For the second straight week, I am so happy to share with all of you the entire issue of The Weekender by Mr. Manny Benitez, we are still celebrating the 1st year anniversary of the Philippines' only free Chess Magazine, aside of course from Philippine Chess Chronicles.
The Chess Plaza Weekender
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City
Vol. II No. 1
HALFWAY THROUGH FINAL CANDIDATES MATCHES
Leko, Aronian, Grischuk and Gelfand lead rivals
HUNGARIAN superstar Peter Leko scored his second win in the third round to take a commanding lead, 2.5-0.5, in his best-of-six duel with Russian GM Evgeny Bareev, while Levon Aronian of Armenia, Boris Gelfand of Israel and Alexander Grischuk of Russia held on to their one-point lead, 2-1, over their respective rivals.
Besides Bareev, those who were lagging behind halfway through the second and final stage of the World Championship Candidates Matches were Alexei Shirov of Spain, Sergei Rublevsky of Russia and Gata Kamsky of the United States.
Leko, Aronian and Grischuk won their initial games against Bareev, Shirov and Kamsky, but it was only the Hungarian who won again in the third round.
On the other hand, Gelfand and Kamsky fought to a draw in the first two games, but the former US champion, who in 1989 defected from the Soviet Union to the US while playing in an international tournament in New York, made a few blunders with the white pieces early on.
Playing Black, Gelfand put pressure on White’s pieces on the Q-side, launched a minority attack as early as the 13th move, and pounced on Kamsky’s positional error to win a pawn on the 30th turn.
From then on, White was reduced to defending his position until the 58th move when he surrendered.
Leko won his third game with a well-conducted attack arising from a Modern Line of the Caro-Kann opening.
• Peter Leko (2738) – E. Bareev,(2643)
Rd. 3, Caro-Kann, Modern Line (B17)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0–0 b6 12.Qg4! Preventing Black from castling Kf8 13.Qh4 Bb7 14.Re1 Kg8 15.Qh3 Re8 16.c4 Nf6 17.Bd2 c5 18.d5 e5 19.Bc3 g6 20.Qh4 Kg7 21.Nd2 Qd8 22.Bc2 Bc8 23.Ba4 g5 24.Qg3 Nh5 25.Qf3 White now has a big advantage g4
The Weekender marks first anniversary today
TODAY marks the first anniversary of The Chess Plaza Weekender, or The Weekender for short.
The first issue did not even bear this name, although I told the caretakers at the time of the Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza, Chris and Warlita Palma, that it was a “Weekender” written for the plaza’s habitués—for free.
It was a far cry from The Weekender of today. For one thing, it had no logo and therefore no name. It only had a one-decker headline across the top of page one—“RP women outshine men at 37th Olympiad in Turin”—in 18 points, bold face, Times New Roman, and a feature about Arianne Caoili in the second section with the same format.
Below the headline was my byline and below that the parenthetical line “(Written for the Quezon Memorial Circle)”. Beneath it was the date, “June 10, 2006”.
June 10 last year was a Saturday, which is why I had another edition for the next day, Sunday, June 1l, 2006.
The Weekender appeared in this simple format for nine consecutive weeks, every Saturday and Sunday, and the first time the front page appeared with a logo and a simple two-column format was on July 8, also a Saturday.
Gradually and rather not too subtly, as I learned to format pages with Microsoft’s Word program, photographs were added.
WHEN MONSTERS COLLIDE…
Deep Junior draws first blood
WHEN two monsters collide in an epic battle of wits and gigabytes, expect instructive sparks to fly and cataclysmic quakes to shake the minds of men.
This is exactly what happened in the first three games between Deep Junior, which plays on a new Intel 16 core machine out of London, and Deep Fritz, which is playing on an eight-core machine from Hamburg, Germany.
The two fought two highly instructive draws, with tactical fireworks exploding at almost ever turn but successfully dampened by whichever monster was at the receiving end on the board.
In the third round, however, on Friday (early Saturday in Manila), Junior baited Fritz with pawns in the opening, which allowed the London machine to take control of the open lines in mid-game skirmishes and gave it a tremendous advantage in tempi in the endgame as Hamburg struggled to get out of the bind..
The game-score of the 85-move marathon arising from the Sicilian Najdorf, with notes bcy Alex Kure of the Deep Fritz team, as posted on the Chessbase News website:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5. This line was revived recently h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Ne4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Bg3 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 0-0 20.Bd6 Re8 After this move Junior was out of book [20...Rd8 Motylev,A - Anand,A, Wijk aan Zee (2) 2007; 20...Nc6 Anand,V - Van Wely,L, Wijk aan Zee (9) 2007] 21.0-0 f5 22.Qg3 Nc6 23.Qg6 Qd8 24.Bc4 Kh8 25.Ng5 Qxg5 26.Qxe8+ Kh7 27.Bf4 A new move. 27.Qxe6 Nf6 was Shirov,A - Ftacnik,L Bundesliga Baden Baden Germany 2007 which ended in a draw after 59 moves. Qg6 28.Qxg6+ Kxg6 29.Bxe6 Nf6 The last book move from the Fritz openings book. The resulting position is highly unbalanced: White is up an exchange and Black has two pawns as compensation. Still Black has problems because he is not fully developed yet 30.Bc4 Kh7 31.Bc7 a5?! 31...b5 maybe this was better trying to get out the rook with Ra7 32.Ra1 a4 33.Bb5 Ne4 34.Rd3 Nb4 35.Rd8 a3 36.Bd7 Nxc2 37.Rf1! Avoiding simplification after 37.Rxc8 Rxc8 38.Bxc8 Nxa1 39.Bxf5+ g6 40.Bxe4 a2; or 37.Bxc8 Rxc8 38.Rxc8 Nxa1 39.Be5 Nb3 40.Rc7 Kg6 41.Rxb7 Ned2 and maybe Black can still fight for the draw 42.Bc3 a2 43.Rxg7+ Kh5 44.Ra7 a1Q+ 45.Bxa1 Nxa1 46.Rxa1 Ne4 Bxd7 Fritz is forced to sacrifice the second exchange and though putting up a tenacious resistance could not save the game 38.Rxa8 Be6 39.Be5 Ng5 40.Rf2 Bb3 41.Rxf5 Kg6 42.Rf1 a2 43.Ra7 Ne3 44.Rxb7 Bd5 45.Rxg7+ Kh5 46.Rc1 Nxg2 47.Kf2 Nh3+ 48.Ke2 Nh4 49.Ba1 Be4 50.Rc4 Bb1 51.Rg3 Ng5 52.Rb3 Nf5 53.Kd1 Ne4 54.Kc1 Kg5 55.Rf3 Kg4 56.Ra3 Kf4 57.Rc8 Nf2 58.Rcc3 Ne4 59.Rf3+ Kg4 60.h3+ Kg5 61.Ra5 Ned6 62.Ra4 Ne4 63.Rb4 Nfd6 64.Kb2 Nf5 65.Rb5 Ned6 66.Rc5 Nb7 67.Rc4 Nbd6 68.Rg4+ Kh5 69.Rgf4 Kg6 70.Kc1 Kg5 71.Rg4+ Kh5 72.Ra4 Kg6 73.Rff4 Nc8 74.Ra5 Ncd6 75.h4 Kf7 76.Re5 Kg6 77.Kb2 Kf6 78.Kb3 Kf7 79.Ra4 Kg6 80.Ra6 Kf7 81.h5 Kf6 82.Kb4 Kf7 83.Ra7+ Kf6 84.Rd7 Kg5 85.Rxd6 1-0
No issue missed in stormy first year of The Weekender
Soon, the readers themselves pitched in with suggestions and contributions of news features and pictures.
Ziegfred C. Borja, a certified public accountant who had been my reader since way back when I was writing a chess column for the now-defunct TODAY newspaper, contributed a specially designed logo.
Unfortunately, after nearly half a year, that logo, which had been in “pdf” format, got corrupted and I switched to the simpler, miniature newspaper-like logo you see today.
Much earlier on, problem expert Joselito P. Marcos, a structural engineer who has been teaching in Lae, Papua New Guinea for over a decade now, started contributing his composed problems that have been a main weekly attraction of The Weekender.
Another friend, journalist Ignacio “Iggy” Dee, came up with suggestions that gave birth to the “Pinoy Gems with a History” series, which started about 10 months ago and is still going strong.
In October last year, after I came down with flu and upon the suggestion of reader Vernel Lawas, a mathematics professor of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, I come up with only one issue a week to lighten my workload.
I followed his advice, instead of shutting down The Weekender, and since then it has come out only once a week, on a Sunday.
What I am proudest most is that The Weekender has come out regularly since its inception, even during stormy weather and bouts of poor health.
And it’s being read by hundreds, or even thousands, of readers worldwide (thanks to the sharing habit of Filipinos) to as far as Dubai in the Middle East, Italy in Europe, New South Wales in Australia, and California in America.
All for the love of the game!
Leko surges ahead
26.Qd1 26.Qe3 was stronger Re7 27.h3 Nf6 28.hxg4 Bxg4² 29.f3 Bc8 30.Re3 Nh5 31.Qe1 f6 32.Qh4 Nf4 33.Ne4 Rf7 34.g3 Ng6 35.Qh5 Bb8 36.Bc2 f5 37.f4 Re8 38.Nf2 Rf6 39.Rae1 e4 40.Bxe4! fxe4 41.Nxe4 With his rook pinned on ft and his king hemmed in, Black resigns. 1–0
More games next week.
