rank & file - scchess.com · rank & file january-february 2008 volume xxxi, no. 1 $3.00 gm...
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R ank & File JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008 VOLUME XXXI, NO. 1 $3.00
GM Alex Yermolinsky
43rd Annual
American Open
2 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
25th Annual
U.S. Amateur Team WestFebruary 16-18, 2008
LAX Hilton 5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90045 A Fun Tournament An Affordable Tournament A Tournament for Everyone!
Four-player teams plus optional alternate, average rating of four highest must be U/2200.
(Diference betrween boards 3 and 4 may noi exceed 1000 points. December 2007 rating list used.)
Entry fee: : $118 per team if received by 2/15, $136 at site,
Under age 18 $86/$100
Trophies and 4 clocks to top 3 teams, U2100, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400/unr.Trophies to top college, industrial
(if at least 3 teams), Junior (under 18), Senior (over 55), U1200. Clocks to best score each board and alternate. Gift certificate prizes for best team names (1st & 2nd).
Registration 8-10 a.m. 2/17 Rounds 11-6, 11-6, 10-4:30Hotel rate: $109, (310) 410-4000, mention chess. Reserve by Feb. 1 or rates may go up. Parking $10..
On-line entry, help in forming teams: www.westernchess.comEntries: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1A, Los Angeles CA 90038
February 1811TH ANNUAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOLASTIC AMATEUR TEAM. 4-SS, SD/45, LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Four-player teams plus optional alternate, Grade 12/below, average rating of four highest must be U1200. (Dec. 2007 rating list used, Feb. 2008 used for previ-ously unrated players.) EF: $69 per team received by 2/15, $84 at site. Trophies (team & individual) to top 3 teams, top U1000, U800, U400/unr. Reg. 9:00-10 a.m. Rds. 10:30-1-2:45-4:30. Info, help in forming teams: Jim Bullock, 714-848-4377, [email protected]. Web site, advance entry list: www.westernchess.com. Parking: $10. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1A, Los Angeles CA 90038. NS, NC, W.
February 19AT HEXES. 3-SS, G/90. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Six-player sec-tions by rating. EF: $20 if rec. by 2-15, $25 door. $$40-20-10 each section. Reg: 9:30-10:15 a.m. Rds 10:30-1:30-4:30. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1A, Los Angeles CA 90038. on line at www.westernchess.com
3 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION ........... .........................................................343RD ANNUAL AMERICAN OPEN ...............................5JOSEPH ILETO MEMORIAL .....................................................11TACTICS
by TIM HANKS ................................. .....................................................................12CHESS LESSONS
by GM MELIKSET KHACHIYAN ... .......................................................15 GAMES FROM RECENT EVENTS ....................................17HERE & THERE
Club news, local tournaments, scholastic events and more .............................................................................18EDITORIAL: FOREVER WAR ......................................................24STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS .................25
UPCOMING EVENTS ...............................................................................26 CHESS QUIZ ................................................ .......................................................28
CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION ........... .........................................................343RD ANNUAL AMERICAN OPEN ...............................5JOSEPH ILETO MEMORIAL .....................................................11TACTICS
by TIM HANKS .................................TIM HANKS .................................TIM HANKS .....................................................................12CHESS LESSONS
by GM MELIKSET KHACHIYANGM MELIKSET KHACHIYANGM ... MELIKSET KHACHIYAN ... MELIKSET KHACHIYAN .......................................................15 GAMES FROM RECENT EVENTS ....................................17HERE & THERE
Club news, local tournaments, scholastic scholastic schol eventsastic eventsastic and more .............................................................................and more .............................................................................and more 18EDITORIAL: FOREVER WAR ......................................................: FOREVER WAR ......................................................: FOREVER WAR 24STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERSSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERSSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP Q .................25
UPCOMING EVENTS ...............................................................................26 CHESS QUIZ ................................................ .......................................................28
CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321ST ANNUAL U.S. AMATEUR TEAM
WEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5WESTERN CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS . . . . . . . . 10TACTICS
by Tim Hanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12HERE & THERE
Club news, local tournaments, scholastic events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS . . . . . . 19GAMES FROM RECENT EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 21THE LIGHTER SIDE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24UPCOMING EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26CHESS QUIZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Around the Nation
Around the Nation
Amateur Team: Check, Mate
The U.S. Amateur Team West is almost here. Have you formed your team yet?
This year’s version, to be held February 16-18 at the LAX Hil-ton, once again offers an inexpen-sive and fun tournament, in which you and your friends can compete for trophies, clocks, and a shot at a national championship!. An on-line playoff with the winners of the East, North and South will take place March 24.
The event is open to four-player teams (plus an optional alternate) with an average rating below 2200, so everyone’s contribution matters! Plus, there are prizes for each class, as well as best junior, senior, college and industrial team – and even a special prize for best team name!
If you don’t have a team yet, what are you waiting for? For help in forming teams (”… we need one more player rated 1743”), or to en-ter on line, go to www.westernchess.com. Don’t be left out!
World Championship: New Order?
The World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik will be held from October 11 to 30, 2008 in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Fed-eral Republic of Germany in Bonn, Germany.
The match will consist of twelve games played under classical time controls. If there is a tie at the end of these games a tiebreak will be played on October 30, 2008. The prize fund, which will be split equally between the players, is 1.5 million Euro (approximately 2.1 million US Dollars).
Reigning champion Anand won the title in September 2007 at the World Championship tournament in Mexico City. Kramnik, who fin-ished second in the tournament, was entitled under the rules to a rematch.
The official web site of the match is www.uep-worldchess.com.
— FIDE news release.
4 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Advertising Rates: Full page $80, half page $45, 1/4 page $25, 1/8 page $15, back cover (3/4 page) $80. (All rates are for camera-ready copy.) Flyer insert $50 (advertiser must supply flyers). 50% discount for tournaments requiring SCCF membership. Display ads should be sent to the Editor, flyers to the Publisher (addresses at right). Payment should be sent with order to the Editor. SCCF reserves the right to reject any advertising.
SCCF OnlineThe SCCF Web
page is located at: www.scchess.com
President Elliot Landaw Vice President Ron Rezendes Secretary Chuck Ensey Treasurer John Hillery Executive Board
Randy Hough Mike Nagaran Rick Aeria Jim Bullock Mick Bighamian Jerry Yee Essam Mohamed Takashi Iwamoto Rank & File Editor John Hillery 835 N. Wilton Pl. # Los Angeles CA 90038 [email protected]
Publisher David Argall Contributing Editors Jack Peters Tim Hanks Al Pena Contributors Chuck Ensey Randy Hough Cyrus Lakdawala Anthony Ong Jerry Yee Subscriptions/Address Changes Randy Hough, Membership Secretary P.O. Box 205 Monterey Park CA 9754 (626) 282-742 [email protected]
Rank & File — ISSN 8750-964 USPS 738-230, published bimonthly by the Southern California Chess Federation, 300 Ballista, La Puente CA 9744. Periodical postage paid at Industry, CA. POST-MASTER: Send changes of address to SCCF, PO Box 205, Monterey Park CA 9754. Subscriptions: $4 adult, $9 junior.
Copyright © SCCF 2008. One-time only publication rights have been obtained from signed contributors. All other rights are hereby assigned to the authors. The opinions expressed are strictly those of the contribu-tors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SCCF, its officers or members.
Southern California Chess Federation
World Cup: Kamsky Comeback
And who will be the next chal-lenger to the winner of the Anand-Kramnik match? It could be Gata Kamsky. By winning the World Cup, held in December in Khanty-Man-siysk, Russia, Kamsky earned the right to a final candidate’s match against GM Veselin Topalov.
Kamsky, who had withdrawn from chess in 1996 to attend college, was clearly rusty when he returned in 2004. Would he be able to regain his place among the top dozen play-ers in the world? This tournament proved the answer to be yes. In a series of short matches, he defeated GMs Ahmed Adly, Boris Avrukh, Kiril Georgiev, Peter Svidler, Rus-lan Ponomariov, Magnus Carlsen, and Alexey Shirov. And he didn’t lose a single game!
Here is the decisive game from the final match between Kamsky and Shirov:
GM Gata Kamsky – GM Alexey Shirov
World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2007
B30 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Closed Variation1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5
4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 d6 6.Nd2 Bg5 7.Qh5 Nh6 8.h3 Nd4 9.0–0 0–0 10.Nb3 Bxc1 11.Raxc1 Ne6 12.Ne2 Qf6 13.Nd2 Kh8 14.c3 g5 15.d4 Rg8 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nf3 Rg6 18.h4 Qg7 19.Bxe6 Bxe6 20.hxg5 f6 21.gxf6 Rxg2+ 22.Kh1 Qxf6 23.Qxe5 Qxe5 24.Nxe5 Rg5 25.f4 Rh5+ 26.Kg1 Rg8+ 27.Kf2 Rh2+ 28.Ke3 Rgg2 29.Ng1 Rxb2 30.f5 Bxa2 31.Rcd1 Rbc2 32.Rd8+ Ng8 33.Ngf3 Rxc3+ 34.Kf4 Rh6 35.Rg1 Rf6 36.Ng5 h6 37.Ngf7+ 1–0
There’s still time ...... to renew your SCCF mem-
bership at the current rates! As of March 1, 2008, the cost of a 1-year membership will rise to $18/year for adult, $10/year for juniors under 18. But until then, for $14 adult, $9 junior! And, if you renew for more than one year, you save even more! Get two years for $27, or three years for only $40. Send your renewal to SCCF, P.O. Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754, or on line at www.scchess.com.
National Youth Action
The USCF)\ held the 2007 Na-tional Youth Action (NYA) tourna-ment on November 16-18 at the Mil-lennium Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. The event drew 476 players.
The main event consisted of nine rounds of “Action” chess (30 min-utes per player for the game). There were four sections: Primary (K-3), Elementary (K-6), Junior High (K-9) and High School (K-12).
Section Champions:K-12 Section: Stanley Yang, 8½-
½K-9 Section: Andrew Ng and Mat-
thew Dahl, 8-1.K-6 Section: Kevin Bu, Kevin Y.
Cao, Sean Vibbert, and Robert M. Perez, 7½-1½.
K-3 Section: Outeng He, 8½-½.
Photos: Cover, pp. 6, 7, 8, 9: John Hil-lery. P. 10: Anthony Ong.
Continued on page 22 ...
5 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
American Open43rd Annual
After 43 years, the American Open is still going strong. While other tournaments rely on prize fund alone, the American
Open, with lectures, chess movies, chess art, and assorted best-game prizes, remains one of a kind.
This year’s edition, held at the LAX Renaissance Hotel November 22-25, saw popular GM Alex Yermo-linsky take clear first place. Going into the final round, no fewer than eight players had a shot at first place — but only Yermo could bring home the full point to finish with 6-2.
Next at 5½-2½ were GM Melik-set Khachiyan, IMs Enrico Sevil-lano and Vinay Bhat, and masters Eugene Yanayt and John Daniel Bryant.
Other section winners includ-ed Derek Tan, 7-1 in Under-2200; Benjamin Marmont, 7½-½ in Un-der-2000; Robert Xue, 7-1 in Under-1800; Roxas Acosta (rated 1086!), 8-0 in Under-1600; and Christian Garcia, Daniel Benjamin, and Clif-ton Lowe, 6-2 in Under-1400.
The American Open Scholastic attracted 105 players. Section win-ners were Jonathan Laks, 5-0 in K-12, Andrew Kao and Daniel Lin, 4-1 in K-8, Yusheng Xia and Liam Fairweather, 5-1 in K-6, and Austin Chang, David Chen, Winston Zeng, Justin Tay, and Kevin Qian, 4-1 in K-3.
IM Andranik Matikozyan topped the 34-player 10-minute tournament with 8½-1½, while Michael Aigner of Northern California swept the 26-player Action tournament (30-min-ute games) with 5-0.
Randy Hough and Elie Hsiao directed. Complete standings for all sections may be found at www.
GM Melikset Khachiyan – Eric Hansen
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
B43 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Paulsen Variation(Notes by Los Angeles Times
chess columnist Jack Peters)1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Qc7 Sometimes called the Paulsen
or Kan variation of the Sicilian De-fense.
6. 0-0 Nf6 7. Nc3 Bc5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Qf3 Nbd7
Or 10. ... Nc6. 11. Be3 0-0 12. a4 b6 13. a5 The pawn storm 13. g4 favors
White, but Khachiyan has a com-pletely different idea.
13. … b5 Correct. After 13. ... bxa5 14.
Nxa5, White can work on the Queenside.
14. e5!? Bb7 15. exf6 Bxf3 16. fxe7 Rfe8 17. Rxf3 Rxe7
Maybe 17. ... f5!? improves. 18. f5 The three pieces will outplay
the Queen if White can attack, but Black’s position is still solid. Evalu-ation: unclear.
18. … d5If 18. ... Ne5 19. Rg3 Kh8 20. Bd4
f6, the Knights come alive with 21. Bb6 Qb7 22. fxe6 Nxd3 23. Rxd3 Rxe6 24. Nd4.
19. Rg3 Qd6 20. Rf1 Threatening 21. f6. Neither 20.
... Kh8? 21. fxe6 fxe6 22. Bg5 Ree8 23. Rf7 nor 20. ... e5?? 21. f6! Nxf6 22. Bc5 Qd7 23. Rxf6 defends.
20. … g6 21. Bg5 Ree8 22. fxe6 fxe6 23. Bh6
Securing the f-file. 23. … Rac8 24. Nd1 Possibly heading for g4. 24. … e5 Not bad, but 24. ... Ne5! disrupts
White’s plan. Black would parry 25. Bf4 by 25. ... Rf8.
25. c3 b4 26. Bb1 bxc3 27. Nxc3 e4?
Underestimating the Bishops. Instead, 27. ... Kh8 28. Ba2 Nf6 keeps the outcome in doubt.
28. Ba2 Ne5 Black cannot stand 28. ... Nf6 29.
Bf4! Qc6 30. Be3 or 29. ... Qb4 30. Bg5.
29. Nd2! Kh8
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+r+r+-mk0
9+-+-+-+p0
9p+-wq-+pvL0
9zP-+psn-+-0
9-+-+p+-+0
9+-sN-+-tR-0
9LzP-sN-+PzP0
9+-+-+RmK-0
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6 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
30. Nxd5 Qc5+ 31. Be3! Qxa5 32. Bb3 Rf8?!
Weak, but 32. ... Rb8 33. Nf6 Rf8 34. Bd4 leaves Black helpless against 35. Nd7 or 35. Nc4.
33. Bd4 Rxf1+ 34. Nxf1 Re8 35. Rg5 Kg7 36. Bxe5+, Black Resigns.
Four pieces will overwhelm the Queen.
Pavel Savine – Gregg Fritchle American Open, Los Angeles
2007B87 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Najdorf
Variation(Notes by Los Angeles Times
chess columnist Jack Peters)1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 Fischer’s favorite against the
Najdorf. 6. … e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. Bg5 Instead of the old 8. 0-0 and the
ancient 8. f4. 8. … Be7 9. Qf3 Qc7 Some prefer 9. … Qb6. 10. 0-0-0 0-0 Many games have tested 10. …
Nbd7 11. e5 Bb7 12. Qg3 Nxe5 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. f4!, as introduced by Larry Christiansen in 2006.
11. e5! Bb7! 12. exf6! Now 12. Qg3? dxe5 13. Bxe6?
loses a piece to 13. … Nh5 14. Qg4 Bxg5+ 15. Qxg5 Nf4.
12. … Bxf3 13. fxe7 Bxd1?? Black stands only slightly worse
after 13. ... Re8 14. gxf3 h6 15. Bh4 d5.
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9+-wq-zPpzpp0
9p+-zpp+-+0
9+p+-+-vL-0
9-+-sN-+-+0
9+LsN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9+-mKl+-+R0
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14. Nxe6! Instantly decisive, as 14. ... fxe6
1.5 Bxe6+ mates.
14. … Qxe7 15. Bxe7 Re8 16. Nc7 Rxe7 17. Nxa8 Bg4 18. a3, Black Resigns.
The decisive last-round game taht gave Yermolinsky the champi-onship.GM Alex Yermolinsky – Alexan-
dre KretchetovAmerican Open, Los Angeles
2007D15 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED,
Semi-Slav Defense1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4.
Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. Bg5 a5 7. e3 Be7 8. Be2 Na6 9. 0–0 0–0 10. Qb3 Nb4 11. Rac1 Nd7 12. Bf4 g5 13. Bg3 f5 14. h3 Kh8 15. Na2 Nxa2 16. Qxa2 Qe8 17. b3 Qg6 18. Bd3 h5 19. Ne5 Qh6 20. f3 h4 21. Bh2
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-tr-mk0
9+p+nvl-+-0
9-+p+p+-wq0
9zp-+psNpzp-0
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21. ... Nxe5 22. Bxe5+ Bf6 23. f4 Bd7 24. fxg5 Qxg5 25. Rf4 Bxe5 26. dxe5 d4 27. Qf2 dxe3 28. Qxh4+ Qxh4 29. Rxh4+ Kg7 30. Re1 Rad8 31. Rxe3 Be8 32. Rf4 Bg6 33. g4 Kh6 34. gxf5 exf5 35. Kh2 Kg5 36. Kg3 Rde8 37. c5 Rd8 38. h4+ Kh6 39. e6 Rde8 40. Bc4 Re7 41. Rd4 Kg7 42. Kf4 Kf6 43. Rd7 Rh8 44. Rh3 Rhh7 45. Rxe7 Rxe7 46. h5 Rh7 47. h6 Be8 48. Rh1 Bg6 49. Rh2 Re7 50. Rd2 Rh7 51. Rd6 Rxh6 52. e7+ Kxe7 53. Kg5 Rh1 54. Rxg6 1–0
GM Alex Yermolinsky – IM Vinay Bhat
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
D43 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED, Semi-Slav Defense1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4.
Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. a3 dxc4 8. Ne5 Nd7 9. Nxc4 e5 10. d5
Be7 11. g3 Nb6 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Bg2 0–0 14. 0–0 Bf5 15. Qb3 b5 16. Rac1 Qg6 17. Nd1 Bg5 18. Ne3 Be4 19. Bxe4 Qxe4 20. dxc6 bxc6 21. Rc3 Rfd8 22. Rfc1 Rd2 23. h4 Bxe3 24. Rxe3 Qd4 25. Rc2 Rd1+ 26. Kg2 Rb1 27. Rd3 Qe4+ 28. Rf3 Ra7 29. Qd3 Qg4 30. Rxc6 Rxb2
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+k+0
9tr-+-+pzp-0
9-+R+-+-zp0
9+p+-zp-+-0
9-+-+-+qzP0
9zP-+Q+RzP-0
9-tr-+PzPK+0
9+-+-+-+-0
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31. Qd8+ Kh7 32. Rc8 Rxe2 33. h5 1–0
Malcolm Tredinnick – Gregg Small
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
A16 ENGLISH OPENING1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4.
Nc3 0–0 5. d3 d6 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Nge2 e5 8. 0–0 a6 9. b4 a5 10. Rb1 axb4 11. Rxb4 Nc5 12. Qc2 Re8 13. Bd2 c6 14. Rbb1 Be6 15. e4 Qd7 16. Rb2 Bh3 17. Rfb1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qc7 19. f3 Nfd7 20. Be3 Reb8 21. Qd2 Ne6 22. Bh6 Bh8 23. h4 Ndc5 24. Rc2 Ra3 25. Nc1 Rba8 26. Rcb2 f5 27. Be3 Rb8 28. Nb3 Nd7 29. Bf2 fxe4 30. dxe4 Bf6 31. Be3 Be7 32. Na1 Ndc5 33. Nc2 Raa8 34. Nb4 Bf6 35. Nd3 Nd7 36. Nf2 Bg7 37. Rd1 Nd4 38. Ne2 c5 39. Nc3 Rf8 40. Nd5 Qd8 41. Bxd4 exd4 42. Nd3 b6 43. Qg5 Ra4 44. Qxd8 Rxd8 45. Rc1 Rda8
IM VINAY BHAT
7 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
46. Rcc2 Ra3 47. Rd2 R8a4 48. Rbc2 b5 49. Nb2
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+k+0
9+-+n+-vlp0
9-+-zp-+p+0
9+pzpN+-+-0
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9PsNRtR-+K+0
9+-+-+-+-0
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49. ... d3 50. Nxd3 bxc4 51. N3f4 c3 52. Re2 Bd4 53. Ne6 Ra8 54. Ne3 Nb6 55. Nc7 R8a5 56. Ne8 Rb5 57. Nxd6 Rb2 58. Ndc4 Nxc4 59. Nxc4 Raxa2 60. Nxb2 cxb2 0–1
IM Tim Taylor – Greg YoungAmerican Open, Los Angeles
2007A80 DUTCH DEFENSE
1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 g6 3. Nd2 Bg7 4. e4 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Nxf6+ exf6 7. Be3 d5 8. h4 Bf5 9. g4 Be6 10. Nh3 Qe7 11. Nf4 Bf7 12. Qd2 Nd7 13. 0–0–0 0–0–0 14. Qa5 Kb8 15. Nxd5 Qe4 16. Qxc7+ Ka8
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9k+-tr-+-tr0
9zppwQn+lvlp0
9-+-+-zpp+0
9+-+N+-+-0
9-+-zPq+PzP0
9+-+-vL-+-0
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17. Nc3 Qxh1 18. Bb5 Qxh4 19. Bxd7 Bh6 20. Nb5 Bd5 21. Qc5 Bxe3+ 22. fxe3 b6 23. Qxd5+ Kb8 24. Qd6+ Kb7 25. Qc7+ Ka6 26. Qxa7# 1–0
Alexandre Kretchetov - Robby Adamson
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
A40 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 g6 3. e4 Bg7 4. d4
Nc6 5. d5 Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. Bd3 d6 8. 0–0 Nf6 9. Nd2 Nd7 10. Nf3 Bg7 11. Qe2 e5 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Ng5 Ne5 14. f4 Nc6 15. e5 Ne7 16. Be3 b6 17. Rad1 d5 18. cxd5 exd5 19. Bb5+ Kf8
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwq-mk-tr0
9zp-+-sn-vlp0
9-zp-+-+p+0
9+LzppzP-sN-0
9-+-+-zP-+0
9+-+-vL-+-0
9PzP-+Q+PzP0
9+-+R+RmK-0
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20. f5 a6 21. f6 axb5 22. fxe7+ Kxe7 23. Rf7+ Ke8 24. Rxg7 Rf8 25. Qxb5+ 1–0
Gregg Small – John Daniel Bryant
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
A16 ENGLISH OPENING1. c4 Nf6 2.
g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 0–0 5. d3 d6 6. Rb1 a5 7. a3 e5 8. e3 Nc6 9. Nge2 Nh5 10. 0–0 f5 11. f4 exf4 12. gxf4 Be6 13. Bd2
Prize WinnersOPEN: 1st: GM Alex Yermolinsky, 6-2. 2nd/6th: GM Melikset Khachiyan,
IM Enrico Sevillano, IM Vinay Bhat, FM Eugene Yanayt (1st Under 2450), and John Bryant, 5½. 7th/9th: FM Alexandre Kretchetov, FM Robby Adam-son, and Eric Hansen (1st Under 2300), 5. 10th/11th: FM Harutyun Akopyan and Malcolm Treddenick (2nd/3rd Under 2300), 4½.
UNDER 2200: 1st Derek Tan, 7-1. 2nd/4th: Show Kitagami, Carlos Garcia, and Catalino Santos Jr., 5½.
UNDER 2000: 1st: Benjamin Marmont, 7½ - ½. 2nd/5th: Jared Tan, Pavel Savine, and Simon Rubinstein-Salzedo, 6. 5th/6th: Michael Schemm and Bob-by Hall, 5½.
UNDER 1800: 1st: Robert Xue, 7-1. 2nd/3rd: Ted Belanoff and Eren Kara-dayi, 6.4th:: Bill Rhoads, 5½.
UNDER 1600: 1st: Roxas Acosta (rated 1086!), 8-0. 2nd: Dianxun Xu, 6. 3rd/4th: Kamran Hughes and Carlos Herrera, 5½.
UNDER 1400: 1st/3rd: Christian Garcia, Daniel Benjamin, and Clifton Lowe (1st Unrated), 6-2. 4th/5th: Sky Palma and Wenbo Du, 5½. 1st Under 1200: Jan Olderdissen, 5. 2nd Under 1200: Darren Chow, 4. 2nd Unrated: Elizabeth Tenorio, 3½.
ACTION: 1st; Michael Aigner, 5-0. 2nd¨Mark Sokolovsky, 4. 1st/2nd Un-der 2000: Carl Hyne and Joseph Roth, 3½. Under 1800: Sean Lee, 3½. Un-der 1600: Connor Reck, 2½. 1st/2nd Under 1200: Elijah Mackey and Jonah Blume-Kemkes, 2.
QUICK: 1st: IM Andranik Matikozyan, 8 ½ - 1½. 2nd: Edison Ruge, 8. Un-der 2200: Takashi Kurosaki, 7½. Under 2000: Kamran Hughes, 5½. Under 1800: Ted Belanoff, 4½ . Under 1600: Sean Manross, 4.
SCHOLASTIC K-12: 1st: Jonathan Laks, 5-0. 2nd/4th: Andrew Daniel-son, Henry Wang, and Ryan Hughes, 4. K-8: 1st/2nd: Andrew Kao and Daniel Lin, 4. 3rd/8th: Jeffrey Xu, Orion Burl, Christina Kao, Christopher Hung, Daniel Giordani, and Randy Tseng, 3. K-6: 1st/2nd: Yusheng Xia and Liam Fairweather, 5. 3rd/6th: Adrian Chang, Tavor Baharav, Alexander Hung, and Theresa Lo, 4. K-3: 1st/5th: Austin Chang, David Chen, Winston Zeng, Justin Tay, and Kevin Qian, 4.
JOHN DANIEL BRYANT
8 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Nf6 14. Nd5 Kh8 15. Bc3 Re8 16. Qd2 a4 17. Rbe1 Bf7 18. Nxf6 Bxf6 19. Bxf6+ Qxf6 20. Nc3 g5 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. cxd5 Ne7 23. fxg5 Qxg5 24. Qc3+ Qg7 25. Qxc7 Rg8 26. Rf2 Qe5 27. Qc3 Qxc3 28. bxc3 Rac8 29. c4
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+r+-+rmk0
9+p+-sn-+p0
9-+-zp-+-+0
9+-+P+p+-0
9p+P+-+-+0
9zP-+PzP-+-0
9-+-+-tRLzP0
9+-+-tR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
29. ... b5 30. cxb5 Rc3 31. Rb2 Nxd5 32. Kf2 Nb6 33. Bf3 Rxd3 34. Rc1 Rxa3 35. Rc6 Rb8 36. Rb4 Ra2+ 37. Kg3 a3 38. Rh4 Ra1 39. Rc7 Rg1+ 40. Kh3 Rg7 41. Rc6 0–1
Marian Nick Nita – Arkadiy Oni-kul
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
D03 TROMPOWSKY ATTACK1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 Nf6 3. Nd2 e6 4.
e3 c5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bd3 0–0 8. Qe2 Re8 9. 0–0–0 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Qa5 15. f4 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Ne4 17. Bxe4 Rxe4 18. Qb2 Ra4 19. Rd2 d4 20. cxd4 cxd4 21. Kd1 Qd5 22. Rg1 Qf3+ 23. Ke1 dxe3
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-+k+0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-vL-0
9r+-+-zP-+0
9+-+-zpq+P0
9PwQ-tR-zP-+0
9+-+-mK-tR-0
xiiiiiiiiy
24. Qxg7+ Kxg7 25. Be7+ Kh6 26. Rd6+ Kh5 27. Rg5+ Kh4 28. Rh6+ 1–0
IM Tim Taylor – Alexandre Kretchetov
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
D00 QUEEN’S PAWN OPENING 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4.
