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R ank & File

State Championship:Sevillano repeats!

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2009 VOLUME XXXIII, NO. 5 $3.00

2 RANK & FILE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2009

Los Angeles

OpenOctober 9-11, 2009

at theLAX Hilton

5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90045Five Rounds — Swiss System

3-day schedule 40/2, SD/1; 2-day schedule rounds 1-2 G/60

Entry Fees: Open, Premier: $83 if received by 10-8, $95 at door.

Amateur:$67 if received by 10-8, $80 at door.SCCF membership required of rated state residents ($18, jr. $10)

Registration: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Friday, 9-10 a.m. SaturdayRounds: 3-day 7 p.m., 11-5:30, 10-4:30; 2-day 10:30-1:30

Saturday (G/60), then mergesEntries: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1, Los

Angeles, CA 90038HR: $109 single or double. (310) 410-4000. Use Group Code

LOS. Parking $8/day On-line entry, advance entry lists:

www.westernchess.com

Open1st: $1600

2nd-5th: $1000-$800-$400-$200U2400: $300-200

U2200: $700-$500-$300

Premier(Under 2000)

$700-$500-$300-$100U U1800: $400-$200-$150U1600: $400-$200-$150

Amateur(Under 1400/unr)

$400-$200-$100U1200: $100

Unrated: $100(Unrated may win Unrated prize only in this section)

$25 Best Game prize, all sections eligible.

$10,000 Prize Fund(based on 200 players, 50% of each prize guaranteed)

AlsoOctober 11

MDC SCHOLASTICS. 5-SS, G/30. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Open to gr. 12-below.

October 11MDC HEXES. 3-SS, G/90. LAX Hilton, 5711 W. Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045 . Six-player sections by rating.


CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION ........... .........................................................32009 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ..............................................5TACTICS

BY TIM HANKS .................................. .....................................................................11HERE & THERE

Club news, local tournaments, scholastic events and more ............................................................................. 15CLUB DIRECTORY .................................................................................. 20THE LONG VIEWS

BY JOHN HILLERY .......................... ..................................................................... 24USCF DELEGATES’ MEETING ........................................ 24STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS ................. 25UPCOMING EVENTS ............................................................................. 26CHESS QUIZ .............................................. ....................................................... 28


CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION ........... .........................................................32009 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ..............................................5TACTICS

BY TIM HANKS ..................................TIM HANKS ..................................TIM HANKS .....................................................................11HERE & THERE

Club news, local tournaments, scholastic scholastic schol eventsastic eventsastic and more .............................................................................and more .............................................................................and more 15CLUB DIRECTORY ..................................................................................CLUB DIRECTORY ..................................................................................CLUB DIRECTORY 20THE LONG VIEWS

BY JOHN HILLERY ..........................JOHN HILLERY ..........................JOHN HILLERY .....................................................................24USCF DELEGATES’ MEETING ........................................ 24STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERSSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERSSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP Q .................25UPCOMING EVENTS .............................................................................26CHESS QUIZ .............................................. .......................................................28

CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321ST ANNUAL U.S. AMATEUR TEAM

WEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5WESTERN CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS . . . . . . . . 10TACTICS

by Tim Hanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12HERE & THERE

Club news, local tournaments, scholastic events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS . . . . . . 19GAMES FROM RECENT EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 21THE LIGHTER SIDE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24UPCOMING EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26CHESS QUIZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Around the Nation

Around the Nation

U.S. Open Returns To The Southland

The U.S. Open, the granddaddy of national tournaments, last held here in Los Angeles in 2003, will be back in 2010, with Orange County getting its turn at bat. The Hyatt Regency in Irvine, located in a beautiful area with lots of restau-rants and offering a $99 room rate, will host the tournament, July 31 – August 8. The Open is the only national tournament that finds the hoi polloi rubbing shoulders with grandmasters (11 played this year) in one big section. There are typi-cally plenty of upsets too; in India-napolis this August GM John Fe-dorowicz suffered a 349-point upset in the final round, and this writer yielded a first round draw to a youngster rated 586 points below...

The Open is a true chess festi-val, with daily side events, lectures, simuls, and workshops. The main event offers a choice of nine-, six-, and four-day schedules. Tourna-ment directors should note that ser-vice on the staff affords an opportu-nity for invaluable experience and credits toward advancement on the ladder! Further details on the Open will follow, but put in for those vaca-tion days now! – Randy Hough

Southern Californians Lag In Junior Grand Prix

In 2008 World Chess Live began sponsoring a Junior Grand Prix in addition to the traditional Grand Prix. The junior category gives

points to players under 20 (as of January 1) who score wins (worth ten points) or draws (five points) against players rated at least 100 points above them. The intent is to encourage juniors to play in mixed tournaments and not just scholas-tics, though some national scholas-tic championships are included also. Qualifying tournaments, which must be at least four rounds and have a slower control than G/60, are indicated in tournament life an-nouncements.

Prizes include $1,000 cash, a trophy, and free U.S. Open entry for the winner. The top 20 and top in each state also earn prizes.

At this writing, before Labor Day, there have been nine qualify-ing tournaments in Southern Cali-fornia, and some of our young play-ers have traveled to others such as the Supernationals, National Open, World Open, and U.S. Open. Last year’s state winner, Ryan Polsky, leads again with 75 points from six tournaments. At 60 points and also


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SCCF OnlineThe SCCF Web

page is located at: www.scchess.com

President Elliot Landaw Vice President Ron Rezendes Secretary Chuck Ensey Treasurer John Hillery Executive Board

Randy Hough Mike Nagaran Rick Aeria Jim Bullock Mick Bighamian Jerry Yee Anthony Ong Takashi Iwamoto Rank & File Editor John Hillery 835 N. Wilton Pl. # Los Angeles CA 90038 [email protected]

Publisher David Argall Contributing Editors Jack Peters Tim Hanks Al Pena Contributors

Chuck Ensey Randy Hough Anthony Ong Chris Roberts Subscriptions/Address Changes Randy Hough, Membership Secretary P.O. Box 205 Monterey Park CA 9754 (626) 282-742 [email protected]

Rank & File — ISSN 8750-964 USPS 738-230, published bimonthly by the Southern California Chess Federation, 300 Ballista, La Puente CA 9744. Periodical postage paid at Industry, CA. POST-MASTER: Send changes of address to SCCF, PO Box 205, Monterey Park CA 9754. Subscriptions: $8 adult, $0 junior.

Copyright © SCCF 2009. One-time only publication rights have been obtained from signed contributors. All other rights are hereby assigned to the authors. The opinions expressed are strictly those of the contribu-tors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SCCF, its officers or members.

Southern California Chess Federation

in the top hundred nationally are Michael Brown, Agata Bykovtsev, and John Yu (three) and Michael Lau (two). By way of comparison, the national leader has 185 points in 11 tournaments! One hopes that the remaining qualifying events, including the American Open, will get more contenders into the arena to fight for top spots.

Of course, it gets more difficult to pull those upsets as one’s strength increases. But there’s plenty of room for our young players to play in more mixed tournaments – and for organizers to structure their events so as to attract those JGP point-seekers. – Randy Hough

US. Open: Six is the point

Six players tied for first in the 455-player 110th Annual U.S. Open, held at the Indianapolis Mar-riott East August 1-9. Scoring 7.5 out of 9 were GMs Alex Yermolin-sky, Sergey Kudrin, Dmitry Gurev-ich and Jesse Kraai, and IMs Alex Lenderman and Jacek Stopa. Since Stopa is from Poland, the other five players take all five U.S. Champion-ship qualification spots. Congratu-lations to the winners!

Eugene Yanayt topped the Southern California contingent with 6½ points, including a draw with co-winner GM Alex Yermo-linsky. Last year’s champion, IM Enrico Sevillano, finished with a disappointing 6. Vincent Huang, Donald Danlag, Randy Hough, and Nathaniel Lagemann (who gained 38 points, notching one upset win and five upset draws) scored 5½, and Don Cotton also made a plus

score with 5. The tournament was notable for the absence of Jerry Hanken, who missed his first open since 1972 because of health prob-lems. Vincent Huang also tied for fifth in the Denker Tournament of High School State Champions and earned his first Master rating.

IM Enrico Sevillano (2569) – Corbin Yu (2179)

U. S. Open, Indianapolis 2009B22 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Alapin

Variation(Notes by Los Angeles Times

chess columnist Jack Peters)1. e4 c5 2. c3 Alapin’s treatment of the Sicil-

ian Defense. 2. … d6 3. d4 Nd7 Playable, although 3. ... Nf6 4.

Bd3 e5 is more common. 4. Nf3 Qc7 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. 0-0

e5 After 6. ... e6 7. Qe2, Black must

constantly beware of e4-e5. 7. Bg5 Be7 8. dxe5 dxe5 9.

Na3 0-0 10. Nc4 b6?! Granting White an edge. With

10. ... b5! 11. Ne3 c4 12. Bc2 Bb7 13. Nf5 Nc5, Black obtains adequate counterplay.

11. Ne3 Bb7 12. Nf5 Rae8 13. Qe2 Kh8?!

This was the best moment for 13. ... c4! 14. Bxc4 Bxe4.

14. Rad1 White’s active pieces are ready

to pounce. Black’s attempt to unpin by 14. ... Ng8? would lose to 15. Bb5! Bc6 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 17. Nd6 Rd8 18. Ng5, hitting f7.

14. … c4? Continued on page 23 ...

Photos: John Hillery


Elliott Liu (2405) - Tianyi He (2210)

SCCF State Championship, Los Angeles 2009

B07 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4.

Be3 Bg7 5. h3 c6 6. g4 Qa5 7. Bg2 0–0 8. Nge2 Nbd7 9. Ng3 Nb6 10. 0–0 Nc4 11. Bc1 e5 12. d5 cxd5 13. exd5 b5 14. g5 Ne8 15. Nce4 Bb7 16. Qg4 Rd8 17. Qh4 Rc8 18. Nf6+ Nxf6 19. gxf6 Qd8 20. Ne4 h5

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21. Bg5 [21. fxg7 Qxh4 22. gxf8Q+ Kxf8 23. Bg5] 21. ... Bh8 22. Ng3 Nb6 23. Rad1 Rc4 24. f4 Qc8 25. Bh6 Qc5+ 26. Kh1 Bxd5 27. Bxd5 Nxd5 28. Nxh5 Ne3 29. Qg5 Qc6+ 30. Kg1 Rxc2 31. Rf2 Rxf2 32. Kxf2 Nxd1+ 33. Ke1 Qe4+ 34. Kxd1 Qf3+ 35. Kd2 Qxh5 0–1

IM Enrico Sevillano (2556) - Alex-andre Kretchetov (2403)


A53 OLD INDIAN DEFENSE1. e4 c6 2. c4 e5 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4

Bg4 5. Be2 Nd7 6. 0–0 Ngf6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Be3 0–0 9. h3 Bh5 10. Nd2 Bg6 11. a3 Re8 12. b4 exd4 13. Bxd4 Bf8 14. Bd3 d5 15. cxd5 cxd5 16. Re1 a5 17. Bb5 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Qxa1 dxe4 20. Bxf6 Nxf6 21. Bxe8 Qxd2 22. Bb5 h6 23. Rd1 Qg5 24. Rd8 Nh7 25. Re8 Qf6 26. Qc1 Qd6 27. Nxe4 Qxb4 28. Qc4 Qe1+ 29. Kh2 Bxe4 30. Rxe4 Qxf2 31. Rf4

2009

sccf state championship

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Tot1 IM Enrico Sevillano 2556 W3 W2 W5 W7 W6 D4 X8 6½2 Tianyi He 2210 W6 L1 W8 D3 W4 W5 X7 5½3 Alexandre Kretchetov 2403 L1 W8 D4 D2 W5 W7 W6 54 Tatev Abrahamyan 2315 W8 W7 D3 W6 L2 D1 L5 45 IM Jack Peters 2411 W7 L6 L1 W8 L3 L2 W4 36 Elliott Liu 2405 L2 W5 L7 L4 L1 X8 L3 27 Ali Morshedi 2318 L5 L4 W6 L1 X8 L3 F2 28 Robert I Reynolds 2210 L4 L3 L2 L5 F7 F6 F1 0

The 2009 SCCF State Championship, held August 15-23 at the Century City law offices of Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Ben-

nett, once again brought together Southern California’s top play-ers and a selection of promising challengers.

Taking first place — for an un-precedented fourth year in a row — was top-rated IM Enrico Sevil-lano, with a dominating 6½-½. But second place was a shock, as the youngest (and lowest-rated!) player, Tianyi He, finished with 5½-1½, enough to win the tournament in most years. Next came defending co-champion Alexandre Kretchetov (who lost only to Sevillano) with 5-2, and Tatev Abrahamyan (who start-ed strong but lost a heartbreaker to He in round 4) at 4-3.

John Hillery directed for the SCCF. Special thanks are owed to John Rowell, who provided the playing site, and to all who donated to support this event. Unfortunate-ly, the cost of the Championship continues to exceed the SCCF’s re-sources, but with a vigorous fund-raising effort it should be possible to continue the tradition next year.


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31. ... Bd6 32. Qxf7+ Kh8 33. Qe8+ Nf8 34. Qxf8+ 1–0

Robert Reynolds (2210) - Tatev Abrahamyan (2315)


A02 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Closed Variation 1. f4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4

d6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. 0–0 Nh6 7. d3 0–0 8. c3 f5 9. Na3 Nf7 10. Nc4 fxe4 11. dxe4 b5 12. Ne3 b4 13. c4 Bb7 14. Kh1 a5 15. Rb1 a4 16. h4 Nd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Qc8 20. h5 Qf5 21. Bd2 Nh6 22. Qe2 b3 23. axb3 axb3 24. Bf3 d3 25. Qe6+ Qxe6 26. dxe6 Nf5 27. Rfe1 Ra4 28. hxg6 Nxg3+ 29. Kg2 Nf5 30. gxh7+ Kxh7 31. Be4 Rxc4 32. Bxf5+ Rxf5 33. Re3 Rd5 34. Kf3 Rc2 0–1

Ali Morshedi (2318) - IM Jack Peters (2411)


B93 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Najdorf Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.

Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f4 e5 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Qxd8+ Nxd8 10. Nxe5 Bb4 11. Bd2 0–0 12. 0–0–0 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 Nxe4 14. Bb4 Re8 15. Bc4 Be6 16. Rhe1 Bxc4 17. Nxc4 Nc6 18. Nb6 Rad8 19. Rxd8 Nxd8 20. Nc8 Re5 21. Nd6 Nc6 22. Rxe4 Rxe4 23. Nxe4 Nxb4 24. Nc5 b6 25. Nd7 Nxa2+ 26. Kd2 Nb4 27. Nxb6 f5 28. Kc3 Nc6 29. Kc4 g5 30. Kc5 Ne5 31. Kd6 Nf7+ 32. Ke7 f4 33. Nd7 Kg7 34. h3 h5 35. Nf6 Ne5 36. h4

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36. ... Kg6 37. hxg5 h4 38. Nd5 Kxg5 39. Ke6 Nc4 40. b3 f3 41. gxf3 h3 42. f4+ Kg4 43. bxc4 h2 44. c5 h1Q 45. c6 Qe4+ 46. Kd6 Qg6+ 47. Kd7 Qf5+ 48. Kd6 Qf8+ 49. Kd7 Qf5+ 50. Kd6 Kf3 51. c7 a5 52. Nb6 a4 53. Nxa4 Qxf4+ 54. Kc6 Qxa4+ 55. Kb7 Qb5+ 56. Ka8 Qa6+ 57. Kb8 Qb6+ 58. Kc8 Ke4 59. c4 Ke5 60. c5 Qb3 61. Kd7 Qd5+ 62. Kc8 Ke6 63. c6 Kd6 64. Kb8 Qb5+ 0–1

Tianyi He (2210) - IM Enrico Sevil-lano (2556)


C18 FRENCH DEFENSE, Winawer Variation1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5

c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qc7 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 dxc3 12. Qd3 Bd7 13. Rb1 0–0–0 14. Nxc3 Na5 15. Nb5 Bxb5 16. Rxb5 a6 17. Rb1 Nc4 18. g3 Qa5+ 19. Bd2 Nxd2 20. Qxd2 Qxa3 21. Rb3 Qa1+ 22. Kf2 Nc6 23. Rc3 Kb8 24. Bg2 Qb2 25. Rd1 Qb6+ 26. Kf1 Rc8 27. Rb3 Qc5 28. Rdb1 Na5 29. R3b2 Rc7 30. Qf2 Qxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Rgc8 32. Rc1 Rc3 33. Bf1

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33. ... Nb3 34. Rcb1 Rxc2+ 35. Be2 Nd4 36. Ke3 Nxe2 0–1

Alexandre Kretchetov (2403) - Robert Reynolds (2210)


E20 NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4

4. f3 c5 5. d5 0–0 6. e4 d6 7. Nge2 exd5 8. cxd5 Nbd7 9. Ng3 Re8 10. Be2 Ne5 11. 0–0 Bd7 12. Qc2 c4 13. Kh1 Rc8 14. f4 Nd3 15. Bxd3 cxd3 16. Qxd3 Ng4 17. h3 Qh4 18. Bd2 Nf6 19. Nge2 Bc5 20. Be1 Qh6 21. Bf2 b5 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. e5 dxe5 24. fxe5 Rc4 25. Qg3

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25. ... Rg4 26. Qh2 Rh4 27. Ng1 Ng4 28. Qg3 Nxe5 29. Rae1 f6 30. Ne4 Ng6 31. Nc5 Rxe1 32. Rxe1 Bf5 33. Qb8+ Nf8 34. Ne6 time 1–0

IM Jack Peters (2411) - Elliott Liu (2405)


E74 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE, Averbakh Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4.

e4 d6 5. Be2 0–0 6. Bg5 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. Bd2 Qxc5 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. Be3 Qc8 11. Rc1 Nc6 12. 0–0 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Ne5 14. b3 Nxf3+ 15. Qxf3 Qe6 16. Nb5 Qxe4 17. Qxe4 Nxe4 18. Bxa7 Nc3 19. Nxc3 Rxa7 20. a4 Bxc3 21. Rxc3 Rc8 22. Rd3 Ra5 23. Rfd1 Re5 24. Kf1 Rec5 25. Ke2 Kf8 26. Kd2 Ke8 27. Kc3 Kd7 28. Rd5 b6 29. R1d4 Ra8 30. Rf4 f5 31. Rd3 Re5 32. Rh4 Re2 33. Rd2 Rxd2 34. Kxd2 h5 35. Rh3 e5 36. Rg3 Rg8 37. Kc3 g5 38. Rh3 Rh8 39. Kb4 Kc6 40. Rd3 g4 41. Rd5 f4 42. Kc3 h4 43.


Rd3 h3 44. g3 fxg3 45. Rxg3 Rf8 46. Rxg4 Rf3+ 47. Kb4 Rxf2 48. Rh4 Rxh2 49. Kc3 Rh1 50. Kd3 h2 51. Ke2 Rb1 52. Rxh2 Rb2+ 0–1

Tatev Abrahamyan (2315) - Ali Morshedi (2318)


C93 HUNGARIAN DEFENSE1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6

4. d3 Be7 5. 0–0 0–0 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 Na5 8. Bb5 a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Nf1 h6 13. h3 Bf8 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 exd4 16. Nxd4 Bb7 17. Ng3 Rc8 18. b3 d5 19. e5 Ne4 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Bxe4 Rxe5 22. Bh7+ Kxh7 23. Rxe5 Nc6 24. Qc2+ g6 25. Nxc6 Rxc6 26. Qe2 Bg7 27. Bb2 Bxe5 28. Qxe5 f6 29. Qe2 Qd5 30. Qe7+ Kg8 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. Qe7+ Kg8 33. Qe8+ Kh7 34. f3 Qe6 35. Re1 Qxe8 36. Rxe8 Bc8 37. Bxf6 g5

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38. Re7+ Kg6 39. Bd4 Be6 40. Rg7+ Kf5 41. Ra7 Bd5 42. Re7 Re6 43. Rf7+ Kg6 44. Rd7 Bc6 45. Rg7+ Kf5 46. Kf2 Rd6 47. g4+ Ke6 48. Rg6+ Kd5 49. Rxd6+ Kxd6 50. Bg7 h5 51. Bf6 hxg4 52. hxg4 Kc5 53. Bxg5 Kb4 54. Be7+ Kc3 55. b4 Bd5 56. a3 Kb3 57. f4 Kxa3 58. Ke3 Ka4 59. f5 a5 60. bxa5 Kxa5 61. Kf4 Kb6 62. Kg5 Kc6 63. Kg6 Kd7 64. Bb4 Be4 65. Kg7 1–0

Robert Reynolds (2210) - Tianyi He (2210)


A02 BIRD’S OPENING 1. f4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4.

Bg2 d6 5. 0–0 0–0 6. d3 Nbd7 7. e4

c5 8. h3 Rb8 9. c3 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. Be3 a5 12. g4 c4 13. Ba7 Ra8 14. Bd4 cxd3 15. e5 Ne4 16. Qxd3 Ndc5 17. Qd1 Ne6 18. Ne1 dxe5 19. fxe5 Bxe5 20. Nf3 Bxd4+ 21. Nxd4 Nxd4 22. cxd4 Qc7 23. Qe1 Ng5 24. Nc3 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Qb7+ 26. Kg3 b4 27. Na4 bxa3 28. Rxa3 Rad8 29. Qxa5 Ne4+ 30. Kh2 Rxd4 31. Qe5 Rd2+ 32. Kg1 Qa7+ 0–1

IM Enrico Sevillano (2556) - IM Jack Peters (2411)


C02 FRENCH DEFENSE, Advance Variation1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. d4 d5 4. e5

Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 c4 7. Ra2 Na5 8. Bf4 Qb3 9. Qxb3 Nxb3 10. Nbd2 Nxd2 11. Nxd2 Bd7 12. a4 Rc8 13. Be2 Ne7 14. 0–0 Nc6 15. g4 f6 16. exf6 gxf6 17. Re1 Be7 18. Bg3 Kf7 19. Bf3 Rhg8 20. Nf1 Bf8 21. Ne3 Ne7 22. Raa1 Rc6 23. a5 Rc8 24. Kh1 Re8 25. Ng2 Bc6 26. Re2 Ng6 27. Rae1 Bg7 28. h4 e5 29. Ne3 e4 30. Bg2 Ne7 31. f3 f5

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32. fxe4 fxe4 33. Rf2+ Ke6 34. g5 Kd7 35. Bh3+ Kd8 36. Be6 h6 37. Bxg8 Rxg8 38. Bf4 h5 39. Ref1 Bd7 40. Bd6 Ng6 41. Nxd5 Nxh4 42. Bc7+ Ke8 43. Rf4 Bc6 44. Rxe4+ Kd7 45. Rf7+ Kc8 46. Ne7+ Kxc7 47. Nxc6+ Kxc6 48. Rxh4 1–0

Alexandre Kretchetov (2403) - Tatev Abrahamyan (2315)


E60 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4.

Nc3 h6 5. Bh4 0–0 6. Nf3 c5 7. e3

cxd4 8. Nxd4 d6 9. Be2 Nc6 10. 0–0 Bd7 11. Qd2 Rc8 12. Rfd1 a6 13. Rac1 Nxd4 14. exd4 g5 15. Bg3 Bf5 16. h4 g4 17. Bf4 Kh7 18. b3 Nh5 19. Be3 Qd7 20. Nd5 Rce8 21. c5 Be4 22. Bd3 f5 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. cxd6 exd6 25. g3 Rf3 26. Nf4 Nxf4 27. Bxf4 Rf8 28. Be3 d5 29. Rc2 R8f7 30. Rdc1 Qd6 31. Kg2 h5 32. Rc8 Bh6 33. Bxh6

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33. ... Rxf2+ 34. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 35. Kxf2 Kxh6 36. Rh8+ Kg7 37. Rcc8 Qf6+ 38. Ke3 Qf3+ 39. Kd2 Qf2+ 40. Kc3 Qe3+ 41. Kc2 Qd3+ 42. Kc1 Qxd4 43. Rhg8+ Kh7 44. Rg5 e3 45. Re8 Qa1+ 46. Kc2 Qxa2+ 47. Kc1 Qa3+ 48. Kc2 d4 49. Ree5 e2 50. Rxh5+ Kg6 51. Rhg5+ ½–½

Elliott Liu (2405) - Ali Morshedi (2318)


E99 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE, Classical Variation1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4.

Nc3 0–0 5. e4 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. 0–0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Nd3 f5 11. Bd2 Nf6 12. f3 f4 13. c5 g5 14. Rc1 Ne8 15. Nb5 a6 16. Na3 Ng6 17.

Alexandre Kretchetov


Nc4 Rf7 18. cxd6 Nxd6 19. Nc5 Nf8 20. Qb3 Nb5 21. Bc3 Qe7 22. Nd3 Nd7 23. a4 Nxc3 24. Rxc3 Bf8 25. Na5 b6 26. Nc6 Qf6 27. a5 b5 28. Qc2 Rg7 29. b4 h5 30. h3 Bd6 31. Nf2 Qh6 32. Nd8 Nf8 33. Rc1 Bxh3 34. Nb7 g4 35. Nxd6 cxd6 36. Rc7

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36. ... Bxg2 37. Rxg7+ Qxg7 38. fxg4 f3 39. Qc6 Ra7 40. Qc8 Rd7 41. Qxa6 hxg4 42. Bxb5 g3 43. Rc8 gxf2+ 44. Kxf2 Rf7 45. Bf1 Qg4 46. Rc3 Qh4+ 47. Kg1 Rg7 0–1

Tianyi He (2403) - Alexandre Kretchetov (2210)


B15 CARO-KANN DEFENSE1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4

Bg7 5. h3 Nh6 6. Bf4 f6 7. e5 Nf7 8. Qd2 fxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Bxe5 11. dxe5 Qc7 12. f4 e6 13. Bd3 Nd7 14. h4 Nc5 15. h5 g5 16. 0–0–0 Bd7 17. Rde1 gxf4 18. Qxf4 Nxd3+ 19. cxd3 0–0–0 20. Rhf1 c5 21. Qf7 d4 22. Nd1 Qa5 23. a3 Qa6 24. Rf3 Be8 25. Qe7 Bxh5 26. Rf6 Qxd3 27. Qxe6+ Kb8 28. Nf2

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28. ... Qe3+ 29. Rxe3 dxe3 30. Qh3 e2 31. Qh1 Rhe8 32. e6 ½–½

IM Jack Peters (2411) - Robert Reynolds (2210)


B31 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Rossolimo Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4.

Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Be3 b6 8. h3 0–0 9. Qd2 Ne8 10. Bh6 f6 11. 0–0–0 e5 12. g4 Qe7 13. Rdg1 Nc7 14. Bxg7 Qxg7 15. h4 Ne6 16. Ne2 Kh8 17. Rh2 Bd7 18. Ne1 Qf7 19. Kb1 Rad8 20. Ng2 c4 21. Qe3 cxd3 22. cxd3 Bc8 23. f4 Ba6 24. Rd1 Nc5 25. Ne1 Qe7 26. Rf2 Rd6 27. Nc1 Rfd8 28. f5 gxf5 29. gxf5 Rd4 30. Rfd2 Qf7 31. Nf3 R4d7 32. d4 exd4 33. Rxd4 Qe7 34. e5 Rd5 35. Rxd5 cxd5 36. Qd4 Ne4

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37. Re1 Bb7 38. exf6 Qf7 39. Ng5 Qxf6 40. Qxf6+ Nxf6 1–0

Ali Morshedi (2318) - IM Enrico Sevillano (2556)


C15 FRENCH DEFENSE, Winawer Variation1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4.