TWO DAYS BEFORE RIZAL’S 146th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY
Letran-Calamba Non-masters set
CALAMBA CITY, birthplace of Jose Protasio Rizal, will host the first Letran-Calamba National Non-Masters Active Chess Championship next Sunday, June 17, two days before the national hero’s 146th birth anniversary.
The one-day festival is being organized by the Laguna Chess Association and the Physical Education, Athletics and Sports Department of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba.
In a flyer received by the Weekender via the Net, the organizers announced cash prizes totaling P31,000 for the winners and best performers in 10 special categories.
The champion will receive P10,000 and the vice champion P5,000 plus trophies each. The third prize will be P3,000, fourth P2,000 and fifth P1,000, while those who end up in sixth to 10th places will get P500 each.
The best performers in 10 different categories will get P500 each—namely, Best Executive, Best Senior, Best Lady, Best Unrated, Best Junior, Best Kiddie, Best Letran Player (College-Female). Best Letran Player (College-Male, Best Letran High School Player and Best LCA member.
Registration fee is P200 for those who sign up on or before June 16 and P300 for those who sign up just before the tournament at the site—3/F, St. Martin de Porres Bldg, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Brgy. Bucad, Calamba, Laguna.
Interested parties may contact Dr. Alfred Paez, LCA president, (049)531-7628 or (0921)272-8172.
The flyer also urged participants to wear the proper attire for the occasion.— Marlon Bernardino
Enrico, Cholo carve sparklers in Memorial Day tilt
FILIPINO International Master Enrico Sevillano and Fide Master Joel “Cholo” Banawa e produced sparkling games at the Lina Gurmette Memorial Day Classic in Los Angeles, it was learned from John Hillery of westernchess.com, website of chess tournaments throughout Southern California.
Hillery sent an email to the Weekender Friday in response to an earlier query as to the availability of games played in the Memorial Day contest. The games have been posted both at westernchess.com and the geocities.com website of the Southern California Chess Federation.
Sevillano topped the event while Cholo, younger brother of NM Joauquin “Jake” Banawa, tied for second to fifth places with three others.
Sevillano’s best effort was with White against the Los Angeles Times columnist, like him an IM.
Sevillano,Enrico (2493) - Peters,Jack (2423) [B22]
Rd. 5, Sicilian Defense (B22)
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0–0 cxd4 8.cxd4 Be7 9.Nc3 Qd6 10.Bg5 0–0 11.Qd2 b6 Fritz suggests 11...Rd8 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Ne4 Qd8 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Bxh7+!
After 15.Bxh7+
15...Kxh7 16.Qc2+! The point, a double attack Kg8 17.Qxc6 Ba6 18.Rfc1 Rac8 19.Qe4 Bc4 20.Ne5 Bxa2 21.Qe3 Rxc1+ 22.Qxc1 Bd5 23.Rxa7 Qf5 24.f3 f6 25.Nd7 Bxf3?? Another blunder; best was 25...Rf7, e.g., 26.Ra1 Qd3, with equal chances 26.gxf3 Qxf3 27.Nxf8 Qg4+ The start of a fruitless king-hunt 28.Kf1 Qf3+ 29.Ke1 Qe4+ 30.Kd1 Qxd4+ 31.Qd2 Qg4+ 32.Kc2 Qc4+ 33.Kb1 Qf1+ 34.Ka2! 1–0
• Banawa,Joel (2310) - Moussa,Alaa-addin (2223)
Rd. 5, Queen’s Pawn Opening (D00)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 Bd6 5.g3 0–0 6.Bg2 Re8 7.Nd2 c6 8.Ne2 Bg4 9.h3 Be6 10.b3 Nd7 11.0–0 f5 12.Nf4 Nf6 13.c4 13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.c4 Rf8 leads to equality Ne4 14.Rc1 Qa5 15.Nxe4 Better than 15.Nxe6 Nxd2 16.Ng5 Nxf1 17.Qxf1 h6 fxe4 16.Rc2 Bf5 17.Qh5 g6 18.Qe2 g5 18...dxc4 was better, e.g., 19.bxc4 b6! 19.Nh5 Re6 20.f4 exf3 21.Qxf3 Bg6 22.cxd5 cxd5 23.Nf6+ Kg7 If 23...Kh8 24.Rcf2 24.Rcf2 Rf8 25.Nxd5 25.h4 gxh4 26.gxh4 was stronger Be4?? 25...Bd3 should bring relief, says Fritz 26.Qh5! Qxd5??
After 26…Qxd5??
A big blunder under pressure.
27.Rxf7+! Rxf7 28.Qxf7+ Kh8 29.Rc1! Black resigns in the face of a back-rank assault. 1–0
FRANK K. BERRY U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP
Alex Shabalov’s fourth reign
SINCE migrating to the United States soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, former Latvian GM Alexander Shabalov has been a force to reckon with in his adopted country.
He proved it again this year when he won the US crown for the fourth time in Stillwater, Oklahoma late last month.
As reported in the Weekender of May 27, former Manila visitor and ex- champion Alexander Onischuk took the second prize followed by Greg Kaidanov, Yury Shulman and Julio Becerra.
Shabalov clinched the title with his win against Sergei Kudrin in the ninth and final round to squeeze past runner-up Onischuk by half a point.
All the top six finishers, except for Julio Becerra who ended up in a tie for third to sixth, are former Soviet players. Becerra, who defected from Cuba during the 1999 World Championship in Las Vegas, caught up with the leaders by beating former US champion Hikaru Nakamura in the final round.
• Alex Shabalov (2606) – Sergei Kudrin (2556)
Rd 9, Sicilian Defense, Rossolimo Variation (B51)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0–0 Bd7 5.Re1 a6 6.Bf1 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 g6 9.c3 Bg7 10.Na3 Nf6 11.Nc2 Nd7 12.Rb1 Qb6 13.b3 0–0 14.Bb2 Rac8 15.Qd1 Rfe8 16.d4 cxd4 17.cxd4 Nf8 18.Qd2 Na7 19.Ne3 Nb5 20.Rbd1 20.Nd5 was better Ne6 21.Nc4 Qa7 22.d5 Nf8 22...Bxb2 favors White, e.g., 23.Qxb2 Nc5 24.a4! 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.a4 Nc7 25.a5 f6 26.Kh1 26.Rc1 Na8 would have boosted White’s lead Na8 27.f4 Qb8 28.e5 Nd7 29.exd6 exd6 30.Re6 Nc5 31.Nxd6 Nxe6 32.Nxe8+ Rxe8 33.dxe6 Re7 34.Qb4 34.g4 Nc7 35.f5 Qf8 was playable Qe8 35.Bc4 Nc7 36.Re1 Missing 36.Kh2 Nxe6 37.Bxe6 Rxe6 38.Qxb7+ Re7 39.Qxa6! Nb5 37.Qc5 h5 38.f5 gxf5 39.Bxb5 axb5 40.Qxf5 Qg6 41.Qxb5 42.Qe2 42.Qb4 Kg6 and White can already relax, says Fritz Qxb3 43.Qxh5 Qg3 43...Qc3 offers the last chance for counterplay but not for a win 44.Re4!
After 44.Re4!
Threatened by a skewer attack via 45.Rg4, Black resigns. 1–0
• G. Kaidanov (2595) – A.V. Ivanov (2565)
Rd. 8, Classical Caro-Kann (B19)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 11.Bf4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Bd6 13.Ne5 0–0 14.0–0–0 Nbd7 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Qc7 17.Kb1 Rad8 17...Nf6 18.Qe2 should equalize 18.g4 Nf6 19.Qe2 Nd5 20.Bd2 c5 21.g5! The winning stroke cxd4 22.cxd4 hxg5 23.Bxg5 Be7? 23...f6 was better but not enough 24.Rdg1 Qb6 If 24...Bxg5 25.Rxg5 Rc8, and White stays way ahead 25.Qd2 f6 26.h6 fxe5 Not 26...fxg5?? because if 27.h7+! Kh8 28.Ng6#!! 27.Bxe7 Nxe7 28.Rxg7+ Kh8 29.Qg5! It’s mate in two: 29...Rxd4 30.Rh7+ Kxh7 31.Qg7#! 1–0
• H. Nakamura (2658) – J. Becerra Rivero (2544) ]
Rd. 9, Ponziani Opening, Scotch Gambi (C44)t
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 f5 4.d4 fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nf6 6.Bb5 Bd6 7.Nc4 Be7 8.Ba4 d5 9.Ne5 0–0 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nxc6 Qe8 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.0–0 Ng4 14.h3 e3 15.Bxe3.Nxe3 16.fxe3 Bxh3! 17.Rf3 If 17.gxh3 Qxe3! 17...Bg4 18.Rxf8+ Rxf8 19.Qe1 Rf6 20.Nd2 Rg6 21.Qg3 Qe6 22.Qf4 Bh3 23.g3 h5 [23...Rf6 24.Qe5 Qxe5 25.dxe5 with equality 24.e4 Rg4 25.Qxc7 h4 26.Kh2??
After 26.Kh2??
A blunder that hands over the game to Black, Fritz says. 26.Kh1 was the saving resource.
