St. Louis, the game’s new capital

Position No. 6116: White to play and win. From the game Robert Hungaski-Jeffrey Haskel, World Open, Pennsylvania 2010.

Solution to Position No. 6115: Black wins with 1…Qxb2+! 2 Kxb2 Rf2+ 3 Kc1 Ra1+ 4 Bb1 Nb3 mate.

Two national championships are set to conclude Monday in St. Louis. The U.S. Women’s Championship features 10 of the country’s best female players, including 2009 champion Anna Zatonskih and former champion Irina Krush. Tatev Abrahamyan of Glendale is seeded third and seems capable of challenging the favorites.

The U.S. Junior Championship, for players under age 20, might look like a setup for 15-year old grandmaster Ray Robson of Florida, but junior events are notoriously unpredictable. Robson, the 2009 champion, got a break when two of his most dangerous rivals, IM Sam Shankland of Berkeley and John Daniel Bryant of Tehachapi, fell off the pace with 0-2 starts.

Moves of all games will be shown at saintlouischessclub.org.

St. Louis also hosted the U.S. Championship in May. How did St. Louis, a city with little chess tradition, snare the three most important invitationals? And the Chess Hall of Fame, which relocated from Florida? And Bobby Fischer’s recently-auctioned chess library?

Give credit to patron Rex Sinquefield, a retired investor. He founded the lavish Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in 2007 with the twin goals of introducing chess to children and supporting master chess. The club won bids for each tournament by offering a generous prize fund, excellent playing conditions and live commentary by famous players. Grandmasters Ben Finegold and Hikaru Nakamura enjoyed the atmosphere so much that they have moved to St. Louis.

Don’t worry, St. Louis will not monopolize chess. The next national tournament, the U.S. Open, will take place July 31 to August 8 in Irvine. Details are available at uschess.org.

Local news

Congratulations to Alina Markowski, who celebrates her 100th birthday today in Solana Beach. Since she moved to Southern California from Ohio in 1975, Alina has promoted chess with rare energy. She ran the North County Chess Club for two decades, served on the board of the Southern California Chess Federation (including a stint as president), and contributed to national committees on women’s and senior chess. For many years, she maintained a Class B rating and ranked among the national leaders in tournament games played. Astonishingly, she did not learn how to play chess until she was 48 years old.

Today’s games

IM Tim Taylor-Robert Akopian, Pacific Southwest Open, Los Angeles 2010: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 f4 The Austrian Attack against the Pirc Defense. Bg7 5 Nf3 c5 6 Bb5+ Popular alternatives are 6 e5!? Ng4 7 Bb5+ and 6 dxc5 Qa5 7 Bd3. Bd7 7 Bxd7+ Nfxd7 After 7…Nbxd7 8 d5, White threatens e4-e5 more strongly. 8 d5 b5!? Inviting 9 Nxb5 Qa5+ 10 Nc3 Bxc3+ 11 bxc3 Qxc3+ 12 Bd2 Qc4. 9 Qe2 Qa5 In “Pirc Alert!,” Alburt and Chernin recommend 9…b4 10 Nd1 Nb6 11 0-0 Qc8, bringing the Queen to a6. 10 0-0 Bxc3?! Black will miss his Bishop. Instead, 10…b4 11 Nd1 Qa6 holds White to a tiny advantage. 11 bxc3 Qxc3 Black is committed, as 11…Nb6 lets White attack with 12 e5 0-0 13 f5. 12 Qxb5 0-0 Not 12…Qxa1? 13 Bb2 Qxa2 14 Ra1 Qxa1+ 15 Bxa1 0-0 because 16 Qb7 Nb6 17 Qxe7 wipes out Black’s center. 13 Bd2 Qa3 Nor does 13…Qxc2 14 Qb7 Nb6 15 Qxe7 extricate Black. 14 e5 Nb6 15 exd6 exd6 16 f5 Qa6?! Black cannot stand 16…Nxd5? 17 fxg6 hxg6 18 Ng5, but 16…N8d7 17 fxg6 hxg6 18 Bf4 Qb4! or 18 Ng5 Ne5 hangs on. 17 Qb2 Nc4 18 Qc3 Nxd2 19 Qxd2 Nd7 20 Qh6 Qc4 21 fxg6 hxg6 22 Ng5 Qd4+ 23 Kh1 Qg7 Repelling the first wave of the attack, but the danger persists. 24 Qh3 Rad8? Fatal. After the correct 24…Nb6, White makes no progress by 25 Rae1 Rae8, and 25 Ne4 f5 26 Ng5 Qh8 keeps Black alive. 25 Rae1 Now White can meet 25…Nb6 by 26 Re4!, when 26…Nxd5 27 c4 Nb6 28 Rh4 Rde8 29 Nh7 costs Black at least the exchange. Ne5 Supporting f7, but White will find targets at f6 and h7. 26 Re4! Rb8 27 Rh4 Rb7?! If 27…f5, White can choose 28 Ne6 or, even stronger, 28 Rh7 Qf6 29 Rxa7 Qh8 30 Rh7 Qf6 31 Rd7! Qh8 32 Qxh8+ Kxh8 33 Rxd6. 28 Rh7 Qf6 29 Kg1! No back rank mate! Rb1 30 Rxb1 Qxg5 31 Rh8+ Kg7 32 Qh7+ Kf6 33 Rxf8, Black Resigns.

