King's Island Open (part 3)

After game 2 I was officially tired. And hungry. Very hungry. And then I got a call from Kevin's father - we were going to Wendy's. So I grabbed Federico and ran out front to catch my ride to eat. The most amazing thing is that, even with all the chess being played during the tournament, there were always people playing chess in the lobby, in the skittles room, and in Coaster's. I passed them all on the way to my lunch.

There was no tax on fast food (but apparently they told me there was a tax on drinks)! I could not believe it. I have never paid less than a dollar for anything on the 99 cent value menu. And now I was. I took it as a good sign. When we got back to the resort, we found out that Kevin lost his second game, in a position that he should have won. And David had gone 1-1 for his two 75 minute games. Many of us had achieved 1 point after two rounds. I thought this would go another way when I set out on this adventure, but now it looked like Pittsburgh wasn't going to win much at all.

Of course, I am not telling you about GM Alexander Shabolov in all of this. He has two points after round two and he is from Pittsburgh. The truth is, I don't really know him. I know of him, and I have seen him before, but I have never spoken with him. He runs in another circle. Or at least that is what I tell myself. Anyway, he is a top player, and I am pulling for him, but I am not going to say much about him.

Game three is fast approaching and I need to center myself. I play some pinball - and replace some of my high scores with new high scores. (The tilt mechanism is turned off, so I can slide the machine all over the floor without tilting it. Too easy.) Now its time to play chess.

I find my pairing and find my seat. I am glad I am sitting across from an adult. His name is Michael. He has three kids. David is playing Michael's son. I have the white pieces and I open with the KIA. I know it is not the strongest opening, but I have my reasons for playing it. I get a little lost in the opening, and I drop a pawn, but I have plenty of compensation. Early in the middle game, Michael misses a tactic and I get my pawn back. He is very cramped, and my goal becomes maintaining that cramp. I go astray when I see a way to win a pawn, and as soon as I win it, I have a lost game. But, he looks very strained. His son and his two daughters have come over to our game. They are watching, and I try to be nice to them so they will enjoy the game. I offer him a draw (when I am pretty much dead) and he declines. Ten moves later I have turned the tables, and I win. It was a pretty finish. We both made our share of mistakes, but neither one of us "blundered." Chess is like baseball, and I won in extra innings on a lucky bounce. I can deal with it though. Michael is very kind. He knows he had a win, and something went wrong. But we don't go over our game. It's time for a Miller Lite and then I am off to bed.