A Half Blog Post. But We Both Know You're Still Going to Drop by and Read It. (1.0)

Boo.

I'm scary, right?

No, this has fascinatingly little to do with Halloween. I don't "celebrate" that "holiday" at all, anyway.

Where was I... Oh, yes. Well, I had to have some sort of catchy opening. I mean, this post is (well, I was about to say "literally," but that would be a stretch) just coming off the top of my head, and I'm writing the first chunk of it near midnight. And... I have four games + some commentary to input. Iss gonna take a while. *snores*

[Editor's Note: This post is still under construction. Pardon it if it doesn't compare to my other works. I had to sketch out the post, and I'll need to fill in the meaty details later.]

And now for a little introduction.

A Little Introduction

Until September 1st, 2017, I had never played in a State Championship tournament (the Scholastic Championship of 2016 doesn't, doesn't count, because it was Scholastic, not Open). Why? Simple: the State Champs are annual held on a 3-day schedule: a Friday, a Saturday, and a Sunday. And as a general principle, I don't play in chess tournaments on Sundays. The Denker was a special (and to date, my only) exception.

This year turned out to be no different. 6 rounds, 3 days. Was I willing to spend $50 on a high-class (for Alabama) tournament — only to withdraw after 4 of the 6 rounds?

Yes.

But wait! There is a not-so-small detail. We had a gracious TD! He allowed my brother and I to each take a half-point bye in Round 5, and a zero-point bye in Round 6 — while still remaining eligible for prizes! Thank you, Balagee Govindan.

Oh, and one more thing. There were two sections: Reserve and Premiere. The rating division threshold was 1600. My rating? 16... 06. Awrsome.

Oh, and one more thing. The time control for the tournament was G120/d5. So I had two whole hours to burn (and then some, due to the delay)!

The Part that Comes Right After the Little Introduction

Skipping forward through the crazy details of earlier in the day on that Friday, we come to 6:00 p.m. on Friday night, September 1st. Just after we got there, I took out my iPhone (first tournament with my own phone, it was), and started taking myriad pictures. I may add them here later! I probably will!

The first picture I took. This is of the entrance to the Renaissance Hotel at Ross Bridge. Photo Credit: (do we even need this?)

[Let's skip forward more. It's 11:55 p.m. as I write this. —ed., which, I'll tell no falsehoods, is one and the same with the writer]

Round 1: White, vs. Aaron DeCord

Aaron DeCord, 1883. I had played him 3 times before. And reaped to myself 3 losses for my efforts. What would this time bring? Hmm? Let me input it.

Next morning, I woke at some early hour. Probably 5:30 or something nuts like that. Fasting-forward, we arrive once again at the playing hall. This time, I was paired against the Tim Bond, 1820.

With startlingly little ado,

So to recap that, I'll say that, as happens fairly often, I was given a gift. He was my second-highest scalp ever!

Round 3: Black, vs. Om Badhe

I have an important statement about this game. Are you ready?

I played terribly against Om Badhe, 1856. And I knew it while I was playing. In fact, I remember feeling like resigning and texting my dad to say my play was 'diseased.' That's a hard feeling: the feeling you have when you've made some big mistakes, and you know that no one else is responsible. You, and you alone, are responsible for the mess... the mess you're still in.

Come to think of it... oh, never mind for now.

Yes, the game lasted 50 moves, but that was not indicative of the quality of the game. It was all I could do to not resign it before move 25.

Enjoy. If you're a sadist: