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Chess Life Online 2009 March Labor Day Round up Part I: Dean and Alec Annotate
Chess Life Online 2009 March Labor Day Round up Part I: Dean and Alec Annotate | Labor Day Round up Part I: Dean and Alec Annotate |
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| September 8, 2009 | |
GM Giorgi Kacheishvili, Photo Polly Wright
New York State Championships GM Giorgi Kacheishvili and Siddharth Ravichandran tied for first at the 131st New York State Championships in Albany, with 5/6 each. Giorgi got the title on tiebreaks but they each took home $1200. Chris Williams won $700 for first Under 2300 player. Click here for the final results with prize money and here for the MSA USCF rated results. The most exciting upset of the tournament was 15-year-old Alec Getz's win over GM-elect Alex Lenderman, which Getz annotated for CLO: 3458 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 Nf6 6.d3 e6 7.g4?!  This move is probably a bit premature. Since my center seems impregnable and I have the two bishops, it makes sense to gain space and start an offense on the kingside to try to pry open black's position. However, in light of what happened, the prophylactic 7.Bd2 was more accurate. 7...Bb4 8.Bd2 d4 9.Nb1 Qb6 After Lenderman played Qb6 I went into a long thought. If instead of Qb6, if Black played Bxd2 (or moved his bishop away) then I could play Nxd2 and continue my attack. But now Lenderman threatens to snatch the b-pawn with Bxd2 Nxd2 and Qxb2. At first I thought about 10.Bg2 Bxd2 11.Nxd2 Qxb2 12. 0–0, but it looks like Black has time to move his queen away with an extra pawn (even if he is greedy and takes on c2 he should be alright). Then I considered 10.c3, but I sensed it would be bad because when I eventually develop my f1 bishop to g2 or h3 (after g5 and h4), then d3 is a serious weakness. Finally I decided on the text, but this move has its drawbacks too, Black may be able to play on the dark squares, and also don't forget the move 10.b3 by itself loses a tempo. Therefore, on the 7th move, instead of g4, 7.Bd2 was more accurate, intending to meet Black's counter-chance Bb4 with 8.a3, and after 8...Ba5 9.g4, White has deprived Black of his Qb6 because b4 traps the bishop. 10.b3 Na6 11.a3 Another tempo lost; Black threatened ...Bxd2 and Nb4 with pressure on White's queenside with combined action of the knight and queen. 11...Bxd2+ 12.Nxd2 Qa5 13.Bg2 h5 Now I'm in big trouble. A cramped position, A bad bishop on g2, major holes and weaknesses in my position, not only the dark squares but now Lenderman attacks my vulnerable pawn on g4. What more could black want from an opening? I felt I was close to losing to here. 14.Ke2  14...Ke7 The king seems fine on e7, but now I have some counter chances. The king would probably be safer on the queenside. 15.Qf4 Black threatened ...hxg4 followed by ...Qg5 winning the g4 pawn. 15...g5 16.Qg3 hxg4 17.hxg4 Rxh1 18.Rxh1 18.Bxh1 Rh8 looks very grim. I realized my only chance now was to somehow break into Lenderman's king on e7, and although I didn't see how, I knew that passive defense of the a-pawn would be suicide (suffocation). 18...Qxa3 19.b4!? I knew that Lenderman would probably have a defense, and probably this move is bad, but in a practical game I thought it would be my best chance, and I was right. My plan is simple, break into Black's king, and I'm already a pawn down so it's all or nothing now. With 19.b4 I temporarily block Lenderman's queen out from the game. If 19...Nxb4, then 20.Nc4 followed by Qd6 and Rh8. If 19...Qxb4, then 20.Rb1 and the rook seeks to take on b7 and create problems for Black. However, even though I take on b7, I would still be a pawn down after ...Nd7 and I wasn't sure how to proceed in that position. 19...Nd7 20.f4 Qxb4 21.fxg5  But this is different. Now I can take on g5 and Black's f7 pawn becomes an important object of attack for me. I still felt I must be lost here, but now Lenderman has to be careful. 