National championships for kids

Dec. 27, 2009

Position No. 6087: White to play and win. From the game S.P. Sethuraman-Sundar M. Shyam, Mumbai 2009.

Solution to Position No. 6086: White wins with 1 d7+ Kg8 2 Qa4! Qd3 3 Qxe4. Note that 2 Qe7?? allows checkmate by 2 . . . Qd1+ 3 Kh2 Qh1+ 4 Kg3 Qf3+.

Attendance slump? It wasn’t evident at the 2009 National K12 Championship in Dallas, where 1,211 young players competed for national titles.

Joaquin Perkins of West Covina won seven consecutive games to become the national kindergarten champion. Other Southern California standouts were Winston Ching-Tze Zeng, tied for second place at 6-1 in grade 3; Kyron Griffith, tied for fifth at 5-2 in grade 9; Cheston Gunawan, tied for fifth at 5-2 in grade 10; and Jared Tan, tied for second at 5 1/2 -1 1/2 in grade 12.

Local news

State champion Enrico Sevillano scored 4 1/2 - 1/2 to win the Bakersfield Open last weekend in Bakersfield. John Daniel Bryant, the 2008 winner, finished second, and Roger Norman was third. Class prizes went to Michael Taylor, Numan Abdul-Mujeeb, Michael Bik and Taylor McCready. Kenneth Poole directed for the Bakersfield Chess Club.

Grandmaster Boris Kreiman, one of the best Southern California players until his retirement in 2006, now works as a businessman, buying and selling Internet domain names. He has combined his interests with a new website, chessboss.com, that offers free online play and free instruction.

Local clubs

Robert Xue, David Minasyan, Yuting Chen, Christopher Hung and Larry Hu led their sections in the 45-player A Rose for your Queen tournament at the Pasadena Chess Club. For information on the club’s next tournament, beginning Jan. 8, call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809.

The Los Angeles Chess Club, 11514 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles, will conduct the New Year’s Day Open on Friday. Also, the club plans a scholastic tournament, the first of a monthlong series, on Sunday. Call Mick Bighamian at (310) 795-5710 for more information.

The Exposition Park Chess Club, which meets at 1 p.m. every Sunday in the public library, 3900 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles, plans its free monthly tournament next Sunday. See chess.expoparkla.com for information and online registration.

The Hanley Chess Academy will host a New Year’s Chess Camp, Tuesday through Sunday, at 7390 Center Ave. in Huntington Beach. See hanleychessacademy.org for details.

Today’s games

Larry Stevens-Yusheng Xia, Pasadena 2009: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 The Advance variation against the French Defense. c5 4 c3 Qb6 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 Be2 Some prefer 6 a3 or 6 Bd3. cxd4 7 cxd4 Nh6 Intending . . . Nh6-f5 and pressure on the base of the pawn chain, d4. 8 Bd3 Bd7 Simpler is 8 . . . Nf5 9 Bxf5 exf5 10 Nc3 Be6, with equality. 9 Bc2 Rc8 10 Nc3 Now White has an edge, thanks to his advantage in space. Nb4 11 Bxh6 Also good is 11 Bb1, but White gladly cedes his Bishops to accelerate his development. Nxc2+ 12 Qxc2 gxh6 13 0-0 Bb5?! Here and later, Black should develop his Bishop to g7 and castle. 14 Rfe1 Qa6 15 Qd2 Bd3 16 Rad1 Bg6 17 Nh4! Threatening f2-f4-f5. Black’s lengthy Bishop maneuver has accomplished little. Bh5 18 Rc1 Rc4 19 Qf4 Qb6? Allowing a startling breakthrough. However, it’s too late for 19 . . . Bg7 because of 20 b3 Rc6 21 g4 Bg6 22 Nf5! exf5 23 gxf5, while the improvement 19 . . . Rg8 20 h3 leads nowhere. 20 Nxd5! exd5 21 Rxc4 dxc4 22 e6! Be7 None of the many alternatives survives. Black would drop the Bishop at h5 by 22 . . . fxe6 23 Qe5 or 22 . . . Bg7 23 exf7+ Kd7 24 Qf5+. Trickier is 22 . . . Bb4 23 exf7+ Kd7 24 Qf5+ Kd8, but White wins anyway with 25 Qxh5 Bxe1 26 Qd5+ Kc8 (or 26 . . . Ke7 27 Nf5+ Kf8 28 Qd7!, mating) 27 Qf5+ Kd8 28 f8Q+ Rxf8 29 Qxf8+ Kd7 30 Nf3. 23 exf7+ Bxf7 No better is 23 . . . Kf8 24 Nf5 Bg5 25 Qe5. 24 Nf5 Be6 25 Rxe6 Qxe6 26 Ng7+ Kd7 27 Nxe6 Kxe6 28 Qe5+, Black Resigns.

