Michael Abron's quest to play rated chess in all 50 states

I met Michael Abron from the east coast in Sussex, Wisconsin. He plans to play rated tournaments in all 50 states. He has 20 to go.

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*2/19/2018 Update from Michael
I am completing my quest to play in all 50 States by beginning to play in the 20 States that needed to complete the task. 

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*7/26/2018 Update
45 States completed; only 5 left:

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*3/07/2019 Update : Only Alaska to go!

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*10/12/2019 Alaska done!!

Michael  in action (2006 Sussex, Wisconsin.)

1. 2019-10-12 Alaska NATIONAL CHESS DAY 1 (AK)
2. 2019-03-17 South Dakota 2019 JACKRABBIT OPEN AND RESER (SD)
3. 2018-11-10 Wyoming 2018 NEW WYOMING OPEN (WY)
4. 2018-09-16 Montana 2018 BIG SKY COUNTRY (MT)
5. 2018-09-03 Hawaii 2018 HAWAII STATE OPEN (HI)
6. 2018-07-22 Nebraska 2018 CORNHUSKER (NE)
7. 2018-07-14 North Dakota MIKE ABRON INVITATIONAL (ND)
8. 2018-07-07 Arkansas SEVEN MORE STATES (AR)
9. 2018-06-25 Mississippi MICHAEL'S TOUR (MS)
10. 2018-06-24 Louisiana 2018 US SENIOR OPEN (LA)
11. 2018-05-20 New Mexico MINI SENIOR (NM)
12. 2018-05-20 Arizona UNITY WEEKLY MAY 20TH, 2018 (AZ)
13. 2018-05-12 Utah GAME-IN-SIXTY CHAMPIONSHIP (UT)
14. 2018-05-05 California 18TH CHARLES POWELL MEMORIAL (CA)
15. 2018-04-29 Washington CLARK HARMON MEMORIAL (WA)
16. 2018-04-22 Oregon APRIL 2018 PCC SUNDAY QUADS (OR)
17. 2018-04-15 Idaho  2018 IDAHO OPEN (ID)
18. 2018-03-04 Colorado 2018 COLORADO SPRINGS OPEN (CO)
19. 2018-02-24 New Hampshire 5TH QUEEN CITY TORNADO (NH)
20. 2018-02-20 Maine SACOVALLEY QUASI QUICK QUADS (ME)
21. 2006-07-29 Wisconsin  SCORCHING 15 (WI)
22. 2006-07-23 Kansas KANSAS OPEN (KS) 
23. 2006-07-16 Oklahoma OKLA OPEN 2006 JERRY SPANN MEM (OK)
24. 2006-06-27 Rhode Island CRANSTON-WARWICK JUNE MONTHLY (RI)
25. 2006-06-25 Michigan 2006 MICH BOTTOM-HALF CHAMPION (MI)   
26. 2006-06-10 Indiana JUNE OPEN (IN)
27. 2006-05-28 West Virginia UNITED STATES AMATEUR SOUTH (WV)
28. 2006-04-23 Kentucky 2ND LOUISVILLE OPEN!? (KY)
29. 2006-02-19 Iowa HAWKEYE MIND CHALLENGE XIII (IA)
30. 2005-06-12 Nevada 2005 NATIONAL OPEN (NV)
31. 2004-02-22 Texas SOUTHEAST AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP (TX)
32. 2003-08-10 Vermont 13TH VERMONT RESORT OPEN! (VT)
33. 2003-06-15 New Jersey 2003 SOUTH JERSEY OPEN (NJ)
34. 2002-11-29 Massachusetts 2002 NORTHEAST CHESS FALL GETA (MA)
35. 2002-11-29 Delaware DELAWARE STATE QUICK CHAMP (DE)
36. 2000-09-04 New York 122ND NYS CHAMPIONSHIP! (NY)
37. 2000-08-13 Minnesota 101ST ANNUAL US OPEN - 2000 (MN)
38. 2000-06-16 Virginia BOOZ ALLEN 2ND CLUB CHAMPIONSH (VA)
39. 2000-06-09 Maryland FMCA EVERY FRI KNIGHT QUICK (MD)
40. 2000-04-23 Connecticut 2ND ANNUAL FOXWOODS OPEN (CT)
41. 1999-06-20 Ohio 1999 COLUMBUS OPEN (OH)
42. 1999-06-13 South Carolina SOUTH CAROLINA OPEN (SC)
43. 1999-05-31 Illinois 8TH ANNUAL CHICAGO OPEN (IL) 
44. 1999-03-28 Florida 7TH ORLANDO OPEN! (FL)
45. 1998-12-29 District of Columbia 25TH EASTERN OPEN (DC) 
46. 1998-10-25 North Carolina NC OPEN (NC)
47. 1998-11-29 Missouri US CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS (MO)
48. 1996-03-17 Alabama 1996 SPACE CITY OPEN (AL) 
49. 1994-07-04 Pennsylvania 22ND ANNUAL WORLD OPEN (PA)
50. 1991-12-08 Georgia 21ST ANNUAL ATLANTA OPEN (GA)
51. 1991-12-08 Tennessee SOUTHEASTERN AMATEUR TEAM CHAM (TN)