Nc3 Bg7 5. Bd3 0–0 6. h4 c5 7. h5 Nc6 8. hxg6 fxg6 9. Qd2 cxd4 10. exd4 Nxd4 11. 0–0–0 Ng4 12. f3 e5 13. Bg3 e4 14. fxe4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 Be6 16. Nf3 Nf5 17. Qf4 Nd4 18. Qd6 Qxd6 19. Bxd6 Nxf3 20. Bxf8 Rxf8 21. Bxf3 Nf2 22. Rde1 Nxh1 23. Rxe6 b6 24. Re7 Bh6+ 25. Kd1 Ng3 26. Rxa7 Nf5 27. Nd5 Nd4 28. Ra3 Rd8 29. Rd3 Bg7 30. Nxb6 Rb8 31. Bd5+ Kh8 32. Nc4 Rb5 33. Be4 Rh5 34. Rh3 Rc5 35. b3 Nb5 36. Bxg6 Nc3+ 37. Ke1 Rg5 38. Bxh7 Bd4 39. g4 Nxa2 40. Bf5+ 1–0
John Daniel Bryant – GM Melik-set Khachiyan
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
B12 CARO-KANN DEFENSE, Fan-tasy Variation1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 e6 4. Nc3
Bb4 5. Nge2 dxe4 6. a3 Ba5 7. fxe4 Qh4+ 8. Ng3 Nf6 9. b4 Bb6 10. Be3 Ng4 11. Bg1 e5 12. Qd3 exd4 13. Bxd4 0–0 14. Nce2 Rd8 15. Qc3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnltr-+k+0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-vlp+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-zP-vLP+nwq0
9zP-wQ-+-sN-0
9-+P+N+PzP0
9tR-+-mKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
15. ... Qg5 16. Bxb6 axb6 17. Ng1 Rxa3 18. Nf3 Rxa1+ 0–1
Ike Miller – Gary Simms American Open, Los Angeles
2007D07 QUEE’S GAMBIT DECLINED,
Tchigorin Defense1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4.
Nf3 Bg4 5. d5 Bxf3 6. exf3 Ne5 7. Bf4 Ng6 8. Bxc4 c6 9. Be3 Ne5 10. Be2 cxd5 11. Qxd5 Qxd5 12. Nxd5 0–0–0 13. 0–0–0 Nc6
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+ktr-vlntr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+n+-+-+0
9+-+N+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-vLP+-0
9PzP-+LzPPzP0
9+-mKR+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
14. Bb5 Kb8 15. Nb4 Rc8 16. Nxc6+ 1–0
Gregg Fritchle – Jim Chao American Open, Los Angeles
2007B33 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Scheve-
ningen Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Qb6 6. Nb3 e6 7. Be3 Qc7 8. f4 Bb4 9. Bd3 d6 10. 0–0 Bxc3 11. bxc3 0–0 12. Qf3 Bd7 13. Qg3 Kh8 14. Nd4 Qa5 15. e5 dxe5 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. fxe5 Ne4 18. Qh4 Qxe5 19. Rae1 f5 20. Bd4 Qd5 21. Bxe4 fxe4 22. Qe7 Rg8 23. Re3 Rae8 24. Qh4 Ref8 25. Rxf8 Rxf8 26. Qe7 Rg8
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+rmk0
9zpp+-wQ-zpp0
9-+l+p+-+0
9+-+q+-+-0
9-+-vLp+-+0
9+-zP-tR-+-0
9P+P+-+PzP0
9+-+-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
GM MELIKSET KHACHIYAN
9 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
The Winners 1965 Pal Benko 1966 Larry Kaufman, Robion Kirby 1967 Anthony Saidy 1968 James Lazos 1969 Ray Martin 1970 Robert Byrne 1971 Carl Pilnick, Larry Evans, Walter Browne, Ross
Stoutenborough, David Strauss 1972 Larry Remlinger 1973 James Tarjan 1974 Kim Commons, Peter Biyiasas 1975 Kim Commons, David Strauss 1976 Walter Browne, Yasser Seirawan, John Pike 1977 Jack Peters, Cicero Braga 1978 David Strauss, Paul Whitehead 1979 Perry Youngworth 1980 Walter Browne, John Grefe, David Strauss 1981 Nick de Firmian, John Watson 1982 Jack Peters, James Tarjan, Ian Rogers 1983 Larry Christiansen, David Strauss, Nikolai Minev 1984 Jack Peters, Igor Ivanov 1985 Yasser Seirawan, Igor Ivanov, David Strauss 1986 Lev Alburt, Walter Browne, Boris Gulko 1987 Yasser Seirawan 1988 Jack Peters 1989 Gata Kamsky, Larry Christiansen, Maxim Dlugy,
Walter Browne, Nick de Firmian 1990 Walter Browne, Igor Ivanov 1991 Joel Benjamin 1992 Cris Ramayrat, Jeremy Silman, David Strauss,
Anthony Saidy 1993 Loek Van Wely 1994 Dmitry Gurevich 1995 Igor Ivanov 1996 Alex Yermolinsky 1997 Alex Goldin, Igor Ivanov, Walter Browne 1998 Cyrus Lakdawala, Pavel Blatny 1999 Eduard Gufeld 2000 Andranik Matikozyan 2001 Melikset Khachiyan 2002 Pavel Blatny, Yuri Shulman 2003 Suat Atalik, Varuzhan Akobian, Pavel Blatny 2004 Melikset Khachiyan 2005 Vladimir Mezentsev 2006 David Pruess, Melikset Khachiyan 2007 Alex Yermolinsky
27. Rg3 e5 28. Rg5 Qxa2 29. Bxe5 Qb1+ 30. Kf2 Qxc2+ 31. Kg3 Qd3+ 32. Kh4 Qd7 33. Bxg7+ Rxg7 34. Qf8+ 1–0
Carlos Garcia – Show Kitagami American Open, Los Angeles
2007A08 KING’S INDIAN ATTACK
1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. 0–0 b6 8. Re1 Bb7 9. e5 Nd7 10. c4 0–0 11. Qe2 Kh8 12. h4 Qc7 13. Nf1 Nd4 14. Nxd4 cxd4 15. cxd5 Bxd5 16. Bxd5 exd5 17. Bf4 Nc5 18. e6 Bd6 19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20. exf7 Rxf7 21. Nh2 Raf8 22. Ng4 Rf5 23. f4 Qg6 24. Kh2 Nxd3 25. Qxd3 Qxg4 26. Qxd4 h6 27. Re7 Rxf4 28. Qe5 Rf2+ 29. Kg1 R8f6 30. Re8+ Kh7 31. Qb8 Qf3
XIIIIIIIIY
9-wQ-+R+-+0
9zp-+-+-zpk0
9-zp-+-tr-zp0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+-+-+-zP0
9+-+-+qzP-0
9PzP-+-tr-+0
9tR-+-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
32. Rh8+ Kg6 33. Qe8+ Rf7 34. Qe6+ Kh5 35. Qh3 Qg4 36. Qxg4+ Kxg4 37. Rd1 Kh3 38. Rd8 Rg2+ 39. Kh1 Rh2+ 40. Kg1 Rff2 0–1
TOP UNRATED CHAD LOWE
10 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Despite the offer of a special prize, there were few successful gambits played. Here’s one.Dan Mayers – Mike HenebryAmerican Open, Los Angeles
2007B01 CENTER COUNTER DEFENSE
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 b5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a3 Bg4 7. f3 Bc8 8. a4 b4 9. c4 bxc3 10. dxc3 Bb7 11. c4 g6 12. Ne2 Bg7 13. 0–0 0–0 14. Nbc3 c6 15. dxc6 Qb6+ 16. Kh1 Nxc6 17. Nf4
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-trk+0
9+l+-zppvlp0
9-wqn+-snp+0
9zp-+-+-+-0
9P+P+-sN-+0
9+LsN-+P+-0
9-zP-+-+PzP0
9tR-vLQ+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
17. ... Rfd8 18. Nfd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Qa6 20. Be3 Rac8 21. Qe2 Rxd5 22. Qf2 Rd7 23. f4 Rcd8 24. f5 Nd4 25. Bc2 Qc6 26. Rae1 Qxg2+ 27. Qxg2 Bxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Nxc2 29. Re2 Nxe3+ 30. Rxe3 Rd2+ 31. Kh3 R8d3 32. Rff3 Rxe3 33. Rxe3 Rxb2
Joyce Jillson Memorial Prizes
The family of the late Joyce Jillson, an enthusiastic tournament player and astrologer for the Los Angeles Times, donated several special prizes in
her memory. FM Alexandre Kretchetov of Irvine earned both the Brilliancy prize (Kretchetov - Adamson) and Best Positional Game honors (Kretchetov
– Hansen), $100 each, Roxas Acosta of San Diego, who has apparently been studying rather than playing for the past eight years, easily won the $400 prize for largest rating gain by an established player, picking up 484 points as he zoomed from 1086 to 1570 by going 8-0 in the Under 1600 section. In 2008 the Jillson Memorial prizes will total $1,400! — Randy Hough
34. Rxe7 gxf5 35. Re8+ Bf8 36. Ra8 Rc2 37. Rxa5 Rc3+ 38. Kg2 Rxc4 39. Ra8 Kg7 40. a5 Ra4 41. a6 Bd6 42. h4 Ra3 43. Kf2 f4 44. h5 Bc5+ 45. Kg2 f3+ 46. Kg3 f2+ 47. Kg2 Ra1 0–1
Alexandre Kretchetov – Eric Hansen
American Open, Los Angeles 2007
E92 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE, Averbakh Variation1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4.
e4 d6 5. d4 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Qe8 10. Nd2 Nh7 11. 0–0 h5 12. f3 Bh6 13. Bf2 Na6 14. b3 Bd7 15. a3 f5 16. Rb1 Qe7 17. Qc2 fxe4 18. Ndxe4 Ng5
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-trk+0
9+pzplwq-+-0
9n+-zp-+pvl0
9zp-+Pzp-snp0
9-+P+N+-+0
9zPPsN-+P+-0
9-+Q+LvLPzP0
9+R+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
19. Nxg5 Qxg5 20. Ne4 Bf5 21. Bd3 Qe7 22. b4 axb4 23. axb4 c6 24. c5 cxd5 25. Nxd6 Qe6 26. b5 Bxd3 27. Qxd3 e4 28. fxe4 Rxf2 29. Kxf2 Nxc5 30. Qxd5 Qxd5 31. exd5 Rd8 32. Nc4 Ne4+ 33. Kg1 Rc8 34. Rb4 Bf8 35. d6 Rd8 36. Rb3 Rc8 37. Rbf3 Bg7 38. d7 Rd8 39. Rd3 Bf8 40. g3 Bc5+ 41. Kg2 1–0
DEREK TAN — TOP U2200
BEN MARMONT — TOP U2000ROXAS ACOSTA — TOP U1600
11 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Two Tie For First In Monterey Park
by Randy Hough
The Joseph Ileto Memorial drew another fine turnout of 67 play-
ers to Monterey Park the weekend of December 8-9. IM Tim Taylor and Eduardo Ortiz tied for first place with 4½ of 5 after winning highly tactical games in the last round..
No less than seven players were in the running with 3½ points go-ing into the finale. The top seed, IM Jack Peters, was not among them, having lost to Ron Hermansen and drawn with Ed Townsend (who found a middle game tactic forcing perpetual check). Along with Tay-lor, Ortiz, and Hermansen (who lost to Taylor), the contenders included FM Takashi Iwamoto (downed by Ortiz), Julian Landaw and Vadim Kudryavtsev (who drew), and Ta-kashi Kurosaki (locked into a half-point bye, he watched the games with great interest). With Taylor al-ready qualified, Ortiz and all the 4-pointers earned entry into the 2008 State Championship cycle.
The “odd hundreds” prize struc-ture predictably benefited some players at the expense of others. Kudryavtsev, Kurosaki, and Carlos Garcia (whose loss to Taylor was the only blemish on his record) split Under 2300 honors, while Danyul Lawrence took clear Under 2100 with the same 4-point score. Three points enabled Mike Carr and Joe Paige to share the Under 1900 money, while the same score gave Terrence Sun the Under 1700 prize. Alvin Huang, rated only 1169, was top Under 1500 with 2 ½, while 2 earned Under 1300 honors for Adri-an Urias. Among the juniors playing for trophies only, 1764-rated Sunil Deolalikar took first with 3 points, beating an Expert and drawing an A en route.
This ninth annual tournament in memory of Joseph Ileto, an Ex-pert player and mailman who was slain while on his rounds, was greatly assisted by a donation from Bill Conrad, and assistance from former Monterey Park Mayor Fran-cisco Alonso (an Expert who scored 3 points) in obtaining the tourna-ment site. Randy Hough directed for SCCF.
Tim Taylor won the Best Game prize, donated by Bill Conrad, for his victory over Ron Hermansen.
