The Arthur Dake Memorial was a 9 round invitational held at the venerable Mechanics Institute Chess Club in downtown San Francisco (Post Street, visit it at some point!). I think I tied for 2nd by defeating NM Lobo in the last round. My only loss was to IM Guillermo Rey. Here is a miraculous escape versus Vinay Bhat, who scored an IM norm in this event. I believe Jesse Kraii did as well and also Omar Cartagena. Most of the games were contested in the main room, but former US Champion John Grefe and I played our game in a drafty back room for some reason.
[Event “Arthur Dake Int”]
[Site “San Francisco”]
[Date “1999.07.14”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Bhat, Vinay S”]
[Black “Ginsburg, Mark”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “B06”]
[WhiteElo “2388”]
[BlackElo “2381”]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 a6!? 5. a4 Nc6 I don’t think 5. a4 is the most testing move. Black is all right now. In fact, I equalized quickly with this line vs Ben Finegold, Brugges Belgium 1990. Queenside castling is out for white.
6. h3 Nf6 7. g3 e5 8. Nge2 d5! How dynamic and natural enough versus white’s slow buildup! It’s still about equal.
The Center Blows Up
9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bg2 Nc4 11. Bd4 The line 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. b3 d4! 14. bxc4 dxc3 15. Qxd8+ Bxd8 seems OK for black.
11… dxe4 But here black had a serious choice. Probably safer is 11… Nxb2! 12. Qb1 Nc4 13. exd5 O-O and black is solid.
12. Nxe4 O-O 13. Nc5 Qe7 14. O-O Rd8 15. Nd3! I really missed most of white’s regroupings in this phase of the game and my opponent got control of all the key squares.
15..Ne4? A huge lemon. If black develops with 15… Bf5! 16. b3 Na5 17. Re1 he should be able to hold.
16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nef4! Totally missed by me.
17…Nc5? Flustered, I make an even worse mistake. Required was 17… Nf6 18. Re1 Qd6 19. Qc1! and white has a big plus.
18. Nd5 Qd6 19. Nxc5 Qxc5 20. b4! I can resign! From a good position on move 8 to this? Boo.
Not....liking....it
20…Qd6 21. Qd4+ Qe5 22. Qxc4 Be6 It is blind luck that I’m not losing a piece.
23. Qxc7 Rxd5 24. Qxb7 Rb8 25. Qxa6? White is somewhat short of time and I start to get rays of hope. Very pretty was the decisive tactical blow 25. Rae1!! Rxb7 26. Rxe5 Rxe5 27. Bxb7 Bxh3 28. Rd1 Bf5 29. c4 Bc2 30. Rd6 Bxa4 31. Rxa6 and white wins.
25… Rd6 26. Qa5 Qxa5 27. bxa5 Ra6 28. Rfb1 Rxb1+ 29. Rxb1 Rxa5 30. Rb4 Rc5 31. Rb2 It’s also hard work after 31. Bf1 Rxc2 32. a5 Ra2 33. a6 Bd5 34. Rb5 Bf3 35. Rb1 Kf6; black always has activity. The shot missed on move 25 looms large.
31… Ra5 32. Bc6 Rc5 33. Bb5 Bxh3 34. a5 Rc3 35. a6 Be6 36. Bd3 Ra3 37. Kf1 h5 38. Ke1 More accurate is 38. Ke2. The position is very easy for black to play and for white, without much time, it’s not a lot of fun. But on move 39 (see the note) white could have gotten back on track.
38… g5 39. Rb6?! The computer likes the aesthetic 39. Rb4 Kf6 40. f4! gxf4 41. Rxf4+ Ke5 42. Rb4 and white has clarified the kingside and should be winning without too many problems.
39… h4! Of course. Who knows how real it is, but it is counterplay.
40. gxh4 gxh4 This pawn looks scary so the players agreed to a draw here. The position is a hard slog. For example, 41. Kf1 Kf6 42.
Kg1 Ra1+ 43. Kh2 Kg5 44. Kg2 Bd5+ 45. f3 Kf4 46. Kf2 h3 47. Rb4+ Ke5 48. f4+ Kd6 49. Kg3 Rh1 50. Ra4 Ba8 51. a7 h2 52. Bc4 Rf1 53. Kxh2 Rxf4 and it’s still work.
1/2-1/2
International Quiz
The Return of Polugaevsky
A recent e-mail banter exchange.
The query:
dewaynepittman wrote:
Hi,
I am SSG Dewayne Pittman, an active American soldier serving in Iraq, I am serving in the military of the 1st Armored Division in Iraq, as our mission here is highly exclusive due to insurgents everyday and car bombs are attacking our peaceful mission here. We managed to secure funds from the war zone. The total amount is US$ 9 Million dollars in cash.
We want to move this money out of this place,this place is a war zone, so that you may keep our share for us till when we will come over to meet you.We will take 70%, my partner and I.You take 30%. No strings attached, just help us move it out of Iraq, Iraq is a war zone. We plan on using diplomatic courier and shipping the money out in a large box, using diplomatic immunity.
If you are interested I will send you the full details, my job is to find a good partner that we can trust and that will assist us. Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers for quick communication also your contact details.
This business is risk free. The box can be shipped out in 48hrs if you want to handle the deal with us as brothers.
Respectfully,
SSG Dewayne Pittman
The response:
Sounds great.
I am Lev Polugaevsky and I watched as Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan. The next move is yours, mein Freund.
Stay tuned — let’s see if we can catch some bait with this lure.
Tags: Arthur Dake Memorial, Mechanics Institute Chess Club, Vinay Bhat
IM Mark Ginsburg Presents A Personal Chess History 
Leave a Reply