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Josh Friedel Blogs from Miami

By GM-elect Josh Friedel

September 13, 2008

GM-elect Josh Friedel, Photo Betsy Dynako

Miami Update: As of Saturday night, IM Ray Robson leads with 6.5/7 a full point ahead of the field. However, he can't win a GM norm because he didn't play enough GMs throughout the event. Scroll down to see complete standings after 7 rounds.

California weather must be getting to me. It was about 11 PM, not that hot, yet somehow sweat was pouring down my face like no tomorrow. I was out looking for a place to eat with my roommate, Vinay Bhat. Neither of us had eaten since about noon, and despite the fact we were in a major city known for nightlife, somehow nothing was open. While Ike luckily missed Miami, its presence was certainly felt, and our shirts were beating in the wind like jibs in the America’s Cup. After wandering around aimlessly for almost an hour, we finally found a place that was open – Hooters, of all things. Not ideal, especially for my vegetarian companion, but we made do. Anyway, that was my first day in Miami, and I think it was an indication of what my tournament would be like.

The playing site this year is the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, and I must say it’s a very nice one. The hotel is quite upscale, and there isn’t a 24/7 fiesta downstairs from the playing hall, which was quite a problem last year. The tournament organization seems pretty good, and the rounds start on time. But I’m supposed to mainly do chess in my report, so I suppose I’ll get to it. The field, while a bit small due to the hurricane, is still a somewhat impressive one. The GMs include Victor Mikhalevski, Alexander Shabalov, Julio Becerra, Jaan Ehlvest, Alexander Ivanov, and Darmen Sadvakasov. After three rounds, there were only two perfect scores, IMs Ray Robson and John Bartholomew. This was in large part due to several GMs getting nicked for draws.

IM Ray Robson in Miami

After five rounds, Ray Robson was the sole leader with 5/5. Unfortunately, Monroi and ICC aren't covering the event so I don't have access to all the games. Play through Ray Robson's fourth round win against Salvijus Bercys. Also see Ray's game against Josh below-Ed.

2393

Now I’ll just have to bore you with my own games! They aren’t exactly masterpieces, but here goes:

This game is so highly ridiculous, I don't even know how to annotate it. Suffice it to say I got a fishy position which I somehow won.

2395

My game against Ray Robson was already published in the third round report. It was an odd game- it seems Ray was already winning after 20. e5!

2388

One nice point is that if 40...g2 (instead of 40...Rd2) 41.Bc6!! g1Q+ 42.Ka2+-

Analysis 40...g2

The following was probably my best game thus far.

2396

Instead of 12...g6, better was 12...Nxf4 13.Rxf4 e5 14.Nf5 exf4 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.Bb6 Bxf5 17.exf5 Qd7 18.Qh5, when I still have an attack. 26.Rd7+! was a nice blow.

Ed.Note-Josh also graciously annotated his loss over Keaton Kiewra, who recently earned his first GM norm in Greece.

2394

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.d3 Nd7 7.Nbd2 Bd6 8.Nc4 0–0 9.0–0 c5 10.h3 Re8 11.Nxd6 cxd6 12.Nh2 Nf8 13.f4 exf4 14.Bxf4 Ng6 15.Be3 Qe7 16.Qh5 Qe5 17.Qxe5 Nxe5

Position after 17...Nxe5

This is dead =, but I try to play it on for a win.
18.Nf3 b6 19.a4 Nc6 20.Bf4 Rd8 21.Rf2 f6 22.Rd2 Be6 23.d4 d5?!
Trying to play a dead even ending for a win can be dangerous, but here I totally blank out.
23...Nxd4 24.Nxd4 cxd4 25.Rxd4 Rac8 26.c3 Rc6= was safer.
24.exd5 Bxd5 25.Bc7 Rdc8?
25...Re8 was better.
26.dxc5 Rxc7
26...Bxf3 27.cxb6 (what I had missed) 27...Rxc7 28.bxc7 Bh5 29.g4 Be8 30.Rad1+-
27.Rxd5 Rb8 28.cxb6 Rxb6 29.Rc5

Position after 29.Rc5

This ending is pretty hopeless, and my opponent wins without much trouble.
29...Rbb7 30.Rd1 Nd4 31.Rxc7 Nxf3+ 32.gxf3 Rxc7 33.c3 Rb7 34.b4 Rc7 35.Rd6 a5 36.bxa5 Kf7 37.a6 Rc4 38.Rd4 Rc6 39.a7 Ra6 40.Rd7+ Ke6 41.Rxg7 h6 42.Kf2 Rxa4 43.Ke3 Kd5 44.c4+ Kc5 45.Ke4 Ra6 46.Kf5 Kxc4 47.h4 Kd4 48.Re7 h5 49.Kg6 Kd5 50.Kxh5 Kd6 51.Rb7 Ke5 52.Kg6 Kf4 53.h5 f5+ 54.Kg7 0–1

