The Fabulous 10s: US Open 2010 Irvine CA

US Open 2010!

The US Open, a lengthy sweaty endeavor, finally ended.  It was nestled downtown in an Irvine corporate center (the Hyatt Hotel one of the corporate buildings in the complex).   During the tournament, I spotted some chess personalities from the East Coast circa 1980s: Tim Taylor, Mark Pinto, Walter Shipman!   And Vince McCambridge came to spectate on Thursday!

GM Alejandro was the winner with a huge score of 8 out of 9 (not winning a winning game in the last round – see below), scoring a scintillating win over GM Khachiyan to warm up for the finale; then scoring a lucky win vs Shabalov when Shabalov blundered a piece in a position where Shabalov was just up a pawn (time trouble), then finally only needing a draw versus IM Sandorra which he obtained from a winning game!  (He could have traded queens and played Re1! to Re5 to Rxa5, winning easily, but it’s a luxury to be able to draw and still win the tournament outright!).

Final Standings!

Only a few miles away is Newport Beach and Balboa island, but sadly most pasty chess players won’t see it!

The Balboa Island Watermelon Cow

First Memory of Hanken

This event is in memorial for Jerry Hanken. In 1976 I played in my first US Open in Fairfax Virginia.  Also playing were Junior talents Fedorowicz, Diesen, and Rohde. GM Lombardy was playing and other GMs.  I would guess GMs Shamkovich and Lein were there, because these recent immigrants played everywhere!  I don’t remember who won, but I do remember a very loud guy in the skittles room – Hanken.  He would comment loudly when strong players were analyzing their game, and he would shush people who tried to comment if he did not deem them worthy.  The words “brusque” and “imperious” came to mind.   I had a terrible impression of a GM wannabee who acted a lot stronger than he was. Over the years he definitely mellowed (still loud in the tournament hall though) but I always saw traces of the 1976  big ego in his writings lurking  under a facade of self-deprecation.

It’s still early but there has been some interesting chess.

I was watching the following chaos on an adjacent board to me:

[Event “Jerry Hanken Memorial – 111th US Open”]
[Site “Irvine”]
[Date “2010.08.04”]
[Round “Six Day Schedule- Round 2”]
[White “Abrahamyan, Tatev”]
[Black “Mu, Joshua”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteELO “2385”]
[WhiteTitle “WFM”]
[BlackELO “2075”]
[BlackTitle “”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 O-O 9.c5??

When I saw this move executed, I checked the player playing white for signs of fever or delirium.  However she looked calm.  This move, opening things when undeveloped, would never enter my mind!  The worst part of this is that a regular, ordinary, developing move keeps a standard edge with the superior center.

Position after 9. c5??

9….dxc5 10.dxc5 Qxd1+?! Why not the simple 10…Bxc3+! followed by Nd5?  Black would stand very well.

11.Rxd1 N6d7 Moving the horse to this bad square is a consequence of black’s second best choice last move.

12.Nd5 Nc6 13.Bb5 Optically it looks like white is ‘attacking’ but in fact black is fine.

13…Nde5 14.h3?! Appears menacing but black can defend as in the game.  Simply 14. Nf3, developing, and it’s equal.

14…Bf5 15.f4 a6! I am sure this obvious zwischenzug was not missed by white; the real miscue occurs on move 24.

16.Be2 Nd7 17.Bf3 Bxb2 18.g4 Be6 19.Nc7 Rad8 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Ne2 Ba3 22.Bxc6 bxc6 23.Nd4 Bxc5 24.Nxc6??

It is time for damage control. 24. Ke2 and a draw is very possible!  The text loses miserably.

24…Bxe3 25.Nxd8 Rxd8 26.Ke2 Bxf4 27.Rd4 Bd6 Now black is just winning and hauls in the upset.

28.Rb1 Nc5 29.Rb6 e5 30.Rd2 Kf7 31.Rc6 Rb8 32.Rc2 Ne6 0-1

In my own games things are good so far.  3/3 vs. low-rated opposition.

Some of the games were brutal for example this round 2 massacre (taking place on the board next to the above game):

[Event “Jerry Hanken Memorial – 111th US Open, “]
[Site “Irvine”]
[Date “2010.08.04”]
[Round “6 day schedule, Round 2”]
[White “Liu”]
[Black “Ginsburg, Mark”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B42”]
[WhiteElo “2044”]
[EventDate “2010.08.04”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Qb6 6. Ne2 This strange move is not bad but on the other hand, not particularly testing.

Nf6 7. O-O d6 8.Nbc3 Be7 9. Be3 Qc7 10. f3? This passive construction has been discredited for many decades, for example an ancient Martz-Benko US Championship game.  There is no white pawn on c4 (it’s not a Maroczy bind) so white cannot contain forever black’s pawn breaks.  Worse, white has no plan while black has lots of “improvement” moves before engineering the pawn break.

O-O 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Qf2 b5 13. Nd4 Ne5 14. Rfd1 Bb7 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. Kh1 b4 17. Nce2 d5! Executing one of the thematic breaks.  Black’s pieces are much more active than white’s.

18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Bd2 Nxd3 20. cxd3 Qd7! This position is a dream for black.  White quickly goes down the drain.

Smooth Sailing

21. b3 a5 22. Nc2 Ba6 23. Be1 Bg5 24. f4 Bf6 Bishop crossfires are always a pleasure to set up.

25. Ne3 Rxc1 26. Nxc1 Bd4 This permanent pin wins.

27. Bd2 Qa7 28. Re1 Rc8 29. Qg1 Rc2 A gruesome finale.  It does not merit an exclamation mark since 29…Nxf4 wins trivially too.

30. Nxc2 Bxg1 31. Rxg1 Qf2 32. Rd1 Nc3 The rude computer prefers 32…Bb7! as the most efficient!

33. Bxc3 Qxc2 34. Rf1 Bb7 0-1

In Round 3 I beat Eric Zhang although I made numerous bad moves.

[Event “Jerry Hanken Memorial – 111th US Open,”]
[Site “Irvine”]
[Date “2010.08.06”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Ginsburg, Mark”]
[Black “Zhang, Eric”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D94”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 d5 5. e3 Bg7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Re8? What the heck?  Just 7…Bg4!

8. Ne5 e6 9. b4 Nfd7 10. f4 f6 11. Nf3 Nb6? A huge waste of time.

12. c5 N6d7 13. e4 a5 Well, black has played the opening terribly.  Time for punishment? 

