Note – As a reminder, we’ll be meeting at Straight to Ale this week around 7PM (10-10-17), since it’s the 3rd Tuesday of the month and the Cafe will not be open.
It was an exciting week for me, as I was able to fulfill a couple of lifelong dreams – to play in Washington Square Park, and to see West Point, NY. I had no idea that the two bucket-list items would collide in my trip to the U.S. Armed Forces Open Championship! I thought I’d share a little bit of that experience in the blog this week.
For those not familiar, Washington Square Park is located in the Center of the NYU campus. Over the decades, the corner of the park has been a legendary place to play chess, with world famous players such as, Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen, stopping by far more frequently than the quiet surroundings would lead one to believe.
As a chess playing kid in the early 90s, I watched the park scenes featured in the movie, “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” and I wished for the opportunity to learn from the park’s strong players.
I had built up this notion in my head that they were unbeatable, chess playing, monsters. This factor coupled with the fact that I didn’t have any idea how the whole chess-gambling thing was supposed to work, made the idea of stepping up for a game a little intimidating. My wife Ashley and I attempted to use the vantage point from the photo above for a bit of “recon” to see if I could observe the first victim of the day and, what must be the only proper way to lose my planned $5 chess wager.
It was still early in the day, so after about 15 minutes of observing, no chess players had stepped up to tangle with the veterans. So, we walked down to the Chess Forum shop (also relatively famous) to check it out.
Inside we were met by a man named Rahim, who I recognized from some Washington Square Park videos on YouTube. He said he had played in the park for 15 years! He was up for a game and told me that if I can handle him, then the park hustlers would be no match for me.
As we sat down, he shook my hand and said, “I hope you lose.” His play was solid and filled with trash talk about how “chess is war” and how he planned to decimate my army. I was prepared for this and it was more humorous, than it was effective. I won the game with back to back Pawn to Queen promotions and a checkmate. As we left the shop, Rahim advised me to make sure I discussed the terms of the park games beforehand or they would surely cheat me out of my money.
Boosted by my victory, we strolled back down to the park and I challenged the first guy who we passed by, Leroy, to a game. I asked him how it worked and he told me it was $5 for 2 games. I thought that, in NYC, $5 was a bargain for the experience. I didn’t really feel like gambling anyway, so I agreed to the terms and paid the man for the games.
Leroy was arguably a much weaker opponent than Rahim, and I was able to win a few quick victories (he challenged me to a 3rd game for “free”). Afterwards, he told me I played very well and asked me my rating. Overall, it was really fun and I’m glad I got to do it.
After bidding my wife farewell for the weekend at the airport the next morning, I made the 2+ hour, 50 mile trek to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The scenery on the way and on the campus contrasted greatly with the hustle and bustle of New York City. I was grateful for the peaceful settings as performing well in this tournament is an important stepping stone towards making the U.S. NATO chess team. I took a first-round, half-point, bye and was a little disappointed by this choice, since I could hear the Tournament Director and USCF President, COL (Ret) Mike Hoffpauir, finishing up his initial tournament announcements as I climbed the stairs to the playing area on the 2nd floor of Cullum Hall.
The playing hall perimeter was stacked with paintings of military legends and plaques outlining their heroic accomplishments in battles spanning hundreds of years. They appeared to be peering down upon the group as we played, in celebration of the good games and with obvious disgust at the bad games.
In between rounds, we were able to relax on the back patio of Cullum Hall with a relaxing view of the Hudson River. The peaceful scene was periodically interrupted by Navy Sailors loudly “cussing like sailors,” but it comes with the territory and only served to enhance the atmosphere of the tournament.
I made it through the rounds relatively unscathed and finished with 3.5 points out of 5 and a net gain of nearly 120 rating points. The only downside of the event was when I felt forced into offering a draw in a complex, but what should have been an easily winning, position. The playing hall got so dark at night that the players joked that we should be issued Night Vision Goggles. Thankfully, I was offered a quick draw by a player 500 points above me during the last round, so I figured it was a wash.
When the dust settled, I was left the top Army participant and won the prize for best checkmate and top Reservist across all branches of service. A friend of mine, Chase Watters, who has graciously provided me with occasional lessons over the past couple of years was named co-champion. It was well-deserved and fun to watch. As the only USCF/FIDE non-Master/Expert in the top 10 finishers of the event, I was extremely pleased with the results and it made the trip home to my family that much sweeter.
View the tournament summary at: