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CHESS
World team crushes Azerbaijan
By Jack Peters, International Master
May 17, 2009
Position No. 6055: Black to play and win. From the game Charles
Lawton-Melikset Khachiyan, U.S. Championship, St. Louis 2009.
Solution to Position No. 6054:
Black reaches an easily won endgame by 1 . . . e3+ (less convincing is
1 . . . Rd3? 2 Rxb6) 2 f3 Rxc4! 3 Bxc4 Rd2+ 4 Rxd2 exd2 5 Bb3 Bxa6.
Not 2 Kh3 because 2 . . . Rh1+ 3 Kg4 Rd4+ 4 f4 f5+ 5 Kg5 Kg7 sets up 6
. . . h6 mate.
The grandly named "Azerbaijan vs. the World" match ended May 9 in
Baku. The competition pitted the best Azeri grandmasters against world
champion Viswanathan Anand of India, former champion Vladimir Kramnik
of Russia and elite grandmasters Alexey Shirov of Spain and Sergey
Karjakin of Ukraine in eight rounds of 25-minute games. The World won
easily, 21 1/2 -10 1/2 , as every World player exceeded his predicted
score. Kramnik had the best result, 6 1/2 -1 1/2 . Teimour Radjabov,
ranked fifth in the world, managed 4-4 for Azerbaijan.
U.S. Championship
The 2009 U.S. Championship ends today in St. Louis. The 24-player
tournament includes 15 GMs, eight former U.S. champions and two U.S.
women's champions. Go to uschess.org to watch the final round.
California's best hope, GM Varuzhan Akobian of North Hollywood, was on
the wrong end of a brilliancy by Gata Kamsky, the tournament's
highest-rated competitor. However, he defeated GM Julio Becerra of
Florida in his next game to rejoin the leaders.
The greatest surprise of the early rounds was the 0-3 start of GM
Boris Gulko, a former champion. Gulko, the oldest competitor at 62,
lost to the youngest, IM Ray Robson, 14, of Florida. On the positive
side, another young talent, 17-year-old IM Robert Hess of New York,
defeated two grandmasters in fine style.
Local news
The 30th annual Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic takes place
Saturday through May 25 at the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in
Los Angeles. Entrants in each of the five sections will play six
games.
The late Lina Grumette, fondly remembered as Bobby Fischer's chess
mother, founded the tournament in 1980. The first two attracted more
than 500 entrants. Attendance has fallen off for all tournaments, but
the Memorial Day Classic remains one of the West Coast's largest.
The holiday weekend also includes a scholastic tournament on Sunday
and both 30-minute and 90-minute tournaments on Memorial Day. For
complete information and online entries, see scchess.com.
Today's games
GM Gata Kamsky-GM Varuzhan Akobian, U.S. Championship, St. Louis 2009:
1 e4 e6 The French Defense, long Akobian's favorite. 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3
dxe4 The Rubinstein variation. 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Nf3 Ngf6 6 Bd3 c5 7 Nxf6+
Nxf6 8 Be3 Fashionable. Current theory considers 8 0-0 cxd4 and 8 dxc5
Bxc5 less dangerous to Black. Nd5 Akobian nearly equalized last year
against Nakamura with 8 . . . Qc7 9 Qe2 a6 10 0-0-0 b5 11 dxc5 Bxc5 12
Bxc5 Qxc5 13 Ne5 Bb7 14 Rhe1 0-0. 9 Ne5 Apparently new. White has
tried 9 c3 and 9 0-0. Bd6 Must Black pause for 9 . . . a6 to guard b5?
After 10 0-0, White's lead in development is ominous. 10 Qh5 Qc7 11
Bb5+ Kf8 12 0-0-0 a6 13 Bc4 Welcoming 13 . . . Nxe3 14 dxe3 Bxe5 15
dxe5, as White can use the d- and f-files. Nf6 Also unpleasant is 13 .
. . b5 14 Bxd5 exd5 15 f4. White intends 16 dxc5, and 15 . . . c4 16
f5 gives him an uncontested Kingside initiative. 14 Qf3 Rb8 Neither 14
. . . Bxe5 15 dxe5 Nd7 16 Qg3 Nxe5? 17 Bf4 f6 18 Rhe1 nor 14 . . .
cxd4 15 Bxd4 Bxe5? 16 Bxe5 Qxe5 17 Rd8+ Ne8 18 Qa3+ is acceptable. 15
Bf4! Black will suffer on the b8-h2 diagonal. b5 16 Rhe1! Every piece
works. White invites 16 . . . bxc4? 17 dxc5, as Ne5-g6+ will follow.
cxd4 17 Rxd4 Rb6 The only way to bolster d6. 18 Bb3 Bb7 Only 18. . .
