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Who will be the next

State Champion?

Alabama Chess

Antics Summer 2012

2011 Will Stevenson 2010 Emory Tate 2009 Bradley Denton, Will Stevenson 2008 Scott Varagona, Joe Jurjevich, Brent Inman, Alex Weiner 2007 Scott

Varagona 2006 Joe Jurjevich, Brent Inman, Calvin Bomar 2005 Scott Varagona 2004 Gerald Larson, Ozgur Aktunc 2003 Joseph Marcrum 2002 Charles

Meidinger, Joe Jurjevich, Scott Varagona

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Letter From the Editor So much has happened in Alabama chess since our last Antics, I hardly know where to start! A great many

players deserve recognition:

• Kelly Chen and Stephen Adams are the 2012 Alabama Scholastic Co-Champions. Since Kelly was the winner of a blitz playoff, she earns the right to be Alabama’s next representative to the Denker Tournament of High School Champions.

• Steve Chen is the Alabama representative to the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions.

• Stephen Adams and I are the 2012 Alabama Quick Chess Co-Champions; Stephen won the 1st place trophy on tiebreaks.

• Bryan Tillis achieved his long-awaited National Master title at the Dothan Classic in June. For this Antics, Bryan graciously annotated the game (versus A.J. Goldsby) that sealed the deal.

• As luck would have it, I finally obtained my National Master title this summer as well. (Yay!) I annotated the game that got me there: it was another barnburner of a battle with Will Stevenson. (Seriously, Will: one of these days, we just need to play a nice, quiet Queen’s Gambit Declined, or something that won’t give us both a heart attack by the time the game is over!)

• Also, a few of our members have had some very notable achievements in tournaments outside of Alabama: Bradley Denton tied for first at the Georgia State Championship, and Clarence Kalenian tied for first in the Senior Amateur division of this year’s World Open.

Congratulations to everyone!

With the summer season of Alabama chess coming to a close, it’s just about time to look ahead to our biggest tournament of the year: the Alabama State Championship. This year, it’s in Decatur, Alabama, on September 28-30. I’m sure our defending champion, Will Stevenson, will be looking to add a third state title to his collection. However, needless to say, many other players hunger for the title as well...

I hope to see you all the State Championship! Check www.alabamachess.com for upcoming tournament fliers and details. And, of course: please email your games to the Antics, at AL.antics.editor@gmail.com.

Kindest regards,

Scott Varagona

Contents

2012 Alabama Quick Chess Championship by Scott Varagona page 3

Goldsby-Tillis: Dothan Classic 2012 by Bryan Tillis page 4

Varagona-Stevenson: What a Game! by Scott Varagona page 6

Strout-Varagona: Birmingham Open 2012 by Doug Strout page 9

Tournament Life Announcements

September 28-30, 2012 Alabama State Chess Championship Decatur, AL

September 29, 2012 Alabama State Chess Championship: Scholastic Tournament Decatur, AL

October 6-7, 2012 Dothan Chess Senior Open Dothan, AL

October 13, 2012 National Chess Day Scholastic Chess Tournament Birmingham, AL

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2012 Alabama Quick Chess

Championship By Scott Varagona

This year’s Quick Chess Championship was a huge success, with 60 entries and four sections: Open, Reserve, Rated Scholastic and Unrated Scholastic. We are indebted to TD Balagee Govindan and the Birmingham Chess Club for making this very fun event happen.

In the Open Section, Stephen Adams stamped his authority on the event early by winning his first four games in a row! That left the rating favorites, A.J. Goldsby and me, scrambling to catch up. Here was one of the highlights from Stephen’s rampage:

Adams,Stephen - Varagona,Scott (1614 Q) (2028 Q)

2012 AL Quick Chess Ch (Round 2), June 16, 2012

20...Bxc5?! A very committal move indeed, as I weaken my dark squares forever. I am staking everything on a kingside attack. The trouble is, in order for the attack to succeed, there is a very long and risky variation that has to work. “Long variation, wrong variation...” 21.dxc5 Qb8 22.Nd4! Nxd4 23.Qxd4 Ke7? There’s no turning back now. I want to get the other rook to the h-file as soon as possible, but now I’ll

have to sacrifice the knight on e4. 24.f3! Stephen calls my bluff. If I move the knight, he plays Bf4, Bd6+ and I’m positionally busted. So: 24...Rch8 25.fxe4 Rxh3 I had calculated this far, but I realized too late that White has: 26.e5! Oops. Stephen cuts off my queen and the attack is over. When I was calculating this variation several moves ago, White’s pawn was on f2. I guess I had just forgotten that the pawn could end up at e5 by the end of the line. 26...Rh1+ 27.Kf2 and White soon won (1–0).