14. exd5? (A terrible move. The right move, for which white needs sharp tactics, is 14. b5! dxe4
15. Nxe4 f5 16. Nd6 Nxc5 17. Nxe8!  (I saw this far) 17… Bxd4+ 18. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 19. Kh1 Nxd3 (But I dismissed this, thinking black has too many threats) 20. Bb2!! {
The key move I missed, real computer genius connecting the rooks!} Qxb2 21. Qxd3 Nd7 22. bxc6 bxc6 23. Rab1 and white wins)

14… cxd5? A really bad blunder in reply.  Black had 14…cxb4 15. dxe6 Nxc5! (I missed this) and he has a slight edge.  On the other hand, 14…exd5? 15. b5! would also be a big white edge.  The text hands white a crushing queenside pawn majority.

15. b5 f5 16. Ba3 Nf6 17. Rc1 Ne4 18. Na4! Ouch.  b6 beckons.

18…h6 19. Ne5? First, of course, the extremely obvious 19. Nb6! Ra7 and only now 20. Ne5! and black is smashed.  I played many bad moves in this game.

19…Nd7 20. c6?! Now it’s time to buckle down.  We need a little tactics: 20. Bxe4! Nxe5 21. Bxf5! Nc4 22. Bxg6 Nxa3 23. Nb6 Rb8 24. Bxe8 Qxe8 25. Qa4 Nc4 26. Nxc4 Bxd4+ 27. Kh1 dxc4 28. Qxc4 Bf6 29. f5! and white wins.  It makes sense to get rid of black’s central horse to start. Every inaccuracy I make reduces my edge, and in the game it becomes nil!

20… bxc6 21. bxc6 Nxe5 22. dxe5 Ra7 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. Qd4? This thoughtless centralization, played quickly, is very weak.  In fact, it sets up a pin on g7-d4 which prevents me playing Bd6 in many situations, so it’s entirely counterproductive! Crushing is the paralyzing 24. Bd6! Qh4 25. Nb6 Kh7 26. c7 Rg8 27. Rb1 Ba6 28. Qc2 Bd3 29. c8=Q and white wins by brute force.

24… Rf7! 25. g3 Ba6 26. Rfd1 g5! Black is all right now!

27. Nc5 Bc8??  A losing blunder.

Black has two ways to an equal game. 27… Qb6!! 28. Nxe6 Qxd4+ 29. Nxd4 gxf4 and black is fine!  For some reason 27…Qb6!! had escaped my attention; I had only seen the possible 27…Bf8.  Weirdly it turns out 27..Bf8 holds too after the tough defense 28. c7 Qc8!.

28. Nxe4! Winning with the simple pin motif.

gxf4 29. Nd6 fxg3 30. Nxf7 It’s all over now with a direct attack on the lonely black king.
gxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Kxf7 32. Qf4+ Kg8 33. Rg1 Kh7 34. Rxg7+ Kxg7 35. Rg1+ 1-0

And this entertaining clash occurred:

GM A. Ramirez – FM M. Casella US Open 2010

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Ne8 10.Nd2 f5 11.c5 Nf6 12.cxd6 cxd6 13.b5 Bh6 14.exf5 gxf5 15.Nc4 Bxc1 16.Rxc1 Ng6 17.g3 f4 18.Bf3 Bh3 19.Re1 Qd7 20.Ne4 Nxe4 21.Bxe4 Rf6 22.b6 a6 23.Qh5 Rc8 24.Nd2 Kg7 25.Bf3 fxg3 26.hxg3 Nf4 27.Qg5 Rg6 28.Rxc8! Rxg5 29.Rc7! Black is enmeshed in an unbreakable bind!

29…Nd3 30.Re3 Nc5 31.Nc4 Rg6 32.Bh5 Rg5 33.Be8 Qxc7 34.bxc7 Kf6 35.Nxd6 Rg7 36.Rf3 1-0

In Round 4 action, I drew FM Bryant.

Noteworthy because in post-game discussion it turned he was not very familiar with Pillsbury and Pillsbury knight outposts on c5 (a motif that occurred in the game).

FM Bryant – Ginsburg  Round 4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ I had never faced this move before.

Bd7 6.Bxd7 Qxd7 For some reason I was scared of 6…Nd7 but computers prefer that move a bit.

7.d4 cxd4 8.O-O Nc6 9.Re1 Be7 10.Bg5!? In gambit style.  I would just play 10. Nxd4.

10…O-O-O!? The computers try to defend after 10…dxc3 11. Nxc3 O-O-O and they do so successfully.  To me it looked too risky.  However I missed that 12. Be3? loses to 12…d4 – a key defensive resource.

11.Bxe7 Ngxe7 12.cxd4 Ng6! Black is fine now; the knight has double duty observing e5 and threatening to hop into f4.

13.Nc3 Rhe8 14.Qd2 Qf5 15.Rxe8 1/2-1/2 He promised to take a look at the book “Hastings 1895”.

Here’s a another cool game:

[Event “Jerry Hanken Memorial – 111th US Open, Denker, College”]
[Site “Irvine”]
[Date “2010.08.05”]
[Round “Six-4”]
[White “Bercys, Salvijus”]
[Black “Sadorra, Julio”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteELO “2467”]
[WhiteTitle “IM”]
[BlackELO “2471”]
[BlackTitle “IM”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3+ Qc7 7.Qg4! I’ve never seen this French Winawer motif in a Nimzo  before!

7…f5 8.Qg3 Qe7 9.a4 Nf6 10.f3 Nc6 11.Bd3 e5 12.Ne2 e4 13.Bc2 dxc4 14.Ba3 b6 15.fxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Qxe4 17.Qxg7 Rf8 18.dxc5 Rf7 19.Qg8 Rf8 20.Qg7 Rf7 21.Qg8 Rf8 22.Qxh7 Ne5 23.c6 Nd3 24.Kf1 Nc5 25.Bxc5 bxc5 26.Qg6 Ke7 27.Rd1 Be6 28.Nf4 Rab8 29.Qg7 Ke8 30.Ng6 1-0

In Round 5 action I overcame after a long struggle expert Karas.  Also in Round 5 we had GM Khachiyan battling in an inferior position vs GM Alejandro Ramirez…. and Eric Zhang resurfaced to inflict an upset on IM Tim Taylor after Taylor dropped a full piece.

Round 5 Games

[Event “Jerry Hanken Memorial – 111th US Open, Denker, College”]
[Site “Irvine”]
[Date “2010.08.05”]
[Round “T6S5F3”]
[White “Ginsburg, Mark”]
[Black “Karas, Nicholas”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteELO “2431”]
[WhiteTitle “IM”]
[BlackELO “2108”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Na6 8.Re1 c6 9.Bf1 exd4 10.Nxd4 Ng4 11.h3 Nxf2!?

