CHESS

Dec. 10, 2000

Position #5615: Black to play and win. From the game Krum Georgiev - Mitkov, 34th Olympiad, Istanbul 2000.

Solution to Position #5614: White wins with 1 Rxg7+ Kxg7 2 Rg1+ Kh6 3 Qe3+ Kh5 4 Rg5+. If 1 . . . Kh8, then 2 Bf6 wins quickly.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Four rounds of knockout matches in the 100-player World Chess Federation (FIDE) tournament in New Delhi have whittled the field to eight grandmaster quarterfinalists. The survivors include five players originally ranked among the top eight, plus the defending champion, 21st-ranked GM Alexander Khalifman of Russia. They are contending for a first prize of $528,000 and the title of FIDE world champion.

The two outsiders, 26th-ranked Vladimir Tkachiev of France and 46th-ranked Alexander Grischuk of Russia, will face each other next, so one will reach the semifinal round. Grischuk is just 17; his success this far is the sensation of the tournament. Other pairings: Top-seeded Viswanathan Anand (India) vs. Khalifman; third-seeded Michael Adams (England) vs. seventh-seeded Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria); and fourth-seeded Alexey Shirov (Spain) vs. eighth-seeded Evgeny Bareyev (Russia).

The U.S. champion, Boris Gulko of New Jersey, lasted until the fourth round and earned about $35,000. Gulko defeated Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Republic of Georgia) in the third round, 1 1/2- 1/2, before losing to Bareyev, 1 1/2-2 1/2. Two other Americans were third-round casualties. Alex Yermolinsky (San Francisco) lost, 1-3, to Adams, and Gregory Serper (Ohio) lost, 1/2-1 1/2, to Grischuk.

Semifinal pairings in the 61-player women’s tournament pit women’s world champion Xie Jun (China) against 11th-seeded Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (Russia), and sixth-seeded Qin Kanying (China) against 16th-seeded Alisa Marich (Yugoslavia).

LOCAL NEWS

Melinda West swept the Championship section (grades K-12) of the 11th annual SPA Holiday Classic with a perfect 4-0 score. Abraham White earned second prize with 3 1/2- 1/2 in the 70-player tournament, held Dec. 2 at St. Paul the Apostle School in Westwood.

In the Junior Varsity (grades K-6) section, five players scored 4-1. On tiebreaks, Eva Keshishian was first, followed by William Conner, Vasily Rozenbaum, Alexander Yebri and Seth Goldman.

Max Lemkin led the Novice (grades K-3) section with 4 1/2- 1/2. Next at 4-1 were John Roberts and Seth Neel.

The Holiday Cheer Chess Challenge, another scholastic event on Dec. 2, attracted 38 players to the California Youth Chess League (CYCL) site in Santa Clarita. Elston He edged John Bryant on tiebreak for first place. Eghishe Poghosyan, Jon Carey and Griffin Kades led other sections.

Jay Stallings of CYCL will run a non-rated event on Dec. 16 in Santa Clarita. For details, call him at (661) 288-1705 or send a message to jay@thinkchess.com.

Chess Palace will continue its popular series of Super Sunday tournaments on Dec. 17. For a full recap of the Los Alamitos club’s schedule, call (562) 598-5099.

Gregg Fritchle won the La Palma Chess Club Championship with a nearly perfect score of 6 1/2- 1/2 (six wins and a half-point bye). Eizo Hoshino took second at 5 1/2-1 1/2. Class prizes went to Mike Brady, Bob Engler and Leigh Hunt (tied for best A); Brian Scanlon (best B); Dr. Harold Valery (best C); and Norman Cortez (best D-E).

The La Palma Chess Club meets Friday evenings in Central Park, 7821 Walker St. in La Palma. The club’s next tournament, a five-rounder, begins Jan. 5. For more information, call Brian Scanlon at (714) 523-2550.

Viktor Kuperman won last Sunday’s tournament at Chess Academy, 1335 N. La Brea Ave. in Hollywood. David Nofer finished second. Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld yielded a draw to Franklin Carroll in his weekly simultaneous exhibition. In dozens of simuls at his club, Gufeld has not yet lost a single game.

The club will conduct another tournament (at 11 a.m.) and simul (at 3 p.m.) Sunday. Call (323) 883-0164 or (323) 512-4564 for details.

The Exposition Park Chess Club, which meets Sunday afternoons in the public library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles, hosted two chess events last Sunday. Mark Mehlert and Ramon Tolentino shared first place at 2 1/2- 1/2 in a Swiss-system tournament, and Brad Jaggi scored 3-0 to win a quad tournament. For more information about the club, call the library at (323) 732-0169.

