No fireworks at holiday tourney
Position No. 6115: Black to play and win. From the game Marko Rubil-Darko Feletar, Croatia 2010.
Solution to Position No. 6114: White wins with 1 Bg4 R8c2 2 Bf5+ g6 3 Bxg6+! Kxg6 (also 3…Kg7 4 Qd4+ and 3…fxg6 4 Re7+ lead to mate) 4 Rg4+ Kh5 5 Rh4+! Kg6 6 Qxh6+ Kf5 7 Rf4 mate. Or, if 1…R8c7, then 2 Bf5+ g6 3 Rh4 wins. Finally, 1…Rxe1 2 Rxe1 Qc2 3 Qxc2 Rxc2 4 Bf5+ and 1…R8c4 2 Bf5+ g6 3 Rxc4 Qxf5 4 Rcxc1 cost Black too much material.
The longest-running major local tournament, the Pacific Southwest Open, celebrated its 50th year quietly last weekend at the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Grandmaster Melikset Khachiyan, the top seed by a large margin, removed all suspense with a nearly effortless victory. He scored 51/2-1/2, yielding a draw only to 13-year-old master Yian Liou.
Second place went to IM Tim Taylor, who won five games and overcame a blunder that led to a short loss against Khachiyan in the fourth round. Christian Tanaka, top expert Joshua Gutman and this columnist tied for third place at 41/2-11/2. Dennis Saccuzzo took the under-2000 prize.
Alfred Ong led the Amateur (under-1800) section with 51/2-1/2. Chantelle Field, Leo Creger, Young Hong, Gia Petersen and Bhanu Narayana finished tops in their rating categories.
John Hillery directed the 83-player tournament.
There were 26 more entrants in the two Scholastic sections, won by Karl Tolentino and Brian Santoso.
World Open
Czech grandmaster Viktor Laznicka earned the first prize of $17,413 last weekend at the World Open in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Laznicka dominated the nation’s most lucrative Open tournament thanks to wins in his first six games. He coasted home with three draws for an impressive 71/2-11/2 total. He faced grandmasters in his final seven games.
Three more undefeated grandmasters, Pentala Harikrisha (India), Luke McShane (England) and Ilya Smirin (Israel), shared second place with scores of 7-2. The 119-player Open section included 32 GMs.
Overall attendance in the nine-section tournament dropped below 1,100 for the first time this decade.
The Continental Chess Assn., which began the World Open at the height of the Fischer boom in 1973, plans two California tournaments. The Pacific Coast Open starts Thursday evening in Agoura Hills, and the Central California Open takes place Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Fresno. For details, see chesstour.org.
Local news
Dante Bagain scored 51/2-1/2 to win the 51-player B.T. McGuire Memorial at the Arcadia Chess Club. Gregg Fritchle, Alvin Huang, David King, Tony Grauso and David Zhou earned class honors. Mel Clark directed.
The club conducts tournaments every Monday evening in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. in Arcadia.
David Baran and Taylor Curtis tied for first place in the Santa Monica Bay Chess Club’s June Swiss. The club plans three-round quads beginning at 7 p.m. Monday in St. Andrew’s Church, 11555 National Blvd. in Los Angeles. Call Pete Savino at (310) 827-2789 for details.
