alabama chess anticsalabamachess.org/antics/anticswinter2019.pdf · alabama chess antics ... 3rd...

Alabama Chess

Antics Inside this issue:

The Champions’ Rematch: Troy Classic by Scott Varagona

4

3rd Annual Bob Rieves Memorial Tournament Report by Balagee Govindan

10

Winter Puzzles by Scott Varagona

11

Alabama Tournament Results from uschess.org

12

The Official

Publication of the

Alabama Chess

Federation

Winter 2019

Jonathan Rasberry gets some well-deserved rest after

winning the 2018 Troy Classic. (Hosting and playing in a

tournament is hard work!)

Photo by Antics Editor.

Alabama Chess Antics

Greetings folks, and welcome to

2019. We look back on the last bit of

Alabama chess from 2018 and then look

ahead to what will hopefully be a very

lively year of chess to come.

In this issue, I annotate a recent

game of mine versus my state co-

champion, Tyler Freeman. This game

had quite a few twists and turns; I hope

you find it both instructive and

entertaining. We also have a few

puzzles and some tournament reports.

Otherwise, there has been a noticeable

lull in Antics submissions lately.

While I enjoy writing for the

Antics myself, I must emphasize that

this is not “my” magazine; it is ours! In

order for the Antics to be successful, the

ACF counts on interested members to

submit content. We want to showcase

all the wonderful achievements of the

state’s chess players, of all skill levels.

So, please submit pictures, articles, or

games (preferably in pgn format) with

or without annotations to:

[email protected]

The deadline for submissions for

the next Antics is May 15, 2019.

Now, looking ahead: one of

Alabama’s most prestigious and

longest-running tournaments, the

Queen of Hearts, takes place in

Montgomery at AUM on February 16-

17, 2019 (note the change in date from

the original advertisement!). This

tournament usually draws some of the

strongest active Alabama chess players.

I certainly look forward to seeing

everybody there.

After the Queen of Hearts, there

is the Tom Nard Memorial. Then, on

March 2-3, 2019, we have the

“granddaddy of all tournaments”: the

Alabama State Scholastic Chess

Championships! This year’s edition

takes place at Miles College in Fairfield,

Alabama. (The Individual Chess

Championship is on March 2; the Team

Championship is on March 3.) Who

will be the next young talents to take

the trophies home? We’ll surely find

out in time for the next issue of the

Antics...

-Scott Varagona

Greetings from the Editor

ACF Membership

Any individual may become a Regular Member upon the payment of annual dues of $15.00. Regular members may enter ACF tournaments and receive special publications or notices from ACF as they are issued. Any chess club seeking to become an Affiliate is required to file the Affiliate Information Form with the Secretary of the ACF and pay annual dues of $35.00. Benefits of becoming an affiliate include the right to bid to host ACF-sanctioned events, such as the Alabama State Championship, and to receive advertising through the ACF for your tournaments.