Obviously my theoretical knowledge is out of date.  In the past I experimented with 11…Qb6  but after 12. hxg4 Qxd4 white has a nagging edge after 13. g5.  Still, the text looks like “it’s not quite enough.”   It was disconcerting for him to blitz out the moves and disappear from the vicinity of the board in today’s computer age, but later I spotted him toddling around with headphones listening to music.  The “threat” of computers and long absences from the board  is quite serious though in today’s chess.  I recommend that players stay more or less put for appearance’s sake during tournaments when “computer-y” developments break out in the opening phase.

12.Kxf2 Qb6 13.Nce2 f5 14.Kg1! Correct.  Let black eat the center pawn then blockade and get piece coordination.  Since white’s game is easy now, I would look for improvements for black on move 13.

fxe4 15.Be3 Qxb2 16.Nb3! Sidelining the a6 knight.

Qe5 17.Qd2 Qh5 18.Rad1 Nc5 19.Qxd6 Nxb3 20.axb3 Be5 21.Qe7 Bf6 22.Qc5 Be5 23.Bd4 Bxd4 24.Qxd4 Qg5 25.Kh2 Bf5 26.Qe5 Rae8 27.Qg3 Qe7 28.Qe3 Qe5 29.Kg1 a5 Black thoughout the game puts up dogged resistance but it’s just a conversion project for white.

30.Nc3 Qe7 31.g4 Bc8 32.Nxe4 Qh4 33.Qg3 Qxg3 34.Nxg3 b6 35.Ne4 Kg7 36.Nd6 Rxe1 37.Rxe1 Ba6 38.Re7 Kf6 39.Ra7 Ke6 40.Ne4 To save time I can just eat on a6 and then b6 here.

40…Bc8 41.Ra8 Ke5 42.Bg2 Rd8 43.Kh2 Kd4 44.Rb8 h5 45.g5 b5 46.cxb5

Nothing is wrong with 46. c5 winning, again I choose the longer way.

46…cxb5 47.Rxb5 Bf5 48.Rxa5 Rb8 49.Ng3 Bc2 50.Rd5 Ke3 51.Rc5 Bxb3 52.Rc6 Bf7 53.Rf6 Be8 54.h4 Rb4 55.Re6 Kf4 56.Rxe8 Kg4 57.Re6 57. Re4+ leads to K N and B  versus King!   I find a quicker way.

Kxh4 58.Ne4! This seals it.  The N and  B coordinate perfectly.

58…Kg4 59.Rxg6 Rb2 60.Rh6 Rb8 61.Rf6 Rb2 62.g6 h4 63.g7 1-0

Before the Merge

Before the merge in Round 7, there were multiple sections. Here’s an entertaining miniature from the 4-day featuring a young IM and a veteran of US Championships from the 1960s!

[Event “Jerry Hanken Memorial – 111th US Open”]
[Site “Irvine”]
[Date “2010.08.06”]
[Round “FourD-4”]
[White “Stopa, Jacek”]
[Black “Saidy, Anthony F”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteELO “2554”]
[WhiteTitle “IM”]
[BlackELO “2331”]
[BlackTitle “IM”]
[Source “MonRoi”]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4

IM Saidy had probably studied the Evans 3 Stopa lifetimes ago.

4…Bxb4!

Theory considers accepting best and declining a safe edge for white.

5.c3 Be7 Isn’t this already a little strange?

6.Qb3 Nh6

This?  I’m no Evans expert, but this looks strange.

7.d4 Na5 8.Qb5 Nxc4 9.Bxh6 gxh6 10.Qxc4 exd4 11.cxd4 O-O

The smoke has cleared and black’s ruined pawns give him an uncomfortable game.

12.Nc3 d6 13.O-O Bg4 14.Nd2 c6 15.Qd3 Qd7 16.h3 Be6 17.Rae1 d5? This unfortunate choice loses a piece.  Not one for Saidy’s anthology.

18.exd5 Bxd5 19.Qg3+ Oops.  If 19…Kh8 20. Qe5+ picks up the bishop.

19…Bg5 20.h4 1-0

Nerdy T-Shirts Spotted

A.  “Armed with Math Instructional Equations”

B.  “I’m not thinking very much, therefore I might not be.”

C.  “Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion.”

Amusing Incident in the Bar

A bunch of strong players in the bar. Tony Rich decided to organize a blitz tournament with Ramirez, Stopa, Bercys, etc.   Khachiyan asks me if I want to play.  Tony is typing in names into a computer pairing system and asks for my name, saying “Are you Tim Taylor?”

Round 6.

I drew Bercys.

Bercys-MG  Nimzo Qc2

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. a3 I was not sure how to play after 6. cxd5.  Should I take back with the Queen?

6…Bxc3 7. Qxc3 dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6

A sensible way to play.

9. Bg5 Bb7 10. e3 Nbd7 11. Ne5?! Asking too much.  11…c5! 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. dxc5 Insanely risky, but what else can white do?

14…Rfd8 15. Qc3! The best move.  It seems like white can finish developing here; i.e. there will be no miniature win for black.

15…Rac8 16. b4 bxc5 17. b5 (forced) and now black could find no convincing way to attack and the game petered out to a draw.

It ended: 17…Qd5 18. f3 c4 19. Be2 a6 20. bxa6 Bxa6 21. Kf2 Qe5! and it’s totally dead.  1/2-1/2

Meanwhile, GM Ramirez won a phenomenal high-energy game vs GM Khachiyan, who always seemed a half-move short in complications!

GM Khachiyan – GM Ramirez Sicilian Scheveningen

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O d6 Black doesn’t go for 7…Bb4 which has a so-so theoretical basis.

8.a4 Nc6 9.Nb3 b6 10.f4 Be7 11.Bf3 Bb7 12.Be3 O-O 13.Qe2 Nd7 14.Rad1 Rfe8 15.Kh1 Bf8 16.Bf2 Nb4 17.Bg3 This looks unnatural.

e5 18.f5 Nf6 19.Bh4 Be7 20.Qd2 Rad8 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 Now obviously black is happy, but how to break down white’s formation?  The game is now a textbook example of exploiting dynamic factors.

22.Nb1 a5 23.c3 d5!! 24.Qe3 d4 25.Qf2 Na2!! 26.cxd4 exd4 27.Nxd4 Qc5 28.e5 Bxf3 29.Qxf3 Bxe5 30.Nb5 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Bxb2 32.Nd2 Nc3 33.Nxc3 Qxc3 34.Qxc3 Bxc3 35.Nc4 Bd4 36.g3 Bc5 37.Rd7 h5 38.Nd6 Re1 39.Kg2 Re2 40.Kh1 Rd2 41.Rd8 Kh7 42.Nxf7 Rxd8 43.Nxd8 b5 44.axb5 a4 45.Nc6 a3 46.Na5 a2 47.Nb3 Kh6 48.h4 g6 49.fxg6 Kxg6 50.Kg2 Kf5 51.Kf3 Ke5 52.Ke2 Kd5 53.Kd3 Bd4 54.Kc2 Be5 A very pleasing textbook domination of B & Outside passed pawn versus knight ending; a good conclusion to a well played game throughout.