Kg8 19 Bg5 Be7 keeps faint hopes of survival. 19 Qh3 a5 Useless is 19
. . . Bd5 20 Bxd5 exd5 because 21 Rxd5 (seeing 21 . . . Nxd5 22 Nd7+)
breaks through. 20 Rxd6! Rxd6 21 Nxf7! Kxf7 No better is 21 . . . Rd1+
22 Kxd1 Qxf4, as both 23 Nxh8 and 23 Qxe6 win for White. 22 Qxe6+?!
Good enough, but 22 Rxe6! ends it sooner. Rxe6 23 Bxe6+ Kg6 24 Bxc7
Re8 25 Bxa5 Bxg2 26 f4 Two extra pawns are decisive. h5 27 Re5 Kh6 28
Bd2 Bc6 29 Rc5! White will obtain three connected passers. Bd7 Not 29
. . . Rxe6 30 f5+. 30 Bxd7 Nxd7 31 Rxb5 Re2 32 h4 Nf6 33 f5+ Kh7 34
Kd1 Rh2 35 Be1 Ng4 36 Rb3 Eliminating counterplay. White's last task
is to reach the time control at move 40. Rh1 37 a4 Rf1 38 a5 Rxf5 39
a6 Rf7 40 Ra3 Rd7+ 41 Kc1, Black Resigns. Takashi Kurosaki-Konstantin
Kavutskiy, Los Angeles County Open, Monterey Park 2009: 1 c4 e6 2 g3
d5 3 Nf3 c5 4 Bg2 Nc6 5 cxd5 exd5 6 d4 Nf6 Reaching a variation of the
Tarrasch Defense to the Queen's Gambit. 7 0-0 Be7 8 dxc5 Bxc5 9 Qc2
Bb6 10 Nc3 White has the usual edge against Black's isolated d-pawn.
h6 11 Na4 Bc7 12 b3 Also good is 12 Rd1 0-0 13 Be3, controlling d4.
0-0 13 Bb2 Ne4 14 Nd2 Reasonable, although the computer reveals that
White can get away with 14 Rfd1 Bf5 15 Nc3, not fearing 15 . . . Nxg3?
because 16 Qc1 Ne4 17 Rxd5 Qc8 18 Nh4 gains material. Ng5 15 h4?
Overlooking a Black resource. Either 15 Nc5 or 15 f4 Ne6 16 Nf3 favors
White slightly. Nh3+! 16 Bxh3 White must part with an important
defensive piece, as 16 Kh2 Nxf2! (stronger than 16 . . . Qxh4 17 f4)
17 Rxf2 Qxh4+ 18 Kg1 Bxg3 19 Rf3 Qh2+ 20 Kf1 Bh3 21 Rxg3 Qxg3 leaves
Black ahead in material and position. Bxh3 17 Rfe1 f5 18 Nf3 Sturdier
is 18 e3, but 18 . . . Qe7 envisions powerful threats from 19 . . .
Rac8 or 19 . . . Qf7 and later . . . Qf7-h5. f4 19 Kh2? White should
set the trap 19 g4!? Bxg4?? 20 Qg6 Qd7 21 Nc5, and Black should
decline with 19 . . . Rf7. fxg3+! Another Black piece remains immune
at h3. Black can refute 20 Kxh3 gxf2 21 Red1 by 21 . . . Qd7+ 22 Kg2
Qg4+ 23 Kxf2 Bg3+ 24 Kf1 Qxh4, when 25 Kg2 Rxf3 and 25 Kg1 Bf2+ 26 Kf1
Be3 win quickly. 20 fxg3 Rxf3! 21 exf3 Qxh4 22 Qg6 White gets no
relief from 22 f4 Bxf4! 23 gxf4 Bf5+, while 22 Kg1 Qxg3+ 23 Kh1 Qxf3+
24 Kg1 Qg3+ 25 Kh1 Nb4! 26 Qe2 Bg4 costs him his Queen. Bg4+, White
Resigns. After 23 Kg2 Qxg3+ 24 Kf1 Qxf3+ 25 Kg1, Black forces mate by
25 . . . Bh2+! 25 Kxh2 Qf2+.