Nge2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 Nc6

7. Bb5 Nge7 8. Nxe4 Qd5 9. Qe2 f5 10. Ng5 0–0 11. c3 Qxg2 12. Rf1 f4 13. Nf3 e5 14. Rg1 Qh3 15. d5 Nd8 16. Bc4 Nf7 17. Bxf4 Bg4 18. Rg3 Qh5 19. Bd2 Nf5 20. Rxg4 Qxg4 21. 0–0–0 N5d6 22. Bd3 e4 23. Nd4 Ne5 24. f3 Nxd3+ 25. Qxd3 Qh3 26. Qe3 exf3 27. Ne6 Rae8 28. Rg1 g6 29. Qe5 Rf7 30. Be1 Qh6+ 31. Bd2

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31. ... Qxd2+ 0–1

Tatev Abrahamyan (2315) - Elliott Liu (2405)


B01 CENTER COUNTER DEFENSE1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5

4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Bd2 c6 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Bc4 Qc7 10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. Ne5 e6 12. Bf4 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Bd6 14. 0–0–0 0–0–0 15. f4 h5 16. Qf3 h4 17. Rhe1 a6 18. Bd3 Bxd3 19. Rxd3 Bxe5 20. fxe5 Nd5 21. Ne4 Qa5 22. Red1 Rd7 23. a3 Qc7 24. c4 Nb6 25. Nd6+ Kb8 26. Rb3 Ka7

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27. c5 Nd5 28. Rxb7+ Qxb7 29. Nxb7 Rxb7 30. Rf1 Rhb8 31. Rf2 Rd7 32. g5 Rbd8 33. Qe4 Kb7 34. Qxh4 Ne3 35. Qg3 Nf5 36. Qb3+ Ka8 37. Qb6 Nxd4 38. Qxa6+ Ra7

IM Jack Peters


39. Qc4 Rd5 40. g6 fxg6 41. Rf8+ Kb7 42. Qb4+ Nb5 43. Rf4 g5 44. Rf7+ Ka8 45. Rxa7+ Nxa7 46. Qb6 Rxe5 47. b4 Rf5 48. b5 cxb5 49. c6 Rf7 50. Qd8+ 1–0

Alexandre Kretchetov (2403) - IM Jack Peters (2411)


E94 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4.

d4 d6 5. e4 0–0 6. Be2 Na6 7. 0–0 e5 8. d5 Nc5 9. Qc2 a5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 b6 12. Nd2 h5 13. a3 Ng4 14. Bxg4 hxg4 15. b4 Nd7 16. Rfc1 f5 17. f3 f4 18. Bf2 Nf6 19. Bh4 Bh6 20. Bxf6 Rxf6 21. c5 dxc5 22. bxc5 Bf8 23. d6 c6 24. Nc4 bxc5 25. Rd1 gxf3 26. gxf3 Rb8 27. Na4 Rb5 28. d7 Bxd7 29. Nxe5 Rd6 30. Rxd6 Qg5+ 31. Kh1 Qxe5 32. Qa2+ 1–0

IM Enrico Sevillano (2556) - Elliott Liu (2405)


B22 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Alapin Variation1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4.

d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 d6 6. Qxd4 e6 7. Bg5 dxe5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. Qa4 Qc7 10.

c4 Nb6 11. Qc2 Bd7 12. 0–0 f5 13. Nc3 e4 14. Rfe1 Be7 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Ng5 0–0 17. Bxd7 Qxd7 18. Rad1 Qc6 19. c5 Nbd5 20. Qb3 Rad8 21. Nb5 e5 22. Nd6 Rf6 23. Nxb7 Rb8 24. Na5 Qc7 25. Qa4 Ra6

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26. b4 Nxb4 27. Rd7 Qxa5 28. Qb3+ Ned5 29. Rxd5 1–0

Tianyi He (2210) - Tatev Abraha-myan (2315)


C18 FRENCH DEFENSE, Winawer Variation1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5

Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Qg4 0–0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. Be3 c4 12. Bxg6 fxg6 13. Qg4 Qf7 14. Ng5 Qe8 15. h4 h6 16. Nh3 Ne7 17. Nf4 Bd7 18. Rh3 b5 19. Rg3 Kh7 20. Nxe6 Kg8 21. f4 h5 22. Qh3 Qc8 23. f5 Rxf5 24. Nc5 Rf1+ 25. Kxf1 Bxh3 26. Rxh3 Qf5+ 27. Rf3 Qxc2 28. Bg5 Nf5 29. Re1 Qb2 30. e6 Qxa3 31. e7 Re8 32. Re6 b4 33. Rxg6 b3 34. Rxf5 Qxc5 35. dxc5 b2 36. Rf8+ Rxf8+ 37. Ke2 b1Q

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38. Rxg7+ Kxg7 39. Bh6+ Kxh6 40. exf8Q+ Kg6 41. Qg8+ Kf6 42.

Qd8+ Kg7 43. Qg5+ Kf8 44. Qd8+ Kg7 45. Qe7+ Kg8 46. Qg5+ Kf8 47. Qh6+ Kg8 48. Qe6+ Kf8 49. c6 Qd3+ 50. Kf2 Qd2+ 51. Kg1 Qc1+ 52. Kh2 Qf4+ 53. Kh3 d4 54. Qc8+ Kg7 55. Qd7+ Kf6 56. c7 Qe3+ 57. g3 Qf3 58. Qd6+ Kg7 59. Qxd4+ Kg6 60. Qd6+ Kh7 61. Qd7+ Kg6 62. Qe8+ Kg7 63. Qe1 Qc6 64. Qe7+ 1–0

Tatev Abrahamyan (2315) - IM Enrico Sevillano (2556)


B33 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Svesh-nikov Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4

4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qd8 11. Bg5 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qd8 ½–½

Ali Morshedi (2318) - Alexandre Kretchetov (2403)

SCCF State Championship (6), 22. 08. 2009

C30 KING’S GAMBIT DECLINED 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4.

Nc3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. d3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Na5 9. f5 Nxc4 10. dxc4 Bb4 11. Bg5 Bxc3+ 12. Qxc3 Nxe4 13. Bxd8 Nxc3 14. Bxc7 Ne4 15. c5 Ng3 16. Rh2 dxc5 17. Bxe5 Nxf5 18. g4 f6 19. Bc7 Kd7 20. Bf4 Rhe8+ 21. Kf2 Nd4 22. Kf1 Re4 23. Rf2 Rae8 24. c3 Ne6 25. Rd1+ Kc8 26. Bc1 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Kxd8 28. g5 Nxg5 29. Bxg5 fxg5 30. Rf8+ Kd7

Tatev Abrahamyan

Elliott Liu

Tianyi He


31. Rf7+ Re7 32. Rf5 h6 33. Rxc5 Re3 34. Rf5 Rxh3 35. Rf7+ Kc6 36. Rxg7 Rh2 37. Rg6+ Kd5 0–1

IM Jack Peters (2411) - Tianyi He (2210)


B07 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4.

Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 Qa5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. 0–0–0 b5 9. a3 Rb8 10. g4 Nb6 11. Nb1 Qa6 12. Ng3 h5 13. g5 Nfd7 14. h4 Nc4 15. Bxc4 bxc4 16. Rh2 Nc5 17. Qe1 Na4 18. c3 Qb6 19. Rdd2 c5

XIIIIIIIIY

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20. Qd1 cxd4 21. Qxa4+ Bd7 22. Qxc4 dxe3 23. Rc2 Bb5 24. Qd5 Be5 25. Rcg2 e2 26. Nxe2 Bxe2 27. Rxe2 Bxh2 28. Rxh2 Qg1+ 0–1

IM Jack Peters (2411) - Tatev Abrahamyan (2315)


C03 FRENCH DEFENSE, Tarrasch Variation1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Bd3

c5 5. dxc5 Nf6 6. Qe2 a5 7. Ngf3 0–0 8. 0–0 Na6 9. e5 Nd7 10. c3 Naxc5 11. Bc2 b6 12. Re1 Ba6 13. Qe3 f6 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Nb3 e5 16. Nxc5 bxc5 17. Ng5 Bxg5 18. Qxg5 Qf6 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Bh6 Rf7 21. Bf5 Re7 22. Rad1 Bb7 23. f4 e4 24. Bxd7 Rxd7 25. Rxe4 d4 26. Re3 Rad8 27. cxd4 cxd4 28. Ra3 Re8 29. Rg3+ Kh8 30. Rxd4 Rc7

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31. Bg7+ Rxg7 32. Rxg7 Kxg7 33. Rd7+ Kg6 34. Rxb7 Re2 35. Rb5 h5 36. a4 h4 37. b3 Rb2 38. Kf1 Kg7 39. Rxa5 Rxb3 40. Rh5 Rb4 41.

Rxh4 Rxa4 42. Kf2 Ra2+ 43. Kg3 Kg6 44. Kh3 Ra8 45. Rg4+ 1–0

Alexandre Kretchetov (2403) - Elliott Liu (2405)


A41 ENGLISH OPENING1. Nf3 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4.

Nc3 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 dxc5 7. Qc2 Qa5 8. Rb1 Qa6 9. e4 Nc6 10. Be2 Be6 11. Rb5 b6 12. Ng5 Bd7 13. 0–0 f6 14. Nf3 e5 15. Rd1 0–0–0 16. Nd2 Na5 17. Nf1 Nb7 18. a4 Ne7 19. Ne3 Rhf8 20. Nd5 Nc6 21. Be3 Be6 22. Rdb1 Nba5 23. R1b2 Rd7 24. Qb1 Rb7 25. Qa2 Bd7 26. Qa3 Rf7 27. h3 Rb8

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28. Bxc5 bxc5 29. Rxb8+ Nxb8 30. Qxc5+ Bc6 31. Bg4+ f5 32. exf5 gxf5 33. Qd6 Bb7 34. Bxf5+ Nd7 35. Qc7# 1–0

Solutions to Chess Quiz(see page 28)

Varjoma – Lundquist, Sweden, 1980: Black wins with the diverting sacrifice 1. ... Rd3 2.Bxe5+ (not 2. fxe5 Qe4+, or 2. Qc2 Bxd4 [2. ... Rxd1 also works]) 2. ... dxe5 3. Qb2 (or 3. Qc2

Rxd1 4. Rxd1 Qf3+) 3. ... Qf3+! (but not 3. ... Rxd1? 4. Qxe5+ with a draw) 0–1

Haik – Skembris, Vrnjacka Banja, 1981: White breaks through the wall of pawns with 1. Rxf6 gxf6 2. Qh6 Re7 (or 2. ... Qe7 3. Nxf6+ Kh8 4. Nxe8!) 3. Nxf6+ Kh8 4. Ne8! (another diversion) 4. Rxe8 (4. ... Qxe8 5. Rxf8+) 5. Rf7 1–0

Ghinda – Gogilea, Romania, 1981: White’s pieces are well-posted for attack but not for de-fense, and Black removes the only good defender with 1. ... Bxf3 2. gxf3 Rxh2+! (attracting the King to the h-file) 3. Kxh2 (or 3. Kg1 Bf2+ 4. Rxf2 Rh1+ 5. Kg2 R8h2+ 6. Kg3 Qh4#) 3. ... Bg3+ 0–1. If 4. Kg1 Rh1+, though the prosaic 4. … Qh4 is actually faster.


Tactics, tactics, tactics! The word “tactics” is applied to so many

things we hear about today. From big company advertising and selling campaigns as well as military ideol-ogies that use tactics to address na-tional defense or the fight against terrorism. You’ll see the term tac-tics applied in healthcare, law, poli-tics, of course sports and more. All of these share a common theme that usually involves out-playing some “opponent” or striving to gain the upper hand with clever “implemen-tation schemes” in order to make big profits, neutralize some “thing” or to win. The goals in these cases may be short term or long term.

Chess tactics shares much with this. However, executing tactics well in chess requires proper tim-ing, and it’s all about executing quickly to be effective. When you really think about it the funda-mental aspect of “chess tactics” is taking advantage of a mistake your opponent has made (or may make). If you do not execute at the proper time your chance for an advantage and even to outright win may be missed.

Studying chess tactics problems and reading articles about chess tactics will help in reinforcing your awareness and to reduce and avoid blunders, especially in the early phases of a game. Large col-lections of chess games sorted from databases and evaluated by chess software programs have shown that the lower the player rating the higher the probability a blunder will be made, especially in the early moves or opening phases of a game. This is why stronger players will (or should) tend to work quickly to cre-

TacticsTactics, tactics, tactics! The word

“tactics” is applied to so many

Tacticsby NM Tim Hanks

ate imbalances in an opening when playing lower rated players: because tactics thrive when things are not clear and thus there are more ways the lower player can go wrong. Of course there are exceptions to all of this but the premise is clear. The more you study and learn tactical motifs and practice solving a vari-ety of tactics problems (such as tac-tics in openings, the middlegame and endgames) the stronger you will play and the less likely you will blunder. There’s probably no better way to improve and play stronger chess than working on your tactics skills.

Playing the opening carefully and sticking to sound rudimentary development is so important since even slight inaccuracies can result in devastating consequences or seri-ous weaknesses that you can never recover from. What’s important is to pay attention and be prepared to take advantage when opportunities arise. Take a look at a game from Vosselman vs Eriksson, Budapest 1994. It’s a Nimzo-Indian Defense, which started as follows:

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 Qc7 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Bg5

Position No. 1. Black to move. What do you do?

ERIKSSONXIIIIIIIIY

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VOSSELMAN

White has violated an opening principle, as it’s “usually” preferred to develop the Knights before Bish-ops. Early Knight moves are pretty clear, but Bishops have many more options. Emanuel Lasker, the 2nd World Champion for a remarkable 27 years, advised on proper opening development and one of his rules was not to develop Bishops before Knights. He also recommended not developing the Queen Bishop be-fore your opponent has castled. It’s rather fitting for this instruction as the consequence of this violation is proven nicely by an opening tactic. Can you see how to exploit White’s last move? Black can gain a clear advantage by employing a double-attack motif beginning with 7. … Bxf2+! 8. Kxf2 Qc5+ 9. Ke1 (not 9. Be3 since Ng4+ and Black will


win even more material) Qxg5. Black has won a pawn, has a supe-rior pawn structure and will work to develop an attack towards the White King now stuck in the cen-ter. Black went on to win and the remaining moves and details of the game are beyond this article. The point is if you develop a Bishop be-fore the Knights, pick the most suit-able square for the piece and be sure it’s defended and not susceptible to a double attack.

In the next game, a Sicilian De-fense, Wonnell vs White, LA Memo-rial Day, 2003, notice how slight opening move inaccuracies add up to where Black gains a decisive and then winning advantage.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5, this is the Löwenthal variation of the Sicilian Defense, named Johann Löwenthal. The defense was more common back in the early 1970’s but can still be a deadly weapon for Black today. The game continued 6. Nf3!? (more usual is 6. Nb5).

Position No. 2. It’s Black to move. How would you continue?

A. WHITEXIIIIIIIIY

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C. WONNELL

Black seizes the initiative with 6. … Bb4. This is the correct and most active continuation. White contin-ued 7. Bd2?! which is passive and perhaps another inaccuracy. Better was probably 7. Bc4 to meet Nxe4? with 8. Qd5 Nd6 (forced) 9. Bb3 thus regaining the initiative with

lively play and good chances for an attack for the sacrificed Pawn. The game continued 7. … Bxc3 8. Bxc3 Nxe4 9. Nxe5 (not Bxe5? as Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qa5+ and Black picks off the Knight on e5) Nxc3 10. Nxc6 Qf6!? (More accurate for Black was probably 10. … dxc6 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8+ 12. bxc3 Re8+ and Black has a clear positional advantage ow-ing to the weaknesses in the White Queenside pawn structure.) 11. Qd3?! (And here yet another slight mistake. Better was 11. Qd4, when White will be only slightly worse.) bxc6 12. bxc3? (Still yet another slight inaccuracy. White had to ac-cept the broken Pawn structure for the sake of time with 12. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 13. bxc3). 12. … 0–0 13. Be2?? (That’s it. The final opening mistake and this time the conse-quence is fatal. White had to play 13. f3 to avoid being pinned by the Black Rook on the e-file and Black’s startling next move. Yes, it’s agreed that Black would have the advan-tage but White would still be in the game. With the last mistake there’s little chance for White to recover.

