Sunday, February 15, 2009

USATE - Rd. 3 Valentine's Day Massacre Deferred

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, but the massacre came today. Another one of Steve Doyle's special things for the tournament were custom M&Ms in Valentine colors that said "I love the team" and "Rooking Good". I ate way too many of them!

The pairings are back to normal now with everyone playing opponents in their own score group. Our average rating has put us in a bad spot this round. We got paired up against the #20 team with an average rating of 2180! Geez, what's a team like that doing with only one point? Upset city on the first day. In fact Alex Lenderman's team with its 2199 average go knocked off, so as their 3rd board said, "We're playing with the peasants now." The top 10 boards get to play in a roped off area away from the crowds. It's very nice playing back there. Four years ago I played 4th board on a high rated team. We were behind the ropes 5 out 6 rounds. Nice spot if you can get it.

The safety zone behind the ropes.

Life on Board 35, by the doors.

We were paired against a team of college aged kids. They looked as though they had a lot of fun last night. This morning they looked like they were paying for it. Their first and second boards arrived about 10 minutes late. Even hungover they put us out of our misery pretty quickly. The round started around 11:00 am, I think our final player hung in until 1:00 pm. OUCH!

My game was interesting. The opening was kind of crazy. Here's the game.

polly-alexanderb021509.pgn



Dr. Frank Brady, Marshall CC President & GM Arthur Bisguier,


I suspect we'll get paired down next round. Hopefully we'll stay in the ballroom because it's before the fourth round when they do the team name and chess gimmick contests. It's always fun seeing what people come up with. Pictures to follow.

3 comments:

chessx said...

Tough game but you were giving away 500 points.

I to am a runner but an injured runner at the moment.
I have run 10 half marathons 26 10Km 8 10milers 4 5milers and 1
5km.

I had a place in this years london marathon for the first time in 5 years of applying.
But due to a fall from a ladder i am waiting for an operation on my left ancle.
So i have had to defer my place to next year.

I also run a Primary School chess club in Essex/east london.
Where do you teach chess?

Polly said...

Chessx: I teach in various schools around Westchester County which is suburb of NYC.

From the patzer said...

Always though to play against a player rated 500 points more but then again the presure is on the higher player so i always play more relaxed against those guys then against lower rated players. So sometimes a surprise falls like an apple from a tree, like my win many years ago against a 2300+ player.