http://www.alabamachess.com/cmsms/index.php?page=join

Winter 2019

1 SCOTT VARAGONA 2279 26 TYLER W FREEMAN 1901

2 MATTHEW PUCKETT 2218 27 KIRK D PETTY 1900

3 BILL MELVIN 2203 28 JEFFREY BYRD JR 1897

4 STEPHEN ADAMS 2197 29 ZACHARY SNOW II 1880

5 ARDEN Q MARKIN 2172 30 TYLER C RHODES 1860

6 ANDY REEDER 2140 31 ROBERT LUBIN 1849

7 STEPHEN GRAVELING 2135 32 ALAN TODD 1842

8 JONATHAN RASBERRY 2105 33 TIM BOND 1836

9 JOSHUA T MCCLELLAN 2101 34 RAY DOWNS 1819

10 JOSEPH JURJEVICH 2093 35 SARVAGNA VELIDANDLA 1818

11 TEJAS V THORAT 2055 36 CHARLES H ANTHONY 1813

12 MILES MELVIN 2020 37 RHODES PEELE 1812

13 CHARLES L MEIDINGER 2016 38 LUIS J MORENILLA 1808

14 GEORGE RUSYNIAK 2011 39 CAESAR W LAWRENCE 1804

15 OM BADHE 2000 40 JEFF STORY 1803

16 CHRISTOPHER J TREES 1993 41 JOHN DAUGHERTY 1800

17 TERRENCE W EDINBURGH 1951 42 THOMAS H LAWRY 1800

18 WILLIAM D FOX 1950 43 JOSHUA N WAKEFIELD 1794

19 MICHAEL W PORCELLI 1937 44 VIKHRAM BALAGEE 1761

20 JEFF TOBIN 1937 45 CAMPBELL A DOBBS 1744

21 AARON DECORD 1928 46 PATRICK T DOWD 1736

22 FARUK E ERGIN 1926 47 ALADDIN LATEEF 1736

23 MARK L LIATTI 1915 48 KEN KIRBY 1733

24 MICHAEL B GUTHRIE 1915 49 DAVID HAYES 1725

25 ROGER D JOHNSON 1906 50 JERALD R MC GOWIN 1720

Alabama Chess Leaderboard Top 50 Ratings (retrieved from uschess.org on 1/20/19)


It often happens that a current

Alabama state champion will face a

former state champion, or two former

champions will play, but how often do

we see two reigning co-champions

duke it out?

Back in September, after facing

each other in the first round of the State

Championship (see Fall 2018 Antics),

Tyler Freeman and I fought our way

through the rest of the field and

ultimately tied for first with five points

apiece. Two months later, in the last

round of the 2018 Troy Classic, we

were about to lock horns for the second

time. I needed to win this game to

secure at least a tie for first. Tyler, half a

point behind, could leapfrog me in the

tournament standings—and exact

vengeance for our previous game!—if

he won.

I, for one, was certainly looking

forward to this game. I felt reasonably

confident; on paper, I have a nice rating

advantage. However, as Kirk Petty

always reminds me, ratings only

measure past performance…

Here’s my caveat to these

The Champions’ Rematch: Troy Classic By NM Scott Varagona

Stunning scenery on Troy University’s campus. Photo by Antics Editor.

Winter 2019

annotations: much of this game is so

complicated, I would struggle to fully

explain things without spewing a

bunch of computer analysis at the

reader. Since that’s no fun, I’m keeping

these annotations light and focusing on

the key ideas, with only limited

computer interruption. (To quote Daft

Punk, we’re “human after all.”)

Varagona,S (2264) - Freeman,T (1900)

Troy Classic 2018, Round 4

Troy, AL; 11-17-2018

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d6 4.d5 c6 5.c4

g6

It’s been forever and a day since

I’ve faced the Leningrad Dutch. My

favorite description of the Leningrad is

from Viktor Korchnoi: “Nobody

understands what happens in that

system—including myself!”1 In

retrospect, I should have expected this

opening, considering Tyler’s fondness

for the reversed Leningrad (a.ka.,

“Polar Bear System”) in Bird’s Opening

(with 1.f4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3).

6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Nh3

The knight goes not to f3, but to

h3, in order to pressure Black’s weak

light squares with Nh3-f4. Black

prevents that:

7…e5 8.dxc6!?

This is an unorthodox decision,

giving up the center. Still, about ten

years ago, I had seen this obscure game

Kurajica-Kovacevic from 2001 and

liked the plan White used in this type

of position. After trying it out against

Tyler, though, I’m not sure I would try

it again!

8…bxc6 9.b4?

Wrong move order. It’s been too

many years since I studied this line. I

seek queenside play, but White is

supposed to castle and play Qa4!,

pressuring c6. The move b4 can always

come later; playing it this early

endangers my c-pawn.

9…e4! 10.Rb1 Be6 11.Qb3 Nbd7 12.Nf4

Bf7

1. V. Kortchnoi, My Life for Chess, vol. 1; Chessbase

fritztrainer monograph (DVD), 2005.


No doubt about it: Black is better

now. My g2-bishop is blocked, and

what to do about ...Nb6? I start fishing

for counterplay.

13.Qa4 Qc8?

Tyler told me he should have

played 13…Qc7!, defending both

pawns. I, too, believe this would have

helped stabilize Black’s advantage, but

the game remains very complex.

14.f3!

This is going to turn the position

into an even bigger mess, but I have no

choice! My bishop must be freed.

14…Nb6 15.Qd1

We see the drawback of Black’s

13…Qc8: now d6 is under fire.

15…exf3 16.Bxf3 Nxc4 17.b5 d5 18.bxc6

Ne5

After the game, Tyler wondered

if he should have gone without this

move. Black’s advantage has definitely

slipped somehow.

19.Bg2 Qxc6 20.Ncxd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5

Bxd5 22.Qxd5 Rd8??

Winter 2019

I had a golden opportunity here:

23.Qe6+! Qxe6 24.Nxe6 (Fritz), winning

material. I think I had seen that much

during the game, but I thought 24…

Rd7 25.Rb8+? Kf7 was a dead-end.

