past two summers. Having played a lot of blitz with him at chess camp, I'm very familiar with how he plays. He tends to play very cautiously trying for a draw, and is quick to resign as soon as he's down more then a minor piece. He's not one of those kids who plays to the bitter end. Every time I've played him in a tournament I've always been surprised how quickly he gives up when behind.
Being familiar with how he plays dictated how I went about playing the game. I was not surprised that he played a fairly quiet line against my Accelerated Dragon, allowing me to get in an early d5. He seemed to be willing to make trades that allowed me to weaken his king side pawns. It looked like he was trying not to take too many chances, and perhaps simplify to a drawish ending. I made a number of minor threats on his pawns that were easily parried, but he had taken the most passive approach to his defense allowing me to eventually pick up a couple of pawns. At the end he allowed me to trade off his very advanced b pawn for my previously backward f pawn. Here's that game.
DKarp-PW062509.pgn
After two rounds I had more points then I had scored in last year's tournament. I was actually satisfied with my play, and thought perhaps my Taekwondo focused chess hiatus had done me some good. I had stayed focused during both games, and felt I had managed my time fairly well. So how would I fare in round three?
Stay tuned. Tomorrow I will discuss the last two rounds.
Once again Andre Harding was assisting Steve with the entries. He takes my money and says " Do I have to ask? Under 2200?"
"Yes, Under 2200 and that is all I have to say about it. No predictions after last year's disaster." He remembers last year, so no further explanation was necessary. This year's tournament was even bigger then last year's. There were 36 players in the Open, not counting a re-entry and a house player, and 48 in the Under 2200 not counting a re-entry. The tournament took over every bit of playing space in the club both upstairs and downstairs. The Open section had 20 players rated 2200 or higher. That meant even the lowest rated player at 1462 got paired against a master. Yes, if I had chosen to play up there would have been three players below me on the wallchart.
When I think about it, if I had played in that section the ratings of my opponents probably would not have been much different then they are on many Thursday nights. Most Thursdays I end out playing a master or high expert, a couple of 1900s and some random player rated anywhere from 1600 downwards. This tournament I would have played a low 2200, an expert, an A player and probably would have gotten the bye in round 4 or played one of the 1600s.
In the Under 2200 section I got paired against a 2040. It was an interesting game, and even though I lost I felt I made it some what challenging for him. I made a couple of small mistakes in the form of poor piece placement so I wasted a lot of time trying to untangle the mess I had made. Here's the game.
PW-CEvans062509.pgn
This year's tournament was bottom heavy so I knew that in round two I would get paired down. I ended out playing a kid who I've played a number of times before, and also know from a chess camp that I assisted at the past two summers. Having played a lot of blitz with him at chess camp, I'm very familiar with how he plays. He tends to play very cautiously trying for a draw, and is quick to resign as soon as he's down more then a minor piece. He's not one of those kids who plays to the bitter end. Every time I've played him in a tournament I've always been surprised how quickly he gives up when behind.
Being familiar with how he plays dictated how I went about playing the game. I was not surprised that he played a fairly quiet line against my Accelerated Dragon, allowing me to get in an early d5. He seemed to be willing to make trades that allowed me to weaken his king side pawns. It looked like he was trying not to take too many chances, and perhaps simplify to a drawish ending. I made a number of minor threats on his pawns that were easily parried, but he had taken the most passive approach to his defense allowing me to eventually pick up a couple of pawns. At the end he allowed me to trade off his very advanced b pawn for my previously backward f pawn. Here's that game.
DKarp-PW062509.pgn
After two rounds I had more points then I had scored in last year's tournament. I was actually satisfied with my play, and thought perhaps my Taekwondo focused chess hiatus had done me some good. I had stayed focused during both games, and felt I had managed my time fairly well. So how would I fare in round three?
Stay tuned. Tomorrow I will discuss the last two rounds.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Polly's Sports Report
Yes, there is life outside chess! I actually went nine whole days without playing a single game of chess. No cracktion at the Marshall, no blitz on FICS, no slugging it out with Fritz, nadda, nothing, zippo! I didn't even have to go on vacation to force myself away from the board. Did I suffer from withdrawal? Have a bad case of the shakes? Was I asking where is my next game coming from? Nope. I had other things on my mind.