Today’s games
IM Tim Taylor-Avram Zaydenberg, SCCF Candidates, Garden Grove 2010: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5 The Exchange variation of the Queen’s Gambit. c6 6 e3 Bf5 Logical, although 6…Be7 7 Bd3 0-0 enjoys a better reputation. 7 Qf3 Bg6 8 Bxf6 gxf6 Relatively unexplored. 9 Rd1 Petrosian won with 9 Qd1 Qb6 10 Qd2, but Black reached a satisfactory position. Nd7 This is the moment for 9…Qb6!?, welcoming 10 Qxf6 Qxb2 11 Nge2 Rg8. Both the timid 10 Rd2 Nd7 and the speculative 10 Bd3 Qxb2 11 Nge2 Bb4 seem playable for Black. 10 Bd3 Qb6 Too late to worry Taylor, an attacker who wrote a book titled “Pawn Sacrifice!” 11 Nge2 An easy decision. Qxb2 Compounding the danger, but 11…0-0-0 12 0-0 Bd6 13 Bf5 would give White an advantage without risk. 12 0-0 Bxd3?! Yielding control of f5. Admittedly, Black would suffer also after the sturdier 12…0-0-0 13 Bf5 Qb6 14 Rb1 Qa5 15 Rb3. 13 Rxd3 Qb6? Necessary is 13…0-0-0 14 Rb1 Qa3 15 e4 dxe4 16 Nxe4 Qe7. 14 e4! dxe4 15 Qxe4+! Stronger than 15 Nxe4 0-0-0. Be7 The pinned Bishop instantly becomes White’s prime target. However, 15…Kd8 16 d5! presents Black with other insoluble problems. He cannot stand 16…Nc5? 17 dxc6+, while 16…c5 17 Re3 Bd6 18 Rb1 Qa6 19 Nb5 Rb8 20 Ng3 soon eliminates the blockader at d6. 16 Re3 Qd8 17 Ng3 Nf8 White refutes 17…Kf8 18 Nf5 Bb4 with 19 Qg4 Rg8 20 Qh5. 18 Nf5 Ne6 Or 18…Ng6 19 Re1. 19 d5! cxd5 20 Nxd5 Bc5 21 Ng7+ Kf8 22 Nxe6+ fxe6 23 Nf4!, Black Resigns. Black must lose at least a piece, as 23…Qe7 24 Nxe6+ Kf7 25 Nxc5 Qxc5 allows mate by 26 Qe6+ Kg7 27 Rg3+.
GM Borki Predojevic ( Bosnia & Herzegovina)-GM Nikolai Shalnev (Germany), Pula, Croatia 2010: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 The ever popular Najdorf Sicilian. 6 Be3 e5 7 Nf3 A neglected sideline, overshadowed by the English Attack 7 Nb3 Be7 8 f3. Qc7 Alternatives include 7…Be7; 7…Be6 8 Ng5 Be7; and 7…h6 8 Bc4 Be6. 8 a4 b6? This natural move leads to serious problems. Black should prefer 8…Be7 or 8…Be6. 9 Nd5! Nxd5 10 Qxd5 Bb7 Magnus Carlsen took command as White in 2005 when his opponent chose 10…Nc6 11 Ng5! Rb8 12 Bc4 Nd8 13 Qd3. 11 Qb3 A fine maneuver, eyeing b6 and f7. Bxe4 Defending b6, by 11…Nd7, runs into 12 Ng5. Then 12…Nc5 13 Bxc5 bxc5 14 Bc4 is awful, while the desperate pawn sacrifice 12…d5 13 exd5 Nc5 14 Qc4 leaves Black hardly any compensation. 12 Bc4 h6?! Tougher is 12…Nc6 13 Bxb6 Qd7, although 14 0-0-0 still favors White. 13 Bxb6 Qb7 14 0-0-0 White’s pressure against f7 prevents Black from developing his Kingside. Nor does 14…Bg6 15 Nxe5! help Black. Nc6 15 Rhe1 Bg6 If Black insists on castling, by 15…Bxf3 16 gxf3 g5 17 a5 Bg7 18 Rxd6 0-0, then 19 Bd5 gains more material. 16 Nh4 Bh7 17 f4! Black’s King cannot survive long on the e-file. The rest is a massacre. Rb8 18 a5 g5 Useless, but 18…e4 19 Bd5 f5 lets White open the e-file by 20 g4! fxg4 21 Bxe4. 19 fxe5! Inviting 19…gxh4 20 exd6+ Kd7 21 Be6+, mating. Nxe5 Against 19…dxe5, both 20 Rf1 and 20 Qf3 win quickly. 20 Rxe5+! dxe5 21 Bxf7+! Qxf7 22 Qa4+ Ke7 23 Qd7+ Kf6 24 Rf1+, Black Resigns.