The following is the report from the Barber Tournament in Madison, Wisconsin by Liceu Pereira, the father of our Nevada Champ: Royce Pereira.
From the onset, I would like to apologize for the size of this post. This is the report for our recent trip to Madison, Wisconsin for the 2013 Barber K-8 Tournament of State Champions. In addition to the games Royce played at the tournament, I will also make… some comments about the side trips we made while on our way to and from Madison.
I know I have some chess friends, some non-chess friends, and some non-English speaking friends. Therefore, feel free to read this (if at all) as it applies to your interests.
We left Las Vegas (very) early Friday, July 26, and took a fight to Chicago. When we got there, we headed to the somewhat new consolidated rental car facility. As airports expand, the administrators are combining these facilities to all companies under one roof, stand-alone facilities.
Once we got there, we used the kiosk, and were on our way to a road trip that would take us through four states, and two time zones.
Our first stop was in Gary, Indiana. While Gary has long seen its best days, this is the birthplace, and childhood home of the Jackson family. After a Google search, and the help of a GPS, it was fairly easy to find the place.
As you can imagine, the neighborhood was not the best, but not the worst either. The house is located at the end of the Jackson Street, behind Roosevelt High School that looks abandoned. From what I read, the house looked like any other one on the same street. However, I think that since so many people have started visiting since Michael’s death, the house (and its surroundings) is probably in the best shape it has been. The yard is in immaculate condition, and there are different stones, floorings, paying homage to Michael Jackson. Notwithstanding its condition, it is shocking to see how a family of 11 could fit in a tiny house like that, and become one of the most famous families in the world.
From Gary, we headed to the beach city of New Buffalo, Michigan (and EDT.) New Buffalo is a really nice place. It is very “un-Michigan.” Many nice places, nice houses (even several mansions), and a nice beach. Speaking of mansions, I saw a gigantic house with a purple roof on Google maps, and I saw that it actually is a blue roof!
After New Buffalo, we headed to our final destination of the day: Madison, capital of Wisconsin. On the way, we entered a big storm, and torrential rain. While inconvenient to drive, it was nice to enjoy rain, and temperature in the 60’s after leaving Vegas with over 100 degrees.
On Saturday, we slept in from a long previous day. We had lunch, and headed to the opening ceremony, since we did not stay at the tournament’s hotel.
The opening ceremony was somewhat dull to be honest. It seems that there were a lot more self congratulatory speeches than last years’. I do understand that a lot work goes in putting these events together, but these events are for the players who won their respective state tournaments. A funny note was that the University of Wisconsin-Madison mascot was there, and Royce did not want to take a picture with him. However, as we were waiting for the ceremony to start, the mascot came over to our seats, and sat by Royce to take a picture.
After the opening ceremony, we headed back to the hotel, to wait for the first round. As I suspected, Royce was playing up, and because of his initial rank, he would play up, against a master, and with black (since it was an odd number.)
His first game was against NM Atulya Vaidya, rated 2198, from Texas. Royce played with black. Here is the game:
1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bf4 Bb4 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. e3 Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Bxd2 11. Qxd2 d6 12. Rfd1 Be6 13. Rac1 Nc6 14. Bf3 Rfd8 15. b4 Rab8 16. Qc3 f6 17. Bg3 Ne5 18. Be2 Bf7 19. h3 c6 20. e4 d5 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Qxe5 fxe5 25. Rxd5 Rxd5 26. Bc4 Rd8 27. Rd1 Kf8 28. Rxd5 Rxd5 29. Bxd5 b6 30. Kf1 Ke7 31. Ke2 Kd6 32. Be4 h6 33. Kd3 g5 34. Kc4 a6 35. Bb7 b5 36. Kd3 a5 37. bxa5 Kc5 38. a6 Kb6 1-0
Here, everything was essentially equal until Royce played 22. …Bxd5. Had he taken with the Rd8, the game would have continued equal, and I believe Royce would have been able to draw. The fact that his opponent said he had to spend a little over 5 minutes to remember the Budapest line (but not necessarily how to win) further shows Royce could have picked up a half a point.
On the next day, there would be two rounds. On Round 3, Royce played over 800 points down against the tournament’s youngest competitor, Jacob Nathan, from Idaho. The game itself was uneventful, and Royce was winning with relative ease. Perhaps the uniqueness of this game was the fact that even though the time control was 90 minutes with a 30 second increment, Royce’s opponent actually ran out of time. As Royce pointed to the clock to show he had ran out of time, he instinctively went to hit the clock, even before making his move.
Since his game ended early, we decided to visit downtown Madison, and visit the Capitol. Unfortunately we got there after 4:00p.m. and the building was closed. We ended up returning on Monday, and actually entering the building.
On Round 3, Royce played Justin Lohr from Virginia, rated 2087 with black. In fact, until the last round, Royce played up with black, and down with white.
