Two share county championship

Position No. 6002: White to play and win. From the game Pontus Carlsson-Valeri Lilov, European Championship, Plovdiv 2008.

Solution to Position No. 6001: White wins with 1 Rc8+ Rg8 2 Rg2!, threatening 3 Nf7 mate. If 2 . . . Kg7, then 3 Ne4+ Kh6 4 Rcxg8 wins quickly.

Masters Craig Clawitter and Eugene Yanayt shared first prize in the Los Angeles County Open last weekend in Monterey Park. Each scored 4 1/2 - 1/2 in the 48-player tournament.

Top expert Carlos Garcia was next at 4-1. Other prizes went to Randy Higa and David Cody Oldham, best under- 2000; Michael W. Brown, best under-1800; Alvin Huang, best under-1600; and David X. Chen, best under-1400. Randy Hough directed.

U.S. Championship

The 2008 U.S. Championship begins Tuesday in Tulsa, Okla. For the second time, Frank Berry is serving as organizer and sponsor, contributing the tournament's prize fund of at least $50,000.

This year, the tournament will be a nine-round event with 24 players.

Berry will also host the 2008 U.S. Women's Championship, a 10-player round robin, at the same site. Games will be shown first at monroi.com.

International news

The World Chess Federation's first Grand Prix tournament ended Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Grandmasters Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Wang Yue (China) tied for first place with scores of 8-5. Next at 7 1/2 -5 1/2 were Alexander Grischuk (Russia) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan). Carlsen won his last two games to leap up in the standings. Former U.S. champion Gata Kamsky fell to 6-7 after a hot start.

Grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands won the European Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Tiviakov scored an undefeated 8 1/2 -2 1/2 . Nine players shared second place with 8-3. Valentin Iotov, the Bulgarian grandmaster who won the 2006 Southern California Open, lost four games and finished with 6-5. The 323-player field included 181 grandmasters.

Local news

The HCA Chess Club will begin a five-round tournament at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Hanley Chess Academy, 7390 Center Ave. in Hunting- ton Beach. For information, call Joe Hanley at (714) 925-3195 or write to refchess@gmail.com.

Dave Fernandez, Victor Alarcon and Atzael Perez led their sections last Sunday in the Exposition Park Chess Club's monthly tournament. The club welcomes players of all levels every Sunday afternoon in the public library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles. See chess.expoparkla.com for details.

Today's games

Tianyi He-Eugene Yanayt, LA County Open, Monterey Park 2008: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 f3 e5 7 Nb3 Be6 8 Be3 Be7 9 Qd2 The English Attack against the Sicilian Defense. 0-0 10 0-0-0 Qc7 11 Kb1 Most popular is 11 g4 Rc8 12 g5. Rc8 12 g4 d5!? 13 Nxd5? Getting into trouble. After 13 g5 d4 14 gxf6 dxe3 15 Qxe3 Bxf6 16 Bd3 or 14 . . . dxc3 15 Qxc3 Qxc3 16 bxc3 Bxf6 17 Nc5, chances remain even. Nxd5 14 exd5 Bxd5 15 Qf2 Not 15 Qxd5? Rd8. Qc6 16 Bg2?! Too passive. White should try 16 Bd3!, setting the trap 16 . . . Bxf3?? 17 Na5 Qa4 18 Qxf3 Qxa5 19 Qf5. Black would keep the initiative with 16 . . . a5. a5 Black's attack already appears unstoppable. 17 Rd3 Na6 18 Rhd1 A little tougher is 18 Rc3 Qe6 19 Bd2. The plausible 18 a3 won't help, as 18 . . . Nb4! attacks anyway: 19 axb4 Bxb3 20 Rxb3 axb4 21 Rd3 (avoiding 21 Rd1 Qa4 22 Kc1 Qxb3) Qa6! 22 Kc1 Qxd3, or 19 Rc3 Qg6 20 axb4 Rxc3 21 bxc3 axb4. Nb4 19 Rc3 No better is 19 R3d2 Qa4 20 Rxd5 Qxa2+ 21 Kc1 Qxb3, as 22 Rd8+ Bxd8 23 Rxd8+ Rxd8 24 cxb3 fails, to 24 . . . Nd3+. Qa4 20 a3 Rxc3 21 bxc3 Bxb3 The most convincing finish. 22 cxb4 Black refutes 22 cxb3 by 22 . . . Qxb3+ 23 Kc1 Qxc3+ 24 Kb1 Qb3+ 25 Kc1 Rc8+ and 22 axb4 by 22 . . . axb4 23 Kc1 bxc3 24 cxb3 Qxb3. Qxa3 23 cxb3 Qxb3+ 24 Kc1 Bxb4, White Resigns.

