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Alabama Chess

Antics

Inside this issue:

It’s Called “Elbow

Room”

by Jonathan Rasberry

4

Thinking Fast at

the Quick Chess

Championship

by Scott Varagona

12

Strout-Agarwalla

by Doug Strout

16

Summer Chess

Tactics

by Scott Varagona &

Stephen Graveling

19

Snapshots from

the Dual Ch.

game submitted by

Stephen Graveling

20

Snapshots from

the CBM by Scott Varagona & Caesar Lawrence

22

The Official Publication

of the Alabama Chess

Federation

Eight of Alabama’s top active players gather for a group photo at the

Falcon Chess Invitational in Montevallo, on June 4, 2016.

(Left to right: Sijing Wu, Stephen Graveling, Arden Markin, Stephen Adams,

Rochelle Wu, Jonathan Rasberry, Scott Varagona, and Christopher Trees.)

Summer 2016

Alabama Chess Antics

I am thrilled to present this latest issue of Antics! It overflows with content from Alabama’s summer chess season. First, Jonathan Rasberry deeply annotates a critical game from his triumph at the Falcon Chess Invitational. Next, we have two games from the 2016 Quick Chess Championship: I annotate my most entertaining game (against the dangerous Stephen Adams) from the Open section, and Doug Strout annotates his game against the eventual Reserve section champion, Mohak Agarwalla. Finally, we have two “snapshot reports” from the Dual-Rated Championship and also the Chris Bond Memorial; thanks to Stephen Graveling and Caesar Lawrence for submitting content for these articles. However, before we dive into this Antics, let’s recognize the achievements of our scholastic players at notable tournaments accompanying the 2016 U.S. Open. Arden Markin finished the Barber tournament with a strong 4 points out of 6. In the National Girls Tournament of Champions, Rochelle Wu scored a very impressive 4.5 out of 6, winning the top “Under Age 13” prize, and all without losing a single game! Meanwhile, Sijing Wu won clear first (with 5 out of 5) at the U.S. Open Weekend Swiss. These young players impress us time and time again; I hope more details about their recent successes will find their way into the next Antics. By the way: with the state championship coming up, VP Charles Smith has generously offered a special prize to the player with the highest combined score from the top sections of the Alabama Quick, Blitz, Dual, and State Championships. Here are the current leaders: 1. Scott Varagona (13.5 points) 2. Stephen Adams (11.5 points) 3. Jonathan Rasberry (10 points) 4. Sijing Wu (9.5 points) 5. Stephen Graveling (8.5 points)

I suppose it is no accident that Sijing and Jonathan have jokingly called these five players “the Big Five” of Alabama chess! As always, Antics is looking for new content. Please email your submissions to [email protected]. Games (with or without annotations) in .pgn format are strongly preferred.

Enjoy the Antics; I hope to see you at the 2016 State Championship.

Kindest regards, -Scott Varagona

Greetings from the Editor

ACF Membership

Any individual may become a Regular

Member upon the payment of annual dues of

$10.00. 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 $25.00. 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.

White to Play. (See p. 22 for the solution.)

