sevillano im enrico - sccf home · im enrico sevillano. ... opinion: chess blindness & blunders...

R ank & File NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008 VOLUME XXXI, NO. 6 $3.00

Southern California

Open

IM Enrico Sevillano

2 RANK & FILE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008

Tired of high entry fees?Play in the

10th Annual Joseph Ileto Memorial

December 13-145-SS, rds. 1-3 30/85, SD/30, rds 4-5 40/2, SD/1

SIERRA VISTA PARK

311 N RURAL DR. at E. Emerson, Monterey Park, CA 91755

Prize Fund

$300-200-100

U2300 $100 U1500 $100U2100 $100 U1300 $75U1900 $100 U1100 $75U1700 $100 Unrated $50

Entry fee: $30 if received by 12/11, $40 at door. Special Entry Fee: Juniors not eligible for cash prizes $10 (trophies to top 5). Full details on page 23.

A State Championship Qualifier

Entries: SCCF, P.O. Box 205, Monterey Park CA 91754


CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION ........... .........................................................330TH ANNUAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OPEN .............................5TACTICS

BY TIM HANKS .................................. .......................................................................9THE LONG VIEW

BY JOHN HILLERY .......................... .....................................................................12HERE & THERE

Club news, local tournaments, scholastic events and more ............................................................................. 14

OPINION: CHESS BLINDNESS & BLUNDERS BY CHUCK ENSEY ................................. ..................................................................... 17STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS ................. 18INTERNATIONAL NEWS ................................................................ 19UPCOMING EVENTS ............................................................................. 22CHESS QUIZ .............................................. ....................................................... 24


CONTENTSAROUND THE NATION ........... .........................................................330TH ANNUAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OPEN .............................5TACTICS

BY TIM HANKS ..................................TIM HANKS ..................................TIM HANKS .......................................................................9THE LONG VIEW

BY JOHN HILLERY ..........................JOHN HILLERY ..........................JOHN HILLERY .....................................................................12HERE & THERE Club news, local tournaments, scholastic scholastic schol eventsastic eventsastic and more .............................................................................and more .............................................................................and more 14OPINION: OPINION: OPINION CHESS BLINDNESS & BLUNDERS BY CHUCK ENSEY .................................CHUCK ENSEY .................................CHUCK ENSEY .....................................................................17STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERSSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERSSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP Q .................18INTERNATIONAL NEWS ................................................................19UPCOMING EVENTS .............................................................................22CHESS QUIZ .............................................. .......................................................24

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

44th Annual American Open

Since 1965, the American Open has been a Southern California fix-ture over Thanksgiving weekend. This year, the beautiful LAX Re-naissance Montura Hotel will again host the event.

The American Open offers a number of features lacking in other tournaments. These include dem-onstration boards, lectures (IM Jer-emy Silman, a perennial favorite, will be speaking Sunday afternoon, November 30), and chess videos and DVDs. The Chess Piece (http://www.thechesspiece.com/) will be provid-ing beautiful wood sets and boards for the top ten boards in the Open section, with one to be auctioned off after the tournament.

The prize fund, with a mini-mum of $18,000 guaranteed, is the largest in the state. There are also $1,400 in special prizes in memory of the late Joyce Jillson, including $400 for biggest rating gain by a female player, and $200 for biggest gain by a player under age 13.

Players may choose between the four-day (two rounds a day at 40/2) and three-day (beginning the day after Thanksgiving, with the first four rounds at Game/1) sched-ules. Chess Palace will be offering a full selection of books, DVDs, and equipment, as well as special Amer-ican Open T-shirts.

Side events include a scholastic in four sections (Saturday, Novem-ber 29), a Quick rated tournament Saturday night, and an Action (Game/30) event on Sunday after-noon. Full details can be found in

the flyer in this issue, and on our webpage (www.americanopen.org). The site also includes a list of the luminaries who have won the tour-nament, including Gata Kamsky, Yasser Seirawan, Pal Benko, Rob-ert Byrne, and Walter Browne.

Organizer Randy Hough is happy to answer your questions ([email protected]). We look forward to seeing you at this special event!

SPICE CupThis 10-player round robin, held

at Texas Tech University in Lubbock September 19 through 28, ended in a 4-way tie among GMs Varuzhan Akobian, Alexander Onischuk, Leo-nid Kritz and Harikrishna Pentala, all with 5½-3½. The all-GM event reached Category 15, making it the strongest such tournament held in the U.S. in at least three decades.


Advertising Rates: Full page $80, half page $45, 1/4 page $25, 1/8 page $15, back cover (3/4 page) $80. (All rates are for camera-ready copy.) Flyer insert $50 (advertiser must supply flyers). 50% discount for tournaments requiring SCCF membership. Display ads should be sent to the Editor, flyers to the Publisher (addresses at right). Payment should be sent with order to the Editor. SCCF reserves the right to reject any advertising.

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 Cyrus Lakdawala 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 2008. 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

The tournament was organized by the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence. Final standings:

1-4. GMs Harikrishna Pentala, IND 2668, Alexander Onischuk, USA 2670 5½, Leonid Kritz, GER 2610 and Varuzhan Akobian, USA 2610 5½-3½

5. GM Julio Becerra, USA 2598 5-4

6. GM Victor Mikhalevski, ISR 2592 4½-4½

7. GM Eugene Perelshteyn, USA 2555 4-5

8-9. GMs Gregory Kaidanov, USA 2605 and Kamil Miton, POL 2580 3½-5½

10. GM Hannes Stefansson, ISL 2566 2½-6½

GM Victor Mikhalevski (2673) – GM Kamil Miton (2702)

SPICE Cup, Lubbock 2008D47 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED,

Semi-Slav Defense1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4.

Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. a3 b4 10. Ne4 bxa3 11. 0–0 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bd6 13. Nd2 0–0 14. b3 Ba6 15. Re1 Bb5 16. Bf3 a6 17. Nc4 Bb4 18. Bd2 Qe7 19. Qc1 Bxd2 20. Qxd2 e5 21. Qa5 exd4 22. exd4 Qd8 23. Qxa3 Nf6 24. Nd6 Ra7 25. Qc5 Qb8 26. Nf5 Nd7 27. Qc1 Rc7

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28. Qg5 g6 29. Re7 Qd8 30. Rae1 Kh8 31. Nd6 Kg8 32. Ne8 1–0

GM Hannes Stefansson (2598) – GM Varuzhan Akobian (2656)

SPICE Cup, Lubbock 2008D34 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED,

Tarrasch Defense1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5

exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0–0 0–0 9. Bg5 c4 10. Ne5 Be6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. e3 Nd7 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Na4 Rab8 15. Qc2 Rb4 16. b3 Rfb8 17. Rfd1 g6 18. Qc1 Qd6 19. Rd2 Bf5 20. Nc3 cxb3 21. axb3 Rxb3 22. Rda2 Qb4 23. Ra3 Rb2 24. Ra4 Qb3 25. R4a3 Rc2 26. Qe1 Qb4 27. Bf3 Rb7 28. g4 Be6 29. Na4 Qe7 30. Be2 h5 31. Bd3

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31. ... Qh4 32. Bxc2 Qxg4+ 33. Kf1 Qf3 34. Qa5 Nb6 35. Ke1 Nc4 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qg5 Bg4 0–1

Photos: Cover, p. 4: John Hillery. P. 13: Randy Hough. P. 14: Anthiony Ong. Pp. 15, 16, 17: Ric Aeria. Pp. 19, 20: chessbase.com.