Position No. 3. It’s Black to move. Can you exploit White’s opening

mistake?XIIIIIIIIY

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White has floundered in the opening allowing Black to take the initiative and instigate a strong and winning attack. A series of slight inaccuracies by White now allows Black to create a winning position. Black wins with the powerful deflec-tion tactic 13. … Ba6! White is now

completely lost as serious material loss is unstoppable. It’s very impor-tant to pay attention here and no-tice the importance of timing your tactical play. If instead Black played 13. … d5 or 13. … Re8 or any other move, White would be able to castle to safety. All of Black’s winning ad-vantage would be lost. The game continued 14. Qd1 There really is nothing better for White. For exam-ple if 14. Qxa6 (14. c4?? of course is met by Qxa1+) then Qxc3+ 15. Kd1 Qxa1+ 16. Kd2 Qxh1 and White is totally lost being down so much ma-terial. 14. … Rfe8 Of course. This pin sums up all of White’s opening inaccuracies and resulting weak-nesses. The game is over but White tried 15. Kd2?? Ouch! One mis-take after another and this demon-strates the difficulties players face when defending or if they’re in se-rious trouble. They usually make even bigger mistakes. White had to castle to avoid immediately losing.

Position No. 4. Black to move. What’s the best move?

XIIIIIIIIY

9r+-+r+k+0

9zp-+p+pzpp0

9l+p+-wq-+0

9+-+-+-+-0

9-+-+-+-+0

9+-zP-+-+-0

9P+PmKLzPPzP0

9tR-+Q+-+R0

xiiiiiiiiy

15. … Rxe2+?! I suspect Black was so confident about chalking up the win he did not take much time to seek a quicker more forceful com-bination. The move played of course wins, but more accurate was 15. … Qg5+ 16. Ke1 Bxe2 and checkmate will follow shortly. Always remem-ber to pause, unless you’re in seri-ous time pressure, and search for a better move even when your initial assessment looks “good enough.” For example “Why win a Rook or even a Queen when you can get checkmate on the move?” 16. Kc1


Qxc3 17. Rb1 Qa3+ and Black went on to win the endgame.

In our final game for this lesson we have Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, Lodz 1907 with the Queen’s Gambit De-clined, Tarrasch Defense. I thought I’d share this game for those who may have never seen it as it’s one of my favorite games and best ex-amples of how to take advantage of slight inaccuracies in the opening. This game is named “Rubinstein’s Immortal Game.” I’m sure you’ll understand why when you see the winning combination at the end.

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. a3 a6 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 0–0

It’s White to move. What would you play?

RUBINSTEINXIIIIIIIIY

9r+lwq-trk+0

9+p+-+pzpp0

9p+nvlpsn-+0

9+-+p+-+-0

9-zPP+-+-+0

9zP-sN-zPN+-0

9-vL-+-zPPzP0

9tR-+QmKL+R0

xiiiiiiiiy

ROTLEWI

The game is equal and this is a common position of the Tarr-asch Defense. Best now is probably 10. cxd5 exd5 then 11. Be2 with a complex middlegame to ensue. The game continued with 10. Qd2?! This move is incorrect and very may well be the “losing” move since with this inaccuracy Black will now gain the initiative and then drive the pace for the rest of the game. Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961) or AR was a Polish GM known more for his amazing and brilliant end-game skills. He was a potential con-tender to play Lasker for the World Championship but could not raise money and never got the chance. In this game AR shows how to build up an attack employing all the best

text-book elements that one should learn and review. Returning to the game let’s see how AR handles White’s slight inaccurate move. 10. … Qe7 Black’s plan is to build slowly in the center, centralize his Rooks, aim his Bishops toward the White Kingside then attack taking advantage of any more White inac-curacies. 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 Rd8!

Position No. 6. It’s White to move. What would you do?

XIIIIIIIIY

9r+ltr-+k+0

9+-+-wqpzpp0

9p+nvlpsn-+0

9+p+-+-+-0

9-zP-+-+-+0

9zP-sNLzPN+-0

9-vL-wQ-zPPzP0

9tR-+-mK-+R0

xiiiiiiiiy

Already you begin to see some problems for White. The Queen is misplaced on the d-file (see the tricky x-ray tactics by Black’s Rook on d8) and thus White must spend more time relocating. Thus White plays 14. Qe2. Not 14. 0-0 as Black would reply 14. … Bxh2+ 15. Nxh2 (Kxh2 is no better) Ne5 with a clear and sustaining advantage. 14. … Bb7 Black has now completed his development before White. Usually it’s the other way around. At the top level this kind of small edge can make a significant difference when it comes to a initiating a successful attack. 15. 0–0 Ne5 Clever idea. AR is looking to remove defenders from the White Kingside. 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. f4 Bc7 18. e4!? Perhaps 17. h3 or 17. Rad1 improves for White here as the g1-a7 diagonal has been weak-ened although in what way is very subtle. 18. … Rac8 Black contin-ues to build – no need to rush any-thing (yet) – as White is struggling to find a plan. 19. e5? Aha! There it is. This is incorrect as the h1-a8 diagonal is now open bringing to life both of Black Bishops aimed at

the White King. Better may be 19. Rad1 although Black would still be doing well with 19… Bb6+ 20. Kh1 h5 21. h3 Ng4 (exploiting the dark square weakness) 22. Bb1 (not 22. hxg4 Qh4#) Qh4 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Rf3 Nf2+ 25. Kh2 Bd4 with a clear advantage. White most likely thought opening the b1-h7 diagonal would create counterplay with per-haps a chance to attack the Black Kingside. However, his loss of time in the opening is costing him now in the middlegame. See Position No. 7. Can you see how to exploit White’s somewhat overly optimistic expan-sion in the center?

Position No. 7. It’s Black to move. What’s your plan and how would

you proceed?XIIIIIIIIY

9-+rtr-+k+0

9+lvl-wqpzpp0

9p+-+psn-+0

9+p+-zP-+-0

9-zP-+-zP-+0

9zP-sNL+-+-0

9-vL-+Q+PzP0

9tR-+-+RmK-0

xiiiiiiiiy

Black’s plan is to attack and make every one of his moves do something. There is no time to build-up anymore. With the opening of di-agonals pointing at the White King tactical combinations are looming. Black now forces his attack with 19. … Bb6+ After this move it’s like a roller coaster to the end. Try play-ing “Solitaire Chess” with the final moves and if you’re lucky perhaps you’ll get one of Black’s moves cor-rect. 20. Kh1 Ng4! Decoy! This very strong move sets up some ominous threats. Watch how White attempts to defend. 21. Be4 What else can White do? If 21. Qxg4 then Rxd3 (threatening the Knight on c3 so if White tries 22. Rac1 then Rd2 hit-ting the weak g2 square and Bishop on b2. Notice again how Black’s careful, accurate and slow build up in the beginning is all coming to life


with devastating effects now in the middlegame. White has few if no options to neutralize the onslaught. 21. … Qh4 AR keeps the pressure going. Black is now threatening checkmate. When your opponent is on the ropes don’t let up. Not even for a second. 21. … Bxe4 would be a gross mistake allowing White back in the game with 22. Nxe4 and good chances to neutralize all of Black’s threats at the cost of maybe a pawn. Don’t look to win material when you can get the King. See Position No. 8. It’s White to move. What would you play?

Position No. 8. Black is threat-ening mate. What do you do?XIIIIIIIIY

9-+rtr-+k+0

9+l+-+pzpp0

9pvl-+p+-+0

9+p+-zP-+-0

9-zP-+LzPnwq0

9zP-sN-+-+-0

9-vL-+Q+PzP0

9tR-+-+R+K0

xiiiiiiiiy

White played 22. g3? to defend the mate threat. This allows for a fantastic and shall I say “immortal” finish. 22. h3 may have prevented the brilliancy (and take away AR’s immortal stature) but White is clearly lost anyway. 22. … Rxc3!! Deflection! With this game you can almost picture a boxer stuck in the corner being hit with lefts, rights, uppercuts and more. 23. gxh4 (23. Bxb7 would last longer – as now it’s a forced mate in 7 moves!) Rd2 De-flection! 24. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 25. Qg2 Rh3 Pin! White resigned here, as 26. Rf3 Bxf3 27. Bd4 Bxd4 28. Ra2 Rxh2# is mate. The final position seems to employ so many tactical motifs all acting together it’s like a composition and not something that would have occurred in real life. This game is so beautiful it’s worth memorizing.

Improving your ability to cal-culate and visualize tactical com-binations takes practice. Tactical problem solving will help in this development. Avoid moving the pieces when solving problems so as to strengthen your over-the-board play. Be alert, play sharp and al-ways remember to do your safety check. Good luck and happy solv-ing! Solutions on page 19.

Position No. 1. White to move. What’s your assessment after

White plays 1. Be5?XIIIIIIIIY

9rvLl+kvl-tr0

9+p+pzppzpp0

9-zp-+-+-+0

9+-+-+-+-0

9-+-+n+-+0

9+-zp-+-+-0

9PzP-+PzPPzP0

9tRN+-mKLsNR0

xiiiiiiiiy

a) Black is better. b) White is better. c) The position is unclear. Prove your answer with analysis

and a variation.

Problem No. 2. It’s White to move and he’s contemplating 1. Rxf7.

How would you assess this move?XIIIIIIIIY

9-+-+-trk+0

9+-+-+pzpp0

9-+-zp-+-+0

9+-+L+-wq-0

9R+-+P+n+0

9+-tr-+-+-0

9P+-+Q+PzP0

9+-+-+R+K0

xiiiiiiiiy

a) Rxf7 is correct and White will be better.

b) Rxf7 is incorrect and Black will win.

c) Rxf7 is unclear and leads to equal chances for both sides.

Validate you answers with anal-ysis.

Problem No. 3. It’s Black to move. How do you assess the position?XIIIIIIIIY

9k+-+-+-+0

9+-zp-trp+P0

9KzpP+-tR-+0

9+-+-+-tr-0

9-zP-+-+-+0

9+-+-+-+-0

9-+-+-+-+0

9+-+-+-+-0

xiiiiiiiiy

a) Black has a won game. b) White has a won game. c) The position is equal. Prove your choice with a varia-

tion.

Position No. 4: Black to move. What would you do?

XIIIIIIIIY

9r+-vlr+k+0

9zpp+q+pzpp0

9-+-zPl+-+0

9+-zP-zp-+-0

9R+-+N+-+0

9+P+-vL-+-0

9-+-+-zPPzP0

9+-tRQ+-mK-0

xiiiiiiiiy

a) 1. … Bf5 is correct and Black retains a slight edge due to his Bishop pair and strong blockade of the White pawns.

b) 1. … Bf5 is incorrect and White will be better.

c) 1. … Bf5 is unclear with chances for both sides.

Prove your choice with a varia-tion.


Chess PalaceAugust’s Super 2x quad drew

a strong field of juniors that chal-lenged the veterans. Four sections consisted of at least one junior; expert Austin Hughes in the first quad, number one ranked girl at age 10 Simone Liao and third ranked nine year-old Californian Shyam Gandhi in the second, upcoming Winston Zeng and Leo Kamgar led the third group, and Craig Hilby and Stan Liao completed the last group. Hilby has gained 200 points in the last two months! These seven juniors had an average rating of almost 1700 going into the tourna-ment.

Regardless of the endless chal-lenges, veteran Takashi Iwamoto swept the field with four points taking home the guaranteed one hundred dollar prize. The two oth-er winners are Winston and Craig with 3½ and 3 points, respectively.

Super 2x quad is held at Chess-Palace every second Saturday of the month. Four points guarantee one hundred dollars regardless of place

finish. Three and a half and three points also guarantee cash prizes. Two and a half collects a free entry to a regular event. The next Super 2x quad will be held on the 12th of September. Masters get free entry with one week registration, but de-ducted from the prize.

Chess Palace Wins Club Match Against La Palma

Chess Palace slightly edged La Palma on Sunday, August 9th, in the club match held at ChessPal-ace. Andrew Kao from La Palma took a 2-0 against veteran Neil Ber-shad. David Portwood also victored against La Palma chief organizer Leigh Hunt. Kele Perkins seized two points. Juniors Leo Kamgar and Craig Hilby split the match against their higher rated opponents.

The rated match was two games with the same opponent, one white and one black. Time control was 90 minutes. Thank you to Mike Hene-bry and Leigh Hunt for accepting and bringing the challenge. – An-thony Ong

San Diego County Championship

75 players attended this early August weekend event in Balboa Park and that was down from 80 players last year, but still not bad, considering the economy is more difficult for most people this year. Everyone is saving their nickles and dimes just to get through this ugly recession. Hey buddy, can you spare a pawn? The good news is there were just enough players to cover the Guaranteed Prize Fund of $3,500. The Open section was especially large with 37 players, including 7 Masters, 18 Experts and a surprising 12 Class A players

“playing up” for upsets and glory. One of the Class A players, Daniel Giordani, rated 1912, actually did win a small amount of money ($12) by tying for 2nd U2100 with three Experts, Raoul Crisologo, Michael Nagaran and Leo Raterman. Good job Daniel! Just don’t spend it all in one place! The real money winner was IM Dionisio Aldama, who took the First Place prize of $500. But not without a scare, he nearly lost to FM Joel Banawa in round 4, and probably should have, but Joel got the “yips” and missed a six foot putt that would have won the event. No, wait a minute, that was Tom Wat-son at the British Open, but it was a similar botch, except that Joel is much younger than Tom of course. Joel basically dropped a piece in an easily won position, and even then he still had some winning chanc-es, but he was so unnerved by the blunder that he quickly agreed to a draw with the IM. Joel then drew his last round game with Eugeny Shver while Dionisio overpowered Bruce Baker with a nice technical win. When the dust settled there was a 4-way tie for Second Place, but for prize purposes Joel won Second Place, Giovanni Carreto won BU2400, Eugney Shver won BU2300 and Leonard Sussman won BU2200, with all 4 players pocket-ing $212. Leonard was the only San Diego County resident out of the top five winners, so he was crowned the new San Diego County Cham-pion. The tournament drew several players from Arizona and about 20 players from Los Angeles, plus one from Kansas and one player direct-ly from Moscow! In fact over one third of the players were from out of San Diego county, which just goes to prove what we already know, that San Diego is a great place to


vacation, AND to play chess! 4 play-ers finished with 3½ points in this tough field: Romeo Ignacio won 2nd U2400 for $50, John Rinaldo won 2nd U2300, for $50 and then Rick Aeria and Barry Lazarus split the BU2100/2nd U2100 prizes for $125 each.

