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N AT I O N A L O P E N WO R L D O P E N I N TE RV I EW A N D GA M E S W I TH M I S H R A

Sam Shankland Getting Back


on Track

SEPTEMBER 2021 USChess.org


The United States’ Largest
Chess Specialty Retailer
888.51.CHESS (512.4377) www.USCFSales.com

B0071EV GRIVAS OPENING LABORATORY - VOL. 7 B0034SHV 2020 ENDGAME MAZE


by Efstratios Grivas by Tadic, Ivanisevic and Perunovic
The seventh and final book in the best selling “Grivas Opening Sahovski proudly presents 2020 Endgame Maze, the most complete
Laboratory” series, completes the author’s quest to build the coverage of instructive and entertaining endgames that were played
ultimate White repertoire based upon 1. d4. It covers a wide range in 2020. However, this is not a simple puzzle book. The endgames
of openings, including the Modern Defence, Polish Defence, Dzindzi- are rich in tactical motifs, theoretically comprehensive and are
Indian Defence, Benoni Defence, the Old Indian Defence and many hand-picked by the Chess Informators team. Many of the endgames
others. In this book, you will not only find a concrete and featured in this book are explained in great depth, with
well-structured move-by-move presentation, but critical numerous theoretical principles fleshed out, allowing this
information on middlegames, endgames and tactics that book to be used as an instructive endgame manual.
$27.50 are typical in these openings to help improve your overall $32.95
understanding.

B0157EU ATTACKING 1... d5 B0101TH THE MODERNIZED PHILIDOR DEFENSE


by Kiril Georgiev by Sergio Trigo Urquijo
This book considers a gambit treatment of the Slav and the Semi- The aim of this book is to provide the reader not only with a complete
Slav. White offers the c4-pawn in order to get a space advantage repertoire for the Philidor Defense, but especially a repertoire that
and a long-term initiative. It also covers the Closed Catalan and the begins from the very first move – because White has mechanisms
modern line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 dxc4 at their disposal to avoid entering into the vast labyrinth that they
7.Ne5. The author’s idea is to throw 1...d5 players off their comfort often perceive when meeting this opening. This book was written with
zone by dragging them into sharp unbalanced positions. players of numerous skill levels in mind, from club players to
If you’re fed up with the all mainstream Slav/Meran Grandmasters. It is the author’s hope that, after reading this
theory out there, this book will offer you new refreshing book, you will be able face an opponent of a higher rating,
$31.95 approaches for both sides. $39.95 without fear and with clear ideas.

B0022CH CATASTROPHES & TACTICS IN THE CHESS OPENING WORKBOOK B0543EM PLAY THE BUDAPEST GAMBIT
by Carsten Hansen by Andrew Martin
Everybody wants to win fast, preferably straight out of the chess The Budapest Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5) is an aggressive, dynamic
opening. This book is a collection of games played by top players in approach for meeting 1 d4 and is a great line for throwing opponents
which either White or Black wins in 15 moves or less either as a result onto their own resources. It is certainly double-edged as Black moves
of blunders, an accumulation of mistakes or brilliant chess tactics. the same piece twice early on and also sacrifices a pawn. This pawn
Through the study of the games in this volume, you will improve your is often quickly regained but one of the great advantages of the
opening play, opening repertoire, strategies and tactical Budapest is that if White tries to hang on to the pawn (and
ability. This book, volume 1, focuses on the Indian Defenses many players do) Black can quickly whip up a ferocious
and includes such openings as the KID, Grunfeld Indian, attack. A great number of materialistic but unprepared
$20.95 QID, Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian and many more! $29.95 White players have found themselves swiftly demolished by
Black’s tremendously active pieces.

B0248NIC THE FULLY-FLEDGED FRENCH B0041ER THE CREATIVE POWER OF BOGOLJUBOV - VOLUME II
by Viktor Moskalenko by Grigory Bogdanovich
Viktor Moskalenko’s best selling books The Flexible French (2008) In the second part of his two-volume treatise on Bogoljubov’s games,
and The Even More Flexible French (2015) were hailed by reviewers International Master Grigory Bogdanovich provides 191 fully annotated
from all over the world as eye-opening, full of new ideas, easy to read, games and fragments as well as 6 endgame compositions and 23
sparkling, and inspirational. Time has not stood still, and the popular tactical positions for the reader to analyze. As in the first volume, his
French Defence has seen a lot of new developments, not in the analysis of Bogoljubov’s games is split into instructive themes, making
last place thanks to Moskalenko’s books. The Ukrainian his treatise a fantastic textbook for learning a huge range of
grandmaster himself has kept playing and researching his winning techniques. The present volume covers the topics
beloved chess opening and decided to write a new book of attack, defense, planning, Bogoljubov’s contribution to
$32.95 with countless improvements, alternatives, new ideas and $35.95 opening theory, and endgame technique.
fresh weapons that will delight and surprise the reader.

B033SHV SECRETS OF POSITIONAL SACRIFICE B0148INF CHESS INFORMANTS - ISSUE #148


by Nestorovic & Nestorovic Chess Informant 148 contains hundreds of games, annotated by
This book features 64 deeply annotated instructive games, spanning strong players, cross tables, tournament results, separate chapters
5 areas of positional sacrifice and includes carefully selected on combinations, endgames, problems, studies. It includes analysis
exercises with solutions. “Secrets of Positional Sacrifice” is the of particular openings, regular columns of top players on various
second book, created within the premises of the Nestorović family themes etc.
chess workshop. In addition, the book features exercises at the end
of each chapter, which are meant to test the reader’s newly
acquired knowledge. Exercises are mainly based on the
correct assessment of asymmetric positions, and of course
$39.95 on accurate calculation. $39.95

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SEPTEMBER

COLUMNS
8 CHESS TO ENJOY
Entertainment
May I?
BY GM ANDY SOLTIS

10 EVENTS
In the News
BY JOHN HARTMANN

46 SOLITAIRE CHESS
Instruction
The Fifth World Chess
Champion
BY BRUCE PANDOLFINI

48 BOOKS AND BEYOND


Should I Buy It? Sam Shankland also won
the best ‘funny face’ prize at
Warts and All the Prague Chess Festival.
BY IM JOHN WATSON

50 PUZZLES
Make Your Move! 30 COVER STORY
BY FM CARSTEN HANSEN THE PRIDE OF PRAGUE
Shankland on his victory at the Prague Masters
DEPARTMENTS BY GM SAM SHANKLAND
4 SEPTEMBER PREVIEW
Social Media Guide
for Members
12 INTERVIEW GM Abhimanyu Mishra
5 COUNTERPLAY “All My Work... Had Finally Paid Off”
Readers Respond An Interview with Abhimanyu and Hemant Mishra
BY JOHN HARTMANN
6 FIRST MOVES
Chess News from 22 EVENTS World Open
Around the U.S. Chess With Kids
Two dads square up at the 2021 World Open.
43 US CHESS AFFAIRS BY ALEX KING
News for Our Members
PHOTO: COURTESY PRAGUE CHESS FESTIVAL / VLADIMIR JAGR

51 TOURNAMENT LIFE
34 EVENTS National Open
Viva Las Vegas!
58 CLASSIFIEDS Over-the-board chess beats the odds at the National Open.
BY JJ LANG
59 SOLUTIONS
60 MY BEST MOVE
40 EVENTS National Open
Personalities Two by Yermo
Two annotated games by Yermo and friends.
JAMES H. CANTY III
BY GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY
For up-to-date chess news, and
news about US Chess, check out
44 EVENTS U.S. Open
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Lenderman Wins 121st U.S. Open
org/clo on a regular basis. All the results from Cherry Hill
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USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 1


CONTRIBUTORS

G M S A M S H A N K LA N D
(Cover Story) is the 2018 U.S.
Chess Champion. He is a main-
stay on the U.S. Olympic Team, a
two-time Olympiad Gold Medalist
(2014 and 2016, Silver Medal-
ist in 2018), a former World U18
co-champion (2008), and the
winner of dozens of international
tournaments across four conti- E D I TO R I A L
nents, reaching a peak rating of C H E S S L I F E / C LO E D I TO R John Hartmann ([email protected])
2731 FIDE and #21 in the world. In addition to his playing career, A R T D I R E C TO R Kory Kennedy
he has worked as an analyst for the reigning World Champion, GM P U B L I C AT I O N S E D I TO R Melinda Matthews
Magnus Carlsen, training with him to prepare for the 2014 and C R E AT I V E CO N T E N T CO O R D I N ATO R Natasha Roberts
2016 World Championship matches, and he has published two T E C H N I C A L E D I TO R IM Ron Burnett
books as well as five online opening database courses. He is also T L A [email protected]
one of the owners of the online training site Killer Chess Training.
U S C H E S S S TA F F
JOH N H A RT M A N N E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R Carol Meyer
(Interview) is the editor of Chess Life and Chess S E N I O R D I R E C TO R O F ST R AT E G I C CO M M U N I C AT I O N Daniel Lucas
Life Online. He was recently named the 2021 Chess D I R E C TO R O F E V E N TS Boyd Reed
Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of D I R E C TO R O F D E V E LO P M E N T Geoffrey S. Isaak
America, the second consecutive year he has won D I R E C TO R O F A D M I N I ST R AT I O N Judy Misner
that award. He resides in Omaha, Nebraska, with his wife, daugh- W O M E N ’ S P R O G R A M D I R E C TO R Jennifer Shahade
ter, three cats, and approximately 1,200 chess books. A S S I STA N T D I R E C TO R O F E V E N TS Pete Karagianis
F I D E E V E N TS M A N A G E R / CO R R E S P O N D E N C E C H E S S Christopher Bird
A LE X K IN G
T E C H N I C A L & R AT I N G S M A N A G E R Korey Kormick
(World Open) is a National Master and two-time
S E N I O R A CCO U N TA N T Debra Robison
Tennessee State Champion. He teaches chess in
G O V E R N A N C E CO O R D I N ATO R Jennifer Pearson
Memphis and plays piano in his spare time. For
M E M B E R S H I P A S S O C I AT E Christine Green
more on Alex, check out his appearance (Episode
D I G I TA L A S S I STA N T Brian Jerauld
97) on Ben Johnson’s “Perpetual Chess Podcast.”

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SLCC/A. FULLER (SHANKLAND), EMILY WOLFE (KING), COURTESY OF SUBJECT (ALL OTHERS)
EXECUTIVE BOARD
JJ LAN G
P R E S I D E N T Mike Hoffpauir ([email protected])
(National Open) is a graduate student in phi-
V I C E P R E S I D E N T Randy Bauer ([email protected])
losophy and a chess teacher based in Lincoln,
V I C E P R E S I D E N T O F F I N A N C E Chuck Unruh ([email protected])
Nebraska. Active on chess Twitter, he streams on
S E C R E TA R Y Fun Fong ([email protected])
Twitch as @chessfeels and tweets under the same
M E M B E R AT L A R G E David Day ([email protected])
moniker. This is his first article for Chess Life.
M E M B E R AT L A R G E John Fernandez ([email protected])
M E M B E R AT L A R G E Kevin Prior ([email protected])
G M ALE X Y E R M O LIN S KY
(National Open) is a native of St. Petersburg,
Russia, and was one of the top players in the U.S. INQUIRIES
For communications and press inquiries, please contact
during the 1990s. Since 2007 Yermolinsky has
Dan Lucas at [email protected] (931) 200-5509
lived in South Dakota and works as analyst and
commentator for various internet and print chess sources. To submit letters to the editor, please email [email protected]

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Sam Shankland tells it as he sees
it. After a rough 2019, and after the To notify us of a change of address,
competitive pause imposed by the please email [email protected]
pandemic in 2020, he is moving
For Tournament Director Certification information,
back up the ratings lists after a win
please email [email protected]
in the Prague Masters and a stellar
showing at the World Cup. You can For staff contact information, please see new.uschess.org/about
see his intensity and drive in this
photo by IM Eric Rosen in Sochi. Please submit all other inquiries to [email protected],
(931) 787-1234, fax (931) 787-1200
PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIC ROSEN
CHESS LIFE IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE US CHESS FEDERATION
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IT USED TO BE THAT YOU COULD READ CHESS LIFE ONCE A
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4 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


Donaldson on Fischer
Readers Respond COUNTERPLAY

Two Wins by Donaldson the-board were, and that no amount


Playing over IM John Donaldson’s win over of talent can erase?
another great talent, GM Sergey Kudrin, in I have ripped the cover of the
[the July issue of Chess Life] brought a rush July issue of Chess Life off the mag-
of memories. One was of Donaldson’s care- azine, as I did with a previous
ful research that resulted in IM Igor Ivanov issue about Fischer. When you
being officially recognized as a grandmaster. accept the chess man, you buy
Thank you to him, and to Chess Life. and promote his whole life. [This
John Currell is the] wrong message to send to
via e-mail fellow chess players and the non-
chess playing public. He needs to
be removed from the list of US
A Different Kind Chess champions.
of Contest Dr. Tim Johnson
My enjoyment of the feature on and by John via e-mail
Donaldson spurs two thoughts.
First, I highly recommend Bobby Fischer John Hartmann responds:
and His World. Through Frank Brady’s books In 1983 two philosophers had din-
I was familiar with Fischer, but Mr. Don- ner. Michel Foucault, whose entire
aldson’s work unveiled information about corpus can be read as a reckoning
Bobby’s rivals and chess contacts that I was with the problem of fascism, broke
unaware of. bread with Jurgen Habermas, the
Also, IM Jack Peters’ tribute to Donald- prophet of communicative ratio-
son’s historical prowess conjures an idea: a nality and the democratic sphere.
chess history and trivia exhibition featuring The two had critiqued each other’s
Mr. Donaldson and GM Andrew Soltis. This work, sometimes aggressively, in print, but this
would certainly quality as another Match of was the first time they had met in the flesh. chess achievements from the history books.
the Century. Comparing notes about their educations, Nor should we want to. Fischer’s games are
Thomas J. Sedore they were amused to discover that two of their models of logic and precision, deserving replay
via e-mail favorite teachers — a scholar of Stoicism and and study. Doing so does not require that we
a Kantian — had written books extolling the embrace the man who, in his later years, said
virtues of National Socialism. Neither Stoicism and believed such horrific things.
The Fischer Conundrum nor Kantianism would admit such barbarism
Would US Chess have written and promoted in their worldviews, but such was life under
an article about Adolf Hitler if he had played the Nazi regime. Ziggurat3DChess.com
chess? [Bobby Fischer] has tainted chess and For me, Martin Heidegger is the most im- Available on Steam and Oculus Rift
soiled the status of his championship. He left portant philosopher of the 20th century. He
the United States because of his hatred of the was, at best, complicit with the Nazi regime,
Jewish people, and yet John Donaldson ap- and at worst, a full-blown anti-Semite. Does
pears in suit and tie to honor his legacy and that mean we stop reading his work? No. We
promote his book. Does chess need a #metoo acknowledge the man’s flaws, we try to discern
reminder before leadership wises up to how the influence of these beliefs in his texts, but
horrible his [Fischer’s] words and actions off- at the end of the day, we can separate the man
from the philosophy.
Send your letters to letters@ So it is with Fischer. Let’s be clear — I am
uschess.org. Letters are subject hardly a Fischer fan. I think his overall influ-
to editing for style, length, and ence on American chess has been, on balance,
content. negative, and for some of the very reasons that
Mr. Johnson offers. But we cannot erase his Queen’s Gambit or Wizard’s Gambit?

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 5


The tournament
room at the inaugural
Silicon Valley Open

Youth Leads the Way


in the East Bay
San Jose Chess Club makes waves online and over-the-board.
BY PRANAV SAIRAM AND ABHINAV PENAGALAPATI
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY THE AUTHORS

W E — PRANAV SAIRAM AND ABHINAV PENAGALAPATI


— founded the San Jose Chess Club (SJCC) in 2020,
largely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While
we could have distracted ourselves with video games,
we instead decided to utilize our unexpected free time
built up a community of over 400 members on chess platforms such
as Chess.com and lichess.org.
But we both felt that one component was still missing from this
new club: in-person over-the-board (OTB) chess. As expert players,
we understood that playing in-person chess was important, espe-
and become US Chess certified tournament directors. Soon thereaf- cially since online games don’t impact regular rating. Therefore,
ter we began hosting free US Chess online-rated events. We quickly after almost every other sport restarted in-person in the Bay Area,

6 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


Chess news from around the U.S. FIRST MOVES

we began making plans for the first major federal COVID-19 regulations — were just as The first day of the event, Saturday May
OTB tournament on the west coast since the important as the players. Fortunately, after 22nd, was both exciting and nerve-wrack-
pandemic began. calling many hotels, we decided upon the ing. Round one started at 9:00 a.m., but
The inaugural Silicon Valley Open was Sonesta San Jose as our playing site. Social we — along with Chief TD Reka — arrived
held from May 22-23 at the beautiful Sonesta distancing was not the only safety measure even earlier to make sure everything was
San Jose hotel in San Jose. (Don’t take our that SJCC took: we also sanitized the boards set. All three of us felt our adrenaline kick
word for it — it gets 3.8 stars on Google!) The and pieces after every round and the entire in as more and more people entered the
tournament drew a strong field, including room at the end of each day. Additionally, room. No one had experienced this kind
three international masters, one woman the club mandated that every player over of competitive, but exciting, atmosphere in
grandmaster, five national masters, and 16 years of age be fully vaccinated or show 15 months. Although SJCC had to deal with
other nationally ranked juniors. In all, 100 proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken 72 some challenges, such as managing 100
participants were competing for a total prize hours or less before the start of the event. chess players and their families and mak-
fund of $3,900. The local mother-daughter ing sure all players had their temperatures
team of Fide Arbiter (FA) and Senior Tour- checked, the check-in process was relative-
nament Director (SrTD) Judit Sztaray and But we both felt ly smooth. The rest of the day progressed
FA/SrTD Reka Sztaray served as tournament
directors.
that one component with little difficulty, the only hiccup being
a minor issue with the DGT live streaming.
As a new chess club, SJCC did not have was still missing OTB chess was back in Northern California!
the resources to publicize as heavily as more The next day, round four began at 10:00
established chess clubs do, so we relied on from this new club: a.m. so players had a little extra time to ar-
the many connections we have built over the
past seven years. We reached out to players in-person over-the- rive after a long evening of chess the night
before. Similar to the first day, SJCC careful-
we knew and extended personal invitations.
SJCC also accepted help from well-known
board (OTB) chess. ly checked the temperature of 100 players
before they entered tournament hall. With
chess personalities such as GM Melikset a super-smooth second day unfolding, we
Khachiyan and Michael Aigner, hoping to These were just a few of the logistical and could finally focus all our attention on our
attract more players to the tournament. safety challenges we faced while conducting own games.
Other chess organizations and personalities an event during a pandemic. The tournament was a great experience
stepped up to support the event as well, in- To make the event as professional as pos- for both of us. We learned a lot from orga-
cluding Abel Talamantez from Mechanics’ sible, Chess Sin Fronteras and Juan Cendejas nizing our very first in-person tournament,
Institute, who promoted the event during provided five DGT boards for the tourna- including how to set up an event, manage
their live Twitch broadcast, and other Bay ment. After training from Juan — thank you! finances, and speak professionally. On be-
Area chess clubs such as the UC Berkeley — the tournament was able to broadcast the half of SJCC, we would like to express our
Chess Club and Bay Area Chess. top five boards of the Open section (2000+) gratitude to all the players who came and
Logistics — including choosing the host live. This was important as spectators were supported them for their first tournament.
hotel and complying with local, state, and not allowed in the tournament hall. We We would also like to thank all the people
traveled to the Sonesta San Jose two days who contributed to this effort, including
The TDs deep in discussion before play be- in advance, assisted by our families, to set our families, Judit Sztaray, Reka Sztaray,
gins (left); Pranav Sairam, Reka Sztaray, and up DGT boards and make sure the tables Abel Talamantez, Michael Aigner, and GM
Abhinav Penagalapati (right). maintained the proper distance. Melik Khachiyan.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 7


CHESS TO ENJOY Entertainment

May I?
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When the left and right sides of your brain argue.


BY GM ANDY SOLTIS

O NE OF MAGNUS CARLSEN’S
moves won widespread praise
earlier this year. Then the crit-
ics tried to figure out the real
Maybe. Or maybe he just made a useful
“pass” to stop his clock from ticking. When
an elite grandmaster plays a surprise move
we can only guess what he is really thinking.
of his brain. The right side is the creative,
intuitive one and the left is the analytical,
calculating one.
The right side would want to sacrifice a
reason he played it. How strong players think has puzzled pawn. But it has to convince the left side
psychologists since Alfred Binet, the origi- that it is sound.
nator of IQ testing, studied them more than It asks: “I want to play 14. Ne4. Can I?”
BRILLIANT OR ... a century ago. Binet suggested that a master “No,” says the left side. “Not until you find
GM Hikaru Nakamura engages in an internal debate when choosing a good answer to 14. ... Nxe5.”
GM Magnus Carlsen a move: he argues with himself. White found one and met 14. ... Nxe5
New In Chess Classic, chess24.com, You can get a hint of this debate when a with 15. Qd4! f6 16. Bxe5 fxe5.
05.02.2021 candid GM explains his thought processes White’s compensation still wasn’t obvious
in annotations. after 17. Rxf8+ Bxf8 18. Qc4 Qb6+ 19. Kh1
Qxb2 20. Rf1 Qb4 21. Qd3.

SICILIAN DEFENSE, NAJDORF


VARIATION (B91)
GM Arkadij Naiditsch
GM Nils Grandelius
Tata Steel, Wijk aan Zee, 01.12.2013

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6


5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O Qc7 9.
f4 Nc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. e5! dxe5 12. fxe5
Nd7 13. Bf4 O-O
BLACK TO MOVE

On-line commentators hailed the world Some online engines, playing the role of the
champion’s 32. ... Kf8!. They said it estab- doubting left-brain, say 21. ... Ra7 would
lished a rare middlegame case of zugzwang. defend easily. After you point out that White
White had no good moves and lost after was threatening 22. Ng5!, they realize Black
33. Rd3 Nfe4 34. Qe1 Qf6 35. Rxd5 Qxh4. is in trouble.
But after explaining 32. ... Kf8! as a su- The game ended with 21. ... Qe7 22. h4
per-subtle waiting move, the commentators h6 23. Ng5! e4 24. Qxe4 hxg5 25. Qg6, Black
realized it also had a tactical point. resigned.
Carlsen wanted to play the forking … When you play over a GM Mikhail Tal
Ng3-e4. But 32. ... Nge4 would allow 33. Bxe4 game you sense the right side of his brain
Nxe4 34 Rxd5!. rarely asked for permission. In one of his
Then on 34. … Nxf2 35. Rxe5 White threat- White felt his position was very good. He forgotten brilliancies Tal quickly played the
ens Re5xe8+ as well as Kg1xf2. chose 14. Ne4. But since Black had played first 14 moves of this very game, including
Therefore, the commentators said, Mag- all his previous moves instantly, he feared 14. Ne4!, and went on to win.
nus chose 32. ... Kf8 because by protecting he had blundered. When Tal liked a move, he didn’t debate
his rook he made 33. ... Nge4! a winning A successor to Binet might describe this with his brain’s left side for long. He would
threat. as a debate between the two hemispheres rather ask forgiveness than permission.

8 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


QUIZ FOR PROBLEM 1 PROBLEM 2 PROBLEM 3
SEPTEMBER IM Ian Nepomniachtchi
FM Aleksandr Volodin
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi
GM Alexander Grischuk
IM Ian Nepomniachtchi
NM Oleg Chebotarev
WE ARE LEARNING A LOT
more about GM Ian Nepomni-
achtchi since he became GM Mag-
nus Carlsen’s world champion-
ship challenger. By now, many of
us have learned how to properly
pronounce his name! Here’s an
introduction to his tactical skill.
These six diagrams illustrate Ne-
po’s neat winning strokes from WHITE TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE
his schoolboy days on. You are
asked to find the fastest winning
line of play. This will usually PROBLEM 4 PROBLEM 5 PROBLEM 6
mean the forced win of a decisive GM Ian Nepomniachtchi GM Ian Nepomniachtchi GM Nigel Short
GM Sanan Sjugirov GM Falko Bindrich GM Ian Nepomniachtchi
amount of material. (Hint: There
are also two forced mates.) For
Solutions, see page 59.

WHITE TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE

Today, an elite GM engages in a different Not good enough, answers the computer.
kind of dialogue when he prepares an open- It claims equality, even after 14. ... Bd7 15.
ing. He argues with a much better player Qa3 Bc6 16. f3 Nd5.
than any human. Yes, but my moves are easier to find after
17. Bc5 and Rd1-d4/Rh1-d1, you reply.
This goes on until you either give up on
QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED 14. 0-0-0 — or decide you don’t need permis-
(D37) sion to play it.
GM Fabiano Caruana Caruana has won enough of these debates
GM Hikaru Nakamura with his computer to successfully introduce
Sinquefield Cup, St. Louis, 08.04.2018 many innovations. You may remember his
remarkable series of sacrifices against GM
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. A trade of knights (15. Nxd5) is drawish Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the resumed
g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Ne5 Nc6 because of the bishops of opposite color. Candidates Tournament this year. He tested
When 7. ... Nc6 was introduced in the 1970s Not much better is 14. Rd1 Bb7 and 15. f3 and tested the idea on a computer. “It still
it was shocking. Now it is routine. The six Nd5 16. Bd4 Rfd8. wasn’t clear if it would work out or not”
moves that follow are considered best: If But Fabiano Caruana overturned theory when he played it, he later said. This inno-
Black deviates he is worse. If White deviates when he played the stunning 14. 0-0-0!. vation got him a tiny edge after 14. ... Ng4
he has no chance for an advantage. Of course, you can prepare an innova- 15. Rd2 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Rb8 17. Rhd1 and he
tion like this with a computer. But deciding went on to win.
ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK

8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 to actually play it is more difficult than When the left and right sides of your brain
11. Qa4 c5 12. dxc5 Qxc5 13. Be3 Qc7 it seems. As with many modern opening argue, you are always in the middle.
(see diagram top of next column) positions, the machine won’t grant permis-
sion easily. Even after you analyze several You can read archival copies of
Does White have any real hope for an edge moves into the future, it insists White has “Chess to Enjoy” on uschess.org.
now? Hikaru Nakamura had previously no advantage. Click on “Chess Life Magazine,”
shown how the natural 14. 0-0 leads nowhere But I own the d-file, the right side of your and then “Digital Archives.”
after 14. ... Nd5!. brain will say.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 9


BY JOHN HARTMANN

26. Nxe5 dxe5 27. Nf5 c3 28. Rf3 Qd8 29.


Nxh6+ gxh6 30. Rg3+ Kh7 31. Qg4, Black
resigned.
We’ll have more on So’s win in the com-
ing months.

Duda Wins World Cup


GM Jan-Kryzsztof Duda was the surprise
winner of the 2021 FIDE World Cup (July
7-August 8, Sochi, Russia), defeating GM
Sergey Karjakin in the final to claim victory
and a spot in the 2022 Candidates Tourna-
ment. Former World Championship Chal-
lenger Karjakin also qualifies for the 2022
Candidates. World Champion GM Magnus
Carlsen finished in third place, defeating
GM Vladimir Fedoseev in the consolation
bracket.
The 206-player field was whittled down
over eight knockout rounds. Thirteen Amer-
icans took part, with GM Sam Shankland
GM Wesley So, at progressing the furthest, getting to the
home in Minnesota quarterfinals before falling to Karjakin.
with his GM of the A 103-player Women’s World Cup was held
Year award. at the same time, with GM Alexandra Koste-
niuk defeating GM Aleksandra Goryachkina
in the final. Four Americans journeyed to
So Wins Chessable c3 0–0 10. Bc2 Re8 11. Re1 h6 12. Nbd2
Bf8 13. Nf1 b4 14. Ng3 bxc3 15. bxc3 d5
Sochi to compete, and IM Carissa Yip ad-
vanced to round three before crashing out
Masters 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Bd2 Rb8 18. a5 Nf6 19. against GM Nana Dzagnidze.
Fresh off of his being named Grandmas- Ba4 Bd6 20. h3 Na7 21. Bc2 Nb5 22. Qc1 A full report, including exclusive notes
ter of the Year by US Chess, GM Wesley So Bc6 23. Nh4 Bf8 24. Nhf5 Qd5 25. Ne3 and thoughts from Shankland, will appear
continued his tremendous 2021 in the Melt- Qc5 26. Ra4 Nd6 27. d4 Qa7 28. Ra1 Qa8 in the October issue of Chess Life.
water Champions Chess Tour by winning 29. f3 exd4 30. cxd4 Nb5 31. Nef5 Bd7 32.
the Chessable Masters (July 31-August 8). Re5 Qa7 33. Be3 c5 34. Nxh6+ gxh6 35.
Seeded first in the knockout stage after
dominating the preliminary round-robin,
Bxh6 Rxe5 36. dxe5 c4+ 37. Kh2 Nh7 38.
Bxf8 Nxf8 39. Qg5+ Ng6 40. Nh5 Qd4 41.
Stockfish Wins Again
So mowed down GMs Jorden van Foreest, Bxg6 Qxa1 42. Bxf7+ Kxf7 43. Qf6+, Black in TCEC
Vladislav Artemiev, and new Webster Uni- resigned. A developmental version of Stockfish 14
versity coach Liem Quang Le to take his is the once and current TCEC champion
third Tour event. Previously he had won the RUY LOPEZ, ZAITSEV VARIA- after defeating Leela Chess Zero 0.28dev
Skilling Open and the Opera Euro Rapid. TION (C92) (network 69626) by an impressive score of
One curious feature of So’s match with Le GM Wesley So (2772) 56-44. Stockfish won 19 games with seven
in the Finals was the sacrifice of a knight on GM Liem Quang Le (2709) losses, earning its fourth consecutive TCEC
h6 in two consecutive White games. Chessable Masters KO (3.13), chess24. Superfinal win over Leela.
com, 08.07.2021 After some pre-match controversy due to
RUY LOPEZ (C84)
PHOTO: COURTESY WESLEY SO

Stockfish’s incorporation of Leela data into


GM Wesley So (2772) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 its NNUE training algorithm, the Season 21
GM Liem Quang Le (2709) 5. 0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0–0 Superfinal (July 20-August 6) turned out to
Chessable Masters KO (3.11), chess24. 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Nf3 be quite exciting, and not just because one
com, 08.07.2021 Re8 13. Nbd2 Bf8 14. a4 exd4 15. cxd4 h6 of the games had to be postponed due to a
16. Bc2 Nb4 17. Bb1 c5 18. d5 Nd7 19. Ra3 typhoon and data center outage!
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 c4 20. Nd4 Qf6 21. N2f3 Nc5 22. b3 Nbd3 GM Matthew Sadler, author of the
5. 0–0 Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. 23. Bxd3 Nxd3 24. Re3 b4 25. Ra1 Ne5 award-winning Game Changer, a study of

10 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


Above: GMs Kirill Alekseenko, Gata Kamsky,
and Nihal Sarin. Right: Kamsky with his Tri-
athlon-style “gold medal.”