GM Melikset Khachiyan (2561) -- Eugene Yanayt (2302)

Southern California Open, Pasa-dena 2008

D01 VERESOV OPENING [Notes by Los Angeles Times

chess columnist Jack Peters]1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5The Veresov Opening. 3. … Nbd7 4. f3 c5 5. dxc5Or 5. e4 cxd4, with about even

chances. 5. … e6 6. b4!? Much sharper than 6. e4. 6. … Be7Also wild is 6. ... b6 7. c6 Ne5 8.

b5 Bb4.

30th Annual

Southern California Open

7. e3 0-0 Threatening 8. ... b6 9. c6 Bxb4.

Yanayt had already used more than an hour.

8. a3 a5 9. Bb5 Qc7 10. Nge2 b6

Expecting plenty of compensa-tion from 11. cxb6 Nxb6.

11. c6!? Strong or weak, this pawn’s fu-

ture decides the game. 11. … Nb8Equally obscure is 11. ... Ne5 12.

bxa5 Rxa5 13. Nd4 Bxa3 14. 0-0 Bb4.

12. bxa5 Rxa5White safely pockets a pawn af-

ter 12. ... Nxc6 13. Bf4! e5 14. axb6 Qxb6 15. Bxc6 Qxc6 16. Bxe5.

13. Nd4 Bxa3 Maybe 13. ... Rd8, preparing ...

e6-e5, improves. 14. 0-0 Bc5 15. Rxa5 bxa5 16.

Bxf6 gxf6 17. f4 f5 Not 17. ... Bxd4? 18. Qxd4 Nxc6

because 19. Bxc6 Qxc6 20. Qxf6 sets up Rf1-f3-g3, but 17. ... Kh8 is reasonable.

18. Rf3 f6?

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Time pressure. Only 18. ... Kh8 resists.

19. Nxf5! Counting on 19. ... exf5 20

Qxd5+. 19. … Bb4 20. Rg3+ Kh8 21.

Nh6! e5Else 22. Qg4 mates at g8 or g7. 22. Qxd5!, Black Resigns.

The 30th Annual Southern California Open, held at the Shera-ton Pasadena Hotel from August 30 through September 1,

ended in a 4-way tie among GM Melikset Khachiyan (2561), IMs Andranik Matikozyan and Enrico Sevillano, and Tatev Abraha-myan, all with 5-1. Sevillano took the championship trophy on tiebreak, adding another to the state invitational championship trophy he took home the week before.

Next at 4½-1½ were masters Alexandre Kretchetov and Garush Ma-nukyan and experts Vadim Kudryavtsev, Lawrence Stevens and Christian Tanaka. David Leinbach (4-2) took the Class A prize.

In the Amateur (U1800) section, Jeffrey Ding and Gonzalo Roberts Cer-vantes tied for first with 5-1. Class prizes went to Benjamin Rosenfeld, Der-rick Lee Sia, Vartan Shamirian, Jonathan Meaglia and James Norwood.

Sean Manross topped the Scholastic Open, and Arissa Jad Torres the Scholastic Reserve. First in the Action (G/30_ tournament went to Henry Castro, while Elston He headed the Hexes (G/90.

The new site saw good turnouts of turnout of 147 for the main event (the best in four years), and 112 more competed in the scholastics. John Hillery and Elie Hsiao directed.


Tim Thompson (1928) – IM Jack Peters (2415)


B11 CARO-KANN DEFENSE1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4.

h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 Nf6 6. exd5 cxd5 7. Bb5+ Nc6 8. 0–0 e6 9. d4 Be7 10. Bf4 0–0 11. Rfd1 Qb6 12. Qd3 Rfc8 13. Ba4 Na5 14. Bb3 Rc6 15. Ba4 Rcc8 16. Bb3 a6 17. f3 Qc6 18. Rac1 Nc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Qe3 Rd8 21. Be5 b5 22. Ne4 Nd5 23. Qd2 f6 24. Bg3 f5 25. Nc3 Bf6

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26. Nxd5 (26. Ne2) 26. ... Rxd5 27. Qe3 Rad8 28. c3 e5 29. Re1 f4 0–1

Robert Xue (1911) – Larry Stevens (2092)


B79 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Dragon Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.

Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Bc4 Nc6 8. f3 0–0 9. Bb3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Qa5 11. 0–0–0 Rfc8 12. Kb1 Ne5 13. h4 b5 14. h5 Nxh5 15. g4 Nf6 16. Bg5 Rxc3 17. Qxc3 Qxc3 18. bxc3

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18. ... Nexg4 19. fxg4 Nxe4 20. Bxe7 Nxc3+ 21. Kb2 Nxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Bxg4 23. Rd2 Be5 24. c3 Re8 25. Bh4 a6 26. Rf2 Be6 27. Nxe6 fxe6 28. Bf6 Bxf6 29. Rxf6 d5 30. Kc2 Kg7 31. Rf2 Rf8 32. Rxf8 Kxf8 33. Kd3 Ke7 34. Ke3 Kd6 35. Kf4 e5+ 36. Ke3 Kc5 37. Kd3 a5 38. Bd1 h5 39. Be2 b4 40. cxb4+ Kxb4 41. Bd1 h4 42. Bg4 Kc5 43. Bd7 e4+ 44. Ke3 Kd6 45. Bg4 Ke5 46. Bd7 g5 47. Bc8 d4+ 48. Kf2 Kf4 49. Bh3 g4 50. Bf1 h3 51. a3 g3+ 52. Kg1 d3 53. a4 g2 0–1

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2561) (2504) – Tianye He (2149)


B23 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Rossolimo Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4.

Bxc6 bxc6 5. f4 Bg7 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. d3 0–0 8. 0–0 d5 9. e5 Nd7 10. Qe1 Nb6 11. b3 c4 12. Ba3 Ba6 13. Qe3 Rc8 14. Rfd1 cxd3 15. cxd3 Re8 16. Rac1 f6 17. d4 Nd7 18. Na4 Bb5 19. e6 Nb8 20. Nc5 Na6 21. Bb2 Nxc5 22. dxc5 Qc7 23. Nd4 Ba6 24. h4 Bh6 25. g3 Kh8 26. Kf2 Rg8 27. Rh1 Rg7 28. Kf3 Rcg8 29. Rcd1 Rc8 30. Bc3 Rgg8 31. h5 g5 32. Nf5 gxf4 33. gxf4

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33. ... Bxf4 34. Qxf4 Be2+ 35. Ke3 Qxf4+ 36. Kxf4 Rg4+ 37. Ke3 Re4+ 38. Kd2 Bxd1 39. Rxd1 Rxe6 40. Nxe7 Re8 41. Nf5 Re2+ 42. Kd3 Rxa2 43. Rg1 Rf8 44. Bd4 h6 45. Rg6 Rh2 46. Bxf6+ Kh7 47. Rg7+ Kh8 48. Rf7+ 1–0

Mike Zaloznyy (2096) – IM Jack Peters (2415)


B40 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Taimanov Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4.

Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nb3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. 0–0 Be7 9. a3 0–0 10. c4 Nf6 11. Nc3 Qc7 12. Qe2 Bd7 13. Be3 Ne5 14. Bf4 Bd6 15. c5 Nf3+ 16. Qxf3 Bxf4 17. g3 Be5 18. Rac1 Rad8 19. Qe2 Bxc3 20. Rxc3 e5 21. Re1 Rfe8 22. Bb5 Bxb5 23. Qxb5 Rd5 24. Na5 a6 25. Qb4 Rb8 26. Rec1 h5 27. Rb3 b6 28. Rc4 b5 29. c6

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THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT—Jeffrey Ding and Gonzalo Roberts Cervantes (the tall one) tied for first in the Ama-teur section, with Roberts Cervantes taking the trophy on tiebreak.