55.b6 Kc6 56.Na1 Bxa1 57.Kb3 Kxb6 58.Kxa2 Be5 59.Kb3 Kc5 60.Kc2 Kd4 61.Kd2 Ke4 62.Ke2 Bd4! 0-1

What a great game!

Round 7. (post-Merge)

I beat a young expert, Brown in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted..  The game had a very nice tactic.

During this round, a really weird incident occurred.

Expert Sam Hamilton was playing next to me and had white against Daniel Naroditsky. Sam played a 4 pawn attack King’s Indian . He offered a draw standing very well and Naroditsky said “I’ll think about it” and instantly made a move (not thinking about it, hee hee).  After Hamilton’s reply Naroditsky already had a terrible game and offered a draw himself.  Hamilton pointed out Naroditsky had to make a move first.  Naroditsky made some random move not changing anything and Hamilton, no doubt with his competitive urges fully activated due to the incident, declined and went on to win a pawn and threaten to win a second pawn in an ending.  Then, incredibly enough, Hamilton more or less immediately after achieving a winning ending started making blunder after blunder and lost a full rook to a knight fork.  This half point gift for Naroditsky was very important competitively as eventually Daniel reached a monster score of 7.5/9!   That was on my right… on my left GM Khachiyan played a very tough expert Mo and only won a long, long ending by the narrowest of margins.  Therefore after this round Khachiyan, Naroditsky and I were all doing great with 6 out of 7.  My game was the cleanest of the bunch:

IM M. Ginsburg – Michael Brown

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.O-O c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd8 Kxd8 9.b3 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Bb2 Nbd7 12.Nbd2 Ke7 13.a4 b4 14.Nc4 Bd5 15.Rfd1 Rhc8 16.a5 Ne4 17.Rac1 f6 18.Ne1 Ba7  Black  19.Nd3 Ndc5 20.Nxb4 Nxb3 21.Nb6!! A crushing hit!  Black is lost.  A very strange tactic!

Rxc1 22.N4xd5 exd5 23.Nxd5 Kf7 24.Bxc1 Rc8 25.Ba3 Rc2 26.Nf4 Bc5 27.Bd3 Ra2 28.Bxc5 Nexc5 29.Bxh7 Rxa5 30.Bg6 Ke7 31.h4 Ra1 32.Rxa1 Nxa1 33.Kf1 a5 34.Ke1 Nab3 35.Nd5 Kd6 36.Nc3 Nd7 37.Kd1 Ne5 38.Bc2 Nc5 39.f3 Nc4 40.Ke2 Nd7 41.g4 Nde5 42.g5 Ke6? A weird blunder after long thought.  42….fxg5 keeps the game going.

43.Bb3! Ke7 44.f4 Nxe3 45.Kxe3 Ng6 46.h5 Nf8 47.Nd5 1-0

Round 8.

I drew GM Gurevich with black in a classical King’s Indian.  I resurrected an old system tried by Boris Spassky in the 1960s and at a critical moment, I found a funny tactic to hold things together.

Dmitry Gurevich – M. Ginsburg  Classical King’s Indian  Spassky System Bg4, c5

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 c5 7.O-O Bg4 8.d5 a6 9.a4 Nbd7 10.Bg5 Qc7 11.Qd2 Rae8 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 e6 14.dxe6 Rxe6 15.Rfe1 Ne5 16.Be2 Nc6 17.Nd5 The expected move that I had to worry about when deciding on 14…Rxe6 (14…fxe6 looked very risky after 15. Rad1).  Still, due to the effectiveness of black’s response, this obvious move may not be good.

17… Qa5!!

This is a great move. 17…Qd8?? 18. Qf4! and otherwise white has the nasty idea of Bxf6 and  Bg4 overloading the rook on e6.

18.Qxa5 Nxa5 19.Bxf6 1/2-1/2

Black’s point is that 19…Bxf6 20. Bg4? Bxb2 21. Rb1 Bd4! is terrible for white.  Black has great winning chances there, dominating the board.

So white should go for 20. Nxf6+ Rxf6 and bring his Rook to d5 with the e4-e5 idea; liquidating for a draw.  The horse and its juicy dark square outposts are not enough to win. Still, black should decline white’s draw offer and check that white will not go for the terrible 20. Bg4? material win.

Round 9.

I drew IM Andranik Matikozian as white in a Averbakh King’s Indian.  I mised up things in the opening but there were still some sharp developments in a R & B vs R & N ending.  Eventually it was black that found an accurate drawing continuation.

IM Ginsburg – IM Matikozian  Round 9

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5 Na6 7.Qd2 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Qxd8 Rxd8 10.Nd5 Rd6 11.Nxf6 Bxf6 12.Bxf6 Rxf6 13.Nf3 Bg4 14.O-O-O Rf4 15.Rhe1 Rxe4 16.h3 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Rxe1 18.Rxe1 Nc5 19.Kc2 Re8 20.b4 Na6 21.a3 c6 22.b5 Nb8 23.bxc6 bxc6 24.Rb1 Kg7 25.Rb7 e4 26.Be2 Na6 27.Rxa7 Nc5 28.a4 Ne6 29.a5 Nd4 30.Kd2 c5 31.Bd1 Rd8 32.Ke1 Nc6 33.Rc7 Nb4 34.Ke2 Nd3 35.Ke3! At this point I expected to win after 35…Nxf2?? 36. Bc2! and wins the ending with the monster a-pawn!  However, my opponent’s reply doesn’t give me the time to get that perfect K & B coordination.

35…Ra8! 1/2-1/2

The N/d3 P/e4 combination keeps me at bay long enough!  Unfortunately 35. Bg4!? Rxa5 36. Be6 Ne5 37. Kxe4 Kf6 38. Bd5 Ra2! 39. f4?? Re2 is checkmate!  If I can’t do that, I have no winning attempt at all!

The ultra-sharp opening in Ramirez’s last game:

GM Ramirez – IM Sandorra Round 9

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 b5 6.O-O Bb7 7.a4 a6 8.Nc3 b4 9.Nb1 Bd5 Black’s play is very risky.

10.Bg5 c5 11.dxc5 Nbd7 12.Nbd2 h6 13.e4!

Cool!

13…Bb7 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.e5 Nd5 16.Nxc4 Bxc5 17.Nfd2 O-O 18.Ne4 Ba7 19.Ncd6 Bc6 20.Qc2 Ne7 21.Rac1 Qa5 22.Nf6 gxf6 23.Bxc6 Nxc6 24.Qxc6 Qxe5 25.Nxf7 Kxf7 26.Qd7 Kg6 27.Rc7 f5 28.Qh7 Kh5 29.Rxa7 Rxa7 30.Qxa7 a5 31.Qe7 Qf6 32.Qc5?