Taekwondo took up a lot my time. I had two important events within a few days of each other. The first was the American Taekwondo United National Championships on a Saturday, and my promotion test on the Monday following. For the week leading up to the championships I was training every day. I would do extra practice either before or after class. During class our master would have those of us who were competing get up and do their form in front of the class. The first time I had to do it, I was taken by surprise, and found myself being nervous. When I'm nervous I tend to be off balance and prone to making mistakes. This particular form has a lot of side kicks in it. Side kicks are the bane of my existence. I have a lot of problems with balance and pivoting the standing foot. If I'm off balance for any of the side kicks, then things have a tendency of going to hell. The thing I had to work on all week was not allowing myself to get upset by off balance kicks or other mistakes. Staying focused on what was coming, and not dwelling on what I did were the key points.
In many ways it reminds me of what happens to me when I'm ahead materially, but the opponent has a lot of pressure. If I make a mistake that gives back some or all of the advantage I tend to just lose it after that. It's too easy to dwell on the move I should have made. The problem is; dwelling on what should have happened doesn't allow one to focus on the present position. Those types of distractions make it hard to find good moves.
I was looking forward to this tournament because I would be competing against women my age and rank. When I competed in Korea last summer, my competition was younger then me, and some were higher ranked. In our school tournament I was competing against guys who had been brown belts for awhile. They were doing the brown belt form and I was doing the purple belt form. You always lose a little bit with the judges when you're doing a lower belt form.
After busting my butt for the tournament, it ended out being a bit of a let down. There were no other women over 50 in the brown - bodan belt division, so I became a national champion by showing up and doing my form. At least I didn't fall on my face, or make any horrible mistakes. At first I felt funny about being an ATU National Champion, but then I reminded myself of something. How many women start doing Taekwondo in their 50s? If they're out there, they weren't in Queens, NY that weekend. I showed up and competed, so I won.
Champ!
BM Kim's Taekwondo rocks! 6 gold medals.
After competing in the tournament I still had Monday's test to look forward to. Test is sort of a misnomer. If you are allowed to test, it means you're ready to go to the next level. In theory the test is graduation day. You show what you've learned to the masters, and to Grandmaster Kim. No matter how many times I've done the stuff in class and told I'm ready to be promoted it's still nerve wracking. This is my ninth belt promotion test, and mentally it doesn't get any easier. Maybe it's because what I have to perform is more difficult. Now I am a bodan belt. (The belt is red and black.) I still have another form to learn, but I also have to redo everything I learned at the lower belts. My problem is my memory like a sieve, and I tend to forget the old form as soon as I start learning a new one. I guess I will find out how good I am at multi-tasking in Taekwondo. (Hopefully better then I am at chess!)
Lately I've been having trouble with board breaks while kicking. Board breaking is for building confidence, working on focus and proper technique. It started back in April. In Monday's test I had trouble with the spinning hook kick. It took me about five attempts to do it. In the mean time all the other lower ranked belts were breaking on their first or second attempt.
Twice a month we have board breaking classes. I think I was away when the first breaking class was held in June, so I didn't get to practice before the test. The second class was on Friday after the test. It was tempting to not go to class that day so that I wouldn't have face my kicking demons so soon. I kept thinking of reasons not to go to class that day, but decided to suck it up and go. I was even worse on Friday with the damn spinning hook kick then I had been on Monday. It's funny how some days I can nail the kick, and other days I suck. I think the real problem is that I haven't been doing the kick correctly, so when I have broken the board it's probably been dumb luck. I spent time after the class working on the kick, and the master has me doing it differently then I have been doing it. Now I have to unlearn what I was doing before. Somehow this reminds me too much of how I play chess!
In other sports news, I'm starting to ride my bike again. Unfortunately getting out on my bike, reminds what a bunch jerks drivers can be. I just love the fat slobs leaning on their horn, and "Yelling get the @#% off the road." It really makes for a nice ride when you have people like this and this, taking out their frustrations on you. Today I had some lady yell at me and tell me to ride on the sidewalk. "Hey lady, it's against the law to ride on the sidewalk. I'm supposed to be on the road." People like that need to get out of their cars, and get a little exercise. Don't get me started on inconsiderate drivers.
Chess....I'm playing. Some good, some bad. Details in my next post.