Alpha Zero and advances chess after the rise


of neural networks, teamed up with legend-
ary opening book wizard Jeroen Noomen to
create a set of openings for the Superfinal
featuring imbalanced play without overly
drawish initial positions. c5 bxc5 102. Rg3+ Kf8 103. Rf1 Ke8 104. play, where wins earned two points and
The result was a feast for fans of com- Qxf7+ Kd7 105. Rg7 Qe8 106. Qf5+ Kd8 draws one on the cumulative leader board.
puter chess, with both sides showing their 107. Bd2 Ra8 108. Bc4 Bd7 109. Qf3 Ra7 Together these two results made up for his
strengths and weaknesses. Here's one of the 110. Kh2 Kc8 111. Qd3 Bf8 112. Rff7 Bxg7 relatively poor showing at blitz, where he
most interesting games of the event, where 113. Qxd6 Bf8 114. Ba6+ Rxa6 115. Qxa6+ finished in seventh place.
Stockfish casually sacrifices material to slow- Kb8 116. Rf6 Qc8 117. Rb6+ Kc7 118. Qa7+ Second place went to GM Kirill Alekseen-
ly ratchet up the pressure and defeat Leela. Kd8 119. Rb8 Bd6 120. Rxc8+ Bxc8 121. ko, and third was taken by GM Nihal Sarin.
Qf7 Be7 122. Qd5+ Ke8 123. h5 Rf8 124. Kamsky’s classical time-control win over
SLOW BUT STEADY Qc6+ Bd7 125. Qg6+ Rf7 126. Bxh6 Bf6 Argentinian GM Alan Pichot is perhaps his
Stockfish 14_202107131735 127. Qg8+ Ke7 128. Be3 Be6 129. Bxc5+ most interesting of the event, showing his
LCZero 0. 28–dev+_69626 Kd7 130. Qb8 Be7 131. Qb5+ Kc7 132. Bb6+ cool counter-attacking style.
TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 (46), tcec- Kd6 133. Bc5+ Kc7 134. Qxa5+ Kd7 135.
chess.com, 07.28.2021 Qb5+ Kc7 136. Bb6+ Kd6 137. Ba7 Bd8 138. CARO-KANN DEFENSE, AD-
Bc5+ Kc7 139. Qb6+ Kd7 140. Qd6+ Kc8 VANCE VARIATION (B12)
After a long struggle, resulting in a locked 141. Qxe6+ Rd7 142. h6 Bf6 143. h7 Bg7 GM Alan Pichot (2630)
position, Stockfish finds a sophisticated way 144. Bb6 Kb7 145. Qxd7+ Kxb6 146. Qxg7 GM Gata Kamsky (2658)
to break through. Kc5 147. Qxe5+ Kb6 148. h8=Q Kb7 149. 54th Biel GM Classical (5), Biel,
Qb5+ Kc7 150. Qhb8, mate. 08.02.2021

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 Qb6 5. g4
Unique Format Suits Bd7 6. h5 c5 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8. c3 Nh6 9. Be2
Nc6 10. Be3 Qa5 11. f4 f6 12. b4 Qc7 13.
Kamsky in Biel
PHOTOS: COURTESY BIEL CHESS FESTIVAL

b5 Nd8 14. Qxd5 Nxg4 15. Bd4 Nh6 16.


GM Gata Kamsky showed his stamina at Qc4 Qa5 17. Nd2 Rc8 18. Qd5 e6 19. Qb3
the Biel International Chess Festival (July Nf5 20. h6 g6 21. exf6 Nxd4 22. cxd4 Bb4
24-August 4), playing seven classical games, 23. Rd1 0–0 24. Ngf3 Rc3 25. Qb1 Bxb5 26.
seven rapid games, 14 blitz games, and Qe4 Bc6 27. Qe5 Rxf3, White resigned.
seven Chess 960 games (used for tiebreak
purposes) to top a field of eight and win the For up-to-date chess news and
WHITE TO MOVE “Grandmaster Triathlon.” analysis, check out Chess Life
Kamsky finished first in classical play, Online at uschess.org/clo on a
95. h4 gxh4 96. Rbc1 Bb7 97. Rh3 Bc6 98. where wins counted for four points and regular basis.
f6+ Nxf6 99. Nxf6 Bxf6 100. gxh4 Be7 101. draws for one and half, and first in rapid

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 11


PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

GM Abhimanyu Mishra,
Cherry Hill, NJ,
August 6, 2021

12 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


GM Abhimanyu Mishra INTERVIEW

“All My
Work…Had
Finally
Paid Off”
AN INTERVIEW WITH
ABHIMANYU AND HEMANT MISHRA

CHESS LIFE: Let’s talk about Abhi’s most small advantages, so it was a very interesting you going to be doing things for them in
recent event, the Chessable Masters Rap- game of course. It had a lot of ups and downs the future?
id. It was your first super-GM event, and because we were both very low on time, but ABHIMANYU: Most likely, yes. I may make
it was a very difficult field, but you had finally at the end I managed to win. some new courses. I started doing [work on]
a nice win at the end over your coach, Chessable about nine months back, and, as
Pentala Harikrishna. Not to jump ahead Do you feel like the rapid format suits soon as I saw the quality of the courses, I
of ourselves, but I was curious: you’ve you, or do you feel like you’re a better decided to keep going and it was an amaz-
been working with Harikrishna now for classical [time-control] player? ing process.
some months on positions where you ABHIMANYU: Rapid is a definitely a new
had a small advantage, but you had to challenge for me, since for the last few How many XP points do you have on
convert and it wasn’t easy. And then months I’ve been playing and training [for] Chessable? [XP points are earned for
that’s what you had to do against your classical [controls]. I have to get better at it, studying moves, etc. ~ed.] I saw it was an
PHOTO: IREDIA EKHATO

coach. So can you talk a little bit about but it seems like a very good time control. insane number, right?
what that felt like, to be living out a real ABHIMANYU: It’s like 61 million currently.
life training session in a big tournament? You did a course for Chessable based on
Abhimanyu: Yes, it was amazing! This has some of the games that were important Is there anyone who has more than you?
been my problem [for some time] and he as you got your third norm. How did you ABHIMANYU: Yes, definitely. People have
has helped me with that, how to convert the get hooked up with Chessable, and are like 400 million [points]!

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 13


I think I’ve got like 40,000, so I feel very, and tight game, but somewhere towards the Abhi compares notes with GM Baadur Jobava
very silly right now. What was it like to end, I messed up and I lost. And the second after their game at the 2021 World Cup in
actually record the course? Did you do game, it was just a draw. Overall it was an Sochi, Russia.
that at home or in a hotel room? What great experience.
was the process like? tice that much. I used this time to practice
ABHIMANYU: Some of the recordings were What’s next? Do you have more tourna- and do a lot of calculation [training], and I
done from Hungary, and some of them ments lined up, or do you plan on taking worked more on all aspects of chess.
after coming back home. I learned a lot of a break? I know that your father said that Your chess rating, it [reflects] everything
other chess related stuff, like how to use there was maybe going to be time to do that you learned, but the results don’t always
OBS [Open Broadcaster Software, a popular some martial arts or to do soccer. come immediately. There’s always some
tool for streamers ~ed.] and it was a really ABHIMANYU: I guess my next tournament consolidation process, and that happened
fun process, talking about and analyzing is the U.S. Masters [in November]. So yeah, for both my IM and GM titles. At first [after
my own games. there’s definitely some time. starting to play again] it was very difficult,
but then I fully consolidated after three
Do you think you’re going to start Okay. Let’s go back a bit, and let’s pick months, and I got three norms and a hun-
streaming on Twitch or on YouTube? up where our Chess Life cover story dred rating points.
ABHIMANYU: Maybe. I’m not really sure stopped back in October 2020. At that
about that. point, everything was kind of at a stand- How do you deal with the waiting? How
still. All the plans you had had to try to do you deal with the part where you
Right before the Chessable Masters, you make your three grandmaster norms, know you’ve been working, but you
also had gotten a wild card to the World they had to be put on the shelf because don’t see the results yet?
Cup. Talk a little bit about what it was of the COVID-19 pandemic. What were ABHIMANYU: Of course, it’s very frustrating
like to go to Sochi and to be there for you doing to train, and how did you at first, you’ve been putting in everything,
this huge event. What was it like to play keep yourself motivated while having you know that you’re at the [GM] level, but
against [GM Baadur] Jobava? to wait? the results aren’t coming. I remembered
PHOTO: ERIC ROSEN

ABHIMANYU: It felt amazing just to go and ABHIMANYU: I took the pandemic as a new that this has happened to me before, so I
be able to watch the top players games opportunity like that we would get extra time always keep thinking that this is only a mat-
in-person, while they were playing them. [to prepare]. Before the pandemic, there ter of time before I reach the next level. So
The match [against Jobava] was also very were a lot of tournaments, but of course I keep on doing the same things and finally
interesting. The first game was a very long there’s a downside. You’re not able to prac- I break through.

14 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


GM Abhimanyu Mishra INTERVIEW

What was the first over-the-board tour- in the schedule because you had to go I remember watching the game live, and
nament after lockdown? do the World Cup. Talk about that day: everyone was just astounded that (a) you
ABHIMANYU: There were a few [norm] events what was the psychology of it? How did saw it and (b) that it worked!
still going on at the Charlotte Chess Center, you feel, and how did you deal with all ABHIMANYU: I would like to add that I had
so I played there. that pressure? an amazing start [in the final tournament],
ABHIMANYU: I just decided to go all out be- five points in six games, and in round seven
And after that, you decided to make this cause a draw or a loss was the same thing. I overpressed and lost again. Then I had to
long trip to Hungary, to play in norm [He had to win against GM Luke Leon Men- win two out of two, and unfortunately both
events. This is a very serious thing, both donca to get his third and final norm. See of them were with [the] black [pieces]. Both
for you guys traveling in the midst of a IM John Watson’s analysis of this key game games were very equal for a long time, but
pandemic, but it’s also a very serious in our August 2021 issue. ~ed.] I decided to fortunately everything worked out.
thing for your family because you left surprise him in the opening, and he spent
your mom and sister at home for three a lot of time in the opening. It was a mostly What did it feel like the next day when
months. How did you decide to do this? equal game, but he was down to seconds. I you woke up and you knew that all the
What was the thought process? think I even overpressed and I was losing work was done, that the quest was com-
ABHIMANYU: We knew that there were only at some point, but I mean that’s what I had pleted, how did you feel? Did you have a
six months left and we needed to play as to do if I wanted to try to win. In the last moment of thinking, well, what do I do
many tournaments as possible, and at the few seconds he missed this tactic and he now?
same time, we were ready to take all the crumbled. (see diagram below) ABHIMANYU: I was very, very happy that
necessary precautions. Because most events all my work over the last seven or eight
were in Europe, we decided to go there. years had finally paid off. Nothing could
match this.
How many tournaments did you end up
playing in Hungary? Let’s talk a little bit about coaching,
ABHIMANYU: Eight. because you’ve had some outstand-
ing coaches. Your first coach was WFM
You were playing day after day after day. Anuprita Patel, and she had a very big in-
For most American players, that’s very fluence on you, Abhi. What did she teach
hard to think about. I mean, we’re used you and why was it so important?
to weekend swisses where you play your ABHIMANYU: Yes. She taught me what kind
five games and then you’re done. You of openings to play… openings and mid-
played 70 or 80 games. How did you stay BLACK TO MOVE dlegames, she taught me everything, from
motivated? the start.
ABHIMANYU: Yes. That was also a reason When you found that shot, 48. … Nf3+,
that in the last few tournaments my norms did you see the whole trap or was this Pretty quickly you needed to get some
weren’t coming. In the first three tourna- just “I’m desperate, I need to win, I can higher-level coaching. And that’s where
ments I got two norms and my rating was maybe trick him here?” GM Magesh [Panchanathan] and GM
going up, but the thing was, towards the end ABHIMANYU: It was a bit of both things. I saw Arunprasad [Subramanian] come in. Do
[of the tournament] I would get tired and I most of the variations, but at the same time they divide their labor, so to speak, or do
would mess up my norm. It was definitely I wasn’t fully sure. I did realize that there’s they each have specific things that they
difficult to keep on playing every day, but I still a saving line. work on with you?
felt I was very, very, very close so there was
no reason to stop.

What was it like having to play the same


people, sometimes multiple times within
the span of a month?
ABHIMANYU: It has good sides and bad
sides. Sometimes what happens when you
keep playing a person over and over again
is that they’ll come better prepared. Against
one of these Indian players, they came out
with a forced draw out of the opening, and
that’s normal. This happens. A good side is
that after a few games, you know what they
PHOTO: IREDIA EKHATO

play, and you can completely surprise them.

Abhi and his mom,


When you were going into that final
Swati, at the US
game, you had just accepted the wild Chess Awards
card to the World Cup. So you knew this Ceremony at the
was it. There was going to be a break 2021 U.S. Open.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021


INTERVIEW GM Abhimanyu Mishra

“Glad I shaved.”
John Hartmann
interviews the
Mishras on August 4,
2021 via Zoom.

ABHIMANYU: Sure. Coach Magesh, he’s been or five hours, playing through every move, you. So that all is fine. For me, failure means
my training partner for some time. He’s checking what he was thinking versus what [that] whatever we are capable of, we are
taught me how to convert my advantages. Ganguly was thinking. That helps to build a not able to do that on the chess board. And
We’ve played a lot of training games after thought process. there are multiple reasons for that.
becoming an IM. He focuses mainly on There are many reasons, psychologi-
endgames. So I feel that’s what’s making Are there any books that were really cal reasons. Most of the time it is a lack
me stronger in these all quiet endgames. important to you as you were develop- of understanding. There have been cases
I’ve learned it from him. ing, Abhi? ... I mean, both the players are down to
Coach Arun [has] been working with me ABHIMANYU: Yes, definitely. Dvoretsky’s 10 seconds and then you start blundering.
on openings and middlegames. His opening Endgame Manual was definitely a very im- That is not just sheer luck. I do believe that
understanding is amazing, of course. portant book. [It covers] all the aspects of there is some mental weakness, some un-
endgames: pawn endings to rook endings derstanding problems that are there. That’s
How do you use engines? What are you to queen endings. After I became an IM, I why you are making a mistake. And at the
using? And how much do you think started studying that. It was amazing. end of the game, whoever makes more
they’ve helped your chess? mistakes ends up losing the game. That’s
ABHIMANYU: [With] engines, there’s a good Did you study it on Chessable? Not to the common thing.
side and a downside to it. I mean, the good give them a plug, but I’m curious. I always believe that it’s about fine-tun-
side is that you give any position, it’ll tell you ABHIMANYU: Yeah, I did the course on Chess- ing your thought process, doing the right
whatever you haven’t been able to [under- able. It was very useful to do it that way. things, giving enough attention to the right
stand] for days. But the downside is that it factors. I always tell [Abhi] that losing a
doesn’t exactly explain what its thinking is. I I’m curious about your visualization. is it game is not a problem. That’s fine. The most
definitely use engines for opening prepara- a challenge for you, after having looked important thing is that you played a four-
tion because there it’s more concrete most at a screen for so long, to play a three-di- hour game. You did everything what you
of the time. But I try not to use them as mensional game? Or is your visualization could, and you ended up losing. That kind
much as they don’t explain their thinking. the same at this point? of a game will give you a lot to learn. And
Definitely they’re [showing] the best moves, ABHIMANYU: It’s basically same. I mean, I then you will become a better player. That
but it’s not exactly really clear to me why the don’t feel that many differences. is why we always put the focus on playing
move is [so strong]. So I try to check in with stronger opponents.
the coach on that. Hemant, I was really interested when I
was watching your ChessBase India inter- To an outsider, this might seem like a lot
HEMANT: There was a game where [Abhi] view with the way that you talked about of pressure. It might seem like a lot to
was playing a double bishop ending, a dead failure. And that word must’ve occurred put on a child. Is all of that pressure good
equal game. The engine is saying zero, but at least a dozen times in the interview. for someone who is just growing up? I
the opponent was strong, they kept playing And it’s interesting because to an outsid- mean, did you have any concerns that
and [Abhi lost] the game. And the idea was er, to someone looking at Abhi’s career, might be too much?
not that he missed the move. The bigger they might think, “Well, there were no HEMANT: There is no proven way to know
point was that he ran out of ideas of how failures there. I mean, he’s the youngest [ahead of time] whether it is good or bad.
to press an equal game. Grandmaster in the world. How could My only point was that he should be happy.
So we went through [double bishop end- there be failures?” I’m curious about how So when he said to me, “I want to become
ings] from Megabase. We found one very you think about failures, and how you the youngest IM in the world,” this is how
talked about some of the analysis of the
PHOTO: JOHN HARTMANN

good game with GMs Ganguly and Wang it started. It was my job to plan that well in
Hao. [This is Ganguly - Wang Hao, Bang- errors and their root causes. How did you advance. I mean, it’s not like he tells me
kok Open, 2015. ~ed.] It was a similar kind use those to try to improve? this and I say, “Okay, keep doing things the
of position, and we put everything on the HEMANT: You might lose a game. And that way you want and you will [get] there.” It is
board. I was using the computer on the is very possible because the opponent has not going to happen. Even now, he’s telling
other side, and then [Abhi] was playing from better understanding about the game, or on me that he wants to become a Super-GM. I
Ganguly’s side. And we literally spent four a given day, he’s playing much better than can’t tell him that you just work one or two

16 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


hours [a day] and then you will be there. It [a better position to a win], but things did HEMANT:Yes.
is not going to happen for sure. not work out that way. That is fine. There
And so pressure is of course there. Peo- is always some randomness about all this. With you guys having to be away, not just
ple see his anxious face when he’s playing So this happens. in Hungary, but having to be away for
the game, that intensity on the board. But Pressure is there, but I mean, we can’t [American] tournaments, having to work
once he gets something, he’s very happy. I play in a GM invitational event or any strong remotely while you’re in Hungary, you’re
mean, after winning that rapid game against open event, we can’t just go casually and barely sleeping. How did you navigate all
Harikrishna, he was jumping [for joy] for play there. People are coming with 25-move these difficulties? And how did you cele-
ten minutes. Nobody saw that. preparation. If we don’t go well-prepared, brate the achievement as a family?
[Abhi] has to decide what he wants in his sitting there on board for five hours and HEMANT: It was difficult for sure. I mean,
life. It’s my job to tell him that what it takes then facing the torture will be more pain- emotionally, all the family pictures, whatev-
to be there, based on whatever limited un- ful. And I mean, as far as mental health is er we have, we [Abhi and Hemant] are both
derstanding I have. And that is why anytime concerned, that is even more painful. missing because most of the time we were
I get an opportunity to interact with people And now again, it’s a different ballgame. travelling ... [and] not just in those three
who can help, I take it. Without his push and his passion, there is months where we were in Hungary. The
He played over 1,000 US Chess rated definitely no way he can [get to 2700]. It’s last three or four years, every weekend we
games. With all his losses and draws, I al- not about the number of hours. It will be were playing some tournaments somewhere.
ways asked his stronger opponents to help his passion and his drive to go up. And I He wasn’t home for birthdays. There were
him. And they always provided some feed- mean, I do see that [the drive is there], even cases where he came back from Virginia or
back. We kept collecting that feedback and after getting the title. He kept telling me all [Washington] D.C., 11:00 at night. And we
kept working on that. So pressure is there. In along that he will get three weeks off [after used to cut the cake at home, just the four
fact, many people after [the Chessbase India] the third norm], that he won’t do any chess. of us. That was a part of life.
interview mentioned that, because IM Sagar And after five minutes [the final game,] he When things are not moving for extended
Shah asked for my honest opinion about the started playing another game of chess. period of time, these questions always come.
whole process, about how it happened. And She kept asking that question. I myself asked
I didn’t want to be politically correct and I wanted to ask about how this whole this question multiple times. We always used
say yes, he’s a prodigy, everything worked process affected your family. This was a to discuss that with him. And the answer
well. No, there were a lot of failures. And tremendous financial investment for you. was that as long as we know that we are on
failures include situations when, based on But I suspect it was an even bigger emo- the right path, these intermediate results
his understanding, he should have converted tional investment. In the ChessBase India should not bother us much.
interview, you talked about how Abhi’s
Abhi speaks to IM Sagar Shah on the Chess- mom sometimes questioned whether or You also mentioned in that interview
Base India YouTube channel about the key not it was all worth it. And I think she was that your daughter, Abhi’s sister, is
win over GM Luke Leon Mendonca. talking more about the emotional cost. playing now.
PHOTO: YOUTUBE

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 17


anybody, because you don’t know what the
other person is planning. They talk to all
other parties. They never [tell them] about
what they are doing.

Last question. I wanted to ask you about


Abhi’s Twitter profile and the beef that
you got into with GM Ian Nepomniacht-
chi after Nepomniachtchi made some
comments questioning the legitimacy
of Abhi’s achievement. I know Hemant
wrote the tweet after consulting with
you, Abhi, but what happened there?
HEMANT: It’s not the first time that some-
That famous body is talking bad about [the process of
Abhimanyu becoming a GM]. For 19 years the rules have
Mishra stare! been same, and nobody talks about that.
Now, at the moment somebody is getting
[the youngest GM record], you are pointing
HEMANT: Yes. any opinion about what Karjakin did 19 years out all the weird rules, whatever you can
back. Frankly, I don’t have the time. He’s a come up with.
Is she taking it as seriously, or showing world-class player. I really don’t know what And if you [Nepomniachtchi] had to sug-
as much passion, as Abhi did? And are happened 19 years ago, and I don’t want to gest something, being the World Champi-
you going to work with her in the same get into that. onship challenger, there are better ways to
way if she seems to want that? But in that article, they misquoted me. talk to FIDE. You can send an e-mail, you
HEMANT: She’s much more passionate than And I’ll tell you how it started. It was a pre- can [send them your] points. Just because
Abhi, I would say. But there is a big differ- planned article, and they wanted to create somebody broke a record, that doesn’t mean
ence because I got a chance to work with breaking news. There was a Russian reporter that you change... everything.
Abhi… that was my full-time job. Apart [Ivan Nechepurenko ~ed.]. After we reached The other important thing is, even now,
from my office work, I work with him 20 to Hungary and [Abhi] got his first norm, for people talk about that. When his games are
30 hours a week, even now, in some form or a span of two and half months, that guy going on, people keep commenting about
another. I’m haven’t been able to work with kept sending me messages on WhatsApp. [the Twitter beef] in the Chess24 chat, peo-
her that much, but now that he became a He told me that there would be an article ple talk trash all the time. Social media is a
GM, I will work more with her. about my son in the New York Times, and I weird place where 80 to 90% of the people
She’s very much affected with the losses. kept providing all the information, whatever are good, they understand what they’re
She’s very passionate, and Abhi did not have was needed. And he kept telling me that this talking about, but you can’t avoid those
that problem. He used to come out happily article is going to be out in another three five to ten percent of people who, without
after a loss, and then he could focus on the days, another five days. That happened for knowing the whole context, just talk.
next game. Because of COVID-19, she did two and a half months. That’s fine. It’s their opinion they are ex-
not play over-the-board tournaments much, It’s not as if some random person came pressing. But unfortunately, there is only
but she’s 1600 or 1700 on Lichess. She’s eight and broke the record. [Abhi] has proven one World Championship challenger. When
now. If she has interest, then I can definitely credentials: all the national records in U.S. somebody [like that] is directly targeting my
see myself [doing this] for another three or chess history, all the international records. 12-year-old… [I told Abhi] what he said, and
four years, the same kind of a cycle again, Youngest expert, youngest master. Youngest that we should respond. And [Abhi] said,
from the beginning. international master, [and] now young- “Yeah, let’s do that,” so we responded back
est grandmaster in the world. And then and we tried to be as polite as possible. I
Wow. Okay. Well, we will keep an eye out you are just talking about some silly facts, know that sarcasm was there, because we
for her. [complaining] that there is a 16-move draw. had to respond to that. But we did not reply
I wanted to ask you guys about the Draws are allowed! [Because of COVID and back to any of the messages… I won’t allow
New York Times article [“The Dark Side of chasing the title] we could never afford to bullying of my 12-year-old.
Chess: Payoffs, Points, and 12-Year-Old miss a tournament because we were chasing Just because he’s a World Championship
Grandmasters,” July 13, 2021] that came a target. That is why he played 70 games in challenger, he can’t talk trash. I mean, that’s
out, talking about Karjakin’s path and 77 days. He missed some norms because he what it is. And from our side, the chapter
also yours. What was your impression of was tired in the last few rounds. is closed.
that piece? Did you think it was a little [The article talks about him playing] so There is no point doing all that [back and
harsh? many games. What [is the point]? That a forth]. It unnecessarily takes a lot of energy.
PHOTO: ERIC ROSEN

HEMANT: It was not a little harsh. It was person cannot play 70 games in 77 days? And at the end of the day, there is no winner
very harsh. If it is not allowed, [get rid of the rule] and or loser — just because your tweet is liked by
I sent a letter to [the New York Times]. I then take away [the possibility]. 5,000 people, that doesn’t make any point at
told them that this is a completely opin- They planned that article really well. I all. We wanted to respond, we responded,
ion-based article. ... First of all, I don’t have learned my lesson to not just talk freely to and we are out.

18 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


The Next Step: 22. Rd2 Nc4 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24. Ne2
Opening the d-file and trying to exchange
bishops. Here 24. f3, intending e3–e4, was

Playing the 2700s equally possible. Black might have a tiny


edge.

24. ... Be7!


Here are two games from the Chessable Bd4 Bb7 with ideas like ... Nd5–b4. The white Keeping the bishops on the board.
Masters Rapid, annotated by GM pieces are oddly placed.
Abhimanyu Mishra exclusively for Chess 25. Rfd1 Rcc8!
Life. ~ed. 17. ... Bxf6 18. Nd4 Bb7 19. Bc3 Rac8 20. Preparing to contest the d-file.
Rad1?!
Probably a bit inaccurate as now the rook 26. Nf4
QUEEN’S GAMBIT, SEMI-SLAV on f1 does not have a good square. Better The alternative 26. Rd7 Red8 would not
(D43) was 20. Rfd1!. change anything.
GM Abhimanyu Mishra (2519)
GM Vladislav Artemiev (2704) 20. ... Ne5 26. ... Red8
Chessable Masters Rapid (12.1), Probably best was 26. ... a5!? with the idea
08.02.2021 to change diagonal with ... Bb7–a6–c4. Here
Black stands slightly better.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qb3 e6!?
One of the main lines against 4. Qb3. Here 27. Rxd8+ Rxd8 28. Rxd8+ Bxd8 29. f3!
4. ... dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bf5 or 5. ... Bg4 are also Played with the idea of e3–e4 next to block
heavily discussed moves. the b7–bishop.

5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. Nc3 Qa5!? 29. ... Bc7 30. Nd3 f6 31. e4 Kf7 32. h3
A very interesting move, pinning the c3– e5?!
knight and preparing ... Nf6–e4. The main An inaccuracy? 32. ... f5! Is still around
line here is 6. ... Be7. equal, but is better than what he played.
Black wants to open as many diagonals as
7. Bd2 Qb6 8. Qc2!? 21. Bb3! possible since he has the two bishops.
I felt that since Black wasted a tempo with Planning to take on c4 whenever ... Ne5–c4
... Qa5–Qb6, misplacing it, I should preserve occurs, as b2–b3 would be impossible due 33. Kf2 Ke6 34. Ke3 a5 35. a3 Bd6
the queens. The alternative 8. e3 Qxb3 9. to the hanging c3–bishop. White has no problems after 35. ... a4 36. g4
axb3 b6 seems fine for Black after 10. cxd5 as Black does not have a way in.
exd5. 21. ... Rfe8
The second point of 21. Bb3 was seen after 36. b4!
8. ... Be7 9. e3 0–0 10. Bd3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 21. ... Rfd8? 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Bxe6+ Kf8 24. Trying to exchange as many pawns as pos-
c5 12. 0–0 Qc7!? Bxc8 Rxc8 25. Bd4 with an edge for White. sible.
This move keeps the tension between the
c5– and d4–pawns, giving me an additional
option that I did not use.

13. Bb3?!
After this slightly imprecise move, it seems
as if Black is already fighting for an advan-
tage. Perhaps 13. d5 was a try but after 13.
... exd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Nf6 Black
seems to be fine with ... Bd7–c6 next.

13. ... a6!


Preparing ... c5–c4 and ... b7–b5. The im-
mediate 13. ... c4? fails to 14. Nb5!

14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Ne4!?


Relieving the tension on the c-file. I thought
PHOTO: ERIC ROSEN

15. Rac1 b5 16. Rfd1 Bb7 was better for Mood #1,
Black. post-game interview
at the World Cup,
15. ... Qxc2 16. Bxc2 b6 17. Nxf6+ Sochi, Russia
I did not like 17. Bc3 due to 17. ... Nd5 18.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 19


INTERVIEW GM Abhimanyu Mishra

36. ... axb4 57. f4!? 84. ... bxa4 85. Nc4+ Kc7 86. Nxe5 Bxe4
Here 36. ... a4 37. g4 leaves the position too Trading off the weak f3–pawn. 87. Ng4 h5 88. Nf6 Bf3 89. Kxa4 Kd6 90.
locked for Black to make serious progress. Nxh5 Bxh5 91. Ka3, draw.
57. ... Kc5 58. fxe5 fxe5 59. Kd3 Bc4+ 60.
37. Bxb4 Ba6 Ke3 Bf1 61. Nb1!
Artemiev might have played 37. ... Bc7 but Preventing … Kc5-c4. KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE
the future of the c7–bishop is not clear. In the (E61)
game he decided to let it get exchanged off. 61. ... Bh3 62. Kd3 Kd6 63. Nd2 Bg2 64. GM Abhimanyu Mishra (2519)
Ke3 GM Pentala Harikrishna (2730)
38. Bxd6 Kxd6 39. Nb4 Chessable Masters Rapid (14.1),
Setting up the blockade directly with 39. 08.02.2021
Nb2! was easier.
1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bf5 5.
39. ... Bf1 40. Kf2 Bc4 41. Ke3 Kc5 d5! Bg7 6. Nd4 Bd7 7. e4 0–0 8. Be2 c5!?
Also possible was 8. ... e6, trying to break
open the White center.

9. Nf3
Now 9. dxc6? e.p. bxc6 is quite comfortable
for Black. But 9. Nc2! was stronger, with the
point being that after 9. ... e6 10. dxe6! Bxe6
11. 0–0 Nc6 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 Black doesn’t
Artemiev tried a bit more, but White’s posi- have the ... g6–g5 and ... Nf6–h5 ideas, so
tion cannot be broken. he stands worse.