29. ... Rd1+ 30. Kg2 Nd5 0–1

David Matson (2019) - Lagemann,N (1901)


B26 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Closed Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2

g6 5. d3 e6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Qd2 Nge7 8. Bh6 0–0 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. f4 d5 11. e5 Nd4 12. Nd1 b5 13. c3 Ndc6 14. Nf3 c4 15. d4 a5 16. g4 Rh8 17. Ne3 h5 18. h3 hxg4 19. hxg4 Rxh1+ 20. Bxh1 b4 21. Bg2 bxc3 22. bxc3 Rb8 23. Ke2 Qb6 24. Rh1 Bd7 25. f5 exf5

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26. Nxc4 Nxe5 27. Qh6+ Kf6 28. dxe5+ Ke6 29. Ng5# 1–0

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2561) – David Portwood (1928)


B23 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Rossolimo Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4.

Nf3 g6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. 0–0 Bg7 7. d3 e6 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. Be3 b6 10. Qe1 Ne7 11. d4 0–0 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. Qh4 Rfd8 14. f5 gxf5

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15. d5 Ng6 16. Qh5 f4[16. ... Bd7 17. Ng5 h6 (17. ... Nf8

18. Qxf7+ Kh8 19. dxe6) 18. Nxf7 Kxf7 19. dxe6+ Bxe6 20. exf5]

17. dxc6 fxe3 18. Ng5 1–0

Randel Eng (1922) – Eugene Yanayt (2303)


B87 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Najdorf Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.

Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. 0–0 b5 9. Qf3 Qc7 10. Re1 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. Qg3 0–0 13. f3 Rd8 14. Bh6 Ne8 15. Rad1 Bb7 16. Rd3 Bf6 17. Red1 a5 18. a4 b4 19. Nb5 Ba6 20. Bg5 Bxb5 21. axb5 Qc5+ 22. Be3 Qxb5 23. Bd4 Bxd4+ 24. Rxd4 a4 25. Bc4 Qc5 26. f4 a3 27. bxa3 bxa3 28. Qf2 a2 29. Ra1 Ra4 30. Rxa2 Rxc4 31. Ra4 Rxc2 32. Qe3 Rb8 33. h3 e5 34. fxe5 Rb1+ 35. Kh2 Qxe5+ 36. Qg3 Rh1+ 0–1

Larry Stevens (2092) – Craig Faber (2226)


B01 CENTER COUNTER DEFENSE1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 c6

4. Be2 Nf6 5. 0–0 Bf5 6. d4 e6 7. c4 Qd8 8. Nc3 Bd6 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Bg5 Qxb3 11. axb3 Nbd7 12. c5 Be7 13. b4 Ne4 14. Bf4 g5 15. Be3 Nxc3 16. bxc3 g4 17. Nd2 a6 18. Bf4 0–0 19. Nc4 h5 20. Na5 Ra7 21. Bc7 Bd8 22. Bxd8 Rxd8 23. Nc4 Nf6 24. Nd6 Ne4 25. Nxe4 Bxe4 26. f3 gxf3 27. gxf3 Bg6 28. f4 Raa8 29. Kf2 Kg7 30. Ke3 Kf6 31. h4 Rh8 32. Bf3

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32. ... Bf5 33. Rg1 Rag8 34. Rg5

Rxg5 35. fxg5+ Ke7 36. Kf4 Bg6 37. Be4 Bxe4 38. Kxe4 Rd8 39. Rf1 Ra8 40. Rf6 a5 41. bxa5 Rxa5 42. Rh6 Ra3 43. Rxh5 Rxc3 44. Rh8 Rg3 45. Rb8 Rg4+ 46. Ke5 Rxh4 47. Rxb7+ Kf8 48. g6 fxg6 49. Rc7 Rh5+ 50. Kxe6 Rd5 51. Rd7 1–0

Vanessa West (2011) – Mike Za-loznyy (2096)


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

0–0 Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. c3 Nge7 7. d3 0–0 8. Be3 d6 9. d4 b6 10. a4 Bg4 11. d5 Nb8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 f5 14. Bd3 f4 15. Bd2 Nd7 16. Na3 Nf6 17. a5 g5 18. axb6 axb6 19. Nb5 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 h5 21. Be2 g4 22. Qd3 Ng6 23. b4 Nh4 24. f3 gxh3 25. gxh3

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25. ... Nxe4 26. Qxe4 Qg5+ 27. Kf1 Qg2+ 28. Ke1 Qh1+ 29. Bf1 Nxf3+ 30. Kf2 Qg1+ 31. Kxf3 Qh1+ 32. Bg2 Qxa1 33. Ke2 Rf6 34. Nc7 Qg1 35. Ne8 Rf8 36. Nxd6 Qh2 37. Qf3 cxb4 38. cxb4 Qg1 39. Bc3 Ra8 40. Ne4 Ra2+ 41. Bd2 Ra1 42. Nf2 e4 43. Qxe4 f3+ 44. Qxf3 Bd4 45. Qg3+ Kh8 46. Qb8+ Kg7 47. Qc7+ Kg8 48. Qd8+ Kf7 49. Qd7+ Kf8 50. Qf5+ Kg8 51. Qg5+ Bg7 52. d6 Ra8 1–0


TacticsTacticsby NM Tim Hanks

There is no quick or easy way to learn chess tactics. It takes time,

lots of practice and hard work. It’s important you constantly study and learn tactical themes and motifs, of which there are dozens, such as pins, forks, deflections, double-at-tacks, etc., so you will become more proficient with executing chess tac-tics.

In contrast, you can study a book on a particular opening and within a few hours of practice and review you may be able to play the opening moves “pretty well.” Even with rel-atively little understanding of what the strategic purpose may be of a particular opening many players are able to progress to the middle-game before their true knowledge, or lack thereof, of chess begins to show. For example many beginners learn to play chess with moves such as 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3, etc. This is the Ruy Lopez that many beginners may, at first, typically like to play. Often they don’t know what the purpose of the moves are as they are simply copying what they’ve seen others play and have never had a review session or read any books on the opening. As experi-enced players know, most openings are a basic fight for time, a definite strife for an advantage in territory and moves that introduce specific

strategies aimed at winning mate-rial. How this is accomplished is buried in the lines to create imbal-ances and in the many variations of the opening. Most beginners and even people who have played for de-cades don’t know this. All it takes is one of two moves to deviate from the basic opening “theory” and sud-denly the player seems lost on what to do or how to proceed.

Take the following example played in a local club tournament. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6, which is a kind of Hungarian Defense. White was “hoping” for either 3. … Nf6 (leading to the Two Knights Defense) or 3. … Bc5 (Giuoco Pia-no), in both of which he knows the opening move sequences fairly well. Play continued 4. d4 which is fine and now Black played 4. … Bg4!?,which threatens 5. … Nxd4.

Position No. 1. White to move. XIIIIIIIIY

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White is not familiar with this line of play and is now forced to figure out what to do as his clock ticks down. The game continued 5.

h3 which is okay, however, better may be 5. c3 with plans to exploit Black’s early and somewhat prema-ture Bishop deployment as White will already be threatening Qb3. Back to the game: Black replied 5.

… Bh5?! and this is now simply bad for Black. The problem is … White does not see or understand how to exploit this move order. This is a classic example where tactical op-portunities are missed simply be-cause the basic ideas of a particular opening are not understood. By the way, better, and probably forced for Black was 5. … Bd7. Now White in unfamiliar territory, misses a bet-ter continuation and plays 6. g4?! Better may be 6. d5! since if Nd4?! (the very move White feared) then 7. g4! Nxf3+ 8. Qxf3 Bg6 9. Bb5+ with a clear (and almost winning) advantage for White.