22 players competed in the Re-serve Section (U2000), including 11 Class A and 11 Class B players. Three players tied for First Place with 4 points. Antonio Gonzalez won First Place on tiebreaks, Dan-iel Collins was BU1900 and Se-men Filatov was BU1800, but they all won $233 each. Semen was the player from Moscow who happened to be visiting in San Diego and he was a delightful and impressive young man. Whenever you play a player whose last name ends in –tov, you can figure that you are in for a real battle! The Soviet Union may be gone, but Russian names still dominate many of the large chess tournaments throughout the world. Three players also tied for Second Place: San Diegan Jesse Orlowski, Alejandro Ruiz of Santa Clarita and John Badger of San Diego. Jesse is rated 1995 and was hoping to win the section, but a loss to Daniel Col-lins in round 2 put a crimp in his plans. Then he also drew with Pro-fessor Dennis Saccuzzo (1956) of San Diego State in round 4. So even if you are the #1 rated player, it is never easy to win a chess tourna-ment; they never just hand it to you on a silver platter. Nestor Dagamat won 2nd U1800 ($50) and he is now finally rated over 1800. He beat me with a nice Rook sac, and al-though it wasn’t completely sound, I couldn’t find the correct answer, so he prevailed. As Tal proved over and over, luck favors the aggressive player. Ronaldo Salenga passed GO and collected $200 of real cash, not just monopoly money, for BU1700. Manuel Abundo and Tom Kuhn split 2nd U1700 for $25 each.

In the Booster Section, there were 5 Class C and 11 Class D and below. Todd Arone won First Place and $150 with 4½ points. Joseph

Komrosky was BU1500 with 4 points for $100 and James Hillard was Second Place with 3½ for $75. Finally 3 players tied for BU1400/2ndU1500/2nd U1400 for $50 each: Cristhian Garcia, Andrew Ritter (of Kansas) and young Claire Negus all scored 3 points. Claire lost her first two games to much higher rat-ed players, but came back strong to win 3 in a row. -- Chuck Ensey

Gambito Open NewsThe July Super Gambito Open

(#427) happened to fall on the 4th of July so there was some concern that the attendance might be low, but not to worry, 33 players turned out for a great day in Balboa Park. Bruce Baker took First Place with 3 wins and a draw in the last round to Jorge Balares, who tied for 2nd/U2400/U2200 with Cyrus Lak-dawala and Jason Qu, all 3 scoring 3. Jason lost to Bruce in round 1, while Jorge took a bye. Cyrus was upset in Round 2 by Kyron Griffith, who ended up with 2 points and tied for 2nd U2200 with Alejandrino Baluran. Carey Milton was 2nd U2400 with 2½. Eric Smith, Chuck Ensey and Madhavan Vajapeyam tied for BU2000 with 2 points. In the Reserve Section, Aaron House-holder and Caleb Guy tied for First Place with 3½. Mike Friedel, Scott Householder and Nestor Dagamat tied for Second. Mike Friedel and Jorge Balares won the Best Game Prizes. A total of $750 in prizes were paid out.

The August Super Gambito (#431) had an even bigger turnout with 36 players, including 4 Masters and 6 Experts. Cyrus Lakdawala tied for First Place with Dionisio Aldama of Phoenix. They drew their game in round 3 and finished with 3½ each. It was great to see someone close to Cy’s rating giving him a rough time, as Cyrus so often dominates the Gambito. Both play-ers are rated about 2500. Dionisio is originally from Cuba and Expert Antionio Gonzalez of Mexico says he has known him for 20 years and

was very happy to see him show up unexpectedly at our club. Four play-ers trailed a full point behind the two IMs with 2½: Romeo Ignacio, Jorge Balares, Raoul Crisologo and Aaron Wooten. 3 players tied for U2000: Jesse Orlowski, Jason Qu and Chris Wonnell. In the Reserve Section, twelve year old Jason Ma put on a spectacular performance, winning all 4 games and First Place, despite being only the 11th highest rated player in the section. Nestor Dagamat and Mike Friedel tied for Second Place. Tom Kuhn won BU1600 and 3 players tied for 2nd U1600: Gene Arnaiz, Michael Chen and Patrick Edwards. Jason Arbeiter and Cyrus Lakdawala won the Best Game Prizes. $830 in prizes in total prizes were paid out. -- Chuck Ensey

San Diego Chess ClubIn June 61 players played in the

Chuck Ensey Doubleheader, a new format where two games were played in one night, one as Black and one as White, against the same opponent with a time control of G/45 minutes. It seemed to be popular with the players, and we will definitely try it again, but next time we will have more sections so the players will be closer in rating. In this 10 round event, David Hart came out on top with 8½ points for First Place, while Bruce Baker claimed Second with 8. Ignacio Sainz, Ron Soto and Manuel Herrera, were BU2200, all with 7. Jeff Turner and Bill Whitney won BU2000 with 6½. Jerry Soelberg took sole possession of the BU1800 prize with 6, trailed by Mike Friedel, Shaun Sweitzer and Ron Rezendes with 5 each. Matt Souza was clear BU1600 with 5, followed by Tom Kuhn, Michael Ryan and Chris Cal-bat with 4½ each. Jim Krooskos and Tom Lavoy tied for BU1400 with 4½. There was also a Slow Section for players who didn’t want to try the new fangled format and they played at G/120 with 10 second delay. Here the winner was George Zeigler with 4½, followed by Jamieson Pryor with


4. Alejandrino Baluran, Buddy Mor-ris and Ramin Sinaee came in with 3½ and then Alfredo Deleon and Bill Murray won BU1800 and BU1600 with 3 points each.

Also in June, the club hosted GM Ronen Har-zvi for a simultane-ous exhibition. Playing well over 30 boards, including several Masters and quite a few Experts, the GM did not lose a single game and gave up only 3 draws. This was one of the best performances in a simul that we’ve ever had, and we have had quite a few very strong players give simuls. It takes a special skill to play such an exhibition, and appar-ently this GM from Israel has mas-tered the skill.

In July and early August 68 play-ers participated in the 2nd Annual Jerry Soelberg Open, but this year we used a 6 round McMahon Swiss pairing format where Masters and Experts started with 4 points, Class A with 3, Class B with 2, Class C with 1 and Class D and below with 0. This allows for more equitable pairings (players closer in rating play each other), similar to a class tournament, but without the head-aches of odd numbers of players in sections that can happen with a 5 section event. Bruce Baker won the event with 9 points (4 bye points, 5 wins and only one loss, to Jorge Balares). Jorge finished in clear second place with 8½. David Hart and Carl Wagner tied for Third Place with 8. Manuel Herrera tied for BU2200 with Raoul Crisologo with 7½ points; both players travel quite a long way to play at our club, Raoul comes down from Temecula and Manuel fights the border traffic from Tijuana. Five players tied for 3rd U2000: John Funderburg, Ig-nacio Sainz (another border cross-er), Jamieson Pryor, Alejandrino Baluran and Paul Agron, all with 7 points. Also scoring 7 was Class A player Saeid Abdoli, who won clear BU2000. Four others tied for 2nd U2000: Fausto Robles (also from TJ), Roberto Aiello, Joel Batchelor and Alfredo Deleon, all with 6½. There was a 4-way tie for BU1800

between Shaun Sweitzer, Jerry Soel-berg, Mike Friedel and Steve Perry, all with 5½. Just 3 players tied for BU1600: Julian Rodriguez (of TJ), Erik Marquis and Steve Gordon, all with 5 points. Roger Wathen also scored 5 and took BU1400. Finally, Jim Krooskos, Libano Rodriguez (TJ) and Cristhian Garcia (TJ) tied for 2nd U1400 with 4.

The SDCC is open every day for casual play and has tournaments on Wednesday nights starting at 7 p. m. and on Saturday at 10 a. m. Call our Club Manager Bruce Baker at 619-239-7166 for more information. -- Chuck Ensey

Pasadena Chess ClubThe Liberty Open, with a turn-

out of 50 players, produced per-fect scores in two sections. John Hale topped the Open, 4-0, trailed by a half point by Larry Stevens. Nathaniel Lagemann and David Minasyan scored 3 to split the class prizes. Anthony Hung went 4-0 in Section two, closely followed by Ja-son McKeen. Richard Varela, Eze-kiel Liu, Annie Wang, and Robert Head split Under 1600 honors with 3 points, and the same score earned the Under 1400 prize for Yuting Chen. Shelley Anthopoulos and Al-exander Hung tied for Under 1200. The Pasadena Club meets Friday nights at 6:45 at the Boys and Girls Club, 3230 East Del Mar. The San Gabriel Valley Championship, a traditional six-rounder, begins Sep-tember 11. For further club infor-mation call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809.

The Tim Pellant Memorial at-tracted 55 players, the best turnout in a number of years. Larry Stevens and Yuting Chen scored 4-0 to win the two sections. Phil Chase scored 3½ for second place in the Open sec-tion, and Cheston Gunawan, Greg Hall, Terrence Sun, Tim Thomp-son, Anthony Hung, Ron Mor-ris, and Yusheng Xia earned class prizes. In the second section, Justin Tay was second with 3½, and Tom Hogue and Jennifer Lu were class

winners.

The club meets Fridays at 6:45 at the Boys and Girls Clun, 3230 East Del Mar. The traditional six-round San Gabriel Valley Champi-onship begins September 11. For further details call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809. – Randy Hough

Larry Stevens (2095) – Jesse Vic-

toria (2088)Tim Pellant Memorial, Pasadena

2009B22 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Alapin

Variation 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4.

d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 dxe5 8. dxe5 Ndb4 9. Qb3 e6 10. O-O Be7 11. a3 Na5 12. Bb5+ Kf8 13. Qa4 Nd5 14. Bd2 a6 15. Be2 Nc6 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. Bxc3 g5 18. Rad1 Bd7 19. Qe4 Qc7 20. Nd2 h5 21. Nc4 Kg7 22. Nd6 Rh6 23. f4 g4 24. f5 Bg5

XIIIIIIIIY

9r+-+-+-+0

9+pwql+pmk-0

9p+nsNp+-tr0

9+-+-zPPvlp0

9-+-+Q+p+0

9zP-vL-+-+-0

9-zP-+L+PzP0

9+-+R+RmK-0

xiiiiiiiiy

25. Nxf7 Qb6+ 26. Kh1 exf5 27. e6+ Bf6 28. Qxf5 Ne7 29. Qg5+ 1-0

Tim Thompson (1900) – Larry Stevens (2095)

Tim Pellant Memorial, Pasadena 2009

B78 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Dragon Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.

Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. Kb1 Rfc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 13. g4 Rxc3 14. Qxc3 Qxc3 15. bxc3 Rc8 16. g5 Ne8 17. f4 Nc4 18. Bc1 b5 19. Rhe1 Nb6 20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 e6 22. Bf4 Nc7 23. Ne2 Ncd5 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25. Kb2 Bc6 26. Rxd5 Bxd5 27. Nd4 Bf8 28. a3 a6 29. Rd1


Rc4 30. Bg3 Be7 31. h4

XIIIIIIIIY

9-+-+-+k+0

9+-+-vlp+p0

9p+-+p+p+0

9+p+lzP-zP-0

9-+rsN-+-zP0

9zP-zP-+-vL-0

9-mKP+-+-+0

9+-+R+-+-0

xiiiiiiiiy

31. … Bxa3+ 32. Kxa3 Rxc3+ 33. Kb4 Rxg3 34. Ra1 Bb7 35. Rd1 Rg4 36. Kc5 Bd5 37. Ra1 Rxh4 38. Rxa6 Rg4 39. Rb6 Rxg5 40. Rxb5 Rxe5 41. Kd6 Re4 42. Rxd5 exd5 43. Kxd5 Rxd4+ 44. Kxd4 h5 45. c4 h4 46. c5 Kf8 0-1

Arcadia Chess ClubThe McGuire Memorial, a 42-

player, power outage-shortened swiss, saw Randy Hough and Mat-thew Hayes on top with 4½ of 5. Dave King was best Under 2000 with 3½, and Alvin Huang, Issa Razzaghi, Joseph Jao, and Alexan-der Hung also won class prizes.

The Oak Tree, with 50 players, ended in a tie among Craig Faber, David Argall, and Matthew Hayes, as Faber downed leader Argall in an exciting game. Alexander Xie (who gained 144 points), Dave King, Ed-gar Rodriguez, and Yi Lin Zheng mopped up most of the class prizes with 4 points. The Arcadia Club meets Monday nights at 6:45 at the Senior Center, 400 S. Santa Anita Avenue. For information call Mel Clark at (626) 447-9355. – Randy Hough

Santa Monica Bay Chess Club

David Baran and George Wit-comb were the section prize winners of the Club’s August Swiss (8/3/09-8/24/09). Wall Chart attached

The August 30th Beach Blitz at the pier area Chess Park drew 12

players. Directed by Mike Jeffreys, it was an unrated Round-Robin with a $5 entry fee.

The results: 1st Mark Duckworth = $20 2nd Carl Hyne = $153rd Dean Arvidson = $84th was a 3 way tie = $5 (which

the three players: David de la Torre, Eren Karadayi, and Stewart Yanez, decided to play a blitz match be-tween themselves for winner take all).

The August 31st One Night Un-rated Action Tournament was won by David Baran with Simon Kogan taking 2nd.

Pacific Coast OpenGM Melikset Khachiyan took

first place in the 14th Pacific Coast Open, held July 16-19 at the Renais-sance Hotel in Agoura Hills, with 5½-½. Next at 4½-1½ were IMs An-dranik Matikozyan and Emory Tate. Other section winners included Jay Stallings, Vinzent Davies, Marek Jankowski, Alejandro Ruiz, Joe Russell, Bud Stamper, Joshua Rose, Timothy Abadilla, Rodrigo Casia-no, Leo Creger and Dylan Pearson. Steve Immitt and Randy Hough di-rected the 217-player event for the Continental Chess Association.

IM Andranik Matikozyan – Vad-im Kudryavtsev

Pacific Coast Open, Agoura Hills 2009

D42 CARO-KANN DEFENSE, Panov-Botvinnik Attack(Notes by Los Angeles Times

chess columnist Jack Peters)1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5

4. c4 The Panov-Botvinnik Attack

against the Caro-Kann Defense. 4. … Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Be7 Karpov advocated 6. … Bb4. 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. 0-

0 0-0 10. Re1 A typical position with an iso-

lated d-pawn, slightly in White’s favor.

10. … Bf6 Another branch begins 10. …

Nf6 (intending ... Nc6-b4-d5) 11. a3 b6 12. Bc2 Bb7 13. Qd3.

11. Be4 Nde7?! The more popular 11 ... Nce7

maintains control of the blockade square d5 and makes the d-pawn an immobile target.