64. ... Bh3 65. Kd3 h6 66. Ke3 Bg4 67. Kd3 9. ... e6 10. 0–0
Kc6 68. Kc3 Bh3 69. Nf3 Kd6 70. Kb4 Bg2 I also considered 10. dxe6 Bxe6 11. 0–0 Nc6
42. Nd3+! 71. Nd2 Kc6 72. Kc3 Kc5 73. Kd3 Kb6 74. 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 Qb6 14. Rb1 g5 15. Bg3.
Black’s plan here is to penetrate with his Kc3 Ka5 75. Nb3+ Kb6
king via the a4– or c4–squares. Therefore I It’s also equal after 75. ... Ka4 76. Kb2 b4 10. ... exd5 11. exd5
felt bringing the knight to b2 was the eas- 77. Nc5+! Kb5 78. axb4 Kxb4 79. Nd7 Bxe4 This structure is better for White if Black
iest solution. 80. Nxe5. cannot trade off two minor pieces, as the
black position is cramped.
42. ... Kb5 76. Nd2 Bh1 77. Kb4 Kc6 78. Kc3 Kc5 79.
Exchanging the minor pieces with 42. ... Nb3+ Kd6 80. Nd2 Bg2 81. Kb4 Kc6 82. 11. ... a6?!
Bxd3 43. Kxd3 Kb5 44. Kc3 Ka4 45. Kb2 leads Kc3 Kb7 83. Kb4 Kb6 84. a4! Black should have traded the d7-bishop as
to a draw. The final simplification. quickly as possible. Even though Black is

43. Nb2! g5
Gaining more space and preventing the
direct h3–h4.

44. g3 Bb3 45. h4


From here, I think it is an easy draw. He kept
on trying to trick me, but never succeeded!

45. ... gxh4 46. gxh4 Ba2 47. Kd3 Bf7 48.
Ke3 Bb3 49. Kd3 Kc5 50. Ke3 Bc2 51. Kd2 PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

Bb3 52. Ke3 Bf7 53. Kd3 Bh5 54. Na4+!


54. Ke3 b5 55. a4 b4 56. Nd3+ Kc4 57. a5!
holds, even though it is very unnecessary.

54. ... Kc6


No better is 54. ... Kb5 55. Nc3+ Kc6 56. Nd5!
with equality.

55. Ke3 b5 56. Nc3 Bf7


Mood #2,
If 56. ... Kc5?! 57. Nd5 f5 58. Nf6 f4+ 59. Ke2
post-game interview
all of a sudden White is pressing for a win at the World Cup,
as 59. ... Bg6? loses to 60. h5 Bf7 61. h6 Bg6 Sochi, Russia
62. Nd7+! Kd6 63. Nf8!.

20 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


definitely still worse after 11. ... Bg4 12. h3 22. ... Qd7 23. f3 h5 24. gxh5! 47. d6!
Bxf3 13. Bxf3, at least he was able to trade I felt that only White could attack on the All of a sudden White has all the chances
one piece! kingside, so I was justified in opening it up. again.

12. Bf4?! 24. ... Bd4+ 25. Kg2 47. ... Rc3+ 48. Kxh4
Now 12. h3! would have been very strong. Best was 25. Kh2!. Already here I was getting
The black pieces struggle to develop com- low on time.
fortably.
25. ... gxh5 26. Ne4! Ng6 27. Bg3
12. ... Bg4! 13. Qd2 Stronger was 27. Kh2!, preparing Rf1–g1
White has more space and is better. next!

13. ... Re8 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Qc7 16. 27. ... Qg7 28. Qg5 Rf8 29. Kh1 Ne5 30.
Rae1 Qxg7+?
Even stronger was 16. g4! directly as 16. ... 30. Qxh5 was simply winning.
Nbd7 is met by 17. g5 and now the f6–knight
lacks good squares. 30. ... Kxg7 31. Nxd6 Nxf3 32. Re7+ Kg6
33. Re6+ Kg7 34. Kg2 h4 35. Re7+?!
16. ... Nbd7 17. g4 Nf8 18. b3!? Not 35. Rxf3? h3+! and Black is back in the 48. ... Rxc4
Simply defending the c4–pawn against any game. Here 35. Nxb7! was the best as 35. ... Black could have held with the miracle shot
... Nd7–e5 tricks. hxg3 can be met by 36. Rxf3. 48. ... Bf2+!! 49. Nxf2 (forced; if 49. Kh5?? Rh3
mate) 49. ... Rxc4+ 50. Kh3 Rd4 and after the
18. ... N6d7 19. g5? 35. ... Kg6 36. Be1? d-pawn falls, the two remaining pawns are
White is still much better but 19. Ne4! is Again 36. Nxb7! wins. equal to the knight. ~ed.
close to winning as 19. ... Be5? loses to 20.
Bxe5 Rxe5 21. Bg2. White prepares the f4– 36. ... Nxe1+ 37. Rexe1 b5? 49. Kh5!
f5 push and Black does not have an easy Better was 37. ... Rxf1! 38. Rxf1 b5 with a Not 49. d7?? Bf6+.
defense. holdable ending.
49. ... Rc1 50. Nh6+ Kf4 51. Rf8+ Ke4 52.
19. ... f5 20. gxf6! e.p. 38. Re6+ Kh5 39. Nf5? d7 Rh1+ 53. Kg4
This compromises the kingside pawn struc- When I played this, I completely missed The best route to the win was 53. Kg6! Rg1+
ture a bit, but I felt that it was more im- Black’s next move. The correct knight move 54. Ng4!! (not 54. Kf7? Rf1+ 55. Ke8 Rxf8+ 56.
portant to get the g4– and e4– squares for was 39. Nf7! when play continues 39. ... Kxf8 Bf6 with equality) 54. ... Rxg4+ 55. Kh5.
my pieces. Rg8+ 40. Kh2 Rg6 41. Ree1 Rg3 42. d6 with
a winning position for White. 53. ... Rg1+ 54. Kh3?
20. ... Nxf6 21. Bg4 A mistake — the king is too far from the rest
of the action.

54. ... Bf6! 55. Rxf6 Rd1 56. Rf7 c4?


The saving line was 56. ... Ke5! 57. Ng8 Ke6
58. Re7+ Kf5. White can’t queen the pawn!

57. Re7+! Kf3 58. Ng4 c3 59. Rf7+ Ke2 60.


Re7+
Repeating once to gain time on the clock.

60. ... Kf3 61. Ne5+ Kf4 62. Re8! c2 63.


d8=Q Rh1+!?
PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

39. ... Kg5! 40. Ne3 The last attempt to save the game. White
21. ... Nxg4 The point is that 40. Nxd4? fails to 40. ... wins after 63. ... Rxd8 64. Rxd8 c1=Q (64. ...
In this position we both missed 21. ... Qf7!. h3+! . Kxe5 65. Rc8) 65. Nd3+.
The idea is that after 22. Bxd6 Black has
22. ... Nxg4 23. hxg4 Qf6! 24. Bxf8 (slightly 40. ... bxc4 41. bxc4 Rxf1 42. Nxf1 Rf8 43. 64. Kg2 Rg1+ 65. Kf2 Rf1+ 66. Ke2 Re1+
inferior is 24. Ne4 Rxe4 25. Rxe4 Qxd6) 24. Nh2 Rf2+ 44. Kh3 Kf5 45. Re8 Rxa2?! 67. Kxe1 c1=Q+ 68. Qd1 Qe3+ 69. Qe2
... Rxe1! 25. Rxe1 Qxc3 26. Qxc3 Bxc3 27. Black should have gone for 45. ... Bf6! pre- Qc1+ 70. Kf2, Black resigned.
Rc1 Bb2 28. Rc2 Rxf8 29. Rxb2 Rf4 with a venting Nh2–g4, and with a better ending.
holdable rook ending. Overall, this was a very interesting and ex-
46. Ng4! Rc2?! citing game. We all know how tremendously
22. hxg4 Imprecise. I think 46. ... Ra1 would have strong Harikrishna is. He just got unlucky
Now the d6–pawn is in grave danger as made a draw: 47. d6? fails to 47. ... Rh1+! towards the end with only a few seconds
Nc3–e4 comes next. 48. Nh2 (48. Kg2 Rg1+) 48. ... Be5. on his clock.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 21


Alex King, in a
pre-pandemic,
pre-masking world.

CHESS — W I T H
Two dads square up at the 2021 World Open.
K I D S —
BY ALEX KING

T
PHOTO: COURTESY TYRIN PRICE

HE 49TH ANNUAL WORLD OPEN WAS HELD IN rious tournament since I became a father in June 2020.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 1-5, one of I was interested (and a little anxious) to see whether, as many
the first major U.S. tournaments to return over- claim, parenthood decreases one’s chess strength, or if in fact I
the-board after over a year of events were forced might be able to make further progress toward my goal of earn-
to cancel or move online due to the COVID-19 ing the FIDE Master title. I found a sympathetic roommate in
pandemic. More than 1,000 players participated, Todd Bryant, a fellow dad and national master, and side-by-side
including almost 200 players in the Open section, myself among we braved sharp openings, long endgames, and a field of mostly
them. This was an important milestone for me: it was my first se- younger opponents — often significantly so.

22 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


World Open EVENTS

NO COUNTRY 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0–0 5.


FOR OLD MEN? 0–0 d6 6. d4 Nc6 7. Nc3 Bf5 8. d5 Na5 9.
Todd, who works as a software developer Nd2 c5 10. e4 Bd7
for the website Chessable, compiled data Unsure about the right theoretical contin-
on the ages and ratings of the players in the uation here, I burned 45 minutes over the
Open section based on information listed next four moves and later ended up in pre-
on FIDE’s website. He found that almost mature time trouble. (The time control for
two-thirds of the players were younger than the tournament was 40 moves in 80 minutes
25. Compared to the 2003 World Open (the followed by sudden death in 30 minutes,
first edition Todd played in), the number of with a 30–second increment.)
players younger than 25 increased from 101
in 2003 to 123 in 2021. The number of play- 11. Qe2
ers 25 and older decreased much more sig- White’s normal setup is 11. Qc2 a6 12. b3 b5 White’s bishop pair and strong b-pawn are
nificantly — from 123 in 2003 to 70 in 2021. 13. Bb2, when Black’s queenside counterplay more than enough compensation for his
Whether or not this is representative of an is mostly absorbed. small material disadvantage. Simple and
overall trend of decreasing over-the-board strong was 22. b5!, but instead I proceeded
activity among adult players, I certainly 11. ... a6 12. Rb1 Rb8 13. a3 Ne8 14. f4 too cautiously and allowed Black to coordi-
started the tournament feeling a bit like an Bd4+ 15. Kh1 b5 16. cxb5 axb5! nate his pieces.
aging has-been, especially after a disastrous Black could win a pawn with 16. ... Bxc3
round one loss to a high-schooler: 17. bxc3 Bxb5 18. c4 Bxc4 19. Rxb8 Qxb8 22. Be3 Nf6 23. Bd3 Qc8 24. Qe2 Ra8 25.
20. Nxc4 Qb5 but would immediately lose Qb2 Ra7 26. Nd2 Qa8 27. Bc4 Rc8 28. Bb3
it back after 21. Rf3 Nxc4 22. Bf1 Ra6 29. Bc4 Ra3 30. Bb3
KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE In this unclear position I had less than a
(E62) 17. Nf3 b4 18. axb4 Bxc3? minute left to reach the time control on
Alexander B. King (2381) Again Black should decline to win material, move 40 — always a situation ripe for ca-
Aaryan Deshpande (2119) and instead be content with a positional tastrophe.
World Open (1), Philadelphia, advantage after 18. ... Rxb4
07.01.2021 30. ... cxb4 31. cxb4 Qa6 32. Bd4?
19. bxc3 Bb5 20. Qc2 Bxf1 21. Bxf1 Nb7 Necessary was 32. e5, although White’s po-
sition remains somewhat precarious.

Todd Bryant plays the 32. ... Qd3! 33. Bxf6 Rxb3!
Sicilian Dragon even Now everything collapses.
in photo shoots.
34. Qxb3 Qxd2 35. Rd1 Qe2 36. Bc3 Qf3+,
White resigned.
An energetic win by my young opponent,
who also knocked off another 2300 player
in the following round.

Todd also had an early scare against wun-


derkind and newly minted master Tani
Adewumi, but lived to tell the tale:

SICILIAN DEFENSE,
TAIMANOV VARIATION (B48)
Todd Bryant (2236)
Tanitoluwa Adewumi (2223)
World Open (2), Philadelphia,
07.02.2021

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6


PHOTO: COURTESY LISA BRYANT

5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 b5


Somewhat unusual. The main line is 7.
... Nf6.

8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. 0–0–0 e5 10. f4 Nf6 11. h3


Bb4 12. Qf2 0–0 13. Bd3 exf4 14. Bxf4 Qa5
15. Bd2 Be6!
Inviting the following sacrifice.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 23


Tani Adewumi is as
53. Rb4+ Kxe5
sharp a dresser as Black’s pawns remain restrained, and he
he is a chess player. has no real winning chances.

54. Kd3 b2 55. Kc2 b1=R 56. Kxb1 Bd5 57.


Kc1 Be4 58. Kd2, Draw agreed.

These were, of course, hard-fought games


and fair results, but the real problem was
how underrated many of these kids seemed
to be. Their FIDE ratings were particularly
inaccurate — a situation caused by relatively
infrequent FIDE-rated events in the U.S.,
especially in certain regions. This has less
significance for adults with stable strength
levels, but for rapidly improving kids, it can
result in egregious miscalibrations — Tani,
for example, had a FIDE rating almost 400
points below his US Chess rating, rather than
the normal 100-point gap. Todd calculated
that of the twenty Open section players with
the biggest gaps between their US Chess and
FIDE ratings, only one was over 25 years old.

STILL SHARP
My tournament started looking up after a
win in round five against a 14-year-old na-
tional master who is the highest-rated girl
her age and younger in the country:

QUEEN’S GAMBIT,
16. a3 Bxa3! 17. Nd5 b4! 18. Nxf6+ Kh8! 24. ... Qa4 CATALAN OPENING (E04)
Black threatens mate with 19. ... Bxb2+ 20. Black should throw more fuel on the fire Alexander B. King (2279)
Kxb2 Qa3+. with 24. ... Rc3! Ruiyang Yan (2111)
World Open (5), Philadelphia,
19. Qd4 Rfd8 20. Nd5 cxd5 21. e5 Rdc8 25. Re4 Rd8 26. Rh4 Rab8 27. Bxh7 b3 28. 07.03.2021
Better was the immediate 21. ... Bxb2+! 22. c3?

PHOTOS: COURTESY ADEWUMI FAMILY (THIS PAGE), COURTESY SLCC / C. FULLER (FACING)
Qxb2 in order to defend the b-pawn with Forgetting that White’s bishop will end up 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3!?
22. ... Rab8!. hanging on d2 after what follows. White can A change from my normal 3. Nc3, which
simply ignore Black’s threat with 28. Bg5! I had played against Ruiyang in an online
22. Kb1 Bxb2 23. Qxb2 since 28. ... bxc2+ is met with the count- team match last year.
er-check 29. Bxc2+!.
3. ... d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. 0–0 Nc6
28. ... dxc3! 29. Rxa4 cxb2 30. Bg5 Kxh7 I myself play this setup against the Catalan as
31. Bxd8 Rxd8 Black, but had never before faced as White.
White is now up an Exchange, but Black has
plenty of pawns and activity for it, and in 7. e3 Rb8 8. Nfd2
fact White has to proceed carefully. I booked up on this line before the game —
the first round that I had time to prepare
32. g4 Rd2 33. Re1 g6 34. Rae4 Kh6 35. for, thanks to the (in my view oppressively)
R4e2 Rxe2 36. Rxe2 Kg5 37. Kxb2 Kf4 38. long time control. It worked like a charm
Re1 Bd5 39. Ra1 Kg3 40. Rxa6 Kxh3 41. — Ruiyang followed my preparation all the
Ra4 Kh4 42. Kc3 Be6 43. Rb4 g5 44. Kd2 way to move 17!
Kh3 45. Ke1 Kg3 46. Kf1?!
Black is down a piece for two pawns, but it is Playing chicken with Black’s king activity, 8. ... e5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. dxe5 Ng4 11.
not yet clear how much his attack is worth. but fortunately White’s king can return Nxc4 Be6 12. Nbd2 Bb4 13. Qc2 h5 14. b3
just in time. h4 15. Nf3 hxg3 16. fxg3 Qd7 17. h4
23. ... d4 24. Rde1 White is up a pawn, but Black has the bish-
24. Bxb4! was safe: 24. ... Qa4 25. Bd6! cov- 46. ... Kf3 47. Ke1 Ke3 48. Kd1 Kd3 49. Kc1 op pair, and both sides have several pawn
ering the b8–square. Kc3 50. Rb7 Bd5 51. Rb8 Kd4 52. Kd2 Be6 weaknesses and potentially unsafe kings.

24 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


World Open EVENTS

17. ... Bc5 18. Kg2 Rd8 Activating my potential passed pawn on 50. ... c6 51. Ke3! Kh7
Black cannot recoup the pawn with 18. ... the kingside. 51. ... Kf7 again allows a runaway pawn
Bxc4 19. Qxc4 Bxe3 due to 20. e6! Qxe6 21. after 52. h7!
Re1 winning a piece. 31. ... Rf8 32. Rh1 Rh8 33. g4 Rf8 34. Rf1
Bc3 35. Be3 Rxf1 36. Kxf1 Nd4? 52. Kf4 Bb4 53. Nd4 c5 54. Nc2 c4!?
19. Ng5 Qd5+? Tempting me with a big decision right be- A last-ditch bid for counterplay, but now
This leads to an endgame where Black is fore the time control, but I judge correctly. White’s pawns stampede up the board.
down a pawn for nothing; a better try was
19. ... Be7!?. 37. Bxd4! cxd4 55. bxc4 Be7 56. e6 a4 57. Ke5! Bxg5 58.
With almost no control of the light squares, c5 Bd8 59. c6, Black resigned.
20. e4 Qd3 21. Qxd3 Rxd3 22. Nxe6 fxe6 Black will be stuck waiting passively while A tense but triumphant game.
White slowly improves his position.
Not to be outdone, Todd’s round seven game
38. Ke2 a5 39. Kd3 Kf8 40. Ke2 Kg8 41. g5 featured even deeper theoretical preparation
Kh7 42. Kd3 g6 43. h6! in his pet Dragon:
Again the right judgment — White is not
worried about ending up losing these pawns,
since Black’s bishop is tied down to the de- SICILIAN DEFENSE,
fense of the queenside. DRAGON VARIATION (B78)
Richard Wagner (2089)
43. ... Kh8 44. Nd2 Todd Bryant (2236)
Here I had an attack of indecision and ended World Open (7), Philadelphia,
up once again draining my clock down to 07.04.2021
the dregs, forcing me to subsist for the
Now all of Black’s pawns are isolated, and if rest of the game solely on the 30–second 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
White can develop and secure his king then increment. 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 0–0 8. Qd2 Nc6
he will have excellent winning chances. 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. 0–0–0 Rc8 11. Bb3 Nxd4 12.
44. ... Bb2 45. Nc4 Bc3 46. Nd6! Bxd4 b5
23. Bf4 Rf8 24. Rfd1 Nf2 25. Rxd3 Nxd3 Finally going for it. 46. ... cxd6? is out of the The “Topalov Variation,” an alternative to
26. Kf3 Nb4 27. Ke2 Bd4 28. Rd1 c5 29. a3 question for Black, since after 47. exd6 the the historical main line 11. ... Ne5.
Nc6 30. Rc1 pawn would be unstoppable.
I had started off the game managing my 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. exd5 a5
time better than in round one, but by now 46. ... Bb2 47. Nf7+ Kg8 48. Nd8 Bxa3 49. 16. a3 Kg8 17. h4 b4 18. axb4 axb4 19. h5
was in similar time pressure, with only four Nxe6 Be7 50. Kxd4 Bf5 20. hxg6 Bxg6 21. Qxb4 Rb8!?
minutes left to reach the time control. White has won a second pawn, and Black A novelty examined by GM Parimarjan Negi
now must struggle to hold back multiple in his 2015 1. e4 repertoire book series.
30. ... Rf7 31. h5! passed pawns.
22. Qc3
The only other game to reach this position,
Ruiyang Yan at Banzea-Ileana (Sovata 2018), continued
the 2021 U.S. 22. Qd4? after which 22. ... e5! would have
Girls’ Junior been strong, the idea being 23. dxe6? e.p.
Championship.
Rxb3! 24. cxb3 Qg5+ 25. Rd2 Ra8! with a
winning attack.

22. ... Qb6 23. Rh4 Rfc8


PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

24. Bc4?
Leaving the c2-square vulnerable. Instead

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 25


EVENTS World Open

Negi’s book gives 24. Rc4 Rxc4 25. Bxc4 Ra8 against local favorite (and father of two) IM
26. Re1!? with an unclear position. Thomas Bartell:

24. ... Ra8?


The wrong move order. It was better to in- GIUOCO PIANO (C50)
clude 24. ... Qf2! 25. Rg4 Ra8 26. Kb1 and now GM John Burke (2625)
26. ... h5! with the idea of 27. Rgd4 Bxc2+! IM Thomas Bartell (2488)
28. Qxc2 Ra1+! winning material. World Open (6), Philadelphia,
07.04.2021
25. b3?
Further weakening White’s king. Here 25. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. 0–0 Nf6 5.
Rhd4! would prevent ... Qb6-f2. d3 d6 6. c3 h6 7. Re1 0–0 8. Nbd2 a5 9. Nf1
Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Ng3 c6 12. d4 Ba7?! 27. ... Qf2?
25. ... Ra2 26. Rg4 Qf2! 27. Kb1 Rca8?! Black could deconstruct White’s center with Now it is Black’s turn to overpress. Instead
Again the wrong move order. Stronger was 12. ... exd4 13. cxd4 Bb4 14. Bd2 Bxd2 15. he could force an immediate draw with 27.
27. ... Qa7! keeping White’s bishop pinned Qxd2 and now comes the prototypical “fork ... Nf3! 28. gxf3 (But not 28. Rf1? Bxd4!) 28.
in place, followed by ... Qa7-a3 and only trick” 15. ... Nxe4! 16. Nxe4 d5 with an equal ... Qxf3+ 29. Kh2 Qf2+ 30. Kh1 Qf3+ since 31.
then ... Rc8-a8. position. Kg1?? would run into 31. ... Bxh3 winning.

28. Bd3 Qa7 29. Kc1? 13. Bd3 Re8 14. Be3 Be6 15. Qd2 Kh7 16. 28. Rf1 Qe3 29. h4
Collapsing in a difficult position. 29. Ra4! b3 b5 17. Nh2 Kh8 18. f4?! Stronger was 29. Rf4! when Black has no
would avoid immediate disaster, although Too hasty. White should sit on his comfort- good answer to 30. Nf1 trapping Black’s
after 29. ... Rxa4 30. bxa4 Qxa4 White’s king able space advantage with 18. Rad1. queen.
is still dangerously exposed.
18. ... exf4 19. Bxf4 Nxf4 20. Qxf4 b4! 29. ... Nxe4 30. Nxe4 Bg4 31. Rae1 Rxe4
29. ... Ra1+ 30. Kd2 Qf2+ 31. Be2 Rxd1+ 32. Loosening up White’s dark squares. 32. Qxc6 Ree8 33. Ng1!
Kxd1 Ra1+ 33. Kd2 Qe1+, White resigned. A hidden tactical resource.
21. Nf3 bxc3 22. Kh1 a4 23. b4 a3 24. Qc1
WHIZ KIDS Nh7?! 33. ... Qxd3 34. Rxe8+ Rxe8 35. Qxe8+ Kh7
GM Hans Niemann, 18, and GM John Burke, Black should continue to pry open the dark 36. Qxf7 Bxd4 37. h5!
20, tied for first in the Open section with squares with 24. ... Qc8 25. Kh2 c5!. Another important resource, forcing simpli-
7½/9. Round six proved to be pivotal for fication into an ending where White’s extra
both of them; Burke won a messy struggle 25. Qxc3 Ng5 26. Ng1 Qf6 27. N1e2 Exchange will be decisive.

GM John Burke at the


2021 U.S. Junior
Championship.

PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / A. FULLER

SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


37. ... Bxh5 38. Qf5+ Qxf5 39. Rxf5 Be8 40. GM Hans Niemann at
Rd5 Be5 41. Nf3 Bf7 42. Ra5 Bc3 43. Ra7 the 2021 U.S. Junior
Be8 44. Rb7 Kg6 45. b5 Bf7 46. Ra7 Bb4 Championship.
47. b6 Bc5 48. Ra6 Bd5 49. Ne5+! Kf5
After 49. ... dxe5 50. b7+ comes with check.

50. Nd3 Be3 51. Ra5 Ke4 52. Rxd5! Kxd5


53. Nb4+! Ke6 54. b7 Ba7 55. Nc6 Kd7 56.
Nxa7 Kc7 57. Nb5+, Black resigned.

Meanwhile, Niemann scored an upset


against the pre-tournament favorite, 20-year-
old GM Jeffery Xiong:

QUEEN’S GAMBIT,
CATALAN OPENING (E01)
GM Jeffery Xiong (2786)
GM Hans Niemann (2669)
World Open (6), Philadelphia, 46. Rb6 Kf6 47. Be3 h4 Niemann for beating Burke in an Armaged-
07.04.2021 don tiebreak game.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. THE NEXT


Bd2 Be7 6. Nf3 0–0 7. 0–0 c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 GENERATION
9. Rd1 b6 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Ne5 Nh5 12. Bd2 I finished the tournament with 5½/9 and
Nhf6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nc6 Bxc6 15. Qxc6 Todd with 4½/9, both essentially breaking
a6 16. Qc2 Qc8 17. Qd3 b5 18. Rc1 Qb7 19. even in rating. Although we had a great time
Nc3 b4 20. Na4 Qb5?! playing, we were also looking forward to
A risky move that should turn out in White’s getting home to our families. Todd’s oldest
favor. kid Jack is a budding chess player and will
likely soon join the ranks of these under-
21. Nc5 Nxc5 22. dxc5?! rated junior sharks. My daughter Cecily is
Better was the immediate 22. Qxb5! axb5 still too young to learn the game, but enjoys
23. dxc5 b3 24. a3 Rfc8 25. Bb4, when Black’s 48. Rxb5? picking up chess pieces and setting them
queenside pawns are vulnerable. The decisive mistake, Instead, White could back down, just like daddy does.
simply wait with 48. Rc6!? h3+ 49. Kf1 Bxb2 Another dad at the tournament, Chris-
22. ... Rfb8 23. c6 Rc8 24. Rc2 Ng4? 25. 50. Rb6 when Black, despite his two extra topher Chabris, brought along his teenage
Qxb5? pawns, cannot untangle to make progress. son Caleb, who overperformed in the U2000
Both players missed or underestimated 25. section and gained almost 50 rating points.
Qd4!, avoiding a queen trade and winning 48. ... h3+ 49. Kf2 f4! Christopher, a research psychologist, him-
two tempi after 25. ... Nf6 26. Rac1. Activating the knight and creating a passed self underperformed in the Open section,
pawn. but quipped, “Playing in the same tourna-
25. ... axb5 26. e4 ment as your child is a good way to hedge
More solid was 26. b3, intending to consol- 50. gxf4 Nxf4 51. Rb7 Ne6 52. Kg1 Bd4 53. your mood swing exposure.”
idate slowly. Kf2 g3+! 54. hxg3 Rh8 55. Bc2 Bxe3+ 56. While the kids pocket their rating points
Kxe3 Ng5 57. Rb6+ Ke7, White resigned. and five-figure checks, Todd and I return
26. ... b3! 27. Rcc1 dxe4 28. axb3 Rxa1 29. to our workweeks, our families, and our
Rxa1 f5 Niemann and Burke took home about dreams — for ourselves and for the next
Both sides have pawn weaknesses, but it $12,000 each, with a little extra going to generation.
soon becomes clear that White will have a
harder time defending his.
2021 WORLD OPEN
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / A. FULLER

30. Rc1 Ne5 31. c7 Bd6 32. Ba5 Kf7 33. Bf1
Nf3+ 34. Kg2 Nd4 35. Bb6 e5 36. f4 exf3+
AT A G L A N C E
e.p. 37. Kf2 Ne6 38. Kxf3 Bxc7 J U LY 1 - 5 , 2 0 2 1 | P H I L A D E L P H I A , P A
Black has won a pawn but it is difficult to OPEN: 1st-2nd: GM Hans Niemann (Armageddon winner) and GM John Burke,
convert it into a win, due to his awkward- 7½/9. U2200: 1st: Nguyen Le, 8/9. U2000: 1st: Alain Oria, 8½/9. U1800: 1st: Valeri
ly-placed pieces and White’s bishop pair. Hakobyan, 8/9. U1600: 1st: Mikhail Kobanenko, 8/9. U1400: 1st: Kole Henry Moses,
8½/9. U1100: Matthew Skarha, 8/9. Blitz: Open: GMs Andrew Tang and Hans
39. b4 g5 40. Kg2 h5 41. Rc6 g4 42. Bc5 Niemann, 9/10. U2000: Dhruv Karthik, Chris Williams, and Andrew H. Zhang, 8½/10.
Rb8 43. Bd3 e4 44. Bc2 Be5 45. Bb3 Re8

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 27


Two, 12 Player Round Robin
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EVENTS Prague Masters

The Pride
Sam Shankland
facing GM Rinat
Jumabayev in
round four of the
2021 World Cup in
Shankland on his
Sochi, Russia.
victory at the
Prague Masters
BY GM SAM SHANKLAND

L
SAM SHANKLAND sent us this piece on OOKING BACK, 2019 WAS BY FAR THE WORST YEAR OF MY LIFE.
July 10th, written as he traveled to Sochi, Lots went wrong. I was excluded from the FIDE Grand Prix Series, I got
Russia, for the 2021 World Cup. After kicked off the U.S. Olympiad team, and I ended up having to play 40 consecutive
a bye to the second round, Shankland games against lower rated opposition — with predictable results for my own
PHOTO: COURTESY FIDE / ERIC ROSEN

defeated GMs Baadur Jobava, Alexander rating. To make matters worse, both of my parents got sick, a relationship fell
Areschenko, Rinat Jumabayev, and Peter apart, and my hand was badly slashed right before the World Cup, leaving me hobbled for
Svidler in rounds two through five before one of the most important events of the year.
falling to GM Sergey Karjakin in a thrilling But as horrible a year as it was, I think it may, in some ways, have been good for me.
quarterfinal matchup. His analysis of his When COVID-19 hit and the world shut down in February 2020, I understood the situation
World Cup will appear in our October was not good, but — and here I’m speaking strictly of its effect on my day-to-day life — it
issue; for now, please enjoy Sam’s paled in comparison to the adversity that I had felt in the preceding months. I was totally
thoughts on Prague and his exclusive content to stay at home, and I managed to keep pretty busy.
annotations to his game against GM I built an entire opening repertoire on Chessable that proved enormously successful — in
Radoslaw Wojtaszek. ~ed. fact, our newest GM, Abhimanyu Mishra, cited it as one of the biggest tools that he used to

30 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


of Prague
reach the pinnacle of chess excellence. It’s this kind of chess, but I thought holding the c5- and e5–squares, and the backwards
very hard to maintain a solid exercise and with Black to protect my lead in what I be- c-pawn. I wanted no part of this.
dietary routine when you are constantly lieved would be my toughest game of the
traveling; with that no longer possible, I tournament was a worthwhile enough goal
got back into peak physical condition — the to justify this opening choice.
kind of shape I was in at 20 or 21.
I kept up with my normal training to the 6. Qa4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Nd5 8. Qc2!?
extent that I could. I played in a couple of The first surprise. This move is extremely
elite online events, scoring only average unusual but not bad at all, and Radek played
results, but I believed that if I concentrat- it pretty fast. I did check it briefly before the
ed on the light at the end of the tunnel, I game, but clearly not in enough detail. The
would come out of the pandemic as a newly main move is 8. Bxb4.
focused and very dangerous player.
The 2021 Prague Masters would be my 8. ... b5 9. a4!
first over the board event in 16 months, but Black will struggle to keep his queenside
I came in feeling fit, ready, and confident. under control. I still knew what I was sup- 13. Ne4 bxa4
I spent three weeks in Glasgow with my posed to play here, but I was worried that I Here, I knew that the machine recommend-
coach, GM Jacob Aagaard, right before the would soon be out of preparation. ed taking with the pawn on a4. But this
event, and I did a lot of intensive training to looks like such an anti-positional move.
make sure I was ready to move the pieces 9. ... Bxd2+ 10. Nbxd2 Ncb4! Why not take with the rook and make use
again after such a long break. Clearing off of the c6-square allows Black to of the open file, while challenging the b4–
The tournament began with a slightly play ... c7–c6 next to bolster his pawn chain. knight in the process? This is a clear exam-
shaky effort in round one, perhaps due to ple of the shortcomings of pressing buttons
“ring rust” and just getting back into the 11. Qc1 c6 12. b3! c3 on the computer. If you aren’t thinking crit-
groove of playing after such a long break. After 12. ... cxb3 13. Nxb3 Black is a pawn
After that, it was largely smooth sailing. up but his position looks totally miserable Shankland studies GM Jorden van Foreest —
thanks to the bad bishop, the weakness of see our interview with Jorden in April 2021!