Position No. 2. Black to move. XIIIIIIIIY

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The game continued 6. … Bg6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Be3 Nf6 9. dxe5?! Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Bxe4 and Black emerged from the opening with the better game and a clear advantage even though his moves were weak and not the best. This kind of open-ing misplay happens all the time.


Tacticsby NM Tim Hanks

Club players are notorious for get-ting into routines and when some-one new comes along with a new move order or opening system they seem lost on what to do even if their opponent is playing unsoundly.

In a recent tournament the pair-ings put a total beginner, who bare-ly knew how to move the pieces or even how to keep score, with a very experienced 1800+ player. Neither player was aware of the other’ level or chess experience. The beginner had White. The game started 1. e4 and Black responded 1. … Nf6. The beginner not being familiar with this move responded with 2. Nf3, since this is what he always plays. Of course Black continued 2. … Nxe4 winning the pawn. The game continued for many more moves with the inexperienced player drop-ping more and more material until finally being checkmated, as he did not know anything about resigning. What was interesting was how the experienced player took quite some time to finally realize he was play-ing someone who hardly knew any-thing about chess. If he had known his opponent was a total beginner he probably would not have played the Alekhine’s Defense and would have selected more direct and threaten-ing moves to quickly checkmate his opponent.

Many tournament players are very anxious to see what the rating is of their opponent when paired be-fore a round starts. For some their selection of opening or even style of play may differ depending on the rating of their opponent. I re-member when I first started to play USCF rated chess and my first rat-ing was in the 1200’s. I had no idea what the so called “rating numbers” really meant. I just wanted to beat everyone I played and was never intimidated by so called “higher ranked” players. Many stronger players totally underestimated my strength and played unsound moves thinking not much effort would be needed to beat me. Let me just say… I enjoyed some big upsets back in

those days. It was all about having the right attitude. I always recom-mend that you play soundly and that you play the board. You should never underestimate your opponent and realize that ratings especially can be very deceiving. Some people even think that if a player is un-rat-ed he must be weak. This is a very bad assumption.

One of the best examples of how to play someone you don’t know is demonstrated when you watch GMs perform simultaneous exhibi-tions. They may have no idea if they are playing a beginner or a Master. They play sound moves and build on the position with precise strate-gic principles. There moves are not wild, arrogant or unsound attacks.

In another related example, with a twist, there was a player rated about 1550 who was paired with, he thought, was a 1300 strength opponent. From the start he felt confident he was going to win as he was higher rated. In the open-ing and through to the middlegame he played hard but lost a pawn and then the exchange. He kept think-ing his opponent was simply lucky. He was down considerable materiel and knew he was lost but since he was playing someone “lower rated” he kept fighting and looking for a chance to win, expecting his oppo-nent to eventually blunder away the game. The game lasted for many moves but in the end he lost. The most fascinating part of this story is that after the game both players decided to go over the moves as the 1550 player really felt bad that he had lost. In the course of analysis the 1550 strength player discov-ered, to his amazement, that his op-ponent was a Master! His attitude towards winning at the beginning of the game was built with confi-dence since he thought he had the higher rating. Can you imagine how he would have felt had he won or even drawn the game?

Some tournament players make it a point not to know their oppo-nents’ rating. This should not make a difference to you as well. Always

play soundly, building on solid fun-damentals and don’t hope your op-ponent will blunder or play weak in order for you to win.

One of the critical phases of any game is the opening. Many open-ings are rich with traps and tactics. Being practical and cunning is one of the best ways to strive for an ad-vantage and to take advantage of complacent and unwary opponents. Often the opening establishes the pace of the game and it is here, dur-ing the first few moves, that ex-treme care must always be taken. Here’s a fascinating game that I enjoy playing over which paired Jan Timman vs Judith Polgar in Malmo, Sweden 2000. I chose this game based on the premise of this article that right from the start the opening moves require precision to strive for an advantage. Watch and enjoy as two of the best in the World battle it out.

J. Timman – J. PolgarMalmo, Sweden, 2000E15 QUEEN’S INDIAN DEFENSE

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. d4 e6 So here we have the Queen’s In-

dian Defense more or less by trans-position. This is a classic example of the flexible nature of playing Nf3 to start. The opening moves can lead to King Pawn or Queen Pawn Open-ings so players must be on-guard to understand subtle sub-variations that may transition them into lines they are not familiar with.

4. g3 Ba6

Position No. 3. White to move. How do you protect the c4 pawn?XIIIIIIIIY

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This move (Ba6) may seem somewhat unorthodox to the inex-perience player. In fact when Aron Nimzowitsch introduced this stra-tegic concept back in the 1920’s or so it was ridiculed. But in recent decades and today, this is a totally acceptable method of play by Black against the White opening setup. White must take care on the meth-od to defend the c-pawn without either losing the pawn or suffering positional weaknesses.

5. Qb3 Notice how quickly White can

get into trouble with inaccurate play. For example if 5. b3 then 5.

… Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 (if instead White plays 6. Bd2, then 6. … Be7 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5 exd5. In this sub-varia-tion Black has equalized and cre-ated imbalances in the White posi-tion. For example the White pawn on b3 is now clearly out of place. ) 6. ... Bc3 7. Rb1 Bb7 8. e3 Be4 and Black is probably winning already

– as shown in Position No. 4.

Position No. 4. White to move. Black Bishops are rather comically

controlling the board. XIIIIIIIIY

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Returning to the game:5. ... Nc6 6. Bd2Or 6. Bg2 Na5 7. Qa4 Bxc4 8.

Bd2 Bd5 9. Bxa5 bxa5 10. Qxa5 c5 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. dxc5 Bxc5.

6. ... Bb7 The Black Bishop has completed

his assignment to disrupt the fluid development of the White forces and now returns to it’s best diago-nal. Notice that all along the way, White was forced to parry subtle

threats and even now is still faced with difficulties. Black now threat-ens … Nxd4.

7. Bc3 Ne4 Black immediately goes after

the White Bishop and sets up some other nasty threats. Let’s watch as play develops.

8. a3 If instead White played 8. Bg2,

then 8. … Nxc3 9. Nxc3 (Not 9. Qxc3?? in view of 9. ... Bb4 winning the White Queen and the game ends quickly) 9. ... Nxd4 10. Qd1 Nxf3+ 11. Bxf3 Bxf3 12. exf3. Black has a large advantage and probably a won game at the GM level.

8. ... Nxc3 9. Qxc3 So White has managed to avoid

devastating traps and is not that far behind in development. Black created threats and has emerged with the Bishop pair with potential threats along the h1–a8 diagonal.

9. ... Be7 10. Qd3 d5 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. e4

Position No. 5. Black has a strong advantage and is on move. How

would you continue?XIIIIIIIIY

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12. … Qa5+Perhaps better was 12. ... Qh5!

13. Bg2 Bf6 14. Nc3 0–0–0 15. Ne2 Qa5+ 16. Qc3 Nxd4 17. Nexd4 Bxd4 18. Qxa5 bxa5 19. Nxd4 Rxd4 20. Rd1 Rhd8 21. Rxd4 Rxd4 22. f3 Kd7 23. Ke2 Ba6, and Black is clearly better if not outright winning.

13. Nbd2 0–0–0 14. Rc1 This is the right move as White

is clearly behind in development which usually spells trouble in the opening. Black is establishing

strong central pressure, especially on White’s d4 pawn. White must seek counterplay on the c-file or face a quick loss of material (and probably the game).

