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Chess Life Online 2010 December Three Roads to the 2011 Arizona State Championship: Part II
Chess Life Online 2010 December Three Roads to the 2011 Arizona State Championship: Part II | Three Roads to the 2011 Arizona State Championship: Part II |
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| By NM David Adelberg | |
| December 7, 2010 | |
David Adelberg
Color didn't matter as much as I predicted, as I won two games with Black versus the dynamic IM Dionisio Aldama and NM Nick Thompson. 5141 5139 Then I played an interesting game against Jason Mueller, which I annotate below. 5140 This was a critical game for me. I was behind the leaders with 2/3, and I needed to win this game to stay in contention for the tournament. After that, I would be paired against who currently was the co-tournament leader (Although he was not heading into the final round) Levon Altounian. But first I was paired against Jason Meuller, somewhat restrained from tournament play due to army service. Well, let the war games begin! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 I considered playing other variations, but I decided that my opponent's lack of opening knowledge would compensate for his tactical prowess in a King's Indian. 3...Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3  With this move, I declare my intentions. Safer is 10. Nd3, with the idea of putting the knight on f2 to forestall black's kingside attack. 10...f5 After ten minutes or so, Black played this move. This confirmed that my opponent did not know the theory of this opening. 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.a4 This is the main move for white in this position. White's idea is to eventually play a5, trade the c-pawns, and play Nb5. The attack on a7 forces a6, and then white plays Na3-c4. 13...h5 14.a5 Kh8 14...Ng6 15.Nb5 Black generally prefers to play this move rather than a6 to preserve his bishop which is crucial for his counterplay. 15...Nf6 16.Nxa7 Bd7 Now black is ready to attack. If white cannot do anything fast, he might get into trouble on the kingside. 17.c5 The critical move. White does not stop after capturing one pawn. He continues the attack with this move. 17...g4 (17...Rxa7 18.c6 bxc6 19.dxc6 (19.Bxa7? c5) ) 18.c6 g3 19.hxg3 fxg3 20.Bxg3 Rxa7 21.cxd7 15.Nb5 I still thought I was in my preparations, but Kh8 is not the main move. More normal is Ng6 intending to put the knight on h4. However, after this move, I noticed the difference between this line and the one I was thinking of. Luckily, white's position is still better. 15...a6!? 15...Nf6!? 16.Nxa7 Bd7 A similar position to the above, but 17.c5 Rxa7 18.cxd6 Trying to exploit the knight's position. (18.c6 This move is not as good as in the other line because of 18...bxc6 19.Bxa7 (19.dxc6 Nxc6! The difference.) 19...c7 White will lose his bishop, but will have compensation. Still, it is probably not sufficient.) 18...Nc8 19.Bxa7 Nxa7 20.Qb3! cxd6 21.Qxb7 Qa8 22.a6 Rb8 23.Qxa8 Rxa8± 16.Na7 g4? During the game, I expected him to play Rxa7 and try to attack me. Without his light squared bishop, I am much better. In addition, his move appears to be losing material. 17.Nxc8?!  17.fxg4! I made the last move fairly quickly because I thought that my opponent would take back and I would decide what to do. However, in doing so, I missed an opportunity. 