Ramirez missed a clear win here (and a monster, Fischer-like result overall) with the simple 32. Qxf6 Rxf6 33. Re1! with the unstoppable Re1-e5 and Re5xa5.

This blunder could have had very serious consequences as Akobian was crushing Naroditsky and well on his way to 8/9 (the score Ramirez gets with a draw).  See the next game in this article to visualize Akobian’s absolute stranglehold on the position. However, incredibly enough, Akobian blew several easy wins and only drew to reach 7.5.  Thus this lemon had no ill effects on the result!

32…Re8 33.Qb5 Qd8 34.Re1 Kg6 35.Re5 Kf6 36.Qxa5 Qd4 37.Rb5 Qxb2 38.Rxb4 Qc1 39.Kg2 Qc6 40.Kh3 Qf3 41.Rf4 Qh1 42.Qb5 Rd8 43.Qe2 Qd1 44.Qxd1 Rxd1 45.Rh4 Kg6 46.Rb4 Ra1 47.Rb6 Rxa4 48.Rxe6 Kg7 49.Kg2 Rb4 50.Rd6 Ra4 51.h4 h5 52.Kf3 Re4 53.Ra6 Rb4 54.Ke3 Re4 55.Kf3 Rb4 56.Re6 Ra4 57.Ke3 1/2-1/2

I am not understanding the draw here (does black have an elementary path to a draw? I don’t see it). Maybe Ramirez just did it to clinch the tournament, assuming Akobian had already blown it (see next game).

It’s incredible that GM Akobian did not beat Daniel Naroditsky from a completely winning game in this round, but that is what happened.  A very uncharacteristic lapse from the normally very accurate Akobian.

GM Akobian – Naroditsky

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Bg5 d6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.d5 Qb6 9.Rb1 e5 10.Nd2 Nh7 11.g4 f5 12.gxf5 Bxf5 13.e4 Bd7 14.Rg1 g5 15.Bg3 Nf6 16.Be2 Bh3 17.Bf1 Bd7 18.Be2 Bh3 19.Nf1 Qa5 20.Qd2 a6 21.Ne3 Nbd7 22.Bf1 Bxf1 23.Kxf1 b5 24.Qd3 Nb6 25.b3 bxc4 26.bxc4 Na4 27.Nxa4 Qxa4 28.Nf5 Rab8 Black is already lost.  White could play 29. Rxb8 Rxb8 30. Nxd6 and win easily.

29.Kg2 OK, but the line given above is simpler.

29..Qxa2 30.Nxd6 Rxb1 31.Rxb1 h5 32.Rb7 h4 33.Rxg7+? Why?  33. Nf5 is completely crushing.  The most pleasing variation is 33. Nf5 Rf7 34. Rb8+! Kh7 (34…Rf8 35. Bxe5 wins) 35. Bxe5 Ng4 (last try) 36. Qf3!! and wins (36…Nxe5 37. Qh5+).  With plenty of time, it’s amazing that Akobian passed on the 33. Nf5 move which is supremely obvious.

33…Kxg7 34.Bxe5 Kg8 35.Qe3 Nh7 36.h3 g4 37.Nf5 Rxf5 38.exf5 Qxc4 39.d6 Qd5 40.Kh2 g3 41.Kg1?

41. fxg3 wins easily after a few checks; the ending is winning because the h8 square is a dark square!

Qd1 42.Kg2 gxf2 43.Kxf2 Qc2 44.Kg1 Qxf5 45.Qb3 Qf7 46.Qd1 Qg6 47.Kh2 Qe6 48.d7 Qxe5 49.Kh1 Qe4 50.Kh2 Qe5 51.Kh1 1/2-1/2

What a painful botch by Akobian. A lucky way for Naroditsky to reach 7.5 points and qualify for the US Championship!

After-Party

The heroes of the tournament were Fred and Moira, hosting the fabulous after-party in their beautiful home.

Afterparty

Tournament Winner Ramirez on the left getting a huggy from D. Gurevich

Good hair day - GM Nakamura and friends at the afterparty

Photos

Toiling against IM S. Bercys

Advertisement

The Fabulous 70s: Arthur Bisguier and other American Powerhouses

The 1970s (post-Fischer boom) were a great time to play in tournaments in the USA.

Here’s one of the powerhouses of the day, GM Arthur Bisguier, pictured at the 1978 National Open.

GM Arthur Bisguier, National Open, 1978.

Art is still going strong today as a USCF goodwill ambassador and tournament visitor. And we also had Soviet emigres Alburt, Shamkovich, and Lein burning up the field in various Swisses and home-grown talents such as John Fedorowicz, Mark Diesen, Michael Rohde, the Whitehead brothers Jay and Paul, Ken Regan, and more.

Art was Joe Solid at the chessboard. He had an old-fashioned repertoire but was positionally well grounded and conservative. Here is a tough tangle that occurred in 1979 in which I narrowly escaped. Ratings are given from that time as a historical curiosity. I only received the IM title in 1982 – a FIDE diploma signed by Icelandic GM Fridrik Olafsson, then president of FIDE!

GM Art Bisguier [2478] – NM Mark Ginsburg [2355] Liberty Bell Open 1979, Round 2. Nimzo-Queen’s Indian Hybrid. 9/23/79

1. c4 b6 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nf6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Ne4 9. Qc2 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 d6 11. Bd3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 Nd7 At the time, this was a popular theoretical position. Nowadays it’s just thought that black is OK.

13. Be4!? c6 An important alternative is 13… Bxe4 14. Qxe4 Ke7 15. a4 (nothing much happened after 15. Nd2 Nf6 16. Qc6 Qd7 17. Qxd7+ Kxd7 18. Ke2 h5 19. f3 Rab8 20. Rab1 Rbg8 21. Rbg1 Rb8 22. Rb1 Rbg8 23. Rbg1 Rb8 24. Rb1 Rbg8 and agreed drawn, 1/2-1/2 Agzamov,G (2435)-Dorfman,J (2505)/Frunze 1981/URS-ch) 15… Nf6 16. Qd3 c5 17. e4 Nd7 18. O-O Qc7 19. Nd2 Rag8 20. a5 h5 21. axb6 axb6 22. f4 gxf4 23. Rxf4 cxd4 24. cxd4 e5 25. Rf5 exd4 26. Qxd4 Ne5 27. Nf3 f6 28. Qf2 Nxf3+ 29. Qxf3 Rg6 30. Rf1 Qxc4 31. e5 Qd4+ 32. Kh1 Rf8 33. Qb7+ Ke6 34. exd6 Qxd6 35. Rb5 and black resigned. 1-0 Milov,V (2590)-Eismont,O (2440)/Biel 1994.