14. ... f5!? Perhaps the following improves:

14. ... Bf6 15. b4 Qa4 16. Qc3 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Rxd4 18. b5 Rxe4+ 19. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 20. Kd2 Qxh1 21. bxc6 Qd5+ 22. Ke1 Ba8 23. f3 Rd8 24. Be2 Qd4 25. Ba6+ Kb8 26. Qxd4 Rxd4 27. Kf2 Rd6 28. Bb5 a6 29. Bxa6 Rxc6. Back to the game, as play continued:

15. b4 fxe4 16. Qc3 Qd5 17. Ne5 e3 18. Ndf3

Position No. 6. Black to move. Can you find the winning sequence?XIIIIIIIIY

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18. … exf2+? Better was simply 18. ... Bf6

19. Nxc6 Qxf3 20. Nxa7+ Kb8 21. fxe3 Qxh1. Another improved re-sponse was 18. ... Rhf8 19. Be2 Rd7 20. Nxc6 Rxf3 21. Bxf3 Qxf3 22. Rf1 exf2+ 23. Rxf2 Qh1+ 24. Kd2 Bg5+–+ with Black forcing resig-nation. With this mistake White is back in the game.

19. Kxf2 Rhf8 20. Kg2! g5?? Black loses her way and blun-

ders away a winning position. Cor-rect was 20. ... Rxf3 21. Nxf3 b5!! This subtle move, although not ap-pearing very tactical in nature, is actually a winning move as it neu-tralizes all of White’s threats, while introducing very hard to meet threats for Black. For example if 22. Be2 Rd7 23. Rhd1 Bf6 24. Qc5 Nxd4 25. Qxd5 Bxd5 26. Kf2 Nxe2 27. Kxe2 Rf7 28. Rb1 Be4 29. Rbc1


Bxf3+ 30. Kxf3 Bg5+ 31. Ke4 Bxc1 32. Rxc1 Rf2, and Black will easily win the Rook ending. So now White can perhaps win or at least stifle Black’s attack!

21. Nxc6 Rd7 22. g4? This may have been time pres-

sure. Better was 22. Nxa7+ Kb8 23. Nc6+ Kc8 24. h3 h5÷ Although Black still has threats, at least White is still in the game. The game has become very double-edged with chances for both sides.

22. ... Bc5! 23. Bb5 Bxc6 24. Bxc6 Qxc6 25. Rhf1?

White misses the chance to win. Better was 25. bxc5 Qe4 26. Rhf1 Qxg4+ 27. Kh1 Qe4 28. Rce1 Qc6 29. Kg1 Rdf7 30. Nd2 Rxf1+ 31. Nxf1, and White is winning as the Black attack has fizzled out.

25. ... h5! 26. Kg1 Rxf3 27. Qxf3 Qxf3 28. Rxf3 hxg4 29. Rg3 Bxd4+ 30. Kh1 Be5 31. Rxg4 Bf4 32. Rc2?!

I suspect both sides were in time pressure and the final moves are littered with mistakes (better was 32. Rc3).

32. ... e5 33. Rc3 e4 34. Rc4 e3 35. Re4 c5?

Better was 35. ... Rd1+ 36. Kg2 Rd2+ 37. Kf1 Rf2+ 38. Ke1 Rxh2 39. a4 Rf2 40. Re7 a6 41. Rf7 Ra2. and Black will win.

36. bxc5 bxc5

Position No. 7. White to move and draw. What would you do?XIIIIIIIIY

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37. h4? The final mistake. Better and

most likely drawing was 37. Re8+ Kc7 38. h4 Rd5 39. Kg2 Rd2+ 40.

Kf1 Rf2+ 41. Ke1 gxh4 42. Rxh4 Bg3 43. Rhe4 Ra2+ 44. Kd1 Rxa3 45. Rxe3 Rxe3 46. Rxe3 Bf4 47. Rf3 Be5, with a drawn ending.

37. ... Rd4 38. Rxd4 cxd4 39. Kg2 d3 40. Kf3 e2

The Black pawns cannot be stopped. Thus White resigned.

This was a very entertaining and enjoyable game. There were mis-takes on both sides and each player overlooked subtle counter-attack-ing moves causing the advantage to swing back and forth. Most im-pressive was the opening sequence, which Judith played super accu-rately to emerge with a clear advan-tage in the early middlegame. Jan did not lose hope and introduced his own level of complexities offer-ing chances to stay in the game so much so that he went from losing to actually winning. This game demonstrates the power of the pins and especially Queen-Bishop bat-tery pins on the long diagonal. The pin is probably the most frequent-ly encountered tactical theme. It usually represents a piece that is immobilized since it is shielding a more valuable piece behind it. You should always work to get out of a pin (or avoid one) as quickly as possible. Improving your ability to calculate and visualize tactical combinations takes practice. Tac-tical 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 21.

Problem No. 1. White to move. XIIIIIIIIY

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a) 1. b3 is correctb) 1. b3 is incorrectProve your answer with

analysis and a variation.

Problem No. 2. Black has played unsoundly in the opening and is down material. It’s White to move.

How would you proceed?XIIIIIIIIY

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44th Annual American Open

LAX Renaissance Hotel

November 27-30$$36,000 b/400, $18,000 guaranteed!

see page 22 for full details


a) 1. Be3 is incorrectb) 1. Be3 is correct as all

Black play is neutralizedValidate your choice with

analysis.

Problem No. 3. Black to move. XIIIIIIIIY

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a) 1. … Na5 is correctb) 1. … Na5 is incorrectProve your answer with a

variation.

Problem No. 4. The position below is reached after: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Ne4 Nf6 5. Ng3 h5 6. Bg5 h4 7. Bxf6 hxg6

8. Be5 It’s Black to move. What would you

do?XIIIIIIIIY

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a) White is slightly better.b) The position offers chanc-

es for both sidesc) Black is better.Prove your answer with a

variation.

The Long Viewby John Hillery

Many of Mikhail Chigorin’s ideas were well ohead of his

time, and were not fully appreci-ated for another half-century. It was his misfortune to be surpassed in his own era first by Steinitz and, later, Lasker. Here he shows the su-periority of Knights over Bishops in a closed position.

Lasker – ChigorinHastings 1895D07 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED,

Chigorin’s Defense1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bg4 3. c4 Bxf3

4. gxf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 e6 6. e3 Bb4 By transposition, we have reached

one of the main lines of Chigorin’s Defense (the usual move order is 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bg4). Fore-shadowing the ideas of Reti and Gruenfeld a generation later, Black pits rapid development and active piece play against White’s pawn cen-ter and two Bishops.

7. cxd5 Qxd5 8. Bd2 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nge7 10. Rg1 Qh5 11. Qb3

Of course not 11. Rxg7? Ng6, trapping the Rook.

11. ... Nd8 12. Qb5+Exchanging Queens reduces

the danger to the uncastled White King, but the Black Knights will be very active.

12. ... Qxb5 13. Bxb5+ c6 14. Bd3 Ng6 15. f4 0-0 16. Ke2 Rc8 17. Rg3 c5 18. Rag1 c4

A surprising and strong idea. Black foregoes prressure on the center pawns to obtain a pawn ma-jority on the Queenside and use of the light squares for his Knights.

19. Bc2 f5 20. Bc1 Rf7 21. Ba3 Rc6 22. Bc5 Ra6 23. a4 Nc6 24. Rb1 Rd7 25. Rgg1 Nge7 26. Rb2 Nd5 27. Kd2 Ra5

Threatening 28. ... Nxf4 followed

by 29. ... Rxc5, which White meets by a counterattack on the b7 pawn.