SwissSys Standings. 2008 Miami Open: Standings after 7 rounds

#	Name	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Tot
1	IM Ray S Robson	W48	W6	W28	W2	W8	D9	W11	6.5
2	IM John Bartholomew	W35	W49	W7	L1	W40	D4	W9	5.5
3	GM Victor Mikhalevski	W29	D14	W30	D15	L9	W40	W19	5.0
4	GM Julio J Becerra	W42	D16	W14	D22	D15	D2	W24	5.0
5	GM Darmen Sadvakasov	L40	W55	W27	W11	D16	D7	W21	5.0
6	IM Joshua Ed Friedel	W43	L1	W32	L29	W30	W45	W22	5.0
7	IM Dionisio Aldama	W25	W32	L2	W30	W29	D5	D8	5.0
8	IM Salvijus Bercys	W51	D19	W26	W24	L1	W20	D7	5.0
9	Marc R Esserman	W59	D24	W21	W10	W3	D1	L2	5.0
10	GM Jaan Ehlvest	W23	D15	D16	L9	W31	W29	D13	4.5
11	IM Renier Gonzalez	W55	W40	W12	L5	D22	W15	L1	4.5
12	IM Davorin Kuljasevic	W36	W57	L11	L40	W54	W42	D16	4.5
13	IM Jacek Stopa	W34	L30	D54	W47	W17	D16	D10	4.5
14	IM Vinay S Bhat	W45	D3	L4	D54	W34	D18	W26	4.5
15	IM Andrei Co Florean	W50	D10	W18	D3	D4	L11	W28	4.5
16	IM Dean J Ippolito	W46	D4	D10	W34	D5	D13	D12	4.5
17	IM David Pruess	L49	W25	D33	W56	L13	W37	W40	4.5
18	GM Alexander Shabalov	D58	W44	L15	D23	W53	D14	D20	4.0
19	GM Gildardo J Garcia	W47	D8	L22	D31	W25	X23	L3	4.0
20	IM Drasko Boskovic	W37	D27	L40	W36	W26	L8	D18	4.0
21	IM Justin Sarkar	D44	W58	L9	W33	W28	D22	L5	4.0
22	FM Marcel Martinez	W38	D26	W19	D4	D11	D21	L6	4.0
23	Patrick Scharrer	L10	D48	W38	D18	W55	F19	W43	4.0
24	Victor Kaminski	W33	D9	W56	L8	D42	W43	L4	4.0
25	Ernesto Alvarez	L7	L17	W59	W41	L19	W54	W42	4.0
26	GM Alexander Ivanov	W31	D22	L8	W58	L20	W47	L14	3.5
27	IM Marko Zivanic	W53	D20	L5	D37	L43	W56	D32	3.5
28	IM Irina Krush	W54	W39	L1	D42	L21	W49	L15	3.5
29	FM Keaton Kiewra	L3	W45	W49	W6	L7	L10	D34	3.5
30	Eric Rodriguez	W61	W13	L3	L7	L6	W46	D38	3.5
31	Evan S Rosenberg	L26	D38	W48	D19	L10	D35	W45	3.5
32	Artem Edm Ruppert	B---	L7	L6	L45	W44	W55	D27	3.5
33	Sylvain Leburgue	L24	W59	D17	L21	L49	W50	W48	3.5
34	Brian Goldstein	L13	X61	W39	L16	L14	W53	D29	3.5
35	Troy Daly	L2	H---	L58	H---	W60	D31	W51	3.5
36	Gregory J Kimmel	L12	W53	D37	L20	L38	W52	W49	3.5
37	Ryan Joseph Moon	L20	B---	D36	D27	D39	L17	W47	3.5
38	Alexander Velikanov	L22	D31	L23	W50	W36	D39	D30	3.5
39	IM Daniel Fernandez	W52	L28	L34	W44	D37	D38	U---	3.0
40	FM Kazim Gulamali	W5	L11	W20	W12	L2	L3	L17	3.0
41	Tautvydas Vedrickas	D60	L56	D44	L25	L46	W59	W57	3.0
42	Corey Acor	L4	W46	W60	D28	D24	L12	L25	3.0
43	Andres Santalla	L6	D50	D51	W60	W27	L24	L23	3.0
44	Matan Prilleltensky	D21	L18	D41	L39	L32	B---	W53	3.0
45	Christopher Heung	L14	L29	W52	W32	W58	L6	L31	3.0
46	Juan Camilo Arango	L16	L42	B---	L48	W41	L30	W54	3.0
47	FM Renard W Anderson	L19	D51	W50	L13	W48	L26	L37	2.5
48	Misael D Mestres	L1	D23	L31	W46	L47	W58	L33	2.5
49	Robert M Perez	W17	L2	L29	H---	W33	L28	L36	2.5
50	Hans M Morrow	L15	D43	L47	L38	B---	L33	X60	2.5
51	Humberto Cruz	L8	D47	D43	H---	D56	H---	L35	2.5
52	Alonso USCF Jaramillo	L39	L54	L45	D59	W57	L36	W56	2.5
53	Rodelay Medina	L27	L36	W57	B---	L18	L34	L44	2.0
54	Karel Gonzalez	L28	W52	D13	D14	L12	L25	L46	2.0
55	Jose Cabrera	L11	L5	B---	W57	L23	L32	U---	2.0
56	Leonardo Campiz	H---	W41	L24	L17	D51	L27	L52	2.0
57	Juan E Dominguez	B---	L12	L53	L55	L52	W60	L41	2.0
58	FM Charles A Galofre	D18	L21	W35	L26	L45	L48	U---	1.5
59	Emilio Gustavo Hernandez	L9	L33	L25	D52	H---	L41	H---	1.5
60	Jose Antonio Carrillo	D41	H---	L42	L43	L35	L57	F50	1.0
61	Rainer Selva	L30	F34	U---	U---	U---	U---	U---	0.0

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SwissSys Standings. 2008 Miami Open: Standings after 7 rounds

November - Chess Life Online 2008

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