Since we just quoted a Dorfman game, let’s show a picture from the 1978 USSR Championship Playoff! This match ended in a 3-3 tie so both players were awarded the title of Co-Champion. At the time of the match, Gulko was a Grandmaster with a rating of 2581. Dorfman was only an International Master (!!) with a FIDE rating of 2539.

Boris Gulko (left) versus Josif Dorfman, USSR Title Playoff 1978.

14. Qa4!? White got nowhere with 14. a4 a5 15. Rb1 Rc8 16. Nd2 Kf8 17. f4 Kg7 18. Kf2 Ba6 and drawn, 1/2-1/2 Uhlmann,W-Smyslov,V/Monte Carlo 1968.

14… g4 15. Nd2 TN! Previously seen was 15. Ng1 Qc7 16. Ne2 b5 17. cxb5 cxb5 18. Qc2 Nb6 19. Rb1 a6 20. Rh4 O-O-O 21. Rxg4 f5 22. Bxb7+ Qxb7 23. Rh4 Kb8 24. Qb3 Rde8 25. a4 Nxa4 26. c4 Nb6 27. cxb5 a5 28. Rc1 d5 29. Rc6 Rh7 30. Nf4 Rc7 31. Rxh6 Rxc6 32. bxc6 Qxc6 33. Nxd5 Qc1+ 34. Ke2 Qc4+ 35. Qxc4 Nxc4 36. Nc3 Kc7 37. Kd3 Nb2+ 38. Ke2 Nc4 39. d5 Kd7 40. e4 and black resigned, 1-0 Sideif Sade,F (2435)-Felsberger,A (2395)/Pula 1997.

15… Qc7 16. Qc2 Nf6 17. a4 c5 More flexible is 17… Ke7! 18. Rb1 h5 19. Rh4 Qd7 20. Ra1 c5 and black is OK.

18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. e4 cxd4 Black is now starting to get uncomfortable. If 19… Rc8 20. O-O cxd4 21. cxd4 O-O 22. Qd3 with a white edge. The text is similar.

20. cxd4 Rc8 21. O-O e5 22. a5 O-O 23. Qd3 bxa5 24. Rfb1! White’s edge is increasing.

24…Qe7 25. Rxa5 exd4 26. Rba1 Rfe8 27. Qxd4 Qe6 28. Rxa7 White could also restricted black with 28. f3 !? gxf3 29. gxf3 Nd7 30. Kg2 Ne5 31. Rd5 Nc6 32. Qc3 with a significant edge.

28… Qe5 29. Qe3? A blunder. White had the simple 29. Qxe5 Rxe5 (29… dxe5 30. Kf1 Red8 31. Ke2 Rd4 32. Ra8 and wins) 30. f3! which is an easy win. Now black gets undeserved activity.

29… Nxe4 30. Nxe4 Qxe4 31. Qxh6 Rxc4 32. R7a5 Rc5 33. Rxc5 dxc5 34. Qg5+ Kh7 35. Ra6 Re6 Every time white threatens with a rook, black is ready to interpose with a rook to defuse matters. White only has a tiny edge now.

36. Rxe6 Qxe6 37. Qxc5 Qg6 38. Qe5 Kg8 39. Qb8+ Kg7 40. f3 Qg5 41.Qf4? A blunder, of course, but white would have hard pressed to win this.

41…Qxf4 42. gxf4 g3 43. Kf1 Kf6 44. Ke2 Kf5 45. Ke3 f6 46. Kd3 Kxf4 47. Kd4 f5

1/2-1/2

Here are a few other games from 1979.

The first was against a player more stodgy and more conservative than Arthur, which is hard to do. It’s none other than venerable future-IM Walter Shipman. If a player wanted exciting chess, he would instead play a US Junior.

NM Walter Shipman – NM Mark Ginsburg National Chess Congress 1979. Round 6 (last). King’s Indian/Pirc/g3 set up.

1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nge2 Nbd7 7. h3 e5 8. Be3 This is a very nice and solid system for white; one of Walter’s pet lines. In recent memory Vinay Bhat is a fan. Later in other Walter Shipman games (in the 80s) I figured out a Benoni-type strike with c7-c5 is much more effective versus this system than the King’s Indian e7-e5 break.

8…c6 9. a4 a5 Also not equalizing is 9… exd4 10. Bxd4 c5 11. Be3 Nb6 12. b3 Re8 13. O-O.

10. O-O exd4 11. Bxd4 Re8 More clever, perhaps, is 11… b6!? 12. g4 Nc5 13. Re1 (13. e5 dxe5 14. Bxe5 Bd7 15. Re1 Re8 16. f4 Rc8 17. Qd2 Be6 18. Nd4 Qd7 19. Rad1 with white edge) 13… Qc7 14. Qd2 Re8 15. Nf4 h6 16. Rad1 Bb7 17. Bxc5 dxc5 setting a nice trap – hoping for 18. Qd6? Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Nxg4! 20. hxg4 Be5! with black advantage.

12. g4 Qe7 13. Ng3 Now it’s just nasty for black.

13…Ne5 It’s hard to give advice. 13… Nc5 14. g5 Nfd7 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. f4 and white is better.

14. g5 Nfd7 15. f4 c5 No help is 15… Nc4 16. Bxg7 Ne3 17. Bf6 Nxf6 18. gxf6 Qxf6 19. Qd3 Nxf1 20. Rxf1 b6 21. Qe3 Ba6 22. Rd1 Rab8 23. b3.

16. Nd5 Qd8 17. Bc3 Nc6 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qd2 Nb6 20. Nf6 Re6 Black is going to have to sacrifice the exchange for that horse on f6 but of course he should be losing.

21. f5 Rxf6 Essentially forced. Miserable is 21… Re5 22. Qf4 Nd7 23. Ng4 Re8 24. Rad1 Nde5 25. Nf6 Rh8 26. Rd5.

22. gxf6+ Qxf6 23. fxg6 Qxg6 24. Nf5+ 24. Qf4 is strong. The text move makes things a little harder, but white should still be winning.

24… Bxf5 25. exf5 Qf6 26. Rad1?! The cleanest win is the careful 26. b3! Kh8 27. Rae1 d5 28. Qf4 Rg8 29. Qc7 Nd4 30. Rf2 c4 31. Re7 Kg7 32. c3 Nxb3 33. Re6 and it’s all over. White from this point forward commits a whole series of inaccuracies to let black back in the game, and more. The moral is that unplanned play can be punished when clear material up just as it can be in any other type of position.

26…Nc4 Now the task is more complicated.

27. Qf2 Kh8 28. b3 N4e5 29. c3 More circumspect is 29. Kh2.

29… Rg8 30. Kh1 Ne7 A bluff.