27.Kxh3 Rxe4+ 28.Kg2 Re2+ 29.Kxg3 Qe3+ 30.Kh4 Qh6+ 31.Kg3 Qg5+ 32.Kh3 Rxd2 33.Qc8+ Kh7! Mate looms: 33...Kh7 34.Qf5+ Qxf5+ 35.Kg3 Qg6+ 36.Kf3 Qe4+ 37.Kg3 Rg2+ 38.Kh3 Qg4#! 0–1
Lone Pinoy posts 50 per cent performance
For the first time, a lone Filipino, former Asian junior champion IM Enrico Sevillano, 40, competed in the premier US event and ended up in 18th place, just behind former US Open champion Alex Yermolinsky with whom he had the same score of 4.5 points.
Sevillano had a 50 per cent performance from three wins, three losses and three draws.
It was a good enough performance for the California-based Filipino IM with an Elo rating of 2493 competing in a field of 36 players many of whom were GMs and IMs.
A 57-year-old American Fide master, Joseph Bradford (2424), had a better performance, however, finishing in 16th place with 5.0 points.
One of Sevillano’s losses was to a recent Manila visitor, American GM Varushan Akobian, who took the eighth prize. Akobian took part in the First GMA Cup last November and the Philippine Open in April.
• E. Sevillano (2566) – Jay Bonin (2383)
Rd. 4, Philidor Defense (C41)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Be2 g6 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Bg5 Bg7 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Nd5 c6 11.Nxf6 h6 12.0–0–0+ Fritz says 12.Rd1+ was better Kc7! 13.f4 hxg5 14.fxe5 Bxf6 15.exf6 Be6 16.h3 Rh4 17.Bf3 Re8 18.g4 Bc8 19.Bg2 Rhh8 20.Rd3 Re6 21.Rf1 Rd8 22.Kd2 Rdd6 23.Ke3 c5 24.Rxd6 Kxd6 Safer was 24…Rxd6 25.Rd1+! White now surges ahead Kc7 26.Rd5 b6 27.Rxg5 Rxf6 28.h4 Re6 29.h5 Bb7 30.Kf4 Rf6+ 31.Kg3 Re6 32.h6 Re8 33.Kf4 Rh8 34.Re5 Kd6 35.g5! Bc6 36.c4 a5 37.Rd5+ Bxd5 38.e5+ Ke7 39.cxd5 b5 40.Ke4 Kd7 41.d6 Kc6 42.Kd3+ Kd7 43.Bd5 f6 44.gxf6 Rxh6 45.f7 Rh8 46.Ke3 a4 47.a3 b4 48.Kf4!
After 48.Kf4!
No way can Black stop this king’s journey to victory! 1–0
(See also Bobby Ang’s column on pages12-13 for a more detailed analysis.)
• E. Sevillano (2493) – M. Mulyar (2376)
Rd. 8, French: Classical System (C13)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Nh3 Qe7 9.Nf4 g6 10.Qf3 Nc6 11.0–0–0 Nb6 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.Rh6 0–0–0 15.Rdh1 Be8 16.Nd3 Nc4 17.Qf4 Not 17.Rxh7 because of 17…Rxh7 18.Rxh7 Qg5+ 19.Qf4 Qxg2, with a balanced position b6 18.Rxh7 Rxh7 19.Rxh7 c5 20.Ne2 Kb8 21.b3 Na3 21...g5 22.Qf6 Qxf6 23.exf6 reduces White’s lead 22.Qf6 Qc7 22...Qxf6 should be tried, e.g., 23.exf6 Nb5 24.dxc5 bxc5 25.Nxc5 Rc8 23.Kb2 Nb5 24.dxc5 bxc5 25.a4 Rc8 Not 25...Nd4 because of 26.Nxc5! Kc8 27.Nxd4 and White is way, way ahead 26.axb5 c4 27.Nb4 Qa5 28.Qe7 Qxb5 29.Nc3 29.Qd6+!? seems even better, says Fritz: 29...Ka8 30.Nd4! Qa5 30.Qxe8!
After 30.Qxe8!
A brilliant coup de grace, e.g., 30…Qxb4 (30…Rxe8?? 31.Nc6+!!) 31.Qxf7! 1–0
• V. Akobian (2574) – E. Sevillano (2493) [A57]
Rd 9, Benko/Volga Gambit (A57)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 e6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.Nxd5 Bb7 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6 8.Nf3 Be7 9.e3 Qg6 10.Bd2 0–0 11.Bc3 Bf6 12.Rc1 12.Ne5 may be stronger, e.g., 12…Qf5 13.Nc4 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 a6 13.bxa6 Nxa6 14.a3 Bxc3+ 15.Rxc3 Rfe8 16.h4 d5 17.Bd3 Qxg2 18.Rg1 Qh3 19.Bxh7+! Kf8 Of course not 19...Kxh7+ because of the deadly royal fork, 20.Ng5+! 20.Rg3 Qh1+ 21.Rg1 21.Kd2 Qxd1+ 22.Kxd1 was playable Qh3! 22.Rg3 Better was 22.Rb3 Rab8 23.Ng5! Qh1+ 23.Kd2 Qxd1+ 24.Kxd1 g6 25.h5 gxh5 26.Nh4 Ke7 27.Nf5+ Kd7 28.Rg5 c4 29.Rxh5 Nc5 30.Nd4 Rh8 31.Rc1 Kd6 If 31...Ke7 32.Rh1! 32.Kc2 Nd3? Best according to Fritz was 32...Bc8 33.Rch1 Ne5? Missing 33...Nxf2! 34.Rh6+ Kc7 35.Nb5+ Kd8 36.Bf5 Rxh6 37.Rxh6 Ra6 38.Rxa6 Bxa6 39.Nd4 Kc7 40.Kc3 Bc8 41.f4 Bxf5 42.fxe5 Bg4 43.Kb4 Kb6 44.a4 Bh5 On 44...Bd7 45.Nb5! 45.a5+ Ka6 46.Nb5 Bf3 47.Nd6 Bh5 48.e4! The end, e.g., 48…d4 49.Nxc4! 1–0
SWISS LEADS INVASION FROM EUROPE
Ex-Soviets dominate Chicago Open
A FORMER Soviet star made his mark in this year’s edition of the Chicago Open in Oakl Book, Illinois, when Switzerland’s highest-rated grandmaster, Vadim Milov, won the first prize on tiebreak over another ex-Soviet, American GM Yuri Shulman.
The two winners had 6.0 points each from seven games, followed by former world under-16 champion Zviad Izaoria, 23, of Georgia, his fellow GM and compatriot, Merab Gagunashvili, Valeriy Aveskulov of Ukraine and Sergey Erenburg of Israel, also formerly of the Soviet Union..
Milov himself left the former Soviet Union soon after its collapse in 1991, migrated first to Israel and then moved on to Switzerland in 1996. Shulman, originally from Belarus on the fringes of Russia, migrated to the United States in 1999. Both are of Jewish descent.
All six winners are former Soviet players. So were two of those who finished behind them—New York-based Jaan Ehlvest, formerly of Estonia, and two-time US Open champion Dmitry Gurevich, who was born in Moscow but migrated in 1980 to the US, where he later earned his GM title.
Gurevich is Chicago’s GM in residence.
In a tie with them for seventh to ninth places was young giant-killer Josh Friedel, who made waves in the 2006 US championship when he defeated defending titleholder Hikaru Nakamura in the first round.
Born in New Hampshire, the 20-year-old up-and-coming American star now lives in the Bay Area of San Francisco in Northern California.
Only one Filipino played in Chicago—IM Angelo Young, who had been living in the Windy City for over a decade. He finished in 25th place and his only game included in the database from the tournament was his loss to GM Izoria.
• V. Milov (2731) – Amon Simutowe (2461)
Rd. 2, Nimzo-Indian, Rubinstein Variation (E48)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nge2 cxd4 8.exd4 0–0 9.0–0 Nc6 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Nf4 g6 Not 11...Nxd4 because of 12.Bxh7+! Kxh7 13.Qxd4, and White has a clear edge 12.a3 Be7 13.Be3 Bf6 14.Rc1 Qd6 15.Bb1 b6 16.Re1 Ba6 17.Qg4 Bg7 17...Rae8 might be a viable alternative, says Fritz 18.Nxd5!
After 18.Nxd5!
Surprise, surprise!
18…Qxd5 19.Be4 Qb3 20.Bxc6 Rad8 21.h4 Bc8 22.Qd1 Qxb2 23.d5 Qxa3 24.Bg5 f6 25.Bf4 Preparing the advance d6 Rf7? 26.d6! Bf8?! 27.Bd5 Bxd6 28.Bxf7+ Kxf7 29.Qd5+ Kg7 30.Bxd6 30.Rxc8 was even stronger, e.g., 30…Rxc8 31.Bxd6 Qc1 32.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 33.Kh2 Re1 34.Qb7+! Rxd6 30...Qxd6 was necessary: 31.Qxd6 Rxd6 32.Rxc8 Rd7, but White is still ahead 31.Rc7+ Kh6 32.Qf7 Missing the mating line 32.Rxh7+! Kxh7 33.Qf7+ Kh6 34.Qf8+ Kh5 35.f3 Rd8 36.Qxd8 Qc5+ 37.Kh2 Qe5+ 38.Rxe5+ g5 39.Qxf6 Kxh4 40.Qxg5#! Bd7 33.Qf8+! It’s mate in nine: 33…Kh5 34.Rxd7 Rxd7 35.Qxa3 Rc7 36.Qf3+ Kh6 37.Qf4+ Kg7 38.Qxc7+ Kh6 39.Qf4+ Kh5 40.Re5+ g5 41.Rxg5+ fxg5 42.Qxg5#! 1–0
• V. Milov (2676) – V. Aveskulov (2539)
Rd. 6, Benko/Volga Gambit (A57)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 g6 5.cxb5 a6 6.b6 d6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.e4 Bg7 9.a4 a5 10.Be2 0–0 11.0–0 Nxb6 12.Bg5 Ne8 13.Qd2 Nc7 14.Bh6 Ba6 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Bxa6 Rxa6 17.Rfe1 f6 18.b3 Qd7 19.Qc2 Raa8 20.Nd2 Rab8 21.h3 Rb7 22.Qd3 Rbb8 23.f4 Rfd8 24.Re2 e6 25.Rae1 Re8 26.dxe6 Nxe6 Equalizing 27.Rf2 Nd4 28.Qg3 Re7 28...d5 would be bad, e.g., 29.f5 dxe4 30.Ncxe4 Nxf5 31.Qc3! 29.e5 29.f5! could be tried f5 30.Qh4 d5 31.Nf3 Nxf3+ 31...Nxb3 32.Rb1 c4 leads to equality 32.Rxf3 d4 33.Nb5 Nd5 34.Rc1 Rc8 35.Rf2 Re6 36.Rd2 Rec6 37.Qf2 Qe7 38.Qf3 Nb4 39.Nd6 R8c7 40.g4 fxg4 41.hxg4 Rxd6 42.exd6 Qxd6 43.Rf1 43.Re1 Rf7 44.f5 Nd5 merely equalizes Nd5 44.f5 Rf7 45.Rh2 45.Re1 h5 46.Rg2 Ne3 47.Rxe3 dxe3 48.gxh5 Qd4 leads to equality Kg8 45...h5 46.gxh5 Rxf5 47.Qg2 Rxf1+ 48.Qxf1 equalizes 46.Qe4 Re7 47.Qg2 Qe5 48.fxg6 hxg6 49.Rh3 Ne3 50.Qa8+ Re8 51.Qb7 Qe7 Not 51...Nxf1 because of 52.Qh7+! Kf8 53.Rf3+ Qf5 54.gxf5 Nh2 55.f6 Nxf3+ 56.Kf2 Re7 57.Qxe7+ Kg8 58.Qg7#! 52.Qh1 Qe5 53.Qb7 Re7 54.Qc8+ Re8 55.Qd7 Re7??
After 55…Re7??
A blunder. 55...Qe7 was the saving grace, e.g., 56.Rf8+ Kxf8 57.Rh8+ Kg7 58.Qxe8 Qxe8 59.Rxe8 Kf6 56.Qd8+! Re8 57.Qh4 Re7?? Sealing his own fate 58.Rf6! Mate is inevitable, e.g., 58…Qh5 59.gxh5 Ng2 60.Rxg6+ Kf8 61.Qf6+ Ke8 62.Qc6+ Kf8 63.Qc8+ Re8 64.Rf3+ Nf4 65.Rxf4+ Ke7 66.Qc7#! 1–0
Young American IM upsets US champion
Several upsets rocked the Chicago Open and the biggest quake was the loss of newly crowned US champion Alexander Shabalov to California-based 20-year-old IM Joshua Friedel in the third round.
As reported in the Weekender of May 27, it was Shabalov’s fourth time to win the US crown.
His runners-up were GMs Alex Onischuk, Greg Kaidanov, Yury Shulman and Julio Becerra.
Friedel, who has turned chess professional after graduating from high school, is one of the most promising young American IMs, He already has two GM norms under his belt.
In the Chicago Open, he caused a sensation when he outplayed Shabalov and went on to tie for the third to sixth prizes with Ehlvest and Gurevich.
• Joshua Friedel (2546) – Alex Shabalov (2660)
Rd. 3, Sicilian Defense (B30)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Qc7 5.0–0 Nd4 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Qc5 9.c4 dxc3 10.Qb3 a6 11.Be2 c2 12.d4 Qd6 13.g3 e6 14.Bf3 Qb4 15.Qxc2 Bd6 16.Rd1 0–0 17.a4 Qa5 18.Bd2 Qd8 19.a5 Rb8 20.dxe6 dxe6 21.Be3 Qe7 22.Qb3 Bd7 23.Qb6 Bb5 24.Rac1 Rfd8 25.Bg2 Rd7 26.d5 Rbd8 27.dxe6 Qxe6 28.Rd4 Better than 28.Bxb7, says Fritz, e.g., 28…Bc7 29.Qxe6 Rxd1+ 30.Kg2 fxe6 31.Rxc7 R1d7 32.Rxd7 Rxd7! h6 29.Bxb7 Rb8 30.Rc8+ Rxc8 31.Bxc8 Qh3??
After 31…Qh3??
A mistake that hands over the advantage to White. Best was 31…Qf5, e.g., 32.Rd1 Qf3 33.Rxd6 Rxd6 34.Qxd6 Bc6 35.Qd8+ Kh7, with equal chances.
32.Qxb5!! A brilliant sacrifice that finishes the game axb5 33.Rxd6! Qf5 If 33...Rxd6 34.Bxh3! 34.Bxd7 Not 34.Rxd7 because of 34…Qb1+! 35.Kg2 Qe4+ 36.Kf1 Qb1+ 37.Ke2 Qc2+ 38.Ke1 Qxc8! Qb1+ 35.Kg2 Qe4+ 36.Kh3 g5 37.a6 f5 37...Qb4 offers the only chance for counterplay: 38.Rc6 Qe7! 38.Be6+ Kf8 39.a7 Ke7 40.Bd5!, and Black gives up the ghost because if 40... Qg4+ 41.Kg2! 1–0
• D. Gurevich (2518) – R. Panjwani (2272)
Rd. 7, Classical King’s Indian (E91)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0–0 e5 8.Re1 Qe8 9.Bf1 Bg4 10.d5 Nb4 11.Be2 a5 12.h3 Bd7 13.Be3 Na6 14.Nd2 Kh8 15.b3 Ng8 16.a3 f5 17.f3 Bh6 18.Bxh6 Nxh6 19.b4 Qb8 20.Rb1 Qa7+ 21.Kh1 Qe3 22.Qc1 axb4 23.axb4 Qg5 24.c5 Qh4 25.c6 Bc8 26.cxb7 Bxb7 27.Rf1 Rab8 28.Qe1 Qxe1 29.Rfxe1 Better than 29.Rbxe1 Nxb4 30.Nb5 Nc2! Bc8 30.Na2 fxe4 31.fxe4 Ra8 If 31...Ng8 32.Rb3 32.Nc3 Rb8 33.Nb5 Rf2 Best was 33...Rb6, with a clear edge 34.Nf3?? A mistake that loses the initiative; best was 34.Na7 Bd7 35.Kg1 Rf7 Bd7? 34...Rxe2 was the most precise, e.g., 35.Rxe2 Rxb5 35.Na7 Rb7± 36.Nc6 Bxc6 37.dxc6 Rb6 38.b5 38.Bxa6 should be tried, e.g., 38…Rxa6 39.b5! Nc5 39.Rb4 Nf7 40.Kg1 Rxf3 40...Rxe2 41.Rxe2 Nd8 gives White the edge 41.gxf3 Nd8 42.Rbb1 Nde6 43.Ra1 Kg7 44.Ra7 Kf6 45.h4 h5 46.Bc4 g5? 47.Bxe6 Nxe6 48.Rb7!
After 48.Rb7!
If 48…gxh4 49.Rc1! 1–0
• Zviad Izoria (2711) – Angelo Young (2483)
Rd. 4, Sicilian Defense, Maroczy Bind (B38)
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.e4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Be2 b6 9.0–0 Bb7 10.Ndb5 d6 11.f3 Secures g4 11...a6 12.Na3 Nd7 13.Qd2 Rc8 14.Rac1 Nc5 15.Nc2 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.b4 f4 18.Bf2 Nd7 19.a3 Be5 20.Ne1 Qe8 21.Nd5 Qd8 21...Qf7 may be tried 22.Nd3± Nd4 23.Nxe5 Nb3 If 23...dxe5 24.Bxd4 e6 25.Nxf4 exf4 26.Ba1, and White would have overwhelming advantage 24.Qd1!
After 24.Qd1!
With most pieces engaged in battle, both sides must tread their way through minefields.
24…Nxc1 25.Nxd7! Qxd7 26.Nxb6! Qe6? Best but not enough to change the course of the game was 26...Nxe2+!, e.g., 27.Qxe2 Qc7 28.Nxc8 Bxc8 27.Qxc1 Qxe2 28.Re1 Qd3 29.Nxc8 Rxc8 30.Qxf4 e5 31.Qg4+! Kh8 32.Qd7 Rb8 Mere momentum. 1–0
PINOY GEMS WITH A HISTORY
Sevillano sparkles again
ONCE again, seasoned campaigner Enrico Sevillano has hugged the headlines here and in the United States with his latest victory in the Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic in Los Angeles, California two weekends ago, soon after competing, the first Filipino to do so, in the Frank K. Berry US Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Now based in Tehachapi, Southern California, the international master from Cebu has long been one of the outstanding Filipino players here and abroad
He was a point-maker for one of the Philippine teams in the 32nd World Olympiad held in Manila in 1992, and had brought honors to the country since winning the Asian junior crown in 1986.
The first time I saw Enrico was in the 1985 Asian Juniors where he finished second to Indian prodigy Viswanathan Anand, then 16, and where I was one of the stewards at the Jubilee Sports Center in Hong Kong.
We played a game of skittles and I remember him mauling me badly. During the post mortem, I also remember Anand showing him a move he missed that could have ended my game much more quickly.