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

Summer 2016

1 FM BRADLEY J DENTON 2330 26 TERRENCE W EDINBURGH 1900

2 TEJAS VINAYAK THORAT 2261 27 WILLIAM BLACKMAN 1891

3 SCOTT VARAGONA 2247 28 CHARLES A SMITH 1887

4 BILL MELVIN 2200 29 GUENTHER HUBER-DELLE 1873

5 MATTHEW V PUCKETT 2169 30 CHRISTOPHER TREES 1870

6 REX E BLALOCK 2150 31 CHARLES H ANTHONY 1866

7 STEPHEN ADAMS 2145 32 RHODES PEELE 1860

8 JOSEPH JURJEVICH 2121 33 TYLER C RHODES 1860

9 GERALD A LARSON 2119 34 THOMAS H LAWRY 1837

10 JONATHAN RASBERRY 2107 35 KENNETH JIAO 1834

11 GORDON JAMALL RANDALL 2102 36 TIM BOND 1832

12 DANIEL H THOMAS 2085 37 STEVE MENGXI CHEN 1824

13 STEPHEN JAMES GRAVELING 2081 38 CAESAR W LAWRENCE 1812

14 WILL THOMAS STEVENSON 2074 39 KENNETH W GOODMAN 1812

15 ARDEN QUINLAN MARKIN 2058 40 SAMUEL CAVETT 1802

16 JOSHUA THOMAS MCCLELLAN 2053 41 RAY DOWNS 1800

17 SIJING WU 2034 42 DOUGLAS STROUT 1788

18 RONNIE NETTLES 2017 43 KENNETH SLOAN 1775

19 CHARLES L MEIDINGER 2009 44 LUIS J MORENILLA 1773

20 GEORGE RUSYNIAK 1998 45 BRIAN MCCORMICK 1770

21 JEFF TOBIN 1957 46 TRIET MINH VO 1741

22 ROCHELLE WU 1939 47 OM BADHE 1740

23 MILES MELVIN III 1937 48 MARK PETERSON 1730

24 KIRK D PETTY 1924 49 DAVID HAYES 1718

25 ROGER DEAN JOHNSON 1922 50 JAMES ROBERT GRIFFIN 1717

Alabama Chess Leaderboard Top 50 Ratings (retrieved from uschess.org on August 5, 2016)


Well hello there reader! Have you ever questioned what makes a good chess player a good chess player? For the longest time as a beginner player, I thought all GMs (Grandmasters) won and lost games based on material. One GM would see this 22-move tactic that won a pawn, and that ended the game. Masters would see a little less deeply, while they themselves would see farther than me. Because of this, GMs would beat masters, and masters would beat me. Through practice, I became REALLY good at not losing material. I quickly rose through the reserve rated section and became a 1600. As a 1600 I beat a master

(because he dropped two pawns), and in a blitz game as an 1800, I drew a 2300. I was on my way to GM!! One thing puzzled me though: I wasn’t winning very many games with people rated 1500 and above. They also must have been onto my strategy of not dropping material (in reality, Grandmasters, masters, and other strong players don’t often win games because the other player blundered material). After getting roasted by a few 1800s (even though I didn’t hang pieces), I decided to modify my strategy. Don’t drop material, and don’t play passively! I was just hunkering up into a ball and hoping my opponents blinked before I did. I finally started chalking up wins against those players and quickly rose to the level of expert. However, once I started squaring off with the top players in Alabama, I quickly realized, just not losing material and playing actively were not enough. Both are important, but as I got outplayed by masters and other experts, one final thing had to be added to my strategy. I needed to know what is important in the position and why. Masters can realize what types of strategies to use in particular positions, they know when to play actively and when not to, and so on. I am now devoting the majority of my time to learning what is important in various chess positions and why. With the following game, I want to help you on your journey to knowing

It’s Called “Elbow Room”

(and it’s Important in Chess)

By Jonathan Rasberry

Jonathan Rasberry at the 2016 Falcon

Chess Invitational

Summer 2016

what is important in the position and why. Obviously, it is a long journey, so you can’t learn everything at once. This is why we have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Today’s theme is on limiting your opponent’s ideas. It is critically important to make sure your opponent can’t do whatever he (or she) wants to do (not just playing actively, but also stopping your opponent from playing actively). Make sure to play through this game with a real board, so you follow along even better than with occasional pictures of the position. The following game was an exciting matchup for me, as I was playing one of my biggest archrivals, Stephen Graveling. Stephen has a plus record on me overall; however, going into this game, we had actually drawn eight or so games in a row! It was about time to end this streak (in my favor of course), and both of us came ready to fight in this game. Also, he and I were the only two undefeated players going into the second-to-last round. The winner would guarantee himself first place, possibly outright first as well. This game comes from the third round of the Falcon Chess Invitational.