CATALAN OPENING (E04)


GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2687)
GM Sam Shankland (2691)
Prague Masters (4), Prague, 06.17.2021

Radek showed very good form preparation


PHOTO: COURTESY PRAGUE CHESS FESTIVAL / VLADIMIR JAGR

with the white pieces throughout the event,


and he was the only player in the tourna-
ment I had ever lost to before. As we sat
down to play, I was in clear first with 2½/3
and he was just a half point back, so I knew
he would be out for blood.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5.


Bg2 Nc6
This is a pretty depressing line for Black
to play in the Catalan because he doesn’t
get many counter chances, and White has
a lot of options to choose from. But I liked
its somewhat forcing nature, and I thought
I had worked out all the mainlines to de-
fensible positions. I generally don’t enjoy

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 31


EVENTS Prague Masters

that concerned me the most. My plan was


How do chess 17. ... Ba6! 18. Ne1 (The tempting 18. Rxa5?
players unwind? fails to the beautiful resource 18. ... Bd3! 19.
They watch Rxa8 Qxa8 20. Rxa8 Rxa8 when White cannot
more chess! prevent a new queen from showing up.) 18.
... Bb5 19. R4a3 e5 (the computer finds 19.
... Nc7! and claims Black is okay. White’s d4
pawn will hang if he takes on c2, and after
20. e3 e5! Black gets a better version of ...
e6-e5 on the previous move) 20. dxe5 Qe7
21. Nxc2 Nxc2 22. Qxc2 Qxe5. Here I thought
Black was only slightly worse here, but my
computer disagrees.

17. ... Ba6?!


This move was based on a miscalculation
in a long line. White would now be much
better if he found the way.

18. Raa1?
To be honest, I had barely even considered
this move. It felt super slow to me, and I
thought White should be trying to take the
ically yourself, you will likely miss natural will play ... Nd5–c3 and White will lose an pawn on c2 more directly.
looking moves in your preparation. Exchange. Now 18. Ne1! works. My plan in the game
was to play 18. ... e5 19. dxe5 (after 19. Nxc2
14. Rxa4 15. ... 0–0 16. 0–0 a5 Nxc2 20. Rxc2 Nb4 Black is certainly fine
Radek played this pretty fast as well, so I This was the first really critical moment of here) 19. ... Nb6 and we reach a position
suspect he was still in preparation. Here, I the game for White. Part of his plan is ob- that highlights why it was so important to
understood that the position is very sharp. If vious. He wants to play Nf3-e1 and take my get the rook to c1 before playing Nf3-e1.
White is able to take on c3 and castle safely, c2–pawn, but he has to always take care not
Black is close to lost strategically, so he must to run into ... e6–e5 in response. So, should
look for a more direct fight. This much I he play Nf3-e1 right away? I think not. Black
understood, but I did not find the best way. is not really threatening to play ... e6–e5
until it happens, and White can bring his
14. ... c2?! rook on f1 out of the way first, and even look
This was not best. My plan was that White for e2–e3 at some point. But where should
will have to castle and eventually play Nf3– the rook go?
e1 to scoop up the c2–pawn, and once this
comes, I will be able to break in the center
with ... e6–e5. It takes some accuracy from
White’s end, but he should be able to deal
with this idea. AFTER 19. ... Nb6
I should have played 14. ... a5!. The point
is that after 15. Nxc3 Ba6! White will strug- White has the powerful 20. Rxa5! (note that

PHOTO: COURTESY PRAGUE CHESS FESTIVAL / VLADIMIR JAGR


gle to castle. (Note that 15. ... 0–0? would be a calm move like 20. Raa1? would not do.
a big mistake, as after 16. 0–0 Ba6 17. Re1 Black is fine after 20. ... Qxd2 21. Nxd2 Bxe2
White got everything he wanted.) I had seen 22. Nxc2 Nd3!) 20. ... Qxd2 21. Nxd2 Bxe2 (if
this far but disliked 16. Ne4! when I could 21. ... Rfd8? 22. Nxc2! and White wins. This
not see how to deal with Qc1–d2 and 0–0 much I saw!) 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. Nxc2 Nd3.
next, and I thought my position would be I had seen this far, and thought that I was
miserable. I had missed a very nice tactical 17. Rc1 fine with moves like ... Ra8-a2 and ... Nd3xe5
resource in 16. ... Bb5! 17. Ra3 Bd3! when This is probably the best move, but during in the air. But I somehow missed that after
Black wins an Exchange. White has a lot of the game I was more concerned about the 24. Ra1! Rxa1+ 25. Nxa1 Nxe5 I have equal-
compensation and the position remains very rook going to a1. ized material, but only for a short moment.
complex, but Black has some extra material Here 17. Ne1?! is too hasty. After 17. ... e5! After 26. f4! White wins the c6-pawn, and
for his suffering. 18. dxe5? (after 18. Nxc2 Nxc2 19. Qxc2 Nb4! probably the game.
Black will take on d4 next, and he should be
15. Qd2! fine) 18. ... Nb6! the c2-pawn is a huge prob- 18. ... Qb6!
An accurate move. White was not ready lem and White is losing material. Now Black’s development is much faster,
to castle just yet. After 15. 0–0?! f5! Black During the game 17. Rfa1!? was the move and he is ready for a rook coming to d8

32 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


sooner rather than later. It is not easy at all move anyway, remaining an Exchange down A victorious Sam Shankland with players and
for White to scoop up the c2-pawn anymore. in the endgame but in a situation where the officials from the 2021 Prague Masters.
c2–pawn is firmly secured. Already here I
19. Nc5 felt my position was totally fine. tainly objectively in trouble at some point,
After 19. Ne1 Rfd8! White cannot take on but I was happy that I managed to make
c2 just yet: 20. e3 (Black keeps a slight edge 21. Qc3 the game complicated enough so my very
after 20. Nxc2 Nxc2 21. Rxc2 Nb4 when he Now again, Nf3-e1 is a serious threat. On strong opponent was unable to find his way.
will take the d4-pawn next. If 22. Rc5 f5! another day and under other tournament Looking back at the tournament now, I
Black wins a piece, as moving the knight scenarios, I might consider ... Ba6–e2–d1, think the biggest difference between my
would allow ... Qb6xc5.) 20. ... e5! and the securing the c2–pawn at all costs, but it play in 2019 and 2021 is that I am happier.
pawn is immune, while Black is getting a lot looked too bizarre to me and I did not see I got over the soul-crushing chess politics,
of counterplay. Since he had the time to get a plan afterwards. I was happy to take the my hand healed, my parents got better, and
the rook to the d-file, the ... e6–e5 break is repetition instead. I just generally felt more in control of my
still the right idea and it comes with signifi- life and like a stronger person. Elite level
cantly more force than it did a couple moves 21. ... Nfd5 chess is incredibly unforgiving if you are
ago. Black is fine after 21. Nxc2, while he White’s queen has no square other than d2. even slightly off balance, and a big part of
even wins after 21. dxe5? Nf4. Anything else would allow ... Nb4–d3. playing well is a happy, healthy mind. Sure-
ly the hard work during the pandemic did
19. ... Rfd8 20. e3 22. Qd2 not hurt, but I think this was not the most
Now theoretically, if White were able to Black’s c-pawn will live after 22. Qb2? Nd3! significant factor.
play Nf3-e1 next, I might still have some 23. Nxd3 Bxd3 24. Ne1 Nb4!, and White is Across 2018, I had a performance rating
problems to solve. But he let me activate my in big trouble. of 2770 or so, which was the ninth highest
pieces fast enough to cause him real trouble in the world. And then 2019 was an abso-
in the meantime. 22. ... Nf6 23. Qc3 Nfd5 24. Qd2 Nf6, lute disaster. Only time will tell if the form
draw. I showed in Prague will continue. It will
20. ... Nf6! This was certainly my most stressful game be tough to match the kind of results I had
Now 21. Ne1 would hang the c5-knight. In in Prague, and the only one where I ever was back when I was U.S. Champion, but I am
fact, Black can even consider taking it next really worried about my position. I was cer- optimistic for what the future will bring.

Prague Masters JUNE 13-20, 2021


PHOTOS: COURTESY PRAGUE CHESS FESTIVAL / VLADIMIR JAGR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 GM Sam Shankland 2691 * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 5½/7

2 GM Jan-Krysztof Duda 2729 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 5/7

3 GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2687 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 4/7

4 GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen 2577 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 3½/7

5 GM Nijat Abasov 2665 0 ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 1 3½/7

6 GM Nils Grandelius 2670 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 2½/7

7 GM Jorden van Foreest 2701 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 2½/7

8 GM David Navara 2697 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1½/7

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 33


To the victor
goes the spoils!

V I V A
LAS VEGAS! OVER-THE-BOARD CHESS BEATS THE ODDS
AT THE NATIONAL OPEN.
BY JJ LANG

34 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


National Open EVENTS

EFORE THE PANDEMIC, whenever a tournament flyer advertised prizes cause Niemann could decline the sacrifice

B
based on 600 entries, I would charitably assume attendance would be 70% and play for a space advantage with 15. Re1.
of that figure and perhaps appreciate the organizers’ optimism.
But if the National Open was any indication, 150% turnout might be a 14. Bb2 exd4 15. Bxd4!?
conservative estimate of post-COVID numbers. A staggering 1,105 chess Now White had chances to create a mate-
players descended on the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas for the largest Na- rial imbalance with 15. Nxd4, but again, it
tional Open (June 16-20) since the Karpov-headlining 1998 edition. is easier to be tempted by such glamour in
IM Arthur Guo, 15, led a five-way tie for first place in the Open section with a score of 7/9, analysis than over-the-board: 15. ... Bxf1
earning him the Edmondson Cup. His round six victory over GM Timur Gareyev showed (again, declining the gift with 15. ... Ne5
remarkable energy and tactical vision against an ambitious player known for similar verve: might have been prudent, but here the
f5-square is a significant gain for White)
16. Qxf1. It is unclear how Black should
27. ... Bb5 28. Qg1 Qxg1+ 29. Kxg1 h5 30. continue, lacking targets and coordination.
RUY LOPEZ (C77) Nf2 Re2 31. Bg5 Rde8 32. Bxd5 Rxb2 33.
IM Arthur Guo (2473) Ne4 Kf8 34. Rac1 Ba4 35. Re1 Bd4+ 36. 15. ... Nc5 16. Nf5 Ne6 17. Bb2 Bc5 18. e5?
GM Timur Gareyev (2692) Kh1 Bc2 37. Nf6 Rxe1+ 38. Rxe1 Kg7 39. Things are unclear after 18. Qe1 Qb6 19.
National Open (6), Las Vegas, Re7 Rb1+ 40. Kh2 Bg1+ 41. Kg3 h4+ 42. Bxf6 gxf6 20. h4 as Black’s damaged king-
06.19.2021 Kxh4 Bf2+ 43. g3, Black resigned. side makes up for White’s less active pieces.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 After this victory, Guo knew a round seven 18. ... Qxd1?
5. d3 d6 6. c3 g6 7. 0–0 Bg7 8. Re1 0–0 9. win with Black over GM Hans Niemann After 18. ... Ng4 19. Nd6 (19. Nfd4 Nxd4 20.
Nbd2 Rb8 10. Nf1 b5 11. Bc2 h6 12. Ng3 would put him in pole position. The result- Nxd4 Bxf1) 19. ... Qb6 it is hard to see how
Re8 13. h3 d5 14. d4 exd4 15. e5 d3 16. ing game was a nervy slugfest where both White can survive the attack.
Qxd3 Ne4 17. Nxe4 Bf5 players were hesitant to sacrifice material
in an incredibly unclear middle game. Even- 19. Rfxd1 Ng4 20. Ned4
tually things liquidated into a position with White’s pieces come to life just in time.
superior pieces for Guo once again:
20. ... Nxe5 21. Nxc6 Nxc6 22. Bxc6 Rac8
23. Bd5 Bxf2+
QUEEN’S GAMBIT, CATALAN
OPENING (E06)
GM Hans Niemann (2648)
IM Arthur Guo (2473)
National Open (7), Las Vegas,
06.19.2021

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5.


18. Qf1! Bg2 0–0 6. 0–0 c6 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. Nd2 b6 9.
With this maneuver, Guo set a deep trap e4 dxc4 10. Nxc4 Ba6 11. b3 b5 12. Ne3 b4
that ends in Black’s queen being eternally 13. Ne2 e5!?
pinned. Guo chooses to eschew complications com-
ing from 13. ... c5 14. e5 Ne8 15. Bxa8 Qxa8
18. ... Nxe5? 16. Nc4 Nb6 with counterplay, perhaps be- 24. Kh1?
Essential was 18. ... dxe4, preventing the pin
by moving the queen off the d-file: 19. Bxe4
Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Rxe5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. Be3 is IM Arthur Guo
equal, and without obvious improvements
for either side.

19. Nxe5 Bxe5


PHOTOS: FACING AND THIS PAGE, TIM HANKS

White is much better after 19. ... Rxe5 20.


Bf4 Re8 21. Rad1.

20. Rd1! Bg7 21. f3 b4 22. c4 c6 23. cxd5


cxd5 24. Bb3 Qb6+ 25. Nf2 Rbd8 26. Kh1
Bd7 27. Ng4!
A nice finesse. Guo maturely decides to
ignore the pawn and do two things: tar-
get kingside weaknesses and simplify the
position to one in which White’s pieces
reign supreme.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021


EVENTS National Open

The Exchange is lost, but things aren’t over


GM Hans Niemann yet!

25. ... Qe6 26. Qd3 c5 27. f3 c4?


Better was 27. ... Rxe5 28. dxe5 Qxe5 29.
Rd2. The extra material and pressure on
d5 should give White an advantage, but
Black still has nagging pressure on the
dark squares.

28. Nxc4! Rxd4 29. exd4 dxc4 30. Qh7+


Kf8
Black is in dire straits, and Niemann shows
Too cautious. After 24. Kxf2 Rc2+ 25. Kg1 Qf6 16. g4! excellent technique converting.
Rxb2 26. Ne7+ Kh8 27. Rdb1 Re2 28. Re1 Nd4
(28. ... Rd2 29. Rad1) 29. Rxe2 Nxe2+ 30. Kf2 31. Rhe1 Qd7 32. Qf5 Qxf5+ 33. gxf5 Rd8
the attack has dissipated. 34. d5 Rd6 35. a4 a6 36. Re4 b5 37. Kc2
Bf6 38. axb5 axb5 39. b3 cxb3+ 40. Kxb3
24. ... Rc2 Be7 41. Rde1 Rd7 42. d6 Bxd6 43. f6! Rd8
Now the pressure from Black is too much 44. Rh1 Kg8 45. Rh5 Bf4 46. Re1 Rd3+ 47.
to handle. Kc2 Rd2+ 48. Kb1 Rh2 49. Re8, mate.

25. Be5 Bc5 26. Rac1 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rd8 While some Super-GMs are calling for a
28. Bg2 f6 29. Bf4 Bd3 30. Ne3 g5, White rule change that would require some IM
resigned. and GM norms to be earned from Open
events, Michigan’s FM Joshua Posthuma
Niemann’s overall result, finishing a point be- experienced firsthand a cruel downside to
hind the leaders, might not have been on par A classy move, temporarily “outposting” the this proposal. Despite a strong 6½/9 score, a
with his recent first place at the World Open, bishop, but with the intention to trade it off tie for sixth place, and playing three players
but he did give himself a nice 18th birth- and switch gears from a positional squeeze from foreign federations, Posthuma’s per-
day present by winning the Walter Browne to a tactical explosion. formance did not qualify for an IM norm
Memorial Blitz. The victory was especially because of the rule stating that a player can
fitting, as Niemann used to take lessons from 16. ... Nb6 17. Bxc8 Nxc8 18. h4! only play five players from their own feder-
Browne. Here’s one of his wins in the Open, A great practical choice! ation. Although this restriction is waived for
showing excellent technique to convert the events with at least 20 foreign players, the
endgame against IM Atulya Shetty. 18. ... Nd6
Perhaps Shetty’s best option was to prevent
Niemann from opening the h-file, grabbing
QUEEN’S GAMBIT, SEMI-SLAV the pawn with 18. ... gxh4 and saying “show
(D43) me,” after which it is not clear what Niemann
GM Hans Niemann (2648) planned. A sample line: after 19. Ne5 Re8 SEEING THEIR IDOLS
IM Atulya Arya Shetty (2551) 20. Qc2 Nd6 Black’s king is weak, but there WAITING IN LINE FOR
National Open (5), Las Vegas, is no imminent breakthrough, and 21. f4
06.18.2021 looks risky due to 21. ... Nc4, when Black
COFFEE, PACING
ANXIOUSLY BETWEEN
PHOTO: TIM HANKS

has a slight edge.


1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. MOVES, PROVED
Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 h6 8. Bh4 g5 19. hxg5 hxg5 20. Qe2 Rfe8 21. 0–0–0 Ne4
9. Bg3 Nh5 10. Be5 Nhf6 11. Be2 Nxe5 12. 22. Qc2 Rac8 23. Kb1 b6 24. Nxe4 Rxe4 THEY WERE JUST
Nxe5 Nd7 13. Nd3 Bg7 14. Bg4 0–0 15. Bf5 25. Ne5 LIKE ONE OF US.

36 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


open section featured only 19. This does not like GMs Melik Khachiyan, Alex Shabalov, their idols waiting in line for coffee, pacing
take away from an impressive performance and Alex Yermolinsky, and exciting to know anxiously between moves, proved they were
and great fighting spirit, capped off by this that my services were needed because of un- just like one of us. In fact, Rozman upped his
last-round victory. expectedly high registration by eager students relatability quotient when he could have
of all ages and skill levels. The word “all” is patiently kept pressing but instead opted for
doing a lot of work here: my first session of a mess of complications against 14-year-old
QUEEN’S PAWN GAME (A50) the camp featured students from seven to 70 IM Christopher Yoo. Yoo is also something
IM Viktor Matviishen (2575) who were eager to pick up whatever wisdom of an internet celebrity, winning viewers’
FM Joshua Posthuma (2416) they could before the weekend began. hearts with his puzzle-solving prowess, but
National Open (9), Las Vegas, In fact, it was watching these campers’ this puzzle was too much for him:
06.20.2021 games at the back end of the playing hall
that was the highlight of my weekend. I had
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. Qc2 d5 the honor of witnessing one of my adult pri- ENGLISH OPENING (A17)
5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3 e6 7. e4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 vate students, whom I had just met in person IM Levy Rozman (2436)
Nd7 9. Bd3 c5 10. 0–0 Rc8 11. Qe2 cxd4 for the first time, win her first-ever tourna- IM Christopher Yoo (2564)
12. cxd4 Be7 13. Bf4 0–0 14. Rfd1 Nf6 15. ment game. In fact, I got to her table just in National Open (5), Las Vegas,
d5 exd5 16. e5 Nh5 17. Be3 g6 18. Nd4 time to see her bounce back and deliver a 06.18.2021
Ng7 19. Qg4 f5 20. Qf3 f4 21. Bc1 Bc5 22. forced mate in four. Overall, I was impressed
Ne2 Ne6 23. Qg4 Qe7 24. Rb1 Rf7 25. Rb3 with the quality of play from these unrated 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 Bd6 5.
Rcf8 26. Bb1 Bc8 27. Qf3 Ng5 28. Qc3 f3 players — a testament to the immense vol- b3 0–0 6. Bb2 c6 7. d4 b6 8. Qc2 Bb7 9.
29. Ng3 fxg2 30. Bxg5 Qxg5 31. Rxd5 Rxf2 ume of excellent educational content now Be2 Nbd7 10. 0–0 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rfd8 12.
32. Rxc5 Rf1+, White resigned. easily accessible on the internet. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15.
Speaking of which: my major takeaway Qh4 Ba3 16. Ba1 c5 17. d5 exd5 18. Bd3
I expected to spend most of my time away from the return to in-person play is that, in h6 19. Rfe1 Qd6 20. cxd5 Nxd5 21. Be5
from my board watching games in the Open many ways, the over-the-board chess land- Qe7 22. Qg3 Qf8
section, but instead found myself being scape has been permanently altered by the
pulled to the opposite end of the playing intertwining of chess and the internet. To
hall. Here, in the three one-day beginners’ be clear, I’m referring to the positive aspects
tournaments, resided roughly one fifth of internet chess, since it’s quite difficult
of the entries — 218 unique names, to be to dirty-flag somebody with a 30-second
exact — with many playing all 18 games over increment, let alone disconnect from the
three days. With quite a few playing their game (although I did see one poor youth fall
first-ever tournaments, the fresh energy asleep on their turn for close to an hour).
was worth the lengthy stroll past 500 tables, As somebody who did not play many
a number of which were rented from a local major tournaments growing up, I was star-
bridge club to keep the organizer’s promise struck seeing many legendary players in
of social distancing. the flesh in Las Vegas. But newer players
Wandering the spacious tournament hall, were flocking to a younger generation of
I was able to check on the games of over fifty superstar: the streamers. 23. Ng5?!?! hxg5 24. Qxg5 Ne7 25. Qh5
campers I had taught at the Grandmaster There was a constant buzz from people f5?
Chess Camp earlier in the festival. It was an who learned how to play from watching Yoo missed the winning 25. ... Ng6!, when
intimidating honor to teach alongside greats IM Levy Rozman or IM Eric Rosen. Seeing the attack does not materialize after 26. Re3

IM Christopher Yoo IM Levy Rozman


PHOTOS: TIM HANKS

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 37


EVENTS National Open

PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

38 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


Qe8 27. Bxg7 Rxd3!! 28. Rdxd3 Qc6.
IMITATION AND INSPIRATION
26. Bc4+ Bd5 27. Rxd5 Nxd5 28. Rd1 Qe8 Jonathan J. Lang (2109)
29. Qxf5 Qc6 30. Rxd5 Rxd5 31. Qg5 Kf7 Omya Vidyarthi (2025)
32. Bxg7 Ke6 33. Qe5+ Kd7 34. Bxd5 Qg6 National Open U2300 (5), Las Vegas,
35. Be4 Qe8 36. Qd5+ Ke7 37. Qxa8, Black 06.19.2021
resigned.

Before the tournament had even ended,


Twitter was abuzz with talk of 23. Ng5, and
this social-network-to-actual-social pipe-
line lit up the tournament hall between
rounds. Besides talk of streamers’ tourna-
ment games, the internet boom has made it
easier for amateur players to connect over
their own chess, too.
Players flocked to a meet-up for members
of chess-improvement Discord server Chess
Dojo. I saw many other interactions start
with one person approaching another and WHITE TO MOVE
saying, roughly, “We haven’t met but I love
watching your stream,” or, “Sweet Chess- Perhaps inspired by Rozman’s courage, I
brah hoodie!” before the pair would walk had turned a simple advantage into a mess,
off chatting like old friends. Many players hanging on to hopes of building a mating
have already posted their own analyses of net before the f-pawn decided matters.
their games on their Youtube channels or Here I found:
shared their ups and downs on Twitter, using
the hashtag #chesspunks. As somebody who 55. Nd7! Rb8+ 56. Nxb8 Rb1 57. Nxc6
has struggled to socialize at tournaments, Rxb3+ 58. Kc5 f1=Q 59. Ra7, mate.
it’s encouraging to see the internet helping
people connect. As for the rest of this author’s tournament,
One humble suggestion for 2022: a prize it turns out using the pandemic to develop a
for best dressed chess player. I’m thinking blitz addiction left its mark on my ability to
of one lanky, looming individual clad in concentrate. Maybe I should stick to poker,
a black romper, with thin, sandy blonde where I actually managed to make money
hair nestled beneath a Benny Watts-esque for a change!
cowboy hat. Another person showed up 15 The distractions of Vegas were of no help,
minutes late at the board next to mine in a either. I never used to understand why major
full-body penguin costume. When spectators tournaments were held in suburbs or air-
Clockwise from top left: unknown bespecatcled
person, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, IM Kostya inevitably attempted to break the no-elec- port hotels, but after getting back late to a
Kavutsky, Tim Hanks, WGM Jennifer Yu, IM Eric tronics policy and photograph this would- round from a must-try Hawaiian restaurant,
Rosen, and the "Dean of Scholastic Chess" be costume contest winner, a tournament or staying out past midnight at an off-strip
Dewain Barber. All photos by Tim Hanks. director would inevitably shoo them off as Izakaya restaurant, I’m starting to see the
“penguin-man” sternly waived his finger appeal of being locked in the middle of no-
in admonishment. Perhaps this intrusion where for a chess tournament.
of levity inspired my only proud moment I expected that feasting on chess, culture,
of a rough event, weaving this mating net: cuisine, and nightlife would make for a fan-
tastic first post-vaccination vacation, but one
PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

cynical thought lingered. Now that people


could socialize again, I worried, would re-
cord numbers of them really want to spend
their free time stuck inside playing chess?
TWITTER WAS We all know of the Fischer boom and
ABUZZ WITH TALK OF subsequent bust, so I’ve been hesitant to
23. Ng5, AND THIS get my hopes up for the future. But after
SOCIAL-NETWORK- seeing a new generation of chess players
more tempted by the pop-up chess book
TO-ACTUAL-SOCIAL
stall than any of Vegas’ other vices, I’m a
PIPELINE LIT UP THE believer. Here’s hoping what happened in
TOURNAMENT HALL Vegas stays in Vegas for many record-break-
BETWEEN ROUNDS. ing years to come.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 39


EVENTS Dummy Nametk

Good time of day to all


of you, my friends...

T W O B
BY
Y
GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY
YERMO
Everyone’s favorite uncle, GM Alex This move doesn’t have a good reputation, 9. ... Nc6 10. Qe3
Yermolinsky, sent two annotated games but wait a bit... White sacrificed a tempo to get his queen
from the National Open. Here they are.~ed. to a better position.
7. ... Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qa5 9. Qd4!
10. ... Qe5?!
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B41) Now the same treatment does not work here.
GM Alexander Shabalov (2532) Best is 10. ... 0–0 11. Ba3 d6!? (11. ... Rd8 12.
FM Jason Wang (2312) Bd6) but Shabalov planned 12. Bxd6 Rd8 13.
National Open (6), Las Vegas, e5 Ng4 14. Qg3 Ncxe5 15. c5.
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

06.19.2021
11. Bd3 Qxc3+
My longtime friend and traveling partner One last chance to make a game out of this
GM Alex Shabalov had a decent tournament, required some very precise calculation.
scoring 6/9. The two byes he committed After 11. ... d6 12. f4 Qxc3+ 13. Bd2 Qb2
to before the tournament prevented Alex 14. 0–0 it seems that Black will lose his
from competing for higher position. Here’s queen, but there’s 14. ... e5! 15. f5 (I think
his best effort. 15. Rab1 exf4 16. Qf2 Qe5 17. Bxf4 Qe7 18.
A great idea Alex worked out in his home Ne3 Ne5 may just be playable for Black,
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. lab. The standard continuation is 9. Qd3 Qe5 who is under huge pressure.) 15. ... Nd4!
c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Nc2!? where Black holds his own after 10. f3 d5. to the rescue.

40 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


National Open EVENTS

12. Bd2 Qe5 13. f4 Qc7 14. e5 Ng8


Not a sign of good things to come. GM Illia Nyzhnyk

15. Qg3 Kf8!?


Jason Wang is fighting hard. 15. ... g6 would
leave Black’s dark squares horribly weak.

16. 0–0 f5 17. exf6 e.p. Nxf6 18. Rae1 b5


19. Bc3!
Of course Shabalov isn’t interested in pawns.
He’s an old, reliable hand in such positions
— his pieces will take ideal attacking posts,
and only then there will be time for deci-
sive action.

19. ... bxc4 20. Bxc4 Ne7 21. Ne3 d5 22.


Be5 Qb6 23. Bd3 Nf5 24. Bxf5 exf5 25. Kh1
Qe6 26. Nxd5!
A pretty way to finish the game.