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1. Alabama United States Amateur South 19 (AL)
2. Alaska
3. Arizona UNITY WEEKLY MAY 20TH, 2018 (AZ)
4. Arkansas SEVEN MORE STATES (AR)
5. California 18TH CHARLES POWELL MEMORIAL (CA)
6. Colorado 2018 COLORADO SPRINGS OPEN
7. Connecticut FOXWOODS OPEN (CT)
8. Delaware 4TH SATURDAY QUAD # 31 (DE)
9. Florida 8TH SOUTHERN OPEN (FL)
10. Georgia 2006 EMORY GRAND PRIX (GA)
11. Hawaii 2018 HAWAII STATE OPEN (HI)
12. Idaho 2018 IDAHO OPEN (ID)
13. Illinois CHICAGO OPEN (IL)
14. Indiana JUNE OPEN (IN)
15. Iowa HAWKEYE MIND CHALLENGE XIII (IA)
16. Kansas KANSAS OPEN (KS)
17. Kentucky 2ND LOUISVILLE OPEN!? (KY)
18. Louisiana 2018 US SENIOR OPEN (LA)
19. Maine SACOVALLEY QUASI QUICK QUADS (ME)
20. Maryland MAYWEEKEND2006 (MD)
21. Massachusetts 2002 NORTHEAST CHESS FALL GETA (MA)
22. Michigan 2006 MICH BOTTOM-HALF CHAMPION (MI)
23. Minnesota FIRST ANNUAL HB GLOBAL CHESS C (MN)
24. Mississippi MICHAEL'S TOUR (MS)
25. Missouri US CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS (MO)
26. Montana 2018 BIG SKY COUNTRY (MT)
27. Nebraska 2018 CORNHUSKER (NE)
28. Nevada 2005 NATIONAL OPEN (NV)
29. New Hampshire 5TH QUEEN CITY TORNADO (NH)
30. New Jersey 2003 SOUTH JERSEY OPEN (NJ)
31. New Mexico MINI SENIOR (NM)
32. New York NY AUGUST UNDER 1800! (NY)
33. North Carolina LAND OF THE SKY XVII (NC)
34. North Dakota MIKE ABRON INVITATIONAL (ND)
35. Ohio 61ST OHIO CHESS CONGRESS (OH)
36. Oklahoma OKLA OPEN 2006 JERRY SPANN MEM (OK)
37. Oregon APRIL 2018 PCC SUNDAY QUADS (OR)
38. Pennsylvania 2006 GREATER PHILADELPHIA OPEN (PA)
39. Rhode Island CRANSTON-WARWICK JUNE MONTHLY (RI)
40. South Carolina GRU-BELL OCTOBER 2000 (SC)
41. South Dakota 2019 JACKRABBIT OPEN AND RESER (SD)
42. Tennessee 10TH VULCAN MATERIALS FUN-FEST (TN)
43. Texas DCC WED 7.19.06 (TX)
44. Utah GAME-IN-SIXTY CHAMPIONSHIP (UT)
45. Vermont 13TH VERMONT RESORT OPEN! (VT)
46. Virginia BOOZ ALLEN 2ND CLUB CHAMPIONSH (VA)
47. Washington CLARK HARMON MEMORIAL (WA)
48. West Virginia UNITED STATES AMATEUR SOUTH (WV)
49. Wisconsin SCORCHING 15 (WI)
50. Wyoming 2018 NEW WYOMING OPEN (WY)
51. District of Columbia DC)US CHESS CENTER LADDER (DC)