28. Rgb1 b6 29. Ba3 g6 30. Rb5 Ra6 31. Bc1 Nd8 32. Ra1 Nf7 33. Rbb1 Nd6 34. f3 Nf7 35. Ra3 g5 36. Ke2 gxf4 37. e4 Nf6 38. Bxf4 Nh5 39. Be3 f4

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An echo of the maneuver at move 18 — now Black will use his Knights on the dark squares (d6 or e5).

40. Bf2 Ra5 41. Rg1+ Kf8 42. Raa1 e5 43. Rab1 Ng7 44. Rb4 Rc7 45. Bb1

Apparently hoping to win the c4 pawn, but this fails tactically. White should maintain the position and await developments.

45. ... Ne6 46. Rd1 Ned8 47. Rd2 Nc6 48. Rb5

Not 48. Rxc4? Nd6, winning the Exchange. Perhaps White thought he could undermine the Black Knights, but Black strikes first.

48. ... Rxa4 49. dxe5 Nfxe5 50. Bh4 Rg7 51. Kf2 Rg6 52. Rdd5 Ra1 53. Bd8 Nd3+ 54. Bxd3

Neither 54. Ke2 (... Rg2+ 55. Kf1 Rb7) nor 54. Kf1 (... Ncb4 55. cxb4 Rxb1+ 56. Ke2 Rg2 mate) was any better.

54. ... cxd3 55. Rxd3 Rag1 56. Rf5+ Ke8 57. Bg5

Or 57. Rxf4 R6g2+ 58. Ke3 Re1 mate.

57. ... R6xg5, White resigns


Exposition Park Chess Club

On September 7, Mark Mehlert and Uldarico Celestial topped sec-tions in the monthly free tourna-ment at the Exposition Park Chess Club. On October 5, winners wre Uldarico Celestial, Vartan Ghaz-arian, Luis Moreno, Jose Quiroz and Miguel Martinez. For photos of the club, see chess.expoparkla.com. The club meets every Sunday after-noon in the public library at 3900 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles.

San Luis Obispo County Championship

The September 13 S.L.O. Coun-ty Championship saw a three-way tie for first place by Vadim Kudry-avtsev of Ivine, Robert Reynolds of Santa Ynez, and Warren William-son of Morro Bay, all scoring 3-1. Robert Reynolds was the qualifier for next year’s State Championship. Warren Williamson became the San Luis Obispo County cham-pion. Zach Lindsay of Atascadero won the prize for U/1500 in the 12-player Open Section. The 12-player U/1400 Reserve Section saw a three way tie for first place by Stephan Bosch of L.A., Tim Forney of San

Miguel, and Taylor McCreary of San Luis Obispo. Sanya Bykovt-sev of Goleta took the U/1000 prize. The annual tournament was direct-ed by Barbara McCaleb of San Luis Obispo. – Barbara McCaleb

Diversity Educational Center

On September 28, Aaron House-holder, Evan Anthopoulos, Sebas-tien Whetsel, Abraham Niu, Anna Qiu, Alfred Zhang, Justin Yang and Gore Badikyan won sections in the Fall Quads, a 34-player tournament at Diversity Educational Center in Arcadia. For the club’s schedule, vis-it diversityeducationalcenter.com.

Westwood Fall OpenTurnout at the Westwood Fall

Open, held at the Los Angeles Chess Club October 12, was a slightly dis-appointing 35. Top-rated IM Enrico Sevillano took clear first with 4½ out of 5, followed stepson John Dan-iel Bryant with 4 and Joel Banawa (3½). Juan Paul Rodriguez scored 4½ to take clear first in the Reserve (U1800). John Hillery directed.

Prize winners: Open: 1st: IM Enrico Sevillano,

4½-½; 2nd: John Daniel Bryant, 4; 3rd: Joel Banawa, 3½-1½; U2200: Show Kitagami, Garnik Bagh-dasaryan, 3; U2000: David Cody Oldham, Austin Hughes, 3.

Reserve: 1st: Juan Paul Rodri-guez, 4½-½; 2nd/U16000/U1400-unrated: Mitchell Jayson, Numen Adbul-Mujeeb, Shaunak P. Tivedi, 3½-1½; U1200: Jonah Blume-Kemkes, Yechiel Goldberger, 2½-2½.

Pasadena Chess ClubTianyi He continued his club

tournament winning streak, but gave up draws to Ron Jabali and Gregg Fritchle enroute to a 5-1 win in the 39-player San Gabriel Val-ley Championship. Fritchle, John Wright, and Robert Xue were a half-point behind. Other winners includ-ed Jerry Harrison (Under 1800), Dave Galfond and David Minasyan (Under 1600), Bonifacio Lara and Jared Ogassian (Under 1400), and Craig Clark (Unrated).

Sandy He displays his USCF Master certificate after a surprise presentation at the Pasadena Club.

The Pasadena Club meets Friday nights at the Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St. For club information call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809. – Randy Hough

La Palma Chess ClubChris Roberts won the Superno-

va section of La Palma Chess Club’s “Undisputed Chess Championship of the Universe,” which ended Sep-tember 26th. Roberts was undefeat-ed, won the 1st place trophy on tie breaks, and will reign as the club’s


2008 Undisputed Chess Champi-on of the Universe. Master Craig Faber came in 2nd after downing five others and losing only to Rob-erts. Other prizewinners were Meh-rdad Miralaie, Robert Hatfield and Michael Brown, 3rd place; and Yo-shio Dupree, Best Under 1700. The 23-player 6-round Swiss was held at La Palma’s Central Park. In the 19-player “Black Hole” section, fast improving Christopher Kao won clear first place with a fine unde-feated score of 5½ points. Other prizewinners are Zheng Zhu, 2nd Place; Andrew Kao (Trophy on tie breaks), David Yang, and Carmen Childress, 3rd Place; David Yang, Best Under 1500; and Mike Searcy, Best U1300. Mehrdad Miralaie, Christopher Kao, and Zheng Zhu shared the Dark Matter / Dark En-ergy Prize (best score with Black) with three points. For complete standings, games, and a schedule of events, see the club’s website at http://www.lapalmachess.741.com. – Chris Roberts

Arcadia Chess ClubTianyi (Sandy) He, not yet 15,

followed up his 6-0 score in Pasa-dena’s Liberty Open with another clean sweep in the Bill Smith Me-morial, becoming America’s newest master. Trailing a respectful point behind were Konstantin Kavutskiy (first A) and Jeffrey Ding (top B). Theo Wu won C honors and Kevin Qian topped the other D players. The turnout was 47 players.

The Arcadia Club meets Monday nights at the Senior Building, 400 S. Santa Anita Avenue. The Rich-ard Morris Memorial, another six-round swiss, begins November 10. Longtime club mainstay Fred Brock continues his recovery from a stroke. For club information call Mel Clark at (626) 447-9355. – Randy Hough

Chess PalaceChess Palace celebrated its 18th

Anniversary with the enthusiastic support of 40 players participat-

ing in the tournament. Attendants included well-known chess players, Enrico Sevillano, Randy Hough and Jerry Hanken, all of whom added to the energy of the event.

The G/30 time control tourna-ment led to some exciting battles and head-to-head blitz style finish-es. Undefeated, IM Enrico Sevilla-no took home the 1st prize, followed by Rey Del Pilar, Craig Faber, and Joshua Gutman who all tied for the 2nd place. In the three under-class prizes: Dr. Alex Bykovtsev won the U1900, Winston Zeng won the U1600 and Timmy Chou won the U1300, while, rookie Marcos Ferrer, scored 3-2 to top the Unrated prize group.

