Banawa and Wang share state championship

Position No. 6122: White to play and win. From the game Artur Safin-Tatev Abrahamyan, U.S. Open, Irvine 2010.

Solution to Position No. 6121: Black wins with 1…Ne3! 2 fxe3 Qxe3+ (quickest) 3 Kg2 Qe2+ 4 Kg1 Qd1+ 5 Kg2 Re2+ 6 Kh3 Qf1+ 7 Kg4 Re4+ 8 Kh5 Qf3+ 9 g4 Qxg4 mate. Note that 1…Re2?? lets White defend by 2 Qf8+ Kh7 3 Rxf7.

The new state champions are Joel Banawa and Philip Xiao Wang. The two Los Angeles masters scored 5-2 in the Southern California Championship, which ended Sunday in Century City. Wang, who was undefeated, had the better tiebreaks, but the two will reign as co-champions.

Banawa, 20, earned a master rating when he arrived from the Philippines in 2003, and his steady improvement has brought him national recognition. He has twice competed in the U.S. Junior Championship.

Wang, 27, had been a junior star in Nevada, but he gave up chess for six years after college to start his career as a lawyer. He began his comeback in March. His victory pushes his rating over 2400 for the first time.

Third place went to the only veteran, former champion IM Cyrus Lakdawala, who coped with the assaults of the four state championship newcomers. His 41/2 -21/2 score included an attacking gem against Banawa that can be seen below.

Others: Ankit Gupta, 4-3; IM Tim Taylor and this writer, 3-4; Konstantin Kavutskiy, 21/2 -41/2; and Michael Casella, 1-6. John Hillery and Randy Hough directed for the Southern California Chess Federation. For the eighth year, John Rowell volunteered his law office as the playing site.

International news

A team of young grandmasters defeated an older generation, 26-24, in the Rising Stars vs. Experience match in Amsterdam. Former U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura of St. Louis scored 6-4, the best result of the younger team. Boris Gelfand of Israel led the opposition with 7-3.

Local news

The SCCF’s second state championship, the Southern California Open, takes place next weekend at the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. All players are eligible. The winner of the Open section earns a state championship title.

The two-section tournament offers a minimum of $5,000 in prizemoney. Entrants may choose the standard three-day schedule (two games Saturday, two games Sunday and two games Sept. 6) or the optional two-day schedule (three one-hour games and a slow one on Sunday, plus two on Sept. 6).

The weekend will also include a scholastic tournament (starting at 9:30 a.m. Sunday), the SCCF’s annual membership meeting (at 2:30 p.m. Sunday), five rounds of 30-minute games (at 10:15 a.m. Sept. 6) and three rounds of 90-minute games (at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 6). For more information and an online entry form, visit westernchess.com.

The Los Angeles Vibe defeated the St. Louis Arch Bishops, 2.5-1.5, on Monday in the first match of the 2010 season of the U.S. Chess League. The 16-team league conducts matches of 75-minute games on weeknights via the Internet. The Vibe plays at Chess Palace in Garden Grove. See uschessleague.com for full details.

Top-seeded GM Melikset Khachiyan won the 36-player Westwood Summer Open last Sunday at the Los Angeles Chess Club. Khachiyan has finished first, or tied for first, in his last seven appearances in John Hillery’s series of 40-minute events. This time, he scored 41/2 -1/2, yielding a last-round draw to Jouaquin Banawa. Show Kitagami and Takashi Kurosaki shared second place at 4-1. Leo Creger scored 41/2 -1/2 to lead the Reserve (under-1800) section.

The Santa Monica Bay Chess Club will conduct quad tournaments (three 30-minute games against similarly rated opponents) at 7 p.m. Monday in St. Andrew’s Church, 11555 National Blvd. in Los Angeles. Call Pete Savino at (310) 827-2789.

Today’s games

IM Cyrus Lakdawala-Joel Banawa, Southern California Championship, Century City 2010: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bg5 The Torre Attack. h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 5 e4 d6 6 Nc3 Nd7 7 Qd2 c6 8 0-0-0 e5? A book trap, although neither player realized it. Black must preface this advance with 8…Be7. 9 dxe5 dxe5 10 Nb5! Lakdawala was surprised to find that his “original” idea had been played 12 times previously! Kd8 The pinned knight falls after 10…cxb5 11 Bxb5 Qe6 12 Nxe5. 11 Qa5+! b6 12 Qc3 a6 Black cannot salvage his shaky position. After 12…Bc5 13 Qxe5! cxb5, White gains material by 14 Qd5 Rb8 15 Ne5. 13 Nd6! Bxd6 Not 13…Kc7? 14 Ne8+. 14 Qxc6 Ke7 Trying to counterattack. A little better, but still hopeless, is 14…Bb7 15 Qxb7 Ke7. 15 Qxa8 Nc5 16 Qa7+ Bd7 17 Bxa6 Not mere pawn-grabbing. White plans 18 Bb5. Rb8?! Against 17…Bb8, White intended 18 Rxd7+ Nxd7 19 Qb7, consolidating his two-pawn advantage. 18 Rxd6! Qxd6 19 Rd1, Black Resigns.

GM Hikaru Nakamura (U.S.A.)-GM Loek Van Wely (Netherlands), Rising Stars vs. Experience, Amsterdam 2010: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bg5 One of White’s sharpest systems against the Najdorf Sicilian. Nbd7 Instead of the habitual 6…e6. 7 f4 Qb6 Reminiscent of the Poisoned Pawn, 6…e6 7 f4 Qb6. But 7…e6 or 7…Qc7 appears sounder. 8 Qd2 Qxb2 9 Rb1 Qa3 10 Bxf6 Nxf6 Consistent. After 10…gxf6?! 11 Nd5, Black cannot survive 11…Qc5 12 Rb3 or 11…Rb8 12 Rb3 Qa4 13 Bxa6! bxa6 14 Qc3, and 11…Kd8 does not inspire confidence. 11 e5 dxe5 12 fxe5 Nd7?? Fatal. Necessary is 12…Ng4 13 Nd5 Qc5 14 Nb3 Qc6. Then 15 Na5 Qd7 16 Nc4 e6 holds White to a small advantage, while 15 Qa5 b6 16 Nxb6 e6! equalizes, thanks to the trap 17 Nxa8?? Qe4+ 18 Kd1 Bb4. Oddly, Van Wely had recently written an article recommending 12…Ng4 and warning against 12…Nd7, but mixed up the two choices at the board. 13 Nd5! Not convincing is 13 e6? Nf6 14 exf7+ Kxf7 15 Bc4+ Ke8. Qc5 Black loses quickly after 13…Kd8 14 e6 or 13…Rb8 14 Nc6! bxc6 15 Rxb8. 14 Nb3 Qc6 15 Na5 Qc5 16 Nxb7 Qc6 Allowing a striking tactic, but 16…Bxb7 17 Rxb7 Rc8 18 Bxa6 (threatening 19 Bb5) would cost Black a lot of material. 17 Rb6!, Black Resigns. As 17…Nxb6 runs into 18 Nf6+ exf6 19 Qd8 mate.