His best performance for the country, next to his winning the Asian junior crown, was in the 1992 Manila Olympiad. A year later he folded his tent here, so to speak, and struck out for America where the next thing we heard was that he was making quite a big splash.
It was in the 1995 World Open that he made a name by beating US champion Alexander Shabalov in the seventh round. This was four years after Shabalov, a four-time US champion since migrating from his home country of Latvia to America, had won the American crown for the first time.
It’s a pity the two old rivals did not come face to face at the board in Stillwater, Oklahoma last month.
• E. Sevillano PHI (2345) - Sherman Maduro AHO
Rd 3, 30th Olympiad Final, Manila 1992
Modern Defence (B06)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be3 Nf6 If 6...Bxf3 7.gxf3 e6 8.h4! 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 0–0 8...e5 may be tried, e.g., 9.Bb5 exf4 10.Qxf4 0–0 9.0–0–0 Nd7 9...Qd7 10.e5 Ne8 11.g4! gives White a big advantage 10.e5 Nb6 11.h4 d5 If 11...dxe5 12.dxe5 Qc8 13.h5! 12.h5 e6 13.Qh3 Qe7 13...f5 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.g4 would boost White’s lead 14.hxg6 fxg6 15.Qxh7+ Kf7 16.Bd3 Ke8 17.Qxg6+ Kd7 18.Rh7 18.f5!? seems even better: 18...Rg8 19.fxe6+ Kc8 Rf7 19.f5 Raf8 20.fxe6+ Qxe6 21.Rxg7 Qxg6 22.Rxg6 Nd8 23.g4 Nc4 23...Rf3 is no salvation: 24.Bg5 Ne6 25.Bf6 Nxd4 26.Bb5+ Nxb5 27.Nxb5, and White stays way ahead 24.Nxd5 Nxe3 25.Nxe3 c6 If 25...Kc8 26.d5! 26.e6+ 26.Bf5+ might be quicker, e.g., 26...Ke8 27.Rd6 Rg7 28.Bg6+ Rxg6 29.Rxg6 Kd7 Nxe6 27.Bf5 Rf6 28.d5 cxd5 29.Rxf6 Rxf6 30.Nxd5!
After 30.Nxd5!
The final touch and Black resigns. 1–0
• E. Sevillano PHI (2345) – Jorge Egger (2355)
Rd 7, 30th Olympiad Final, Manila 1992
Scotch Game (C45)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.g3 d5 8.Bg2 dxe4 9.Nd2 Bxd4 10.cxd4 0–0 11.Nxe4 Qg6 12.0–0 Bf5 13.Nc5 b6! 14.Nb3 Rad8 15.Rc1 Be4 16.Bxe4 Qxe4 17.Qc2 Qd5 18.Qc4 a5 19.Rfe1 Nb4 20.Qxc7 Nxa2 21.Qxe7 Qxb3 22.Rc6 Rfe8 If 22...Qxb2 23.Qc7! 23.Qa3 23.Qb7 may be tried Qb5³ 24.d5 Qxd5 25.Rxb6 Nb4 26.Qa4 Nd3 27.Rd1 Rxe3?? A gross mistake. Best was 27...Qa8! 28.fxe3 Qc5 29.Qd4 Qc8?? 29...Rxd4 was better but not enough, e.g., 30.Rb8+ Qf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.exd4 Nxb2 30.Rd6!
After 30.Rd6!
The black knight is lost and a back-rank mate is threatened 1–0
• IM Enrico Sevillano PHIL – GM Alexander Shabalov,USA
Rd. 7, World Open, Philadelphia 1995
Alekhine’s Defense, Chase Variation (B02)
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.c5 Nd5 5.Bc4 c6 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.dxc3 b6 8.Qf3 e6 9.cxb6 axb6 10.Qg3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Be3 Nc5 13.Bxc5 bxc5 14.Nf3 Qb6 15.0–0 Qxb2 16.Ng5 Be7 17.Ne4 0–0 18.Rad1 Rfd8 19.Rd2 Qb6 20.Rfd1 Kf8 21.Qf4 Ra5? 22.Rd3 Kg8? 23.h3 h6? 23...Qc7 was the saving move 24.Rg3! Bg5 25.Qf3 Qb2?? 26.Nxg5 hxg5 27.Rxg5!
After 27.Rxg5!
Black resigns because of the threats of Qf6 and Rxd7. 1–0
GAMES OF GIFTED KIDS
Magnus the Magnificent
NO doubt about it: the hottest sensation today in the chess world is 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway, notwithstanding his losses to Teimour Radjabov in their “Match of Hopes” at the Corsican village of Porto-Vecchio in France last month and to Levon Aronian in the World Candidates Matches in Elista, Russia last weekend.
This is because Magnus the Magnificent, as the world press has started calling this Norwegian wonder boy, has played some of the most brilliant endgames yet seen in this age of computers.
Stouthearted and wont to play risky and highly volatile games, Magnus is showing the way to a livelier, more exciting kind of chess with “a passion that whips the blood.”
Magnus was born on November 30, 1990 in Tonsberg, a coastal hamlet south of Oslo, learned the moves at four, and played his first tournament at eight. He now lives in an Oslo suburb, Lommedalem, Baerum.
He caught international attention at the age of 13 in 2004 when he topped Group C of the annual Dutch Corus Tournament in Wijk aan Zee and in the process got his first GM norm. In 2005 he won the Corus Group B and early this year competed in the main event but ended up in 13th place, just above cellar-dwelling Alexei Shirov of Spain.
Nevertheless, it was in the Morelia-Linares Super GM in February-March this year that Magnus really shook the world of chess by finishing second to champion Viswanathan Anand of Mexico, ahead of such global superstars as Alexander Morozevich, Aronian, Peter Svidler, Vassily Ivanchuk, Veselin Topalov and Peter Leko, in that order.
Even before that, he had achieved several victories that demonstrated his rapidly growing strength at levels far beyond his teens. In July last year, for instance, he won the Norwegian national crown by beating his former mentor, GM Simen Agdestain, in playoffs after they finished the main event in a tie.
He also won the Glitner Blitz in Iceland, drubbing along the way world rapid champion Vishy Anand, 2-0, outplayed Michael Adams in the Olympiad to gain 18 Elo points for his rating, and finished second to Sergei Shipov in the Midnight Sun Championship in Norway and to Morozevich in the Biel Festival.
But his finest performance last year was in the NH Match-Tournament pitting “Experience,” a team of super GMs, versus “Rising Stars” of the world in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he turned in the best individual result from both generations.
Even as a child, Magnus already showed flashes of endgame brilliance as in the games he won with checkmate at the age of 12 in the Salongernas IM tournament in Stockholm, Sweden in 2003 and at 13 in the January 2004 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands.
• Magnus Carlsen (2356) - Dennis Rylander (2348) [A89]
Rd. 8, Salongernas IM, Stockholm 2003
Dutch Defense, Leningrad System (A89)
1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0–0 0–0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.e4 If 10.Qb3 e6 f4 Best was 10...e6 11.Qb3, with equal chances 11.gxf4 If 11.Qb3 Rb8 exf4 Equalizing 12.e5 Ng4 13.e6 Ne5 14.c5 f3 15.Bh3 g5 15...b6 16.Qa4 should keep the balance 16.Kh1 [g4 17.Qd4 Fritz says 17.Rg1 deserves consideration: 17...gxh3 18.Rxg7+ Kxg7 19.Qd4! gxh3 18.Bh6!! A startling offer, just to open up the g-file Bxh6 19.Qxe5 Rf6 20.Rg1+! Rg6 21.Qh5 Kg7 22.Rxg6+ hxg6 23.Rg1 Qe8 24.Ne4 24.Nb5 Kh7 25.Qg4 should give White a clear advantage c6 24...b6 was best, e.g., 25.Qe5+ Kg8, with equal chances 25.Qe5+! Kg8 26.Ng5 Bxg5 27.Qxg5 Kg7??
After 27…Kg7??
A fatal error under pressure. Better but inadequate was 27...Bxe6 28.dxe6 Kg7 29.Qe5+ Kg8, and White stays way ahead. The text sets the stage for a mating attack.
28.Rg4 28.Qe5+ might even be better: 28...Kh7 29.Rg3! Bxe6 29.Qe5+ Kg8 30.Rh4 Bxd5 31.Rh8+ Kf7 32.Rh7+ Kf8 33.Qg7#! 1–0
• Magnus Carlsen,NOR - Sipke Ernst,NED [B10]
Corus IT, 2004
Classical Caro-Kann (B19)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Ngf6 12.0–0–0 Be7 13.Ne4 Qa5 14.Kb1 0–0 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.Ne5 Rad8 17.Qe2 c5 18.Ng6 fxg6 19.Qxe6+ Kh8 20.hxg6 Ng8??
After 20…Ng8??
Again, the young Magnus pounces on Black’s mistake and trots out a sacrificial mating attack, as if from nowhere….
21.Bxh6!! gxh6 22.Rxh6+ Nxh6 23.Qxe7 Nf7 24.gxf7 Kg7 25.Rd3 Rd6 26.Rg3+ Rg6 27.Qe5+ Kxf7 28.Qf5+ Rf6 29.Qd7#! 1–0
MY FAVORITES
Al Horowitz, author and player
ISRAEL ALBERT HOROWITZ has been one of my favorite authors since I bought his bestseller, The Golden Treasury of Chess, from a second-hand bookstore nearly half a century ago.