26. ... Qxd5 27. Bxf6 gxf6 28. Qa3+ Kg8 and I didn’t expect this move. That’s why I AY: I want to reiterate that with his g1-
29. Re8+ Kf7 30. Re7+ Kg6 31. Qg3+ Kh5 had to improvise a little bit and decided to knight out, even if it isn’t optimally placed
32. Rg7 Kh6 33. Rg5!, Black resigned. play 3. ... Nc6. on c2, White has to have a better game here.
The icing on the cake!
3. ... Nc6 4. d5 11. g4 f5
AY: Theoretically speaking, this move rep- AY: Absolutely fascinating.
KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE resents White’s best option. In case of 4. e4,
(E60) Black has 4. ... e5, practically forcing White 12. exf5
GM Illia Nyzhnyk (2679) to agree to a pawn trade in the middle 5. Ne2 AY: Nyzhnyk had to stay away from 12.
FM Alexey Sorokin (2521) (if 5. d5 Nd4 6. Ne2 c5) 5. ... exd4 6. Nxd4 gxh5? fxe4 13. fxe4 Bg4.
National Open (8), Las Vegas, Bg7 and here 7. Be3? is met by 7. ... Nxe4!.
06.20.2021 12. ... Nf6 13. Be2
4. ... Ne5 5. e4 d6 6. Be3 After 13. g5 Nh5 14. f4 Nxf4 15. Bxf4 Rxf5 16.
Seeing my good friend GM Alexander Oni- At this point, the position started to look Bxe5 Rxe5+ Black has excellent compensa-
schuk was one of a few pleasant memo- like the King’s Indian. tion here due to the weakness of the white
ries I can take from my time in Las Vegas. king and the activity of the bishops.
Alexander didn’t play, but he brought two AY: Of course, normally in the Sämisch
of his students from Texas Tech, and one White refrains from pushing his pawn to 13. ... b5
of them, Aleksey Sorokin, achieved a GM d5 until Black plays ... e7–e5 or ... c7–c5. AY: This is “fire on board,” GM Alexey Shi-
norm. Here are Aleksey’s notes to a critical rov-style. And just like his famous name-
round eight encounter with the top seed of 6. ... Bg7 sake, Aleksey Sorokin would not accept a
the tournament. I only added a few general Here 6. ... c6 would be stronger, since it passive position after 13. ... gxf5 14. g5 Ne8
comments under AY. prevents Ne2–d4; for example, 7. Ne2? Nxc4. 15. f4 Ng6 16. Qd2.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 7. Ne2 c6 8. Nd4 c5


I was going to play the Grünfeld Defense AY: I’m not a big fan of this decision. White
has a problem developing his g1-knight in
the Sämisch with ... c7-c5, and here it is out
already. More attractive is 8. ... 0–0 9. Nc3
e6! 10. dxe6 fxe6 which leads to a complex
position, where Black can answer 11. Be2
OF COURSE with 11. ... d5.
(ALEXANDER)
9. Nc2 0–0 10. Nc3 Nh5?!
SHABALOV ISN' T At this point I asked myself: How would
INTERESTED IN
PHOTO: TIM HANKS

Kasparov play in this position? Sometimes


PAWNS. HE'S AN OLD, I do this in important games, but unfortu- 14. cxb5
nately it rarely helps. Now 10. ... e6 11. Be2 AY: Illia Nyzhnyk is an experienced player
RELIABLE HAND IN exd5 12. cxd5 would lead to a typical Benoni who always makes rational decisions. Here
SUCH POSITIONS... type of position. he resisted the temptation to take Black up

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 41


EVENTS National Open

in the following line: 39. Bc4? (39. Qe5 is


unclear) 39. ... Bd5 40. gxf6 Bxc4 41. Qxd8
Qxe3+ and Black is winning.

39. Qe5 Qxe5 40. fxe5 Nd5 41. Rd1 e6 42.


a6 Rb8 43. Bd4 Nec7 44. b6!
White manages to break through.

44. ... axb6 45. cxb6 Nxb6 46. a7 Rb7 47.


Bxb6 Rxb6 48. Rd8+ Kg7 49. Rd7+ Kg6 50.
Rxc7
It looks like the a7-pawn should promote
and decide the game, but surprisingly, Black
can hold.
L to R: Coaches
Yermolinsky,
Shabalov, and
Khachiyan

to his sacrificial offers, instead preferring a Certainly not 29. Nd2?? Bd3!.
quieter game, if such terms can be applied
to this crazy situation. 29. ... Rh7 30. Rh2 Rxh2 31. Kxh2 Rf8 32.
Qc3 Ba8 33. Nd2 d5 34. Nf3!
I briefly considered 14. fxg6 during the Practically the best decision as we are get-
game, and my plan was to follow up with 14. ting to time trouble. I was really annoyed by
... b4 15. gxh7+ Kh8!. We need to keep the this move as it stops my initiative.
white pawn on h7 to protect our king. Play AY: I fully agree; Nyzhnyk’s piece sacrifice 50. ... Rb3+
might continue 16. Na4 e6, opening up the was great. Another way to draw is 50. ... Kxg5 51. Rg7+
files and diagonals for our pieces. Kh6 52. Rg8 Rb3+ 53. Kf2 Be4 54. a8=Q Bxa8
AY: I suppose the idea was to answer 14. 55. Rxa8 Kg5 56. Ra6 Kf4 57. Rxe6 Re3 with
Nxb5 gxf5 15. g5 with the amazing shot 15. equality.
... Ne4!! 16. fxe4 f4. I wouldn’t feel comfort-
able here as White. 51. Kh4 Rb4+ 52. Rc4 Rb7 53. Ra4
Nyzhnyk could have created more problems
14. ... gxf5 15. g5 Ne8 16. f4 Nd7 17. Na3 with 53. Bh5+, i.e. 53. ... Kg7 54. Ra4 Rb3 55.
Bb7 18. Nc4 Nc7 g6 Kh6 56. g7 Kxg7 57. Ra6 f4 58. Kg5 (AY: or
AY: Now the d5-pawn will fall, albeit at the 58. Rxe6 f3 59. Kg3 Rb2 60. Rg6+ Kh7 61. Rf6
cost of the valuable g7-bishop. Ra2 62. Rf7+ Kh6 63. Bxf3 Ra3 64. Kg4 Bxf3+
65. Rxf3 Rxa7 with equality) 58. ... f3 59.
19. Na5 Bxc3+ 20. bxc3 Bxd5 21. 0–0 Nb6 Rxe6 Rb7 60. Rg6+ Kf8 61. Rf6+ Kg7 62. Rxf3
22. c4 Be4 23. a4 Qd7 Rxa7, but the position is ultimately equal.
I needed to create some counter-play on the 34. ... d4 35. Nxd4 cxd4 36. Qxd4 Rd8 37.
kingside, since White has a pawn majority Kg3 Ne8 38. c5 Nb6 53. ... Rh7+ 54. Kg3 Kxg5 55. Bf3 f4+ 56.
on the queenside. It turns out that 38. ... Ndf6 would have been Kg2 Rh8 57. Bxa8 Rxa8 58. Kf3 Kf5 59.
much stronger, but I missed my 39th move Ra5 Kg5 60. Ke4 Kg4 61. Ra1 f3, draw.
24. Nb3
AY: Interesting was 24. Nc6, although Black
is not forced to capture the knight. 2 0 2 1 N AT I O N A L O P E N
24. ... Qe6 25. Qc1 h6 26. a5 Nd7 27. h4
AT A G L A N C E
hxg5 28. hxg5 Rf7 JUNE 16-20, 2021 | LAS VEGAS, NV
AY: A better way for a rook transfer to the OPEN: 1st-5th: IM Arthur Guo (Edmondson Cup), GMs Lazaro Bruzon Batista, Emilio
h-file. The following notes explain the un- Cordova, and Illia Nyzhnyk, IM Andrew Hong, 7/9. U2300: 1st-3rd: Nelson Wilfredo
derlying tactics. Fernandez, Paul Iinuma, Henry Wang, 6/7. U2100: 1st: Alexander Petrosyan, 6½/7.
U1900: Alexander Feghhi, 6½/7. U1700: Valeri Hakobyan, 6½/7. U1500: 1st-5th:
PHOTO: TIM HANKS

I passed up 28. ... Kg7 due to 29. Nd2, when Patrick Allen, Matthew Billings, Suhas Indukuri, Anthony Lapsley, Eduardo Rivas
White can trade the powerful bishop to en- Posada, 6/7. U1300: 1st: Sebastian Suarez, 6½/7. Women’s OPEN: 1st-2nd: WGM
sure White’s king safety. Carla Heredia (trophy) and Zoey Tang, 4½/5. Blitz: Open: GM Hans Niemann, 11½/12.
U1900: Aurelius Mlynar, 11/12.
29. Rf2

42 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


News for our Members US CHESS AFFAIRS

2021 Executive Board


Election Results
T HERE WERE 3,961 REGIS-
tered voters this year, of which
939 were sent online ballots
and 3,022 were sent mail-in
the counting team because more than three
people were voted for on the ballot.
Bauer and Pryor will serve four-year terms
and Fernandez a two-year term.
The Election Committee expresses its
gratitude to all candidates in this year's
VOTE TOTALS
ballots. Voters returned 1,265 ballots either Randy Bauer: 1072 election. Service on the Executive Board re-
electronically or by mail, and all mail-in Kevin Pryor: 1031 quires a substantial investment of time. The
ballots were certified as valid by US Chess John C. Fernandez: 972 federation is stronger for all those willing to
staff. Two were eventually invalidated by serve on the Executive Board.

Our Board, left to right:


Top: Randy Bauer, David Day,
Kevin Pryor, John C. Fernan-
dez. Bottom: Mike Hoffpauir,
David Hater, Chuck Unruh,
Carol Meyer, and Fun Fong.

MEET OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS


Bios of all US Chess executive board members can be found at new.uschess.org/about/board
J O H N C . F E R N A N D E Z is the SVP of Marketing at Glia, a finan- K E V I N P RY O R is a recently retired corporate leader who
cial services software company that has raised over $100 million excelled in developing people, improving systems, and managing
from top investors. John gained an expert rating while living in projects. His leadership in chess began in 2014 on the same day he
New York City, and has managed six draws with grandmasters in played in his first tournament when he offered to help revitalize
classical tournament games. Very involved in chess, John worked chess in Northeast Florida by reviving the defunct Jacksonville Chess
at the Manhattan Chess Club, organized events such as the New Club. He is a senior TD, a certified chess coach, a chess entrepreneur,
PHOTO: IREDIA EKHATO

York Masters and three events featuring GM Garry Kasparov, taught and a chess academy founder. He has served as the President of the
chess in prominent city schools, and served on the board of gover- Florida Chess Association since 2018. Prior to joining the Executive
nors of the Marshall Chess Club. He also worked as director of pub- Board, he served on the Clubs, States & Affiliates and Senior commit-
lic relations at the Internet Chess Club before transitioning into an tees for US Chess. He has also worked very closely with the Women’s
ownership role in 2010. John now lives in Hannibal, Missouri with committee at national events. Kevin is a native of Mount Vernon,
his wife and two young sons. New York, but has lived most of his adult life in Northeast Florida.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 43


EVENTS U.S. Open

Lenderman Wins
121st U.S. Open
121st U.S. OPEN
AT A G L A N C E
J U LY 2 1 - A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 2 1 | C H E R R Y H I L L , N J

U.S. OPEN: GM Aleksandr 1799: Lucas Flach, 7½/8. TUESDAY QUADS:


Lenderman, 8½/9. U1400: Andrew Jing, 7½ A: Eshan Guha. B: Anish
MASTER: FM Dov Gorman, Lodh. C: Ethan Guo and
7½/9. EXPERT: Nathaniel WEEKEND SWISS: Nikhil Kalyanraman.
Philip Moor, Vishnu Matthew J. O’Brien, D: Vaughn Wampole. E:
Vanapalli, Brian Pang, and Joseph Cheng-Yue Wan, Jan Sokolowsky. F: Joshua
Anish Lodh, 6½/9 CLASS Joseph J. Mucerino, Eshan Li. G: Ella Guo and Erick
A: Ankush Moolky, Kevin Guha, Hemachandra Matthew Hoxter. H: Vinod
Su, and Samuel Heran- Rambha, 4½/5. Namboodiri and Krishna
Boily, 6½/9. CLASS B: K. Rallabandi. I: Sahasra
Benjamin Mock, Lang Leo WEEKEND SCHOLASTIC: K. Rallabandi. J: Wenqiao
Xiong, Connor Sastre, and SECONDARY Chen. K: Alexander J.
Caleb Hina, 5½/9. CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP: Aarush Clifton. L: Toby Ray
GM Aleksandr Lenderman C: Sahana Aravindakshan, Tippa, 4/4. ELEMENTARY Salusky. M: Stanley Ren.
drew from a position of strength in the Kevin Mogil, Yakun Hu, CHAMPIONSHIP: N: Stephen McManus.
ninth and final round to finish clear first and Orren Ravid, 5/9. Gnanadatta Rambha, Zigis
at 8½/9 and win the 2021 U.S. Open. CLASS D: Aditya Joshi Karklis, Aiden Kennedy, WEDNESDAY QUADS:
and Andy Zhang, 5/9. 4/4. Secondary U1200: A: Joseph Cheng-Yue Wan.
FRENCH DEFENSE, CLASS E: Michael Deng, Oliver Ranxi Gu, 4/4. B: Mark Coleman. C: Dave
EXCHANGE VARIATION (C01) 5½/9. UNRATED: Graeme Elementary U1000: Sarayu Eckhart. D: Evan Qianyuan
GM Benjamin Gledura Sargent, 5½/9. Thandra, Kyle Wu, 4/4. Fan. E: Micaiah White.
GM Aleksandr Lenderman F: Sahana Ramesh.
U.S. Open (9), Cherry Hill, NJ, DENKER: GM Awonder GAME 15: Samuel Heran-
08.08.2021 Liang, 5½/6. Boily, 5/5. THURSDAY QUADS:
A: Joseph Cheng-Yue Wan.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 HARING: Ruiyang Yan and MONDAY QUADS: B: Michael Dudley. C:
5. Bd3 Bd6 6. Qe2+ Be7 7. 0–0 0–0 8. Re1 Ambica Yellamraju, 5/6. A: Joseph Cheng-Yue Wan. Wenqiao Chen. D: Micaiah
Re8 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Nbd2 h6 11. Bh4 Nc6 B: Omya Vidyarthi and White. E: Shiven Hakani.
12. Bb5 Bd7 13. Bxc6 Bxc6 14. Ne5 Bd7 BARBER: Vyom Vidyarthi, Hemachandra Rambha.
15. Qf3 Be6 16. c3 c6 17. Ng6 Bd6 18. 5½/6. C: Nicholas Paul Lacroix. FRIDAY QUADS:
Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Nh4 f5 21. D: Aaron J. Lee. E: Mark O. A: Eli M. Karp. B: Vaughn
Re2 f6 22. Rae1 Kf7 23. Nb3 b6 24. Nc1 ROCKEFELLER: Henry Lynch and Vijay Kannan. Wampole. C: Mark O. Lynch
c5 25. dxc5 bxc5 26. Nd3 f4 27. g3 fxg3 Deng, Austin Tang, and F: Jonah Kutikov. and Michael Dudley.
28. hxg3 a5 29. a3 a4 30. Ng2 Bf5 31. Sepehr Golsefidy, 5/6. G: Krishna K. Rallabandi. D: Albert Yang. E: Micaiah
Rxe8 Rxe8 32. Rxe8 Kxe8 33. Ngf4 Kd7 H: Otto Restelli. I: Varshini White. F: Irene Zhong.
34. Kf1, draw. IRWIN: IM Igor Venkat. J: Thanh Viet G: William Tianwen Luo.
Khmelnitsky, 5½/6. Nguyen and Nguyen Nam
PHOTO: IREDIA EKHATO

Lenderman qualifies for the 2022 U.S. Tran. K: Shriyan Vuyyuru. BLITZ: GM Alex Fishbein
Championship on the basis of this result. WEERAMANTRY BLITZ: L: Kanishk Mahesh. and Ryo Wenyu Chen.
2200+: GM Awonder Liang, M: Irene Zhong and Max
Chess Life will have a full report on the 7/8. 1800-2199: Ambica Mesirow. N: Stanley Ren. BUGHOUSE: Anish
Open and the five invitationals in our Yellamraju and Arnav O: Tanya Namboodiri. Lodh and Joseph
November issue. Tamnash Gupta, 7/8. 1400- P: Jack Eggleston. Cheng-Yue Wan.

44 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


CALL ENTRIES FOR
Chess Life is sponsoring a best game and best endgame contest
for games from the 2021 U.S. Open and the Invitational events.
Prizes of $150 (Best Game) and $100 (Best Endgame) will be
awarded in two categories: Open, and U1800.
To submit your game, send a .pgn (no plain-text submisssions
will be accepted) of the game, optionally with the player’s own
annotations, to [email protected] and clearly specify
which of the four prizes you are submitting for.
Submissions are due by September 15, 2021. They will appear
in the November 2021 issue of Chess Life.

y Hill, New J
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121st U.S. OPEN

Ju

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31 ,
- August 8

USCHESS.ORG ■ SEPTEMBER 2021 45


SOLITAIRE CHESS Instruction

8. … dxc4

The Fifth
Black makes the bishop move again, expect-
ing to play at some point a freeing ... e6-e5.**

9. Bxc4 Par Score 4

World Chess
White has lost an inconsequential tempo,
but does have more pawns in the center, at
least temporarily.

Champion
9. … Nd5
With this move and the previous one (8.
... dxc4), Black seeks some simplifying ex-
changes.**

10. Bxe7 Par Score 5


The Steady, Underrated Max Euwe This response is a bit better than the alter-
native, 10. Nxd5.
BY BRUCE PANDOLFINI
10. … Qxe7
Black prefers this recapture over the pas-
sively retreating 10. ... Nxe7.**

A
11. 0-0 Par Score 5
FTER PAUL MORPHY, FROM Euwe castles before considering the advance
1866 to 1934, four players were of the e-pawn.
considered to be the world’s
best chess player. In sequence, 11. … Nxc3
they were Wilhelm Steinitz, Thomas continues with central exchanges,
Emanuel Lasker, Jose Capablanca, and hoping to follow with his plan of ... e6-e5.**
Alexander Alekhine. The first player to
break into that special quadrivium was the 12. Rxc3 Par Score 5
Dutch mathematician Max Euwe (1901-1981). Taking back with the b-pawn is certainly
Known for his chessic pragmatism and his okay, but taking back with the rook is more
expertise in conducting the opening phase, consistent.
Euwe wrested away Alekhine’s title in 1935.
Commentators on the match tended to fault paper to cover the article, exposing White’s 12. … e5
Alekhine’s inconsistency. But actually, Euwe next move only after trying to guess it. If Naturally, Black continues with his plan to
played well and deserved his triumph. An you guess correctly, give yourself the par clear the c8-bishop’s line of development.**
example of Euwe’s cogent steadiness is his score. Sometimes points are also awarded
game against George Thomas (Black) at for second-best moves, and there may 13. Nxe5 Par Score 5
Hastings in 1934. From a balanced posi- even be bonus points — or deductions — This is slightly better than 13. dxe5, when
tion, the soon-to-be world chess champion for other moves and variations. Note that 13. ... Nb6 becomes a possibility. Accept full
mounted a strong attack, ending in a bril- ** means that White’s move is on the next credit for the steadfast 13. Qc2.
liant denouement. Starting with an English line.**
Opening, the game quickly transposed into 13. … Nxe5**
a Queen’s Gambit Declined. 7. Rc1 Par Score 5
This is a typical placement for the queen- 14. dxe5 Par Score 4
rook. It also avoids having to move the
QUEEN’S GAMBIT king-bishop twice (as it would in the varia- 14. … Qxe5
DECLINED (D69) tion 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4). Accept full credit The dust has cleared. It’s an open center,
Max Euwe for either 7. cxd5 or 7. Bd3. with White having the only central pawn.
George Thomas White has a kingside pawn majority and
Hastings, 1934 7. … c6 Black a queenside one.**
Black continues with a strong-point defense,
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. solidifying the d5-square. A potential prob- 15. f4 Par Score 5
e3 0-0 6. Nf3 Nbd7 lem here is the c8-bishop, which could end Euwe plays for the attack, while weakening
(sse diagram top of next column) up with limited scope.** the e3-pawn and e4-square.

Now ensure that the right position is set up 8. Bd3 Par Score 5 15. … Qe7
on your chessboard. As you play through the White develops the king-bishop anyway. Probably not the best answer. More in tune
remaining moves in this game, use a piece of Accept full credit for either 7. cxd5 or 7. Be2. with the position would be 15. ... Qe4.**

46 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


ABCS OF CHESS PROBLEM 1 PROBLEM 2 PROBLEM 3
THESE PROBLEMS ARE ALL Mating net Mating net Mating net
related to key positions in this
month’s game. In each case, Black
is to move. The answers can be
found in Solutions on page 59.

SEPTEMBER EXERCISE:
There are various ways to read
through a good collection of
games. You could play over
every game and note in careful
detail. This can be rewarding,
especially after completing the
task, but such an effort might be PROBLEM 4 PROBLEM 5 PROBLEM 6
needlessly laborious. You could Mating net Mating net Mating net
try another tack. That is, after
scanning through the collection,
you might be able to focus on
specific areas of chess to great-
er benefit. Perhaps there are
openings to understand better.
Maybe the diagrams will remind
you of themes you need to work
on. It’s hard to do everything. By
sometimes doing less, you can
accomplish more.

16. f5 Par Score 5 19. … Qxe3+ A crushing capture. White had other moves
Now that Black has not stopped this advance, This gets the pawn with check. On 19. ... too — 23. Rxf7 comes to mind — but this has
White forges ahead, preventing the black f5, White’s position is strong after 20. Rf3 be the strongest.
bishop from coming to a decent square. or 20. Qd4.**
23. … Rac8
16. … b5 20. Kh1 Par Score 4 The threat is serious: ... Rc8-c2.**
Black attempts to get counterplay, though Obviously, White doesn’t even want to con-
this does weaken the c6-pawn, making it a sider 20. Rf2, putting the rook in a pin. 24. R6f2 Par Score 5
potential target.** The future world champion doesn’t miss
20. … Bb7 the threat.
17. Bb3 Par Score 5 Black’s bishop momentarily is annoying,
White stays on the a2-f7 diagonal. Deduct 1 but only momentarily.** 24. … Rcd8
point if you missed that 17. Bd3 hangs the Thomas is trying to go down fighting.**
e-pawn with check. 21. Rcxf6 Par Score 5
White has a definite attacking advantage. 25. Qg5 Par Score 5
17. … b4 Black’s kingside has too many holes. Now it’s White’s turn to threaten mate.
Black has his eyes on the e3-pawn, but with
this move he is accepting weaknesses in 21. … Qe4 25. … Rd6
the process.** Don’t look now but mate is threatened on Black stops the queen check at f6, but it
the g2-square. Okay, you can look.** doen’t stop another winning idea.**
18. f6 Par Score 5
Black’s kingside is busted up. 22. Qd2 Par Score 5 26. Bd5 Par Score 8
The mate is dealt with and White’s queen A very nice interference shot. Black is headed
18. … gxf6 prepares to enter the game. toward being mated. For example, if 26. ...
Naturally, this advance gives Black some Rxf2, then 27. Qg8 mate; or if 26. ... Qxg2+
central counterchances.** 22. … Kh8 27. Qxg2 Bxd5, then 28. Rxf8+ mates. Nor
Black gets off the g-file to avoid being are any other variations for Black appealing.
19. Rxc6 Par Score 5 checked and possibly to place a rook on it. ** So instead...
Black now goes up a pawn, but White’s ini-
tiative is mounting. 23. Bxf7 Par Score 5 26. … Black resigned

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 47


BOOKS AND BEYOND Should I Buy It?

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Warts and All


Nigel Short’s Winning is a win for readers.
BY IM JOHN WATSON

cd

WINNING
Games/Chess

A S I PREPARED TO WRITE
this review of GM Nigel
Short’s game collection Win-
ning, newly released by Qual-
WINNINORGTplona 1999/2000, Budapest 2003,
Taiyuan 2004, and Anzali 2016. It’s
fun that he includes the latter, played
in Iran, because it’s considerably WINNING
ity Chess, it occurred to me
that Short, a giant figure to my generation, NIGEL SH
more recent than the others and
includes a lesser-known collection
might be relatively unknown to today’s of opponents, while being played
younger players. In fact, there’s not Grandm
nearaster Nigelunder uncommon
Short realised that every tournam and ent win
ge. In this exceptional chess
sometimes
has a unique narrative and challen
enough room to summarize his massively difficult
book, Short discuss es eight of conditions.
his foremo st tournam
ful game annota
ent
tions
wins,
and
describing the drama with insight
successful career, but I’ll mention aenterta
fewining anecdotes. Short
For thoseiswantin
a prolific journalist
g to win in chess, this
who
NIGEL SHORT

book is the place to start.


pertinent items. excels in telling stories success
about
ful chess
the vari-
of the most
English GM Nigel Short was one
Short was the youngest international ousand
players of the 1980s places
1990s and and wasevents
still in thehe’s describing.
top 100
career came in 1993, when
well into his 50s. The peak of his
master in the world and then the youngest He choosesionship
he challenged for the World Champ
onlyin rounda match robin events
against

Garry Kasparov.
grandmaster. He played in three Candidates since, he says, “I am intending (if the
tournaments, winning the last of them by book sells) that matches and open
defeating both GMs Anatoly Karpov and
Jan Timman decisively in matches in 1992
tournaments €32.99 will be covered$37.95
ly in future editions.” Let’s hope so.
separate- NIGEL SHORT
and 1993. He subsequently lost to GM Garry The book includes every type of
Kasparov in the only World Championship game from tactical slugfest to grand-
match ever to feature a British player. master draw, all thoroughly annotated.
Short was ranked third in the world for a I think most readers will be attracted
time in the late 1980s during the height of the by Short’s instructive comments and
Kasparov/Karpov rivalry. Over the course of advice, along with his characteristic humor. 8. ... Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. h5 g5
his career, he has won over 70 tournaments, For example, here are a few notes taken “Of course, I had no intention whatsoever
including super-tournaments that included from games: of permitting the opening of the h-file. If
Kasparov, Karpov, and Korchnoi. Among we take stock for a minute, it can be readily
his most impressive accomplishments has deduced that Black is already better, for two
been his ability to maintain his strength and ENGLISH OPENING (A21) reasons: superior development and king
continue to win tournaments into his 50s; IM Shahin Lorparizangeneh (2468) safety. The first is obvious and undeniable,
indeed, he has been the highest-rated truly GM Nigel Short (2652) but the second might be a little confusing.
active player in his age group for many years. Anzali, 2016 ‘Isn’t White attacking?’ you may ask. Well,
With that in mind, Short’s choice of for- yes, for now, but he has not achieved any-
mats for Winning is a bit unusual. Rather 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. e3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Nf3 thing significant. But soon, White will have
than display his greatest or flashiest games, Nh6 6. e4?! exd4! 7. Nxd4 0–0 8. h4 to resolve what to do with his own king. It
he examines every game he played, warts “O, the delightful optimism of youth! clearly cannot remain on el with a half-open
and all, in eight of the tournaments that White sees one strangely-placed piece e-file and ... f7-f5 as a potential break. Cas-
he won: Wijk aan Zee 1987, Reykjavik 1987, and he wants to smash me to bits without tling kingside would be inconsistent, with
Amsterdam 1991, Tallinn/Parnu 1998, Pam- even a pause.” the h-pawn already having strayed so far up

48 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


the board. That leaves only the queenside, 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. c6
but just look at the g7-bishop and the half- “Attempting to mix it up a little against
open b-file! The fact that the c-pawn is not an attack that proceeds like clockwork. On
on its original square contributes to White’s 25. gxf3, 25. … Bxf3+ 26. Bg2 Bxg2+ 27. Kxg2
woes. It can no longer block the diagonal Qg5+ picks up the rook on c1.”
and deprives White’s bishop of a useful
square — and has cost a tempo.” 25. ... Bxc6 26. Ne2

11. f4?
“ʻA bad plan is better than no plan at all’
is one of the most oft-quoted and ridiculous
sayings in chess. In real life it is the sort of
imbecility that leads to Brexit. …” the c-file. Here, with his crippled, doubled
Commenting upon a game against GM pawns, it is only a dream.”
Alex Yermolinsky in which Short had equal-
ized but in a position with an isolated pawn, 12. g3 Qe8 13. Rg1 Qg6 14. Ba3 b6 15.
he makes a point we can all relate to: “With 0–0–0 Bg4 16. Rde1 fxg3 17. fxg3 Rf3 18.
just a solitary weakness, there really should Rg2 Raf8 19. Rd2 Nb8
be no worries. But sometimes that is exactly “When searching for the right plan, you
the problem. If you are under a direct attack, can do a lot worse than improving the po-
you are compelled to respond resolutely. But sition of your worst placed piece — particu- How to continue the attack?
when you have several plausible candidate larly when your opponent cannot undertake
moves at your disposal you can easily drift, active operations. Neither of Black’s knights 26. ... Qh4! 27. gxf3 Qxf2 28. Nf4 Bxf3+
feeling that anything and everything is fine. is doing much at moment and so a little 29. Bg2 Rd2 30. Rg1
Barely perceptible inaccuracies can add up regrouping is in order.” What now?
and then suddenly you find that the situation
has become uncomfortable.” 20. Kb1 a5 21. Nc1 Nf6 30. ... Be4!, White resigned.
Short’s remark after the third move of “Black has a plan of ... Nd7, ... Na6 and Wonderful. Black probably saw this way
the following game describes a problem then to place either knight on c5, so as to back on move 23. The f4-knight is attacked,
I frequently encountered in my play, and dislodge the d3-bishop — the glue that holds and it’s over after 31. Qa1 Qxf4 32. Qe1 Rxg2
will doubtless resonate with many players: together the White position.” 33. Rxg2 Qf3 34. Qg1 g5.

22. c5 bxc5 23. Qa4 Nbd7 24. Qc6 Rxd3 Winning is easy to read, with anecdotes
NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE (E32) 25. Rxd3 Nxe4 26. Ka1 Nb6 27. Qxc7 Nc4 about the events, players, and the “chess
GM Krunoslav Hulak (2540) 28. Bb2 Nf2 29. Rde3 Nd1 30. Rxd1 Nxe3 life.” Short’s thoughtful annotations empha-
GM Nigel Short (2615) 31. Rd2 Nc2+ 32. Rxc2 Qxc2 33. Qxd6, size conceptual descriptions over analytical
Wijk aan Zee, 1987 White resigned. detail, although there is enough of the latter
Note that mate follows 33. Qxd6 beginning to satisfy the studious reader. This is one
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 with 33. … Bf5. of the most enjoyable game collections in
“The Nimzo-Indian has been part of my recent years, and I can recommend it to
repertoire since an early age. It enjoys an Short’s attacking skills are illustrated in players of all strengths.
excellent reputation and leads to unbalanced this classic game:
positions — an important consideration if I should note that I read this book using
you want to win games. The biggest draw- the Forward Chess version on their e-book
back with regularly playing positions with QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED app. Being somewhat old-fashioned, I usu-
which you have had a lot of experience is (D58) ally prefer the readability and comfort of a
the strong tendency to mistakenly believe GM Miguel Illescas Cordoba (2600) physical copy. But the e-book contains all
that you understand them. The consequent GM Nigel Short (2675) the same material and allows one to play
indolence, and lack of studying, inevitably Pamplona, 1999 through the moves of every game on their
leads to a repetition of positions that are app, so it’s a nice option. See www.forward-
familiar — although not necessarily good.” 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. chess.com to see their extensive selection of
Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 0–0 7. e3 b6 8. Be2 Bb7 9. relatively inexpensive books from 15 chess
4. Qc2 0–0 5. Nf3 d6 6. e4 e5 7. d5 Bxc3+ Bxf6 Bxf6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. 0–0 Qe7 12. publishers including New in Chess, Quality
8. bxc3 Na6 9. Nd2 Nh5 10. Nb3 f5 11. Qb3 Rd8 13. Rfd1 c6 14. Bf1 Na6 15. Rd2 Chess, Everyman Chess, Thinkers Publish-
Bd3 f4 Nc7 16. a4 Ne6 17. a5 b5 18. Qa2 a6 19. ing, Chess Stars, Russell Enterprises, Elk
(see diagram top of next column) Rc1? c5! 20. dxc5 d4! 21. Nxd4 Bxd4 22. and Ruby, and others.
exd4 Nxd4 23. Kh1 Nf3!!
“As Pliester noted in the tournament book, “The reason why White’s position is so Short, Nigel. Winning. Quality Chess, 2021.
when Black obtains this advance in the hopeless is that the queen is on just about ISBN-13 9781784831592, 416 pages. (Available
King’s Indian, White usually already has the worst square on the board; a million from uscfsales.com, product code B0188QT,
activity with the c4-c5 push and play down miles from protecting the king.” $37.95.)

