U.S. second in team tourney

Jan. 17, 2010

Position No. 6090: White to play and win. From the game Gudmundur Kjartansson-Jason McKenna, Hastings 2009.

Solution to Position No. 6089: White wins with 1 Nxe5!, as 1 . . . Bxd1 allows 2 Nf6+ gxf6 3 Bxf7 mate.

The U.S. team won silver medals at the 10-nation World Team Championship on Wednesday in Bursa, Turkey. The fifth-seeded team far exceeded expectations, leading the tournament until an eighth-round loss to Armenia.

Russia survived a shocking upset against Greece to win the gold medals with a score of 7 1/2 -1 1/2 . India lacked world champion Viswanathan Anand but matched the U.S. score of 6 1/2 -2 1/2 and took third place on tiebreak.

Individual honors went to U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura of Seattle, 6-2 on first board, and Alexander Onischuk of Virginia, 6 1/2 -2 1/2 on second board.

Three-time U.S. champion Gata Kamsky of New York won the traditional New Year’s grandmaster tournament in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Kamsky defeated the leader, GM Zoltan Almasi of Hungary, in the final round and edged him on tiebreak. Each scored 6 1/2 -2 1/2 .

The 72nd edition of the great tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, began Friday. World champion Viswanathan Anand, former champion Vladimir Kramnik, top-ranked Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura lead the list of contenders in the Grandmaster “A” group. Varuzhan Akobian of Glendale competes in the “B” group, and 15-year-old Ray Robson of Florida faces other prodigies in the “C” group.

Local news

The Century West Open, held last weekend in Los Angeles, ended in a tie at 4-1 among GM Melikset Khachiyan, IM Andranik Matikozyan, IM Enrico Sevillano and a college student from Texas, IM Puchen Wang. Next at 3 1/2 -1 1/2 were Ron Hermansen, Alexandre Kretchetov, IM Emory Tate and this writer. Ankit Gupta and Konstantin Kavutskiy earned expert honors.

Michael Taylor won the Premier (under 1900) section with 4 1/2 - 1/2 , a half point ahead of Daniel Mousseri and Numan Abdul-Mujeeb. Richard Martin was best under 1700.

James Holder and unrated David Meliksetyan tied for first in the Amateur (under 1400) section.

Inexplicably, only 60 players participated. Nevertheless, the Open section included the full roster of local titled players, resulting in tough pairings.

The turnout of 28 players for the scholastic event was also low. Karl Tolentino took first prize, and Bryan Goldenberg and Matthew Poh shared first in the scholastic reserve section.

The Orange County Open takes place next weekend at Hanley Chess Academy, 7390 Center Ave. in Huntington Beach. It’s a five-round tournament, with three games Saturday and two Sunday. Organizer Joe Hanley also plans a one-day tournament and a scholastic event, both on Sunday. For details and online registration, see hanleychessacademy.org.

Today’s games

GM Mikhail Ulibin (Russia)-GM Sergey Ivanov (Russia), Stockholm 2009: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 An unusual response to the Sicilian Defense. Nc6 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 Be2 Or 5 d4 cxd4 6 Nxd4 Bb4, with about even chances. d5 6 exd5 exd5 7 d4 Symmetry, surprisingly. Be6 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 Bb5?! Beginning a time-wasting maneuver. Instead, 9 0-0 Be7 10 dxc5 Nxc3 (worse is 10 . . . Bxc5 11 Ne4 Bb6 12 Neg5) 11 bxc3 Bxc5 12 Qc2, threatening 13 Ng5, develops smoothly, with at least equality. Be7 10 Ne5 Rc8 11 0-0 Perhaps White intended 11 Qa4. However, after the nonchalant 11 . . . 0-0, neither 12 Nxc6 bxc6 13 Bxc6?? Nb6 nor 12 Bxc6 bxc6 13 Nxc6?? Nxc3 14 bxc3 Bd7 works for White. 0-0 12 Nxc6 bxc6 13 Ba6Rb8 14 Nxd5?! A little better is 14 dxc5 Nxc3 15 bxc3 Qa5 16 Qe2 Qxc3 17 Be3. Bxd5 15 dxc5 Bxc5 16 Bd3?! White cannot afford another loss of time. Even the superior 16 Be2 Re8 17 Bf3 is uncomfortable, as 17 . . . Qf6 inhibits White’s development. Qh4! 17 Be2 After 17 b3 Rb4!, White must yield a pawn by 18 Bc4 to stop the threat of 18 . . . Rg4. If 18 Be2, Black wins neatly with 18 . . . Rd4 19 Qc2 Rg4! 20 Bxg4 Qxg4 21 g3 Qf3. Rfe8 18 Qd3 White has no follow-up to 18 Qc2 Bd4, while 18 Bf3 drops material to 18 . . . Bc4. Re6 19 g3 Black refutes 19 b3 Rbe8 20 Bf3 by 20 . . . Re1, hitting f2 and foreseeing 21 g3 Bxf2+! 22 Kg2 Bxg3! 23 hxg3 R8e2+, mating. Qh3 20 Bf3 Rxb2! Imagining a variety of brutal finishes, including 21 Bxb2 Rh6; 21 Bxd5 Rxf2 22 Rxf2 Re1+; and 21 Qc3 Bxf3 22 Qxf3 Rxf2. 21 Bf4 Ree2! 22 Bxd5 Bxf2+ 23 Rxf2 Or 23 Kh1 Bd4 24 Bxf7+ Kh8. Rxf2 24 Bxf7+ Kxf7 25 Qc4+ Qe6, White Resigns.