I still have this book, very much frayed and fragile, but another Horowitz book whose title I cannot recall at the moment was lost by a nephew who beats me now at skittles.
Both books made a very deep impression on me. Golden Treasury, touted as “the most famous collection of chess masterpieces ever published,” should be in the shelf of any player who regards chess as more than just a game but a unique form of art.
As a player, Al Horowitz, who founded Chess Review magazine with another famous American player, GM Isaac Kashdan, in 1933 and was chess editor/columnist of the New York Times for many years, never made any impression on me simply because I was not familiar with his games. I knew of course that he had been three-time US Open champion.
Journalist Ignacio Dee, however, has just submitted two of Al’s games and has enthusiastically endorsed them to the Weekender. I, too, am now impressed by his brilliance as a player.
Iggy Dee, however, is not impressed by Horowitz’s reputation as an author, having stumbled on a piece of information that I would rather not discuss here. Perhaps one day Iggy will write about this rather startling “discovery” of his.
Al Horowitz (1907-1973) was an international master who played like a grandmaster but never won the title.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the Web, Horowitz is best remembered today for the books he wrote. “An entire generation of chess players learned from the books by Al Horowitz, most of which are still in print today and are still highly recommended for students of the game,” says Wikipedia.
Like GM Kashdan and a host of champions, IM Horowitz was of Jewish descent. He had been a stockbroker in Wall Street while working as a journalist before shifting to publishing the Chess Review, which he eventually sold to the US Chess Federation in 1969, four years before his death at 66.
He had been US Open champion in 1931, 1938 and 1941. Along with Kashdan, Sammy Reshevsky, Reuben Fine and other leading American players, Horowitz played four times in the World Olympiad, which was then dominated by the United States.
In the US-Soviet Radio Match of 1945, Horowitz was one of only two Americans who won against the Russians.
He, however, lost to Reshevsky in their US Championship Match in 1941 by a lopsided score: 6.5-9.5 from three losses and 13 draws.
• I.A. Horowitz - Salo Flohr
Rd. 2, USA-USSR Radio Match 1945
Caro-Kann, Bronstein-Larsen (B16)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.Ne2 Bf5 7.Ng3 Bg6 8.h4 h6 9.h5 Bh7 10.c3 Qb6 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.a4 a5 13.Qf3 e6 14.0–0 Bc2 15.Bf4 Bb3 16.Bd3 e5 Fritz suggests 16...0–0–0 17.Be3 Bd5 18.Be4 Qb3 19.dxe5 fxe5 20.Rad1 20.Bxd5 was stronger: 20…Qxd5 21.Qf5 Bxe4 21.Qxe4 Qe6 22.Rd2 Nf6 23.Qf3 Rg8 24.Rfd1 Rg4 25.Nf5! e4 26.Bb6 Rxg2+ 27.Qxg2 Qxf5 28.Rd8+ Rxd8 29.Rxd8+ Ke7 30.Qg3 Nd7 31.Bc7 Qd5 32.c4 Qg5 33.Qxg5+ hxg5 34.Ra8 Ke6 Not 34...Bg7 because of 35.Rxa5 Bxb2 36.Ra7! 35.Bxa5 f5 36.Bc3 f4 37.a5 g4 38.b4 f3 39.Bd2 Kf7 40.Ra7 g3 40...e3 offered the last chance for counterplay: 41.Bxe3 Bxb4 42.Rxb7 Bxa5 43.Rxd7+ Kf6 44.Rd6+ Kf7 41.Rxb7!
After 41.Rxb7!
The outside pawn is unstoppable, and so Black resigns. 1–0
• Samny Reshevsky – Al Horowitz
New York 1956
Czech Benoni (A56)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 g6 6.Bd3 Bg7 7.Nge2 0–0 8.h3 Na6 9.Bg5 Nc7 10.Qd2 Qe8 11.g4 a6 12.Ng3 b5 13.b3 Rb8 14.f3 Nd7 15.Kf2 15.h4 may be tried Nb6! 16.Rab1 Bd7 17.h4 f6 18.Be3 Rf7 19.a3 Bf8 20.Na2 Be7 21.h5 g5 22.Nf5 Bxf5 23.exf5 e4 24.fxe4 Nd7 25.Be2 Bd8 26.Nc3 Ne5! 27.b4 cxb4 28.Rxb4 a5 29.Rb3 b4 30.axb4 axb4 31.Qc2 Na6 32.Nb5 Rd7 33.Ra1 Nc5 34.Nxd6 Nxg4! 35.Bxg4 Qe5 36.Rc1 36.Ra2 was the saving resource Nxb3! 37.Qxb3 Qxd6 38.c5 Qe5 39.d6+ Kf8 40.Qe6 Qh2 41.Kf3 41.Kf1 was more precise Ra7! 42.d7 Be7 43.c6 Rba8!
After 43…Rba8!
Controlling the only open file.
44.c7 Rxc7 45.Rxc7 Qxc7 46.h6 Qd6!? Fritz says 46...Qh2 was better47.Qc4 Qxd7 48.Bh5 Bd6 48...Qd1+! clinches the point 49.Kg4 Rc8 50.Qd5 Qe7 Missing 50...Rc3! 51.Bd4 Rd8 52.Kh3 Be5 53.Bc5 Rxd5 54.Bxe7+ Kxe7 55.exd5 b3 56.Bf3 Kd6 57.Be4! 0–1
CHESS MAGIC
Fischer’s fighting spirit, cunning
WHENEVER I need to rev up my “chess mind” because my play has become dull and dreadful, I always turn to Bobby Fischer’s games for inspiration.
Today, I’m presenting three sparkling but little-known games of the greatest player of the 20th century in the hope these will inspire readers to rise to greater artistic heights.
What I like about Fischer’s style of play is its dynamism and continual search for unexpected twists and turns that any position may offer.
Even under terrible pressure, Fischer has the uncanny ability to turn the tables on his opponent as if by magic—at the right moment—just by following such basic principles as control of vital lines, gaining tempi through perfect timing, and exploiting to the full his opponents’ weaknesses.
It is this magical quality of his games that has enabled Fischer to stand head and shoulders above his contemporaries, however brief his career may have been on the international circuit.
• Bobby Fischer – Carlos Bielicki
Rd. 9, Mar del Plata 1960
Sicilian Sozin Attack (B88)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nc6 8.f4 Na5 9.f5 Nxb3 10.axb3 Be7 11.Qf3 0–0 12.Be3 Bd7 13.g4 e5 14.Nde2 d5 14...Bc6 should equalize 15.exd5² e4 16.Qg2 Bb4 17.0–0–0 a5 18.g5! Ne8 19.f6 a4 20.Na2 20.Qxe4 Qa5 21.bxa4 Bd6 21.b4 Qc7 22.Kb1 Rc8 22...g6 may be tried 23.Nec3 a3 23...g6 24.h4 boosts White’s lead 24.b3 24.bxa3 is playable: 24…Ra8 25.fxg7 Be5 25.Nxe4 25.fxg7 Kxg7 26.Bc5 Nd6 27.Nxe4 is also good for White Bf5 25...Nd6 26.Nxd6 Bxd6 reduces White’s lead 26.fxg7 Kxg7 27.Bc5 Nd6 28.Nxd6 Bxd6 29.Qf2 b6 30.Bd4+ Kg6 31.Rc1 31.Bc3 Qd7 32.Rdf1 Rxc3 33.Nxc3 Be5 34.Qxb6+ is playable Be5 32.Rhf1 Bxd4!
After 32…Bxd4!
Black zeroes in on White’s king. What to do?
33.Qxd4! More precise than 33.Qxf5+ Bxc2+ Good moves are hard to find, e.g., 33...f6 34.Rxf5 Kxf5 35.Qd3+ Ke5 36.Qe2+! 34.Ka1 f5 35.gxf6 Qd6? 35...Kf7 was necessary 36.Rg1+! Kf7 37.Rg7+ Ke8 38.Qe3+!! 1–0
• Bobby Fischer – Pal Benko
Rd. 4, US Champ., New York 1965
Ruy Lopez, Breyer Variation (C95)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nh4 Nb6 12.Nd2 c5 13.dxc5 dxc5 14.Nf5 Bxf5 15.exf5 Qc7 16.g4 h6 17.h4 c4 18.Bc2 Nh7 18...Nfd5 was best! 19.Nf3 The position is balanced f6 20.Nd2 Rad8 21.Qf3 h5 21...Rd7 should be played 22.gxh5 Nd5 23.Ne4 Nf4 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.Kh1 Kh8 26.Rg1 Rf7 27.Rg6 Bd6 28.Rag1 Bf8 Not 28...Be5 because of 29.h6 Rdd7 30.hxg7+ Rxg7 31.Qg4!, and White surges ahead 29.h6 Qe5 30.Qg4 Rdd7 31.f3 Bc5 32.Nxc5 Qxc5 33.Rxg7 33.hxg7+ seems even better, says Fritz Rxg7 34.hxg7+ Kg8 35.Qg6 Rd8 36.Be4 Qc8 37.Qe8+!!
After 37.Qe8+!!