IM Tim Taylor – Ron Hermansen Ileto Memorial, Monterey Park
2007B09 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE
1. f4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg4 5. Be3 Nf6 6. Nc3 d5 7. e5 Nh5 8. Be2 e6 9. Qd2 Nd7 10. 0–0–0 Bf8 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Ng3 13. Rhe1 h5 14. Bf2 Nf5 15. g4 Ng7 16. Bxd5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Be7 18. f5 gxf5 19. gxf5 Nxf5 20. Qf4 Ng7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqk+-tr0
9zppzpnvlpsn-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+NzP-+p0
9-+-zP-wQ-+0
9+-+-+-+P0
9PzPP+-vL-+0
9+-mKRtR-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
21. e6 Bg5 22. exf7+ Kf8 23. Re8+ Nxe8 24. fxe8Q+ Kg7 25. Qef7+ Kh6 26. Bh4 1–0
Eduardo Ortiz – Takashi Iwamoto Ileto Memorial, Monterey Park
2007D24 QUEEN’S GAMBIT ACCEPTED
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3 a6 4. a4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Na5 8. Ne5 Nb3 9. e3 Nxa1
Joseph Ileto Memorial10. Bxc4 e6 11. 0–0 Be7 12. Qe2 0–0 13. Rxa1 Nd7 14. Bg3 Nxe5 15. dxe5 c5 16. Rd1 Qb6 17. f4 Rd8 18. Rf1 Bd7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-tr-+k+0
9+p+lvlpzp-0
9pwq-+p+-zp0
9+-zp-zP-+-0
9P+L+-zP-+0
9+-sN-zP-vL-0
9-zP-+Q+PzP0
9+-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
19. f5 Bf8 20. Bh4 exf5 21. Nd5 Qa5 22. Qh5 Be6 23. Nf6+ gxf6 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Qg6+ Bg7 26. exf6 Rd7 27. fxg7 Qb6 28. Bf6 Qc6 29. Qxh6 Kf7 30. Bc3 Rg8 31. e4 Rd4 32. exf5 e5 33. f6 Rg4 34. Qh3 Rg5 35. g3 Qxa4 36. Qh7 Qd7 [36. ... Qg4 37. Qxg8+ Kxg8 38. f7+ Kxg7 39. f8Q+] 37. Qe4 b5 38. Bxe5 a5 39. h4 Rh5 40. Qe2 Rf5 41. Rxf5 Qxf5 42. Bc3 Rb8 43. g4 Qf4 44. Kg2 Qd6 45. g5 Qd5+ 46. Qf3 1–0
Terrence Sun – IM Jack Peters Ileto Memorial, Monterey Park
2007B33 SICILIAN DEFENSE
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Be3 Qc7 8. a3 a6 9. Be2 d6 10. Qd2 Be7 11. 0–0 b5 12. Rad1 Bb7 13. f3 0–0 14. Kh1 Rfd8 15. Bf4 Rac8 16. Qe1 Ne5 17. Qf2 Nfd7 18. Qg3 Nb6 19. Nd2 Ng6 20. Be3 Bh4 21. Qh3 Bf6 22. Ndb1 Nc4 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Qg3 Ba8 25. Bd4 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Qb6 27. Rfd1 e5 28. R4d2 Qxb2 29. Nd5 c3 30. Re2 Bxd5 31. exd5 Nf4 32. Ree1 Qxc2 33. Rc1 Qb2 0–1
12 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
TacticsTacticsby NM Tim Hanks
Blunders! Chess players know this word all too well. Just hearing
the word can perhaps send shivers through your body and can spark up visions of horrible mistakes made in past games. In fact the game may have been played on ICC just last night or played over 10 years ago. You just never seem to forget your blunders – especially when they’ve cost you or your team a prize or were just plain regretful mistakes. Whenever I hear the word blunder, whether in the news, at work or on television, I immediately associate it with the game of chess even though the word blunder is often used in context to address military, political, business, sporting and other areas that experience mishaps.
Everyone who has played a game of chess has made a blunder at one time or another. It’s probably safe to say that if someone loses a game they most likely made a blun-der. There have been many studies on what are the most typical kinds of blunders, studies on statisti-cal evaluations on the numbers of blunders made in a major tourna-ment and even studies on what has been considered the worst blunders made in the history of documented chess. Actually, the list goes on and on with these types of studies and if you’re interested in that kind of
information a few Google searches will reveal amazing facts and some really cool chess links. This kind of information can help to improve your game since for every blunder that is made you should learn some-thing or at least discover what to avoid in your own games.
The most common blunders tend to be due to a particular tactical motif and it’s usually something as simple as losing a pawn due to a overlooked combination. See Posi-tion No. 1. It’s White to move. How would you proceed?
Position No. 1. White to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+k+0
9+pwqr+pvlp0
9p+nzp-+p+0
9+-+Q+-+-0
9-+-zP-vL-zP0
9+-zP-+-+-0
9P+-+-zPP+0
9+R+-+LmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
White wins a pawn by 1. Bxa6since if 1. … bxa6 then 2. Qxc6 and if 2. … Qxc6 then White forces mate beginning with 3. Rb8+ Bf8 4. Bh6 and Black will last only a couple more moves.
Another very common type of blunder is simply the over-sight. Here’s an example from the Caro-Kann Defense. 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4.
Nxe4 Nbd7 5. Qe2 Ngf6?? Problem No. 2. White to move and win.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+nzppzpp0
9-+p+-sn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zPN+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+QzPPzP0
9tR-vL-mKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Of course White wins immedi-ately with 6. Nd6#. Many players have their lines memorized and of-ten move quickly without realizing there’s been a change in the move order or common line. In this case White sets up a lethal trap with the
“unnatural” move 5. Qe2 and Black simply overlooks the threat.
In the next example Black gets his Queen out on an excursion that proves costly. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nc3 Bc5 6. Be3 Nge7?
Position No. 3. White to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+-tr0
9zppzppsnpzpp0
9-+n+-+-+0
9+-vl-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-wq0
9+-sN-vL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
13 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Tacticsby NM Tim Hanks
In this case White takes advan-tage of Black’s oversight blunder and wins beginning with the move 7. Nf3, attacking the Black Queen on h4 as well as the undefended Black Bishop on c5. If Black plays 7.
… Qh5 to defend the Bishop, then after 8. g4 (deflection motif) Black will lose a piece. Play may continue 8. … Qxg4 9. Rg1 Qh5 10. Rg5 Qh6 11. Rxc5 and White has a huge advantage.
In the next example, a Ruy Lo-pez employing the Berlin Defense, Black again commits a simple oversight. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Ne4 8. Qe2 Bf5 9. Rd1 Qc8 10. Be3 Be7 11. Nbd2 0-0 12. Nd4 c5?
Position No. 4. White to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+q+-trk+0
9zppzp-vlpzpp0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-zp-zPl+-0
9-+-sNn+-+0
9+-+-vL-+-0
9PzPPsNQzPPzP0
9tR-+R+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
White wins material by 13. Nxf5 Qxf5 (forced) 14. Qd3 and Black loses a piece since the Knight is pinned. If Black tries 14. … Nd6 15. exd6 Qxd3 16. cxd3 cxd6 17. d4 and White has a large advantage and should win easily.
In the next example Black plays the Sicilian and mixes opening moves a bit which backfires with disastrous results. 1. e4 c5 2. d4 g6!? 3. dxc5 Na6 4. Bxa6 bxa6??See Position No. 5. Black has made a bad oversight. How do you exploit this?
Position No. 6. White to move and win.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9zp-+pzpp+p0
9p+-+-+p+0
9+-zP-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
White wins with a “long-range” fork beginning with 5. Qd5 Rb8 6. Qe5 (ouch!) and Black will lose a Rook.
Here’s an oversight from the Vi-enna Game. 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 exf4!? 4. e5 Qe7 5. Qe2 Ng8 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. d4 d6??
Position No. 7. White to move and win.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvlntr0
9zppzp-wqpzpp0
9-+nzp-+-+0
9+-+-zP-+-0
9-+-zP-zp-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0
9PzPP+Q+PzP0
9tR-vL-mKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
White wins with 8. Nd5, as the pressure on the e-file by White’s Queen is decisive. For example, if Black plays 8. … Qd8, White wins with 9. Nxc7+! Qxc7 10. exd6+and White will win the Black Queen.
Here’s a classic from the Ruy Lo-pez. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. d4 b5 6. Bb3 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4? See Position No. 8. White’s last move is a blun-der. Do you see how to exploit this for Black?
Position No. 8. Black to move. Do you know the Noah’s Ark Trap?
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9+-zp-+pzpp0
9p+-zp-+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-wQP+-+0
9+L+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvL-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black achieves a solid advantage with 8. c5 9. Qd5 Be6 10. Qc6+ Bd7 11. Qd5 c4 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Qxc4, and White is down material with a difficult position to defend.
Here’s another fun line in the Ruy Lopez where a careless blunder-ing oversight is very costly. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 (the fun and swashbuckling Siesta Variation) 6. d4 fxe4 7. Ng5 b5?! 8. Bb3 d5 9. dxe5 Nce7?? See Position No. 9. Black’s last move is a blunder. What do you do?
Position No. 9. White to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9+-zp-sn-zpp0
9p+-+-+-+0
9+p+pzP-sN-0
9-+-+p+-+0
9+LzP-+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
White attains a large opening edge with 10. Nxe4, and if Black blunders again with … dxe4??then 11. Bf7+ Kxf7 12. Qxd8 and White has won the house.
Sometimes a player will make what appears to be the worst pos-sible blunder when practically any other move would keep things go-ing. Take a look at Position No. 10.
14 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
What is the worst move that can be played?
Position No. 10. It’s White to move. What’s the worst move?
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+p+k0
9-+p+-+p+0
9+-+p+PwQp0
9-+-zP-+-zP0
9+-+-zPPmK-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+q+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
White played 1. Kf4???, which lost instantly to 1. … Qb8# Better was 1. fxg6+ with advantage.
In another case like this (Posi-tion No. 1)1, White is totally win-ning, but blunders horribly with the only move that can seal his doom.
Position No. 11. It’s White to move. How to lose in 1 move?
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+nmk-+0
9+l+-+-+-0
9-+-+-zp-+0
9+P+NmK-zp-0
9-+-+-+-zp0
9+-+L+-+P0
9-+-+-+P+0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
White played 1. Ke6???, which allowed 1. … Bc8#. Any other move would have sustained a solid advantage.
Some of the examples I’ve shared were actually taken from GM level games. It’s hard to believe but it just goes to show how common blunders may be in this game we love. So the next time you make a mistake just remember the most important thing about chess is that it’s just a game and to always have fun. Just ask any old-timer who’s still play-
ing and enjoying what chess has to offer now that he’s in his 80’s!
Improving your ability to cal-culate and visualize tactical com-binations takes practice. Tactical problem solving will help in this development. Avoid moving the pieces when solving problems so as to strengthen your over-the-board play. Be alert, play sharp and of course to avoid blunders, always remember to do your safety check. Good luck and happy solving! Solu-tions on page 21.
Problem No. 1. White to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9ltr-+-+k+0
9+qtrnvlpzpp0
9pzp-zppsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9NzPPvLP+-+0
9zPN+-+P+-0
9-+-+-wQPzP0
9+-tRR+L+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
a) Black is winning. b) The position is nearly equal. c) White is winning. Prove your answer with analysis
and a variation.
Problem No. 2. Black to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+r+-+k+0
9+q+nvlpzp-0
9p+-+p+-zp0
9wQ-+p+-+-0
9-+-zPnvL-+0
9+Pzp-zP-+P0
9P+R+LzPP+0
9tR-+-sN-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
a) Black is winning. b) White is winning. c) The position is roughly equal
which chances for both sides. Validate your move selection
with analysis.
Problem No. 3. Black to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9zppvl-+-zpp0
9-+p+kzp-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+nzP-+-+0
9+-+K+-+P0
9PzP-+-zPP+0
9+-vL-sN-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
a) … Ba5 is correct and the game is just about even.
b) … Ba5 is incorrect. Prove your answer with a varia-
tion.
Problem No. 4. Black to move.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-tr-tr-+k+0
9zp-+-vlpzpp0
9-wqp+l+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9zP-sNN+-+-0
9-zPPwQ-zPPzP0
9+-mKR+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
a) White is up material and will win.
b) Black is winning. c) The position offers chances for
both sides. Prove your answer with a varia-
tion.
15 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Lesson 1:The Art of Restricting a Bad Bishop
A couple of my recent games brought to mind the subject of this lesson. Sometimes your opponent will misplace a piece in the open-ing. This may be the result of inad-equate positional understanding or the result of an aggressive opening plan gone awry. In most cases, the Bishop can’t be restricted immedi-ately, you must prepare the posi-tional trap. But if your opponent ig-nores positional theory for tactical chances, you must be ready to take advantage of such errors.
GM Melikset Khachiyan – IM Tim Taylor
Western Pacific Open, Los Ange-les 2007
B00 NIMZOVICH DEFENSE 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5
Bg4
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvlntr0
9zppzp-zppzpp0
9-+nzp-+-+0
9+L+-+-+l0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-+-+N+P0
9PzPPzP-zPP+0
9tRNvLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
The reason this move is rarely played will become clear shortly. Black needs to respond more direct-ly to White’s play in this line. The right move here is 3. ... a6 4. Ba4 b5. I planned to take on c6 and play 3. ... a6 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. d4 Bg4, but now Bg4 gives Black a completely different picture. 4. h3 Bh5 4. ... Bxf3 gives White the advantage of the Bishop pair without any com-
pensation. And now White is going to demonstrate one of the positional ideas: “In this type of position, it’s not good to move a Bishop to g4 when a White pawn still stands on d2. It’s too early to commit the Bishop at this point when it could be trapped behind a pawn chain (c2-d3-e4 vs Bg6). 5. d3! White wants to play an improved variation of the Ruy Lopez in case Black plays 5. ... e5. 5. ... Nf6 Capturing the Knight on f3 is a better choice for Black, since that Bishop will really be out of play. 6. c3 Another move in a se-ries to keep myself more flexible. 6. ... a6 7. Ba4 e6?! Black needs to get rid of that pin right away and play 7. ... b5. 8. Nbd2 Be7? Black lets his last chance slip away to play 8. ... b5, or trade the Bishop on f3. 9. g4!± Bg6 10. Nd4!
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqk+-tr0
9+pzp-vlpzpp0
9p+nzppsnl+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9L+-sNP+P+0
9+-zPP+-+P0
9PzP-sN-zP-+0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is the main idea. Now Black collapses almost immediately. 10. ... Qd7 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. f4! Very important. As Tarrasch used to say,
“Always put your Knight behind your pawns.” Black’s misunder-standing of the positional play thus far has resulted in two main prob-lems: an absolutely useless Bishop on g6 and an almost impossible to handle situation on the Queenside. 12. ... h6 13. Nf3 There is no rush to play 13. f5. White is simply go-ing to improve his position first
and then, at the right time, strike at Black’s many weaknesses. Just like in old classical games, Black’s position is already hopeless. 13. ... Rb8 14. Qe2! White advanced the Kingside pawns thinking to move the King to the opposite side. White controls the whole board, not need-ing to worry about King safety. 14. ... 0–0 15. Be3 Ne8 Trying to free the g6 Bishop with f5, but -- 16. f5!
