by John Donaldson
"In the laboratory, gambits all test unfavorably; but the old rule wears well, that all gambits are sound over the board."
~ William Napier
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) 15th North American Invitational
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
NM Michael Pearson won the Irving Chernev Memorial Tuesday Night Marathon with 7 from 8. Tying for second with six points in the upset-filled 60-player event were Expert Igor Traub and A-players Dante Argishti and Hayk Maneleyan. The Fall Marathon, a ten-rounder, starts October 14.
IM Ricardo DeGuzman bounced back from a sub-par result in the Irving Chernev Memorial Tuesday Night Marathon to tie for first in the 8th Annual Howard Donnelly Memorial G/45 last Saturday. DeGuzman defeated his chief rival, IM Andrei Florian, in round 4 and then drew co-champion teenager Michael Lin in the last round.
This season the Bay Area entry in the US Chess League has played below its potential but it took until round five to receive justly deserved punishment. In the three and half seasons of the USCL this match has to rank among the worst if not the worst match we have played. Hopefully it will be a wake up call.
San Francisco vs Boston
1.
Bhat,Vinay (2481) - Christiansen,Larry (2670) [D00]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Nd2 Nbd7 4.e3 e5 5.Ngf3 Bd6 6.dxe5 Nxe5 7.c4 Nxc4 8.Nxc4 dxc4 9.Bxc4 h6 10.Bh4 Bg4 11.0-0 g5 12.Bg3 Bxg3 13.hxg3 Qxd1 14.Rfxd1 Ke7 15.Re1 Rhd8 16.Rac1 c6 17.a3 a5 18.Nd4 c5 19.Nf3 Bd7 20.Ba2 b6 21.e4 Ng4 22.e5 Bf5 23.Bb1 Be6 24.Re2 Ra7 25.Ne1 h5 26.Nf3 Rad7 27.Nxg5 Rd1+ 28.Re1 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Rd2 30.Nxe6 fxe6 0-1
Sammour Hasbun,Jorge (2576) - Pruess,David (2479) [C14]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 0-0 8.Nf3 c5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.0-0-0 Normally White plays 10.dxc5 but the text is not unknown. 10...c4 David takes up the challenge. Jorge, who prepares quite seriously for his games, was no doubt familiar with a game David played with Alan Stein in this variation. 11.g4 Rb8 12.Nb5 Nb6 13.h4 This and White's follow up with 15.f5 are what makes this game unique to others with 10.0-0-0 c4. Weeks could be spent analyzing the pros and cons of this approach. 13... Bd7 14.Nd6 Nc8 15.f5 Nxd6 16.f6 gxf6 17.exd6 Qxd6 18.Qh6 Qe7 19.g5 f5 20.h5 Kh8 21.g6 f6 22.Rg1 Rg8 23.Nh4 Qg7 24.Qe3 h6 25.Ng2 Rge8 26.Nf4 Kg8 27.Bg2 b5 28.Rge1 a5 29.Re2 b4 30.Rde1 Qf8 31.Nxe6 Bxe6 32.Qf4 Bd7 33.Bxd5+ Kg7 34.Qc7 Rxe2 35.Rxe2 Qd8 36.Qd6 Rb6 37.Bxc6 Rxc6 38.Re7+ Kf8 39.Rf7+ Kg8 40.Qd5 1-0 Esserman got a very comfortable position early and Sam sacked a pawn for some initiative which was short lived. Match tactics probably explain Black's decision to go for the ending when 27...Qa5 was very strong. The c3 pawn goes as in the game but the Queens stay on.