A startling but very sound, e.g., 37…Rxe8 38.Bd5+! Qe6 39.Bxe6+ Rxe6 40.fxe6. Black resigns. 1–0
• Anthony F. Saidy – Bobby Fischer
Rd. 7 US Champ., New York 1965
Nimzo-Indian, Rubinstein (E45)
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ba6 6.Ng3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d5 8.Qf3 0–0 9.e4 dxc4 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bd2 If 11.h4 Re8! Nbd7 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nf5 exf5 14.Qxd5 Re8 15.Bxc4 Zeroing in on Black’s K-side fortress, akthough 15.Be3 might be stronger Nxe5!! 16.Qxd8 Not 16.dxe5 Qxd5! Nxc4+ 17.Qxe8+ Rxe8+ 18.Kd1 Nxd2 19.Kxd2 Re2+ 20.Kc1 Rxf2 21.g3 Bb7 22.Re1 Be4 23.Re3 Rxh2 24.a4 h5 25.Ra3 g5 26.Rb3 If 26.Kd1 Kg7, and Black would have a big lead f6 26...Rc2+ 27.Kd1 Ra2 28.Rb4 may be stronger 27.a5 h4 28.gxh4 Rxh4 28...gxh4 may be better: 29.Rb2 Rxb2 30.Kxb2, with a huge advantage 29.Ra3 29.Kd2 Rh2+ 30.Ke1 Rh7 favors Black Rh7 30.axb6 axb6 31.Ra7 If 31.Ra2 Kf7 Re7 32.d5 Kf7 33.Kd2 f4 34.Re1 f5 35.c4 g4 36.Rb7 g3 37.d6 cxd6 38.Rxb6 f3! If 39.Ra6 f2! 0–1
BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (1)
Roshal and Sevillano
LET’S take a look at some famous classical chess jokes.
1. There is the one which I have told several times in this column, about a dead chess playing buddy who returns as a ghost. Yes, there’s chess in heaven. The bad news is that on Monday you will be playing White against Capablanca.
2. Also there was a group of players standing around a hotel lobby discussing the tournaments they have played in and how they did. Then the manager of the hotel came out and shooed them away, explaining that he can’t stand “chess nuts boasting by an open foyer”.
3. In the heat of the 1972 match of the century between Fischer and Spassky, the story of an incident in the gulag made the rounds. It seems that the people were passionately following the match through a radio, but one day a guard breaks it. So when a new prisoner came in, they ask him: "What happened in the world championship?" - "I lost".
4. Then there is the most famous chess joke of all, immortalized by Alexander Roshal in a chessbase video. He was walking along the park when he came upon a friend of his playing chess with a dog. “What a fantastic dog!” he exclaimed. His friend contemptuously retorted: “Fantastic nothing! I beat him two out of three.”
The reason why I suddenly bring this up is that a few days ago there came the very sad news that Alexander Roshal, one of the finest chess journalists in the world, passed away last May 21st at age 71 from pancreatic cancer.
He was a well known chess trainer who switched to journalism. It has always not been enough for him to observe events from a distance – if a need is perceived then he does what it takes to make it happen. For example, in 1968 he collaborated with former world champion Tigran V. Petrosian to found the magazine “64-Chess Review”. It became the largest chess publication in the USSR, albeit state-run. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1992 so did this magazine. After a few years, however, Roshal took it over, privatized it, and then restored “64” to its former glory.
The “Chess Oscars”, an award given to the top chess player of the year by chess journalists, also owes its current existence to Roshal. It was originally an idea by another legendary journalist - Jordi Puig, but when Mr. Puig died nobody continued the Oscars until, ten years later, Roshal revived it in 1995 and subsidized the project from his own pocket.
During my accounting classes in UST the question frequently arises as to the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant. The answer, of course, is that the bookkeeper can only record, classify and summarize, while the accountant interprets.
Here in the Philippines, as is true everywhere else in the world, we have chess reporters who call themselves chess journalists, as if there was not a difference. The truth is they are oceans apart. A reporter simply narrates what happened, a journalist narrates, then explains to the reader what it is all about, then demonstrates the correct way to do things, then inspires the reader to follow his example.
Alexander Roshal is a chess journalist through and through. He is no stranger to controversy, but to be honest he is the model which I try to emulate.
THE Frank K Berry 2007 US Championships took place from May 15 – 23, 2007, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It was a nine-round Swiss with a US $75,000 prize fund (1st $12,000, 2nd $8000, 3rd $5000, etc. up to 30th to 36th $700).
All the juicy gossip about this year’s edition will have to wait for another column. Alexander Shabalov defeated Sergey Kudrin in the final round to win on 7/9 half a point clear of Alexander Onsichuk.
Final Top Standings
1 GM Alexander Shabalov 2606, 7.0/9
2 GM Alexander Onischuk 2663, 6.5/9
3-5 GM Grigory Kaidanov 2595, GM Yuri Shulman 2600, GM Julio Becerra Rivero 2544, 6.0/9
6-9 GM Sergey Kudrin 2556, GM Boris Gulko 2576, GM Varuzhan Akobian 2574, GM Alex Stripunsky 2569, 5.5/9
Total of 36 players
Why interest in US championship is falling
A look at the foregoing table will give the reader a clue as to why interest in the US championships has been dropping – no native born Americans.
Heck, even a Filipino got in the act. IM Enrico Sevillano, a former Asian Junior Champion, qualified and played in the Finals. His win over the veteran IM Jay Bonin is a nice one. Bonin is known as the ironman of New York chess—if there is a chess tournament going on in the area he will be there. Jay plays chess almost every day of the week, and lives and breaths the game. He was New York State Champion in 1982 and 1997.
Sevillano,Enrico (2566) - Bonin,Jay (2383) [C41]
2007 US Championship Stillwater USA (4), 18.05.2007
Philidor Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3
The theory books point out here that 4.dxe5 Nxe4 5.Qd5! is awkward for Black.
4...Nbd7 5.Be2 g6?!
Fianchettoing his bishop is a rather dubious possibility here since he should be concentrating on finishing his development with 5...Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Re1 c6 Black has a passive but solid position.
6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Bg5
My take on this position is that by hook or by crook Black has to play 7...h6. There is a game in Megabase between two Dutch players where Black continued here 7...c6 and went on to win. It appears that both players overlooked that White can simply win a pawn with 8.Nxe5!
7...Bg7?
After 7...Bg7
8.Nxe5! Nxe5
8...h6 doesn't work: 9.Bf4 Nxe4 10.Qd5! Nd6 11.Nc4 Nxc4 12.Qxc4 0–0 13.0–0–0 c6 Black has to brace himself for the inevitable kingside attack]
9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Nd5
Clearly the text was what Rico was aiming for when he took the e5-pawn, but actually 10.0–0–0+! is much stronger. After 10...Ke8 11.Nb5 White is going to win some material. A possible continuation is 11...Kf8 12.Nxc7 Rb8 13.Rd8+ Ke7 14.Rd5 Nc6 15.e5.
10...c6 11.Nxf6 h6 12.0–0–0+ Kc7 13.f4 hxg5 14.fxe5 Bxf6 15.exf6
The upshot of the opening skirmish is that White is a healthy pawn up and his pieces are better. He still needs accuracy to bring it home though.
15...Be6 16.h3 Rh4 17.Bf3 Re8 18.g4 Bc8 19.Bg2 Rhh8 20.Rd3 Re6 21.Rf1 Rd8 22.Kd2 Rdd6 23.Ke3 c5
[23...Rxf6? 24.Rxd6! retains White's pawn plus]
24.Rxd6 Kxd6 25.Rd1+ Kc7 26.Rd5 b6 27.Rxg5 Rxf6 28.h4 Re6 29.h5 Bb7 30.Kf4 Rf6+ 31.Kg3 Re6 32.h6 Re8 33.Kf4 Rh8 34.Re5 Kd6
[34...Rxh6 35.Re7+ Kb8 36.Rxf7]
35.g5 Bc6 36.c4 a5 37.Rd5+!
Completely sound.
37...Bxd5 38.e5+ Ke7 39.cxd5 b5 40.Ke4 Kd7 41.d6 Kc6 42.Kd3+ Kd7 43.Bd5 f6
After 43...Rh7 white will simply use his king to wipe out black's queenside pawns
44.gxf6 Rxh6 45.f7 Rh8 46.Ke3 a4 47.a3 b4 48.Kf4 Sevillano will bring his king to f6 and then push home the pawns. 1–0
Why women don’t play as well as men
WOMEN “under-perform” on the board because of their innate fear of losing their femininity.
This finding was revealed by two scientists, Roger Dobson and Tom McTague, in a recent study.
“Researchers have shown that when women are under the illusion their opponent is female, they performed as well as the men. However their performance dropped by 50 per cent when they were aware they were playing a man. The researchers said women face accusations of ‘inferior ('girl's') play, but when they perform exceptionally well, their femininity is also often doubted’.
They say the findings also suggest that women tend to approach chess games more cautiously and with less self-confidence,” says the new study posted on Chessbase News.
BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (2)
2007 USA Championship
THE Frank K Berry 2007 US Championships took place from May 15 – 23, 2007, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It was a nine-round Swiss with a US $75,000 prize fund (1st $12,000, 2nd $8000, 3rd $5000, etc. up to 30th to 36th $700).
Final Top Standings
1 GM Alexander Shabalov 2606, 7.0/9
2 GM Alexander Onischuk 2663, 6.5/9
3-5 GM Grigory Kaidanov 2595, GM Yuri Shulman 2600, GM Julio Becerra Rivero 2544, 6.0/9
6-9 GM Sergey Kudrin 2556, GM Boris Gulko 2576, GM Varuzhan Akobian 2574, GM Alex Stripunsky 2569, 5.5/9
Total of 36 players
The Championship of the USA was in jeopardy this year because of the withdrawal of its major sponsor since 2000, the American Foundation for Chess (AF4C).