J. Rasberry - S. Graveling (2060) (2072)

Falcon Chess Invitational, Round 3 Montevallo, AL; June 4, 2016

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bf5

You may be familiar with the opening line we have played thus far, the Slav. If Stephen had gone for 4…e6 he would have been playing the Semi-Slav. The Semi-Slav (and Queen’s Gambit Declined 2…e6) has only one real problem, the bishop on c8. The pawn formation (look at it with a real board!) just totally seems to block the bishop from all activity for a long time. With this line, black plays to activate the bishop before playing e6. Why doesn’t everybody play this? The only drawback to this is the bishop would be better on the a8-h1 diagonal if the b7, c6, and d5 pawns disappeared. This is why most players are willing to spend time playing dxc4, b6 (or b5 sometimes), c5, and then eventually placing the bishop on said diagonal. 5.e3 e6 6.Be2 6.Bd3 is quite fine, allowing black to get rid of his once “bad” c8-bishop for


a “good bishop.” Remember, a bishop is good if most of its advanced pawns are on the opposite color of said bishop, not obstructing its movement. Thus, I didn’t want to make this “good” bishop for “bad” bishop trade (c6, d5, e6 are on light squares making his bishop “bad”), even though at the moment, his “bad” bishop is better than my “good” bishop. I wanted to keep my light square bishop because if I can ever play Nh4 followed by taking black’s light square bishop, my light square bishop would be very powerful.

6…Be7 7.0-0 0-0?! Wait! Castling is dubious? Remember I said I wanted to play Nh4, trapping that bishop on f5 (or g6) and take it with my knight. Normally, knights are slightly inferior to bishops, and the fact that his bishop is sitting on the prime diagonal for my own bishop and queen makes his B a very good piece. Thus, if he plans on giving up that piece, he should take my light square bishop with it. I say this, because after his bishop is gone, ask yourself this: which piece would I rather have, the bishop or knight? The bishop! Had he played 7...h6! then after

8.Nh4, he can play 8…Bh7! keeping the piece. Then, to get rid of that pesky B, I have to give up my nice light square piece, by playing Bd3. 8.Nh4 Bg6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 Now I have gotten rid of his nice bishop, and I can be happy. You may not see much improvement in the position for me, but here’s what I know: the queen in d4-c4 openings often ends up on c2, the bishop loves sitting on d3, and often I want to push my e3 pawn to e4, gaining space and getting a stronger center. That bishop on g6 singlehandedly stopped me from doing all three of those things! If black had replied fxg6 to Nxg6, this would be sub-optimal in that it breaks up his pawn chain and gives him less control of the center. That is more important than a semi-open rook file in this case. 10.b3 Like black does in the Semi-Slav, I plan on putting my “bad” bishop on the long diagonal, where it will await a glorious destiny. I simply thought playing Qc2, Bd3, and e4 was too long of a plan to play when my bishop was on c1, and both rooks were out of play. I will play to bust open the center or go for an attack when all my pieces are ready! 10…Nbd7 11.Bb2 Rc8 That rook will soon be on an open file if black can push c6-c5; thus, he

I needed to know what is

important in the position

and why...

Summer 2016

brings his rook to that nice square “activating” his piece. I do the same. 12.Rc1 dxc4 13.bxc4 This move keeps better control of the center over the other move, Bxc4. 13…Qa5!? At this point, both of us realized that black’s liberating idea of c5 has been stopped. If 12…c5 13.d5 exd5 14.cxd5, my center would be too strong. e4, f4, e5 would be extremely devastating. If you don’t quite understand, put those pawns on d5, e5, and f4 and just try to understand the power of the space cramp. Black should have gone for 12...e5! Black thought he was helping the idea of e5 come about by adding an additional defender to that square while also developing a piece. However, I stopped e5 for good with my next move. 14.f4! Now according to the computer the move 14.Qb3, with the idea of playing for a queenside advantage, would be the correct way of going about business. However, for two humans, this juicy move seems strongest. The text stops e5 permanently, gives me an even larger space advantage, and possibly introduces the new idea of Rf1-f3-h3, Qd1-e1-h4-h8 with mate! Sounds scary for black, eh? 14…Rfd8?