XIIIIIIIIY
9-tr-+ntrk+0
9+-zpqvlpzp-0
9p+pzpp+lzp0
9+-+-+P+-0
9L+-+P+P+0
9+-zPPvLN+P0
9PzP-+Q+-+0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
At the right time, White shuts down the light Bishop-squared permanently. 16. ... exf5 17. exf5 Bh7 18. 0–0–0 I didn’t bother to play 18. Nd4 with the idea Nb3 and Na5 because I could lose the right to castle after 18. ... Bh4+. Well, like wise people used to say, “Do not re-invent the bicycle.” which in chess language means, “If you are winning, do not seek any complica-tions. Just play simple and win the game.” 18. ... Nf6 19. Nd4 Rb6 20. Qf3!+- White still needs to be care-ful. This move prevents … Nd5 be-cause the White Queen will simply capture on d5. Wrong would be 20. Nb3? Nd5! 21. Bxb6 Nxb6 22. Bxc6 Bg5+, with advantage to Black 20. ... d5 21. Nb3 Rbb8 I expected Tim to play 21. … Rfb8. Then, if White accepts the Exchange sacrifice on b6, Black will at least be able to im-prove the terrible pawn structure on his Queenside. But I was not
Chess Lessonsby GM Melik Khachiyan
16 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
going to accept the sacrifice, just continue to improve my position with 22. Rhe1, followed by the idea of playing 23. Bc5. I am practically a piece up because the Black’s bad Bishop on the Kingside. 22. Rde1 Again keeping the h1 Rook more flexible in case of an attack on the Kingside. 22. ... Rfe8 23. Na5 Rxb2??!!? Bravo for courage. This is a desperate attempt to create some counterplay, but -- 24. Kxb2 Qd6 25. Nxc6! Trading pieces and still controlling the b8 square. 25.
... Qa3+ 26. Kb1 Qxa4 27. Nxe7+ Rxe7 28. Bd4! Rd7 29. Rh2! The Rook is going to cover a little ex-posure on the Queenside and get into the action as well. 29. ... c5 30. Rb2! 1–0 This Rook move leaves Black with no chances; he is down an Exchange and the h7 Bishop is dead. Black made the right decision and resigned.
This was a nice positional game that demonstrates how careful you have to be with your piece place-ment and pawn structures.
The next game explores the same theme. My opponent is one the strongest Grandmasters in the USA and is known as an aggressive player.
GM Sergey Kudrin – GM Melikset Khachiyan
Western States Open, Reno 2007C54 GIUOCO PIANO
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bb3 0–0 7. Bg5?!
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwq-trk+0
9zppzp-+pzpp0
9-+nzp-sn-+0
9+-vl-zp-vL-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+LzPP+N+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tRN+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Playing 7. Bg5 in this type of po-
sition is not a good idea. The prob-lem is that this Bishop very soon creates a headache for White’s po-sition. Better is the more natural 7. 0–0 or 7. Nbd2. 7. ... h6 8. Bh4 Be6 9. Nbd2 Kh8!? I’m trying to shut down the White Bishop with g7-g5, but I was needlessly worried about the potential piece sacrifice on g5. E.g., 9. ... g5 10. Nxg5 hxg5 11. Bxg5 Bg4! (I missed this key move in my calculations and as a result, I declined to play 9. ... g5) 12. Bxf6 Bxd1 13. Bxd8 Bxb3!. 10. Nc4 g5 11. Bg3 Kg7 12. h4?! I think this is too much. White needs to finish development first and then try to strike at the center with d3-d4. Usually in this type of position, White’s idea to attack Black’s King-side with h4 doesn’t work. 12. ... g4 13. Nh2 Qd7 14. Nf1 Nh5!
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-tr-+0
9zppzpq+pmk-0
9-+nzpl+-zp0
9+-vl-zp-+n0
9-+N+P+pzP0
9+LzPP+-vL-0
9PzP-+-zPP+0
9tR-+QmKN+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Otherwise h4-h5 is very strong. 15. Nce3 Kh7 A defensive move. 16. Bc2?! White must play 6. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Qxg4 Qf7!. Black gets excel-lent compensation for the pawn, but the position still remains extremely complicated. This was a critical point in the game -- White played aggressively up to here and now he gives up the initiative; which he cannot afford to do because of the active nature of the position. 16. ... f6!? To overprotect the e5 pawn in case of d3-d4. 17. Bb3!? Rg8 18. Bxe6 Qxe6 19. Qb3 Qxb3 20. axb3 Ne7 21. 0–0–0 Raf8 Black wants to break White’s Kingside po-sition with … f6-f5. 22. d4 exd4!? I could even play Bb6, but I wanted to destroy White’s pawn structure and create more weaknesses on the Queenside now. 23. cxd4 Bb6 24.
Kc2 f5?! Better was 24. ... Nc6! 25. Kc3 Re8. I absolutely forgot about that. I had been focusing on the f6-f5 breakthrough and just didn’t stop to consider switching my plans. 25. Nxf5 Nxf5 26. exf5 Rxf5 27. Ne3 Nxg3 28. fxg3 Rf2+ 29. Kc3 c5! Black is better. He needs to bring the Bishop back into the game since it’s been temporarily out of business. 30. dxc5 Bxc5 31. Nd5 a5 To se-cure the Bishop against b2-b4 and also control the b4-square. 32. Rd2 Rxd2 33. Kxd2 Rf8 34. Nf4 Bf2! 35. Rc1! Bxg3 36. Rc7+ Kg8 37. Ne2 Bxh4 38. Rxb7 Rf2 39. Ra7 Rxg2 40. Rxa5 Kf7?! 41. b4 g3 42. b5 Rf2 43. b6 g2 44. Ra1 Rf5? Los-ing most of Black’s advantage. Bet-ter was 44. ... Bg5+! 45. Kd3 Bd8 46. b7 Bc7 47. Rg1 h5 48. Ke3 Bb6+! 49. Kd2 Ba7!, and now Black’s h-pawn cannot be stopped; 44. ... Bd8? 45. b7 Bc7 46. Rg1 h5 47. Ke1!. 45. Rg1 Rb5 46. Kc2 Bf6! 47. b3 Rxb6 48. Rxg2 Be5 49. Rf2+ Kg6 50. Nf4+ Kg5 51. Nd5 Rb7 52. Rg2+ Kf5 53. Rf2+ Kg4 54. Nf6+ Kh4 55. Rf5! Kg3 56. Nd5 Also 56. Ng8!? Rh7 57. Rh5isa better for Black. 56. ... Rb5 57. Nf6 Rb7 58. Nd5 Rb5 59. Nf6 Rc5+ 60. Kd1 Rc8! Guarding the important g8 square. 61. Nd5 Rh8 62. Ke2 h5 63. Rg5+ Kh3 64. b4 h4 65. b5 Ra8! 66. b6 Ra3! 67. Rg8? Rb3!–+ 68. Rg6 Or 68. Rb8 Rb5! 69. b7 Rxd5!! 70. Rg8 Rb5 71. b8Q Rxb8 72. Rxb8 Kg2–+.] 68. ... Rb5 69. Rg8 Rxd5 70. b7 Rb5 71. b8Q Rxb8 72. Rxb8 Kg2 73. Rc8 h3 74. Rc2 h2 75. Kd3+ Also insufficient was 75. Ke3+ Kg3 76. Rc1 Bf4+. 75. ... Kf3 76. Rc1 Bf4 77. Rb1 Be3 78. Rh1 Bg1 79. Kc4 Kg2 0–1
You need to study to acquire both deep positional understanding and sharp killing tactics in order to reach a high level chess.
GM Melik Khachiyan competes in major national tournaments and coaches, as well. He and Lola Nunn publish www. gmmelik. com and www. midknightkibitzer. com. Explore these sites for more games, puzzles and lessons. Comments or questions: askgm@gmmelik. com. or editor@midknightkibitzer. com.
17 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Rates are going UP
Renew now!
sn
There’s still time to save!
As of March 1, 2008, SCCF dues will increase to $18/year adult, $10/year junior. But there’s still time to renew at the current rate ($14/$9)! And, if you renew for more than one year, you save even more! Get two years for $27, or three years for only $40. Send your re-newal to SCCF, P.O. Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754.
From a clear blue sky
Need closed openmngs lead to dull play? Hardly. The gambit
fireworks of the 19th century are now rarely seen (those lines have been analyzed to death), but aiming one’e pieces at the enemy King will nover go out of style. Notes by the winner..
IM Cyrus Lakdawala – Bruce Baker
Gambito 348, San Diego 2007A30 ENGLIH OPENING
[Notes by IM Cyrusw Lakdawa-la]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. 0–0 Be7 6. b3 0–0 7. Bb2 d6
Bruce managed to confuse me out of my normal setups vs. the hedge-hog with his strange move order.
8. Nc3 c5 9. d4 Other reasonable moves are 9.
d3 and 9. e3. 9. ... cxd4 10. Qxd4 Nbd7 11.
Rfd1?! Misplacing the Rooks and allow-
ing Black easy equality. Better was 11. Rad1! a6 12. e4 (12. Ng5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Qc7 14. Nce4 h6 is about equal) 12. ... Qc7 13. Rfe1, with a slight advantage to White.
11. ... a6 12. e4 Qc7 13. Rac1 Rac8 14. h3 Rfd8
Perhaps the Rook would be bet-ter on e8.
15. Qe3 Nc5 16. Nd4 Qb8 17. Re1
Better late than never! 17. ... Bf8 18. Rcd1 d5? Believe it or not, this logical
move loses. Black stays equal with 18. ... g6.
19. cxd5 exd5 20. Nxd5! Removing a Kingside defender.
Black gets terrific activity in the line 20. e5?! Nfe4.
20. ... Nxd5 21. exd5 Bxd5
XIIIIIIIIY
9-wqrtr-vlk+0
9+-+-+pzpp0
9pzp-+-+-+0
9+-snl+-+-0
9-+-sN-+-+0
9+P+-wQ-zPP0
9PvL-+-zPL+0
9+-+RtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
22. Nf5! A lot of White pieces have their
eye on the black Kiing. Instead, 22. Bxd5?! Rxd5 23. Nc6 Qd6 24. Rxd5 Qxd5 25. Ne7+ Bxe7 26. Qxe7 f6 leads nowhere for White.
22. ... Bxg2 Now I worked out the line to
mate with 22. ... Be6 23. Be5! Rxd1 (only move) 24. Bxb8 Rxe1+ 25. Qxe1 Bxf5 26. Qe5 winning.
23. Nh6+!! The only way to proceed. The
tempting 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Bxg7?
Ne6! (24. ... Bxg7?? 25. Qg5 Ne6 26. Rxe 6wins) 25. Bxf8 Bxh3! Is unclear and allows Black to defend. During the game I thought this line also won for White, but luckily I picked the other one.
23. ... gxh6 Or 23. ... Kh8 24. Nxf7+ Kg8 25.
Nh6+ Kh8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Nf7+ Kg8 28. Nxd8 Bxh3 (28. ... Qxd8 29. Kxg2) 29. Qe8! (hreatening mate with Qf7+) 29. ... Qc7 30. Nc6!, and there is no reasonable defense to the threats Ne7+ and Re7.
24. Qc3 f6 25. Qxf6 Be4!The only try for Black to confuse
the issue is to block the e-file. If 25. ... Qc7 26. Qh8+ Kf7 27. Qxh7+ Bg7 28. Qxg7#.
26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Rxe4! Nxe4
Or a) 27. ... Rd1+ 28. Kh2 wins; b) 27. ... h5 28. Qh8+ Kf7 29. Qxh7+ Bg7 30. Qxg7#.
28. Qe6# A very difficult move to see when
I played the 22nd move, because Black had 3 pieces covering the e6 square at the time! 1–0
Games From Recent Events
18 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Pasadena Chess ClubThe 25-player Crown City Open
was won by young Danil Fedunov, who upset Master Ike Miller en route to a 3½-½ score. Miller and Greg Hall trailed by a half point. In the second section, Arnor Bieltvedt, Jason McKeen, and Steve Conant tied at 3-1.
The club ended the year with A Rose for Your Queen, a 23-player swiss in two sections. Ike Miller and Tianyi He topped the first group, each with 3½. Tim Tiernan led section two, also with 3½. Ro-lando Tenoso was second with 3.
The club will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2008, and is start-ing the year by moving back to the Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St. (2 blocks north of Colo-rado and 1 block east of Fair Oaks). The Dr Richard Lewis Memorial, a six-round swiss, begins on Janu-ary 4, with a round on each suc-cessive Friday at 7 pm. Informa-tion: Randy Hough, (626) 282-7412, [email protected]. – Randy Hough
Arcadia Chess ClubRandy Hough scored 6-0 to win
the 56-player Istvanyi Memorial, ending in November, including a last-round up[set of top seed Ike Miller. David Argall and Lawrence Stevens tied for second with 5-1.
In December, 54 players com-peted in the Richard Morris Memo-rial. Tying for first with 5-1 were Ike Miller, John Hale, and Dave Matson. Class prizes went to Jesse Vivtoria (A), Ray Sollars, Terrence Sun and James Sutton (B), Jeffrey Ding (C), and Adrian Chang and Alvin Huang (D/unrated).
The Arcadia Chess Club meets at 6:30 p.m. Mondays in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Ani-ta Ave. For information, call Fred Brock at (626) 331-1638 or Mel Clark at (626) 447-9355. Web site: www.geocities.com/arcadiachess-club.
West Valley Chess Club
The West Valley Chess Club is showing signs of a healthy recovery under the direction of new club TD, Jerry Yee. After the retirement of longtime club TD John Price, the club experienced a difficult transi-tion period and suffered disappoint-ing small turnouts for over a year due in part to the club’s inability to have their events rated in a timely manner. In Yee’s first event, the 6 round WVCC Turkey Swiss at-tracted 34 players with 5 experts, concluded on December 13th and was rated by December 14th. The 5 experts were the most since 2003. The winner of the event was expert Fereidon Geula with a score of 5/6. Other winners were Nathan-
iel Lagemann(top A), Ped Bashi (top B), Ron Latragna (top C), and Bob Selvin (top D).The club meets 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Thursdays in the West Valley Jewish Commu-nity Center, 22622 Vanowen St. in West Hills. Contact Jerry Yee at (818) 915-5572 or at [email protected]. – Jerry Yee
SPA Fall ScholasticOctober 27
Many of the 70 players in this scholastic event at St. Paul the Apostle School in Westwood com-peted while wearing Halloween cos-tumes, and a special prize for best costume was awarded. Perhaps we should try this for adult tourna-ments … but then how could they tell the difference? Winners of the chess-related prizes were Bryan Tiu (K-12), Dillon Rangel and Evan Anthopoulos (K-8), Jesse Halpern (grade 5), Vivan Bose-Pyne (grade 4), Jack Aronzon (grade 3), Ma-son Rodriguez and Kendall Smith (grade 2), Winston Zeng and Ryan Abrishami (grade 1), and Andriana Marijic (grades K-1). Ivona Jezier-ska and Randy Hough directed.