IM Marin Bosiocic (Croatia)-GM Borki Predojevic (Bosnia & Herzegovina), European Championship, Plovdiv 2008: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 f3 An offbeat answer to the Caro-Kann Defense that keeps tension in the center. Qb6!? Welcoming complications. Safer are 3 . . . e6 and 3 . . . g6. 4 Nc3 dxe4 Maybe 4 . . . e5!? 5 dxe5 Bc5 improves. 5 fxe4 e5 6 dxe5 Bc5 7 Nf3 Be6 After 7 . . . Bf2+ 8 Ke2 Be6 9 Qd3, White may follow with 10 Na4 or 10 Be3 to remove the annoying Bishop. 8 Bd3 Be3 Ineffective. Perhaps Black disliked 8 . . . Nd7 9 Na4 Qa5+ 10 c3. 9 Na4 Two aggressive young players cooperate to produce a fantastic slugfest. White had a fine alternative in 9 Bxe3 Qxe3+ 10 Qe2. Qa5+ 10 b4!? To preserve his dark-square Bishop. Qxa4 11 Bxe3 Qxb4+ 12 Bd2 Qa4 13 Rb1 Nd7! Pawns matter less than rapid development. Too slow is 13 . . . b6? because 14 Ng5 Nd7 (Black's Queen is trapped after 14 . . . Qxa2? 15 Qc1) 15 Nxe6 fxe6 16 Qg4 attacks. 14 Rxb7 Ne7 15 Bb4 c5!? Rejecting the rough equality of 15 . . . 0-0-0 16 Bxe7 Kxb7 17 Bxd8 Rxd8. 16 Bxc5 The first of several sacrifices with unclear consequences. The steadier 16 Bc3 0-0 17 Ng5 should favor White. Qc6! Of course, 16 . . . Nxc5?? loses to 17 Bb5+. 17 Bxe7 Qxb7 18 Bd6 Qb6! Else White castles, activating his Rook. 19 a4 f6! 20 Bb5 Qe3+?! Barely playable. Worse is 20 . . . a6?! 21 Bxd7+ Bxd7 22 exf6 gxf6 because 23 Qd5 Qc6 24 c4 gives White plenty for the exchange. But 20 . . . 0-0-0! 21 Qe2 Nxe5 tests White's idea. 21 Qe2! Qc1+ 22 Kf2 Qxh1 This looks more like a 19th century King's Gambit than a modern Caro-Kann. Believe it or not, the result should be a draw. 23 Nd4 Tempting is 23 exf6, when 23 . . . gxf6? loses neatly to 24 Ng5! fxg5 25 Qh5+ Bf7 26 Qxg5. But 23 . . . Qc1! 24 e5 Rc8 forces White to seek a draw by 25 Bxd7+ Kxd7 26 Qb5+ Kd8 27 Be7+ Kc7 28 Bd6+ or, more imaginatively, 25 . . . Bxd7 26 e6! gxf6! 27 Nd4 Bc6 28 Qh5+ Kd8 29 Qa5+ Ke8 30 Qh5+. Qxh2? Black had to find the resource 23 . . . Kf7 24 Nxe6 Nxe5! 25 Bxe5 fxe5. White has no more than perpetual check with 26 Qf3+ or 26 Qc4 Kg6 27 Nf4+. 24 Nxe6 Qh4+ 25 Kg1 Kf7 Shedding material. After 25 . . . fxe5 26 Nxg7+, Black cannot survive 26 . . . Kd8 27 Qd2! or 26 . . . Kf7 27 Nf5. 26 Bxd7 Rab8 27 Qf1! There is no hurry to yield a mighty Bishop for a hapless Rook. Rb6 28 Nf4 Threatening 29 Qc4 mate. Rxd6 29 Qc4+! Clinching victory. Kf8 After 29 . . . Ke7, the chase might end with 30 exd6+ Kxd6 31 Qe6+ Kc5 (or 31 . . . Kc7 32 Nd5+) 32 Qd5+ Kb4 33 Qd4+ Ka3 34 Qa1+ Kb4 35 Nd5+ Kc5 36 Qc3+ Kd6 37 Qc7 mate. 30 Qc8+ Ke7 White refutes 30 . . . Kf7 efficiently by 31 Be6+ Rxe6 32 Qxe6+ Kf8 33 Qd6+ Ke8 34 e6 Qe1+ 35 Kh2 Qh4+ 36 Nh3. 31 exd6+ Kxd6 32 Qc6+ Ke7 Or 32 . . . Ke5 33 Nd3+ Kd4 34 Qc5+ Kxe4 35 Bc6 mate. 33 Qe6+ Kd8 34 Qd6! Qe1+ 35 Kh2 Qh4+ 36 Bh3+, Black Resigns.