GM Melikset Khachiyan-Vincent Huang, Pacific Southwest Open, Los Angeles 2010: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Bxc6 A form of the Exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez. dxc6 7 Qe1 Be6 Also adequate are 7…Nd7 8 b3 c5 9 Bb2 f6 and 7…c5 8 Nxe5 Qd4 9 Nf3 Qxe4. 8 b3 Qd6 Awkward. Black has few worries after 8…Nd7 9 Bb2 f6 10 d4 Bd6. 9 d4 As 9…exd4?? allows 10 e5. Nd7 10 Ba3 c5 11 d5 Bg4 12 Nfd2 b5 13 f3 Bh5 14 c4 0-0 15 Bb2 In this closed position, Black’s Bishops can do little. White has a small but permanent advantage. Bf6 Unfortunately for Black, 15…c6 16 dxc6 Qxc6 17 Nc3 would let White plant a Knight at d5. Nor can Black easily arrange his other lever, …f7-f5. 16 Na3 b4 17 Nc2 Bg5 Black has more chance of …f7-f5 after 17…Bg6 18 Ne3 h6. 18 h4! Bxd2 Else 19 g4 traps the other Bishop. 19 Qxd2 Bg6 20 Ne3 Too hasty would be 20 g4?! h5. a5 21 a4! Eliminating Queenside distractions. Black cannot reply 21…bxa3? 22 Rxa3 Rfb8 because 23 Bc3 soon wins the a-pawn. Qe7 22 Qf2 Ra6 23 Rae1 f6 24 Qg3 Re8 25 Bc1 Raa8? After 25…Kh8, White would have to maneuver to prepare a breakthrough with f3-f4. 26 h5! Bxh5 27 Nf5 Qf8 28 Bh6 Re7 Toughest. Not 28…Bg6? 29 Bxg7 Qf7, as 30 Nh6+ wins the Queen anyway. 29 Nxe7+ Qxe7 Next, White must open a file to enhance the Rook’s superiority over the Bishop. 30 f4! Kh8 31 fxe5 Not fearing 31…gxh6?, as 32 exf6 Qf7 33 e5 and 32 exf6 Nxf6 33 Qh4 Nxd5 34 Qxh5 are overwhelming. Nxe5 32 Bf4 Re8 33 Bxe5 fxe5 Black’s stout defense forces Khachiyan to display his excellent technique. Easier for White would be 33…Qxe5 34 Qf2! Qd6 35 e5! Rxe5 36 Rxe5 Qxe5 37 Re1 Qc3 38 Re7, when the Rook convincingly outplays the Bishop. 34 Rf5 Bg6 35 Rg5 Kg8 36 Qg4 Qd6 37 Rf1 Qe7 38 Rf3 Qd6 Avoiding 38…Bxe4 39 Re3. 39 Kf2 Qe7 40 Ke3 Qd6 41 Rf2 Qe7 If Black waits with 41…Re7, White should ignore the false trail 42 Qc8+ Re8 43 Qb7 h6 44 Rg3 Kh7 45 Qb5?! Qe7 46 Qxa5?! Bxe4! and aim for a winning endgame by 42 Rf3 Re8 43 Rg3 Qf6 44 Rxg6 hxg6 45 Qxg6 Rf8 46 Qxf6 Rxf6 47 Rg5. 42 Qe6+! Cleverly opening the d-file. Qxe6 Forced, as 42…Bf7 loses routinely to 43 Qxe7 Rxe7 44 Rff5 h6 45 Rxe5. 43 dxe6 Rxe6 44 Rd2 Kf7 Or 44…c6 45 Rd7, and White will capture at a5. 45 Rd5 Kf6 46 Rg3 Ra6 Setting the trap 47 Rxc5? c6. 47 Rf3+ Ke6 48 Rf8 Threatening 49 Rc8 Ra7 50 Rxc5. c6 Inevitable. 49 Rdd8 Ra7 50 Rc8 Ke7 51 Rg8 Kd6 Against 51…Kf7, one method is 52 Rce8 Kf6 53 Rgf8+ Bf7 54 Ra8 Rd7 55 Rxa5 Ke7 56 Rc8. 52 Rgd8+ Ke7 53 Ra8 Rb7 54 Rd2 Now White can snatch the a-pawn without allowing counterplay. Be8 55 Rxa5 Ke6 56 Ra8 Simplest. Even 56 Rxc5 works, as 56…Ra7 57 Rd8 Bd7 58 Rxd7 frees the Rook. Re7 57 a5 h5 58 a6 h4 59 a7 g5 60 Ra2 h3 61 gxh3 g4 62 Rxe8 Rxe8 63 a8Q, Black Resigns.