Field set for state championship

The Southern California Chess Federation conducted its 25-player Candidates tournament last weekend at Chess Palace in Garden Grove. Only those who had excelled in local events during the last year were invited. At stake were four spots in the SCCF’s state championship.

Ankit Gupta won his first three games and took first place with a score of 31/2-1/2. Next at 3-1 were, in tiebreak order, Michael Casella, Konstantin Kavutskiy, IM Tim Taylor, Tianyi He, Vadim Kudryavtsev and Cheston Gunawan.

Gupta, Casella, Kavutskiy and Taylor will join four players seeded by rating (Joel Banawa, IM Cyrus Lakdawala, Philip Xiao Wang and this writer) in the round robin state championship, scheduled for two weekends in August.

The SCCF has posted the moves of all Candidates games at scchess.com.

International news

The world’s top-ranked grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, won four consecutive games to take the lead in the Kings tournament in Medias, Romania. The double round robin pits Romanian star Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu against five elite grandmasters. With three rounds remaining, Carlsen led with 51/2-1 1/2, a point ahead of Boris Gelfand of Israel.

Local news

The Pacific Southwest Open, the oldest of the major local tournaments, celebrates its 50th edition next weekend at the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. The six-round main event begins Saturday and continues through July 5, with two games each day. Entrants may opt for a two-day schedule, beginning Sunday.

Organizer John Hillery plans two side events. The PSW Scholastics, for students in grades K-12, will be held Sunday. The PSW Hexes (three 90-minute games within a six-player section) are scheduled for July 5. For more information and online entries, see westernchess.com.

Philip Xiao Wang convincingly won the championship of the Los Angeles Chess Club, scoring 6-0 last weekend in the 33-player tournament.

Karl Tolentino scored 5-1 to lead the under-1800 section. For more about the club, call Mick Bighamian at (310) 575-5710.

Today’s games

GM Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)-GM Boris Gelfand (Israel), Medias, Romania 2010: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 Gelfand’s specialty, the Petroff Defense. 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0-0 Be7 8 Re1 Some prefer 8 c4 Nf6 9 Nc3. Bg4 9 c4 Nf6 10 Nc3 Offering a pawn. Less aggressive is 10 cxd5. Bxf3 11 Qxf3 Nxd4 12 Qd1 Ne6 This position has been known since a drawn 1985 Kasparov vs. Karpov game that continued 13 cxd5 Nxd5 14 Bb5+ c6 15 Nxd5 cxb5 16 Qb3 0-0. 13 Bf5 c6 Reasonable, as White recovers the pawn favorably after either 13…d4 14 Ne2 or 13…dxc4 14 Qa4+ c6 15 Bxe6 fxe6 16 Qxc4. 14 cxd5 Nxd5 15 Qg4 Nxc3 16 bxc3 Not 16 Bxe6?! fxe6 17 Qxg7?? because 17…Ne2+! 18 Kh1 Bf6 costs White a piece. 0-0 Inviting the harmless 17 Bxe6?! fxe6 18 Qxe6+ Rf7 19 Be3 Qd3. 17 Rb1 Qc7 Worth a thought is 17…Bc5 18 Rxb7 Qf6. 18 Bh6 Bd6?? This error will be severely punished. It’s doubtful if White can maintain any advantage after 18…Bf6! 19 Qh3 Rfe8 20 Bxh7+ Kf8. 19 Qh3! Surprise! White’s real target is h7, and Black has no good defense. Rfe8 20 Bxg7! Bxh2+ 21 Kf1! The King does not belong on the h-file after 21 Kh1?! Kxg7 22 Qxh7+ Kf6 23 Bxe6 Rh8. Kxg7 22 Qxh7+ Kf6 White refutes 22…Kf8 by 23 Rxb7! Qxb7 24 Bxe6. 23 Bxe6 Bf4 Toughest. Instead, 23…Rxe6 24 Qh6+ gives Black the choice of losing his Queen (to 24…Ke7 25 Rxe6+ fxe6 26 Rxb7! Qxb7 27 Qh7+) or allowing checkmate (by 24…Kf5 25 Rxe6 fxe6 26 g4+! Kxg4 27 Qg6+ Kh4 28 Rb4+ Bf4 29 f3). 24 Qf5+ Kg7 25 Rb4! Rxe6 26 Rxe6 fxe6 27 Qg4+ Kh8 28 Rxf4 Threatening the unprotected King by 29 Qh3+ Qh7 30 Rh4. Qh7 29 Qxe6 Qh1+ Black has no chance in the endgames reached by 29…Qb1+ 30 Qe1 and 29…Qd3+ 30 Qe2. 30 Ke2 Qh5+ 31 g4 Qb5+ 32 Kf3 Even easier is 32 c4 Qb2+ 33 Kf3. Qd3+ 33 Kg2 Qd5+ 34 Qxd5 cxd5 35 Rf7 b5 36 Rd7 a6 37 f4 One of several winning methods. Rc8 38 f5, Black Resigns. After 38…Rxc3 39 f6 Kg8 40 g5 Rc6 41 Kf3 d4 42 Kg4 d3 43 Kf5, White’s pawns are unstoppable.