This is quite the mistake. Black should have gone for 14…b5! Remember, counterplay! I do have an attack on the horizon, and if he just piddles around for the next 5 or so moves, he will be forced into the defense, and his counterplay will be stopped.

He has to try to get me to focus on something else—my space advantage. The space is giving me all the options. My pieces can move anywhere they please, while black’s are cramped and can’t get anywhere fast. Had he played the strange move b5, he could have stopped me from advancing my attack, and forced me to figure out a way to keep my space advantage without ceding control of those important central squares d5 and e4. I don’t have too many great responses to said move and my advantage would shrink. c5 would give him the d5 square, and taking would open up his rook, and I would no longer have control over d5


again. Suddenly I have to figure out a way of attacking before he gains total central domination with a knight on e4 and d5, rooks on the open diagonal, and solid pawn structure. See the importance of stopping your opponent’s ideas? Ok, 14…Rfd8 looks passive, but it does have an idea. What is it, and how do I combine the defense against his idea with the furthering of my plan? 15.Qe1 Did you see his threat was e5, fxe5, Nxe5! He takes advantage of the pin and I am losing my space edge while he is liberating his pieces. Qe1 continues with that aforementioned plan, and gets out of the way of that potential pin on the d-file, limiting his counterplay.

15…Qb4? 16.Rb1! b6 17.Rf3 Black’s last couple of moves have only given me more time to play with. Now that black has fallen so far behind, he has no choice but to defend his king. 17…Nh7! Stephen has now finally caught onto the fact that he needs to break down

my space advantage in order to stop my ideas, and with his move, he now prepares 18…g5. 18.Rh3 g5 19.Bd3

Notice, I didn’t just react to being attacked here, I placed my bishop on that great diagonal that we have been discussing, threatening the steed with tempo. The best players don’t want to just react to their opponent’s moves, but combine the defense with the offense. 19…g6 20.Qg3 Ndf8 21.Ne4! f5 22.Nxg5 Bxg5 23.fxg5 Qe7! Black has played a very interesting line: he has blocked up the kingside so my attack will be slower. He now has Qe7 to take back my pawn and bring the queen into the defense. My position is winning according to the computer, but as you can plainly see, winning this will

Combine the defense with

the offense...

Summer 2016

not be easy. 24.e4! When you get stuck in a position and you don’t see a clear way of moving forward, rely on principles! When you are attacking, you need to have open lines for your pieces. e4 attempts to open up some lines. 24…Qxg5 25.Qf2

25…fxe4?? This is almost definitely the losing error from my opponent. I said open lines for the attack, and this move gives me exactly what I want. Now my bishop has a target, g6, and my queen and rook can sit on the f-file, causing havoc. You just now get the sense that you have a win against one of the strongest players in the state; it is time to finish him off!

26.Bxe4 Rc7 27.Rf1! Many lower rated players want to know how stronger players win positions like this. My move, Rf1, demonstrates the simplicity and importance of building your position up before the final assault. You cannot win with only one or two pieces. You need your entire army! Rf1 brings a piece into the game, but possibly more importantly, it stops black’s main source of counterplay, placing rooks on the f-file. I build my position while stopping my opponent’s counterplay. This is how you beat good players. 27…Rdd7 28.Rg3

My entire army is in place (the b2-bishop will breathe fire at the right moment with the timely d5 sacrifice); now it is time to begin the final assault. To do so, you need a target for attack. I


don’t see a way to mate black, so let us target the weak g6 pawn. If we can win that guy, it will be all over. 28…Qh6 29.Qc2 g5 This move is unfortunate for black but necessary (29…Rg7 30.d5!). Generally, when you have an overwhelming attack, you must do your best to always be on the lookout for a tactic to win material or threaten mate, and here I did just that. I need to bust open my b2-bishop, but the d4 pawn is in the way. 30.d5 While this is a great move, the immediate Rh3, Qg7, d5, Qe7, Bxh7, Nxh7, Qg6 would have been even stronger. I misplayed the move order, but I still had a crushing advantage. Why is d5 good? Take a moment and try to spot my tactical threat. 30…cxd5 31.Rh3!

