The 1st Year: A Denker Anniversary
Well, here we are. Or rather, here I am. Or, perhaps, here's what's left of me.
In any case, some amount of some person is here. Where is here? Here is one year after that awesome, terrible, thrilling, dreadful thing called the 2016 GM Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions.
It's amazing that it's already been a year. I mean, I can't go so far as to be cliché and say it feels like yesterday, but at the same time, I almost do remember it like yesterday — at least some aspects of the trip.
So, what's the purpose of my article here? Hmm... even I'm not yet exactly sure. I'm not trying to win a Pulitzer with my writing, and I'm not even trying too hard to be super witty and clever. I'm attempting just to write out my thoughts, without too much extra effort. Sometimes, they may seem to ramble, but hopefully they're interesting ramblings! I suppose my main goal is to remember my experience, to look back on it, to see how things have changed, etc.
Also, I will give a commentary on at least my first-round game! Long time coming, I know, IJ, but you know me: some things I never forget.
A lot was going on in my life in early 2016. We really hadn't anticipated for me to win the Alabama State Scholastic Chess Championship, but it was of course a welcome surprise!
So, do I feel any different about my experience now, compared to how I felt in the first few days after it? Quite possibly. I've continued playing some chess since then, as my blogging has revealed, and, after having peaked at my high of 1630, my rating (currently 1606) is actually higher now than it was last July! Imagine that!
But just in the past couple months or so, my chess interest has actually waned a good bit. It's probably just a natural ebb, but it remains to be seen just how long it will last.
The 2017 Alabama Denker Rep is just the kind of person to whom I would want to pass the baton. His name? Vikhram Balagee. The very same Vikhram Balagee that I played and defeated in Round 2 of Alabama's 2016 Scholastic Championship.
But yes, he showed great sportsmanship and support to me in 2016, and I in turn have been a supporter of him this year.
So yesterday, he, in Norfolk, VA, got to participate in the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Denker. And he played his first round game.
And what was I doing one year ago? The same thing.
I remember Mrs. Barber asking if we (the 130-ish participants of the Denker/Barber/NGTOC tourney trio) had seen the "Reserved" seats in the ceremony room. And we all mumbled our assent. "Those seats are reserved for you," she said.
That moment gave me a chill. To think that a seat was reserved for me! I, little Jay-El from a dusty town in Central Alabama; I, a weak 1604 in a room of Experts and Masters; I, someone who had never even left my own state for a tourney, but who had now traveled 500 miles through 3 states; I had a seat reserved for me!
We lined up and prepared to enter the ceremony room, each of us clutching a flag of his/her own state. (I soon determined that Alabama's flag had the simplest design of the 50 states!) We paraded into the room and found our seats. When the time came for the players' names to be called, they did the states in alphabetical order. Can you guess which state is first in alphabetical order? None other than Alabama. And for each state, the Denker got called first, followed by the Barber rep, and then the NGTOC rep. All told, of the 135-ish participants in the Trio, my name was the first called! And you know what? I stood up too early! They said, "We will start with Alabama." [I stand up, and make my way to the front.] Only then did he say, "The Denker representative for Alabama is Jay-El Shepherd." Silly. But memorable! And few people probably cared or noticed that I'd gotten up early. Oh, and by the way, he pronounced my last name, "sheh-PAIRD"! {Another memorable thing.}
I met many people at the Denker. Some meetings were more significant than others, but let's see what a list looks like (in no particular order of current fame):
- Susanna Marks [South Dakota's NGTOC Rep. Susanna was someone I'd known (albeit barely) online before we met in Indy; at the time, we were both in the same Chess.com group, and it was an incredible chance to meet up in person.]
- Micah Marks [Her brother.]
- Just kidding! I'll say more than that about Micah. [He was South Dakota's Denker Rep— a RARe brother and sister state duo, it was! We didn't know each other online yet, but we did soon after, and I'm still in touch with him today.]
- Abhinav Suresh [Nebraska's Denker Rep. We played in round 5. As told elsewhere, he's quite a friendly guy, and our friendship has extended beyond the Denker.]
- Maureen Grimaud's husband [A.k.a., "Mr. LSU." Maureen Grimaud was one of the organizers for the D/B/N Trio. But I didn't know until the last day of the tourney that she was the wife of Mr. LSU. You see, for four of the six Denker rounds, I wore an Alabama Crimson TIde t-shirt. And Mr. LSU kept giving me the eye — in a friendly manner, of course. He also let us take home free pizza, so...]
- GM Timur Gareev [I'm quite happy to say that the first Grandmaster I've ever met is the current Guinness Record Holder for simultaneous blindfold chess! (I may have gotten the category wrong, but y'all get the idea.) I had the opportunity to get a picture with him, too!! Imagine the impossibility of doing that with Magnus...]
- Clare Higgins [West Virginia's NGTOC representative. I met her when she, Susanna, and I sat at the same table at the pizza meet-and-greet. She showed us some great pictures of WV on her phone.]
- Dewain Barber [The founder of the Barber tournament. Fun fact: the medallion that I took home from the Denker was an extra one, worn by him at the ceremony. You see, the one I'd received was all scratched and scuffed, so, after the ceremony, I asked if I could exchange it for one of better quality. He then took off the extra one that he was wearing, checked to see that it was engraved for Indianapolis, and then handed it to me. So who knows? Perhaps I am the only participant whose medallion has been worn by Dewain Barber!]
It was one year ago, to this Sunday night, that I scored my lone win, Game 3. I hold on to that win tightly in my memory. I even got to sac my queen!
But what I was going to do here was do a talk-through analysis of Game 1, specifically for Isaac Geoffrey, and generally for everyone else. Even I'm interested in how I played one year ago to this date. Lez dive into my encounter with Gunnar Andersen, the highest-rated player I've ever played.
Well, there you have it. My Denker wasn't the prettiest thing, but I no doubt will remember it for a long time to come.
It actually has been quite difficult for me in the first year after. I'm still trying to come to grips with my experience. I guess I feel like I was given so much... and yet I did so little with it. It could perhaps be likened to someone offering to take you out to dinner — to any restaurant you choose (money being no object) — and you just pick a fast food place. I know that may be a harsh way of putting it. Maybe it's not that bad. But my feelings and memories about it are so intense.
Well, leave the working it out to me, and I'll leave you with a never-before-released picture of my scoresheet. You saw it here first! To you all, From the Fjords:
Pardon the original's error: the date's wrong on the scoresheet! I should have been 7/30/16. And look: I published this article on 7/30/17. Glad I am.
And hey, despite all my troubles in the Denker, at least I got a picture with Chess.com TV star Maggie Feng! Here's a picture with a number of august personages (including, to my hindsight's surprise, Gunnar Andersen):
(Maggie Feng, top row, second from left; Dewain Barber, top row, far right; Jay-El Shepherd, bottom row, middle; Gunnar Andersen [my unbeknownst-at-the-time Round 1 opponent!], bottom row, far right)
[Photo Credit: Cropped from the homepage picture of www.DenkerChess.com]
As always, comments are half the fun of the fair for me! They thrill me. Leave one even if you don't feel like it. Follow Hannah's advice and DO IT!