Kenneth Wallach-IM Enrico Sevillano, National Open, Las Vegas 2010: 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 f4 The Grand Prix Attack against the Sicilian Defense. e6 4 Nf3 d5 5 Bb5 d4 Relatively unexplored. Theory claims Black can equalize with 5…Nf6 6 e5 Nd7 or 5…Ne7 6 exd5 Nxd5 7 Ne5 Bd7. 6 Bxc6+ bxc6 7 Ne2 d3!? 8 Nc3 White gets little from 8 cxd3 Qxd3 9 Qa4 Qb5. Nf6 9 Ne5 dxc2 10 Qxc2 Bd6 11 Na4?! Neglecting development. White should not rush to exploit the doubled c-pawns. He could obtain a small advantage with 11 d3 0-0 12 Nc4 Be7 13 0-0. 0-0 Correctly avoiding 11…Bxe5? 12 fxe5 Nd7 13 0-0 Nxe5 14 Qxc5. 12 d3 Much too greedy is 12 Nxc5?! Bxc5 13 Qxc5 Nxe4 14 Qxc6?, when 14…Qd4 counterattacks. Bxe5 White would welcome 12…Ba6 13 Nc4. 13 fxe5 Ng4 14 0-0 Not 14 Qxc5? Qxd3 15 Qxc6?? Ba6, but 14 Nxc5 poses more problems. Both 14…Qd4 15 Bf4 Nxe5 16 Bxe5 Qxe5 17 0-0 and 14…Qh4+!? 15 g3 Qh3 16 d4 f6 17 exf6 Rxf6 18 Nd3 favor White. Probably 14…f5!? improves. Qd4+ 15 Kh1 c4!? 16 dxc4 Ba6 17 Bf4 Rad8 Preventing 18 Rad1?? because of 18…Nf2+. 18 b3 Now the Bishop at a6 appears worthless. However, the state champion concentrates on activating his Rooks. f6 19 h3 Playable, but 19 Qe2! Nxe5 20 Rad1 Nd3 21 Bg3 secures an edge. fxe5 20 hxg4 White’s dream Knight-vs.-Bishop position could arise from 20 Bg5 Ne3? 21 Bxe3 Qxe3 22 Rxf8+ Rxf8 23 Rd1 Rf2 24 Qd3 Qxd3 25 Rxd3 Rxa2 26 Nc5. However, Black can sidestep the variation by 20 Bg5 Rf2. Then 21 Qc3 Qxe4 22 Rxf2 Nxf2+ 23 Kh2 Rd3 24 Qb4 Qd4 is complicated, and chances remain about even. exf4 21 Rad1?! White is slipping. He should try 21 Qe2, to bury the Bishop after 21…Bc8 22 e5. His disadvantage is tolerable after 21 Qe2 Qe5 22 Rad1 Bc8 23 Rxd8 Rxd8 24 Nb2. Qf6 22 Qf2? Now the Bishop enters the attack, and White is doomed. Only 22 Nc5 Bc8 23 Rxd8 Rxd8 24 Rd1 kept some hope. e5 23 Qxa7 Bc8 24 Qf2 Bxg4 25 Rxd8 Qxd8 26 Nc5 Rf6 27 Kg1 f3! 28 Qe3 No better is 28 g3 because 28…Bh3 29 Re1 Bg2 sets up …Qd8-c8-h3 or …Rf6-d6-d2. Rg6?! Quicker is 28…Rh6! (threatening 29…Qh4) 29 Qf2 Qg5. Then 30 Qg3 loses to 30…Qe3+ 31 Qf2 Qf4 32 g3 Qg5, or 32 gxf3 Bxf3. 29 Nd3 fxg2 30 Rf2 Rd6! White cannot cope with the agile Rook. Even the most stubborn reply, 31 Qg3 Rxd3 32 Qxg4, won’t save White after 32…Rd1+ 33 Kxg2 Rd6! 34 Kf1 Rg6 35 Qf3 h5! 36 a4 Qd4. 31 Nxe5?! Rd1+ 32 Kxg2 Qh4 33 Nxg4 Or 33 Rf1 Bh3+! 34 Qxh3 Rd2+, winning the Queen. Qxg4+ 34 Kh2 Qh4+ 35 Kg2 Qh1+ 36 Kg3 Rg1+ 37 Kf4 Qh6+ 38 Kf3 Qh5+ 39 Kf4 Qg5+ 40 Kf3 Qg4 mate.