31. Qf4? White should grab: 31. Bxb7! Rb8 32. Qg2 and should win.

31… b6 32. c4 h6 33. Be4 Rg5 34.Rg1 White should safeguard the king: 34. Kh2! Rh5 35. Qg3 Rg5 36. Qe3 Rh5 37. Rf4 and he keeps control. He was probably low on time here.

34… Rh5 35. Rg3? This is the most serious blunder to date. The rather primitive 35. Qg3! Rg5 36. Qh2 Rh5 37. Qg2 Rg5 38. Qd2 Rh5 39. Qxd6 Rxh3+ 40. Kg2 Qg5+ 41. Kxh3 Qh5+ 42. Kg2 Qe2+ 43. Kg3 Qg4+ 44. Kf2 Qf4+ 45. Ke2 Qxe4+ 46. Kd2 and finito.

35… Nxf5 Now black is OK. Flummoxed and short of time, white even contrives to lose now.

36. Bxf5 Rxf5 37. Qe4 Rf1+ 38. Rg1 Qf3+ 39. Qxf3 Rxf3 40. Rxd6? A blunder on the last move of the time control. 40. Kg2! Rxb3 41. Rxd6 Nxc4 42. Rxh6+ Kg7 43. Rc6 Rb4 44. Kh2+ Kf8 45. Ra1 Ne5 46. Rc7 should be drawn.

40… Rxh3+ 41. Kg2 Rxb3 42. Rxh6+? Another blunder. 42. Kh1 Ng6 43. Rd7 Kg7 44. Rb7 Rb4 45. Rf1 Nh8 46. Rg1+ Kf6 47. Rf1+ Ke6 48. Re1+ Kf5 49. Re8 Ng6 50. Rxf7+ Kg5 51. Re3 and play continues.

42… Kg7 43. Rh4 Rb4 44. Kf2+ Kf6 45. Rf4+ Ke6 46. Ke2 Rxa4 And white is lost. An amazing turnaround.

47. Rc1 b5 48. Rb1 Ra2+ 49. Kf1 b4 50. Rd1 b3 51. Rb1 a4 52. Re4 Rc2 53. Rbe1 White lost on time.

0-1

According to my scorepad scribbles, I tied for 4th, 5th, and 6th with Art Bisguier and the dearly departed Boris Backzinskyj with 4.5 out of 6 in this event. We all won the princely sum of $66.66. We also won 2.66 Grand Prix points each (remember those? ) – Church’s Fried Chicken donated money for those who had the most Grand Prix points, or as Igor Ivanov called them, “Chicken Points.” I also notated that Dzindzi won the event with 5.5 out of 6 and equal 2nd and 3rd were Vitaly Zaltsman (Max Dlugy’s trainer) and Tim Taylor. with 5-1.

Some More 1979 Encounters

A battle versus a well-known chess book author.

Eric Schiller (1927) – NM Mark Ginsburg (2355) Heraldica Semi-Rapids New York City, October 1979. Modern Benoni

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2 Bg7 8. Nc4 O-O 9. Bf4 Nbd7! It appears sound to leave the d6 pawn hanging. Let’s look at an old Tal loss in the more passive but possible 9… Ne8 10. Qd2 Bxc3 11. bxc3 b5 12. Nb2 a5 (The gambit line 12…Nf6 13. f3 Na6 14. e4 c4 15. Bg5 Re8 16. Qd4 Re5 17. f4 Rxg5 18. fxg5 Nd7 19. h4 Nac5 is very sharp) 13. e4 Qe7 14. Bd3 b4 15. O-O Nd7 16. Nc4 Ba6 17. Rfe1 Bxc4 18. Bxc4 Ne5 19. Bf1 Nc7 20. Bh6 Rfe8 21. f4 Ng4 22. Bg5 f6 23. Bh4 Qg7 24. h3 Nh6 25. Kh1 Nf7 26. Bf2 Rab8?! (26… g5!) 27. a3 f5? (27… b3! 28. Rab1 a4 29. c4 Ra8 30. Rb2 g5! with an OK game) 28. axb4 axb4 29. cxb4 Rxb4 30. e5! (Crushing.) Rb7 31. e6 Nh6 32. Rab1 Reb8 33. Rxb7 Rxb7 34. Bc4 Rb2 35. Qe3 Rc2 36. Rc1 Qb2 37. Rxc2 Qxc2 38. Bb3 Qb2 39. e7 {A blunder!} (39. Kh2 Qf6 40. Ba4 Qe7 41. Qb3) 39… Kf7 40. Bh4 (40. Kh2) 40… Qd4 ? (Losing. Last move of the time control? 40… Qa1+! is correct and it appears black saves himself.) 41. e8=Q+ and black resigned, Borisenko-Tal, Riga 1955.

10. e3 If white grabs the pawn, 10. Nxd6 TN?! Nb6 and also 10…Nh5 are both tempting. Black has good play in both lines. This makes sense, because black is better developed and can fairly easily regain the pawn.

On the other plausible capture, 10. Bxd6 Re8 11. e3 Nb6 12. Bxc5 Nxc4?? (12… Nbxd5! is obvious and equal. 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Be2 Bxb2 15. Nxb2 Qa5+ 16. Qd2 Qxc5 17. Rc1 Qb4 18. Qxb4 Nxb4 19. a3 Nd5 20. O-O Be6 =; note that 12… Nfxd5 is also fine; equal after 13. Nxd5 Nxd5) 13. Bxc4 Qc7 14. b4 white won shortly in Gabriell,R (2260)-Meissner,B (2285)/Germany 1993. In the game, white plays in a non-challenging way that gives black much freedom to maneuver and gain an initiative in typical Benoni style.

10… Nb6 11. a4 Nxc4 12. Bxc4 Nh5! Clearly black stands very well now.

13. Bg3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Qa5 15. Qd2 Bd7 16. O-O a6 17. Qd3 Rfe8 18. Ra3 Re7 19. Rfa1 Rae8 20. Rb3? It was bad, after e.g. 20. Qd1 Rc8, but the text is an elementary oversight that loses a piece.

20...b5 21. Nxb5 axb5 22. Bxb5 Bxb5 23. Rxb5 Qa7 24. Qb3 Re4 25. Rb6 Be5 26. a5 Rb4 27. Rxb4 cxb4 28. a6 Rb8 29. Ra4 Rb6 30. f4 It is more resistant to play 30. Qc4 b3 31. Ra3 f5 32. Qc8+ Kf7 33. Qc4 Rb8.

30… Bf6 31. Kh2 Rxa6 32. Rxa6 Qxa6 33. Qxb4 h5 34. Qb8+ Kg7 35. b4 Qd3 36. Qe8 Qxd5 37. b5 Qe6 38. Qc6 Qxe3 39. Qxd6 Bd4 40. Kh3 Qg1 41. g4 hxg4+ 42. Kh4 Qh2+ 0-1

A battle versus a fellow US Junior.