GM Magnus Carlsen (Norway)-GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), London 2009: 1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 g3 d5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 Bg2This variation of the English Opening resembles the Sicilian Dragon, with colors reversed. Nb6 7 0-0 Be7 8 a3 0-0 9 b4 Be6 10 Rb1 f6 11 d3 a5 12 b5 Nd4 13 Nd2 Setting the trap 13 . . . Nd5?? 14 Bxd5! Bxd5 15 e3 Ne6 16 e4, trapping the Bishop. Qc8 Patient. Although 13 . . . Bd5!? 14 Nxd5 Nxd5 has scored well for Black, White can secure an edge with 15 Ne4 f5 16 e3 fxe4 17 exd4 exd4 18 Bb2. 14 e3 Nf5 15 Qc2 Rd8 16 Bb2 a4 Probably correct. Both a-pawns may become vulnerable. Black cannot get his Knight to c5 by 16 . . . Nd7?, as 17 Nd5 Bd6 18 Ne4! Bxd5 19 Nxd6 Nxd6 20 Bxd5+ Kh8 21 a4 strongly favors White. 17 Rfc1 Nd6 18 Nde4 Ne8 19 Qe2 Not clear is 19 f4 Qd7. Bf8?! Meek. Black gets sufficient counterplay from 19 . . . Bh3 20 Bh1 Bg4 21 Qc2 Qd7. 20 f4 exf4 21 gxf4 Qd7 22 d4 White’s grip on the center outweighs his weaknesses at b3 and c4. Black is suffering. c6 Not 22 . . . Nc4?? 23 d5. 23 Nc5 Bxc5 24 dxc5 Nc4 25 Rd1 Qc7 26 Bc1 Ugly, but the Bishop will revive after Rb1-b4 chases Black’s Knight. Na5!? The best chance, offering a pawn for counterplay. 27 bxc6 bxc6 28 Nxa4 Rxd1+?! Tougher is 28 . . . Bb3 29 Rxd8 Rxd8 30 Nb6 Rd1+ 31 Kf2 Qe7! 32 Rxb3 Rxc1. White can retain the advantage with 33 Rd3 Rxc5 34 Qa2+ Qf7 35 Qxf7+ Kxf7 36 e4, but a draw is the most likely result. 29 Qxd1 Rd8 30 Qc2 Against most moves, White will make progress by 31 Nb6 and 32 Bd2. Qf7 31 Nc3! Stifling Black’s Kingside hopes. Far from convincing is 31 Nb6?! Bb3 32 Qc3 Rd1+ 33 Kf2, as 33 . . . Qh5! generates chaos. Qh5 Black can recover the pawn by 31 . . . Bb3 32 Qf2 Rd3 33 Bd2 Nc4, but 34 Be1 Nxa3 (not 34 . . . Nxe3? 35 Be4) 35 Rc1 appeals only to White. The pawn at c6 is loose, and 35 . . . Qe6 drops material to 36 Be4 Rd8 37 f5 Qc4 38 Qb2. 32 Ne2 Bf5 After 32 . . . Nc4 33 Nd4 Bd5 34 Rb4! Bxg2 35 Kxg2 Qg4+ 36 Kh1, Black must retreat. 33 e4 Bg4 34 Ng3 Winning. White had to foresee that 34 . . . Rd1+ 35 Bf1 Bh3 could be handled by 36 Be3 Rxb1 37 Qxb1. Then 37 . . . Qg4? 38 Bxh3 Qxh3 39 Qb4 costs a Knight,and 37 . . . Qf3 38 Qa2+ Kf8 39 Qe2 gives White an easily won endgame. Qf7 35 Bf1 Be6 36 Qc3 Ra8 37 Rb4 Qd7 38 f5 Bf7 39 Bf4 Easier than 39 Ra4?! Qd1. Qd1 40 Kf2 Nb3?! The hopeless 40 . . . Rd8 41 Be2 Qd7 lasts a little longer. White would make progress with 42 Rb6 Ra8 43 Ba6 Nb3 44 Rb7. 41 Be2 Qb1 42 Bc4 Rxa3 43 Ne2, Black Resigns. Black must abandon his Knight to parry the threat of 44 Bxf7+ Kxf7 45 Qc4+ Kf8 46 Rb7.