Lesson learned. In quick chess, it is best to make good, solid moves quickly, rather than pursuing some grandiose sacrificial attack that could easily backfire!

Stephen continued to steamroll through

the rest of the competition until the last round, when he faced A.J. Goldsby. Now Goldsby had been having a shaky tournament; in an earlier round, A.J. had missed a clear win of material against Charles Smith and even went on to lose the game. It seemed A.J. still hadn’t found his form by the final round: he hung a whole knight in the opening against Stephen Adams. But the “comedy of errors” refused to end: Stephen missed his opportunity to take the knight, and A.J. ultimately won the game!

Thus, one of the wildest events I have ever participated in ended with Stephen Adams, A.J. Goldsby, and me in a three-way tie for first. Since A.J. is not an Alabama resident, the Alabama Quick Chess Co-Champion titles went to Stephen and me; Stephen won the first place trophy on tiebreaks. To my knowledge, this is Stephen’s most outstanding result in an Alabama tournament thus far, and I am sure we can expect much more from this promising young man.

Meanwhile, Tristen Kozinski won the Reserve Section in impressive fashion, with a perfect 5-0 score. In the Rated Scholastic, Kelly Chen also won with a convincing 5-0 score. And finally, the Unrated Scholastic was won by

Riley Smith. Congratulations to all! ■

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Goldsby-Tillis: Dothan

Classic 2012 By Bryan Tillis

Goldsby,AJ - Tillis,Bryan (2245) (2195) Dothan Classic (Round 2), June 2, 2012

1.c4 c6 2.d4

English players usually prefer not to allow Black any Slavic intentions. A position from the Caro-Kann usually develops after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3, with a Panov. 2...d5 3.cxd5

White signifies that he does not wish to have a theoretical battle. The Exchange Variation was invented for the unambitious or the afraid. 3...cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bg5?

6.Bf4 is the mainline: 6...Bf5 7.e3 e6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.0–0 0–0 12.Rfc1 Rfc8 with most games ending with a handshake. 6...Ne4 7.Bf4 e6 8.e3

8.a3 Qb6 9.Na4 Qa6 10.b4 Nxb4

11.axb4 Bxb4+ 12.Nd2 b5 13.Nc5 Nxd2 14.Rxa6 Nf3#. A very strange game by: Alam-Dwyer 1998, 0–1. 8...Bb4

The second-best move. 8...g5! 9.Bg3 h5 10.h4 Nxg3 11.fxg3 g4 12.Ng1 Bh6 is the reason the 6.Bg5 line is thought to be unplayable: Webster-Yakovich 1993, 0–1. 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Rc1 0–0 11.Bd3 f5 12.h3

A new move according to my database; 0–0 was played before and is the better move. 12...Qb6 13.Qc2 Bd7 14.0–0 Rac8 15.Qe2 Qa5 16.Nb5 a6

[16...Qxa2 17.Ra1 Qb3 18.Bc2 Qxb2 19.Rfb1 Nc3! 20.Nxc3 Qxc3 21.Ba4 e5 22.dxe5 Qc5�.] 17.a3 Be7 18.Nc3 Qd8

[18...Bxa3 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.bxa3 Qxa3 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Ng5 h6 23.Nxe4 Nxd4 24.exd4 Rxf4�.] 19.Nd2 b5 20.Ncxe4? fxe4 21.Bb1

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21...Nxd4 22.exd4

No better was 22.Qh5 Qe8 23.Qxe8 Ne2+ 24.Kh1 Rfxe8 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Be5 Rc1–+. 22...Rxf4 23.Nb3 Rf8 24.Rxc8 Qxc8 25.Rc1 Qb8 26.Rc3

[26.Nc5 Qf4 27.Rc3 Bd6 28.g3 Qf7 29.Ba2 Bc8∓] 26...b4 27.axb4 Bxb4 28.Rg3 Bd6 29.Rc3 Bb5 30.Qg4 Qe8 31.Nc5

31...Bxc5

Interesting was 31...Rf6 32.f3 Rg6 33.Qh4 Bg3 34.Qh5 Bf2+ 35.Kxf2 (35.Kh1 Bxd4) 35...Rxg2+ –+.