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 49


PUZZLES Make Your Move!

MAKE➠YOUR➠MOVE
BY FM CARSTEN HANSEN Try first to solve the puzzle before reading the text at the bottom
of the page. If unsuccessful, play through the solution, but return
This month’s puzzles are from a mix from the team championships to the puzzle in 1-2 weeks to see if you can now solve it. That way
of France and Russia as well as other top events. you gradually expand your tactical vision, and it will be more likely
The puzzles start from easy and gradually move toward being that you will spot tactics as they occur in your own games. Whatever
difficult. It is worth noting that “easy” is a relative term. If you are you do, do not use an engine to solve the puzzles. You will only cheat
new to the game, the easy ones can also represent a challenge. yourself out of improving your game.

TACTIC I. TACTIC II. TACTIC III.

WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE

TACTIC IV. TACTIC V. TACTIC VI.

BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE

TACTIC VII. TACTIC VIII. TACTIC IX.

BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE

POSITION 1: OVERBURDENED DEFENDER POSITION 4: REMOVE ONE, MAKE ROOM POSITION 7: DISTRACTED ATTACKERS
POSITION 2: NO ROOM TO DEFEND POSITION 5: UNWELCOME VISITOR POSITION 8: SURGICAL PRECISION
POSITION 3: STACKING UP POSITION 6: HAMMERING HOLES POSITION 9: STRIKES FROM ALL ANGLES

50 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


The Executive Board authorizes a temporary change in the US Chess Grand Prix (GP) rules for the period March 4, 2020 through September 30, 2021 out of concern for the unforeseeable impacts
the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) could have on participation in GP events. The change allows organizers with guaranteed prize funds to change the status of their prize fund without first seeking US
Chess permission to make the change. More specifically, organizers who have announced “$XXX in Guaranteed prizes” (or similar words) for their GP events shall be allowed to re-state their
prize funds in their publicity as “$XXX in Projected prizes based on ### players,” where ### represents the number of players in last year’s event rounded to the nearest five players. For new GP
events lacking historical attendance data, the organizer shall specify a “based on” number of players as part of the Projected Prize Fund language in their publicity. This decision includes all GP
tournaments that already have been advertised in Chess Life. For any GP events being publicly advertised (whether by TLA, another website, flyers, emails, social media, etc.), organizers shall take
all necessary steps to ensure their revised pre-tournament announcements call attention to this change in prize fund status and provide the appropriate “Projected based on XXX players” in the
language of their updated publicity. US Chess asks that the chess community support this temporary change in the spirit that it is intended. The Executive Board shall revisit this matter as necessary.

NATIONAL EVENTS & BIDS NOW ON USCHESS.ORG Effective with the November 2020 Chess Life, we have removed the National Events and Bids page that has traditionally been
part of our TLA section. This information continues to be available here: new.uschess.org/national-events-calendar

Nationals
Once this coding error was identified in December Memb Rqrd, MCA Memb Rqrd for Michigan residents. com/register?event_key=_douPxlRNgJmTClLNxx-
2020, manual re-calculations for all 2020 Grand Prix 5-2SS. TL: G5;d0. Rds: Starts at 3:30pm. EF: $20 fRg%3D%3D INFO: www.centralflchess.org/events
events were undertaken to ensure the accuracy of online in adv. $25 onsite. Reg: www.onlineregistra- or email: [email protected], Tournament Di-
the standings. As a result of this, some players had tion.cc, Sat 9:00am-3:00pm. $$: 1st Trophy + $150, rector: Steven Vigil call/text (321) 297-7087 or email
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT • GRAND PRIX points added compared to previously published 2nd: $125, 3rd: $100, 4th: $75, 5th: $50; Trophy 1st, at: [email protected] - Please see our
• ENHANCED GRAND PRIX standings, whereas a few players had points re- 2nd U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400, U1200, U1000, website at www.centralflchess.org/events for the
moved. We are confident that these final standings U800, U600, U400, Unr Address: 111 N. Grand Ave, latest Covid-19 information for this event.
2021 U.S. Masters Championship reflect the correct allotment of Grand Prix points as Lansing, MI 48933. Organizer: Jeff Aldrich Email:
stated in program regulations. [email protected] Phone: 810-955-7271 Web- GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
NOVEMBER 24-28, NORTH CAROLINA site: https://www.michess.org/
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 200 (ENHANCED) Indy FIDE $10,000

2020 AWARDS
Hilton University Place Charlotte Hotel, 8629 JM GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX SEPTEMBER 24-26 OR 25-26, INDIANA
Keynes Drive, Charlotte, NC. A US Chess national US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 30
event. 9 round Swiss, held alongside 2021 North 2021 Las Vegas Open
5SS; 3 or 2 Day Option. Delta Hotels by Marriott,
Carolina Open. USCF and FIDE-rated, GM/IM/WGM/
WIM norms possible, will almost certainly be a FIDE
$12,500 in cash prizes SEPTEMBER 15-19, 16-19, 0R 17-19, NEVADA 5860 Fortune Cir W, Indianapolis, IN 46241. Free
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 300 WIFI, Free Airport Shuttle,Free Parking, Restaurant
“Super Swiss” event. Open to players rated or once First Prize: $5,000 Open Section September 15-19: 9-SS, G/90 +30. on site. $10,000 BASED ON 130 PAID ENTRIES!
rated at least 2200 USCF/FIDE, plus players with the 2nd: $2,500 3rd: $1,000 GM & IM norms possible. Under Sections Septem- Premier (1901+) [FIDE Rated] $1200, $800, $500,
NM, FM, or WFM titles. Also eligible are juniors (U20) ber 16-19 or 17-19: 7-SS, G/90 +30 (3-day round 1 $300 U2300: $600, $400 U2100: $500, $300 Reserve
or foreign FIDE federation players rated or once 4th: $900 5th: $800
G/45 +10). Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, 3700 W (1601-1900) $800, $500, $300; U1750: $200 Novice
rated 2000+ USCF or FIDE, additional fee applies. 6th: $700 7th: $600 Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas $30,000 Guaranteed Prize (1301-1600) $800, $500, $300; U1450: $200 Appren-
$17,000 guaranteed prize fund in 1 section: 8th: $500 9th: $300 Fund. Open: 3000-1500-700-300-200; top under tice (unrated -1300) $800, $500, $300; U1000: $200
$5000-2500-1600-1200-1000-800-600-500, clear or 2300: 1000-500. $300 bonus prize for the first 20 Bonus: Trophies to all prize winners in Reserve,
playoff winner $500, top U2400 FIDE $1200-600, 10th: $200
GMs, WGMs or foreign IMs who enter and play all 9 Novice, and Apprentice! (USCF tiebreaks used for
top U2250 FIDE $1000-500. Free Blitz: Saturday rounds with no byes. Under 2200: 1500-750-350- trophies) Premier Section: FIDE + USCF rated, uses
9:00-10:45pm, $1000 prize fund, free entry to US 250-200. Top under 2050: 500-250. Under 1900: FIDE rules. This tournament will use USCF ratings
Masters players, $30 for others. Time Control: Name State Pts 1500-750-350-250-200. Top under 1750: 500-250. for pairings and prize purposes. Foreign players
G/100, inc/30. Schedule: Registration closes Wed 1. IM ZURABI JAVAKHADZE TX 80.00 must disclose their FIDE ID before the first round.
Under 1600: 1500-750-350-250-200. Top under
4:30pm, rounds Wed 6:30pm, Thu 11am, 5pm, Fri 2. IM JOHN DANIEL BRYANT CA 66.50 USA players without a FIDE ID must agree to rep-
1450: 500-250. Under 1300: 1200-600-250-200-200.
11am, 5pm, Sat 11am, 5pm, Sun 11am, 5pm. Up to 3. FM ROBERT SHLYAKHTENKO CA 58.50 resent USA in international competition in order
4. GM ALEXANDER SHABALOV PA 57.50 Top under 1000: 400-200. Top under 800: 400-200.
3 optional byes available, request at registration, Top unrated 400-200. Mixed Doubles: best male/ to play and must provide necessary information
norms and conditions not possible if taking byes. 5. IM AARON GRABINSKY OR 48.60 to receive a FIDE ID. Default late forfeiture time is 1
6. GM FRANCESCO RAMBALDI MO 44.00 female combined 2-player team score: 1000-500-
Boards, sets, clocks provided for all games, must 200. Average rating below 2200, teammates may hour. TD may extend at TD’s discretion. Players must
use our equipment. November FIDE ratings used 7. GM FIDEL CORRALES JIMENEZ MA 42.00 use provided score sheets and submit copies each
8. GM HANS NIEMANN CT 39.43 play in different sections, only rounds 1-7 count for
for pairings and prizes. Hotel Rate: $101/night, Open Section. Unrated or provisionally rated players round. No electronic notation devices allowed in
1 or 2 beds. Entry Fee: GMs, Foreign IMs free, no 9-10. IM PRAVEEN BALAKRISHNAN VA 38.00 the Premier section.Schedule All Sections: 3-Day:
9-10. GM BRANDON JACOBSON NJ 38.00 may not win more than $400 in any under section,
deduction from prize. U.S. IMs: $199 by 10/20, $219 balance goes to next players in line. EF Open: $199 (G/90, inc/30) Fri: 7PM Sat: 10:30 am 4:30 pm Sun:
by 11/15, $239 after. Regular Entry: $249 by 10/20, by 7/31, $239 by 8/31, $260 later. $100 less for for- 9 am 2:30 pm 2-Day: (Rounds 1 & 2 = G/45, inc/5)
$269 by 11/15, $289 after. Junior/foreign players HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED eign FIDE rated players. $100 more for players who (Rounds 3-5 = G/90, inc/30) Sat: 10:30 am, 1 pm, 4:30
with peak ratings under 2200: $100 more than reg- GRAND PRIX • STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT have never been rated 2200 USCF or 2100 FIDE. GM, pm (merge) Sun: 9 am 2:30 pm First two rounds of
ular entry. Conditions: GMs and Foreign IMs are 2-day Premier section not FIDE rated.Byes: Up to
eligible for conditions, which must be arranged 2021 Harvey Lerman Florida WGM and foreign IM free by 8/31. Under sections:
two ½ point byes available if requested before the
$139 by 7/31, $159 by 8/31, $180 later. Re-entry $100
in advance, contact Dr. Walter High, wmhigh@ State Championship cannot re-enter into same schedule and section. end of round 2, cannot be changed. TD reserves the
nc.rr.com early. See official website, https://www. SEPTEMBER 3-6, FLORIDA 5-day schedule (Open Only): Register by 5 Wed right to combine sections based on turnout. Un-
charlottechesscenter.org/usmasters, for more US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 30 (ENHANCED) Rds 6:30, 1-6:30, 10-3:30, 10-3:30. 4-day schedule: rated may play up at TD’s discretion. Bring boards,
information, refund policy, COVID precautions. Register by 5 Thu Rds 6:30, 1-6:30, 1-6:30, 10-3:30, sets and clocks, supplies are limited.Entry Fees:
6SS, G/90+30 sec incr. (3-day option all sections Rd.
Registration & entry list: https://www.chess. 10-3:30 3-day schedule: Register by 9 Fri Rds 10-1- $128 by 9/10, $140 after, $160 on site. Discounts:
1 G/60 d5). b/200 paid entries, 50% min. Gtd. Open
stream/usmasters/Register, Questions: grant@ 6:30, 10-3:30, 10-3:30 Half point byes available in any $10 discount to senior players (55+) Re-entry: $65.
(also FIDE rated): $1100/Trophy-600-400, U2250
charlottechesscenter.org round if requested at least 2 hours before the round; Re-entry is not allowed in the Premier Section. Play-
$300. U2100: $700/Trophy-400-200, U1950 $100.
Sunday byes must be requested before the start of ing Up: Players may play up ONE section for a $25
U1800: $700/Trophy-400-200, U1650 $100. U1500:

Grand Prix
round 4 and may not be cancelled. Chess sets and fee. Minimum USCF rating to play up in the Premier
$700/Trophy-400-200, U1350 $100. U1200: $700/
boards provided for tournament play only, not for Section is 1800, no exceptions.GM IM WGM FREE
Trophy-400-200, U1000 $100. Unr. limited to $100
Entry! No deduction If committed By 9/10- Please
unless place prize in Open section. EF: $99 by Aug. skittles. Please bring digital chess clocks! ENTER
contact TD. Email: [email protected] or
23, $10 more by Aug. 30, $20 more later & on-site, Vegas Chess Festivals, PO Box 90925, Henderson, NV
call / text 317-286-6183 to register. PayPal: PayPal
GMs & IMs free ($99 deducted from prize). Re-entry 89009-0925, online at chess.vegas after 6/21. Info:
The Grand Prix point totals reflect all rated event infor- users please send payment to: bccc.tournaments@
$49. Reg.: Ends 1/2 hr. before 1st rd. Rds.: 4-Day 1st (702) 930-9550. FIDE NS W
mation as of March 23, 2021 for the 2020 Grand Prix. gmail.com. Please Include your USCF and FIDE ID (if
Rd. Fri. 7:30; 3-Day 1st Rd. Sat. 10; all sections 2nd
GRAND PRIX applicable),published regular rating, schedule, and
Rd. Sat. 1:15; 3rd Rd. 6:30, 4th Rd. Sun. 10:00; 5th Rd.
best contact info to send entry confirmation. Add $4
2020 GRAND PRIX STANDINGS 3:15; 6th Rd. Mon. 9:30. 2 1/2 pt. byes, if req’d before
rd. 3. Blitz Championship: G/5 d0, Sun. 8:30 p.m., CFCC Back to the Board In-Person for PayPal fee / per player. Credit Card: by phone
We apologize for any confusion regarding the Grand Prizes based on entries, EF: $25. Quick Champion- Open Tournament ok until 9/23, player pays cc fees. PayPal or cash at
site, no checks. Please join / renew USCF member-
Prix standings. The final standings here have incon- ship: G/15 d3, Mon. 2:30 p.m., Prizes based on en- SEPTEMBER 18-19, FLORIDA
tries, EF: $25. State chess association membership ship at least 24 hours before the tournament. Max-
sistencies when compared to the standings pub- US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 15 imum player capacity may be limited to 150. Early
lished in the January 2021 Chess Life, which covered req. for all events. Out of state players welcome. FCA
board meeting Sun. 8:30 a.m., FCA annual meeting Central Florida Chess Club, 865 North State Road registration is highly encouraged. (The last few
events through December 1, 2020. What follows is an 434, Altamonte Springs, FL., 32714 (next to Brew- events have sold out!) Sign up early and guaran-
explanation for those inconsistencies. Sun. 9:15 a.m. HR: $139, Includes Internet, refrigera-
tor & free parking for all. Call 800-445-8667 and men- ster’s Ice Cream). $1,175 in Prizes - 100% Guar- tee your spot! Our last FIDE event had 155 players!
tion “BRCC9”. The rate is guaranteed thru August 20. anteed! Open 5SS G/90;d5 - Limited Seating (40 Cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.
The system that has calculated Grand Prix standings Players Only). Prizes - 1st $400 - 2nd $240 - 3rd php?202105168032.0-12787646 On site registration:
for many years failed to credit players from certain Ent: Boca Raton Chess Club, 7050 W. Palmetto Park
Rd., Ste. 15-550, Boca Raton, FL 33433. Online entry $160 Top Under U1800/U1500/U1200 $125/ea. Ear- Friday: 4:30 to 5:45 pm. Saturday: 8 am to 9:30 am.
membership categories with the points they earned ly Entry Fee $60 (by Aug 20th), Late Entry Fee $70 Face coverings may be required depending on In-
in Grand Prix events ending after July 7, 2020. This & addl info: www.bocachess.com, 561-302-4377.
(after Aug 20th) Requested Byes: ½-pt, must com- diana Covid-19 rules. Sanitizer, Scoresheets, pens,
was an unintended consequence of a coding change GRAND PRIX • STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT mit before Round 2 is paired (max 2 byes) Round ibuprofen etc., Water stations available (All Free). No
in our new membership database that launched Times: Sat: 10am/2pm/6pm, Sun: 10am/2pm Free eating at the board, drinks are ok. NO CELL PHONES
on July 10, 2020. As a result of this coding change, 2021 Michigan Speed Parking - Free Chess Lecture 9:00-9:45am with / ELECTRONIC DEVICES! Subject to DQ. Metal De-
points had been incorrectly given to players who Championship FM Alex Zelner - Chess Store: Open during tour- tectors will be used. Blitz Side Event: 7 SS Open
finished lower in the event standings, as the correct nament hours, CFCC Club Membership EF discount double round (14 games); Sat. 9:30 pm, USCF blitz
players had been skipped. Due to the lack of Grand SEPTEMBER 4, MICHIGAN available: $10 ($5 for Jr/Sr) (Must be current, see rated, G3 +2, EF: $25 (GM’s Free) $275, $175, $125,
Prix events after July 7, this error was not immedi- US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 10 onsite TD to claim discount.Online Registration U1800 $100, U1500 $75, based on 45 paid entries.
ately identified. Held with the Michigan Open. USCF Blitz rated. USCF Only (No On-site Entry): https://www.chessregister. September Published USCF Blitz ratings used. Ques-

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 51


TOURNAMENT LIFE See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing September 1-14

tions: Please email B C Chess Club at: bcchessclub- prize pool: $4000 divided evenly among foreign GMs ment, paid electronically through Zelle or PayPal.. HERITAGE EVENT • AMERICAN CLASSIC •
[email protected] or call / text 317-286-6183 anytime who play all 9 games with no byes. Minimum prize Bring set, board, clock if possible- none supplied. ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
Please go to our Facebook Page: B C Chess Club $300 to US GMs and foreign IMs/WGMs who play all Blitz tmt. Sat 9:30 pm, reg. By 9:15 pm.
for more updates, photos and details. Hotel Rate: 9 games with no byes. Under 2200: $2000-1000-500- 38th Annual Sands Regency Reno-
$105 by 9/18 Call 317-247-9700 or go to link. 20% 300-200, top Under 2000 (no Unr) $1200-600. Under HERITAGE EVENT • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX Western States Open
discount at on-site restaurant, mention the chess 1800: $1700-900-500-300-200, top Under 1600 (no
tournament. Hotel Link: https://www.marriott.com/ Unr) $800-400. Under 1400: $1000-500-300-200- Norman Friedman Memorial & OCTOBER 15-17 AND 16-17, NEVADA
events/start.mi?id=1622041882371&key=GRP. ORGA- 100, top Under 1200 (no Unr) $400-200. Prize lim- National Chess Day Tournament US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 150 (ENHANCED)
NIZER: B C Chess Club Email: bccc.tournaments@ its: Unrated cannot win over $200 in U1400 or $400 OCTOBER 8-10, IDAHO OPEN SECTION FIDE RATED $$27,500 b/275
gmail.com Phone: 13172866183 Website: https:// in U1800. If current Online Regular rating is more GTD$$17,000, 6SS, 6 Sections, OPEN Section 40/2,
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 15
www.facebook.com/indychessfun/ than 50 points over section or prize maximum, prize G/55 Min-d5, (“X”,“A”, “B”, “C”, “D” Sections 40/2,
limit $300. Mixed doubles bonus prizes: best male/ Round Times: Friday, 7:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am, 2:00 G/1-d5 - 2-Day Schedule G/1-d5) . Sands Regen-
HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED female 2-player team combined score among all pm, Sunday 9:00 am, 2:00 pm Location: Riverside Ho- cy Hotel/Casino, 345 N. Arlington Ave. Reno, NV
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX sections: $1000-500. Only first 7 rounds of Premier tel, 2900 W Chinden Blvd, Garden City, Idaho Format: 89501.1-866-386-7829 or (775) 348-2200. $$27,500
counted. Team must average under 2200; may play 5SS G/90; +30 Sections: Open Section Registration b/275, GTD $$17,000 (1st – 7th OPEN Section) plus
25th annual Eastern Chess in different sections; register (no extra fee) before fee: $60/non-members, $50/ICA members, $40/scho- ½ of all other prizes. OPEN (2200 & above) EF: $179,
Congress both players begin round 2. Ratings: October FIDE lastic. Requirements: US Chess membership, chess (2000-2199) EF: $250, (1999 & below) EF: $300, (GMs
ratings used in Premier, USCF October official in equipment provided but feel free to bring your own.
OCTOBER 1-3 OR 2-3, NEW JERSEY Prizes: Guaranteed prizes! 1st place ($300), 2nd place
& IMs free but must enter by (9/18) or pay late fee).
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 120 (ENHANCED) other sections. Unofficial web ratings usually used if $$2,000-1,000-900-800-700-600-500, (2399/below)-
otherwise unrated, Top 3 sections EF: $168 online ($200), 3rd place ($100). Class prizes: 1st place ($50) $1,000-500, (2299/below)- $1,000-500. (If there is a
5SS, 40/80, SD/30+30 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 at chessaction.com by 10/5, 5-day $175, 4-day $174, for each Class B, C, D, E, UNR. 1st - 3rd place scholastic
d10), Hyatt Regency Princeton, 102 Carnegie Cen- tie for 1st then a playoff for $100 out of prize fund
3-day $173 if check mailed by 9/23, all $200 at site player trophies. Other Info: Mention chess if staying at
ter, Princeton, NJ 08540. Free parking, wireless & plus trophy). EXPERT Section (2000-2199) EF: $179;
or online until 1 hour before rd 1. U1400 Section: hotel; (208) 343-1871. Side Event: Blitz, Saturday, Oct.
fitness center, 10% discount in hotel restaurant (ex- $$2,000-1,000-500-300-300. Sec. “A”(1800-1999)
all EF $50 less than top 3 sections EF. Premier GMs 9, 7:00 pm, 7 SS, G/5;+3, $10 for ICA Members, $15 for
cept alcohol). $$ 20,000 guaranteed. In 7 sections. EF: $178; $$1,800-900-500-300-300, Sec. “B” (1600-
& foreign IMs/WGMs $50 at chessaction by 9/23, $100 non-members, prizes: $75/1st place, $50/2nd place,
Premier (1900/up, see peakrating.us): $2000-1000- 1799) EF: $177; $$1,700-800-400-300-300, Sec. “C”
after 9/23 or at site; US IMs/WGMs, foreign FIDE rated $25/3rd place. Payment on site only. THIS IS A FIDE and
500-300, clear win or 1st on tiebreak $100, top USCF (1400-1599) EF: $176; $$1,500-700-400-300-300,
$90 at chessaction by 9/23, $140 after 9/23 or at site. US CHESS RATED EVENT - US CHESS MEMBERSHIP IS
U2300 $800-400. FIDE. Under 2100: $1400-700-400- REQUIRED. Sponsored by the Idaho Chess Association. Sec. “D”/under (1399 & below) EF: $165; $$1,000-
Special 1 yr USCF dues with magazine if paid with 500-300-200; (1199 & below) - $$300; 2-Day EF: $175
200. FIDE. Under 1900: $1400-700-400-200. Under entry: Online at chessaction.com, Adult $40, Young Details or questions: Adam (208)450-9048 or ida-
1700: $1300-700-400-200. Under 1500: $1200-600- [email protected] (No Open Section). Top Senior (65+) -$200; Club
Adult $25, Youth $18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 & $20. Champ.-$600-300. ALL: Entries must be postmarked
400-200. Under 1300: $1000-500-300-200. Under No checks at site, credit cards OK. Re-entry: $80, no
1100: $500-300-200-100. Mixed doubles: best male/ HERITAGE EVENT • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • by 9/18 or pay late fee-$11, do not mail after 10/8 or
Premier to Premier. 5-day schedule (Premier only): JUNIOR GRAND PRIX • STATE CHAMPIONSHIP email after 10/12, $22 at site. Trophies: Open Cham-
female 2-player combined score among all sections: Reg. ends Thu 6 pm, rds. Thu 7 pm, Fri 1 pm & 7 pm,
$800-400-200. Must average under 2200; may play EVENT pion, 1st Senior, 1st Unrated, 1st Expert and 1st – 3rd
Sat 11 am & 5 pm, Sun 10 am & 4 pm, Mon 10 am & (“A” – “D” sections). Unrated players are free entry
in different sections; register (no extra fee) by 2
pm 10/2. Unrated prize limits: $100 U1100, $200
3:30 pm. 4-day schedule: Reg. ends Fri 6 pm, rds Fri 89th Massachusetts Open but not eligible for cash prizes- must join USCF for
7 pm. Sat 11 & 5, Sun 10 & 4, Mon 10 & 3:30. 3-day OCTOBER 9-11, MASSACHUSETTS 1 full year thru this tournament. 1st UNR = Trophy +
U1300, $300 U1500, $400 U1700, $500 U1900. Top schedule: Reg. ends Sat 10 am, rds Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun
5 sections EF: $118 online at chessaction.com by US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 120 1 yr USCF Mem. Senior Discount (65+) - $20. Players
10 & 4, Mon 10 & 3:30. Byes: OK all; limit 3 (limit 2 may play up. Provisionally rated players may only
9/29, 3-day $123, 2-day $122 mailed by 9/21, all $140 6SS, 40/120, SD/30, d5 (2-day schedule, G/45, d5 in
in last 4 rds), must commit before rd 3. Electronic win ½ of 1st place money (except Open Section
at site, or online until 2 hrs before round 1. Under rounds 1-3). No 2-day schedule in Championship
device rules: see devicerules.com. Awards: If not 1st-7th). CCA ratings may be used. Note: pairings
1100 EF: all $50 less than above. All: No checks at sect. Boston Marriott Quincy, 1000 Marriott Drive,
claimed at tournament, paid electronically by Zelle not changed for color unless 3 in a row or cause a
site, credit cards OK. Unofficial uschess.org ratings Quincy MA 02169. Masks may be required. $$7,500
or Paypal. HR: $99-99-109-119, link at chessevents. plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in
usually used if otherwise unrated. If Online Regu- G. 4 sects. Championship (open to players rated
us or 703-620-9000, reserve by 9/17 or rate may a row may be assigned. SIDE EVENTS: Wed. (10/13)
lar rating is 50 or more points over section or prize 1800 or above): $3,000-1,000-500, top U2300 $500.
increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD 7:00pm GM Sergey Kudrin – Clock Simul with game
maximum, prize limit $300. Special 1 year USCF FIDE. 3-day schedule only. Under 2100: $450-250,
#D657633 or reserve car online at chesstour.com. analysis (ONLY $30!); Thurs. (10/14) 6-7:15pm Lec-
dues with magazine if paid with entry. Online at top U1950 $200. Under 1800: $400-200, top U1650
Ent: Continental Chess, Box 8482, Pelham NY 10803. ture by IM John Donaldson (FREE); 7:30pm-GM En-
chessaction.com, Adult $40, Young Adult $25, Youth $200. Under 1500: $300-150, top U1350 $150, top
Questions: [email protected] Refunds, $15 service rico Sevillano - Simul ($20); 7:30pm-Blitz (G/5 d0))
$18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 & $20. Re-entry $50 U1200 $150. State championship title to high scor-
charge. Entries posted at chessaction.com (click Tourney ($25) 80% entries = Prize Fund. Sat. (10/16)
(no Premier to Premier). GMs $100 from prize. 3-day ing Mass. resident or student in each sect. Unrated
“entry list” after entering). Bring set, board, clock (3-4:30pm) Free Game/Position Analysis - IM John
schedule: Reg. ends Fri 6 pm, rds. Fri 7, Sat 11 & 5, prize limits: $200 in U2100, $150 in U1800, $100 in
if possible- none supplied. Blitz tournament Sun. Donaldson. REG: (Thurs,10/14) 5-8pm (Friday,10/15)
Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-day schedule: Reg. ends Sat 10 am, U1500, can’t win title. EF: $60 for 3-day, $59 for 2-day
9:30 pm, enter by 9:15 pm.
rds. Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. Bye: all, limit 2; must if mailed by 10/4 or online by 10/7, $75 at site. GMs 9-10am and (Sat,10/16) 9-10 am. RDS: (Fri) 12-7, (Sat)
commit before rd 2. HR: $123-123, 609-987-1234 or HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED and IMs free. $25 discount to players in U1500 sect. 10-6, (Sun) 9:30-4:30. 2-Day (10/16) Rd 1 (10:30 am),
use link at chesstour.com, reserve by 9/9. Car rental: GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX rated under 1000 or unrated. 3-day Schedule: Reg. Rd 2 (12:45 pm), Rd 3 (3:00 pm), Rd 4 merge with reg-
Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD #D657633. Ent: chess- Sat. 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Rds. Sat. 10:30 & 5, Sun. 10:30 ular schedule – (6:00 pm). Byes available any round
action.com or Continental Chess, Box 8482, Pelham, 29th annual Midwest Class & 5, Mon. 10 & 4. 2-day Schedule (U2100 to U1500 if requested by Rd.1 (Open Section 2 byes max).ENT:
NY 10803. Questions: [email protected]. $15 service Championships only): Reg. Sun. 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Rds. Sun. 10:30, make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY
charge for refunds. Entries posted at chessaction. 1, 3 & 5, Mon. 10 & 4. Schedules merge in round 4. (address listed above), postmarked by 9/18. $11 late
com (click “entry list” after entering) Awards: If not OCTOBER 8-10 OR 9-10, ILLINOIS fee if postmarked after 9/18. Do not mail after 10/8
Byes: 1-5 in Championship sect., 1-6 in others, limit
claimed at tournament, paid electronically through US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 120 (ENHANCED) 2, rounds 4-6 must commit before rd. 2. Massachu- or email after 10/12 - $22 late fee at site. HR: (Sun-
Zelle or Paypal. Bring set, board, clock if possible- 5SS, 40/80, SD/30+30 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 setts Blitz Championship: Sun. 10/10, 5SS (dbl), Thurs. $65.30) (Fri. & Sat. $117.51) 1-866-386-7829
none supplied. Blitz tournament Sat. 9:30 pm, en- d10), Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, 601 North G/5 d0. Blitz rated but higher of blitz and regular Reservation Code: CHESS2021 (Reserve by 10/1/21
ter by 9:15 pm. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090 (from Chicago, ratings used for pairings and prizes. EF $10 if playing to get Chess rate. Under 21 years of age must check
I-294 north to US-45 north; from Milwaukee, I-94 to in main tnmt., else $15. 75% of EFs returned as priz- in the hotel with an adult.) ALL prize winners (includ-
GRAND PRIX Lake Cook Rd to US-45 south). Free parking. $20,000 es. Reg. ends 9:15 p.m., 1st rd. at 9:30 p.m., others ing juniors attending with parents) must have pho-
Bennington Fall Open in guaranteed prizes. In 7 sections. Premier (2000/ ASAP. Bye allowed 1st rd. Scholastic Sections: K-12 to id to collect prize money at site. ***Neither the
up): $2000-1000-500-300, clear win or 1st on tie- U1500 and K-12 U700 on Sat. 10/9, K-3 U1200 and tournament director(s) nor the Sands Regency will
southwestern Vermont break $100, top U2300 $800-400. FIDE. 1800-2099: K-3 U400 on Sun. 10/10, K-6 U1400 and K-6 U500 on be held liable for any player/spectator whose health
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2021, VERMONT $1400-700-400-200. FIDE. 1600-1899/Unr: $1400- Mon. 10/11. Each is 4SS, G/30 d5. EF: $20 if mailed by may be compromised by attending the tournament.
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 6 700-400-200. 1400-1699/Unr: $1300-700-400-200. 10/4 or online by 10/7, $25 at site. Reg. 9:30 to 10:30 In addition, the tournament may be restricted
SS, G/60 d5. Bennington Free Library, 101 Silver St., 1200-1499/Unr: $1200-600-400-200. Under 1300/ a.m., 1st rd. at 11 a.m., others ASAP. Trophies to top based on current State/Government Covid19 regu-
Bennington, VT 05201. Three sections. Open: $$Gtd: Unr: $1000-500-300-200. Under 1100/Unr: $500- 3 in each sect. Medals to players scoring 3+ points lations.*** INFO: Jerry Weikel, 6578 Valley Wood Dr.,
200-130, U2100 125, U1900 120. Under 1750: $$Gtd: 300-200-100, plaques to top 3, top U900, U700, U500, and not winning a trophy. All: MACA membership Reno, NV 89523, (H) 775-747-1405 or (Cell) 775-354-
150-105, U1550 100. Unrated player may win up to $70. Unrated. Mixed doubles bonus prizes: best male/ required for Mass. residents ($12 adult, $6 jr. U18). 8728 (AFTER 10/14/21 please call cell number ONLY
Under 1350: $$Gtd: 105-70, U1150 60, U950 40. Unrat- female 2-player combined score among all sec- Ent: payable to MACA and mail to Robert Messenger, or the Sands Regency), [email protected] or check
ed player may win up to $40. All, EF: $30 if rec’d by Sept tions: $800-400-200. Must average under 2200; may 4 Hamlett Dr. Apt. 12, Nashua NH 03062, or enter on- out our website at: www.renochess.org. To verify
30 (PayPal OK) or $35 at site, except $20/$25 for unrated play in different sections; register (no extra fee) by line (PayPal) at www.masschess.org. HR: $164. 617- your entry, please check Reno Chess website.
player. Half-point bye OK for any one round if request- 2 pm 10/9. Unrated prize limits: $100 U1100, $200 472-1000. Reserve by 9/18 and mention chess tnmt.
ed by 12:35 p.m. Reg.: 8:45-9:35 a.m., Rds.: 10-1-3:35- U1300, $300 1200-1499, $400 1400-1699, $500 1600- Info: send email to [email protected] or call 603- HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • STATE
6:10. Unrated players are ineligible for “U” prizes. Ent: 1899. Top 6 sections EF: $113 online at chessaction. 891-2484. Day of the tournament call 603-557-1732. CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
Andrew Palmer, 1006 Gage St. Apt. 1, Bennington, VT com by 10/6, 3-day $118, 2-day $117 mailed by 9/27, 2021 Peter P. Lahde Tennessee
05201-2059; [email protected]. Info: Parker all $130 at site, or online until 2 hrs before round 53rd Jerry Spann Memorial
Montgomery, [email protected], 802-349- 1. Under 1100 EF: all $50 less than above. All: No OCTOBER 15-17 AND 16-17, OKLAHOMA
Open
7739 (mobile). checks at site, credit cards OK. Online EF $5 less to US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 10
OCTOBER 15-17, TENNESSEE
ICA members; join/renew at il-chess.org. Unofficial US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 15
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR or Online Regular uschess.org ratings usually used 5-SS, G/90;+30. Site: Tulsa Holiday Inn CITY CEN-
GRAND PRIX TER, 17 W. Seventh Street, Tulsa OK 74119. 918-585- 5SS, G/90; d5. West TN AgResearch & Education Cen-
if otherwise unrated. If Online Regular rating is 50 ter, 605 Airways Boulevard, Jackson, TN 38301. EF:
5898. HR: $95. Three Sections: Open, Reserve
12th annual Washington Chess or more points over section or prize maximum, prize
limit $300. Special 1 yr USCF dues with magazine
(U1800), Novice (U1200). EF: $45 if mailed by $75 if registered by 9/24 (Early bird entry includes
Congress if paid with entry. Online at chessaction.com, Adult
10/4, $55 thereafter, with these discounts: $10 off 75th TN Open t-shirt and name in program), $75 if
mailed by 10/8, $85 after 10/8 and on-site. IMs and
for Seniors over age 60, FREE for Masters 2200+ (de-
OCTOBER 7-11, 8-11, OR 9-11, VIRGINIA $40, Young Adult $25, Youth $18. Mailed or at site, ducted from winnings). FREE entry for new USChess GMs free entry ($75 entry fee deducted from win-
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 200 (ENHANCED) $45, $27 & $20. Re-entry $50; no Premier to Premier. members or those renewing after 18 months off. nings over $200). TCA memb. req’d. for Tennessee
Premier Section, 9SS, Oct 7-11, 40/80, SD/30+30; GMs $100 from prize. 3-day schedule: Reg. ends Registration:page12image10018303209-9:45am residents, OSA. $$ 4,000 prize fund (based on 80 en-
GM & IM norms possible, FIDE rated. Other Sec- Fri 6 pm, rds. Fri 7, Sat 11 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-day Sat 10/9. Prizes $$2000 (1st Prize Gtd. each section, tries - 75% guaranteed). 2 Sections: Open, 1st: $600 +
tions, 7SS, Oct 8-11 or 9-11, 40/80, SD/30+30 (3-day schedule: Reg. ends Sat 10 am, rds. Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun rest b/55 paid entries): Open: $500(G)-200, X: 200, A: plaque-$350-$275; Expert $250 + plaque-$200; Class A
option, rounds 1-2 G/60 d10). Sheraton Reston Ho- 10 & 3:30. Bye: all, limit 2; Premier must commit be- 175. Reserve (U1800): $250(G) C: 175 D: 175, Novice $225 + plaque, $175; Class B & below, $200 + plaque,
tel, 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston VA 20191 (21 fore rd 2, others before rd 3. HR: $119-119-119-119, (U1200): $200(G), 1000/below: $125. Rounds: 10- $100; top junior champion place prize + plaque + $75
miles from Washington). Free parking, free airport 800-937-8461, 847-777-6500, reserve by 9/24 or rate 2:30-7, 9-1:15. Byes: One 1⁄2-pt bye Rds. 1-5 if com- entry fee returned. Amateur, open to U1601. $300
shuttle, free shuttle to Metro subway & Reston Town may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use mit before Sat 9pm. Adv. Entries: www.paypal. + plaque-$225-$175; Class D $150 + plaque-$100,
Center. $30,000 guaranteed prizes. In 4 sections: AWD #D657633. Ent: chessaction.com or Continen- me/Braunlich or mail T.Braunlich, 1638 S. Carson Class E $125 + plaque-$100, Class F & below $125 +
Premier: Open to FIDE 2000/over, foreign FIDE 1900/ tal Chess, Box 8482, Pelham, NY 10803. Questions: Ave.#803 Tulsa OK 74119. Info: tom.braunlich@cox. plaque-$100, Unrated $125 + plaque-$100. Unrated
over, or USCF 2100/over. $3000-1500-1000-800-700- [email protected]. $15 service charge for refunds. net. Website: ocfchess.org LS W. *CHECK prior to players only eligible for the top three prizes in the
600-500-400, clear or tiebreak first bonus $100, top Entries posted at chessaction.com (click “entry list” the tournament for possible last-minute COVID virus Open section and Unrated prizes in the Amateur sec-
FIDE Under 2300/Unr $1700-900. FIDE. Foreign GM after entering). Awards: If not claimed at tourna- policy changes. tion. Plaques and titles to Tennessee residents only,