12. Be3 Nf5 Consistent. If Black develops

by 12. ... b6 13. Ne5 Bb7, then 14. Qh5 g6 15. Qh3 Bg7 16. Rad1 places White’s pieces very aggressively.

13. Bxf5 exf5 14. d5 Now the isolated pawn is an un-

deniable asset. 14. … Ne7?! Black should try

to control d6 by 14. ... Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5, although 16. Bd4 Bd6 17. Be5 is promising for White.

15. Bc5 Bd7 Black cannot halt White’s initia-

tive. Useless is 15. ... Re8 16. Nb5, while 15. ... b6 16. Ba3 Bb7 gets bullied by 17. d6 Ng6 18. d7 Be7 19. Bxe7 Nxe7 20. Qd6 Ng6 21. Nd5.

16. d6 Ng6 17. Nd5! Offering a pawn by 17. ... Bxb2

18. Rb1 b6. But 19. Rxb2 bxc5 20. Ne7+ Kh8 21. Nxg6+ hxg6 22. Re7, intending Nf3-e5, is too strong. For example, 22. ... Be6 23. Ne5 Kh7 24. Nc6 Qc8 25. Qf3 threatens 26. Qh3+ Kg8 27. Rc7 and 28. Ne7+.

17. … b6 18. Ba3 Kh8

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19. Re7! Be6 If 19. ... Re8, both 20. Rxf7 Kg8

21. Re7! and 20. Rxe8+ Bxe8 21. Nxf6 gxf6 22. Qd5 will win.

20. Nxf6 gxf6 21. Qd4 Kg7 22. Re1 Bxa2

Or 22. ... Re8 23. R1xe6. 23. b3! Bxb3 24. Bb2, Black

Resigns.


Westwood Summer OpenJuly 26

Top-rated GM Melikset Khachi-yan dominated the Westwood Sum-mer Open, winning four straight be-fore making a quick last-round draw with master Joel Banawa. Tied for second wre Banawa and another of Khachiyan’s victims, master Ryan Porter. In the Reserve (U1800) sec-tion, unrated Michael Jaglom scored 4. 5 to prove that you can start play-ing tournament chess at any age. (Hint: He’s not a little kid. ) John Hillery directed for Western Chess.

Open: 1st: GM Melikset Khachi-yan, 4. 5-. 5; 2nd-3rd: Joel Banawa, Ryan Porter, 4-1; U2200: Jeremy Stein, 3. 5-1. 5; U2000: Willis Kim, Zoran Djoric, Matthew Hernandez, Cheston Gunawan, 3-2.

Reserve: 1st: Michael Jaglom, 4. 5-. 5 (technically 1st U1400/unrat-ed, however); 2nd-3rd: Saul Priever, Numan Abdul-Mujeeb, 4-1; U1600: David Steinhart, Sanjay Siddhanti, Bryan Shapiro, 3-2; U1200: Yechiel Goldberger, 3-1.

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2596) – Ryan Porter (2293)

Westwood Summer Open, Los Angeles 2009

B06 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4.

Nf3 a6 5. a4 b6 6. Bc4 e6 7. 0–0 Ne7 8. Re1 0–0 9. Bf4 h6 10. h4 Bb7 11. Qd2 Kh7 12. Rad1 Nd7 13. Bg3 Qb8 14. Qe2 Qa7 15. h5 g5 16. e5 Bxf3 17. gxf3 d5 18. Bd3+ Kh8 19. f4 gxf4 20. Bxf4 c5 21. Qd2 cxd4 22. Ne2 Nc6 23. Bxh6 Rg8 24. Bxg7+ Rxg7+ 25. Kh1 Ndxe5 26. Qh6+ Kg8 27. Rg1 f5 28. Qxe6+ Qf7 29. Rxg7+ Kxg7 30. Rg1+ Kf8 31. Qh6+ Ke8 32. f4 1–0

Exposition Park Chess Club

On August 2, Marc Conde and Mark Sokolovsky won sections at the Exposition Park Chess Club’s monthly free tournament. For pho-

tos of the club, see chess. expopark-la. com. The club meets every Sun-day afternoon in the public library at 3900 S. Western Ave. in Los An-geles.

La Palma Chess ClubCraig Faber won La Palma

Chess Club’s Friday Knight Fever that ended July 31st with a per-fect score of 4. Other prizewinners were Chris Roberts, 2nd place; Jef-fery Ding, Best U1900; newcomer Shyam Gandhi, Best U1700; Ander-son Ju, Best U1500; and Curtis Ain, Best U1300. The 37-player player 4-round Swiss was held at La Palma’s Central Park Community Center.

La Palma Chess Club’s New Hampshire Open ended August 28th with two players achieving perfect scores. Craig Faber and Chris Roberts topped the 39-player field by a full point. Faber had bet-ter tie breaks. Other prizewinners were Bill Martino, Best U1800; newcommer Craig Lok Hilby, Best U1600; Ron Duff, Best U1400; and Mike Searcy, Best U1200.

Complete standings, games,

pictures and a schedule of upcom-ing events are at the club’s website here http://www. lapalmachess. 741. com/index. html. – Chris Roberts

California G/30 Championship

August 23Joel Banawa and Bill Pennucci

shared first place in this 29-player California Rapid Championship at the Los Angeles Chess Club. Jason Bibiano and unrated Igor Kukavica led the Under- 1800 section. Mick Bighamian directed.

Diversity Summer

ScholasticAugust 23

Nicholas Hammond won the Di-versity Educational Center Sum-mer Scholastic in Arcadia, ahead of Jennifer Lu and Shelley Antho-poulos. Danial Asaria and Raghav Ramanujan led their sections in the 33-player tournament.

Solutions to Tactics by Hanks(see page 14)

Problem no. 1: a. Black is better. 1. Be5? is a mistake. The main line goes 1. Be5? Rxa2! 2. Nxc3 (not 2. … Rxa2 since Black gets a Queen and wins with … c2) 2. … Rxa1+ 3. Nd1 and Black has the better game. White must play 1. Nc3 Nxc3 2. bxc3 Rxb8 and accept being down a pawn. Thus another lesson on the perils of being too greedy.

Problem no. 2: c. Rxf7 is unclear and leads to equal chances for both sides. The main line goes 1. Rxf7 h5! (not 1. … Rc1+ since 2. Qf1! will win for White) 2. Rc4 Rxc4 3. Qxc4 and the game is unclear.

Problem no. 3: c. The position is equal. White is down a full Rook but can force a draw as follows:

If 1. ... Rh6 2. Rh6! Rxh6 3. h8=Q+ Rxa8 4. b5 and the White King is entombed and therefore stalemated.

If 1. ... Re8 2. Rh6 Rh8 4. b5 and again no matter what Black does he can-not make any progress and the game is drawn. Use your chess software to prove this. Amazing.

Problem no. 4: b. Bf5 is incorrect and White will be better. The main line goes 1. ... Bf5 2. c6! bxc6 (other moves offer no improvement for Black) 3. Nc5 Qc8 4. d7 (fork) Bxd7 5. Qxd7 and White is clearly better. Black’s best is probably 1. ... Qc6 but White retains the edge.


ARCADIA. The Arcadia Chess Club meets at 6:30 p.m. Mondays in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. Continuous rated tournaments, casual play. Dues: $10/year. Call Mel Clark at (626) 447-9355. Web site: www.geocities.com/arcadiachessclub.

BAKERSFIELD. The Bakersfield Chess Club meets 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Thursdays at 3000 Mall View Rd. in the East Hills Mall. Rated tournaments, rated games, casual play, blitz, lessons. Dues: $35/year for adults, $25/year for youth. Call Kenneth J. Poole at (661) 304-7468. Web site: www.bakersfieldchess-club.com.

BURBANK. A group meets Wednesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Joslyn Center, 1301 W. Olive St. (at Griffith Park Drive). Casual play, ages 55 and up only. No dues. Call (818) 238-5353.

BURBANK. A group meets Fri-days from 5:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in McCambridge Park, 1515 N. Gleno-aks Blvd. Casual play, tournaments possible. Call Emil Klimach at (818) 845-1104.

CARLSBAD. A group meets 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mondays in the Carlsbad Senior Center, 799 Pine Ave. Casual play. Most attendees are over age 50, but younger adults are welcome. No dues. Call (760) 602-4650.

COLTON. A group meets at 9:00 p.m. Friday nights in a private

room at Denny’s restaurant, 160 W. Valley Blvd. Casual play, blitz. Call Denny’s at (909) 824-2132.

COSTA MESA. The Chess Center, 2482 Newport Blvd, hosts sepa-rate tournaments for children and adults on Thursday evenings, plus instruction for children. Saturday tournaments may resume soon. Call Al Massip at (949) 646-6696 or (949) 422-1186. Web site: www.chess-center.com.

ESCONDIDO. The Escondido Chess Club meets at 7 p.m. Thurs-days at 2427 S. Centre City Park-way. Continuous rated adult and children’s tournaments. Dues: $20/year. Call the club at (760) 317-1744 or Alex Goddard at (760) 500-3417 or write to [email protected]. Web site: www.escondidochess.com.

ESCONDIDO. A group meets noon to 4 p.m. weekdays in the Joslyn Se-nior Center, 210 Park Ave. Casual play, ages 50 and up. No dues. Call (760) 839-4688.

FRESNO. The Fresno Chess Club meets 6:00 p.m. to midnight Mondays and Fridays in Carl’s Jr. restaurant, 6767 N. First St. (at Herndon). Rated tournaments, non-rated quick chess quads, casual play, lectures, chess library, news-letter, new website. More than 200 members! Dues: $20/year, $10/year for students, women, and those who live outside Fresno County. Contact Bob Rasmussen at (559) 708-8100. Website: www.fresnochessclub.org.

GARDEN GROVE. Chess Pal-ace is open 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, and 9:00 am to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sun-days, at 12872 Valley View, Suite 5. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Wide variety of rated tournaments, Action chess, youth tournaments, scholastic chess camps, blitz, occasional lectures and simuls, large selection of chess books, computers, and equipment for sale, lending library of chess vid-eos, excellent website. Dues: $3/day or $169/year. Call the club at (714) 899-3421 or Alfred Ong at (310) 594-3475. Web site: www.chesspal-ace.com.

GLENDALE. The chess park at 227 N. Brand Blvd. is open day and night for casual play. Speed tourna-ments, occasional weekend tourna-ments.

HEMET. The Hemet Chess Club meets 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sun-days in Steve’s Burgers West, 240 S. Sanderson Ave. Casual play. Free. Contact [email protected].

HUNTINGTON BEACH. The Hanley Chess Academy Chess Club meets 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Thurs-days at 7390 Center Ave. Weekly rat-ed tournaments, Action chess, blitz tournaments, casual play. No dues. Bring your own equipment. Con-tact Joe Hanley at (714) 925-3195 or [email protected] or call Bar-ry Lazarus at (714) 229-0792. Web site: www.hanleychessacademy.org.

meets at 6:30 p.m. Mondays in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S.

room at Denny’s restaurant, 160 W. Valley Blvd. Casual play, blitz. Call Denny’s at (909) 824-2132.

ace is open 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, and 9:00

Where to Play Chess

ARCADIA. The Arcadia Chess Club room at Denny’s restaurant, 160 W. GARDEN GROVE. Chess Pal-

Where to Playaya Chesssss


HUNTINGTON BEACH. The HB Chess Café meets 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Fridays in Café Enchante, 328 11th St. Casual play, free chess lesson from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Bring your chess set. No dues. Web site: hbchesscafe.com.

IRVINE. A group meets at lunch time (11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) Fri-days at Knowlwood Restaurant, 14952 Sand Canyon Ave. Speed chess, analysis. Bring equip-ment. Contact David Zechiel at [email protected].

IRVINE. A group meets 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays at the Rancho Senior Center, 3 Ethel Coplen Way. Casu-al play, mostly seniors. Free. Call (949) 724-6800.

JOSHUA TREE. The Joshua Tree Chess Club meets 6:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays at Faith Lu-theran Church , 6336 Hallee Rd. in Joshua Tree. Casual play, occa-sional tournaments, some instruc-tion, junior chess program. Contact Mark Muller at (760) 367-2311 or at [email protected].

LA PALMA. The La Palma Chess Club meets 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Fridays in Central Park, 7821 Walker St. Continuous rated tour-naments, blitz, casual play, free cof-fee, boards and sets provided. Entry fees: $45 for three months of rated tournament play or $25 per tourna-ment, $5 less to La Palma residents. Call Mike Henebry at (562) 370-2146 or Leigh Hunt at (714) 635-0448 or write to [email protected]. Web site: www.lapalmachess.741.com.

LAWNDALE. The Alondra Park Chess Club meets 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tuesdays at 3850 Manhattan Beach Blvd. Rated six-round tour-naments at 7:00 p.m., speed chess or extra rated games on seventh Tuesday, no smoking. Dues: $5/year plus $5/tournament, $2.50/year for juniors. Call Richard Meller at (310) 227-2873. Web site: www.geocities.com/alondra_park_cc.

LAGUNA BEACH. People gather to play chess at the permanent chess table on the boardwalk.

LAGUNA HILLS. A group meets 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Wednesdays in the Game Master, Suite 1530 of the Laguna Hills Mall. Casual play. Free. Call (949) 457-0290. Website: www.gamecenteronline.com.

LAGUNA WOODS. The Leisure World Chess Club meets 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mondays and 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursdays in the Com-munity Center building in Leisure World. Guests are welcome. Casual play, ladder competition, occasional simul. Call John Griffin at (949) 462-0722 or Stan Kahan at (949) 830-6699.

LONG BEACH. The chess room in Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave., is open for casual play from noon to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and noon to 4:00 p.m. Saturdays. Free.

LONG BEACH. Players gather for casual play at Golden Burger, 2301 E. 4th St., after the chess room in Bixby Park closes. Call the restau-rant at (562) 434-2625.

LOS ANGELES. A group meets at 5:30 p.m. Mondays in the Baldwin Hills branch of the public library, 2906 S. La Brea Ave. Casual play, instruction for beginners. All ages welcome, especially children and teenagers. Call the library at (323) 733-1196.

LOS ANGELES. The Exposition Park Chess Club meets 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sundays in the Exposition Park branch of the public library, 3900 S. Western Ave. Casual play, lectures, simuls, instruction, free tournament on the first Sunday of every month. No dues. Call the li-brary at (323) 290-3113 or send a message to the club secretary at [email protected]. Web site: http://chess.expoparkla.com.

LOS ANGELES. The Los Ange-les Chess Club (LACC) meets on the second floor of 11514 Santa Monica Blvd., above Javan restau-rant. Variety of tournaments and instruction for children and adults on Saturdays, Sundays and Tues-day evenings. Dues: adults $120/year, juniors/seniors $100/year or $5/visit for non-members, first visit free. Call Mick Bighamian at (310) 795-5710 or send a message to [email protected]. Web site: www.lachessclub.com.