What I missed was the simple

25.Nxg7+!, where 25…Rxg7 26.Rb8+

wins the h8-rook. Oops! Instead, we

“exchanged blunders.”

23.Qxc6+?? Nxc6 24.Ba3 Bd4 25.Ne6

Bc3+ 26.Kf2 Rc8 27.Rhc1 Be5 28.Rb7

Rb8 29.Rxb8+ Nxb8 30.Rc5 Nd7

For better or for worse, here we

are. I felt like I had some edge, but no

knock-out blow. Seeing no other

convincing path forward, I played…

31.Rc8+ Kf7 32.Ng5+ Kg7 33.Rxh8

Kxh8 34.Nf7+ Kg8 35.Nxe5 Nxe5

…and entered a bishop vs. knight

endgame. I have a couple of factors on

my side:

• Endgames with pawns on both

sides of the board tend to favor the

bishop, since it is a long-range piece

that can impact both sides of the

board at once.

• My king is just slightly closer to the

center than its counterpart.

Still, these advantages seem

minor. Is it possible that Black can hold

this ending? Certainly—but it will take

some precision. Never mind whether

your opponent could survive with

“perfect” play: the point is to saddle

your opponent with a long and difficult

defensive burden, where mistakes are

likely to come. Let’s also not forget that

defending accurately is much harder in

time trouble.


36.Bc5 a6 37.h3 Kf7

After the game, Tyler thought he

should have played 37…Nc4!. That

move would have kept White’s king at

bay for longer.

38.Ke3 Ke6 39.Kd4 Nc6+ 40.Kc4

40…Ke5?

To paraphrase the Joker, Black is

“dancing with the devil in the pale

moonlight.” Far too risky: by trying to

get active with his king, Black allows

White to penetrate on the queenside.

Why not 40…Ne5+!, simply asking

White how he plans to break through?

The point is that 41.Kb4 Kd5! (followed

by …Nc6+) stops White from playing

Ka5, and meanwhile Black has seized

the center. Instead, I would have had to

play 41.Kd4 Nc6+, and then it’s clear

that my advantage has dissipated.

41.Be3!

With this move, I threaten Kc5.

If 41…Kd6 then 42.Bf4+! and my king

invades anyway. For a human player in

time pressure, defending this position

will be practically impossible.

41…Ke4 42.Bf2 Ne5+ 43.Kc5 Nd7+

44.Kc6 Nf6 45.a4 Nd5 46.a5

A diagram is worth a thousand

words. Black’s knight struggles to

compete with White’s active king and

bishop.

46…h5?

The last chance in the position

was 46…Ke5! (Fritz). Black has to bring

his king back close to White’s so that

Winter 2019

(in a few moves) when I play Kxa6 he

can play ...Kc6!. Black will box in my

king and possibly push it away from

my a-pawn with a knight check. Then

he’ll set up a light-square blockade and

try to win my a-pawn. Even here, Black

is not out of the woods: I can imagine

my king eventually slipping over to the

kingside to try to win the game anew.

47.Kb7 Nc3 48.Kxa6 Nxe2 49.Kb6

The pawn is unstoppable now.

A few more careful moves, and White

wins.

49…Nc3 50.a6 Nd5+ 51.Kb7! Ke5 52.a7

Nb4 53.a8Q Nd3 54.Qe8+ Kd5 55.Qd8+

Ke4 56.Qd4+ Kf3 57.Qxd3+ Kxf2 58.h4

g5 and soon, White checkmated Black

(1–0). ◼

Troy Classic 2018: Top Performers

Premiere Section

Tied for first: Jonathan Rasberry (2089) and Scott Varagona (2264), 3.5 points.

Reserve Section

Tied for first: Dan Williams (1444) and Kendall Franks (1166P), 3 points.

Tournament Director: Caesar Lawrence.


3rd Annual Bob Rieves Memorial Tournament Report

By TD Balagee Govindan

Dear Chess Players, thank you all for playing in the 3rd Annual Bob Rieves

Memorial Chess Tournament on December 1, 2018.