Oops, the queen is trapped! The two great bishops and two awesome rooks all combine to trap the queen. This shows the importance of developing all pieces for the attack. Here, black settles for a rook, bishop, and pawn for a queen, an even trade, but my attack is far from over. 31…Qxh3 32.gxh3 dxe4 33.Qxe4 Rf7 34.Rxf7 Kxf7 35.Ba3 Kf6 36.Qf3+ Kg6?? 37.Bxf8 1-0

In the end, before black dropped the knight (which was due to having just over a minute left on the clock), he was close to even on material. Once the knight was killed, the win for me was fairly simple. Just push the a-pawn to a5, force black to play bxa5, follow that up by pushing the c-pawn with the queen’s assistance, and that will force black to sacrifice rook for pawn. The queen can promote a pawn on her own, which is why the queen is so much more powerful than a rook in the endgame.

Summer 2016

I hope the theme of the importance of counterplay and limiting your opponent’s was clearly felt. Black crucially missed his opportunity to play e5, and then didn’t even challenge my center with b5 or g5 early enough. I then showed decent, not perfect (even experts and masters make so many mistakes!!) technique, got a big attack, forced black on the defense, then won material, and the game eventually. Effectively limiting counterplay, and finding counterplay when you yourself are behind, comes with practice; so, don’t forget to go to your local chess clubs and tournaments to practice getting better with this idea. Keep up the great work! ■

Jonathan Rasberry continues to play

impressive chess this summer. He not only won

clear first at the Falcon Chess Invitational—a

tournament with an average rating of

approximately 2046—hut also tied for first at

the Dual-Rated State Championship (Open

Section), and won the Championship trophy on

tiebreaks. We are very grateful that he is

becoming a steady contributor to the Antics as

well. -Editor

Falcon Chess Invitational 2016: Top Performers

Name Rating Score

1. Jonathan Rasberry 2060 3.0

2-4. Stephen Graveling 2072 2.5

2-4. Scott Varagona 2248 2.5

2-4. Stephen Adams 2150 2.5

The Falcon Chess Invitational prizewinners (with trophies

made of LEGO bricks). Left to right: Jonathan Rasberry,

Stephen Graveling, Scott Varagona, Stephen Adams.


Stephen Adams – Scott Varagona Alabama Quick Chess Ch. (Round 3)

Birmingham, AL; June 25, 2016 This is now the fifth consecutive year in which Stephen Adams and I have faced each other at the Alabama Quick Chess Championships. Our encounters often play a crucial role in determining who gets first prize, and this year’s game was no exception. Not to mention, any time you play Stephen, you can expect fireworks… 1.b3 Earlier this year, when thinking about how to answer Stephen’s favorite opening move—1.b3—I came up with an idea that seemed just crazy enough to work: 1...Nf6 2.Bb2 b5!? The Polish Defense against Larsen’s Opening!? This is not something you see every day. Still, I have played the Polish against various White setups, and here it seemed that after 3.e3 Bb7 4.Nf3 b4, Black would have a perfectly comfortable game. 3.e4!? ...Or not. Of course, Stephen mixes it up at the earliest opportunity.

3...Nxe4 4.Bxb5 Bb7 5.Nf3 a6 6.Bd3 d6 7.0–0 Nd7 8.Re1 Nef6 9.c4 e6 10.Nc3 Be7 From a positional point of view, Black should be doing well: after all, trading the b-pawn for White’s e-pawn has given Black a central majority. The problem is—as is often the case when playing Stephen—I might simply get mated. His bishops point ominously at my kingside, and soon his queen will too.