Shankland,Sam (2364) - Esserman,Marc (2307) [B98]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qe2 h6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.0-0-0 Qc7 11.g3 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Ne4 Be7 15.fxe5 Qxe5 16.Qc4 0-0 17.Bg2 Rb8 18.Qc3 Qc7 19.b3 f5 20.Nc5 Bg5+ 21.Kb1 Bf6 22.Qc4 Qa5 23.Nxe6 Bxe6 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Qe3 Rfe8 26.Qd2 Qe5 27.c3 c5 28.Rhe1 Qxc3 29.Qxc3 Bxc3 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.Bf1 a5 32.Bb5 Re7 33.Rd5 Bd4 34.Rxf5 Re1+ 35.Kc2 Rh1 36.h4 g6 37.Rf3 Rh2+ 38.Kd3 Rxa2 39.Be8 1/2-1/2
Krasik,Ilya (2144) - Naroditsky,Daniel (2321) [E84]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.h4 h5 10.0-0-0 b5 11.Nd5 bxc4 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.g4 Nb4 14.Nc3 c5 15.gxh5 Qa5 This appears to be a novelty. 15...Be6 was seen in Tarjan-Gunawan, Indonesia 1983, analyzed extensively by Larry Christiansen in 1984 in Player's Chess News - Theory and Analysis. There Larry felt 15...Be6 16.hxg6 Qa5 17.a3 Nc6! 18.gxf7+ Kxf7 18.d5 Rxb2!! 19.dxe6+ Kg8! was the critical line with one variation continuing 20.dxe6+ Kg8 21.Kxb2 Rb8 22.Kc2 Qxa3 23.Rg1+ Kh7 24.Rb1 Nb4+ 25.Rxb4 Rxb4 winning but of course today the silicon oracles spoil all the fun with 26.Bxc4! as 26...Rxc4 is met by 27.e5 and while 26...Rb2+ wins the Queen White has too much material for it. 16.Bxc4 Be6 Black could have traded on d4 several times and then played ...Qh5 but after Rg1 with Rg5 coming this doesn't look very encouraging and not the sort of position he aims for in this line. What now ensues is a mess and Danya is forced to sacrifice a Rook to create numerous threats. Is it sound? 17.d5 Nxa2+ 18.Bxa2 Rxb2 19.Qxb2 Bxc3 20.Qb3 Bd7 21.Bd2 Bxd2+ 22.Rxd2 c4 23.Qe3 c3 24.Rc2 Qa3+ 25.Kd1 Ba4 26.Bb1 Qb2 27.Qc1 Qb5 28.Ke1 Rb8 29.Kf2 Bxc2 30.Bxc2 Qc4 31.hxg6 fxg6 32.Qg5 Rb2 33.Qxg6+ Kf8 34.Qf5+ 34. Rg1 Rxc2+ 35.Ke3 Qe2+ 36.Kf4 Qh2+ 37.Rg3 Qxh4+ 38.Ke3 was winning but by now both players were practically down to playing on the increment. 34... Ke8 35.e5 dxe5 36.Kg3 Qf4+! 37.Kh3 Rxc2! 38.Qxc2 Qxf3+ 39.Kh2 Qf4+ 40.Kg1 Qg3+ 41.Qg2 Qe1+ 42.Qf1 Qg3+ 43.Qg2 Qe1+ 44.Qf1 Qg3+ 45.Qg2 1/2-1/2 Round 4
Philadelphia vs San Francisco
1. GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1/2-1/2
2. IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Bryan Smith (PHI) 1-0
3. IM Richard Costigan (PHI) vs FM Sam Shankland (SF) 0-1
4. FM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs NM Elvin Wilson (PHI) 1-0