CHESS
World team crushes Azerbaijan
By Jack Peters, International Master
May 17, 2009
Position No. 6055: Black to play and win. From the game Charles
Lawton-Melikset Khachiyan, U.S. Championship, St. Louis 2009.
Solution to Position No. 6054:
Black reaches an easily won endgame by 1 . . . e3+ (less convincing is
1 . . . Rd3? 2 Rxb6) 2 f3 Rxc4! 3 Bxc4 Rd2+ 4 Rxd2 exd2 5 Bb3 Bxa6.
Not 2 Kh3 because 2 . . . Rh1+ 3 Kg4 Rd4+ 4 f4 f5+ 5 Kg5 Kg7 sets up 6
. . . h6 mate.
The grandly named "Azerbaijan vs. the World" match ended May 9 in
Baku. The competition pitted the best Azeri grandmasters against world
champion Viswanathan Anand of India, former champion Vladimir Kramnik
of Russia and elite grandmasters Alexey Shirov of Spain and Sergey
Karjakin of Ukraine in eight rounds of 25-minute games. The World won
easily, 21 1/2 -10 1/2 , as every World player exceeded his predicted
score. Kramnik had the best result, 6 1/2 -1 1/2 . Teimour Radjabov,
ranked fifth in the world, managed 4-4 for Azerbaijan.
U.S. Championship
The 2009 U.S. Championship ends today in St. Louis. The 24-player
tournament includes 15 GMs, eight former U.S. champions and two U.S.
women's champions. Go to uschess.org to watch the final round.
California's best hope, GM Varuzhan Akobian of North Hollywood, was on
the wrong end of a brilliancy by Gata Kamsky, the tournament's
highest-rated competitor. However, he defeated GM Julio Becerra of
Florida in his next game to rejoin the leaders.
The greatest surprise of the early rounds was the 0-3 start of GM
Boris Gulko, a former champion. Gulko, the oldest competitor at 62,
lost to the youngest, IM Ray Robson, 14, of Florida. On the positive
side, another young talent, 17-year-old IM Robert Hess of New York,
defeated two grandmasters in fine style.
Local news
The 30th annual Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic takes place
Saturday through May 25 at the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in
Los Angeles. Entrants in each of the five sections will play six
games.
The late Lina Grumette, fondly remembered as Bobby Fischer's chess
mother, founded the tournament in 1980. The first two attracted more
than 500 entrants. Attendance has fallen off for all tournaments, but
the Memorial Day Classic remains one of the West Coast's largest.
The holiday weekend also includes a scholastic tournament on Sunday
and both 30-minute and 90-minute tournaments on Memorial Day. For
complete information and online entries, see scchess.com.
Today's games
GM Gata Kamsky-GM Varuzhan Akobian, U.S. Championship, St. Louis 2009:
1 e4 e6 The French Defense, long Akobian's favorite. 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3
dxe4 The Rubinstein variation. 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Nf3 Ngf6 6 Bd3 c5 7 Nxf6+
Nxf6 8 Be3 Fashionable. Current theory considers 8 0-0 cxd4 and 8 dxc5
Bxc5 less dangerous to Black. Nd5 Akobian nearly equalized last year
against Nakamura with 8 . . . Qc7 9 Qe2 a6 10 0-0-0 b5 11 dxc5 Bxc5 12
Bxc5 Qxc5 13 Ne5 Bb7 14 Rhe1 0-0. 9 Ne5 Apparently new. White has
tried 9 c3 and 9 0-0. Bd6 Must Black pause for 9 . . . a6 to guard b5?
After 10 0-0, White's lead in development is ominous. 10 Qh5 Qc7 11
Bb5+ Kf8 12 0-0-0 a6 13 Bc4 Welcoming 13 . . . Nxe3 14 dxe3 Bxe5 15
dxe5, as White can use the d- and f-files. Nf6 Also unpleasant is 13 .
. . b5 14 Bxd5 exd5 15 f4. White intends 16 dxc5, and 15 . . . c4 16
f5 gives him an uncontested Kingside initiative. 14 Qf3 Rb8 Neither 14
. . . Bxe5 15 dxe5 Nd7 16 Qg3 Nxe5? 17 Bf4 f6 18 Rhe1 nor 14 . . .
cxd4 15 Bxd4 Bxe5? 16 Bxe5 Qxe5 17 Rd8+ Ne8 18 Qa3+ is acceptable. 15
Bf4! Black will suffer on the b8-h2 diagonal. b5 16 Rhe1! Every piece
works. White invites 16 . . . bxc4? 17 dxc5, as Ne5-g6+ will follow.
cxd4 17 Rxd4 Rb6 The only way to bolster d6. 18 Bb3 Bb7 Only 18. . .