Michael Rohde – Mark Ginsburg Liberty Bell Open, Philadelphia 9/24/79. Nimzo-Indian Defense.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Nf3 O-O 6. a3 The uncompromising Saemisch variation. I did not know it.

6…Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Nc6 8. Bd3 b6 The move 8….d6!? is more careful.

9. e4 Ne8 In the database, black was unsuccessful twice with 9….d5 10 e5! Even so, after the text, white has an edge. What did black do wrong?

10. O-O Ba6 11. e5 f5 12. d5! Na5 13. Qe2 h6?! Black is playing too provocatively. 13… exd5 is an interesting try to alter the structure and get out of the huge bind: 14. cxd5 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 c4 16. Qc2 Nc7 and white is better but black can fight.

14. Rb1 Qe7 In the game Ryskin-Butnorius, Soviet Union 1967, 14…Bb7 was played. White lost after the hideous 15. g4?? but he had 15. Rd1 or 15. d6 with an edge in either case.

15. h3 The direct 15. d6! Qf7 16. Nd2! g5 17. f4 g4 looks very good.

15…g5 15… Bb7 16. d6 Qf7 17. Nd2 g5!? 18. f4! doesn’t inspire confidence.

16. d6 Qf7 17. Nh2 17. h4! g4 18. Ne1 Qg6 19. g3 Ng7 20. Ng2 Nh5 21. Nf4 Nxf4 22. Bxf4 Bb7 and black is worse but not lost yet.

17… f4 18. h4 18. Bd2!? Bb7 19. Ng4! is a big white edge.

18… Bb7? A clear mistake. 18…gxh4 is the best try and although it does look sick, black only has a small disadvantage after e.g. 19. Bd2 Bb7.

19. hxg5 hxg5 20. Ng4?! 20. Qg4! Qg7 21. Qh5! A very nice two-step. This is completely decisive.

20… f3! 20… Qh5 21. f3 leaves white with an edge. The text introduces confusion.

21. gxf3?! Not good. 21. Qe3! Qf4 (21… fxg2 22. Nh6+ Kg7 23. Qxg5+!) 22. Qxf4 gxf4 23. g3! fxg3 24. fxg3 is a big edge for white.

21… Qxf3 Now, surprisingly, black is totally OK. As Gulko said once, “when a good position collapses, it collapses not to equality, but to ruin” (commenting on one of his Serper playoff games in the US Championship. That phenomenon happens here.

22. Qxf3 Rxf3 23. Bg6? A bad blunder, after which black is much better. (23. Be3! Rh3 24. f3 Bxf3 25. Rxf3 Rxf3 26. Kg2! A nice saving resource, if 26… Rf8 27. Rh1.

23… Kg7 24. Bc2 Rxc3?! 24… Nxc4! 25. Bxg5 Nxa3 26. Rbc1 Nxc2 27. Rxc2 Kg6 28. Be7 Ng7 29. Nh2 Rd3 30. f3 Nf5 and wins for black.

25. Bd1 (25. Ne3 Nxc4 26. Rb3 Rxb3 27. Bxb3 Nxe3 28. Bxe3 Kg6 29. Bc2+ Kf7 30. f3 Ng7 31. Bxg5 Nf5 32. Bxf5 exf5 33. Kf2 Rh8 34. Rg1 Bc6 35. Bf4 Ke6 36. Rg6+ Kd5 and wins)

25… Nxc4 26. Bxg5 Kg6 (Black misses a cute knockout: 26… Rh3! 27. f3 (27. Bh6+ Rxh6 28. Nxh6 Kxh6) 27… Nxe5! {A nice tactic – and wins)

27. Rc1 Rxa3 (Again, 27… Rh3! 28. f3 Kxg5 29. Rxc4 Ba6)

28. f4 (28. Rxc4 Kxg5 wins)

28… Nd2 29. Bc2+ Kh5 30. Nh2 Rg3+ 31. Kf2 Rg2+ 32. Ke3 Rxh2

0-1

Here’s an upset from the December 1979 Chicago Masters/Experts.

NM Mark Ginsburg – GM Roman Dzindzihashvili Chicago 1979, Sicilian Kan

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O d6 7. c4 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Bg5!? I had learned this dangerous setup while experimenting in the Kan theme match I played against Eugene Meyer in 1978.

9…Nbd7 10. Kh1 b6 One way to play is 10… O-O 11. f4 Qb6!? 12. Nb3 Qc7 with a complicated game in view.

11. f4 Qc7?! Tougher is 11…O-O 12. f5 Ne5 13. fxg6 fxg6 14. Nf3 Nf7! A key defensive resource. 15. Bh4 Qc7 and black holds on.

12. f5 gxf5? Making matters very bad. The Grandmaster was playing quickly and simply underestimated the kid. He could try 12… e5 13. Nc2 O-O 14. Ne3 Bb7 15. Rc1 Nc5 16. Ned5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Qd7 19. f6 Bh8 20. Bc2 and white ratains some edge.

13. exf5 e5 14. Ne6! This wins. Curiously, 14. Nd5!! is an even nicer win: 14…Nxd5 15. Ne6 fxe6 16. Qh5+ Kf8 17. fxe6+ N7f6 18. cxd5 Qe7 19. Bxf6 (19. Rxf6+ Bxf6 20. Rf1 Bxe6 21. dxe6 Qxe6 22. Rxf6+ Qxf6 23. Bxf6) 19… Bxf6 20. Qh6+ and wins.

14… fxe6 15. fxe6 O-O 16. e7! Bb7 Getting out of the way of the rampaging pawn loses: 16… Re8 17. Nd5 (or 17. Rxf6 Nxf6 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Nd5) 17… Nxd5 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. Qxe8+ Kh7 21. Qh5+ and wins.

17. exf8=Q+ Rxf8 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. cxd5 Rxf1+ 20. Qxf1 Nc5 21. Rc1 e4 22. Bxe4 Bxb2 23. Re1 Be5 24. Bf4 Qf7 25. Bxe5 Qxf1+ 26. Rxf1 dxe5 Fortunately this wasn’t a hard ending to convert because I had no practical experience at this point overcoming ending obstacles.

27. Bb1 Bxd5 28. Rf5 Nd7 29. Rh5 Bf7 30. Rxh7 Bxa2 31. Rxd7 Bxb1 32. Rd6 b5 33. Rxa6 Kf7 34. Kg1 Bd3 35. Kf2 Bc4 36. h4 Bd5 37. Rb6 Bc4 38. g4 Bd3 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. g5 Kg7 41. Ke4 1-0