1. 
   

Green Bay Open July 22-23

Results

There were 79 entries. The top seeds were:

1) 2302 BETANELI, ALEXANDER
2) 2121 SANTARIUS, ERIK F
3) 2113 VAJA, ASHISH

The winner was SANTARIUS, ERIK F who beat BETANELI, ALEXANDER in the last round to finish with a perfect score.

Another great performance by 9 year old LUO, BRIAN J who finished clear second with 4.5 points. He is now rated 2025.

My Results
1) Draw Me vs FEDUNOV, DANIL (1728)
2) Win MC CLANAHAN, BRYCE (1233) vs Me
3) Win Me vs BORMAN, KELLY L (2003)
4) Draw ELGER, WILLIAM A (1964) vs Me
5) Loss HOFFMAN, GUY G (1922) vs Me
In this game I was offered a draw in a clearly equal position, but since 3.5 points was not enough for any prize money, I decided to play on and ended up getting a knight trapped!

Score: 2-1=2
Rating: 1800-1813

July 15-16 Minneapolis Chess Castle

This is a seven round G/60 with 15 sec. delay
Results

1) Loss to a 2118
2) Win against a 1250
3) Win against 850
4) Loss to a 2102
5) Loss to a 1996
6) Win 1822
7) Draw 1640

Score : 3-3=1
Rating : 1801-1800

Some pictures taken at the Chess Castle

Hales Corners SWCC Club Championship

This is a 6 round Swiss with 1 game a week G/100

The top seeds are:
1) Jon Breider 2144
2) Raymond Hayes 2100
3) Allen Becker 2039

My Results

1. Win Me vs SCHULTZ, MARVIN A (1500) - July 13th
2. Loss ROYCHOUDHURY, SOUVIK (1969) vs Me - July 24th
3. Win vs DEMLER, JOHN A (1466) - July 27th
4. Loss CARDENAS, DAVID R (1905) - Aug 15 - 2006
5. Win vs FIXEL, MICHAEL R (1642)
6. Loss Me vs IRELAND, JOHNATHAN (1786)

Waukesha CC Team Championship (Jul 5 - Sep 20)

This is a 6 person double round robin(10 games) with one game a week tournament, time control G/90.

I did not get off to a good start. Lost the first game to a 1707. There are 9 more games to go so I have planty of chances to come back. I need to score 6/10, (make that 6/9) in order not to lose rating points.

Round 2 ( I need to make-up Round 1)