Taekwondo took up a lot my time. I had two important events within a few days of each other. The first was the American Taekwondo United National Championships on a Saturday, and my promotion test on the Monday following. For the week leading up to the championships I was training every day. I would do extra practice either before or after class. During class our master would have those of us who were competing get up and do their form in front of the class. The first time I had to do it, I was taken by surprise, and found myself being nervous. When I'm nervous I tend to be off balance and prone to making mistakes. This particular form has a lot of side kicks in it. Side kicks are the bane of my existence. I have a lot of problems with balance and pivoting the standing foot. If I'm off balance for any of the side kicks, then things have a tendency of going to hell. The thing I had to work on all week was not allowing myself to get upset by off balance kicks or other mistakes. Staying focused on what was coming, and not dwelling on what I did were the key points.
In many ways it reminds me of what happens to me when I'm ahead materially, but the opponent has a lot of pressure. If I make a mistake that gives back some or all of the advantage I tend to just lose it after that. It's too easy to dwell on the move I should have made. The problem is; dwelling on what should have happened doesn't allow one to focus on the present position. Those types of distractions make it hard to find good moves.
I was looking forward to this tournament because I would be competing against women my age and rank. When I competed in Korea last summer, my competition was younger then me, and some were higher ranked. In our school tournament I was competing against guys who had been brown belts for awhile. They were doing the brown belt form and I was doing the purple belt form. You always lose a little bit with the judges when you're doing a lower belt form.
After busting my butt for the tournament, it ended out being a bit of a let down. There were no other women over 50 in the brown - bodan belt division, so I became a national champion by showing up and doing my form. At least I didn't fall on my face, or make any horrible mistakes. At first I felt funny about being an ATU National Champion, but then I reminded myself of something. How many women start doing Taekwondo in their 50s? If they're out there, they weren't in Queens, NY that weekend. I showed up and competed, so I won.
Champ!
BM Kim's Taekwondo rocks! 6 gold medals.After competing in the tournament I still had Monday's test to look forward to. Test is sort of a misnomer. If you are allowed to test, it means you're ready to go to the next level. In theory the test is graduation day. You show what you've learned to the masters, and to Grandmaster Kim. No matter how many times I've done the stuff in class and told I'm ready to be promoted it's still nerve wracking. This is my ninth belt promotion test, and mentally it doesn't get any easier. Maybe it's because what I have to perform is more difficult. Now I am a bodan belt. (The belt is red and black.) I still have another form to learn, but I also have to redo everything I learned at the lower belts. My problem is my memory like a sieve, and I tend to forget the old form as soon as I start learning a new one. I guess I will find out how good I am at multi-tasking in Taekwondo. (Hopefully better then I am at chess!)
Lately I've been having trouble with board breaks while kicking. Board breaking is for building confidence, working on focus and proper technique. It started back in April. In Monday's test I had trouble with the spinning hook kick. It took me about five attempts to do it. In the mean time all the other lower ranked belts were breaking on their first or second attempt.
Twice a month we have board breaking classes. I think I was away when the first breaking class was held in June, so I didn't get to practice before the test. The second class was on Friday after the test. It was tempting to not go to class that day so that I wouldn't have face my kicking demons so soon. I kept thinking of reasons not to go to class that day, but decided to suck it up and go. I was even worse on Friday with the damn spinning hook kick then I had been on Monday. It's funny how some days I can nail the kick, and other days I suck. I think the real problem is that I haven't been doing the kick correctly, so when I have broken the board it's probably been dumb luck. I spent time after the class working on the kick, and the master has me doing it differently then I have been doing it. Now I have to unlearn what I was doing before. Somehow this reminds me too much of how I play chess!
In other sports news, I'm starting to ride my bike again. Unfortunately getting out on my bike, reminds what a bunch jerks drivers can be. I just love the fat slobs leaning on their horn, and "Yelling get the @#% off the road." It really makes for a nice ride when you have people like this and this, taking out their frustrations on you. Today I had some lady yell at me and tell me to ride on the sidewalk. "Hey lady, it's against the law to ride on the sidewalk. I'm supposed to be on the road." People like that need to get out of their cars, and get a little exercise. Don't get me started on inconsiderate drivers.
Chess....I'm playing. Some good, some bad. Details in my next post.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Interview with EB Candidate Ruth Haring
Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile know that there are certain topics I stay away from. Religion and politics (chess or US) are topics that I tend to shy away from, and will continue to do so. However I'm bending the ban on USCF politics to post this interview that I did with Ruth Haring at the National Open. I saw Ruth last year at the US Open in Dallas, but I think the last time I had seen her before that was when I gave her a ride to Burlington, Vermont back in 1977.