17...Rxa7 (17...Nf6 18.Nxc8 Qxc8 19.g5 Nxe4 20.Bd3+-) 18.Bxa7 Nf6 19.gxh5 Nxe4 20.Nf3± 17...g3! Of course, because of my blitzed move I missed this counter stroke. 18.Nxe7? Still in shock from my last move, I let my opponent back into the game. 18.hxg3 fxg3 19.Bxg3 Rxc8 20.b4± 18...gxf2+ 19.Rxf2 Qxe7 Now it is an unclear position with opposite colored bishops. 20.Bf1 Rg8 21.Rc2 Bf6 22.Nd3 Nc5 23.Nc1 Rg6 24.b4 Nd7 25.Nd3 Rag8 26.Nf2? I miss a key idea, forcing me to make an inferior move. 26.c5 Bh4 27.cxd6 cxd6 28.Rac1 Bg3? 29.hxg3 fxg3 30.Ne1! Qh4 31.Bc4! Qh2+ 32.Kf1+- 26...Qg7 27.Nh3 Be7 28.Qe2 Nf6 29.Kh1 Ng4 30.fxg4 hxg4 31.Ra3!? I have to admit, I was a bit of a chicken. My position was okay after the obvious 31.Ng1 My opponent has no direct threats. 31...f3 32.Qf2 fxg2+ 33.Qxg2 gxh3 34.Rxh3+ Rh6 35.Qxg7+ Kxg7 36.Rxh6 36.c5!± saving time 36...Kxh6 37.Bh3 Bh4 38.Re2  White's advantage is based more on his space advantage than his extra pawn. 38...Ra8 39.Bd7 Rd8 40.Bf5 Rb8 41.Bd7 41.c5 Rg8 41...Rd8 42.Be6 Rb8 43.c5 Be7 44.Rc2 Kg5 45.Rg2+ Kh6 46.Rc2 46.Bf5!? I had played very quickly through the game, and I could afford to spend an hour considering this move. 46...dxc5 47.Rg6+ Kh5 48.Rg7 Bd6 49.bxc5 Bxc5 50.Rxc7 Bb4 51.Kg2 Bxa5 52.Rh7+ (52.Rg7 b5 53.Kg3 Be1+) 52...Kg5 53.h4+ Kf6 46...Kg5 47.c6 Kf4 48.cxb7 Rxb7 49.Rc4 Ke3 50.Bc8 Ra7 50...Kd3!? 51.Bxb7 Kxc4 52.Bxa6+ Kxb4 53.Kg2 Kxa5 54.Bc8 In the game I stopped here. 54...Kb6 (54...Kb4 55.Kg3 Kc5 56.h4 c6 (56...Kd4 57.Bf5 Kc5 58.Kg4 c6 59.Be6) 57.Bb7+-) 55.Kg3 c6 56.dxc6 Kxc6 57.Be6 d5 58.Bxd5+ Kd7 59.Kg4 Ke8 60.Kf5+- This position is probably winning for me. 51.Rc6 Kxe4 52.Rxa6 Rxa6 53.Bxa6  53....Kxd5?? My opponent collapses after a long defense. 53...Bg5! 54.Bc4 Kf3! 55.Bd3! (55.b5 Be3 56.a6 Bd4 57.Be2+ Kxe2 58.h4 Kf3 59.h5 e4) 55...Be3 (55...e4 56.Bc2 Be3 (56...e3 57.Bd1+ Ke4 58.b5 With the idea of b6 58...e2 59.Bxe2 Be3 60.Kg2 Kxd5 61.h4+-) 57.h4 Kg4 58.Bxe4 Kxh4 59.Kg2 Kg4 60.Kf1 Kf4 61.Bh1 Ke5 62.Ke2 Ba7 63.Kd3 Kf6 64.Kc4 Ke7 65.Kb5 Kd8 66.Ka6 Bd4 67.Kb7+-) 56.b5 Bd4 57.Bc2 Ba7 58.Bd1+ Ke4 59.h4 Kxd5 60.h5 (60.Bb3+ Ke4 61.Bc2+ Kf4) 60...Ke6 61.h6 Kf7 62.Bh5+ Kf6 (62...Kg8) 63.Kg2 e4 64.Kf1 d5 65.Ke2 d4 66.h7 Kg7 67.Bg6 e3 68.Bd3 Bb8 69.Kf3+- 54.Bb7+ 1-0 After a draw versus IM Levon Altounian, I was very satisfied with a decent tournament with a performance rating of 2518. Since Mark needed a draw to secure first place and his position seemed equal, my father and I hit the highway with the idea of a second place finish. When we were notified of Dionisio's win in the last round, we were surprised of the 1st place tie and the title of Arizona State Co-Champion. According to Myron Lieberman of the Arizona Chess Federation, I am the youngest to achieve this honor in the state of Arizona. Myron Lieberman noted that records are available dating back to 1955, and just by several days beating GM and World Champion U16 Tal Shaked. GM Tal Shaked won the Arizona State Championship in 1992 at 13 years, 11 months with a nearly identical rating to mine at that time of 2275 pretournament. David followed this up with another fine performance in the American Open, raising his rating to a personal best of 2349. See Randy Hough's wrap-up for the full story. |