52 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


Reg./Check-in: Friday 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m./Saturday pm, rds Fri 7, Sat 11 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-day sched- transportation from Cincinnati Airport. Ent: Chess- Under 2200: $2400-1200-600-400-300. FIDE. Under
8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. CDT. Re-entry available for $50 if ule: Reg. Sat to 10 am, rds Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun 10 & action.com or Continental Chess, Box 8482, Pelham 2000: $2400-1200-600-400-300. FIDE. Under 1800:
playing Friday round one. Rd 1: Friday 7:00 p.m. or 3:30. Byes: OK all rds, limit 2; must commit before rd NY 10803. Questions: [email protected]. Refunds, $2400-1200-600-400-300. Under 1600: $2000-1000-
Saturday 10:00 a.m., Rds. 2-3: Saturday 2:00 p.m-7:00 2. Prizes not claimed at site paid by Zelle or Payp- $15 service charge. Entries posted at chessaction. 600-400-300. Under 1400: $1600-800-500-300-200.
p.m., Rds. 4-5: Sunday 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Byes: al. HR: $114-114, 818-997-7676, reserve by 10/22 or com (click on “entry list” after entry). Prizes not Under 1200: $1400-700-400-300-200. Under 1000:
1/2-point bye available for any one round if request- rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, claimed at site sent by Zelle or Paypal. Blitz tour- $1200-600-400-300-200. Under 800: Trophies to top
ed at or before registration. GM Alex Fishbein Simul use AWD #D657633. Questions: Director@Chess. nament Sat 9:30 pm, reg. by 9:15 pm. 10, top 3 same school scholastic/college teams of 3.
Event: Friday, October 15, 7:00 p.m. (limited to first US. Ent: chessaction.com or Continental Chess, PO Under 600: Trophies to top 10, top 3 same school
20 players). TCA Membership Meeting: Sunday, Oc- Box 8482, Pelham NY 10803. Refunds, $15 service GRAND PRIX scholastic/college teams of 3. Unrated may not win
tober 17, 1:00 p.m. CDT. Ent: www.tnchess.us or mail charge. Entries posted at chessaction.com (click over $200 in U1000, $300 U1200, $400 U1400, $500
to Chris Prosser, 733 Long Hunter Court, Nashville, TN “entry list” after entering). Blitz tournament Satur- 5th Frank K Berry Memorial U1600, $600 U1800, or $700 U2000. Mixed doubles:
37217. Make checks payable to TN Chess Association. day 9:30 pm, enter by 9:15 pm. top male-female combined score $2000-1000-600-
NOVEMBER 13-14, OKLAHOMA 400, averaging under 2200, any sections, reg. before
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 10 both players begin rd 2, teams including an unrated
GRAND PRIX GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX 5-SS, G/90;+30. Site: Cattle Country Lodge, 1200 limited to $400. Top 8 sections entry fee: $138
N 8th Ave, Stroud, OK 74079. (Turner Turnpike, Exit online at chessaction.com by 11/24, 3-day $143,
7th annual Central New York Open 26th annual Northeast Open 179, then north 200 yards.) HR: $95. Three Sec- 2-day $142 mailed by 11/15 http://entry.cc/home/
OCTOBER 22-24 OR 23-24, NEW YORK NOVEMBER 5-7 OR 6-7, CONNECTICUT tions: Open, Reserve (U1800), Novice (U1200). EF: merchant.mv, $160 at site or online until 90 min-
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 30 (ENHANCED) US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 80 (ENHANCED) $45 if mailed by 11/9, $55 thereafter, FREE for Mas- utes before rd 1. GMs $120 from prize. Re-entry (no
5SS, 40/80, SD/30 +30 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 5SS, 40/80, SD/30 +30 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 d10). ters 2200+ (deducted from winnings). Registration: Premier to Premier) $60. Under 800, Under 600
d10), Quality Inn & Suites Fairgrounds, 100 Farrell Stamford Hotel (formerly Sheraton), 700 Main St, 9-9:45am Sat 11/13. Prizes $$2200 (1st Prize Gtd. EF: $48 online http://entry.cc/home/merchant.mv
Road, Syracuse 13209. Free parking, free breakfast, Stamford 06901. Parking $10. $10,000 guaranteed each section, rest b/55 paid entries): Open: $550(G)- at chessaction.com by 11/24, $52 mailed by 11/20,
free wifi. $5000 guaranteed prize fund; 4 sections. prizes. 5 sections. Major (1900/over; see peakrating. 250, X: 200, A: 200. Reserve (U1800): $250(G) C: 200 $60 by 9/27 online or at site. All: No checks at site,
Open: Open to all. $700-400-200, top USCF U2100 us): $1200-800-400, top USCF U2300 $400-200. FIDE. D: 200, Novice (U1200): $200(G), 1000/below: $150. credit cards OK. Special 1 yr USCF with magazine
Under 2100: $900-500-300, top U1900/Unr $400- Rounds: 10-2:30-7, 9-1:15. Byes: One 1⁄2-pt bye Rds. paid with entry. At chessaction.com, Adult $40,
$300-150. FIDE. Under 2000: $500-250-150, top
200. FIDE. Under 1800: $800-400-200, top U1600 1-5 if commit before Sat 9pm. Adv. Entries: www. Young Adult $25, Youth $18. Mailed or at site, $45,
U1800 $300-150. FIDE. Under 1700: $400-200-100,
(no Unr) $300-150. Under 1500: $700-400-200, top paypal.me/Braunlich or mail T.Braunlich, 1638 S. $27 & $20. 3-day schedule: Reg. ends Fri 11 am,
top U1500 (no unr) $240-120. Under 1400: $200-
U1300 (no Unr) $200-100. Under 1200: $400-200-100, Carson Ave.#803 Tulsa OK 74119. Info: tom.braun- rds. Fri 12 & 6:15, Sat 12 & 6:15, Sun 10 & 4. 2-day
100-60, top U1200 (no unr) $120-60. Unrated prize
top U1000 (no Unr) $130-70. Unrated limit $100 in [email protected]. Website: ocfchess.org LS W. *CHECK top 8 sections schedule: Reg. ends Sat. 9 am, rds
limit $100 in U1400, $200 U1700. Mixed doubles:
U1200, $200 U1500. Mixed doubles: top male/fe- prior to the tournament for possible last-minute Sat 10, 12:45, 3:30 & 6:15, Sun 10 & 4. 2-day U800
$200-100 to best male/female team combined score COVID virus policy changes. & U600 sections schedule: Reg. ends Sat 9 am, rds
among all sections. Must average under 2200; may male combined score $300-150, must average under
2200, any sections, reg. by 2 pm 11/6. Top 4 sections 10, 12:45 & 3:30 each day. Half point byes OK all
play different sections; register (no extra fee) by 2 pm GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR rounds; limit 3, must commit before rd 3. HR: $114-
10/23. College team prizes: Plaques to top 2 teams EF: $95 at chessaction.com by 11/3, 3-day $98, 2-day GRAND PRIX
$97 mailed by 10/26, $110 at site or online until 1 114-139-139, link at chessevents.us (recommended)
(top 3 from school, all sections). Scholastic team or 215-627-1200, reserve by 11/11. Parking: Loews
prizes: Plaques to top 2 K-12 teams (top 3 from hour before rd 1. U1200 Section EF: $30 less than Niagara Falls Open valet chess rate 25% off regular (about $36). Gateway
school, all sections). Top 3 sections EF: $88 at ches- above. No checks at site, credit cards OK. GMs $90 NOVEMBER 19-21 OR 20-21, NEW YORK
from prize. CSCA members, online EF $3 less. Re-en- Garage, 3/5 mile away at 1540 Spring St (1 block from
saction.com by 10/20, 3-day $93, 2-day $92 mailed US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 120 (ENHANCED) Sheraton Hotel), about $9/day Sat & Sun, $25 other
by 10/11, $100 at site or online until 1 hour before try $50, no Major to Major. Unofficial ratings usually
used if otherwise unrated. If Online Regular rating is 5SS, 40/80, SD/30 +30 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 days. Car rental: 800-331-1600, use AWD D657633
round 1. NYSCA members, online entry $5 less (may or link at chesstour.com. Ent: chessaction.com or
join with entry). U1400 Section EF: all $20 less than 50 or more points above section or prize minimum, d10), Sheraton Niagara Falls, 300 3rd St, Niagara Falls
prize limit $150. Special 1 yr USCF with magazine if NY 14303, adjacent to Seneca Niagara Resort Casino. Continental Chess, Box 8482, Pelham NY 10803. Re-
above. No checks at site, credit cards OK. GMs, IMs funds, $15 service charge. Questions: director@
& WGMs: $80 from prize. All: Re-entry $40; no Open paid with entry at chessaction.com, Adult $40, Young Free parking, 25 miles from Buffalo Airport, free wifi,
Adult $25, Youth $18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 & $20. special offers for casino and other local attractions. chess.us Advance entries posted at chessaction.
to Open. Unofficial or Online Regular uschess.org com (click “entry list” after entry). Blitz tourna-
ratings usually used if otherwise unrated. If Online 3-day schedule: Reg ends Fri 6 pm, rds. Fri 7, Sat 11 $15,000 guaranteed prizes. In 5 sections. Major:
& 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-day schedule: Reg ends Sat 10 Open to 1900/above. $2000-1000-600-400, clear/tie- ment Sat 10 pm; enter by 9:45 pm.
Regular rating is 50 or more points over section or
prize maximum, prize limit $150. Special 1 yr USCF am, rds. Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. Bye: all, limit 2; break winner $100 bonus, top USCF U2300 $600-300.
FIDE. Under 2100: $1000-500-300-200, top Under GRAND PRIX
with magazine if paid with entry. Online at chess- must commit before rd 2. HR: $110-110, link may be
action.com, Adult $40, Young Adult $25, Scholastic at chessevents.us or 800-760-7718, 203-358-8400; re- 1900/Unr $400-200. FIDE. Under 1800: $1000-500- 2021 North Carolina Open
serve by 10/22. Ent: chessaction.com or Continental 300-200, top Under 1600 (no Unr) $400-200. Under
$18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 or $20. 3-day reg.
Chess, Box 8482, Pelham NY 10803. $15 service charge 1500: $800-450-300-200, top Under 1300 (no Unr)
NOVEMBER 26-28 OR 27-28, NORTH
ends Sat 6 pm, rds. Fri 7, Sat 11 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. CAROLINA
2-day reg. ends Sat 10 am, rds Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun 10 for refunds. Questions: [email protected]. Entries $300-150. Under 1200: $600-400-200-100, top Un-
posted at chessaction.com (click “entry list” after en- der 1000 (no Unr) $200-100. Mixed doubles bonus US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 40
& 3:30. Bye: all, limit 2; must commit before rd 2.
HR: $69-69, reserve by 10/4, link at chessevents.us tering). Blitz Sat 9:30 pm, enter by 9:15 pm. prizes: best male/female 2-player team combined Hilton University Place Charlotte Hotel, 8629
(recommended) or call 315-457-8700. Ent: chessac- score among all sections: $500-300-200. Must aver- JM Keynes Drive, Charlotte, NC. 6 round Swiss,
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR age under 2200; may play different sections; register held alongside 2021 U.S. Masters Championship.
tion.com or Continental Chess, Box 8482, Pelham NY GRAND PRIX
10803. Questions: [email protected]. Prizes not (no extra fee) by 2 pm 11/20. Unrated prize limits: $10,000 guaranteed prize fund in 5 main sec-
U1200 $100, U1500 $200, U1800 $300. Playing up in tions plus 2 scholastic sections. Championship
claimed at site paid by Zelle or PayPal. Refunds: $15 30th annual Kings Island Open Major: see peakrating.us. Top 5 sections EF: $118 (FIDE-rated): $1000-500-300-200, top U2050 $400-
service charge. Entries posted at chessaction.com NOVEMBER 12-14 OR 13-14, OHIO
(click “entry list” after entering). Blitz tmt. Sat 9:30 online at chessaction.com by 11/17, 3-day $123, 200. Under 1900: $800-400-300-200-150. Under
pm, reg. ends 9:15 pm. Bring set, board, clock if US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 150 2-day $122 mailed by 11/8, all $130 (no checks, cred- 1700: $800-400-300-200-150. Under 1500: $800-
possible- none supplied. 5SS, 40/80, SD/30 +30 (2-day option, rds 1-2 G/60 it cards OK) at site or online until 1 hour before round 400-300-200-150. Under 1300: $700-400-300-150,
d10), Embassy Suites Cincinnati NE, 4554 Lake For- 1. GMs $100 from prize. U1200 Section EF: all $20 top U1100 $200-100. K-12 Under 1000 Scholastic:
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR est Dr, Blue Ash OH 45242 (I-71 to Exit 15 or I-275N less than above. Online EF $5 less to NYSCA mem- Saturday only, Trophies to top 10. K-12 Under 700
GRAND PRIX to Exit 47). Free parking. $$ 25,000 guaranteed. bers. Unofficial or Online Regular USCF ratings Scholastic: Saturday only, Trophies to top 10. Free
7 sections: Major (1900/up): $2500-1300-700- usually used if otherwise unrated. If Online Regu- Blitz: Saturday 9:00-10:45pm, $1000 prize fund,
16th annual Los Angeles Open 500-300, clear/tiebreak 1st $100 bonus, top U2300 lar rating is 50 or more points over section or prize free entry to NC Open players, $30 for others. Time
NOVEMBER 5-7 OR 6-7, CALIFORNIA, $1200-600. FIDE. See peakrating.us. Under 2100: maximum, prize limit $200. Special 1 year USCF Control: 3-day Schedule G/120 inc/5. 2-day Sched-
SOUTHERN $1600-800-400-300-200. FIDE. Under 1900: $1600- dues with magazine if paid with entry. Online at ule rounds 1-3 G/30 inc/5, K-12 Scholastic Sections
800-400-300-200. Under 1700: $1400-700-400-300- chessaction.com, Adult or Senior $40, Young Adult G/30 inc/5. 3-day Schedule: Registration closes
US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 80
200. Under 1500: $1200-600-400-300-200. Under $25, Youth $18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 & $20. one hour before game. Fri 11am & 5pm, Sat 11am
Site may change - see chessevents.us. 5SS, 40/80, Re-entry $50; no Major to Major. 3-day schedule: & 5pm, Sun 10am & 3:30pm. 2-day Schedule: Reg-
SD/30 +30 (2-day option, rds. 1-2 G/60 d10), Airtel 1250: $1000-500-400-300-200. Under 1000: $800-
400-250-150-100. Mixed doubles: best male/female Reg ends Fri 6 pm, rds. Fri 7 pm, Sat 11 & 5, Sun 10 & istration closes one hour before game. Sat 11am,
Plaza Hotel, 7277 Valjean Ave, Van Nuys CA 91406. 3:30. 2-day schedule: Reg ends Sat 10 am, rds. Sat 1pm, 2:30pm, merge with 3-day Sat 5pm, Sun 10am
Parking about $8/day, $12 including overnight. Fly- 2-player team combined score among all sections:
$800-400-200. Must average under 2200; may play 11, 2 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. All: Half point byes OK all, & 3:30pm. K-12 U1000 and U700: Sat 11am, 1pm,
away bus, LAX-Van Nuys about $10 each way; free limit 2, must commit before rd 2. HR: $89-89, best
in different sections; register (no extra fee) by 2 pm 2:30pm, 3:45pm. Up to 3 optional byes available,
shuttle to bus and train station. Free wireless, gym, to use link at chessevents.us (may also call 716-285-
11/13; prize limits do not apply to mixed doubles. request at reg., must be within 100 points of next
indoor pool, hot tubs; restaurants within walking
Unrated prize limits: U1000 $100, U1250 $200, 3361, request chess rate). Reserve by 11/6 or rate section to play up. Non-scholastic unrated players
distance. $15,000 guaranteed prizes. 6 sec-
U1500 $300, U1700 $400, U1900 $500. Balance goes may increase. Prizes not claimed at site paid by must enter U1300 section and are eligible for place
tions. Major: Open to 1900/up (see peakrating.us).
to next player(s) in line. Top 6 sections EF: $128 on- Zelle or PayPal. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, AWD prizes. Boards, sets, clocks provided for all games,
$1500-800-400-300, clear or tiebreak winner $100
line at chessaction.com by 11/10, 3-day $133, 2-day D657633, or reserve car online through chesstour. must use our equipment. November US Chess OTB
bonus, top U2250 $600-300. FIDE. Under 2050:
$1200-600-400-200. FIDE. Under 1850: $1200-600- $132 mailed by 11/1, $150 at site or online until an com. Ent: chessaction.com or Continental Chess, ratings used for pairings and prizes. Hotel Rate:
400-200. Under 1650: $1100-600-300-200. Under hour before rd 1. GMs $120 from prize. Under 1000 Box 8482, Pelham NY 10803. $15 service charge for $101/night, 1 or 2 beds. Entry Fee: Top 5 Sections:
1450: $1000-500-300-200. Under 1200: $500-250- Section EF: all $30 less than above. OCA members: refunds. Questions: [email protected]. Entries $99 by 11/ 9, $109 by 11/23, $125 after 11/23 or on-
150-100. Unofficial or Online Regular uschess.org online EF $5 less. All: No checks at site, credit cards posted at chessaction.com (click “entry list” after site. Re-entry: $40. K-12 Saturday Scholastics: $29 by
ratings usually used if otherwise unrated. Unrated OK. Re-entry $60; no Major to Major. Unofficial or entering). Blitz tournament Sat 9:30 pm, enter by 11/23, $39 after 11/23 or on-site. See official website,
prize limits: U1200 $100, U1450 $200, U1650 $300, Online Regular USCF ratings usually used if oth- 9:15 pm. Bring set, board, clock if possible- none www.charlottechesscenter.org/ncopen, for more
U1850 $400. If USCF Online Regular rating is 50 or erwise unrated. If Online Regular rating is 50 or supplied. information, hotel booking link, refund policy, COVID
more points over section maximum, prize limit $200. more points over section or prize maximum, prize precautions. Registration & entry list: www.
limit $400. Special 1 yr USCF dues with magazine HERITAGE EVENT • AMERICAN CLASSIC • GRAND nc.chess.stream/open/Register, Questions: S
Mixed doubles bonus prizes: best male/female PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND
2-player team combined score among all sections: if paid with entry- online at chessaction.com, Adult
PRIX HERITAGE EVENT • AMERICAN CLASSIC • GRAND
$500-300-200. Team must average under 2200; may $40, Young Adult $25, Youth $18. Mailed or at site,
PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND
play in different sections; register (no extra fee) by 2 $45, $27 & $20. 3-day schedule: Reg ends Fri 6 pm, 52nd annual National Chess PRIX
pm 11/6. Top 5 sections EF: $113 online at chess- rds Fri 7 pm, Sat 11 & 5, Sun 10 & 3:30. 2-day sched- Congress
action.com by 11/3, 3-day $118, 2-day $117 mailed ule: Reg ends Sat 10 am, rds Sat 11, 2 & 5, Sun 10 &
NOVEMBER 26-28 OR 27-28, PENNSYLVANIA 31st annual North American Open
by 10/25, $130 online or at site until 1 hour before 3:30. Byes: OK all; limit 2, must commit by rd 2. HR:
round 1. Under 1200 EF: all $40 less than top 5 Suite with king bed & queen couch/bed $108, suite US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 200 (ENHANCED) DECEMBER 26-30, 26-29 OR 27-29, NEVADA
sections EF. GMs $100 from prize. No checks at site; with 2 beds & queen couch/bed $118, more than 2 in 6SS, 40/90, SD/30 +30 (2-day option, rds 1-3 G/50 US CHESS GRAND PRIX POINTS: 300 (ENHANCED)
credit cards OK. Online EF $5 less to SCCF members; room $10 more each additional. Free hot breakfast d10). U800 & U600 sections play separate 2-day Open Section, Dec 26-30: 9SS, 40/100, SD/30
join/renew at scchess.com. All: Special 1 yr USCF for all room occupants, free wifi. Up to 4 allowed in schedule only, 11/27-28, G/50 d10.Loews Hotel, +30. GM & IM norms possible. Other sections, Dec
dues with magazine if paid with entry: Online at king suite, to 6 in larger suite. 513-733-8900, reserve 1200 Market St, Philadelphia PA 19107.$43,000 26-29 or 27-29: 7SS, 40/100, SD/30 +30 (3-day op-
chessaction.com. Adult $40, Young Adult $25, Youth by 11/1 or rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800- GUARANTEED PRIZES. In 10 sections.Premier tion, rds 1-2 G/60 d10). Bally’s Casino Resort, 3645
$18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 & $20. Re-entry (no 331-1600, use AWD #D657633, or reserve through (2000/over): $4000-2000-1000-600-400, clear win Las Vegas Blvd. S, Las Vegas, NV 89103. $125,000
Major to Major) $60. 3-day schedule: Reg. Fri to 6 chesstour.com. Car rental is easiest & cheapest or tiebreak 1st $200, USCF U2400 $1800-900. FIDE. guaranteed prizes. In 7 sections. Open: $10000-

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 53


TOURNAMENT LIFE See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing September 1-14