Thinking Fast at the Quick Chess Championship By Scott Varagona

I am winning… if my king

doesn’t die.

Summer 2016

11.Bc2 c5 12.d4 cxd4 13.Qxd4 Whoa, he’s letting me take on f3. Very suspicious… For now, I hesitated to give his rooks a half-open g-file. 13...0–0 14.Rad1 Qb6 15.Qh4!

A fierce move: White threatens many things, including Bxh7+ (surprise!) thanks to the undefended bishop on e7.

With Nf3-g5 threatened too, my intuition told me to trade right now while I had the chance. 15...Bxf3 16.gxf3 Well, at least now I am strategically winning, if my king doesn’t die. 16…g6 17.Qh6 Rfd8? I had been thinking about 18.Ne4 for so long that I missed White’s other idea, which could have been addressed by 17...Rfe8! 18.Nd5! exd5 19.Rxe7 Ne5!

Despite all the alarming things happening around my king, much to my surprise, Black is okay. My knights and d6 pawn are doing a great job of clogging up the a1–h8 diagonal, ...Nxf3+ and ...dxc4 are threatened, and White can’t play f4 right away because of tactical problems


after ...Nfg4! 20.Kg2?! In light of how the game ended, maybe White should have tried to simplify with 20.Bxe5 dxe5 21.Rxe5, a l though B l ack ha s obv ious compensation for the pawn. On the other hand, the computer claims a small edge for White after the non-intuitive 20.cxd5!, but the position remains complicated. 20...dxc4! I really like this move. Black casually takes a pawn and invites White to do his worst. 21.f4??

But this is way too ambitious. Now, Black crashes through with a raging counterattack: 21...Qc6+! 22.Kg1 Nfg4 23.Qh3 Nf3+

24.Kf1 Ngxh2+

It is always a great moral victory when two knights outshine the two bishops! 25.Ke2 Re8 26.Re3 c3 27.Ba1 d5 28.Kd3 d4 29.Re5 Nxe5+ 30.fxe5 Qb5+

Facing mate, White resigned (0–1). ■

Summer 2016

Left: 2016 Alabama Quick Chess

(Open) Champion, Scot t

Varagona; Quick Reserve

Champion Mohak Agarwalla;

Tournament Director and

Organizer, Balagee Govindan.

Right: Prizewinners from

the 2016 Alabama Blitz

Chess Championship. Tied

for first: Stephen Adams,

Scott Varagona. 3rd place

prize: Miles Melvin.

Tournament Director:

Balagee Govindan.

Alabama Quick Chess Championship (Open) 2016: Top Performers

Name Rating (Quick) Score

1. Scott Varagona 2080 4.5


2-3. Sijing Wu 1854 3.5

Alabama Blitz Chess Championship 2016: Top Performers

Name Rating (Blitz) Score

1-2. Scott Varagona 2207 5.5



D.L. Strout - M. Agarwalla Alabama Quick Reserve Ch. (Round 1)

Birmingham, AL; June 25, 2016 1.e4 This is round 1 of the 2016 Alabama Quick Championship. The opponent is Mohak Agarwalla (1197), the eventual 2016 Alabama Quick Reserve Champion. 1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 A fairly straightforward Sicilian to this point. This move prepares O-O. 5...a6 6.0–0 e6 Not ...e5 to pressure the d4 knight. Interesting choice.

7.Nc3 Be7 8.Re1 Qc7 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Bf4 e5 Now he brings ...e5 with pressure. 11.Bd2 0–0 12.Qc1 Nc5 I’m still adequately defended at e4, and ...Nxd3 cxd3 just opens c-file for me. No major threats here.