When the AF4C stepped in in 2000 there wasn't going to be a US championship at all – the absence of any big name in US chess, the lack of native-born Americans in the tournament, the refusal of the top players to show up to play a tough round-robin with a dismal prize fund, and the proliferation of so many short draws had already conspired to bring down interest in holding the tournament to an all-time low.
The AF4C did a round-robin in 2000 and then experimented with ways to drum up interest, hitting upon holding qualifiers in major US open tournaments and then a Swiss System finals.
The tournament was thriving when suddenly they pulled out their sponsorship of the current year’s championship, at a very awkward moment too as the qualifying tournaments had already been completed and 34 players ready to play.
The reason for the withdrawal was never made public. Unconfirmed reports were that the US Federation and some top players weren’t comfortable with the new innovations that AF4C wanted to introduce, including having a portion played on-line. Some nastier tongues said that one of the directors of the Federation had accused the AF4C of distributing pornography through the internet, and they were so offended they just up and walked out.
Anyway a good Samaritan showed up to save the day. Die-hard chess organizer and fan Frank K. Berry donated $50,000 of his own money and managed to convince his friends to also chip in and together they managed to have a good tournament.
Another controversial idea was unveiled: that of selling spots in the championship, called “patron entry fees”. Look at the table below.
If your USCF Rating is 2500 & up you pay $5,000
2400-2499 $10,000
2300-2399 $15,000
2200-2299 $20,000
2100-2199 $30,000
2000-2099 $40,000
Under 2000 $50,000
A lot has been said about this idea (personally I liked it); the end result was that two players took the offer, GM Walter Shawn Browne and National Master Jay Bonin.
Bonin is the biggest argument as to the feasibility of the patron entry fees. He is a full time chess lover who players chess the whole year round. When Bonin found out that players who paid could play, he was somewhat annoyed because he did not have the money for the fee and he felt it was unfair that someone who might have less talent than him might get a chance while he, one of the most active players over the last 25 years, had not even gotten an invitation. Members of the Marshall Chess Club in Manhattan, where Bonin regularly plays, got together and did some fund-raising, including organizing a simultaneous exhibition by Bonin, and all this put together managed to raise enough money for his participation.
Chess quote
“Life is a kind of Chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.”
—Benjamin Franklin
Brilliancy prizes donated by blog readers
Another idea, but this one less controversial, is that of popular chess journalist Mig Greengard, who managed to raise through contributions from the readers of his chess blog money to pay for Brilliancy Prizes. The winners are:
1st Brilliancy Prize of $1,165. Becerra for his game vs Nakamura
2nd Brilliancy Prize of $500. Alexander Shabalov for his 3rd round win over Ibragimov.
3rd Brilliancy Prize of $200. Kaidanov for his 8th round win over Ivanov.
GM Julio Becerra (born Oct 15, 1973 in Havana, Cuba) is the 1995 and 1998 Cuban
Champion who defected to the USA in 1999, shortly after he was eliminated from the FIDE KO Championship held that year in Las Vegas. He has since settled in Miami. He is the 2006 Florida Champion as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 US Chess League.
Here is the thousand-dollar game.
Nakamura,Hikaru (2658) - Becerra Rivero,Julio (2544) [C44]
ch-USA Stillwater USA (9), 23.05.2007
Ponziani Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3
And here it is! This is the Ponziani Opening, named after the Italian chessmaster Domencio Lorenzo Ponziani (1719–1796) who published a book of openings in 1782 where this line was analyzed. It was adopted at the end of the nineteenth century by players such as Steinitz, Staunton, Chigorin and Tartakower. It lost popularity because 3...d5 was thought to be more favorable for Black. It is still played once in a while but currently the most popular response is 3...Nf6 with calmer play. On the other hand GM Becerra insists that without a doubt the best reply to the Ponziani is 3...f5. And he demonstrates it on the board.
3...f5 4.d4
Best. 4.exf5? Qf6 is the simplest. There might follow (4...e4) 5.d4 e4 6.Ng5 d5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.fxg6 hxg6 9.Qd1 Black has good compensation for the measly pawn.
4...fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nf6
The text and 5...Qf6 are equally popular.
6.Bb5 Bd6 7.Nc4 Be7 8.Ba4
White has the threat of ...a6 and ...b5 hanging over his head, and so he takes steps to neutralize it.
8...d5 9.Ne5 0–0!
Of course! Common wisdom is that two moves is worth a pawn. Let us count tempi later.
10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nxc6 Qe8 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7
All of White's pieces are in their original squares, while Black has castled, rook is on the open f-file, knight on f6, and queen on e7. This is four tempi. Tempi, of course, is only a temporary advantage, so Black must strike quickly. In this game he does so with aplomb.
13.0–0 Ng4 14.h3 e3!? 15.Bxe3
[15.fxe3 Ba6! 16.Rxf8+ Rxf8 17.hxg4 (17.Qxg4? Rf1+ 18.Kh2 Rxc1 Black has a big advantage) 17...Qh4 Black has at least a draw; 15.hxg4?? e2 wins]
15...Nxe3 16.fxe3
After 16.fxe3
16...Bxh3! 17.Rf3
[17.gxh3? Qxe3+ 18.Kg2 Rxf1 19.Qxf1 Rf8 Winning attack]
17...Bg4 18.Rxf8+ Rxf8 19.Qe1 Rf6 20.Nd2 Rg6 21.Qg3 Qe6 22.Qf4 Bh3 23.g3 h5 24.e4 Rg4! 25.Qxc7
[25.Qe5!? should have been considered]
25...h4 26.Kh2 hxg3+ 27.Kxh3
Forced. If 27.Kg1 then 27...Qh6!
27...Rxe4+ 28.Kg2 Re2+ 29.Kxg3 Qe3+ 30.Kh4 Qh6+ 31.Kg3 Qg5+ 32.Kh3 Rxd2 33.Qc8+ Kh7 0–1
Chess quote
“Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders.”
—Savielly Tartakower
FROM MY SWIVEL CHAIR
The Weekender’s Big Day
ABOVE all else, my thanks to everyone who hailed The Weekender for completing its first year. Among those who greeted The Weekender on its Big Day were coordinator Alex Dinoy of Shell National Youth Active Chess, Vernel Lawas of UP Los Baños, Judge Rosendo Bandal Jr. and child prodigy Vince Yanzon.
—0—
APPLICATION forms for the first leg of Shell’s nationwide series of tournaments are available at the Quezon Memorial Chess Plaza, courtesy of its newly formed chess club, says Alfredo V, Chay, vice president. Interested parties may get the forms from caretaker Efren Arguelles.
—0—
THE popular nationwide Shell road show kicks off with the NCR tournament at Manila SM from June 23 to 28. Actually, however, this year’s 15th anniversary celebration of that event will be ushered in by a “Battle of Shell Champions” to be held from June 18 to 20 at SM Megamall off Edsa in Mandaluyong City.
—0—
AS reported by the Weekender of May 20, Bacoor Wonder Boy Wesley So, Shell Kiddies champion of 2003, will be one of the gladiators in that epic event. Shell’s champion of champions will receive a whopping P40,000 first prize and his runner-up P25,000.
—0—
MERALCO Chess Club players were impressed by the strength of IM So. The 13-year-old swept them off the boards in his simul last Saturday. They included blitz champ Abet Casiano, who had once held GM Eugene Torre and IM Ricky de Guzman to draws, according to Norlito Bersamina; father of child prodigy Paulo.
—0—
LUCKILY, some tournament organizers are still active despite the apparent electoral hibernation of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. Next Sunday, most players hereabouts will flock to Calamba to play in the non-masters organized by the Laguna Chess Association and Letran College in Calamba..
—0—
MANY wonder how former Surigao del Sur Rep.Prospero Pichay will take his defeat in the senatorial race. I for one still hope he will assume active leadership of the NCFP as he did before the electoral campaign. He has certainly given Philippine chess a much-needed shot in the arm. Let’s hope he will continue doing so for the sake of the game.
—0—
WITH the help of all its members, the QMC Chess Club aims to help the NCFP revivify local chess. This is why the club’s leadership has been holding monthly activities in an effort to make the Chess Plaza a genuine recreational center in Quezon City and its environs. So far, so good!
—0—
BOOKS by Mark Dvoretsky are regarded as “must” reading for players wishing to excel. To its members, the QMC Plaza Club will sell these books at prices much lower than the prevailing market prices. Register now and enjoy this discount privilege!
Chess quote
“Chess is the art of analysis.”
—Mikhail Botvinnik
The Weekender
Quezon Memorial Circle
Quezon City
Manuel O. Benitez
Editor & Publisher
Alfredo V. Chay
Circulation Manager
Published every weekend
NOT FOR SALE!
And now, I'd like to ask this simple thoughts in my head...
1. How come IM Wesley So is having a hard time getting sponsoships for his tournaments abroud? What's the difference between him and GM Mark Paragua? GM Mark had a consistent sponsor right? I am not sure of the man's name but he is behind the TIME LIFE Books? IM Wesley achieved all the titles at a much earlier age than GM MArk, except for GM title, as he is trying to get it before October...
2. Somebody wrote me that fellow Pinoy GM's aren't helping Wesley with his goals, why won't they? is this true?
3. Whatever happened to NCFP Chess Caravan?
Thats it for now. Congratulations to Sir Manny for the 1st Anniversary of The Weekender.
Till then!
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