Ruth was one of the top US women players back then. She stopped playing chess for about 30 years, and just started up again last summer. So I was very intrigued when I heard she was running for a seat on the US Chess Federation's Executive Board. These elections tend to be contentious affairs, and I often why anyone in their right mind would want to run. I got to spend time with her between rounds five and six, and had the following interview with her. This is my first attempt at doing an interview on my blog. I apologize if I don't have pithy questions and comments to add flavor to this post.
Polly: I saw you last year in Dallas, and I can’t remember when I saw you before that. When did you start playing again?
Ruth: One year ago at the National Open. That was my first tournament after a little over 30 years of not playing tournament chess. I now have three grown children and decided to start playing again. Then at the US Open last year I actually got my son to start playing. So we’re sort of going around as a team now.
P: How old is your son who is playing?
R: He’s 19. He’s my youngest. I have two daughters, 22 and 21.
P: And they’re not following mom’s footsteps, trying to be an outstanding woman chess player?
R: They both can play chess. And they’re probably decent because they sometimes can beat my dad who used to be a C player. But they’re not interested in playing tournament chess.
P: How is your son doing so far?
R: He’s disappointed with his result. (National Open) He just got a 1700 rating and he’s improved a lot. He started in class D. He was sort of hoping to win, and win the class prize. (Under 1800 section) But you know you have to go through the school of knocks a little bit before you do that. But it’s good for him to be optimistic at this age.
P: I started out the tournament 0-3 in the same section. It’s been pretty brutal competition. So what have you been doing all this time that you haven’t been playing chess? Obviously raising three kids, but what else?
R: I’ve been working for the majority of the time. I started out as a programmer, and then went into project management. Consultant in the high tech industry in the Silicon Valley. The last 15 years I’ve been in program management for companies like IBM and eBay. A pretty intense and hard working field.
P: When did you decide that you wanted to run for the Executive Board?
R: Shortly after started playing again. In my career in Silicon Valley I met a lot of the movers and shakers type of people, and some of them are very good chess players, or chess enthusiasts. My initial idea was I wanted to volunteer my time and do some fundraising.
I went and talked to a bunch of people I knew from the old days and said “Hey I’d like to help out the USCF and I think I can do some fundraising because I have all these contacts.” Everybody I talked to told me “Don’t do that. The money would be wasted. The USCF is embroiled in lawsuits.”
Then we got talking about what I’ve been doing and catching up. When they saw my resume, and learned what I had been doing, they said, “The thing you should do is run for the executive board.” After about 5 or 6 people told me that I started seriously considering that, and here I am.
P: If you’re elected what do feel that you have to offer the board? What are some of your goals?
R: My initial goal was fundraising, but that will have to wait until some of the legal problems are solved. I do have a management background, and I have great interpersonal skills. I feel I would be a calming and maybe mediating influence on the board.
As a program manager it was always my objective to make things happen and get things done. There are probably a lot of little projects in different areas of the USCF that have been around a long time, and haven’t gotten done. I would really like to help mentor people and get some of these projects done so we can move on to other things. Make sure there are plans and place and help move the organization forward, and that’s how I think I can help.
P: Are there any sort of pet projects that you’re interested in doing in terms of helping the USCF move forward?
R: I was interested in the fund raising as a pet project. I’ve always thought there should be better media coverage and better programs to promote players. I would really like to figure out how that could happen because all the various formats that have been tried over the years don’t really seem to do what they’re intended to do.
(We spent some time talking about how expensive it is to play in the big tournaments and we kicked around a few ideas about that. That I will discuss in another post.)
P: Thanks for your time. I think you have some very good ideas and positive energy.
R: I’m trying to keep it all positive though I know there are a lot negative things going on. I really don’t see the value in name-calling and infighting. So I’ve been trying to keep my campaign totally positive. Hopefully it will be effective.
P: Good luck, and we have just over a month left before the ballots need to be in.
R: I would just like to encourage everyone reading this to read all the candidates’ statements. (The link is the USCF website. You must be logged in to read.) It’s very important to vote this year.
I will echo Ruth's sentiments and encourage everybody to vote. There is a lot of stuff on the internet about the issues and the candidates. Read what you can, and try not to get sucked in by all the hyperbole.
Edit: Chess Tiger asked some good questions in the comments section. Maybe I should have had him do the interview! Ruth took the time to answer them. Feel free to contact her via Facebook or leave more questions here.