32.dxc5 Qf7 33.f3 h5 34.Qg5 d4 35.Ra3 d3 36.Ba2 exf3 37.gxf3 Qxf3 38.Bxe6+ Kh8 39.Bd5

39...Qd1+

[39...Qf1+ 40.Kh2 Rf2+ 41.Bg2 Bc6 42.Qxh5+ (42.Qd8+ Kh7 43.Qxd3+ Qxd3 44.Rxd3 Rxg2+ 45.Kh1 Rg3+ 46.Kh2 Rxd3) 42...Kg8 is mate in 4.] 40.Kh2 Rf2+ 41.Kg3

[41.Bg2 Bc6 42.Qd8+ Kh7 43.Rxd3 Rxg2#] 41...Qg1+ 42.Kh4 Qxg5+ 43.Kxg5 d2 44.Bb3 Rf1 45.Kxh5 Rf5+

[45...Rg1 46.Bd5 Be8+ 47.Kh4 g5#] 46.Kg4 Rxc5 47.Kf3 Rc1 48.Kf2 d1Q 49.Bxd1 Rxd1

Another 30 or so moves were played before White tipped his king. This game was of great importance as it was the game that put

me over the 2200 rating mark. 0–1 ■

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Varagona-Stevenson:

What a Game! By Scott Varagona

Varagona,Scott - Stevenson,Will (2192) (2115)

Birmingham Classic 2012 (Round 3), July 14, 2012

This was the game that finally lifted me above the magic 2200 rating barrier and made me a chess master. After fighting toward this goal for more than ten years, getting there at last is a dream come true. Still, looking over the end of this game now, I realize that I actually had no clue what was going on! Chess is such a devilish beast of a game; can anyone ever rightly be called a “master” of it?... 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5

I’ll be honest: I have given up trying to

predict what opening Will is going to play against 1.d4. He’s thrown Benkos and Nimzo-Indians at me, not to mention a Benoni and a Grunfeld. This time, the Benko Gambit was a bit of a surprise: after all, the last time we played this line, I won a (relatively) nice game. (See the Summer 2011 Antics.) 4.a4 bxc4 5.Nc3 d6 6.e4 Ba6?! 7.f4

Will and I have a fundamental disagreement over the nature of this position. In my view, the plan with ...bxc4 and ...Ba6 heavily favors White. After all, in the Benko Gambit, Black needs his queenside counterplay. Yet here, if I let the c4-pawn live, stop Black’s knights from getting to d3, and protect my b2-pawn, then what is Black supposed to do? His queenside pieces just seem to be stymied. Meanwhile, as long as the center and the queenside remain stable, White practically gets carte blanche on the kingside. That was basically what happened (albeit with a few hiccups) in our previous game.

Still, in spite of all this, Will was diving head-first into the exact same opening line as before. He obviously still believed in Black’s position and had found an improvement. Maybe I could find an improvement for White as well. 7...g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.Be2

The first improvement: I refrain from

my previous choice in this position, 9.a4-a5?!, which only opened b5 for Black’s pieces. 9...0–0 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Ra3!?

Last time, I played Ra1-a2 to protect b2

and free my c1-bishop from guard duty. The bishop got active, but the rook remained a passive defender for almost the entire game. This time, I decided to leave my bishop on c1 and activate the rook instead. 11...Ne8 12.f5!

My best move of the game. At the cost

of ceding the e5-square, White starts a dangerous attack. I also prevent any attempt at ...f7-f5 counterplay by Black, and curtail ...e7-e6 counterplay as well. Suddenly Black seems to be in trouble and it’s not clear what he did wrong. Again, I think the plan of ...bxc4 and ...Ba6 is to blame.

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12...Rb8 13.Qe1 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Qh4 Bd4+ 16.Kh1 Bf6 17.Qh3

This position is very pleasant to play for

White, and extremely difficult to defend as Black. Simply g2-g4-g5 is in the air, and then doubling major pieces on the h-file. Will began consuming vast amounts of time over the next few moves, trying to find a good defense. Before I knew it, he had only a handful of minutes left for the entire rest of the game. 17...Ng7 18.g4 e6 19.Qh6 exf5 20.exf5 Ne8 21.g5 Bg7 22.Qh4 f6

Black cannot be happy about making such a weakening move, but White’s threat of f5-f6 just looks terrifying and must be stopped. Will’s time continues to tick away.