The six-hour USCF rated tour-nament also included lunch and raffle drawings. Lunchtime offered an extra time to converse with oth-er chess players while enjoying the food and refreshments provided for the annual event. And, in between rounds, raffle prizes such as event chessboards and merchandise was awarded. The raffle grand prize, a custom-painted Chronos, went to Andrew Kao of Irvine.

Special thanks also go out to Mrs. Gunawan for her assistance throughout the day and to all the participants for their support of chess and Chess Palace. – Anthony Ong

Gambito Open NewsThe September Super Gambito

had 33 players, a nice turnout for

our big monthly event. IM Cyrus Lakdawala won First Place ($125) with 3½, allowing a draw only to Expert Carey Milton, who according to Cy,

“easily drew”. Carey seems to be getting smarter and tough-er lately. Rick Aeria, Roberto Aeillo and Jorge Balares all tied for 2nd Place, U2400 and U2200 for $75 each. Leon-ard Sussman was 2nd U2400. Then there was a three way tie for U2000, 2nd U2200 and 2nd U2000 between Varun Krish-

nan, Chuck Ensey and David Del-gadillo. In the Reserve Section, Pej-man Sagart won First Place with a score of 3½. Kyron Griffith, Roger Dooc and Ken Hopper tied for Sec-ond Place. The partially blind Mon Roi enthusiast and part time blog-ger Jessica Lauser won BU1600. We were very sad to hear that she is moving back to Northern Cali-fornia. Scott Householder was 2nd U1600. Jessica also won the Best Game Prize in the Reserve Section and Roberto Aiello was the Open Section Best Game winner.

The October Super Gambito had another nice turnout of 34 players. Cyrus Lakdawala tied for First Place/U2400 with Carey Mil-ton, both players won three in a row and then drew with each other in the last round for a score of 3½. Bruce Baker was Second Place with 3. Also scoring 3 points was Ryan Richardson, picking up the BU2200 prize of $80 and also Kyron Griffith, who won BU2000. Kyron has been a roll lately. Eric Smith (Mr. Juice) was 2nd U2400. Five players tied for 2nd U2200/2000: Jesse Orlows-ki, Varun Krishnan, Chuck Ensey, Roberto Aiello and Chris Wonnell.

In the Reserve Section, newcom-er Paul Agron scored 3½ and vault-ed his rating over 1800 (based on only 6 games). It is rare for a brand new player to do so well. John Huey and Scott Householder tied for BU1600 with 3 points. Jason Arbe-iter, Gene Arnaiz, Nestor Dagamat and Pejman Sagart tied for Second Place. The Best Game Prize in the


Reserves was won by Scott House-holder while Cyrus Lakdawala won the Open. – Chuck Ensey

IM Cyrus Lakdawala (2504) – Ryan Richardson (2127)

Gambito 390, San Diego 2008B50 SICILIAN DEFENSE

[Notes by IM Cyrus Lakdawala]1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d6 4.

g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 g6?! Black is convinced that it is a

Closed Sicilian, but since d3 has not been played by White he can transpose to a favorable Open Sicil-ian now.

6. d4! Now d6 becomes a worry for

Black. 6. ... cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nf6 8. 0–0 I thought about the line 8. Nxc6

bxc6 9. e5 Nd5 10. exd6 Bxd6 11. Ne4, with a clear plus for White. But I wanted an even more favor-able version, waiting for Black to throw in . ... a6 first.

8. ... e5! Black’s best try. The alterna-

tives are worse. For example: 8. ... a6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Nd5 11. exd6 Bxd6 12. Ne4 is also quite bad for Black; 8. ... Bg7 9. Ndb5; 8. ... Be7 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Nd5 11. exd6 Bxd6 12. Ne4 and White gains a tempo because Black moved his dark-squared Bishop twice.

9. Nde2 Be6 10. b3 a6 10. ... Bg7 11. Nb5 d5?? 12. exd5

Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Bxd5 14. Qxd5 is winning for White. .

11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Ne7 White has the Bishop pair and

the faster, more potent pawn major-ity on the Queenside. Lastly, White is ahead in development.

13. a4 Bg7 Better is 13. ... a5! He should

have given up the b5 square to slow White’s progress on the Queenside with 14. Nc3 Bg7 15. Nb5 0–0 16. c4 b6 17. Ba3 Ne8 and White’s advan-tage is not as large as it is in the game.

14. a5! Now the pawn break c4, b4, c5 is

just a matter of time. 14. ... 0–0 15. c4 Nd7 16. Ba3

Qc7 17. Rc1 Bh6

17. ... f5 18. b4 f4 19. Qd3 Bh6 20. Rc2 Rf7 21. c5 is also good for White.

18. Rc2 Rac8 19. b4 b6 20. axb6 Qxb6

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21. c5! Even though Black has 4 pieces

on the square White can get in the thematic break with the help of some tactics.

21. ... dxc5 21. ... Qa7 22. c6 is also very bad

for Black. 22. bxc5 Nxc5 22. ... Qa5 23. Rc3 Nxc5 24. d6

Nf5 25. d7 doesn’t change anything, nor does 22. ... Rxc5 23. Bxc5 Nxc5 24. d6 Nf5 25. Qd5 Nd7 26. Rc6 Qb2 27. Nc3 Nd4 28. Rc7.

23. d6 Nf5On 23. ... Rfd8 I had planned to

give up my Queen for a lot of pieces with 24. dxe7! Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Bg5 26. Rxc5 Re8 27. Rxe5.

24. d7 Nxd7 25. Rxc8 Or 25. Bxf8 Rxc2 26. Bxh6. 25. … Rxc8 26. Qxd7 Rd8 27.

Bc5! Using a trick to keep an eye on

the d4 square and improve the posi-tioning of my Bishop.

27. … Qf6 28. Qc7 Watching a5, d8, e5 and also the

e7 square for a potential skewer of Queen and Rook.

28. … Bf8 29. Bxf8 Kxf8 30. Nc3 Nd4 31. Ne4

Even better was 31. Re1! Re8 32. Nd5.

31. … Qe7 32. Qxe7+ Kxe7 33. Ra1 f5 34. Nc3 e4

If 34. ... Rd6, 35. Bb7 wins the

a6 pawn.

35. Rxa6 Nf3+ 36. Bxf3 exf3 37. Ra1 Rd4

Or 37. ... Rd3 38. Re1+ Kf6 39. Re3.

38. Re1+ Kf6 39. Re3 g5 40. Rxf3 h5 41. Kg2 h4 42. Re3 hxg3 43. hxg3 f4 44. gxf4 gxf4

Or 44. ... Rxf4 45. Rf3. 45. Re4 Rxe4 46. Nxe4+ Kf5

47. Kf3 Ke5 48. Ng5 1–0

San Diego Chess ClubIn July and August 71 players,

not including house players, par-ticipated in the six round Jerry Soelberg Open. Jerry is one of our longest standing club members and since we had already honored the octogenarians Fred Borges and Robert Samuel earlier in the year, the club felt it was time to also honor Jerry Soelberg, who is a bit younger, but still vastly more experienced than most club members. All three of these players are still playing pretty strong chess - Jerry’s rating bounces around just under and over the 1800 level. Previously The Jer-ry Soelberg Open had been known as The Summer Swiss. It was split into 2 sections, a Fast (G/90) and a Slow (40/90, SD/60) section.