Diversity Educational Center
On November 11, 116 players entered the Diversity Fall Scholas-tic in Arcadia. Adrian Chang de-feated Christopher Kao (both 5-0) in a playoff for first place. Anthony Zohrabian was third. Justin Tay, Aaron Householder, Jacky Quan, Hunter Carr, Matthew Ung, Vivian Lo, Joanne Koong and Andrew Yeh also won prizes. Unrated section winners included Tony Kukavica (grades K-3), Larry Hu (grades 4-6)
19 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
and Kie Dietrich Tsai (grades 7 and above).
Two events took place on De-cember 12. The “Champion of Champions” tournament, open only to previous club tournaments, saw Adrian Chang take first place ahead of Simone Liao and Henry Wang. The “Winter Quads” saw 39 players compete in seven sections. Winners were Liam Fairweather, Gerard Boberg, Rianne Sanchez, Tommy Hart, Matthew Ung, Bryan Cheng, Kyle Brown, Matthew Strip-lin, and Patrick Crandall, For more on the club’s activities, see diversi-tyeducationalcenter.com.
Exposition Park Chess Club
On November 4, Marc Conde, Alberto Mendieta, Reynaldo Cruz, Vartan Ghazarian, Jose Quiroz, Daniel Dudley and Marco Torres topped sections in the monthly free tournament at the Exposition Park Chess Club. On December 2, win-ners were Scott Merwin and Perry Buenavista. For photos of the club, see chess.expoparkla.com. The club meets every Sunday afternoon in the public library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles.
Ausbon Dew A colorful and popular play-
er, Ausbon passed away at age 60 two weeks before the American Open, a tournament which almost invariably benefited from his par-ticipation. Having retired from his position as a Los Angeles County probation officer a couple of years ago, Ausbon had looked forward to increased opportunities to play chess. R.I.P. – Randy Hough
Chess PalaceSUPER 2x QUADS attracts multiple
groupsThe Super 2x Quads held on No-
vember 10th attracted 18 players. Neil Bershad was the only person
being undefeated with 4 points and taking home the $100 prize. Follow-ing were Serio Pragale, Eren Kara-dayi, Joseph Bellinger, and Michael Lane with 3 points. Serio Pragale had the best upset defeating Jason Garfield in the second round. Visit us on the next Super 2x Quad on January 13th and February 9th.
Chess Palace is located at 12872 Valley View, Suite 5. For hours and schedule of events, call the club at (714) 899-3421 or Alfred Ong at (562) 598-5099. Web site: www.chesspalace.com. – Anthony Ong
AAA Fall ScholasticThis scholastic event, held No-
vember 3 at the First Lutheran Church in Glendale, saw Max Chou and Danil Fedunov share first place with 4½-½ in the K-12 section. Daniel Mousseri led the K-8 section, and Haik Mkrtchian was first in K-5. Harut Keshishian directed the 70-player event
Los Angeles Chess Club
IM Tim Taylor took first place in the “Turkey Shoot,” a small but strong G/60 tournament held at the LACC November 10-11. Taylor’s 5½-½ score put him a full point ahead of 2nd-place finisher Alexandre Kretchetov. Show Kitagami was third, while Wendell Salveron and Steve Solomon tied for first in the under-1800 section
3rd JTD InvitationalThis scholastic event held at
John Thomas Dye School on De-cember 2 had a good turnout of 66 players. Ishan Bose-Pyne won the Championship (K-12) section and Jesse Halpern took first in K-8. Grade winners included Ella Mao (K-1), Andy Arango and Rus-sell Burton (grade 1), Brandon Por-ter, Mason Rodriguez and Kendall Smith (grade 2), Brandon Normand (grade 3), and Jordan Flores and
Nicholas Papazyan (grades 4-5). Ivona Jezierska directed.
Gambito Open News The November Super Gambito
Open (#344) was a special event, the Annual Super Double Gambito, with 8 rounds of G/45 over 2 days for $2,000 in guaranteed prizes. This year we had 38 players, the most since 2002. IM Enrico Sevil-lano won for the first time last year, and repeated again this year with a 7½ point score for $300. Only John Bryant was able to earn a draw with Enrico. The young Mexi-can star Giovanni Carreto came in Second Place with 6 points, wining $200 in cash. Dimitry Kishinevsky also won $200 for BU2200 with 5 ½ points. Tying for 3rd place for $50 each were Bruce Baker and John Bryant. Another strong Mexican player, Ignacio Sainz, won $100 for 2nd U2200 with 5 points. Ben Bar-quin won $200 for BU2000 with 4 ½ points, trailed by Roberto Aiello, Jesse Orlowski and Alan Tsoi with 4 for 2nd /3rd U2000 and $50 each. Carey Milton, Raoul Crisologo and James Mahooti also scored 4 for 3rd U2200, and $17 each.
In the Reserve Section, Chuck Ensey, took First Place and a $200 prize with 7 ½ points, drawing only with Jason Arbeiter. Aaron Ibarra won 2nd Place for $100 with 5 ½ points. Young player Caleb Guy won BU1600 with 5½ and $150, while Nestor Dagamat was 3rd with 5 points for $50 and Jason Arbeiter, also with 5 won 2nd U1600 for $75. Another young player, Jose Villan-ueva, won 3rd U1600 for $25.
The December Super Gambito (#348) attracted 27 players. John Bryant drew with IM Cyrus Lak-dawala tied him for First/Second Place and $100 each with a 3 ½ point score. The surprising Class A play-er Jamieson Pryor won BU2200 for the first time with 3 wins in a row, while Experts Dimitry Kishinevsky and Leonard Sussman had to settle for 2nd U2200 with 2 ½. There was a 4-way tie for BU2000 between Ro-
20 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Support the SCCF State Championship!Now you can donate on line at
www.scchess.com
berto Aiello, Alejandrino Baluran, Pejman Sagart and Michael Taylor.
The Reserve Section also had a tie for First/Second, with 3 points each, between William Delaney and Anthony Whitt. Anthony just re-turned from the East Coast, where he says he found no chess club that was even close to being as good as the SDCC! Also scoring 3 points and tying for First, but winning the BU1600 was Scott Householder, while Tom Kuhn and Daniel Short split 2nd U1600. – Chuck Ensey
Ed Baluran (2000) – James Ma-hooti (2021)
Gambito 344, San Diego 2007B70 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Dragon
Variation[Notes by IM Cyrus Lakdawala]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. g4!? Nc6 8. Nb3 Bd7?!
This move eats up the square best for his f6-Knight. Better was 8. ... Be6.
9. g5 Ng8 10. Be3?! Instead, 10. h4! h6 11. h5! (11.
Rg1 hxg5 12. hxg5 Rh4 is equal) 11. ... hxg5 12. Bxg5 gxh5 13. Qd2 Nf6 14. 0–0–0 would give White a dan-gerous attack.
10. ... h6 11. f4 hxg5 12. fxg5 Rc8 13. Qd2 Ne5 14. 0–0–0 a5 15. Nd5 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. Bb6 Qc8 18. Nxa5 Rxe4 19. Nc7+
19. Rhe1 Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Be5 21. Re2 Rh4 looks fine for Black.
19. ... Kf8 20. Rdf1
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+q+-mkntr0
9+psNlzppvl-0
9-vL-zp-+p+0
9sN-+-+-zP-0
9-+-+r+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPPwQ-+-zP0
9+-mK-+R+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Better was the prophylactic 20. Kb1!.
20. ... Nh6!
A slick way to get the Knight back into the game!
21. Qd5?! 21. Qd3 Bf5! 22. gxh6 Bxh6+ 23.
Kb1 Re1+ 24. Rxe1 Bxd3 25. cxd3 is an unclear position]
21. ... Re5 22. Qg2 Nf5 23. Nc4 Bc6 24. Qd2 Bxh1 25. Nxe5 Bxe5 26. Rxh1 Qd7
Suddenly Black stands better. His pieces are much more active and his king is safer.
27. Qd5 Qa4! 28. a3 Qf4+ 29. Kb1 Qxg5 30. Qxb7 Kg7 31. a4 Rh4!
The Rook comes into the attack. 32. a5? No better was 32. c3 Rxa4. 32. ... Rb4–+ 33. b3 Qd2 Missing an immediate win with
33. ... Rxb3+! 34. cxb3 Qd2!, which leaves White helpless.
34. Qf3 Nd4 35. Qd3 Or 35. Qd1 Nxb3 36. Qxd2
Nxd2+ 37. Kc1 Bf4!/35. ... Rxb3+! 36. Qxb3 Nxb3
37. Ne8+ Kf8 0–1
Bruce Baker (2277) – Elliott Liu (2320)
Gambito 338, San Diego 2007B23 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Rossolimo
Variation[Notes by Bruce Baker and Cyrus
Lakdawala]1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4
4. Bc4 e6 5. Nf3 a6 5. ... Nf6 6. 0–0 d5?! 7. exd5 exd5
8. Nxd5! Nxd5 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. Qh5 Be6? (10. ... Ne7 11. Qxf7+ Kd7 12. Re1 gives White a strong attack for the piece) 11. Re1 was Lakdawala-Corper, from a Gambito in 2004.
6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. Ne2 b5 8. Bb3 Bc5 9. d3 Ne7 10. c3 dxc3!?
I don’t like giving up the center like this. 10 . ... Nc6 holds d4, but
maybe Elliot didn’t want to move his Knight away from the Kingside.
11. bxc3 Bb7 12. 0–0 0–0 13. d4 Bb6 14. Qd3 f5 15. f3?!
Better was 15. e5.15. ... Kh8?!15. ... fxe4! 16. fxe4 Rxf1+ 17.
Kxf1 Ng6 favors Black.16. Ba3 Rf6 17. Bd6 Bc7 18.
e5² Now White’s central space gives
him a comfortable edge.18. ... Rf7 19. Bc5 Nd5 20. a4
bxa4 21. Bxa4 Bb6 22. Bd6 a5 Or 22. ... Bc7 23. Rfb1 Rb8 24.
c4.23. Rfb1 Qg5! Black begins to develop a dan-
gerous attack 24. c4 Ne3 25. Nf4! Weaker was 25. Ng3? f4 26.
Rxb6 fxg3 27. h3 Nxg2! 28. Rxb7 Nf4 29. Qe4 Nxh3+ 30. Kg2 Qd2+ 31. Kxg3 Qf2+ 32. Kxh3 (32. Kg4 Qg2+ 33. Kh4 g5+ 34. Kh5 Nf4+ wins for Black) 32. ... Rxf3+ with a winning advactage, 25. g3? f4! 26. Rxb6 (26. Nxf4 Rxf4 27. Rxb6 Rxf3 28. Rxb7 Rxg3+ wins) 26. ... fxg3 27. hxg3 Rxf3 28. Rxb7 Rxg3+and Black is winning.
25. ... Qxf4 26. Rxb6 Bxf3!
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-+-mk0
9+-+p+rzpp0
9-tR-vLp+-+0
9zp-+-zPp+-0
9L+PzP-wq-+0
9+-+Qsnl+-0
9-+-+-+PzP0
9tR-+-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
21 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
27. Rab1! A powerful in-between move
which is his best hope of saving the game. Instead, 27. gxf3? Qg5+ 28. Kf2 Qg2+ 29. Ke1 (29. Kxe3?? f4+ 30. Ke4 Qg6#) 29. ... Qg1+ 30. Kd2 Qxa1 vindicates Black’s play
27. ... h5? Time pressure. Instead, 27. ...
Qg5! leads to wildly unclear com-plications, but my gut feeling is that Black still stands better. For example: 28. Rb8+ Rf8 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. g3 Ra8 31. Re1 f4 32. Bxd7 Qg4 33. Rxe3 fxe3 34. Qxe3 Be4 35. Bxe6 Qd1+ 36. Kf2 Bd3! 37. g4 a4 38. c5 a3, and Black is faster]
28. gxf3 Qxf3 29. R6b2+- Qg4+ 30. Kf2 Qf4+ 31. Ke1 Ng4 32. Bd1! Nxh2? 33. Qh3 Qe4+ 34. Be2 g6
Or 34. ... Ng4 35. Qxh5+ Nh6 (35. ... Kg8 36. Rb8+) 36. Qg6! Qh4+ 37. Kd2 Qxd4+ 38. Bd3 Qf4+ 39. Kc2 and wins.
35. Qxh2 Qxd4 36. Qf2 Qc3+ 37. Kf1 f4 38. Qf3! 1–0
San Diego Chess Club News
The SDCC completed the five-round 2007 Fall Swiss in Novem-ber with 61 players total, split once again into “Fast” (G/90) and “Slow” (40/90, SD/60) sections. We also used a McMahon pairing system where Masters and Experts started with 3 bye points, Class A players with 2 points, B’s with 1 and C and below with 0. Ignacio Sainz won the Slow Section with 7 points and Eric Montany was Second Place. Alfredo DeLeon won the Class A prize with 6 ½ and Mario Amodeo was second with 5½. Jamieson Pryor was the Best B, followed by Vincent Bro-man, while Rocio Murra won the Class C prize with Mark Lawless placing 2nd. In the Fast Section, it was NM Bruce Baker prevailing with 7½ points, followed by NM Da-vid Hart and Expert Jim Humphrey as BU2200. The A Class was won by Jerry Soelberg with 5½, trailed closely by 3 players with 5: Buddy
Morris, Ron Soto and Richard Jen-sen. There was a tie for first in the B’s between Manuel San German and Damani Fair. Ryan Nichols and Julian Rodriguez tied for first in the C Class. Monica Ness was BU1400. The club is now playing the 5 round annual Class Champi-onships with a single time control of G/120 with 10 second time delay. We are also looking forward to starting the 2008 Club Championship cycle in January with the qualifying Ali-na Markowski Open, an exciting 7 round event with one huge section. In 2006 we had 86 players and in 2007 the attendance popped up to a record 92 players. We would love to get it up to 100 players in 2008.