Ruth was one of the top US women players back then. She stopped playing chess for about 30 years, and just started up again last summer. So I was very intrigued when I heard she was running for a seat on the US Chess Federation's Executive Board. These elections tend to be contentious affairs, and I often why anyone in their right mind would want to run. I got to spend time with her between rounds five and six, and had the following interview with her. This is my first attempt at doing an interview on my blog. I apologize if I don't have pithy questions and comments to add flavor to this post.
Polly: I saw you last year in Dallas, and I can’t remember when I saw you before that. When did you start playing again?
Ruth: One year ago at the National Open. That was my first tournament after a little over 30 years of not playing tournament chess. I now have three grown children and decided to start playing again. Then at the US Open last year I actually got my son to start playing. So we’re sort of going around as a team now.
P: How old is your son who is playing?
R: He’s 19. He’s my youngest. I have two daughters, 22 and 21.
P: And they’re not following mom’s footsteps, trying to be an outstanding woman chess player?
R: They both can play chess. And they’re probably decent because they sometimes can beat my dad who used to be a C player. But they’re not interested in playing tournament chess.
P: How is your son doing so far?
R: He’s disappointed with his result. (National Open) He just got a 1700 rating and he’s improved a lot. He started in class D. He was sort of hoping to win, and win the class prize. (Under 1800 section) But you know you have to go through the school of knocks a little bit before you do that. But it’s good for him to be optimistic at this age.
P: I started out the tournament 0-3 in the same section. It’s been pretty brutal competition. So what have you been doing all this time that you haven’t been playing chess? Obviously raising three kids, but what else?
R: I’ve been working for the majority of the time. I started out as a programmer, and then went into project management. Consultant in the high tech industry in the Silicon Valley. The last 15 years I’ve been in program management for companies like IBM and eBay. A pretty intense and hard working field.
P: When did you decide that you wanted to run for the Executive Board?
R: Shortly after started playing again. In my career in Silicon Valley I met a lot of the movers and shakers type of people, and some of them are very good chess players, or chess enthusiasts. My initial idea was I wanted to volunteer my time and do some fundraising.
I went and talked to a bunch of people I knew from the old days and said “Hey I’d like to help out the USCF and I think I can do some fundraising because I have all these contacts.” Everybody I talked to told me “Don’t do that. The money would be wasted. The USCF is embroiled in lawsuits.”
Then we got talking about what I’ve been doing and catching up. When they saw my resume, and learned what I had been doing, they said, “The thing you should do is run for the executive board.” After about 5 or 6 people told me that I started seriously considering that, and here I am.
P: If you’re elected what do feel that you have to offer the board? What are some of your goals?
R: My initial goal was fundraising, but that will have to wait until some of the legal problems are solved. I do have a management background, and I have great interpersonal skills. I feel I would be a calming and maybe mediating influence on the board.
As a program manager it was always my objective to make things happen and get things done. There are probably a lot of little projects in different areas of the USCF that have been around a long time, and haven’t gotten done. I would really like to help mentor people and get some of these projects done so we can move on to other things. Make sure there are plans and place and help move the organization forward, and that’s how I think I can help.
P: Are there any sort of pet projects that you’re interested in doing in terms of helping the USCF move forward?
R: I was interested in the fund raising as a pet project. I’ve always thought there should be better media coverage and better programs to promote players. I would really like to figure out how that could happen because all the various formats that have been tried over the years don’t really seem to do what they’re intended to do.
(We spent some time talking about how expensive it is to play in the big tournaments and we kicked around a few ideas about that. That I will discuss in another post.)
P: Thanks for your time. I think you have some very good ideas and positive energy.
R: I’m trying to keep it all positive though I know there are a lot negative things going on. I really don’t see the value in name-calling and infighting. So I’ve been trying to keep my campaign totally positive. Hopefully it will be effective.
P: Good luck, and we have just over a month left before the ballots need to be in.
R: I would just like to encourage everyone reading this to read all the candidates’ statements. (The link is the USCF website. You must be logged in to read.) It’s very important to vote this year.
I will echo Ruth's sentiments and encourage everybody to vote. There is a lot of stuff on the internet about the issues and the candidates. Read what you can, and try not to get sucked in by all the hyperbole.
Edit: Chess Tiger asked some good questions in the comments section. Maybe I should have had him do the interview! Ruth took the time to answer them. Feel free to contact her via Facebook or leave more questions here.
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