[Event "Waukesha CC G/90"]
[Site "Waukesh CC"]
[Date "2006.07.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Me"]
[Black "Hetzel, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "1707"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2006.06.11"]
1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bh4 Nd7 4. e3 Ngf6 5. Nd2 e5 6. Ngf3 (6. dxe5 Nxe5 7.
Ngf3 Ng6 8. Bg3) 6... exd4 7. exd4 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 Nf8 11.
Ne5 Ne6 12. c3 c5 13. Bxf6 (13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Bb5 Bd7 (14... Ncd7) (14... Nfd7
15. Bxe7 Rxe7 16. Bxd7 Nxd7 17. Ndf3 Nxe5 18. Rxe5 Bg4 19. Rxe7 Qxe7 20. h3
Bxf3 21. Qxf3) 15. Nxd7 Nfxd7 16. Bg3 (16. Rxe7 Rxe7 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Nf3 Nf6
19. Qd4 Ne6 20. Qd2 Rd8 21. Rd1 Ne4 22. Qc2) 16... a6 17. Bf1) 13... Bxf6 14.
Qh5 (14. Bb5 Re7) 14... Bxe5 15. dxe5 (15. Qxe5 cxd4 16. cxd4 Bd7) 15... Nf4
16. Qf3 Qg5 17. g3 Nh3+ 18. Kg2 Qxd2 19. Re2 Qg5 20. Kh1 Bg4 21. Qg2 Bxe2 22.
Bxe2 Qd2 23. f4 Qe3 24. Rf1 d4 25. Bb5 Red8 26. Qxh3 dxc3 27. bxc3 Rd2 28. Bd7
Qe4+ 29. Kg1 Rd8 30. e6 fxe6 31. Bxe6+ Kf8 32. c4 Rxa2 33. Bd5 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 b6
35. Qf5+ Qf6 36. Qh7 Re2 37. Qd3 Rde8 38. Qh7 R8e3 39. Qg8+ Ke7 40. Qa8 a5 41.
Qb7+ Kf8 42. Qc8+ Re8 43. Qd7 Re1 44. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 45. Kg2 g5 0-1

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Mistake 1
In a d4 opening if Black can play e5 comfortably, or play d5 in a e4 game, he has equalized. I forgot this in this game. I should have played Ngf3 instead of Nd2. Black did not take full advantage of this.

This is the critical moment of the game. This move determined the future of the game.

Candidate moves

dc This is the move I wanted to play and analyzed dc, Nc5, Bb5 when I may win the two Bishops and saddle Black with an isolated pawn.

I also looked at 13. Bxf6 first, then playing dxc and B b5.

I chose the above two moves as candidates and tried to see who the resulting position might favor. I thought that the first option was the best.

Mistake 2
But then I did some thing that I knew I shouldn't do. I looked at a few candidate moves, analyzed them, and then suddenly saw something else which looks good, and played it without much analysis.

13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Qh5 Bxe5 15. dxe5 Nf4

I didn't see the Nf4 move (I am worse now). After this second mistake, I was disappointed in myself and could not concentrate. I then proceeded to drop a piece. My focus level during the game was not good. Sometimes I feel completely focused and have a sense of being one with the game. Reminds me of what a 2200 hundred player was telling me about a recent game he had won. He said his opponent was playing well, but suddenlystarted playing as though he was a random move generator. I felt I was doing this in this game at various times.

Results - This tournament is turning out very badly for me. When it is rated in late September I will lose any gains I may have made. I have to win 5/6 in order not to lose any rating points!

1. To be played ALKER, ARLEN P (1820) vs Me
2. Loss Me vs HETZEL, JOSEPH H (1707) - July 13th
3. Loss Me vs VELIKANOV, ALEXANDER (1781) - July 20th
4. Win FIXEL, MICHAEL R (1642) vs Me - July 26th
5. Loss Me vs PUCHNER, JOHN (1733)
6. To be played Me vs ALKER, ARLEN P
7. Win HETZEL, JOSEPH H vs Me - Aug 16
8. To be played - VELIKANOV, ALEXANDER vs Me
9. Aug 30 - Me vs FIXEL, MICHAEL R
10. Sep - 6 PUCHNER, JOHN D vs Me

Round 1 make up Sep - 13 WALKER, ARLEN P (1820) vs Me

Round 6 make up Sep - 20 Me vs WALKER, ARLEN P

July 9, 3rd Coast Challenge

A very strong field showed up.
Results


(1) AngeloYoung 2460 (R) (2) Mehmed Pasalic 2408 (L)

(3) Anthony Cozzie 2399 (L) (4) Alexander Betaneli 2302 (R)

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Story of the tournament

9 year old Brian Luo has performance rating of 2430! He finished with 3-1 which included wins over Jon Burgess 2233 and Steven Szpisjak 2200. He now has a rating of 2011, which makes him the top rated 9 year old in the nation.

Brian Luo in action in the last round against Mehmed Pasalic

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My Results

Round 1: Loss to Steven Tennant 2209, Round 2: Win against a 1274, Round 3 loss to a 1965, Round 4 win against a 1684. I gained 1 rating point!