GM Sipke Ernst (Netherlands)-IM Illya Nyzhnyk (Ukraine), Groningen 2009: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 0-0 6 Be2 e5 7 Be3Gligorich’s system against the King’s Indian Defense. Ng4 8 Bg5 f6 9 Bc1 f5 The other popular branch begins 9 . . . Nc6 10 d5 Ne7. 10 Bg5 Qe8 11 dxe5 The sharper tries 11 Nd5? fxe4! 12 Nxc7 Qf7 and 11 h3?! exd4 12 Nd5 Nxf2! 13 Kxf2 fxe4 14 Nxc7 Qe5 are very promising for Black. Safest is 11 exf5 Rxf5 12 dxe5 Nxe5 13 Be3, but White gets no advantage. fxe4! 12 Nxe4?! Natural, but Black will obtain an edge because of the exposed Knight. Instead, 12 Qd5+ Be6 13 Qxe4 Nxe5 14 0-0 maintains equality. Nxe5 13 0-0 Nbc6 Thinking of 14 . . . Nxf3+ 15 Bxf3 Nd4. 14 Re1?! Best appears 14 Nc3 Be6 15 Nxe5 Nxe5 16 b3 Nf7 17 Bd2, with a defensible position. Qf7! Now White must worry about c4, d4 and f2. 15 Nxe5 Nxe5 16 Rc1 Bf5 17 Nc3 Be6 18 f3 Trickier is 18 f4, inviting 18 . . . Nxc4?? 19 Bxc4 Bxc4 20 Re7. However, Black’s advantage grows after 18 f4 Nc6 19 Nd5 Rae8. Then 20 Qd2 Nd4 21 Bd3 c6 22 Ne3 h6 will cost White a pawn. White’s best chance is to offer the pawn immediately by 18 Nd5!? Qxf2+ 19 Kh1 Bxd5 20 Qxd5+ Nf7 21 Bf3, with a bit of compensation. Probably 18 Nd5!? Rae8 19 Bh4 b5 is Black’s proper course, although 20 b3 hangs on. h6 19 Bh4 Bxc4 Well calculated. Black can handle White’s next onslaught. 20 Bxc4 Qxc4 21 Re4 Qf7 22 Nd5 c6 23 Ne7+ Kh7 24 f4 If 24 Qxd6, Black counterattacks with 24 . . . Rad8 25 Qa3 Rd3!, foreseeing 26 Qxa7 Nxf3+ 27 gxf3 Qxf3 28 Rce1 Rd2 and 26 Qb4 Rxf3! 27 gxf3 Nxf3+ 28 Kh1 Nxh4 29 Rxh4 Qf3+ 30 Kg1 Qe3+. d5! 25 Rb4 Rejecting 25 Rxe5 Bxe5 26 fxe5 because 26 . . . g5 27 Qd3+ Kg7 gains material. Black’s King is safe enough. Nc4?! Black’s only slip. Most convincing is 25 . . . a5! 26 Rxb7 Qxf4 27 Bg3 Qe3+ 28 Kh1 Nd3. Black would refute 29 Rb1 Rae8 30 Nxc6 by 30 . . . Ne1!, forcing mate. 26 Rxb7?! White should try 26 f5! g5 27 Rxb7, setting the trap 27 . . . gxh4?? 28 f6! Qxf6 29 Qd3+ Kh8 30 Ng6+ Kg8 31 Ne7+, drawing. Black would have to settle for 27 . . . Bf6 28 Bf2 Bxe7 29 Qe2 Rae8 30 Re1 Qxf5, with an extra pawn but a difficult technical task. Qxf4 Crushing. 27 Bg3 Qe3+ 28 Kh1 Nxb2 29 Qc2 Nd3 Shielding g6 and creating back rank threats. For example, 30 Rd1 Rae8 31 Nxc6 allows mate by 31 . . . Qe1+. 30 Rg1 Rf6 31 Nxg6!? Rxg6 32 Rb3 Bd4 33 Rd1 Rf8 34 Rbxd3 Qe4 Threatening 35 . . . Rf2. Black has returned one pawn but inched closer to victory. 35 Qb1 Black’s passers are unstoppable after 35 R3d2 Qxc2 36 Rxc2 c5. Rf2 36 Rf3 Qxb1 37 Rxb1 Rxa2 38 Rf4 Be5 Welcoming 39 Rf7+ Rg7. 39 Rf3 Bxg3 40 hxg3 Re6 41 Rb7+ Kg6 42 Rc7 h5 43 Kh2 Ra1 44 Rc8?! Allowing checkmate. The “normal” finish would be 44 Rc3 d4 45 R3xc6 Rxc6 46 Rxc6+ Kf5, and Black’s King escorts the d-pawn. Ree1 45 g4 h4! 46 Rxc6+ Kg5 47 Rf5+ Kxg4 48 Rxd5 Rh1 mate. The 13-year old winner took first prize in the tournament and achieved a norm to become a grandmaster.