This game was a heartbreaker. Here it is:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d3 e6 6. Be3 b6 7. g3 Nge7 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 a6 10. Bg2 Bb7 11. O-O Ne5 12. Qe2 Rc8 13. b3 O-O 14. Rac1 N5c6 15. Nxc6 dxc6 16. Rfd1 Qc7 17. c5 b5 18. f4 e5 19. Qc2 Bh6 20. Ne2 Rcd8 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Rd1 Bc8 23. Kf2 exf4 24. Nxf4 Bg4 25. Rd2 Bg7 26. h3 Bc8 27. Qd1 Rxd2 28. Qxd2 Qd7 29. Qd6 h5 30. h4 Kh7 31. Bh3 Qb7 32. Kf3 Ng8 33. Qd8 Bxh3 34. Nxh3 f6 35. Nf4 Qa7 36. Qb6 Qa8 37. Qc7 Qe8 38. Qb7 f5 39. exf5 gxf5 40. Kf2 Nf6 41. Bd4 Qd7 42. Qxd7 Nxd7 43. Ke3 Kh6 44. Bxg7 Kxg7 45. Kd4 Nf6 46. Ke5 Ne4 47. Kxf5 Nxg3 48. Ke5 Kh6 49. Ke6 Ne4 50. Kd7 Nxc5 51. Kxc6 Ne4 52. Kb6 Nc3 53. Kxa6 b4 54. Ka5 Nxa2 55. Kb5 Nc3 56. Kxb4 Ne4 57. Ka5 Ng3 58. b4 Nf5 59. b5 Nxh4 60. b6 Nf5 61. b7 Ne7 62. Kb6 Nf5 63. b8Q Kg5 64. Qe5 h4 65. Nh3 Kg4 66. Qf4 Kxh3 67. Qxf5 Kg3 68. Qf1 Kh2 69. Kc5 h3 70. Kd4 Kg3 71. Qh1 h2 72. Ke3 Kg4 73. Qxh2 Kf5 74. Qh5 Ke6 75. Ke4 Kd6 76. Qd5 Kc7 77. Qe6 Kd8 78. Qf7 Kc8 79. Kd5 Kb8 80. Kc6 1-0
After 35. …Qe7, Royce is in trouble. However, his opponent instead of playing Qe8, he plays Qb6. Now if Royce had played Qd7, he would have had a somewhat clear path to win. Instead, he plays Qa8. While still equal, he goes on to commit some endgame inaccuracies, and looses the game.
On Round 4, Royce played with white against Aidan Fejzulai, from South Carolina. While he was playing down about 500 points down, Aidan had won the biggest upset prize for the first round by defeating the Arizona representative.
Here is the game:
1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e5 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. e3 Nc6 7. d4 exd4 8. exd4 Be6 9. Nge2 Bd6 10. O-O O-O 11. Nf4 Bc7 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. f4 Bb6 14. Ne2 e5 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Kh1 Nc6 17. Be3 Ng4 18. Bg1 Rxf1 19. Qxf1 Qf6 20. Bxd5 Kh8 21. Qf3 Qxf3 22. Bxf3 Nf6 23. Rc1 Re8 24. a3 g5 25. Rc2 Ne4 26. Kg2 Nd6 27. g4 Nb5 28. Rd2 Bc7 29. a4 Nd6 30. d5 Ne5 31. Bd4 Kg8 32. Ng3 Ng6 33. Nh5 Nf4 34. Nxf4 gxf4 35. Re2 Rxe2 36. Bxe2 b6 37. Be5 Kf7 38. Bxf4 a5 39. Bd3 Kg8 40. Kf3 1-0
On Round 5, Royce again played up with black, this time against the Maryland representative, Sahil Sinha. This was perhaps the game he was most upset. After the game, he saw the exact moves for a win, but chose an alternate path and lost. Here is the game:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Ngxe5 6. Nxe5 Nxe5 7. e3 Bb4 8. Qc2 d6 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O a6 11. a3 Bc5 12. b4 Ba7 13. Bb2 Be6 14. Nd5 f6 15. Rfd1 Qd7 16. c5 Qf7 17. f4 Kh8 18. fxe5 Bxd5 19. exf6 gxf6 20. Rf1 Qe6 21. Bd4 dxc5 22. bxc5 Kg8 23. Rf4 Bb3 24. Qc3 f5 25. Raf1 Bd5 26. Bh5 Be4 27. Qe1 Rf7 28. Qg3 Kf8 29. Bxf7 Kxf7 30. Qg7 Ke8 31. Qh8 Kd7 32. Qxa8 Qa2 33. Rxe4 fxe4 34. Qxa7 Qxa3 35. Qxb7 a5 36. Qd5 Ke8 37. Qe6 1-0
In the last round, Royce finally played up with white. This time, he played against Dex Webster from Louisiana. Here is the game:
1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. e3 Be6 7. d4 e4 8. Nge2 Bd6 9. O-O Nc6 10. b3 O-O 11. a3 Nd7 12. b4 f5 13. Nf4 Bxf4 14. exf4 Rc8 15. Qb3 Nxd4 16. Qd1 Nf3 17. Bxf3 Rxc3 18. Be2 Qc7 19. Be3 Rc8 20. Re1 Nb6 21. Bd4 Rc6 22. Bb5 Rc2 23. Bc5 Rxc5 24. bxc5 Qxc5 25. Bf1 d4 26. Qc1 Qd6 27. Qb2 d3 28. Qb4 Qxb4 29. axb4 Bb3 30. Reb1 Bc2 31. Rb2 Na4 32. Rba2 d2 33. Bb5 Nc3 34. Rxc2 Ne2 35. Bxe2 Rxc2 36. Rd1 1/2-1/2
At the end, his results were less than expected, but unlike last year, he had legitimate chances of winning more games, against tougher opponents, and most important his attitude when playing up has changed. He is far more confident, and is playing much better.
After the tournament, we headed to Chicago. As it is in most of our “chess trips,” we try to include side trips just for fun.
This time we spent a day in Chicago. After waking up, we headed downtown. We went to the (former) Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, and Chicago’s stadia. We also, stopped by the Richard Daly Center (think of The Blues Brothers movie).
Overall, this was a really fun trip. I am looking forward for next year’s tournament in the newly crowned “National Chess Capital” of Saint Louis.
However, before we make any plans, Royce will have to face some really tough competition in the state championship. Royce has won three straight state championships, and there will be at least two players who will try to break his streak.
Lastly, most of the places I mentioned in this report, you should be able to see pictures in the “2013 summer trip” album.