Please find below the tournament results. 60 players played in this tournament. ◼

Open (1600+)

Yuri Barnakov - First Place

Charles Meidinger - Second Place

Mariano Runco - U/1800

Reserve (U1600)

Victor Lundy - First Place

Thomas Gilbreath - Second Place

Parker Hunt - U/1400

Scholastic K-3

Sarah Peter - First Place

Prabhas Garlapati - Second Place

Neil Srikantha - Third Place

Scholastic K-6

Parker Liu - First Place

Shreyas Keshava - Second Place

Daniel Seewald - Third Place

Scholastic K-3 (NOT RATED)

Saikarunya Kesireddy - First Place

Saketh Pondugula - Second Place

Ashwin Korrapatti - Third Place


Yash Pillai - First Place

Nora Farris - Second Place

Daniel Hinton - Third Place


Varsha Vinoy - First Place

Krishnavanditha Mayuram -

Second Place

Bob Rieves Memorial 2018: Top Performers

Winter 2019

Winter Puzzles By Scott Varagona

1. Jurjevich,J - Varagona,S

Chris Bond Memorial 2018.

White to play.

2. Varagona,S - Graveling,S

Magic City Classic 2018.

White to play.

3. Sharpe,K - Varagona,S

Rea Hayes Open 2018.

Black to play.

4. Badhe,O - Varagona,S

MLK Classic 2018.

Black to play.

Solutions: 1. White wins material (or mates) with Qxe5!!. 2. White wins with Nb5+!. Black cannot take with the a-pawn because then Qa5+ will be mate. Therefore, Black

must play ...Rxb5 and lose material. 3. Black traps the rook with ...Rd6! (or ...Rb8), threatening ...a6. If White tries to play a5, then Black’s king simply walks over and takes the

rook. 4. Black’s clearest win is ...g5!. Zugzwang is a powerful endgame weapon. ◼


Alabama Tournament Results From uschess.org

2018 Birmingham Challenge

(Birmingham, AL)

Premiere Section:

Tied for 1st place: Jonathan Rasberry (2089), Om Badhe* (1939), William D

Fox (1904) and Kirk Petty (1900), 3 points

Reserve Section:

1st place: Jay-El Shepherd II (1582), 3.5 points

2nd place: Doug Strout (1569) and Kapil Nathan (1411), 3 points

Rook Section:

1st place: Nathan Krish (1076), 4.5 points

2nd place: Bhavesh Garlapati (489P), 4 points

2018 Halloween Classic

(Huntsville, AL)

Premiere Section:

1st place: Bill Melvin (2209), 3.5 points

2nd place: William Daniel Fox (1924) and Roger Johnson (1900), 3 points

Reserve Section:

1st place: Chandler McCook (1113), 4 points

2nd place: Yaryna Zhurba (1376P) and Samuel Baskarraj (1277), 2.5 points

* Congratulations to Om Badhe for becoming an Expert at the December

2018 Atlanta Open!

Email:

Alabama.Chess.Editor

@gmail.com

Upcoming Tournaments See www.alabamachess.org for details on these and other events.

February 16-17 47th Annual Queen of Hearts Montgomery, AL

February 22-24 2019 Tri-State Chess Championship Valdosta, GA

February 23 Tom Nard Memorial V Montgomery, AL

March 2-3 2019 Alabama State Scholastic Chess Ch. Fairfield, AL

March 2 Alabaster Scholastic Alabaster, AL

March 16 Birmingham Classic Birmingham, AL

ALABAMA

CHESS

ANTICS

Alabama Chess

Federation

www.alabamachess.org

Please contact [email protected]

if you are interested in helping with the Alabama Chess Federation.

To submit articles, pictures and games to the Antics, email the Antics editor at

[email protected]

Games in .pgn format are

strongly preferred.

The Alabama Chess Federation (ACF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and the United States Chess Federation affiliate for the state of Alabama. Our goal is to promote chess in this area for the benefit of all Alabama players. Toward that end, we provide advertising and other assistance for rated tournaments, as well as support for scholastic chess programs around the state.

All chess diagrams in this issue were produced using Fritz, a program by ChessBase.

President: Neil Dietsch

Vice President: Jonathan Rasberry

Secretary: Vacant

Treasurer: Paul Nager

Education VP: Neil Dietsch

Scholastic VP: Balagee Govindan

Public Relations: Michael Ciamarra

Antics Editor: Scott Varagona

Interim Webmaster: Neil Dietsch

Web Content Mgr.: Neil Dietsch

Member Admin.: Jonathan Rasberry

Tourn. Reports: Caesar Lawrence

ACF OFFICERS

alabama chess anticsalabamachess.org/antics/anticswinter2019.pdf · alabama chess antics ... 3rd...

Documents