2014 US Open Game 4

After three rounds I have 1.5 points and a performace rating of about 1700! This puts me in company with many 1800-2000 players. This also means I am getting paired up with those higher rated players because of the swiss system, which is why I am at the U.S. Open.

In the previous round, there was a young boy that was getting beaten by a very low rated adult and he sobbed at the chessboard for a half hour before finally being checkmated. I felt for both the kid and his adult opponent. All of us have been on the receiving end of little kids crying at the chessboard and it is not pleasant.

But, I came equipped to deal with the nose this time! In this game I tried using disposable earplugs, like the ones that are used on an airplane or for mowing the lawn. They worked out surprisingly well and after a while I forgot I had them in.