21...Rg8 22.Qf2 Qc5 23.Rh7 And now I'm the one close to winning! Here Lenderman started shaking his head in disgust, for good reason. A few moves ago he was much better, but after one inaccurate move like 22...Qc5 he suddenly finds himself in huge trouble. 23...Rf8 If 23...Ne5 then 24.Qf6+ followed by Nc4 and Black can't hold onto the f7 pawn and breakthrough into Black's king. 24.g6 Nf6 25.Qh4 Qe5 25...Qd6 was a little trick, intending to meet 26.Nc4 with Qf4 and then 27.e5 doesn't work because of ...Qxg4+. However, White still has 26.Nf3 (threatening e5) e5 27.g7 Rg8 28.Rh6 followed by g5. 26.Nf3 Qf4 27.e5 Black can't hold on any longer. If 27...Qe3+ just 28.Kd1. 27...Nb4 28.Qxf6+ Qxf6 29.exf6+ Kxf6 30.Rxf7+ Rxf7 31.gxf7 Kxf7 32.Nxd4 Now I am a piece up, and the win shouldn't be too difficult with plenty of pawns left. However, Lenderman still has a few tricks up his sleeve. 32...e5 33.Nf5 Nxc2 34.Kd2 Nb4 35.Nd6+ Kf6 36.Nxb7 Kg5 37.Nd8! Or 37.Na5, with the threat of Nxc6 and black must concede another pawn. 37...Kxg4 38.Nxc6  38...Nxd3 Lenderman's last chance, hoping I forget how to mate with bishop and knight versus king. If 38...Na6 then 39.Nxe5 K moves and after 40.Nc6 taking the a7 pawn, with two pieces and a pawn I should be able to queen. 39.Kxd3 Kf4 40.Nxa7 e4+ 41.Bxe4 Actually if Lenderman thought I forgot how to mate with bishop and knight versus king, he wouldn't be too far off from the truth. Although with plenty of time on the clock I would have figured the pattern out, a little while ago I remember playing a tournament on the Internet Chess Club where the theme was to mate with a bishop and knight with 1 minute on the clock. The tournament had about 8 players, and I came in last place. So after the tournament I opened Dvoretsky's manual and reviewed how to checkmate. But definitely after this game I'll never forget how to mate with bishop and knight again :) 41...Ke5 42.Nb5 Ke6 43.Nd4+ Ke5 44.Ke3 Kd6 45.Nb3 Kd7 46.Kf4 Ke6 47.Bf3 Ke7 48.Ke5 Kf7 49.Nc5 Kg6 50.Ne6 Kf7 51.Bh5+ Ke7 52.Nc5 Kf8 53.Kf6 Kg8 54.Bg6 Kh8 55.Nd7 Kg8 56.Ne5 Kh8 57.Nf7+ Kg8 58.Bf5 Kf8 59.Bh7 Ke8 60.Ne5 Kd8 61.Ke6 Kc7 62.Nd7 Kc6 63.Bd3 1–0  For those who forget, after 63... Kc7 64.Bb5 Kd8 65.Nf6 Kc7 66.Nd5 Kd8 67.Kd6 Kc8 68.Ke7 Kb7 69.Kd7 Kb8 70.Ba6 Kc7 71.Bc8 Kb8 72.Kd8 Ka7 73. Kc7 Ka8 74. Ne7 Ka7 75. Nc6+ Ka8 76.Bb7 Checkmate. 
Alec Getz and Alex Lenderman, Photo Deren Getz
Co-champs Kacheishvili and Ravichandran against GM Joel Benjamin and GM-elect Alex Lenderman. Photo Polly Wright
New Jersey 
IM Dean Ippolito and FM Thomas Bartell
3459 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.d4 c5 6.0–0 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 8.Nc2 b6?! 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.b3 Ne8N 10...Rc8 1–0 Kiss,A-Pirisi,G (2345)/Budapest 1987 11.Qd2 d6 12.Bb2 Rb8 13.Rad1 a6 14.Ne3 Nc7 15.Rc1 Ba8 16.h3!  The point is deeper than it looks at first. Besides normal positional advantages of this move, it stops Ne5-g4 in some positions and prepares Ng4 when Black's queen is on d7. 16...Qd7 17.Ncd5 Nxd5?! 17...Ne6 18.f4 was what he was afraid of(18.Bxg7 Nxg7 19.Ng4 Kh8 20.Qh6 Nf5) 18.cxd5 Na7 18...Bxb2 19.Qxb2 Na7 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Rc4 f5 20...b5 21.Qc3+ Kg8 22.Rc7; 20...Rfc8 21.Rh4 21.Nc2! 21.Qc3+ Kg8 22.Rc7 Nb5 21...Rfc8  22.Rh4 22.Nd4 Rxc4 (22...h6 23.Ne6+ Kh7 24.Qxh6+ Kxh6 25.Rh4# was a reason I wanted to play Nd4 but the mate that happened in the game was just as cute) 23.Ne6+ Qxe6! and there is still work to do though it is still winning. I wasn't going to give a chance to change the nature of the game. 22...h5 23.Nd4 Rh8 23...Rg8 24.Qg5; 23...e5 24.dxe6 Qe7 25.Rxh5 24.Ne6+ Kf7 25.Rc4 The most precise 25...Qe8 25...Rbc8 26.Rfc1 26.Qc3 Rg8 26...Qg8 27.Rc1 27.Rc7 Rc8 28.Ng5+ [28.Ng5+ Kf8 29.Nh7+ Kf7 30.Qf6#]  1–0 