13.Be3 Nxd3 14.cxd3 b5 15.Qd2 Bb7 16.Rac1 Trying to assert the open file. 16...Qd7 17.Rc2 Rfd8 18.Rec1 Rac8 19.Ne2 Ng4 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 21.Rxc8+ Qxc8 22.Qc3

Strout-Agarwalla By Doug Strout

Summer 2016

Still maintaining a presence on the open file after the liquidation of the rooks. 22...Nxe3 23.Qxc8+ Getting my queen trade before recovering the knight. Heading toward my endgame. Two knights versus two bishops should be interesting. 23...Bxc8 24.fxe3 Be6 25.b3 f6 26.Kf2 Bg4 27.h3 Bxf3 28.Kxf3

Another interesting choice by black. He concedes his bishop pair by BxN, and my returning KxB advances my king and prevents isolation of the h-pawn. 28...Kf7 29.Nc3 Bd8 30.Nd5 Looks like a nice outpost, but his bishop controls the squares I need. 30...Ke6 31.g4 g6

32.Nc3 I’m wondering if Nb4 would have been better here. 32...Ba5 33.Ne2 Bd2 34.Ng3 Be1 35.Nf1 Bb4 36.Ng3 Be1 37.Ne2 Bb4 38.d4 Going for a center break and preventing the repetition draw that was looming.


38...Bd2 39.Ng1 Kd7 40.Ke2 Bb4 41.Kd3 Ke6 42.d5+ Ke7 43.Ne2 Kd7 44.Nc3 Kc7 45.Nb1 Kb7 46.Ke2 Kc7 47.a3 Bc5 48.b4 Bb6 49.Kd3 Kb7 50.Nd2 Kc7 51.Nf3 Kd7 52.Nh4 I’m trying to create or find outposts for my knight, but I didn’t feel like I could play g5 here because fxg5 Nxg5 leaves him with a kingside pawn majority.

52...Ke7 53.Nf3 Kd7 54.Ke2 Ke7 55.Nh2 Kf7 56.Nf1 Ke7 57.Ng3 Kf7 58.h4 Bd8 59.Kf3 Kg7 60.h5 Kf7

This is my last play for a break. I’m hoping for either ...gxh5 gxh5 or ...g5, either of which would open the f5 outpost. Mohak doesn’t bite, though, and the pawn stays on g6. My notation ends here, but a draw is agreed soon after, a righteous result given the position. After this game, Mohak goes on to win four in a row to finish 4.5/5 and claim the title of Alabama Quick Reserve Champion. Congratulations. ½–½ ■

Quick (Reserve) Ch. 2016:

Top Performers

Name Score

1. Mohak Agarwalla 4.5

2. Christian E. Friedman 4.0

3. Doug Strout 3.5

Summer 2016

Summer Chess

Tactics (See below for solutions.)

1. Varagona,S – Johnson,R 2016 Dual-Rated Ch.

White to Play.

3. Puckett,M – Varagona,S

Vulcan Open, 2016

White to Play.

4. Wu,R – Graveling,S Falcon Chess Invitational, 2016

Black to Play. (Mate in 2.)

2. Adams,S – Varagona,S 2016 Dual-Rated Ch.

Black to Play.

Answers: 1. White plays 1.Qf3!, threatening both Qf7+ and dxe6 (followed by Qxa8). White wins material. 2. Black wins the Exchange with 1...Bxf2+! 3. White wins a pawn (eventually) with 1.Ne3! 4. Black plays 1…Ra1+! 2.Kxa1 Qc1# (or 2.Kb2 Qxa3#).


