[PHOTOS / Recap] Chess-in-the-Park Rapid Open 2025
Third Time's the Charm
This past weekend, I played in the Chess-in-the-Schools Chess-in-the-Park Rapid Open, competing in the U1300 section. I finished 5th with a 5.0/6 score (5 wins, 1 loss).
Chess-in-the-Park 2025 results and cross-tables
Because we don't take notation in 10+0 rapid games, I don't have coherent enough memory of the openings to do a full recap with a study, but here's the short versions:
Round 1
Had the Italian Two Knights as Black. My opponent played slow (4. d3 ...) but hung a full rook early in the opening (Rh5?? Qxh5), but did not resign. I had to grind out a checkmate after fending off some counter-play.
Round 2
I had white and played the Spanish. My opponent played the Classical variation (3. ... Bc5) but delayed castling too long and lost a full rook on a tactic (Qc6+! King moves and Qxa8). I didn't achieve checkmate and won when their flag dropped.
Round 3
Again I played the Two Knights Defense against the Italian. This time, my opponent played slowly, d3 followed by c3 - nobody wants to play the Scotch Gambit? Fortunately, this slow line can be met by 5. ... d5! Which gets black a comfortable game after 6. exd5 Nxd5 (Engine: 0.0). Unfortunately, I messed up in the middlegame and ended up down a full piece. Fortunately...my opponent moved too slowly and flagged (whew...didn't feel good about it but it's part of the game).
Round 4
With white I faced the Sicilian and so played the Closed / Grand Prix attack. However, my opponent was ready and played Qb6 (1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Bb5 Qb6). My heart sunk as this signaled that my opening was not a "surprise" and they were going to avoid doubled queenside pawns. That said, I wish I had full notation of this game, as it was a real battle: I achieved a kingside pawn storm and had black on the ropes, but under mutual time pressure he was able to defend and then counter-attack. I probably missed a tactic (i.e. wrong move-order)! With less than 8 seconds on the clock and down material, I resigned rather than letting time expire. My opponent ended up undefeated (which apparently helped elevate my final standings).
Round 5
My opponent attempted to play the "Fried Liver." Suffice to say, I face this opening so much that defending it is second nature. I pushed white back and castled queenside. My opponent got greedy, grabbing a poisoned pawn on the g-file and ended up hanging mate-in-1 i.e with the white king castled on g1, Qxg7 Rg8, (Q moves) Qxg2#
Round 6
I at last face someone over the age of 15... Another regular at Bryant Park, in fact! I had white and faced a Pirc - something of a standard opening for Bryant Park blitz players, so again something I had experience facing. Eventually, we traded down to an equal king-pawn endgame... I managed to play more accurately and convert to a win with less than 2 minutes remaining. THANK YOU, LICHESS THEMED PUZZLES.
(I have been consistently practicing with Pawn Endgame puzzles for months now - it finally paid off)
With that victory, I was 5.0 / 6 and tied with multiple other players. Fortunately, because my sole loss was to an undefeated player, some kind of complex Chess Math (that I don't understand) placed me 5th. So I had the honor of being the sole adult in a lineup of kids (see awkward photo below). Yay!
Photos
Overhead view of the tournament location - Round 5 in action.
The tournament is overlooked by the beautiful Bethesda Fountain
The Fountain and Terrace is a popular location for debutante and engagement photo shoots throughout the day, as we see in these photos:
"She said yes!"
In the lineup with U1300 (Reserve) section prize winners. This is a free, unrated tournament, so the trophy I'm holding is the sole reward for placing. By the way, I swear there were other adults in my section! These kids are tough!! In retrospect, I should have tried to stand behind the kids so as to not crowd them out. It didn't occur to me in the moment. My bad!