Kg8 19 Bg5 Be7 keeps faint hopes of survival. 19 Qh3 a5 Useless is 19
. . . Bd5 20 Bxd5 exd5 because 21 Rxd5 (seeing 21 . . . Nxd5 22 Nd7+)
breaks through. 20 Rxd6! Rxd6 21 Nxf7! Kxf7 No better is 21 . . . Rd1+
22 Kxd1 Qxf4, as both 23 Nxh8 and 23 Qxe6 win for White. 22 Qxe6+?!
Good enough, but 22 Rxe6! ends it sooner. Rxe6 23 Bxe6+ Kg6 24 Bxc7
Re8 25 Bxa5 Bxg2 26 f4 Two extra pawns are decisive. h5 27 Re5 Kh6 28
Bd2 Bc6 29 Rc5! White will obtain three connected passers. Bd7 Not 29
. . . Rxe6 30 f5+. 30 Bxd7 Nxd7 31 Rxb5 Re2 32 h4 Nf6 33 f5+ Kh7 34
Kd1 Rh2 35 Be1 Ng4 36 Rb3 Eliminating counterplay. White's last task
is to reach the time control at move 40. Rh1 37 a4 Rf1 38 a5 Rxf5 39
a6 Rf7 40 Ra3 Rd7+ 41 Kc1, Black Resigns. Takashi Kurosaki-Konstantin
Kavutskiy, Los Angeles County Open, Monterey Park 2009: 1 c4 e6 2 g3
d5 3 Nf3 c5 4 Bg2 Nc6 5 cxd5 exd5 6 d4 Nf6 Reaching a variation of the
Tarrasch Defense to the Queen's Gambit. 7 0-0 Be7 8 dxc5 Bxc5 9 Qc2
Bb6 10 Nc3 White has the usual edge against Black's isolated d-pawn.
h6 11 Na4 Bc7 12 b3 Also good is 12 Rd1 0-0 13 Be3, controlling d4.
0-0 13 Bb2 Ne4 14 Nd2 Reasonable, although the computer reveals that
White can get away with 14 Rfd1 Bf5 15 Nc3, not fearing 15 . . . Nxg3?
because 16 Qc1 Ne4 17 Rxd5 Qc8 18 Nh4 gains material. Ng5 15 h4?
Overlooking a Black resource. Either 15 Nc5 or 15 f4 Ne6 16 Nf3 favors
White slightly. Nh3+! 16 Bxh3 White must part with an important
defensive piece, as 16 Kh2 Nxf2! (stronger than 16 . . . Qxh4 17 f4)
17 Rxf2 Qxh4+ 18 Kg1 Bxg3 19 Rf3 Qh2+ 20 Kf1 Bh3 21 Rxg3 Qxg3 leaves
Black ahead in material and position. Bxh3 17 Rfe1 f5 18 Nf3 Sturdier
is 18 e3, but 18 . . . Qe7 envisions powerful threats from 19 . . .
Rac8 or 19 . . . Qf7 and later . . . Qf7-h5. f4 19 Kh2? White should
set the trap 19 g4!? Bxg4?? 20 Qg6 Qd7 21 Nc5, and Black should
decline with 19 . . . Rf7. fxg3+! Another Black piece remains immune
at h3. Black can refute 20 Kxh3 gxf2 21 Red1 by 21 . . . Qd7+ 22 Kg2
Qg4+ 23 Kxf2 Bg3+ 24 Kf1 Qxh4, when 25 Kg2 Rxf3 and 25 Kg1 Bf2+ 26 Kf1
Be3 win quickly. 20 fxg3 Rxf3! 21 exf3 Qxh4 22 Qg6 White gets no
relief from 22 f4 Bxf4! 23 gxf4 Bf5+, while 22 Kg1 Qxg3+ 23 Kh1 Qxf3+
24 Kg1 Qg3+ 25 Kh1 Nb4! 26 Qe2 Bg4 costs him his Queen. Bg4+, White
Resigns. After 23 Kg2 Qxg3+ 24 Kf1 Qxf3+ 25 Kg1, Black forces mate by
25 . . . Bh2+! 25 Kxh2 Qf2+.