5000-3000-2000-1300-1000-800-700-600-500, clear at chessaction.com, Adult $40, Young Adult $25, lar). $15 service charge for refunds. Ent: Chessaction.
winner or 1st on tiebreak bonus $300, top FIDE Youth $18. Mailed or at site, $45, $27 & $20. 5-day com. Questions: [email protected]. IDAHO
Under 2400/Unr $3000-2000-1000. FIDE rated, GM & reg. ends 12/26 10 am, rds 12/26-28 11 & 6, 12/29 10
IM norms possible. Under 2300: $7000-4000-2000- & 4:30, 12/30 10 am. 4-day reg. ends 12/26 5 pm, Eastern Chess Congress Warmup WEEKLY ON SUNDAY AND SATURDAY, START-
1200-800-600-500-500-400-400. FIDE. Under 2100: rds 12/26 6 pm, 12/27-28 11 & 6, 12/29 10 & 4:30. ING FROM SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 2021
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 - SUNDAY,
$7000-4000-2000-1200-800-600-500-500-400-400. 3-day reg. ends 12/27 10 am, rds 12/27 11, 2:30 & 6,
SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 Chandra Alexis Chess Club
FIDE. Under 1900: $7000-4000-2000-1200-800- 12/28 11 & 6, 12/29 10 & 4:30. Bye: all, limit 3, limit 2 The Chandra Alexis Chess Club is open Wed.-Sun., 11
600-500-500-400-400. Under 1700: $6000-3000- in last 4 rounds; must commit before rd 3. HR: $99- 6-SS, G/75+10, at Internet Chess Club. $5000 guar- a.m. – 4 p.m., for lessons, games and tournaments.
1500-1000-800-600-500-500-400-400. Under 1500: 99, 800-833-3308, 702-739-4111, rate may increase anteed prizes. Must be on Zoom (use real name) The club offers weekly 4 RD/SS USCF/FIDE rated and
$5000-2500-1300-1000-700-600-500-400-300-300. or chess block sell out about 11/15. Free parking to be eligible for prizes), see ccazoom.com. $150 scholastic team tournaments. We are located at 7337
Under 1250: $3000-1500-1000-800-600-500-400- if guest room at Ballys. Car rental: Avis, 800-331- prize limit if no Zoom side/rear camera angle. In 4 W. Northview Street, Suite 4, Boise, ID 83704. Suite 4 is
400-300-300, top Under 1000 (no unr) $1000-500. 1600, use AWD #657633. Ratings: December FIDE sections. Major Section: Open to 1900/over. $700- the Blue Pencil White Pawn office. As seating is limited
No separate U1000 section; under 1000 in U1250 used in Open, December official USCF in others. 400-200-150, top U2200 $300-150. Under 2000/Unr to 12 players, all tournaments are invitational. Check
play for both U1250 and U1000 prizes; receive larg- For foreign players in U2300 & below, see foreign- Section: $400-280-150-100, U1800 (no Unr) $240- chandraalexischessclub.org for registration informa-
er if winning both. Prize limits: 1) Unrated limit ratings.com. Players who fail to disclose foreign 120. Under 1700/Unr Section: $340-200-120-80, tion. Contact USCF Senior TD/FIDE National Arbiter for
$500 in U1250, $1000 U1500, $1300 U1700, $1600 or FIDE ratings may be expelled. Special rules: top U1500 (no Unr) $180-90, unrated limit $150. the U.S., George Lundy, 208-375-1211 evenings.
U1900, $2000 U2100. 2) Under 26 OTB regular CCA electronic devices rules used; see devicerules. Under 1400/Unr Section: $280-150-100-60, U1200
games played as of Dec 2021 official may not win com. Prizes not claimed at site sent by Zelle or (no Unr) $140-70; unrated limit $80. Entry fee $83 at
over $1500 U1250, $3000 U1500 or U1700. Games Paypal. Blitz 12/29 10 pm. Ent: chessaction.com chessaction.com by 9/23, $100 by 10 am EDT 9/25. ILLINOIS
rated too late for Dec 2021 list not counted. 3) If or Continental Chess, Box 249, Salisbury Mills, NY New players (1st CCA event on ICC) should register
post-event rating posted 1/1/20-12/20/21 was more 12577 (DirectorAtChess.us, www.chessevents.us). by 9/23. EF discount: $30 less if playing in Eastern SEPTEMBER 24-26 OR 25-26, 2021
than 50 points over section maximum, prize limit $15 service charge for refunds. Entries posted at Chess Congress, 10/1-3 in Princeton, NJ. GMs $80 Indy FIDE $10,000 (IN)
$2000. 4) If USCF Online Regular rating is more than chessaction.com (Click “entry list” after entering). from prize. Log into playcca.com 30 minutes before See Grand Prix.
50 points over section or prize maximum, prize lim- game. Rounds begin each day: EDT 11 am, 2:30 pm

Online
it $500. 5) Balance of any limited prize goes to next & 6 pm. Half point byes: Available all rounds, limit 2 OCTOBER 8-10 OR 9-10, 2021
player(s) in line. Mixed doubles bonus prizes: byes, must be claimed with registration & cannot be
best male/female combined 2-player team score: changed. USCF membership required; may join 29th annual Midwest Class (IL)
$2000-1000-500-300-200. Only rounds 1-7 of Open with registration. Online Regular rated (will not See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
Section counted. Team must average under 2200; affect OTB ratings), Online Regular ratings used
may play in different sections; register (no exta fee) 2nd annual CCA September Open for pairings & prizes (OTB Regular used if no Online
INDIANA
by 3 pm 12/27; prize limits do not apply to doubles. Regular). $15 service charge for refunds. Ent: Ches-
Top 6 sections EF: Online at chessaction.com: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 saction.com. Questions: [email protected].
5-SS, G/40+10, at Internet Chess Club. $2000 guaran- SEPTEMBER 24-26 OR 25-26, 2021
$245 http://chessaction.com/ by 9/15, $275 by
Indy FIDE $10,000 (IN)

Regional
12/23. Mailed by 12/13: 5-day $280, 4-day $279, teed prizes. Must be on Zoom (use real name) to be
3-day $278. Do not mail entry after 12/13. Online eligible for prizes; see ccazoom.com. $100 prize limit if See Grand Prix.
12/24 to 2 hours before round 1, or at site 12/26 to 1 no Zoom side/rear camera angle. In 3 sections. Open
hour before round 1: http://chessaction.com/$300. Section: Open to all, $400-200-100, top U2200 $140, OCTOBER 8-10 OR 9-10, 2021
Open Section EF $100 more to US players if not U2000 $120. Under 1900/Unr Section: $250-130-70,
USCF or FIDE rated 2200/over. Under 1250 Sec- top U1700 (no Unr) $120. Under 1500/Unr Section:
29th annual Midwest Class (IL)
tion EF: All $100 less than above. Seniors 65/over $200-100-50, U1300 (no Unr) $120; unrated limit $80. CALIFORNIA See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
in U1500/over: All $100 less than above. Re-entry Entry fee at chessaction.com: $48 by 9/9, $65 by 10
am EDT 9/11. New players (first CCA event on ICC) NOVEMBER 5-7 OR 6-7, 2021 NOVEMBER 12-14 OR 13-14, 2021
$120; no Open to Open. Foreign GM: Free ($200
from prize); minimum prize $500 if playing all enter by 9/9 or risk not being paired for rd 1. GMs $40 16th annual Los Angeles Open (CA) 30th annual Kings Island Open (OH)
games with no byes, no deduction from minimum from prize. Log into playcca.com 30 minutes before See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
prize. Foreign IM/WGM/WIM in Open Section: game, rounds begin EDT 11 am, 1:15 pm, 3:30 pm.
Free ($200 from prize); minimum prize $300 if play- 5:45 pm, 8 pm. Half point byes: Available all rounds,
ing all 9 games with no byes, no deduction from limit 2 byes, must be claimed with registration & can- CONNECTICUT KENTUCKY
minimum prize. US IM/WGM, foreign FM/WFM not be changed. USCF membership required; may
in Open Section: Entry fees $150 less than above. join with registration. Online Regular rated (will not NOVEMBER 5-7 OR 6-7, 2021 SEPTEMBER 24-26 OR 25-26, 2021
All: No checks at site, credit cards OK. Special 1 yr affect OTB ratings), Online Regular ratings used for 26th annual Northeast Open (CT) Indy FIDE $10,000 (IN)
USCF dues with magazine if paid with entry. Online pairings & prizes (OTB Regular used if no Online Regu- See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. See Grand Prix.

Continental Chess OTB Tournament Schedule


See www.chessevents.us for details & possible changes, or TLA for details
EASTERN CHESS CONGRESS, Oct 1-3 or 2- NIAGARA FALLS OPEN, Nov 19-21 or 20-21,
3, Princeton NJ. $20,000 guaranteed. Sheraton Hotel. $15,000 guaranteed prizes.

WASHINGTON CHESS CONGRESS, Oct 7-11, NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS, Nov 26-28 or
8-11 or 9-11, Reston VA, Columbus Day weekend. 27-28, 6 rounds, Loews Philadelphia Hotel.
$30,000 guaranteed prizes including $4000 foreign $43,000 guaranteed prizes.
GM pool, GM & IM norms possible in 9 round
Premier Section, other sections are 7 rounds. EMPIRE STATE OPEN Dec 26-28 or 27-28 at
MIDWEST CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Oct 8- Albany Marriott, $5000 guaranteed prizes.
10 or 9-10, Wheeling, Illinois. $20,000 guaranteed. NEW YORK STATE UNDER 13 ACTION Dec
28 at Albany Marriott.
CENTRAL NEW YORK OPEN. Oct 22-24 or NEW YORK STATE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
23-24, Quality Inn Fairgrounds, Syracuse. $5000 Dec 29-30 at Albany Marriott, In 8 sections, two
guaranteed prizes. each for Under 21, Under 16, Under 13, Under 10.
For details of the Albany events see
LOS ANGELES OPEN, Nov 5-7 or 6-7, see chessevents.us, or TLA in October Chess Life.
chessevents.us for location. $15,000 guaranteed.
NORTHEAST OPEN, Nov 5-7 or 6-7, Stamford, NORTH AMERICAN OPEN at Bally’s Las
Connecticut. $10,000 guaranteed prizes. Vegas, Dec 26-30, 26-29 or 27-29. Open 9 rounds
with GM & IM norms possible, other sections 7
KINGS ISLAND OPEN, Nov 12-14 or 13-14, rounds. $125,000 guaranteed prizes!
Embassy Suites Cincinnati Northeast. $25,000
guaranteed prizes, OTHER EVENTS: See www.chessevents.us.

54 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


NOVEMBER 12-14 OR 13-14, 2021
MICHIGAN Sunday In The Park Series NOVEMBER 12-14 OR 13-14, 2021
30th annual Kings Island Open (OH) Griggs Dam Park Shelter House. Sunday in the Park. 30th annual Kings Island Open (OH)
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 2nd and 4th Sunday every month, April 25th through See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
October 10th, 2021. Location: 1st shelter house at
2021 Michigan Speed Championship Griggs Dam Park, 2933 Riverside Drive Columbus NOVEMBER 19-21 OR 20-21, 2021
LOUISIANA A State Championship Event! 5-2SS. Radisson Hotel
Lansing, 111 N. Grand Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933. HR:
Ohio 43221. Entry: $20 at site, prizes no less than
75% of entry fees, 2 or more classes, top prize $100 Niagara Falls Open (NY)
September 4-6, 2021 Phone: (517) 482-0188 Ask for Michigan Chess Associ- G. Registration 9:30 am, Tournament @ 10:00 am. See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
ation room block, Online Reservations: www.radis- Time control G/45, 5 sec. delay. Covid protocol ob-
2021 Louisiana State Championship son.com/lansingmi - Promotion Code: MCAOT9. USCF
Labor Day Weekend - Sat.-Mon., Sept. 4-6. Di- Blitz rated. TL: G5;d0. Rds: Starts at 3:30pm. EF: $20 on-
served. Info: Lou Friscoe 614-228-8111
PENNSYLVANIA
rected by FIDE Int’l Arbiter & US NTD Korey Kormick line in adv. $25 onsite. Reg: www.onlineregistration.
and Featuring Special Guest GM Timur Garayev, the cc, Sat 9am-3pm. $$: 1st Trophy + $150, 2nd: $125, 3rd:
SEPTEMBER 24-26 OR 25-26, 2021 North Penn Chess Club
Blindfold King. 7 SS G90/i30 - One Open Section $100, 4th: $75, 5th: $50; Trophy 1st, 2nd U2000, U1800, Indy FIDE $10,000 (IN) Main & Richardson - St. John’s UCC, 500 West Main
with various Cash Prizes. Round Times: Sat: 9 U1600, U1400, U1200, U1000, U800, U600, U400, Unr. See Grand Prix. St., Lansdale, PA 19446. See www.northpennchess
a.m., 1:30 p.m., 6 p.m., Sun: 9 a.m., 6 p.m, Mon: Ent & Info: Jeff Aldrich, P.O. Box 40, Flint, MI 48501; club.org for schedules & info or 215-699-8418
9 a.m., 5 p.m. LCA Meeting & Election: Sunday [email protected]; (810) 955-7271. SEPTEMBER 25-26, 2021
2-3:30 p.m. Prize Fund: $4000/b100, 50% gtd. Golden Buckeye Senior Open & OCTOBER 1-3, 2021
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T HA N K YOU TO O U R
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UMBC is a perennial top-10 contender for the colle-
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2021 North Carolina Closed
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Hilton University Place Charlotte Hotel, 8629 JM
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wmass-chess.us OCTOBER 10, 2021

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 55


TOURNAMENT LIFE See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing September 1-14

VIRGINIA Elementary Qualifier. Fun Side Events: Saturday 10/2:


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(MAP)

PCT GAIN STANDINGS


MEMBERSHIP APPRECIATION State
HI
Dec19
160
Jun20
171
PCT
6.9

PROGRAM WA
AK
1474
96
1548
95 -O.01
5

NM 643 633 -0.016


US Chess gratefully acknowledges the support of our
WV 265 259 -0.023
our Affiliates and Members and offers congratulations RI 232 216 -0.069
ME 555 512 -0.077
to these 2020 MAP Winners. Look for an upcoming
OK 391 358 -0.084
article about the winners in Chess Life. ID 263 237 -0.099
DC 417 362 -0.132

Name State Count Name State Count Name State Count


Overall Affiliate Standings State Chapter Affiliate Standings Scholastic and Youth Membership Standings
CONTINENTAL CHESS ASSN NY 831 WASHINGTON CHESS FEDERATION WA 204 PAPERCLIP PAIRINGS TX 239
PAPERCLIP PAIRINGS TX 259 MARYLAND CHESS ASSOCIATION MD 160 CONTINENTAL CHESS ASSN NY 212
NEW YORK CITY CHESS INC NY 216 MINNESOTA STATE CHESS ASSN MN 118 NEW YORK CITY CHESS INC NY 208
BAY AREA CHESS CA 170 MICHIGAN CHESS ASSOCIATION MI 105 BAY AREA CHESS CA 149
CHESS CENTER OF NEW YORK NY 130 PENNSYLVANIA ST CHESS FED PA 83 DARK KNIGHTS CHESS CLUB TX 116
DARK KNIGHTS CHESS CLUB TX 122 NEW JERSEY ST CHESS FED NJ 37 CHESS CENTER OF NEW YORK NY 110
THE BERKELEY CHESS SCHOOL CA 111 NEVADA CHESS INC NV 27 THE BERKELEY CHESS SCHOOL CA 103
CHESS CLUB AND SCHOLASTIC CTR MO 101 MAINE CHESS ASSOCIATION ME 24 CHESS KLUB SC 71
MECHANICS INST CHESS CLUB CA 89 FLORIDA CHESS ASSOCIATION FL 13 EN PASSANT CHESS CLUB TX 65
CHESS KLUB IL 77 MASSACHUSETTS CHESS ASSOC MA 10 ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC SCHOOL CC ME 64

Small State Affiliate Standings Adult Membership Standings Member Standings


ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC SCHOOL CC ME 70 CONTINENTAL CHESS ASSN NY 594 RUSSELL MAKOFSKY NY 26
JOHN BAPST MHS CHESS CLUB ME 31 CHESS CLUB AND SCHOLASTIC CTR MO 93 TANIA KRANICH-RITTER FL 14
TOURNAMENT IN A BOX NH 19 SAN DIEGO CHESS CLUB CA 64 TIMOTHY V. CAMPBELL MO 14
METRO AREA CHESS DC 18 ROCHESTER CHESS CENTER NY 53 GILBERTO LUNA II FL 13
HARRISON COUNTY CHESS CLUB WV 17 CHESS4U GA 51 RUSSELL LOYD CRANFORD III TX 11
ENDGAME CHESS NM 10 MECHANICS INST CHESS CLUB CA 40 SCOTT MASON CA 10
MAINE HIGHLANDS CHESS LEAGUE ME 8 JERSEY SHORE HS CHESS LEAGUE NJ 30 ZACHARY DEAN NY 9
RELYEA CHESS NH 6 CHESSPALACE CA 26 THOMAS DAVID BRAUNLICH OK 9
KNIGHTS CHESS CLUB NH 6 CHESS CASTLE OF MINNESOTA MN 22 TIMOTHY TUSING FL 8
CHESS CLUB AT NC STATE NC 5 MARSHALL CHESS CLUB NY 21 TODD W. WOLF ND 7

56 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


USCHESS.ORG ■ SEPTEMBER 2021 57
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58 SEPTEMBER 2021 USCHESS.ORG


September SOLUTIONS

Solutions obviously still is some work to be done. After 23. ... Qd5,
Black threatens both ... Ne4xf2+ and ... Ne4xg3+ followed by
Rh2 Nf5+, White resigned. A possible continuation was
40. ... Nf5+ 41. Kh3 g4+ 42. Kxg4 Qxh2 and Black win easily.
PAGE 9 CHESS TO ENJOY ... Qd5xg2 mate. If White plays 24. f3, then Black wins with Demchenko - Chigaev, Russian ch Higher League 2021.
PROBLEM 1. 37. Qxf6+! Bxf6 38. Bxf6 and Rh1-h8 will be 24. ... Nxg3+ 25. hxg3 Qh5+ 26. Nh3 Bxf3 27. Qd2 Qxh3+ 28. TACTIC 9. 25. Rd6! Threatening Rxh6. 25. ... Kf8 Black
mate. PROBLEM 2. 32. Qe5+!, and Black resigned as 32. Kg1 Qxg3 and it is game over for White. Duda - Ding Liren, cannot capture on d6, for instance, 25. ... Rxd6 26. exd6 Qf8
... Qxe5 33. dxe5 wins the pinned knight. PROBLEM 3. 27. Goldmoney Asian Rapid 2021. TACTIC 4. 24. ... Bxc5! 25. 27. d7 Rd8 28. Qf6 g6 29. h4 threatening h4–h5 and if 29. ...
Bxg7! Nxg7 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qg3+ Kf6 30. Qg5 mate. Or dxc5 Bd3! Here White resigned as he loses material. For Kh7 then 30. Rxg6 decides. 26. Rxh6! Anyway! 26. ... gxh6
29. ... Kh8 30. Qh4+ and it’s mate-in-two. PROBLEM 4. 27. e6! The point. Now White threatens Qc3-h8 mate. 27.
instance, 25. ... Bd3 26. Rxe2 (White loses a piece after 26.
35. Qxd6! leads to mate: (a) 35. ... Bxd6 36. fxg7 mate; (b) ... Qc7 Or 27. ... f6 28. Rg6! and White is winning. 28. Qg7+
g3 Rxf2 27. Kxf2 Re2+, while 26. Bc1 allows 26. ... Re1+ with
35. ... Rxd6 36. fxg7+ Bxg7 37. Rf8 mate; (c) 35. ... Rcc8 36. Ke7 29. exf7, Black resigned. A possible continuation was
mate) 26. ... Rxe2 and the bishop is out of good squares
Qxf8+!. PROBLEM 5. 24. 0-0-0! and then Rg1-g3 traps
and will be lost. Kilgus - Asadli, Belgrade 2021. TACTIC 29. exf7 Rf8 30. Re3+ Be4 31. Qxh6 (preventing the black king
the queen. PROBLEM 6. 26. ... Rxa2! 27. Rxa2 Qxa2! and
5. 18. ... Bxh3! 19. gxh3?! It would have been relatively from running away and, according to the engine, forcing
now either 28. Bf1 Bxg2+ 29. Bxg2 Qxa1+ 30. Nxa1 Re1+
best for White to pull the emergency brake with 19. Rxe8+ mate) 31. ... Rd4 32. Qe6+ Kd8 33. Qf6+ Qe7 34. Qb6+ Qc7
(the game continuation) or 28. Qxa2 Re1+.
Rxe8 20. Re1 Rxe1+ 21. Nxe1 Bg4, accepting the loss of a 35. Qxd4+ with mate in a few moves. Sarana - Kobalia,
Russian ch Higher League (Cheboksary) 2021.
PAGE 47 ABCS OF CHESS pawn, hoping to be able to put up a stodgy defense. 19.
PROBLEM 1. Mating net: Black mates immediately, 1. ... Qxh3 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Rxe8+ 21. Rd3 runs into 21.
... Qg1 mate.. PROBLEM 2. Mating net: Black mates ... g5! (after 21. ... Bh2+ 22. Kh1, Black will have to retreat BONUS ENDGAME STUDY
in three: 1. ... Rf1+ 2. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 3. Bg1 Rxg1 mate (or with the bishop to make progress, likely transposing into SOLUTION HERE NEXT MONTH!
3. ... Qxg1 mate). PROBLEM 3. Mating net: It is mate in the line after 21. ... g5!) 22. Rde3 Rxe3 23. Rxe3 Bf4 24. Ne1
two: 1. ... Qf3+ 2. Qxf3 Bxf3 mate. PROBLEM 4. Mating Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Bxe3 26. fxe3 Qh1+ 27. Ke2 g6 when Black’s
net: Black mates in three: 1. ... Qg1+ 2. Kxg1 Bd4+ 3. kingside pawn mass combined with the active queen and
Yochanan Afek
Kh1 Rg1 mate. PROBLEM 5. Mating net: Black mates rook gives Black a decisive advantage. 21. ... Rxe8 22. 1st Honorable Mention
in two: 1. ... Qxg2+ 2. Qxg2 Rc1 mate. PROBLEM 6. Re1? An odd blunder by the French grandmaster. A better Vratnica-64, 2016-2018
Mating net: Black mates in three: 1. ... Qxf3+ 2. Qxf3 defense was 22. Qd3 although Black has a relatively simple
Re1+ 3. Qf1 Rxf1 mate. path to a winning position with 22. ... g5 23. d5 g4 24. Ne5
Bxe5 25. Qxh3 gxh3 26. f4 Bc7 27. Kh2 cxd5 28. cxd5 Re2+
29. Kxh3 Kf8 and Black has a won endgame. 22. ... Bh2+!
TOTAL YOUR SCORE Somehow, White must have overlooked this move. 23. Kh1
TO DETERMINE Note that 23. Nxh2 Rxe1+ ends the game promptly. 23. ...
Qxf3+ and White resigned. Apicella - Bluebaum, French
YOUR APPROXIMATE
Team ch 2021. TACTIC 6. 17. ... Bxg3! This is much more
RATING BELOW: effective than the alternatives, for instance, 17. ... Nxe3 18.
Total Score Approx. Rating fxe3 Qxg3+ 19. Kd1 Qxe3 20. a4 Qh3 21. d5 e3 22. Qd3 gives
White excellent chances to survive. 18. fxg3 Nxe3 Forking
95+ 2400+
the rook and queen while still keeping ... Qg6xg3+ in reserve.
81-9 2200-2399 19. Qb3 Qxg3+ 20. Rf2 Ng4 21. Ncxe4! The relatively best
66-80 2000-2199 try to muddy the waters, White gives some material to get
Black’s queen off the board and safety for the king. 21. ... WHITE TO MOVE AND WIN
51-65 1800-1999 Qxb3 22. Bxb3 fxe4 23. Rf7 e3 Black could also play 23.
36-50 1600-1799 ... Nd5 24. Rxg7 0–0–0 when White is busted, the e3–pawn
is a beast and White has holes everywhere while the white CHESS LIFE USPS # 102-840 (ISSN 0197-260X). Volume
21-35 1400-1599 bishop pair is irrelevant. 24. Nf1 Nd5 25. Rxg7 0–0–0 Black
76 No. 9. PRINTED IN THE USA. Chess Life, formerly
Chess Life & Review, is published monthly by the United
06-20 1200-1399 has a decisive advantage and soon won the game. 26. Rc1 States Chess Federation, 137 Obrien Dr., Crossville, TN
Rd7 27. Rxd7 Kxd7 28. Rc5 Nf4 29. Bc2 Bf3 30. Bf5+ 38557-3967. Chess Life & Review and Chess Life remain
0-05 under 1200 Kd8 31. Ng3 Re8 32. Bc3 Ng2+ 33. Kf1 e2+ 34. Nxe2 the property of USCF. Annual subscription (without
membership): $72. Periodical postage paid at Crossville,
Rxe2, White resigned. Paravyan - Ponkratov, Russian TN 38557-3967 and additional mailing offices. POSTMAS-
ch Higher League 2021. TACTIC 7. White is threatening TER: Send address changes to Chess Life (USCF), PO Box
PAGE 50 MAKE YOUR MOVE Qg5-h6-Qg7 mate. To stop this, Black has to take drastic 3967, Crossville, Tennessee 38557-3967. Entire contents
©2020 by the United States Chess Federation. All rights
TACTIC 1. 23. Qxf7+! and Black resigned as he would measures. 28. ... Rdxd2! Black could try 28. ... Kh8 29. Qh6
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
get mated after 23. Qxf7+ Rxf7 24. Rxe8+ Rf8 25. Bd5+ Kh8 Rg8 30. Bd6 Rcc8 31. Be5 Rcd8 32. Ne4 Bxe4 33. Bxe4 when stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
26. Rxf8 mate. Naiditsch – Sochacki, French Team ch 2021. Black should win but there is still work to do. What Gelfand or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
TACTIC 2. 16. ... Nxf2+! Ripping White’s otherwise solid has in mind ends White’s resistance much faster. 29. Bd4 or otherwise without the prior written permission of
USCF. Note: Unsolicited materials are submitted at the
position apart. 17. Rxf2 Qxe3 The point behind Black’s If 29. Qh6 then 29. ... Qxe3+ forces mate: 30. Rxe3 Rc1+ and
sender’s risk and Chess Life accepts no responsibility
previous move, the rook cannot stay on f2 and therefore is it is curtains for White. 29. ... Bxf3! 30. Bxa7 Rxh2 and for them. Materials will not be returned unless accom-
forced to give up defending the bishop on e2. 18. Rf1 Qxe2 White resigned as there is mate in a few moves. Santos panied by appropriate postage and packaging. Address
Latasa - Gelfand, Leon 2021. TACTIC 8. 31. ... f5! Despite all submissions to Chess Life, PO Box 3967, Crossville, TN
19. Rxc6? White tries to recover some material, but now
38557-3967. The opinions expressed are strictly those of
it quickly goes downhill. 19. ... Bg4! 20. Qc1 Or 20. Qxe2 being an entire rook down, Black has time to strengthen the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views
Bxe2 21. Rb1 Bd3 22. Rbc1 Bb5 23. Rc7 d4 and, supported his attack. Note that 31. ... Qh1+ 32. Kf1 f5 33. Nxe4 Nh2+ of the United States Chess Federation. Send all address
by the bishops, the d-pawn becomes an unstoppable force. 34. Ke2 Qxe4+ and Black is winning. 32. Nxe4 fxe4 Or 32. changes to: U.S. Chess, Membership Services, PO Box
3967, Crossville, Tennessee 38557-3967. Include your
20. ... Bh3! Ouch! 21. gxh3 Qe4+ and with mate in the ... Qh1+ 33. Kf1 Nh2+ 34. Ke2 Qxe4+ with transposition to
USCF I.D. number and a recent mailing label if possible.
next move, White resigned. Hevia - Fernandez Hernan- the above-mentioned note. 33. Rcd2 e3 Note that 33. ... This information may be e-mailed to addresschange@
dez, Mexico City 2021. TACTIC 3. 23. ... Qd5! and White Qh1+ 34. Kf1 e3 will lead to the same position as the game uschess.org. Please give us eight weeks advance notice.
resigned! Before we look closer at this move, it should be continuation. 34. fxe3 Qh1+ 35. Kf1 Rf8+ 36. Ke2 If 36. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 41473530 RETURN
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instance, 24. Bxd4 Rxd4 25. Rxe4 Bxe4 26. Qe1 Bxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Rd8+ 40. Kc3 Nb1+ 41. Kb3 Qe5 and Black is winning. 36. BRC, ONTARIO, CANADA N6C 6A8
Qxc2 with a decisive advantage for Black although there ... Rf2+ 37. Qxf2 Nxf2 38. Kxf2 Ng4+ 39. Kg3 Nxe3 40.

USCHESS.ORG SEPTEMBER 2021 59


JAMES H. CANTY III
STREAMER AND
... I’m working
NATIONAL MASTER
hard to become
the fifth Black

I
grandmaster
STARTED PLAYING CHESS EVER.”
when I was eight years old. At
first the game was about bonding
with my father and playing for
fun. Two years later, when I beat my dad,
it all changed!
I became obsessed with chess and earned
my national master title before graduat-
ing high school. In all I have been playing
chess for 21 years, and I am now grinding
for my grandmaster title. This would be the
culmination of a lifelong goal of mine, and
I’m working hard to become the fifth Black
grandmaster EVER.
I made my best move in a game I played
in an international master norm tournament
in Charlotte in 2016. Facing IM Roberto Mar-
tin Del Campo — the highest rated player in
our 10-player round-robin — with the white
pieces, the game began as an Alapin Sicilian.
The Alapin is one of my favorite openings,
and all my Twitch viewers and subscribers but soon, it comes around. It’s crazy how checked my lines dozens of times to make
know I call it the “c3 Sicil For The Kill.” a little check like this can disrupt Black’s sure I didn’t embarrass myself! When I was
whole army! sure, I went for it. This is MY BEST MOVE.

SICILIAN DEFENSE, ALAPIN 11. ... Bd7


VARIATION (B22) If Del Campo had played 11. ... Nc6 I intend-
James H Canty III (2353) ed 12. Bg5 with a nice trap in mind: 12. ...
IM Roberto Martin Del Campo (2360) Qd6? (certainly not 12. ... Qxg5?? 13. Bxc6+
Spring CCCSA IM (4), Charlotte, bxc6 14. Qxg5; while now the computer says
03.25.2016 that Black could have survived with an in-
termediary move: 12. ... Bb4+! 13. Kf1 and
1. e4 c5 2. c3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 d5 5. only now 13. ... Qd6.) 13. 0–0–0! and if 13. ...
Nc3 dxe4 6. Bc4 Qc5+ 14. Qxc5 Bxc5 15. Bxc6+!, he can’t take
This is a very dangerous pawn sacrifice, back due to the mate threat with Rd1–d8!
played in place of the usual 6. Nxe4.
12. Qxb7 Bc5 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. fxe3 0–0
6. ... Nf6 7. Qb3! 15. Rc1 Bf5 16. Qxa8 Qxb2 17. Ne2 Bg4 25. Qxf5+ gxf5 26. Rxf5+ Kh6
With the queen and bishop battery, the f7– A nice move, making things as difficult as It’s mate after 26. ... Kh4 27. g3+ Kh3 28. Rh5+
square is very weak. possible for me. Bxh5 29. Be6+ Bg4 30. Bxg4 mate.

7. ... e6 8. d5! exd5 9. Nxd5 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 18. 0–0 Bxe2 19. Rb1 Qd2 20. Rxb8 Kg7 27. Rf6+ Kh5 28. Bf7+ Kh4 29. g3+ Kh3 30.
PHOTO: COURTESY SUBJECT

Qf6 21. Rxf8 Qxe3+ 22. Kh1 f5 23. Rg8+ Kh6 Be6+ Bg4 31. Bxg4, mate.
We’re at a bit of a crossroads. The f7–square 24. Qf8+ Kh5
is defended, so now I have to come up with Here it looked like I had two options: sacri- You can read archival copies of
something new. fice my rook for checkmate or sacrifice my “My Best Move” on uschess.org,
queen for checkmate. I knew that because click on “Chess Life Magazine,”
11. Qb5+!? we were playing on DGT boards, people and then “Archives.”
Initially the computer doesn’t like this move, around the world might see this game, so I

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