I was paired against Steve Miller the rock star tonight. Actually, it was Steve Miller from Rockford, not rock star. He's an Expert from that lovely border town and I've actually played him once before about a year ago. In that game I had the white pieces and staged a big assault on his King to no avail, eventually losing after making some hasty decisions in time-trouble. Tonight was a grueling battle that ended in a triumphant Draw! Funny thing about it was that I ended up defending myself all night long after dropping a pawn early on. Defend, defend, defend, we've heard this story before, yes? Be careful what you ask for I suppose. Turns out I can be pretty stubborn over the chessboard (contact my wife to determine if this stubbornness manifests itself in real life!). Early in the game, the bearded and bespectacled Mr. Miller and I were trading "waiting" moves as the position was such that the first side to make an aggressive move would probably be worse off. I finally lost my patience (or ran out of good waiting moves) and made a move in the center that immediately came back to haunt me. I burned up huge amounts of time trying to wriggle my way out, finally deciding on a plan that only lost a pawn. Sometimes we have to choose between several bad choices, much like a presidential election. From then on I was in defensive mode but this phase of the game was actually easier for me to calculate and I saw the draw on the horizon. Still wanting to "Fly Like an Eagle", my opponent pressed on until I proved it to him. He offered the draw on move 66 and I got my kicks, drawing an Expert for only the 2nd time in my career! Yahoo!
I had the unfortunate luck of playing my game in the vicinity of someone working their "chessfunk" pretty strong. This round was brought to you by the letters "P" and "U". To generalize, some in the chess-playing community have a dubious relationship with soap and water. I happened to be seated near someone going through a divorce with their Lever2000.
I remembered to bring my camera and took a few snaps. Here's a pic of the playing hall just before the round started. The hall is not filled with players yet as there are 3 different playing schedules (9-day, 6-day and 5-day) and the 6- and 5-day people haven't started playing yet. I'll revisit this view later in the week when it fills up.
I had the unfortunate luck of playing my game in the vicinity of someone working their "chessfunk" pretty strong. This round was brought to you by the letters "P" and "U". To generalize, some in the chess-playing community have a dubious relationship with soap and water. I happened to be seated near someone going through a divorce with their Lever2000.
I remembered to bring my camera and took a few snaps. Here's a pic of the playing hall just before the round started. The hall is not filled with players yet as there are 3 different playing schedules (9-day, 6-day and 5-day) and the 6- and 5-day people haven't started playing yet. I'll revisit this view later in the week when it fills up. Sightings: After one of my lengthy "thinks" during the game, I got up to stretch and walk around to look at the other games going on. I passed National Master Emory Tate, former U.S. Armed Forces Champion and an old friend, and he extended his fist out with a friendly smile and offered up the now-oh-so-popular knuckle bump as a silent greeting. Could I BE any cooler?
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