Allen Becker and Tom Fogec, fellow Southwest Chess Club members.

Result: 2-2=0
Rating: 1800-1801

July 1-2, Western Open

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The turn out was small, 26 in the open section and 21 in the reserve.
Results

Open Section
The top 3 seeds are:
Stanilislav Smetankin(right) 2490
Angelo Young 2460

And new comer to the Milwaukee area Ruslan Ahundov(right) 2431

Open Section was a four way tie between Stanislav Smetankin, Angelo Young, Ruslan Ahundor and expert Glen Rene Ancheta. (below)

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Reserve Section
Favorite to win the reserve section Alexander Velokanov (2-0) so far. He is #3 in the nation among 8 year olds. He could not prevail in round 3. He lost to the top seed Thomas Edelen (1778)

David Segunski(Right) wins the Reserve Section with 4.5/5

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Round 1
I lost to Joseph Richrds (2029).

I had White in the following position, but did not find the Queen trap. All I had to do was play 19. Rfb1 and the black Queen is trapped after Qxc3, Ra3.

(14)Me (1800) - Richards,J (2029) [D03]Western Open (1), 01.07.2006
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6 3.Nd2 g6 4.e3 Bg7 5.Ngf3 0-0 6.Bd3 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.0-0 Qb6 9.Rb1 e5 10.dxc5 Qxc5 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Be6 14.Ra1 f5 15.Be3 Qb5 16.Bd3 Qxb2 17.Ng5 Bxa2 18.Qa4 Bd5 19.Bc4 [ 19.Rfb1 b5 20.Bxb5 Qxc3 21.Rc1] 19...Rfd8 20.Bxd5+ Rxd5 21.Qc4 Qb5 22.Qa2 Na5 23.Rab1 Qc6 24.Rfd1 Rad8 25.Rxd5 Qxd5 26.Qxd5+ Rxd5 27.Bxa7 e4 28.f3 exf3 29.Nxf3 Bxc3 30.Bb6 Nc4 31.Bf2 b5 32.g3 b4 33.Rc1 Nd2 34.Nxd2 Rxd2 35.Kf1 Kf7 36.Kg1 0-1

Round 2

I lost the 2nd round to Anthony Parker (1934) Couldn't put game 1 out of my mind. It was a Qd6 Scandinavian.

(15) Parker,A (1934) - Me (1800) [B01]Western Open (2),
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Bd3 b5 7.Ne2 Bb7 8.Ng3 e6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.c3 Nbd7 12.Ne5 Rad8 13.a4 Qb6 [ 13...Nxe5 14.Rxe5 b4; 13...c5 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.axb5 axb5 16.Ra5 cxd4 17.Bxb5 Qc7 18.Ra7 Qb6 19.Qa4 Bc5 20.Ra5 dxc3] 14.a5 Qa7 15.Bg5 c5 16.Nh5 Nxe5 17.Rxe5 Nd5 18.Qg4 [ 18.Bxe7 Nxe7 19.Qg4] 18...f5 19.Qg3 Bxg5 20.Qxg5 Bc8 21.dxc5 Qc7 22.Rae1 1-0

Round 3

I managed a draw against Richard Wagner (1900) after being lost most of the game. This is the final position. I could not find anything other than the knight checks.

Round 4

Finally a win against Virgilio Forro (1723)

Round 5

Lost to Patrick McElwee (1982)

Here is some information that may help you. In this game we were both in time trouble with about 20 moves to make in 2 minutes. At this stage I was up a knight. I was trying to flag him. What I should have done is let the time run out since my opponent was not keeping score. He could not claim a win on time. Instead I tried to blitz and ended up in a lost position. At this point both clocks were down, so I claimend a draw, but it was disallowed since I did not have a way of proving it. (we were still in the firts time contol)

The reason I don't feel too bad about the incident was the fact that I was lost most of the game. I would have felt much worse if I was not.

That loss cost me money and rating points, bummer.

Score: 1-3=1

Rating: 1800-1800