It has been a couple of decades since I played in a tournament with serious prize funds along with a serious entry fee. The Mid America Open, played in St. Louis seemed like a good opportunity to give this form of tournament chess a try. It was only a 5 hour drive from Chicago, the entry fee was a modest $110 and the hotel room worked out to about $89 a night, or at least it was supposed to. I went down with modest expectations and had a great time although I ended up with a lousy score. This was not to be unexpected as at 61, long tournaments with long time limits tend to have something of a fatigue factor and I am in lousy shape. That having been said, I had a great time despite a 1 and 3 record and really enjoyed myself. I made a lot of new friends and I have decided to play in the Chicago Open which has the advantage of being on home turf although the entry fee is higher. I don't recommend playing in these things to win money but to make make friends and to enjoy the experience. For those you coming from out of town, Chicago is a great place to sight see and the room rates for this tournament are extremely reasonable. For more information, check out chesstour.com. Hope to see you there...