The club meets on Wednesday nights at 7 PM in Balboa Park at 2225 Sixth Avenue and is open ev-eryday for casual play. The club is also known for hosting a four round G/45 event on Saturdays, the “Gam-bito Open”, now up to #350 (7 years worth) in the history books. See our website at http://Groups.msn.com/sandiegochess for more stories, games and photos – Chuck Ensey
Ron Bruno (2254) – John Funder-burg (2123)
Alina Markowski Open, San Diego. 2007
C07 FRENCH DEFENSE, Tarrasch Variation1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5
Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd6 7. 0–0 Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 a6 11. a4?! Qc7 12. Qe2 Bd6 13. Nf5!? Bxh2+ 14. Kh1 0–0 15. Nxg7! Bf4?! 16. Qf3? e5? 17. Bxf4 exf4! 18. Nh5 Nxh5 19. Qxh5 Qxc4 20. Qg5+ Kh8 21. Qf6+ Kg8 22. Rfe1? Qc6! 23. Qxf4 Re8? 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Ra3 f6 26. Rg3+ Kf7 27. Qh6! Qh8? 28. Qh5+! Ke7 29. Qc5+! 30. Qd5+ Kc7 31. Rg8! and White went on to win. 1–0
Solutions to Tactics bt Hanks(see page 14)
Problem no. 1: c. White is winning. This was Anand vs Illescas, Lin-ares, 1992 where the main line goes 1. Nxb6 Nxb6 2. Na5 Qa7 3. c5 dxc5 4. bxc5 Nc8 5. c6 Rb6 6. Rb1 Rxb1 7. Rxb1 1-0
Problem no. 2: a. Black is winning. Kramnik vs Ubilava. You had to notice the White Queen precariously situated over on the Queenside to solve this one. Without many flight squares there’s bound to be a combina-tion to trap Her Majesty. The main line is: 1. … Bb4 and after 2. Qa4 then Ndc5! 3. dxc5 Nxc5. Time for a bathroom break. 0-1
Problem no. 3: b. Ba5 is incorrect. Lasker vs Euwe, Nottingham 1936. This is a horrible blunder and is a classic example of not doing a safety check. The main line goes 1. … Ba5? 2. b4! Bxb4 3. Nc2 Bd6 4. Kxc4 and White wins. Better was the simple 1. … Nb6 and Black retains a slight advantage in this endgame.
Problem no. 4: b. Black is winning. Black has a devastating attack with the two Bishops and lines of attack towards the White King. The main line goes: 1. ... Rxd3 2. Qxd3 [if 2. cxd3 then 2. … Bg5 3. Na4 Bxd2+ wins] 2. ... Bg5+ 3. Rd2 Qxb2+ 4. Kd1 Qa1+ 5. Ke2 Bg4+ 6. f3 Qxh1 7. fxg4 Qxg2+ 8. Kd1 Qh1+ 9. Ke2 Qxh2+ 10. Kd1 Qg1+ 11. Ke2 Qg2+ 12. Kd1 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 Qf1+ 14. Qe1 Rd8+ 15. Nd5 Qxe1+ and Black wins.
22 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
In addition to individual prizes, there was a team competition in each section that also awarded national titles.
Two side events were also held. The 2007 NYA Blitz Chess Champi-onship held on Friday, November 17. Stanley Yang won the K-12 Blitz with 10½ points and Sean Vibbert won the K-6 Blitz with 11 points.
The 2007 NYA Bughouse Cham-pionship took place Saturday, No-vember 18. The team of Kevin Bu and Matthew Dahl took the title with 10 points.
Additional details can be found at: http://main.uschess.org/tourna-ments/2007/NYA/. — USCF news release
UTD InvitationalUniversity of Texas at Dallas Ju-
nior IM Davorin Kuljasevic tied for first with GM Alejandro Ramirez and earned his first GM norm in this event, held at UTD Decem-ber 6-14. Ray Robson also did well, gaining his final IM norm. Davorin credits his victory to consistency and doing his opening homework:
“Round robins require much more mental and psychological stability compared to open tournaments ... I was also fortunate that I won my two White games against Robson and Jun fairly easily because they jumped right into my home prepa-ration.”
Final Standings1-2. IM Davorin Kuljasevic
and GM Alejandro Ramirez 7½3½
3. GM Zviad Izoria 7-44. FM Ray Robson 6-55-6. IM John Bartholomew and
IM Jacek Stopa 5½5½7-8. GM Jun Zhao and IM Dmi-
try Schneider 5-69-10. IM Salvijus Bercys Drasko
Boskovic 4½-6½11-12. GM Magesh Panchana-
than and WGM Chunhong Ning 4-7
— USCF news release
U.S. Chess LeagueThe Dallas Destiny topped the Boston Blitz in the finals of the 2007 U.S.
Chess League in a match decided by a tiebreak playoff. The anticipated match-up between the Boston Blitz, winners of the Eastern Division, and the Dallas Destiny, winners of the Western Division, did not disappoint the hundreds of onlookers (at least 200 at any one time) on ICC. Both teams are to be commended for providing continued excitement over the course of over 6 hours of action.
Both squads used lineups that had been successful throughout the year:
Boston Blitz Dallas DestinyBoard 1GM Larry Christiansen ½-½ IM Drasko BoskovicBoard 2 FM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun 1-0 IM Davorin KuljasevicBoard 3 NM Denys Shmelov ½-½ IM Jacek StopaBoard 4 NM Chris Williams 0-1 WFM Bayarra Zorigt
As the match ended at 2-2, a blitz playoff was held. The playoff rules were somewhat peculiar: the 4th boards for each team would face off in the first tiebreak match. The winner of that match advanced to play the 3rd board of the team of the opposing team. In case of a draw, both players were elimi-nated, with the proviso that in order for the first board to be eliminated, he had to lose the final match. Results were:
Williams (Boston) 1-0 Zorigt (Dallas)Stopa (Dallas) 1-0 Williams (Boston)Stopa (Dallas) 1-0 Shmelov (BostonStopa (Dallas) ½-½ Sammour-Hasbun (Boston) (both eliminated)Christiansen (Boston) 1½-1½ Boskovic (Dallas)
So Dallas won the playoff 4-3. More details (and games) may be found at www.uschessleague.com. – USCF news release.
... continued from page 4
Solutions to Chess Quiz(see page 28)
Beni – Schwartbach, Vienna, 1969: White sets up the famous chess mill with the diverting sac-rifice 1. Qh3 Qxh3 (On 1. ... Qf6 2. Qg3 g6 3. Bxf6 Nxf6, Black has enioug material, but he will soon be amted after 4. fxg6)] 2. Rxg7+ Kh8 3. Rxf7+ Kg8 4. Rg7+ Kh8 5. Rg8# 1–0
Wade – Boxall, Middleton-on-Sea, 1953: A re-moving the guard combination begins with 1. Bxf7, for if 1. ... Qxd4 2. Ng6#, while 1. ... Rxf7 2. Ng6+ wins the Queen. So, 1–0
Prandstetter – Jankovec, Marianske Lazne 1978: 1. Qxb6 is a two-pronged removing the guard sacrifice. After 1. ... Qxb6 2. Rd7+ Ke8 (or 28. ... Kg8 29. f7+ Kh8 30. Bg7+ Kxg7 31. f8Q#) 29. Re7+ Kd8 30. Rd1+. 1–0
23 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
2008
Westwood Winter Open
Sunday, January 27Los Angeles Chess Club
11514 Santa Monica Blvd, LA, CA 900255-SS, G/40
$1500 prize fund(based on 50 players, 80% of each prize guaranteed)
In two sections:Open Reserve (U1800)1st: $400 1st: $200
2nd: $200 2nd: $1003rd: $50 U1600: $125
U2200: $125 U1400/unrated: $100
U2000: $125 U1200: $75 Registration: 9-9:45 a.m. Rounds: 10-11:30-1:30-3:15-4:45 Entry fee: $47 if received by 1/26, $55 at site. Half point byes: Limit 1, must be requested with entry. SCCF membership ($18, under 18 $10) req. for rated S. CA residents Free Parking Entries: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1, Los Angeles, CA 90038, on line at www.westernchess.com
GP: 10. State Championship Qualifier
Name_______________________________________________ USCF ID#_______________ Rating_______
Address ____________________________________City ______________________ State _____ ZIP ______
Section: Open Reserve Bye (Limit 1): 1 2 3 4 5
advertisement
24 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Editorial: Forever War
by John Hillery
With the end of the USCF elec-tions last August, most of us
assumed that things would quiet down. And perhaps the Executive Board could get some work done. That turned out not to be the case. The tale is long and complicated, so let’s start with some definitions.
Usenet is a collection of news-groups, or unmoderated forums, created in the early days of the In-ternet. One of them is rec.games.chess.politics, or rgcp. The techno-optimists conceived of Usenet as a bridge to connect people of similar interests. We all know what lives un-der bridges.
Sam Sloan is a … well, “colorful character” would be the most gen-erous. Other, more accurate, terms might be “contumacious Internet troll,” “serial litigant,” and “perpet-ual candidate.” Sloan latched on to rgcp in its early days, and was soon added to most users’ killfiles. After running for the USCF Board at ev-ery opportunity (and usually finish-ing in two digits), he managed to slip in to a one-year term in 2006. The reasons seem to have been a gen-eral desire for change, the presence of several candidates splitting the sane-people vote, and the support of a few locally influential organizers hoping to make Bill Goichberg’s life miserable. They had some success with the last.
The USCF Forums are a set of (slightly) moderated discussion boards set up about four years ago. They initially consisted of forums about organizing and directing tour-naments, which worked fairly well. In 2005, however, a “USCF Issues” forum was added. While there were a few useful threads, for the most part it merely provided a soapbox for every addled yolk in the USCF. (See previous paragraph.)
In 2005, an anonymous character began posting scurrilous comments on rgcp, signing Sam Sloan’s name.
It is difficult to believe that this de-ceived anyone, since, aside for the dif-ference in e-mail address, the “Fake Sam Sloan” posts were on about the level of schoolboy scrawlings on a lavatory wall. One may assume that the intention was to ridicule Sloan, though this seems fairly pointless (the phrase “snake’s belly” comes to mind). Most people pretty much ignored them. Later, the “Fake Sam Sloan” began making (equally trans-parent) Fake posts in the names of other Usenet denizens such as Ray Gordon (a notably unsuccessful se-rial litigant and writer of seduction books), and Brian Lafferty (an an-noying character has been infesting the USCF Forums since discovering the USCF last year).
All this might have stayed in the rgcp sewer where it belonged, but for the fluke of Sam Sloan’s election to the USCF Executive Board. Sloan announced to his colleagues that he was absolutely certain that the
“Fake Sam Sloan” was none other than Paul Truong, business man-ager (later husband) of Susan Pol-gar. Sloan’s colleagues replied that a) he had no evidence, and b) it was none of the USCF’s business any-way. Sloan’s credibility was further reduced by the facts that a) this oc-curred after Truong and Polgar had denounced him as a reprobate unfit to hold office, and b) Sloan had previ-ously made other interesting claims, such as that all USCF financial re-cords had been dumped in a landfill by someone who had never been to New Windsor, and Susan Polgar had appeared at the 2003 U.S. Open without the advance knowledge of the organizer (who presumably had not read the TLA).
Fast forward now to the sum-mer of 2007. Ten candidates were competing for four spots on the EB. Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, run-ning as “reform” candidates and us-ing Sloan as a Horrible Example, fin-ished first and third. Sloan finished a distant ninth, with about half as many votes as he had received the previous year.
We must now back up for a mo-
ment. In early 2007, the USCF had decided to revamp its web site (for the second time). The details are not relevant here, except for one: the
“Forums” required special work, as the BBS software was a bit out of date and not fully compatible with the new design. In an effort to save money, the USCF accepted the offer of one Brian Mottershead to act as
“volunteer” programmer and forum administrator. Subsequent events suggest that Mottershead, a B-play-er from Massachusetts who had spent many years working in the IT field in Europe, was technically quite competent. He was, however, profoundly ignorant of tournament organization, tournament direction, and the structure of the USCF. And he was—is—ignorant of his own ig-norance.
During the election campaign, Mottershead had been critical of Polgar and Truong. Nothing wrong with that. But he seems not to have realized that a USCF employee—even an unpaid one—has a duty not to abuse his position by med-dling in politics. In September 2007, Brian decided—apparently with the knowledge, though not necessarily at the direction, of Bill Hall and Bill Goichberg—to use his access to the USCF Forum logs to “investigate” the Fake Sam Sloan. Presumably he had some logical justification for this, but I must admit I’ve never been able to follow it. Mottershead proceeded to compare the IP ad-dresses of the “Fake” Usenet posts with those of Forum posts known to have been made by Paul Truong, and claimed to find statistically sig-nificant correspondences.
What now? Bill Goichberg, to his credit, told Mottershead that he should write up his claims and present them to the USCF Ethics Committee. That wouldn’t do for our Brian. Instead, he made a pub-lic accusation—note that this was an attack by a USCF employee on an elected USCF official—and tin-kered with the Forums to display everyone’s IP address.
This managed to enrage every-
25 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
2007-2008 State Championship
Seeded into the Championship are 2007 champion Enrico Sevillano, up to three players selected on the basis of rating, and four from the 2008
Candidates Tournament.