TODAY’S GAMES

C. Lakdawala - Casella, American Open, Los Angeles 2000: 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 d4 0-0 6 Be2 e5 7 d5 Petrosian’s system against the King’s Indian Defense. a5 8 h3 Na6 9 Bg5 Nc5 Sometimes Black prefers 9 . . . Qe8 and . . . Nf6-d7-c5. 10 Nd2 h6 11 Be3 Nh7 12 g4 f5 Black must loosen his Kingside. The alternative is hopeless passivity. 13 exf5 gxf5 14 Rg1 Kh8 15 gxf5? Prematurely trying to post a Knight on e4. The refinement 15 Qc2 worked well in Gabriel - Xie Jun, Germany 1997: 15 . . . Na6 16 gxf5 Nb4 17 Qb1 Bxf5 18 Nde4 Qh4 19 Bg4 Bxg4 20 hxg4 Rf3 21 Ke2 Raf8 22 a3 Na6 23 Rg2, and Black was gradually pushed backward. Bxf5 16 Bxc5?! With 16 Nb3!? Nxb3 17 axb3 Bxh3 18 Bg4, White can fight for the initiative. dxc5 17 Nde4 Qh4 18 Bg4 Bxe4! 19 Nxe4 Rf4 20 Qe2 Raf8 Threatening 21 . . . h5. White cannot maintain his blockade of the e-pawn. 21 Rg3 Ng5 22 Nxg5 No better is 22 Nc3 because 22 . . . e4 23 Nd1 Bd4 24 Rg2 e3! conquers f2. And 22 Nxc5 loses to 22 . . . Rxf2 23 Qxf2 Rxf2 24 Kxf2 b6 25 Ne6 Ne4+. hxg5 23 Rg2 Or 23 Rf3 e4. e4 Reviving the Bishop. White’s dark squares must fall. 24 0-0-0 Rxf2 25 Qxe4 Bxb2+ 26 Kb1 Bg7 Black wants to maneuver his Queen to b2 via f6 or b6. 27 a3 Rxg2 28 Qxg2 Qh6 29 Ka2 Qf6 30 Qc2 Qe5 31 Bd7?! White lasts longer with 31 Kb3 Rf6 32 d6 cxd6 33 Rd5. However, Black should still win by 33 . . . Qe8 34 Rf5 a4+ 35 Ka2 Re6 36 Rxg5 Re1 37 Bd1 (not 37 Rh5+? Qxh5 38 Bxh5 Ra1 mate) b5. Rf3 32 Bg4 Rc3 33 Qf2 Qe4, White Resigns.

GM I. Sokolov (Bosnia-Herzegovina) - GM Stohl (Slovakia), 34th Olympiad, Istanbul 2000: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Bf4 A somewhat unfashionable line against the Gruenfeld Defense. 0-0 6 Rc1 dxc4 Or 6 . . . c5. 7 e3 Be6 8 Ng5 Bd5 9 e4 Harmless is 9 Nxd5 Nxd5 10 Bxc4 h6. h6 10 exd5 hxg5 11 Bxg5 Nxd5 12 Bxc4 A very sharp position. White’s d-pawn is vulnerable, but he might attack with h2-h4-h5. Nb6 13 Bb3 Nc6 Premature is 13 . . . Qxd4? 14 Qxd4 Bxd4 15 Nb5. 14 Ne2 Na5 The approved response. Again, 14 . . . Nxd4?! 15 Nxd4 Bxd4 fails, as 16 Qc2 hits c7 and g6. 15 Bc2 Qd5 16 h4 Qxg2 17 Rg1 Qh2 After 17 . . . Qf3 18 Qd3 Qxd3 19 Bxd3 Nc6 20 h5, White’s initiative more than compensates for Black’s extra pawn. 18 Be4 Rad8 19 Rh1 Qd6 20 h5 Nc6 21 hxg6 Nxd4 Just in time, Black destroys White’s center. 22 Nxd4 Qe5!? Also critical is 22 . . . Qxd4 23 Qe2. 23 Qh5! Qxe4+ 24 Be3 Qxg6? Black must risk 24 . . . fxg6 25 Qh7+ Kf7 26 Rh4 Qe5, inviting 27 Rf4+? Qxf4 28 Bxf4 Rh8. The correct 27 Nf3! Qxb2! 28 Ng5+ Ke8 29 Qxg6+ Kd7 30 Qe6+ Ke8 gives White perpetual check, but apparently no more. 25 Nf5! Maybe Black overlooked that 25 . . . Qxh5? loses to 26 Nxe7+. Rfe8 26 Nxg7 Kxg7?! His last chance is 26 . . . Qxg7 27 Bh6 (Black can stand 27 Qh2 Rd6) Qg6 28 Qh2 Qe4+ 29 Be3 f6. 27 Qh2 Rh8 28 Qe5+ Qf6 29 Rg1+ Kf8 30 Qxf6 exf6 31 Rxc7 Nd5 After 31 . . . Nd7 32 Rxb7 a6 33 Ke2, White’s Rooks will tie up Black’s forces. 32 Bc5+ Ke8 33 Rxb7 Rc8 34 Kd2, Black Resigns. If 34 . . . a6, White forces a winning endgame by 35 Re1+ Kd8 36 Be7+ Nxe7 37 Rexe7 Rc6 38 Rxf7.