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Struggle The


The struggle of chess is quite simple: you can work tirelessly for extensive periods of time, give all you have to give, and make only incremental progress, if that. By PETE KARAGIANIS


THREE TABLES CHESS K


entucky has this odd notion of “moist” counties, as if one can somehow toe the line between the apparent all-out debauchery of an adult beverage and the multitude of trans gressions that


might erstwhile afterwards transpire and the clean simplicity of “Nope.” But, whatever. It’s nearing the end of summer and I’ve just completed a circuit of


tournaments that took me to St. Louis, Denver then Las Vegas and back, Chicago, Burlington, Peoria, and now, at journey and August’s end, Shelbyville, Kentucky. I get in on a Friday night and just want to catch the tail end of the


20 March 2016 | Chess Life


Sox game and grab a bite to eat but there’s quite literally nowhere to do so. It’s hard to run a sports bar, I’d imagine, when selling an Old Style is outlaw behavior.


Two years ago, in July, 2013 I had just finished off one of the most


unsuccessful rating plunges of my playing career, dropping from a peak of 2275 all the way to 2202 after scoring a miserable 0-for-3 in the Chicago Class before withdrawing. That July, I remember, it had been months since I felt the twinge of excitement before a tournament. I was burnt out, worn out, and chessed


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