July 29-July 1 Pacific Southwest Open Andranik Matikozyan Gregg Small Alaa-Addin Moussa July 7-15 State Championship Jack Peters Tim Taylor Julian Landaw Ron Hermansen John Daniel Bryant John Funderburg Reynaldo del Pilar
July 19-22 Pacific Coast Open Melikset Khachiyan Joel Banawa Jouaquin Banawa Harutyun Akopyan
August 11-12 San Diego County Open Adam Corper Ulric Aeria Leonard Sussman
September 1-3 Southern California Open Ganbold Odondoo Christian Tanaka
September 15 San Luis Obispo Cty. Champ. Vadim KudryavtsevOctober 19-21 Western Pacific Open Alexandre Kretchetov
Tianye He November 22-25 American Open Eugene Yanayt
Takashi Iwamoto Gregg Small Ryan Richardson December 8-9 Joseph Ileto Memorial Eduardo Ortiz Takashi Kurosaki Carlos Garcia Danyul LawrenceUpcoming
January 18-21 Western Class Championships Agoura Hills January 27 Westwood Winter Open West LA Feb. 29-March 2 SCCF High School Championship Orange March 28-30 6th Ann. Western Pacific Open LAX
Each event qualifies two players (highest scoring Southern California residents not previously qualified) except that 1) In the event of a tie, all tied players will advance; 2) A score of 60% is required to qualify; 3) The SCCF Amateur, SCCF High School and any one-day event will each have one qualifying spot; and 4) All one-day tournaments shall require a 75% score and only one player shall qualify on tiebreak.
one, without convincing anyone. Those who had been anti-Truong be-came more so, while his supporters dug in and denounced Mottershead as having a sinister interest. After a week or so, Mottershead “volun-tarily” agreed to “temporarily sus-pend” his association with the USCF Forums. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the temporary suspen-sion to time out.
One would think things couldn’t get any worse. One would be wrong. In October, Sam Sloan filed a pro se lawsuit demanding twenty million dollars and a rerun of the 2007 elec-tion. Named as defendants were the USCF, all of the Board members, a laundry list of people who have said mean things about Sloan, and such oddities as Texas Tech University and the U.S. government, neither of which can be sued in Federal court without their permission. (Money quote: “Prior to the start of this dis-information campaign, Sam Sloan enjoyed a sterling reputation as an investigative reporter and was held in the highest regard by the World Chess Community.” Time out for laughter and applause.) Of course the lawsuit is an utter farrago, but the USCF or its insurance company will have to pay attorneys to dis-pose of it, and since Sloan is virtu-ally indigent there is little chance of collecting any judgment against him.
Most recently, several of the most rabid anti-Truongs have an-nounced plans to attempt a recall. If they succeed in qualifying it—by no means certain, since it would require the signatures of 96 (out of ~145) Delegates or ~3300 mem-bers—we get to have yet anotherelection. One cannot avoid the sus-picion that the money could be bet-ter spent on chess.
What should the rest of us think about all this? There are really two questions:
1) Is Truong actually responsible for the “Fake” Usenet posts?
2) If the answer is “yes,” would it be enough to justify recalling him?(There’s no real question that it
would be a legitimate reason not to vote for him if he were to run again.)
My answers:1) Insufficient data. There is
certainly some evidence to support the charges, though probably not
enough to satisfy a “beyond reason-able doubt” standard.
2) No. Essentially the charges are of stupid and juvenile behavior. Like we’ve never seen that on the PB/EB before. Also, I’m tired of wasting time and money on elections.
26 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Upcoming Events
January 18-2115TH WESTERN CLASS CHAMPION-
SHIPS. 6-SS, Renaissance Agoura Hills Hotel, 30100 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills CA 91301 (US-101 to Reyes Adobe Road exit). Adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains, 26 miles west of Burbank, 12 miles from Malibu, 28 miles from Ven-tura. Free parking. In 10 sections. Slow sections: Master, Expert, A, B, C: Choice of Jan 18-21 or Jan 19-21 with all rounds 40/2, SD/1, or Jan 20-21 with rds 1-3 G/60, then 40/2, SD/1. Fast sections: 1700-1899, 1400-1699, D, E, U900/Unr: Jan 19-20, G/90. $$G 20,000 based on 250 paid entries (re-entries count as half entries, U900 as quarter entries), minimum $16,000 (80% each prize) guaranteed. Master (over 2199): $1500-800-400-200, top U2400 $700-400. FIDE. Expert (2000-2199): $1000-500-300-200. Class A (1800-1999): $1000-500-300-200. Class B (1600-1799): $1000-500-300-200. Class C (1400-1599): $1000-500-300-200. 1700-1899: $1000-500-300-200. 1400-1699: $1000-500-300-200. Class D (1200-1399): $1000-500-300-200. Class E(Under 1200): $1000-500-300-200. Under 900/Unr: Trophies to top 7. Rated players may play up 200 points. Unrated must play in A or below with maximum prize A $700, 1600-1799 $600, B $500, 1400-1699 $400, C $300, D $200, E $100; bal-ance goes to next player(s) in line. Top 9 sections EF: Jan 18-21 $104, Jan 19-21 $103, Jan 20-21 $102, Jan 19-20 $101 mailed by 1/11, all $105 online at chesstour.com by 1/15, $110 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 1/15 (entry only, no questions), $120 at site; all $40 less to unrated. Under 900/Unr Sec-tion EF: $28 mailed by 1/11, $30 online at chesstour.com by 1/15 (en-
try only, no questions), $35 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 1/15, $40 at site. All: Re-entry (except Master) $60. Advance EF $10 less if paid with $49 USCF dues. SCCF memb. ($14, jrs $9) required for rated Southern CA residents. Jan 18-21 schedule: Reg. Fri to 6:30 pm, rds Fri 7, Sat 6, Sun 11-6, Mon 10-4:30. Jan 19-21 schedule: Reg. Sat to 10 am, rdsSat 11-6, Sun 11-6, Mon 10-4:30. Jan 20-21 schedule: Reg. Sun to 9 am, rds Sun 10-12:30-3-6, Mon 10-4:30. Jan 19-20 schedule: Reg. Sat to 10 am, rds Sat 11-2:30-6, Sun 10-1:30-5. All schedules: Bye all, limit 3, Master must commit before rd 2, others before rd 4. HR: $84-84, 818-707-1220, reserve by 1/4 or rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD #D657633. Questions: chesstour.com, 845-496-9658. Ent: Continental Chess, c/o Goichberg, Box 661776, Arcadia CA 91066. $10 service charge for withdrawals. Advance entries post-ed at chesstour.com. GP: 80. State Championship Qualifier.
January 272008 WESTWOOD WINTER OPEN. 5-SS, G/40. Los Angeles Chess Club, 11514 Santa Monica Blvd, LA, CA 90025, 2nd floor (4 blocks West of 405 Fwy). $$1500 b/50, 80% of each prize guaranteed. In two sec-tions: Open: $400-200-50, U2200 125, U2000 125. Reserve (U1800) $$200-100, U1600 $125, Under 1400/unrated $100, U1200 $75. EF: $47 if received by 1/26, $55 at site. SCCF memb. ($14, under 18 $9) req. for rated S. CA residents. No checks or credit cards at site. Half point byes: limit 1, must be req. w/entry. Reg: 9-9:45 a.m. Rds: 10-11:30-1:30-3:15-4:45. 2 Free Parking lots on the SW corner of Santa Monica & Purdue, or in the building basement
($3). Inf: [email protected]. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1, Los Ange-les, CA 90038. On-line entry: www.westernchess.com. GP: 10. State Championship Qualifier.
January 27HCA SCHOLASTIC #2. 7390 Center Ave. Huntington Beach, CA. 92646 714-925-3195. Two Tournaments: USCF Rated: 5 Rd. SS, G/30, Tro-phies to top finishers. Non-Rated: 5 Rd. RR, Grouped by Grades, 10 Games, Trophies to 1st and 2nd Place in Each Group; All others win participation medals. EF: $20 received by 1/25/08, $25 after. Reg: 8:30-9:15 a.m. Rds: Rated: 9:30-10:45-12:30-1:45-3:00 Non-Rated: 9:30 a.m. to finish; break for lunch noon-12:30. Entry: www.han-leychessacademy.org, click on Tour-nament and Class Registrations 2008, click on HCA Scholastic #2. Info: Joe Hanley; 714-925-3195
February 2HCA FEBRUARY RAPID. 5-SS, G/45, Prizes based on entries. 80% Re-turned.7390 Center Ave. Hunting-ton Beach, CA. 92646 714-925-3195. EF: $25 received by 1/31/08, $35 after. Reg: 8:30am-9:30am. Rds: 10am, 11:45, 2pm, 3:45, 5:30. Entry: ww.hanleychessacademy.org, click on Tournament and Class Registrations 2008, click on HCA February Rapid. Info: Joe Hanley; 714-925-3195.
February 3 HCA SCHOLASTIC #3. 7390 Center Ave. Huntington Beach, CA. 92646 714-925-3195. Two Tournaments: USCF Rated: 5 Rd. SS, G/30, Tro-phies to top finishers. Non-Rated: 5 Rd. RR, Grouped by Grades, 10 Games, Trophies to 1st and 2nd
27 RANK & FILE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008
Place in Each Group; All others win participation medals. EF: $20 received by 1/25/08, $25 after. Reg: 8:30-9:15 a.m. Rds: Rated: 9:30-10:45-12:30-1:45-3:00 Non-Rated: 9:30 a.m. to finish; break for lunch noon-12:30. Entry: www.han-leychessacademy.org, click on Tour-nament and Class Registrations 2008, click on HCA Scholastic #3. Info: Joe Hanley; 714-925-3195.
February 2-3HCA FEBRUARY OPEN. 5-SS, Satur-day: G/60 Sunday: 40/2, SD/1. 7390 Center Ave. Huntington Beach, CA. 92646 714-925-3195. Prize Fund: $$500 b/12. EF: $50 received by 1/31/08, $60 after. Reg: 8:30.-9:30 a.m. Rds: Sat.: 10-1-3:30, Sunday: 10-4:30. Entry: www.hanleyches-sacademy.org, click on Tournament and Class Registrations 2008, HCA February Open. Info: Joe Hanley; 714-925-3195.
February 3LACC - FEBRUARY SCHOLASTIC. 5 SS, G/30, K-12. 11514 Santa Mon-ica Blvd - Second Floor - 4 blocks West of 405 Fwy - LA, CA 90025. 2 Free Parking lots on the SW cor-ner of Santa Monica & Purdue; or in the building basement ($2). EF: $20 ($2 off for SCCF members). Reg: 1:30-2:00 p.m. Rds: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Prizes: Trophies, Medals Info: Mick Bighamian: Cell (310) 795-5710; [email protected].
February 16-18 2008 U.S. AMATEUR TEAM WEST. 6SS, 40/2, SD/1. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Cen-tury Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Four-player teams plus optional al-ternate, average rating of four high-est must be U/2200, diff. between bds. 3 & 4 may not exceed 1000. Dec. list used. EF: $118 per team if received by 2-15, $30 individual (on line only), $136 at site, under age 18 $86 by 2-15, $100 site. Trophies and 4 clocks to top 3 teams, U2100, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400/unr. Trophies (1 large, 4 small) to top college, industrial, junior (under 18), Senior (over 55), U1200. Clocks
to best score each board, alternate, and any 6-0. Gift certificate priz-es for best team names (1st/2nd). Reg: 9-10 a.m. 2-16. Rds: 11-6, 11-6, 10-4:30. On-line entries, help in forming teams, advance entry list: westernchess.com. HR: $109, (310) 410-4000, mention chess. Reserve by Feb. 1 or rates may go up. Park-ing $10. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hil-lery, 835 N Wilton Place #1A, Los Angeles CA 90038. NS, NC, W. FIDE.
February 1711TH ANNUAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOLASTIC AMATEUR TEAM. 4-SS, SD/45, LAX Hilton, 5711 W Cen-tury Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Four-player teams plus optional alternate, Grade 12/below, aver-age rating of four highest must be U1200. (Dec. 2007 rating list used, Feb. 2008 used for previously un-rated players.) EF: $69 per team received by 2/15, $84 at site. Tro-phies (team & individual) to top 3 teams, top U1000, U800, U400/unr. Reg.: 9:00-10 a.m. Rds.: 10:30-1-2:45-4:30. Info, help in forming teams: Jim Bullock, 714-848-4377, [email protected]. Web site, advance entry list: www.west-ernchess.com. HR: $109, (310) 410-4000, mention chess. Reserve by Feb. 1 or rates may go up. Parking $10. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N Wilton Place #1A, Los Ange-les CA 90038. NS, NC, W.
February 18AT HEXES. 3-SS, G/90. LAX Hilton,
5711 W Century Blvd, Los Ange-les, CA 90045. Six-player sections by rating. EF: $20 if rec. by 2-15, $25 door. $$40-20-10 each section. Reg.: 9:30-10:15 a.m. Rds.: 10:30-1:30-4:30. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hil-lery, 835 N Wilton Place #1A, Los Angeles CA 90038, on line at www.westernchess.com.
March 8HCA MARCH RAPID. 5 Rd. SS, G/45, 7390 Center Ave. Huntington Beach, CA. 92646 714-925-3195.
Chess PalaceJanuary 13 Super Double (2x) Quad January 14thAmateur Open January 20thChessPalace QuadJanuary 27thChessPalace OchoFebruary 2nd6-Pak February 9thSuper Double (2x) QuadFebruary 10thAmateur OpenFebruary 16th ChessPalace QuadFebruary 23rd ChessPalace Ocho
Details: www.chesspalace.com, or e-mail [email protected]
Prizes based on entries. 80% Re-turned. EF: $25 received by 3/6/08, $35 after. Reg: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Rds: 10 a.m., 11:45, 2 p.m., 3:45, 5:30. Entry: www.hanleychessacad-emy.org, click on Tournament and Class Registrations 2008, click on HCA March Rapid Info: Joe Han-ley; 714-925-3195
March 8-9HCA MARCH OPEN. 5 Rd. SS, 7390 Center Ave. Huntington Beach, CA. 92646 714-925-3195. Satur-day: G/60 Sunday: 40/2, SD/1 Prize Fund: $$500 b/12. EF: $50 received by 3/6/08, $60 after. Reg: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Rds: Sat.: 10 a.m.-1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday: 10-4:30 Entry: www.hanleychessacademy.org, click on Tournament and Class Registra-tions 2008, HCA March Open Info: Joe Hanley; 714-925-3195
SCCFPO BOX 205MONTEREY PARK CA 9754
BENI - SCHWARTBACH
VIENNA, 1969WHITE TO MOVE
PRANDSTETTER - JANKOVEC
MARIANSKE LAZNE 1978WHITE TO MOVE
WADE - BOXALL
MIDDLETON-ON-SEA, 1953WHITE TO MOVE
Solutions on page 22
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