IM Lev Altounian
For the third consecutive year, International Master Lev Altounian from Tucson, Arizona captured the Arizona State Championship. Lev finished with a 5-1 score in the 12-player closed tournament, which was held over the Labor Day weekend at the beautiful Unity Chess Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Second place went to Arizona Scorpions Team Manager, National Master Leo Martinez, just a half point behind Lev. Leo is also from Tucson, Arizona. Leo's wins over higher rated players such as FM Rensch and FM Atoufi netted him almost 50 rating points. See complete crosstable with ratings changes here. 
Leo Martinez
The tournament was a joint production of many chess organizations, including Valley Chess, Unity Chess Club, Arizona Chess Federation, Inc. (ACFI), American Chess Events (ACE), and the Internet Chess Club (ICC). The event was directed by Rick Smouse. ---Joel Johnson Here are a few games from the event. 3460 3461 3462 3463 3464 3465 3466 Oregon Open Nick Raptis of Portland Oregon won the 58th Annual Oregon Open with a score of 5.5 out of 6. He was kept from winning the perfect score prize of $200.00 by a draw in round 5 with Steve Breckenridge of Oregon. Tied with 5-1 scores were Alex Guo of Washington State and John Chung of Oregon. 52 players took part in the Open Section. The Reserve Section for players rated under 1800 had 58 players and ended in a three-way tie at 5-1 between Oregon players: David Bannon, Galen Pyle and Jason Cigan. The Portland Chess Club was the sponsor and the event was held at the Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham Oregon over Labor Day weekend. Neil Dale of Portland was the tournament director. The total attendance of 110 players was up from the 88 who took part in 2008. For more information about the event see a future issue of NORTHWEST CHESS magazine, a monthly publication of the Oregon and Washington Chess Federations. For some photos from the event click here. -Rusty Miller Missouri Erik Patchell of Kentucky won the Saint Louis District Championship with 4.5/5. The 45-player tournament was held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis , also host of the 2009 U.S. Championship and the upcoming U.S. Women's and 2010 U.S. Champs. Club executive director Tony Rich played a wild Max Lange battle with CCSCSL board member and four-time MO state champion Jim Voelker. 3467 New England Open 182 players came out for the 14-section New England Open. In the Open section, IM Igor Foygel, IM David Vigorito and SM Denys Shmelov tied for first with 4.5/6 each. See standings in all sections in the USCF MSA. The tournament also received great mainstream press attention with a preview and a post tournament report in the Nashau Telegraph. 2009 Colorado Open 91 players attended the Colorado Open on Sept. 5-6, the largest turnout for many years at an open tournament in this state. Jerry Meier and I were overwhelmed by the numbers, but by starting Rd. 1 late and using a shorter time control for Rd. 2, we got back on schedule. Our two top-rated players, GM Dasheveg Sharavdorj and IM Michael Mulyar tied for first with 4.5 out of 5. The Grandmaster had the higher tiebreak points and is again our State Champion. In a tie for third with 4 points were Denver Experts Adekunl Ogunmefun and Daoud Zupa, who won from FM Renard Anderson in the last round. Danielle Rice was merciless in the Reserve Section, likewise scoring 4.5 points to take first place by herself. Following with 4 points were Dean Brown, Nabil Spann, Alan August, Eric Barkemeyer, and Ron Rossi. See the MSA for complete results. ---Richard Buchanan, Chief TD. Stay tuned for more reports from the weekend of Labor Day Madness, including wrap-ups on the Southwest Open, Florida State Championships, Southern California Open, Northern California Open, Tennessee Open and Illinois Open. |