LOS ANGELES. The Santa Mon-ica Bay Chess Club meets 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Mondays in St. An-drew’s Lutheran Church, 11555 Na-tional Blvd. Variety of rated tourna-ments, casual play, simuls, over 50 years in business. Dues: $60/year, free to women and juniors. Call Pete Savino at (310) 827-2789. Web site: www.geocities.com/santamoni-cabaychessclub.

LOS ANGELES. Tang’s Do-nuts, 4341 W. Sunset Blvd., wel-comes chessplayers for casual play and speed chess, especially late at night.

LOS ANGELES. A group meets from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays in the public library, 4591 Santa Mon-ica Blvd. Casual play. Free. Call the library at (323) 664-6418.

MORRO BAY. A group meets 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays at the big chess board on Embarcadero at Morro Bay Blvd. Chess pieces may be checked out weekdays from the Parks and Recreation Dept. Call Eugene Arcamonte at (805) 528-4079 or Fred Brown at (805) 772-7074.

MURRIETA. The Temecula Val-ley Chess Club meets noon to 2 p.m. Sundays in It’s a Grind Coffee-house, 24520 Village Walk Place. Casual play. Free. Contact Peter Surowski at (951) 818-9771 or at [email protected].


NATIONAL CITY. The Nation-al City Chess Club meets 2:00 p.m to 10:00 p.m. daily at 1341 E. 8th St. Casual play, chess vid-eos available, free instruction for scholastic members ages 7 to 12, informal atmosphere. Dues: none, but small donation welcome. Call Jorge Balares at (619) 477-3118 or (619) 788-8395. Web site: www.nationalcitychessclub.com. NEWHALL. The California Youth Chess League conducts a scho-lastic chess club 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mondays, except holidays, in Vincenzo’s Pizza, 24504 ½ Lyons Ave. Casual play, blitz, bughouse, free instruction for total begin-ners. Parents or guardians must stay with kids. Free. Call Jay Stall-ings at (661) 288-1705 or write to [email protected].

ORANGE. The Orange Senior Club meets from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesdays in the Orange Senior Citizens Community Center, 170 S. Olive St. in Orange. Casual play, all ages welcome. Call (714) 538-9633.

PASADENA. The Pasadena Chess Club meets from 6:45 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Fridays in the Boys and Girls Club, 3230 E. Del Mar Blvd. Contin-uous tournaments at 7 p.m. Fridays. Dues: $25/year. Call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809. Web site: www.tim-thompson.com/pasadena.html. REDLANDS. The Joslyn Center Chess Club meets 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesdays in the Jos-lyn Senior Center, 21 Grant St. Ca-sual play, non-rated tournaments. No dues. Call the Senior Center at (909) 798-7550.

RIDGECREST. The Ridgecrest Chess Club meets 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturdays in the Kern Coun-ty Library (west entrance), 131 E. Las Flores Ave. Casual play, occa-sional scholastic and club tourna-ments. No dues. Contact Dwight Morgan at (760) 377-0034 or at [email protected].

RIVERSIDE. A group meets for casual play and blitz at 8:30 p.m. Thursday evenings in Back 2 the Grind Café, 3575 University Ave. “Quick Thursdays” G/15 quads on the first Thursday of every month, register at 8 p.m. Bring equip-ment. Call the café at (951) 784-0800 or e-mail Tyrone Liddell at [email protected]. Web site: www.TheChessUnion.com

. SAN DIEGO. The San Diego Chess Club opens for casual play at 2:00 p.m. weekdays, 10:00 a.m. Saturdays and noon Sundays in Balboa Park at 2225 6th Ave. (be-tween Ivy and Juniper). Tourna-ments Wednesday evenings and Saturdays, Jedi Knights children’s club with Bruce Baker at 7:00 p.m. Fridays, lessons available. Dues: $60/year, discounts for seniors, ju-niors and active military. Call the club at (619) 239-7166 or e-mail Chuck Ensey at [email protected]. Web site: http://sdchessclub.multi-ply.com.

SAN DIMAS. Home Brew Coffee, 661 W. Arrow Highway, welcomes chessplayers. Bring your chess set. Call (909) 394-1964.

SAN LUIS OBISPO. The San Luis Obispo Chess Club meets 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Thursdays in the Church of the Nazarene, 3396 John-son Ave. Casual play, lectures, occa-sional tournaments. Dues: $5/year. Contact Barbara McCaleb at (805) 544-0717 or [email protected]

SANTA MONICA. Chess tables are available from sunup to sun-down daily at the Santa Monica International Chess Park, on the promenade just south of the Santa Monica pier. Casual chess, blitz, chess bulletin board, large demon-stration board, occasional summer tournaments. No dues.

SIMI VALLEY. The YMCA Chess Club of Simi Valley meets 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mondays at the YMCA, 3200 Cochran St. Casual

play, instruction, rated and non-rated tournaments. Dues: $15 for 7 weeks, free to YMCA members. Contact John Williams at (805) 529-1816 or [email protected].

VENTURA. The Ventura County Chess Club meets on the first Tues-day, the second Monday, and the later Tuesdays each month in the Church of the Foothills, 6279 Foot-hill Rd. Rated tournaments, casual play. Dues: $35.00/year, $17.50/year for juniors and military. Call Jimmy Sweet at (805) 659-0356. Web site: www.vcchess.com.

VICTORVILLE. The Victor Valley Chess Club meets noon to 4:00 p.m. Saturdays in the Victor Villa Club-house, 13393 Mariposa Rd. Casual play, non-rated quad tournaments most months, instruction. No dues. Write to [email protected].

WEST COVINA. The West Covina Chess Club meets 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Senior Center, 2501 E. Cortez St. All ages welcome. Casual play, rated and non-rated tournaments on Tuesdays. Bring chess equip-ment. No speed chess! Call Richard Williams at (626) 966-6311.

WEST HILLS. The West Valley Chess Club meets 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Thursdays in the West Valley Jewish Community Center, 22622 Vanowen St. Open to all, continu-ous rated tournaments, blitz, casual play. One of the largest local clubs. Contact Jerry Yee at (818) 915-5572 or at [email protected]. Web site: www.geocities.com/westhillschess.


Black should preface this idea with 14. ... h6.

15. Bxc4 Bxe4 16. N3h4! h6?! Leaving the Bishop vulnerable at

e4. Necessary is 16. ... Bxf5 17. Nxf5 Nc5, although White’s Bishops con-stitute a decisive advantage.

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17. Rxd7! Qxd7 18. Bxf6 Planning 18. ... Bxf6 19. Qxe4. 18. … Bxf5 19. Bxg7+! The crux of White’s combination.

White regains material and exposes

Continued from page 4 ... Black’s King.

19. … Kxg7 After 19. ... Kg8, the simple 20.

Nxf5 Qxf5 21. Bxh6 is all right, but most conclusive is 20. Qh5! Bxh4 (or 20. ... Kxg7 21. Nxf5+ Kf6 22. Qxh6+! Kxf5 23. Qh3+, winning the Queen) 21. Qxh6 Bh7 22. Bxf8 Rxf8 23. Qxh4.

20. Qxe5+ Bf6 Black cannot stand 20. ... Kh7

21. Nxf5 f6 22. Qf4. 21. Nxf5+ Kg6 22. Qg3+! Relying on the X-ray 22. ... Kxf5?

23. Qh3+. 22. … Kh7 23. Bd3 Kh8 After 23. ... Rd8 24. Bb1, White

threatens discoveries and 25. Qh3. 24. Nxh6 Rd8 25. Bb1 Rfe8

26. Qf4 Qe6 27. Bf5! Qe7 Useless is 27. ... Qd5 28. Ng4 Bg7

because of 29. Nf6. 28. Bc2 The Bishop maneuver creates

threats of 29. Qf5 and 29. Bb3. 28. … Be5 29. Nxf7+ Kg7 White refutes 29. ... Kg8 by 30.

Nxe5 Qxe5 31. Qh6, setting up 32. Bb3+.

30. Qh6+! Kxf7 31. Bb3+, Black Resigns.

Eugene Yanayt (2251) – Donald Danlag (2043)

U. S. Open, Indianapolis 2009E02 CATALAN OPENING

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. 0–0 0–0 7. Qc2 dxc4 8. Qxc4 c5 9. Rd1 Rb8 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Bf4 e5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Rxd8 Nxc4 14. Rxf8+ Kxf8 15. Bxb8 Ng4 16. e3

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16. … Ngxe3 17. fxe3 Nxe3 18. Be4 Nc2+ 19. Kf1 Nxa1 20. Be5

��

Thanksgiving weekend, November 26 – 29 or 27 – 29

At the luxurious Los Angeles Airport Renaissance Montura Hotel

Great room and parking rates!

Eight rounds of great chess!

$37,500 prize fund based on 400 players, $19,500 guaranteed

Daily lectures, videos, and special prizes!

See details in Grand Prix sectionSee details on page 27


The Long Viewby John Hillery

The young Capablanca gained entry to this event, intended for those

who had taken at least two third prizes in international tournaments, only at the insistence of Frank Marshall, who had lost to Capa in a match two years before. The Cuban won the event con-vincingly, losing only one game (to Ru-binstein). Ossip Bernstein had been one of the most vocal opponents of Ca-pablanca’s admission, and it befell that they met in the first round.

Capablanca - BernsteinSan Sebastian, 1911C65 RUY LOPEZ, Steinitz Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Be7 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7

Black has adopted the Steinitz Deense to the Ruy Lopez, in which he obtains a cramped but solid po-sition. The doubled c-pawns deny White the use of the d5 square, and Black may hope for counterplay on the b-file. Overall, White stands slightly better.

9. Bg5 0-0 10. Re1 h6 11. Bh4 Nh7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7

In a cramped position, it is usu-ally wise to exchange a few pieces for greater freedom of movement.

13. Qd3 Rab8 14. b3 Ng5 In the days when this defense

was popular, it was more common for Black to regroup with ... Rfe8 and Nh7-f8-g6.

15. Rad1 Qe5 16. Qe3 Ne6 17. Nce2 Qa5 18. Nf5 Nc5

The threat against the a2-pawn proves illusory, for after 18. ... Qxa2 19. Qc3 (threatening to trap the Queen with 20. Ra1) Qa6, White would obtain a strong attack with 20. Nf4 f6 21. Qg3 g5 22. Ng6 Rf7 23. Nxh6+ Kg7 24. Nxf7 Kxg6 25. Nxd6 cxd6 26. Rxd6 Rb7 27. e5.

19. Ned4 Kh7 To meet the threat of 20. Nxc6

Bxc6 21. Ne7+ and 22. Nxc8. The a2 pawn still cannot be captured, in view of 19. ... Qxa2 20. Ra1 Qb7 21. Reb1.

20. g4 Rbe8 21. f3 Ne6 22. Ne2 Qxa2

Seeing no direct threat, Black thinks that it is time to capture the a-pawn, but 22. ... Qb6 would have minimized White’s advantage.

23. Neg3 Qxc2?

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The only chance of defense was 23. ... f6, to defend the g7 pawn with ... Rf7.

24. Rc1 Qb2 25. Nh5 Rh8 Other moves are no better. Two

variations given by Capablanca are 25. ... g5 26. e5 f6 27. Qd3, and 25. ... g6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. e5 gxh5 28. gxh5, and there is no answer to the threat of Re1-e2-g2+.

26. Re2 Qe5 27. f4 Qb5 28. Nfxg7 Nc5

Losing quickly. Capablanca ex-pected 28. ... Nxh7, though White is still winning after 29. Nf6+ Kg6 30. Nxd7 f6 31. e5 Kf7 32. Nxf6 Re7 33. Ne4.

29. Nxe8 Bxe8 30. Qc3 f6 31. Nxf6+ Kg6 32. Nh5 Rg8 33. f5+ Kg5 34. Qe3+ Kh4 35. Qg3+ Kg5 36. h4 mate

Be6 21. b3 Nxb3 22. axb3 Bxb3 23. Bxb7 a5 24. Bb2 Kg8 25. Bc6 g5 26. Nd2 Bc2 27. Ne4 1–0

John Bidwell (2254) – GM DmitryGurevich (2536)U. S. Open, Indianapolis 2009A34 ENGLISH OPENING

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. f4 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 d6 8. Be2 Nc6 9. Be3 Nf6 10. Bf3 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 0–0 12. Qd3 Nd7 13. Rc1 Nc5 14. Qb1 f5 15. exf5 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Rxf5 17. b4 Bxc3+ 18. Rxc3 Ne6 19. Qe4 Kf7 20. 0–0 Rc8 21. Rd1 Qh8

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22. Ra3 Rc7 23. Rd5 Qa1+ 24. Kf2 Qb2+ 25. Kg3 Rxd5 26. cxd5 Ng7 27. Rb3 Qxa2 0–1

Randy Hough (2018) – ErnieSchlich (1700)U. S. Open, Indianapolis 2009E05 CATALAN OPENING

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nbd7 6. 0–0 Be7 7. Nbd2 0–0 8. Nxc4 Re8 9. Qc2 c5 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. Bf4 Qd8 12. dxc5 Nd5 13. Bd6 Nxc5 14. Bxc5 Bxc5 15. e4 b5 16. Nce5 Qc7 17. exd5 Bb7 18. dxe6 Rxe6 19. Rd7 Qb6 20. Rxb7 Bxf2+ 21. Qxf2 Qxb7 22. Ng5 Qxg2+ 23. Qxg2 Rxe5 24. Qxa8+ Re8 25. Qxe8# 1–0


2009-2010 State Championship

Seeded into the Championship are 2009 champion Enrico Sevillano, up to three players selected on the basis of rating, and four from the 2010

Candidates Tournament. Below is a list of players who will be invited to the Candidates, and of upcoming qualifying tournaments.

QualifiersJuly 3-5 Pacific Southwest Open Melikset Khachiyan

Joel Banawa July 17-20 Pacific Coast Open Andranik Matikozyan Garush Manukyan Christian Tanaka Vadim Kudryavtsev July 26 Westwood Summer Open Ryan Porter Tim Taylor Jeremy Stein August 8-9 San Diego Cty Open Evgeny Shver Leonard Sussman August 15-23 State Championship Tianyi He Alexandre Kretchetov Jack Peters Elliott Liu Tatev Abrahamyan

UpcomingSeptember 5-7 Southern California Open San Diego

September 12 San Luis Obispo Cty Open Pismo Beach September 12-13 Eclectic Collections West LA September 26-27 Bakersfield Fall Classic Bakersfield

October 9-11 Los Angeles Open LAX November 8 Westwood Fall Open Waet LA November 22-23 Harold Valery G/60 Champ. West LA November 26-29 American Open LAX

Each event qualifies two players (highest scoring Southern California residents not previously qualified) except that 1) In the event of a tie, all tied players will advance; 2) A score of 60% is required to qualify; and, 3) The SCCF Amateur, SCCF High School and any one-day event will each have one qualifying spot.