23.Ne4 fxg5 24.Bxg5 Qc7 25.Rh3 h5? With the position about to explode with

tactics, we should start to let the computer throw its weight around. Apparently 25... Bxb2! (Fritz) would have been preferable here. If I recall, Will had only about 14 seconds left on his clock at this point.

26.Be7!?

A tough decision. I had considered

playing 26.f6, which blocks the g7-bishop’s view of b2 and sets up the sacrifice Bxh5. But I saw that after 26.Be7 the g-file would open immediately and the position would be aflame with complications. So, this move seemed like the best way to take advantage of Will’s time pressure: even with the 5-second delay, surely he could not process such an insane position!

Be that as it may, this was a missed opportunity: with 26. Bxh5!! (Fritz) White blows open the kingside immediately and gets a winning attack. 26...Rxf5 27.Rxf5 gxf5 28.Nf6+?

Another missed shot: 28.Bxh5!! is much

stronger because 28...fxe4?? runs into the computer’s 29.Bg6!, with mate in five. Yikes! 28...Nxf6 29.Bxf6

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Now is where things get really interesting. Can Black defend?

29...Rxb2??

This move loses, but 29...c3! appears to

save the game for Black—and White may even lose if he’s careless. Here’s a sample: 29...c3! 30.Bxa6 cxb2 31.Bd3? b1=Q+ 32. Bxb1 Rxb1+ 33.Kg2 Qb7! 34.Bxg7 Qxd5+ 35.Kf2? (35.Rf3 Rb4! wins for Black eventually) ...Qd2+, and Black will mate shortly. There are many possible lines here, but if Black plays with godlike precision, he usually comes out on top. Instead of 31.Bd3?, White should play 31.Bxb2 when the computer shows the game should be equal (assuming both sides play like geniuses). 30.Bxb2?!

Fritz’s 30.Re3! is much, much stronger.

Still, 30.Bxb2 does give White an advantage and the position is starting to simplify in my favor. 30...c3 31.Bxc3

I’m just nitpicking now, but 31.Qxh5!

(Fritz), threatening Qe8+, is supposed to be stronger. Who cares? I’m still winning, and one win is as good as another! 31...Bxe2 32.Qg5?

Darn, another slip. I wish that confounded computer would stop slapping me on the wrist. It’s hard to be human, sometimes. Anyway, 32.Re3! threatens both Rxe2 and Re7, and wins pretty cleanly. 32...Bg4?

The final mistake: Fritz’s 32...Qf7! hits

d5 and gives Black some practical defensive chances. 33.Re3!

This was the move Will must have missed at the end of this line. White threatens Re7, and after 33...Qf7 34.Re7! Qxd5+ 35.Kg1 Qd1+ 36.Re1!, Black has run out of checks. On the other hand, after 33...Kf8 34.Bxg7+ Qxg7 35. Re8+, White wins Black’s queen. Thankfully, I didn’t have to find either of these lines at the board, because Will finally lost on time (1–0).

So my strategy of complicating things worked, but I failed to appreciate just what a minefield I was galloping through. This game has to rank up there among the tensest battles Will and I have ever had, which is saying a lot. My brain was so keyed up afterwards that the last several moves replayed in my mind over and over that night, even as I tried to get to

sleep. What a game! ■

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Strout-Varagona:

Birmingham Open 2012 By Doug Strout

D.L. Strout - S. Varagona (1602) (2178)

Birmingham Open (Round 4), May 26, 2012 1.e4 Here’s the situation: I am 2.0/3 in the Birmingham Open going into a final-round match-up with four-time Alabama state champion Scott Varagona (2178), who was in clear first at 3.0/3. I defeated an A-player in the previous round, and Scott has already defeated all other contenders. Time to just relax and play the game, starting (of course) with 1. e4. 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 I expected the Caro from Scott, and I have already lost to him in the Caro Exchange, so I try the Caro Advance. More of a lark, really, since I have never played this opening in a USCF tournament before. 3...c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Assuming Scott knows all the major lines of the Caro advance, I just play the attackers-vs-defenders game at d4. 5...Bg4 6.Be2 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 A removing-the-guard tactic by Scott, which I couldn’t really prevent, so I just go with it and develop my bishop. The d4 pawn is still protected. Also, the black queen is the only protector of the d5 pawn, a fact that helps my opening. 7...e6