Kudrin,Sergey (2600) - Wolff,Patrick (2623) [B63]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.0-0-0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 0-0 10.f3 Bd7 11.h4 Qa5 12.Bd2 Qc5 13.Qxc5 dxc5 14.e5 Nd5 15.Bg5 Bxg5+ 16.hxg5 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Bc6 18.Bd3 g6 19.Rh4 Kg7 20.Rdh1 Rh8 21.Kd2 b5 22.Ke3 Rab8 23.Be4 Bxe4 1/2-1/2
Friedel,Josh (2595) - Smith,Bryan (2442) [C18]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Bd3 c4 9.Be2 Qa5 10.Bd2 0-0 11.h4 Nbc6 12.h5 f6 13.exf6 Rxf6 14.h6 g6 15.Qh4 Rf7 16.Nf3 Bd7 17.Qh2 Raf8 18.0-0 Nf5 19.Rfe1 Bc8 20.Ne5 Nxe5 21.Qxe5 Qc7 22.Qxc7 Rxc7 23.Bg4 Rc6 24.a4 Rb6 25.Reb1 Rxb1+ 26.Rxb1 Nd6 27.f3 Nf7 28.a5 Rd8 29.Bf4 g5 30.Bd2 Rd6 31.Bh5 Ra6 32.Re1 Nxh6 33.Bxg5 Kg7 34.Bd8 Nf7 35.Be7 Rxa5 36.f4 Ra2 37.Re3 Nh8 38.Bd6 Ng6 39.g4 Rxc2 40.Rf3 Kf6 41.Bc7 Rd2 42.Bd8+ Kg7 43.f5 Rd3 44.Rf2 Rxc3 45.Bf6+ Kh6 46.Bxg6 Rc1+ 47.Kh2 hxg6 48.Bg5+ Kg7 49.f6+ Kf7 50.Bxc1 b5 51.Bd2 e5 52.dxe5 Bxg4 53.Kg3 Bf5 54.Bc3 a5 55.Bxa5 d4 56.Bb6 1-0
Costigan,Richard (2288) - Shankland,Sam (2364) [C00]
1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Ngf3 b6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.d4 c5 7.c3 Be7 8.a3 Nc6 9.b4 a6 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.0-0 c4 12.Be2 Qc7 13.Ne1 0-0-0 14.f4 f6 15.Ndf3 h6 16.g3 g5 17.Ng2 Rdg8 18.Qe1 gxf4 19.gxf4 Rg7 20.Kh1 Rhg8 21.Rg1 Nd8 22.Be3 fxe5 23.fxe5 Nf7 24.Bf4 Ng5 25.Nxg5 Bxg5 26.Bg3 Nf8 27.Bh5 Qd8 28.Qe2 Bc6 29.Raf1 Be8 30.Bg4 Bg6 31.Bh3 Bd3 32.Qh5 Bxf1 33.Rxf1 Qe7 34.Rf6 Kb7 35.Nf4 Bxf6 36.exf6 Qxf6 37.Qf3 Ka7 38.Qe3 Re7 39.a4 Ng6 40.Ne2 Rf8 41.Bg2 Nh4 42.Nf4 Nf5 43.Qf3 Nxg3+ 44.hxg3 Rg7 45.Kh2 Rxg3 0-1
Naroditsky,Daniel (2321) - Wilson,Elvin (2240) [A07]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.0-0 Bf5 5.d3 e6 6.Nbd2 h6 7.Qe1 Bh7 8.e4 Be7 9.Ne5 0-0 10.f4 Na6 11.Nb3 dxe4 12.dxe4 Nc5 13.Nxc5 Bxc5+ 14.Kh1 Qd4 15.c3 Qd6 16.Qe2 Rfd8 17.g4 Bb6 18.g5 hxg5 19.fxg5 Qxe5 20.gxf6 gxf6 21.Bf4 Qc5 22.e5 fxe5 23.Bxe5 Bg6 24.Rae1 Rd3 25.Qg4 Rd5 26.b4 Qe7 27.Bxd5 exd5 28.Bf6 1-0
|
WESTERN DIVISION |
W |
L |
Game |
Opp Avg Rating |
Opps Record |
|
|
3.5 |
1.5 |
11.5/20 (58%) |
2425 |
12.5-7.5 (63%) |
||
|
3.5 |
1.5 |
11.5/20 (58%) |
2410 |
11.0-9.0 (55%) |
||
|
2.5 |
2.5 |
12.0/20 (60%) |
2408 |
9.0-11.0 (45%) |
||
|
2.5 |
2.5 |
11.5/20 (58%) |
2402 |
8.0-12.0 (40%) |
||
|
2.5 |
2.5 |
9.0/20 (45%) |
2376 |
12.0-8.0 (60%) |
||
|
2.5 |
2.5 |
9.0/20 (45%) |
2386 |
10.5-9.5 (53%) |
||
|
1.0 |
4.0 |
6.5/20 (33%) |
2393 |
8.5-11.5 (43%) |
2) 15th North American Invitational
September 20 - 26, 2008
The 15th North American FIDE Invitational is about to begin!
For events specifics including round times visit -