Rounds 4 & 5 US Class Championship (Unrated Section)

The 4th and 5th rounds were much better than the 2nd and 3rd.  After doing some calculating, I figured if I won both games and the gentleman who I drew with either loses or draws a game, then I'd earn 2nd place and $100.

The 9:30am game began.  Us unrated folk are sitting in the back of the hall - having to endure people constantly walking in and out of the hall (we were right by the doors).  We also had to deal with all the traffic that was getting water (we were right by the cups and water).  About 2 or 3 times during the game, the waiter would push his cart full of water into the hall and then dump all the ice water into the water dispensers - it was very loud.

So about 15 or 20 minutes into the game, I notice the kid next to me jumping up and down, moving around a lot, going back and forth between his board and his dad who was sitting in the back of the hall with his laptop - you know where this is going.  I kept an eye on the dad.  I couldn't see what was on his screen, but I am curious because the kid is constantly going back and forth.  A few more minutes pass and I notice the dad has now turned sideways - and plain as the noon day sun, I saw a computer board on the laptop screen!  I immediately went to the director and told her what I saw.  She promptly came over, made the dad shut the computer down.  Right when the dad was closing the lid on the laptop, the kid walks over and with a shocked look on his face, raised his hands as if to say "what?"  The director then told the kid that outside help was not allowed.

Now up to this point, the kid and the gentleman who he was playing were even.  After the computer was shut down, the gentleman won easily and quickly.

After the round, I told my fellow unrated players what happened and we were all angry to put it mildly.  We just couldn't believe in the unrated sections of all sections that cheating was going on.

I won my round 4 game and then had all morning and afternoon to think about round 5 and my next opponent who I had just caught cheating.  That's right - I was playing the kid next.  Two of the other unrated players and I discussed the next round quite a bit - especially what I would do if this kid was bouncing up and down during the match.

The time came for round 5 and the kid and the dad were all ready to go.  I sat down, looked behind me and noticed the dad was also taking notation of the game - great!  So the rest of us kept a sharp eye on the kid to see what he would do.  The first time he got up to walk over to his dad, I stopped looking at the board and deliberately followed him with my eyes.  Sure enough, he was going to his dad.  I decided that if he did that again, I'd stand up and actually follow the kid.  But he actually stayed put the rest of the game.  He made his moves in under a minute every time.  I took my time and made sure not to blunder.  Twenty-six moves later, I had him check-mated.  Again, I was the last one to finish my game - the other two games had ended quickly. A few minutes later, I mated the kid - all the unrated section was done in a matter of 20 minutes.

The cherry on the top ... the gentleman I was tied with lost his final game, which gave me sole possession of 2nd place and a hundred bucks!

I hung out in the hall observing other games for the next 90 minutes.  Then when I had had enough, I packed up and went home.  Then that same night, I played my first game of the new season in the team league and I won that game as well (click here and here for the game - there was a disconnect during the game, therefore there are two parts to the game).  3-0 in one day and a hundred bucks - not a bad day at chess at all.

I'll post some additional thoughts and comments on the tournament tomorrow.