Roger Johnson – Stephen Graveling (1922) (2081)

Alabama Dual-Rated Ch, Round 3 Montgomery, AL; July 23, 2016

In this position, Roger Johnson played 36.Qxf3 and offered a draw, which Stephen Graveling accepted. After the game, Stephen told me White could have surely won with 36.Qc8+ and Qxa6. However, there is another alternative: the drawish-looking king and pawn ending that would occur after 36.Qxf3 Nxf3 37.Kxf3 is actually dead won for White! Here is the proof:

37…Kf7 If Black plays 37…b5?? then 38.cxb5 axb5 39.a4 is an easy win for White, and if 37…g6 38.hxg6 Kg7 39.Kg4 Kxg6 40.Kh4 h5 41.g4 hxg4 42.Kxg4, White gains the opposition and Black’s king must soon step aside. Also, any kind of tempo move like …a5 by Black makes no difference since White

Snapshots from the Dual-Rated Championship Game submitted by Stephen Graveling; notes by Scott Varagona

The “two old men in hats,” a.k.a., Kirk Petty and

Roger Johnson.

Summer 2016

has two tempo moves, a2-a3 and then a3-a4, at his disposal. 38.Kg4 Kf6 39.Kh4 Ke6 40.g4 Kf6

41.g5+! The key to breaking through. Now if 41…Ke6, then 42.Kg4 and eventually Black’s king must give way.

41…hxg5+ 42.Kg4 Ke6 43.Kxg5 Kf7 44.Kf5, winning. ■

2016 Dual-Rated Open Champion:

Jonathan Rasberry.

Alabama Dual-Rated Chess Championship 2016: Top Performers

Open Section: 1st place (3.5 points), Jonathan Rasberry

(2107), champion, and Scott Varagona (2247), co-champion

U1800: 1st place (3.5 points), Tejas Thorat (2261, provisional)

U1200: 1st place (3 points), Kristian Jordan (1062), champion,

and Joseph Jacob Hayes (1186)


Scott Varagona – Tim Bond (2255) (1880)

Chris Bond Memorial, Round 1 Montgomery, AL; August 6, 2016

Black has just played …Qc7-b6. White already had tremendous pressure in this position, but now there is a tactical blow: 27.Rxf7! Rxf7 28.Rd7 Rc7? Black was already in dire straits, but this move brings the game to an immediate end. 29.Bxf7+ Kh8

30.Bxg7+! 1-0

Snapshots from the Chris Bond Memorial by Scott Varagona & Caesar Lawrence

Tournament Director & Organizer, Caesar

Lawrence, with CBM Premiere Section

winner Scott Varagona.

Summer 2016

Above: Round 1 of the Premiere

Section of the 2016 Chris Bond

Memorial. Eventually, the

winning score in this section

would be 4 points, followed by a

6-way tie(!) for second place, at

2.5 points.

Right: TD Caesar Lawrence with

the Amateur Section winner,

Kristian Kade Jordan.

Chris Bond Memorial 2016: Top Performers

Premiere Section: 1st place (4 points), Scott Varagona (2255)

Reserve: 1st place (4 points), Constance Wang (1120)

Amateur: 1st place (4 points), Kristian Kade Jordan (1140)

Novice: 1st place (3.5 points), Akhil Batchu

Email: Alabama.Chess.Editor

@gmail.com

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

August 20 Back-2-School Scholastic V Birmingham, AL

September 2-4 Alabama State Chess Championship Huntsville, AL

September 3 UAH Scholastic Individual Tourn. Huntsville, AL

September 4 UAH Scholastic Team Tourn. Huntsville, AL

October 8 National Chess Day Scholastic Birmingham, AL

October 29 Halloween Classic Huntsville, AL

ALABAMA

CHESS

ANTICS

Alabama Chess Federation

www.alabamachess.org

President: Neil Dietsch

Vice-President: Charles A. Smith

Secretary Balagee Govindan

Treasurer: Bradley Denton

Scholastic VP: Gerald Larson

Antics Editor: Scott Varagona

Webmaster: Neil Dietsch

Public Relations: Michael Ciamarra

Member Admin: Jonathan Rasberry

Tourn. Reports: Caesar Lawrence

ACF OFFICERS

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.

alabama chess anticsalabamachess.org/antics/anticssummer2016.pdf · summer chess tactics by scott...

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