My Big Fat American Open

Well, I'd finally managed to get enough money saved up from my latest job to attend another tournament. Unfortunately I was still a teenager back then, so that took a while. My job at the time was selling magazines door to door (not a lot of employee opportunities when you're still a minor). On the plus side though, I did almost win that trip to Hawaii! :D

We--Scott, Eric and I--were headed down to the L A Hilton for the (13th annual) American Open. I had decided to play in the premier group (even though with my 1780 rating I could've qualified for the reserves). But all my friends who "played up" (as we said) seemed to be doing pretty well...so I figured it was time for me to try that out.

Unfortunately, the way things started out for me, I might as well have been playing in the reserves. Something strange had happened with my entry--they hadn't received my check or something like that--and so I got a one-point bye for the first round.

Then a couple of goofy low-rated pairings for rounds 2 and 3. When I won those games--and thus sported a zesty 3-0 right out of the gate!--Ben Nethercot, who was the TD (that's Tournament Director), finally had to relent and pair me up (despite his oft-stated concern about not wanting to give some master too easy of a dish).

What I mainly remember though about that tournament was all the peripherals. Like where we stayed those three nights.

The first two we drove and drove and drove until we finally encountered a rest stop. And somehow all managed to sleep well enough in that one car.

Or we did that first night anyway. The second night we found none of us could sleep and so (at around 5 in the morning) we were out there throwing a football around. How our temporary neighbors must've cherished us!

Saturday night we spent in some motel room somewhere. There had to be around a dozen of us crammed with sleeping bags into that place. Still, at least nobody was playing football!

That day I'd started out by playing another A player (only this time I managed to draw). Then for the evening round I found myself going up against Eric.

Yep, we'd just traveled 400 miles to play each other. :) And we were just getting settled into the round (and the game) when the Big Rumble began.

It took place a few boards down from where Eric and I were sitting. Some latecomer--it was my fourth-round opponent, in fact!--got into an altercation with another guy over something. Words were exchanged--then fists.

Well, mainly one fist. As my erstwhile opponent felled this latest OTB challenge with one punch (by that point I was starting to feel relieved that I'd lost to the guy!). And the victim of the KO fell with a huge WHOMP to the ground.

(Incidentally, that victim was Jerry Hanken--longtime reporter for Chess Life.) :)

As soon as the fracas erupted, most everyone in that corner of the room bolted. Except for me. Eric (looking on now from a safe distance) said I looked just like that guy in all those Colt 45 commercials...unfazed amongst the ruins!

Perhaps it was the weirdness of that whole experience...or the fact that we'd only managed to get a couple hours sleep the night before (while we reenacted the Superbowl)...but Eric overlooked a pawn win early on and I managed to obtain the better ending (and even to win it!).

So that was something you don't get a chance to do very often: beating the highest-rated player you'd ever played. :)

On Sunday I got to play my first master (though not actually my first rated master).

A guy named Carl Pilnick, who--though his rating was "only" listed as 2160--was in fact a Life Master (which required that you play 300+ rated games while maintaining a 2200+ rating...back in the days before they decided to make all who gained the title masters for life).

Anyway, I've always remembered this game as one of my more exciting ones. It was a 1780 doing his best against somebody far above him. :)

Incidentally, Jack Peters (2447) won the whole schmear (ie, the Championship section) with a score of 7.5 out of 8. JP was one of those guys I was always surprised never quite made it to GM; his games were certainly impressive enough.

And I actually did manage to win money myself ($87.50!)--not to mention passing the 1800 barrier for keeps and thus becoming an A player. :)

Then came the long, uneventful ride home up Interstate 5. Right? Well, not exactly.

For somewhere in the midst of that vast agricultural wasteland we suddenly found ourselves swathed in fog. Tule fog. So thick at times that you couldn't even see the next highway marker.

It soon passed from being funny and quirky to unsettling (and vaguely life-threatening). Fortunately things were pretty much deserted around 3 AM and Scott had preternaturally keen eyesight to guide us. And it didn't last for too long...though it certainly was a weird enough experience while it lasted.

That was after all one of the unexpected side effects of the game. There could hardly be a more sedentary activity (or lack thereof); but it got your young self out On The Road adventuring for days at a time! :)