USCF Delegates’Meeting

by John Hillery

A number of significant events took place at the 2009 USCF Del-egates’ Meeting, held August 8-9 in Indianapolis. Most will have no im-mediate effect of the average player, but members should nevertheless be aware of them.

1) SOMOV abolished. “State One Member One Vote” is the selec-tion of USCF Delegates by vote of the members. Effective in 2011, it will be dropped, and the Delegates will again be appointed by the State Chapters. The biennial elections have cost the USCF a lot of money, voter turnout has been pitiful, and the number of “petition” candi-dates (those not nominated by their State Chapters) has been near zero except for a few cranks like Sam Sloan. If you don’t like this (and I can’t blame you), more of you ought to have voted the last few times.

2) Truong and Polgar mem-bership suspensions. Dissident Executive Board members Paul Truong and Susan Polgar had their USCF memberships revoked by the EB, and the action was upheld on appeal by the Delegates. Since the motion included a rider allowing them to continue to play in USCF rated tournaments (though they rarely have), the only actual effect of this was to remove them from the Executive Board. While Pol-gar and Truong were not entirely to blame for the start of this mess, their strategy of trying to get their way by running up the USCF’s le-gal bills left them with few friends or supporters.

3) EB terms changed. With a phase-in period starting in 2011, the terms of EB members will be changed from four years to three. To be honest, I doubt that anyone except a few politicians will notice.

4) Change to 14H. Rule 14H is one of the annoying artifacts of sud-den death. A player with less than two minutes remaining in sudden

death who is not using a time-delay clock may make a claim of “insuf-ficient losing chances,” and the TD has to decide whether the opponent is legitimately trying to win or just seeking to run out the clock. To my astonishment, there was actu-ally some sentiment for abolishing this rule completely, and allow-ing a player to run his opponent out of time in something silly like Rook and pawn versus Rook. For-tunately that was defeated. What did pass was a change making the insertion of a time-delay clock the

preferred option, ahead of first de-ciding whether the claim is “clearly correct” or “clearly incorrect.” Ar-gument for: It gets TDs out of the business of adjudication, for which they are neither qualified not fit. Argument against: some jerks might make a claim in a hopeless position just to stall. (This seems unlikely to me, but Bill Goichberg, who perhaps deals with a different class of player, disagrees.) This is probably not a big deal, since “old 14H” is a “minor variation” which many TDs will continue to use.


Upcoming Events

September 12SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CHAMPI-

ONSHIP. 4-SS, G/60, Pimo Dunes Travel Trailer Park Clubhouse, 200 S. Dolliver St., Pismo Beach, CA 93449. 2 Sections: Open and Reserve (U1500/Unr.) Prizes: 80% of paid entries returned. Reg: 8:45 – 9:30 Saturday at tournament site. Rds: 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 5:15 p.m. EF: $40 Open, $30 Reserve – paid in advance by September 10. One $5 discount to SCCF, S.L.O.CC, or Cal Chess members. All $10 more at site. Cash only at on-site regis-tration. INF: Barbara McCaleb, 805-540-0747, [email protected], Mark Keller, 805-481-6366, [email protected], www.sanlu-isobispochess.com. Ent: Payable to San Luis Obispo Chess Club, c/o Barbara McCaleb, 234 Via La Paz, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. State Championship Qualifier.

September 12-13ECLECTIC COLLECTIONS. (Sponsored by: Eclectic Collections www.co-lognes.com/eclectic_collections) 6-SS, G/60. Los Angeles Chess Club, 11514 Santa Monica Blvd, LA, CA 90025, 2nd floor (4 blocks W. of 405). $$$ 1,500 Guaranteed! In two sec-tions: Open: $400-200-50, U2200: $125, U2000: $125. Reserve(U1800) $$200-100, U1600 $125, Under 1400/unrated $100, U1200 $75. EF: $55 if received by 9/10; $60 at the door ($40 LACC members if received by 9/10; $45 at the door; $30 new LACC members). $6 off SCCF members. Re-entry $25. Up to 2 half-point byes available. Reg: 11:00 - 11:45 a.m. Rds: 12:00, 2:00, 4:00 each day. 1-day option I: Play 3 games- no 1/2 pt byes- Pay 1/2 EF. 1-day option II: Play 3 games- three 1/2 pt byes- pay full EF. Free park-ing lots on the SW corner of Santa

Monica & Purdue - 1 block, or in the building basement ($3). Inf: (310) 795-5710 or [email protected]. Web site: www.LaChessClub.com. Ent: LACC - P.O. Box 251774, Los Angeles, CA 90025. GP: 10. State Championship Qualifier.

September 26-27BAKERSFIELD FALL CLASSIC. 5-SS, G/90 (Rounds 1-3), 40/2, SD/1 (Rounds 4-5). East Hills Mall, 3000 Mall View Road, Bakersfield, CA 93306. $1700 prize fund b/o 40, 80% guaranteed: $500 (GTD!!)-300-200 top U2000 $250, U1800 $200, U1600/Unr $150-$100. EF: $45 by 9/24, $55 after; $6 discount for BCC members and SCCF members. GMs & IMs free ($45 from prize). All: 1/2-pt bye available any round with en-try. Reg.: 8:45-9:30 a.m. Saturday. Rds.: Saturday: 10-1:30-5, Sunday: 9-3:30. Info: Kenneth J. Poole 661-304-7468, [email protected] or visit www.bakersfieldchessclub.com. Ent: Bakersfield Chess Club, P.O. Box 176, 3501 Mall View Rd., Suite 115, Bakersfield, CA 93306. Special K-8 Tournament: Septem-ber 26, 5-SS G/30, Rounds: 10-11:30-1-2:30-4. EF: $20 by 9/24, $30 after; prizes 1st–3rd place Overall & 1st – 3rd place trophies in scho-lastic categories. WCL JGP for Fall Classic only. GP: 10. State Cham-pionship Qualifier.

September 2719TH CHESS PALACE ANNIVERSARY. 5-SS, G/30. Chess Palace is located at12872 Valley View St. Suite 5, Gar-den Grove, CA, 92845. $$1,000 Cash Prize Guaranteed. In two sections: Open: $300-$100-$75, U2000: $100, Reserve U1800: $100-$50, U1600 $90, U1300 $80. Plus trophy awards for all prize winners. EF: Early Registration (before 9/13/09):

$55, Late Reg.: $10 more, Onsite (not guaranteed seating): $15 more. SCCF memb, seniors, and juniors save $2. Reg: 8:30-9:30 a.m. Rds: 10-11:15-1-2:15-3:30. Free park-ing. Inf: [email protected]. Web site: www.chesspalace.com/events.htm. Extra: Free t-shirt, snacks, and raffle tickets. Ent: (714) 899-3421. On-line entry: www.chesspalace.com/events.htm.

October 9-11LOS ANGELES OPEN. 5-SS, 3-day 40/2, SD/1, 2-day rds. 1-2 G/60 then merges. LAX Hilton, 5711 W. Cen-tury Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045. $$10,000 b/200, 50% of each prize guaranteed. In 3 sections: Open: 1600-1000-800-400-200, U2400 300-200, U2200 700-500-300. EF: $83 if received by 10/8, $95 door. Premier (U2000): $$ 700-500-300-100, U1800 400-200-150, U1600 400-200-150. EF: $83 if received by 10/8, $95 door. Amateur (U1400/Un-rated): $$400-200-100, U1200 100, Unr 100, unrated may win unrated prize only. EF: $67 if received by 10/8, $80 door. On-line entry: www.westernchess.com. No credit card entries at door. All: $25 Best Game prize, all sections eligible. One half point bye if requested with entry, rds 4-5 cannot be revoked. SCCF membership req. of S. Cal. res., $18 reg, $10 junior. Reg.: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Fri, 9-10 a.m. Sat. Rds.: 3-day 7 p.m. Fri, 11-5:30 Sat, 10-4:30 Sun. 2-day: 10:30-1:30 Sat. (G/60), then merges. HR: $109, (310) 410-4000. Use Group Code LOS. Parking $8/day. Info: [email protected]. Web site: www.westernchess.com. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles, CA 90038. NS. NC. F. WCL JGP for rounds slower than G/60. GP: 40. State Championship Qualifier.


October 11LAO HEXES. 3-SS, G/90. LAX Hil-ton, 5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045. Six-player sec-tions by rating. EF: $20 if received by 10/8, $25 door. $$ 40-20-10 each section. Reg.: 9:30-10:15 a.m. Rds.: 10:30-1:30-4:30. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles, CA 90038, online at www.westernchess.com.

October 11LAO SCHOLASTICS. 5-SS, G/30. LAX Hilton, 5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045. Open to gr. 12-below. In two sections: Open: Tro-phies to top 5, top 3 U1200, top 2 Unrated. Grade 6/below U1000: Trophies to top 5, top 3 U700, top 2 Unrated. Reg.: 8:30-9:15. Rds.: 9:30-11-12:15-1:45-3. EF: $16 if re-ceived by 10/8, $20 door. Inf: John Hillery, [email protected]. On-line ent: www.westernchess.com. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles, CA 90038.

November 82009 WESTWOOD FALL OPEN. 5-SS, G/40. Los Angeles Chess Club, 11514 Santa Monica Blvd., LA, CA 90025, 2nd floor (4 blocks West of 405 Fwy). $$1500 b/50, 80% of each prize guaranteed. In two sections: Open: $400-200-50, U2200 125, U2000 125. Reserve (U1800): $$200-125, U1600 $100, Under 1400/un-rated $100, U1200 $75. EF: $47 if received by 11/7, $55 at site. SCCF memb. ($18, under 18 $10) req. for rated S. CA residents. No checks or credit cards at site. Half point byes: limit 1, must be req. w/entry. Reg.: 9-9:45 a.m. Rds.: 10-11:30-1:30-3:15-4:45. 2 free parking lots on the SW corner of Santa Monica & Pur-due, or in the building basement ($3). Inf: [email protected]. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1, Los Ange-les, CA 90038. On-line entry: www.westernchess.com. GP: 10. State Championship Qualifier.

November 26-2945TH ANNUAL AMERICAN OPEN. 8-SS, 40/2, SD/1. LAX Renaissance Hotel, 9620 Airport Bl, Los Angeles, CA 90045. $$37,500 b/o 400 entries, $19,500 gtd. In 6 sections (Unr. must play in Unr. or Open). Open: $3600-1800-800-600-500-400, U2450/Unr. $800-400, U2300/Unr. $600-300. U2200, U2000, U1800: Each $3000-1500-700-300. U1600 $2400-1200-500-300. U1400/Unr: $2000-1000-500, U1200 $900-450 (not a separate section; U1200s also eligible for U1400 prizes), Unrated: $300-150 (Unrateds in this section eligible for these prizes only). Spe-cial prizes $1000 gtd. in memory of Joyce Jillson: Best tactical games 200-100, best positional games 150-75, best tactical game non-Master 175, biggest rating gain by woman 200, biggest rating gain under age 13 100 (established ratings over 1000). Special cumulative upset prizes $500 gtd. donated by Dr. Harold Valery: Open, Under 2200, Under 2000 Each $100; Under 1800 $75; Under 1600, Under 1400 Each $50; Under 1200 $25. EF: Open, U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400 $120 if rec’d by 11/24, $50 more for play-ers rated under 2000 playing in Open, Unrated $40. All: $30 more at door. SCCF membership req’d, $18, $10 jrs under 19 includes Rank & File magazine, OSA. No checks at door – cash, credit card or money order only. 4-day schedule: Reg. closes noon 11/26, Rds. 12:30-7:30, 12:30-7:30, 10:30-5, 10-4:30. 3-day schedule: Reg. closes 11:30 a.m. 11/27, Rds. 12-2:30-5-8 (G/1), sched-ules merge in Rd 5 and compete for common prizes. Byes (2 max) with advance notice. CCA minimum rat-ings and TD discretion. November Rating Supplement used. Lectures and videos. HR: $99, (310) 337-2800, mention chess. Parking only $6. Info: Randy Hough (626) 282-7412, [email protected]. Ent: American Open, PO Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754 or www.americanopen.org. NS, W, F. WCL JGP. GP: 100. State Champion-ship Qualifier.

November 28AMERICAN OPEN SCHOLASTIC. 5-SS, G/45. Open to HS/below. LAX Re-naissance Hotel, 9620 Airport Bl, Los Angeles, CA 90045. In 4 sections K-12: trophies top 5, 2 each grades 9-12, 1 each K-8. K-8: trophies top 5, 2 each K-8. K-6: trophies top 5, 2 each K-6. K-3: trophies top 4, 2 each K-3. EF: $16 received by 11/25, $20 at door. Reg: 9-9:45 Rounds: 10-11:30-1-3-4:30. Ent: www.ameri-canopen.org or American Open, PO Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754. Info: Randy Hough (626) 282-7412, [email protected].

November 28AMERICAN OPEN QUICK CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. 5-SS (double round), G/10. LAX Renaissance Hotel, 9620 Airport Bl, Los Ange-les, CA 90045. $$1000: $250-150; U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600, Unr. each $100 (Unrated eligible only for Open and Unr. prize). EF: $30 received by 11/25, $35 at site. Reg closes 8 pm. Rounds: 8:15-9-9:45-10:30-11:15. Double bye (1 pt) avail-able for round 1. Ent: www.ameri-canopen.org or American Open, PO Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754. Info: Randy Hough (626) 282-7412, [email protected]. GP: 6.

November 29AMERICAN OPEN ACTION. 5-SS, G/30. LAX Renaissance Hotel, 9620 Air-port Bl, Los Angeles, CA 90045. EF: $20 received by 11/25; $25 at door. 80% of entry fees returned in prizes Reg: 11-11:45 a.m. Rounds: 12-1:15-3-4:15-5:30. Ent: www.ameri-canopen.org or American Open, PO Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754. Info: Randy Hough (626) 282-7412, [email protected].

SCCFPO BOX 205MONTEREY PARK CA 9754

VARJOMA – LUNDQUIST SWEDEN, 1980

BLACK TO MOVE

GHINDA – GOGILEA

ROMANIA, 1981BLACK TO MOVE

HAIK – SKEMBRIS

VRNJACKA BANJA 1981WHITE TO MOVE

Solutions on page 10

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Rank & File - SCCF Home · in the final round, and this writer yielded a first round draw to a...

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Transcript of Rank & File - SCCF Home · in the final round, and this writer yielded a first round draw to a...