8.0–0 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nge7 10.Be3 Anticipating his ...Nf5, still playing the numbers game at d4. 10...Nf5 11.Bg4 Nxe3 12.fxe3 This actually solidifies d4 and gives me more time for development. 12...Be7 13.Na3 Looking at a possible Nc2 to protect d4 and e3. I am not worried about Bxa3 because I don’t think he has an easy attack on the doubled pawns. 13...0–0 14.Qb3 a6 15.Rac1 Na5 16.Qd3 b5 17.Rc2 Qd7 18.Be2 This gives me an attacker I can use against ...Nc4. 18...Rac8 19.Rfc1 Powering up c-file for combat. 19...Rxc2 20.Qxc2 Since no one but the black queen and black rook are covering c8, this move maintains my hold on c-file. 20...Bxa3 21.bxa3 Okay, fine. I still have a bishop covering c4.

21...Nc4 22.Bxc4 Rc8 Nice tactic by Scott to project force on c-file, but I have enough pieces to match it. 23.Qb2 Rxc4 24.Rxc4 dxc4 He has the supported passed pawn now, but there is not an easy way to push it, and I have a good pawn center. 25.a4 I suppose it is asking too much to expect a four-time Alabama champion to commit the game-losing error ...bxa4 and allow back rank mate. 25...h6 26.axb5 Qxb5 A very interesting choice, and the cause of my longest calculation of the game. Once I realize Qxb5 axb5 Kf1 gets me close enough to the passed pawn, I go for the swap. 27.Qxb5 axb5 28.Kf1 b4 29.Ke1 I am right where I need to be. Black’s ...b3 axb3 cxb3 is now unplayable. 29...f6 30.exf6 gxf6

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31.g4 The idea here is to prevent ...f5 from freezing my central pawns and making them vulnerable to the black king. 31...f5 Interestingly, he plays ...f5 anyway, which gives me a passed pawn on d4. 32.gxf5 exf5 Any kingside attack now would be very slow because his king is still on g8, so I can get back to work on files b and c. 33.Kd2 Kf7 34.Kc2 Ke6 35.Kb2 Kd5 OK, both kings are in the fight, and I have to do something about b4 and c4 immediately. 36.a4 Playing to force the e.p. capture and eliminate one of the pawns.

36...bxa3+ 37.Kxa3 f4 38.exf4 This retake is forced. 38...Kxd4 Since Kb2 cuts off the c-pawn, I don’t have to move my king right now. He needs king AND pawn moves to promote the c-pawn, which gives me time. 39.f5 Forcing the action. Either neither side promotes or both do. 39...c3 He makes his choice. I am standing on a check square for his coming queen, but he still needs more king moves to promote. The road not taken is ...Ke5 Kb4 Kxf5 Kxc4 Kg4 Kd3 Kh3 Ke2 Kxh2 Kf2 Draw. 40.f6 Kd3 41.f7 c2 42.Kb2 I like this move. This forces ...Kd2 from him, which will get in the way of his queen and prevent easy forks for black to pick off my h2 pawn. 42...Kd2 43.f8Q c1Q+ Okay, I am in check but I am in no real danger. If he stops checking me for even one move, my queen harasses his king. 44.Kb3 Qc3+ 45.Ka4 Qc6+ 46.Kb3

I am playing for repetition here, and I offer a draw (see my November 2011 Counterplay column in Chess Life about lower-rated players offering draws). Scott is under five minutes on time, but he has played some great time scrambles over the years, so I am not sure how much the clock is affecting him. He accepts, and we agree to a draw. He still finishes in clear first, and I move up to clear third, a great result for a B-player in an Open tournament. ½–½

(Editor’s Note: It drove me nuts that I failed to win this ending! With an active, centralized king and two connected passed pawns, I felt Black had to be winning here... It wasn’t until the following morning when, tossing and turning in bed, I suddenly imagined the position in a new light and realized the right way to proceed: 36...Kc6!! For now, Black simply lets the a-pawn live! The point is that Black’s king is just going to march over and win White’s a-pawn, all the while staying within the “square” of White’s d-pawn. Since White has no good counterplay, the win is easy: 36...Kc6!! 37.Kc2 Kb6 38.Kb2 Ka5. If White continues to shuffle with his king, Black takes on a4. If 39.d5!? Kb6! 40.d6 Kc6 41.a5 Kxd6 42.a6 Kc6, White’s pawns are no match for Black’s athletic monarch. This missed opportunity haunted me for days... At any rate, congrats to Doug for finding a way

to defend such a scary-looking ending.) ■