The Fast Sec-tion was won by NM David Hart with 5 points. FM Felix Vil-larreal was Second Place with 4½. Carey Milton was BU2200 and Alejandrino Baluran was 2nd U2200. Jason Qu won BU2000

and another youngster, Va-run Krishnan was 2nd U2000. Chris Calbat outperformed to win BU1800 while Mark

L a w l e s s and Pejman

Sagart tied for 2nd U1800. BU1600 was won by Club Treasurer Tom

MANUEL HERRERA

GEORGE ZEIGLER


Kuhn. In the Slow Section, Expert Jim Humphrey tied for First Place with Class A player Tom Fries, both scor-ing 5 points. Experts George Zeigler and Manuel Herrera tied for Second Place with 4½. Tom Fries also picked up the BU2000 prize (besides tying for First), while Buddy Morris and Jamieson Pryor tied for 2nd U2000. Robert Draper and Joel Batchelor tied for BU1800. Fred Borg-es and Damani Fair tied for third U1800. Donald Klaas tied with Morgan Fox for BU1600 while Ryan Nich-ols and Karen Kaufman tied for third U1600. The two sisters Maria Elena Villarreal and Caro-lina Villarreal tied for BU1400. We have yet to convince the third sister, Sara, to play (or her mother, it is a five player family!) but we are still working on it.

In August and September the SDCC hosted the San Diego Shoot-out with 63 paid participants. In this event, all the players played at the fast time control of G/90, but with a 10 second delay to soften the blow a bit. We like to do this once a year for two reasons: one, to get people more familiar with faster time controls, which are the way trends are going, and second, to give the directors a chance to get home before midnight at least for a few weeks out of the year. In the Shootout, there were four sec-tions based on rating levels. In the top Gunslinger Section, Lennart Mathe tied for First Place with Fe-lix Villarreal with 4½ points. Lenn-art thereby broke into the rank of Experts for the first time with his rating soaring to 2028. Tying for Second Place/BU2100 were Mario Amodeo and Ignacio Sainz with 4 points. Jason Qu and Alejandrino Baluran tied for 2nd U2100. In the Sharpshooter Section, Damani Fair dominated with 5 points, well ahead of Second Place Marty Lower with 4 and Third Place Robert De-fore and Robert Draper with 3½. In

the Sniper Section, Donald Klaas was undefeated and allowed only 1 draw (to Steve Perry) to clinch First Place. Jerry Soelberg was Second Place, redeeming himself after a poor showing in his name-sake event last month. Steve Perry was BU1600, while Ryan Nichols, Robert Samuel and Jerry Kavanau tied for 2nd U1600. Carolina Villar-real was BU1500 and Maria Elena Villarreal was 2nd U1500. In the Bounty Hunter Section, David Sil-va scored the best with 5 points but had to settle for a book prize as he was unrated going in. First Place was won by Victor Delgadillo with 4½. Monica Ness was Second Place with 3½. Third Place was split be-tween Tom Lavoy and John Huey.

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 AM. Call our Club Manager Bruce Baker at 619-239-7166 for more information. You can read also read all about it on our website at http://groups.msn.com/sandiegochess. – Chuck Ensey

FRED BORGES AND ROCIO MURRA

Opinion: Chess Blindness and

Blunders by Chuck Ensey

Chess blindness is where a player misses an “obvious” crushing

move. This can be due to many fac-tors, the most common being time pressure. But often time is not a factor and it is more a problem of the player having “tunnel vision”, or focusing on just one part of the board or one idea and missing “the big picture”. Or the player might be thinking about lots of things but not the most important ideas on the chessboard. Recently in one of my games, I missed a mate in two, in-stead settling for a perpetual check. The worst part is I had 10 ten min-utes left on my clock and I didn’t take the time to look for something better. It seems obvious that if you have a perpetual check in hand that will clearly end the game, why not take the extra time to look for some-thing better? Maybe there is a forced win there! In my case the tension of the game was so great I just wanted to end it, plus I was playing a higher rated player, so I was happy with the draw. But when a spectator pointed out the obvious win, I was amazed that I had missed this move, like a huge “blind spot”. And I remem-bered doing the same thing a few years ago, settling for a draw when a mate was there. Even painful les-sons sometimes have to be repeated before they are truly burned into your psyche.

In every game there are things that you don’t see and only notice after the game, usually with the help of a computer. But sometimes there are glaringly obvious moves that players miss and this was the case in ALL of my games in a re-cent event. I missed the mate in two and then in my next game my opponent missed a crushing move that I saw, of course, only right af-ter I had moved. And my opponent thought for several minutes while I


was sitting there sweating bullets! I had made a strong mate threat, but in the process I overlooked that I had moved my Queen off a critical file, thereby leaving my King com-pletely unprotected. So now he sud-denly had a Rook check that wasn’t there before and it would force me to lose my Queen to avoid mate! Ouch! I just sat there, waiting for my death sentence, when suddenly I was reprieved! A last second pardon had spared me. Chess blindness had struck, only this time in my favor. He hadn’t seen the deadly check and instead was focused on defending my threat. I am so thankful that he didn’t notice the look of horror on my face after I had blundered. Or may-be I was able to keep up a good poker face, but honestly, it felt like I was being roasted on spit inside! Maybe he only thought for 30 seconds, I am not sure, but it seemed like an eter-nity! And they say there is no luck in chess? Ha! Nine times out of ten this very good Class A player would have seen this move, but this time he just flat out missed it.

It really got me thinking about why people make these types of head-slapping blunders. The stron-ger players make fewer of them, but even Grandmasters have been known to get distracted for various reasons and then miss moves that a rank beginner might find. Why is this? It is very strange. It is one of the great mysteries of chess and of the human mind itself as to why this happens. I guess it is just the nature of the game - hey, chess is hard! The stress of coming up with the right move time after time in a long game can be overwhelming. And one care-less move can ruin hours of hard work and spoil that beautiful win you were hoping for.

Blunders can be very annoying. I used to make a lot more blunders when I was lowered rated. One of the ways I started weeding them out was by categorizing all the blun-ders that I made and saving them in a notebook. I also bought a wall chart and would post the offending position in my study to remind me

for weeks about what a stupid move I had made, or maybe a brilliant move I had missed. All this helped because from this effort I developed a check list that I try to use before every move. Sort of like a pilot on the runway before he takes off goes through a safety check list. I would check to see if there were any surprising pawn moves I had overlooked, or any checks I wasn’t ex-pecting, or if I had any pieces that were less protected and vulnera-ble to attack. Or anoth-er good one is “What am I un-protecting by making this move?” It is hard to stick to a routine of running through a checklist on every single move, but it will really cut down on blunders if you try it.

It is amazing to me how many good moves I miss that my trusty Fritz program points out to me af-ter the game. I had a Rook sacrifice that would have easily won earlier on in the game where I missed the mate in two, but I missed that win-ning move too. And I was looking hard for some way to break through, but in this game I just didn’t seem to have a clue. Even though I played a good positional game, my tactical vision is sometimes rather weak. It is a version of chess blindness. Re-ally good players have this magical ability to see moves that the average player cannot, and often these un-seen moves are quite beautiful. To me this is one of the great mysteries of chess that makes it so alluring: there are moves on the board that not everyone can see! The board is right there in front of you, but one player may stare at it for a very long time and still not see the winning move, while a better player will find it rather quickly. How do they do that? And another thing – when you miss the winning move and then a rude spectator points it out to you after the game, or a more imperson-

al computer program shows you the move later on when you get home, it seems incredibly obvious and you just can’t believe that you missed it. It is like the sun bursts through the clouds and suddenly, “I see the light!!”

So the big ques-tion is, “What can I do to increase my tactical vision?” I have tried to gather lots of advice over the years, but it seems that hard work and study are the real answers. How mundane, darn it, I was looking for an easy button!

“The Quick Road To Chess Mastery”, that will be the title of my book when I

figure it all out. But don’t hold your breath. .. Let’s get real, in this world it takes a lot of hard work to gain anything of real value. Masters and Experts can more easily find those hidden moves because they have years of study and hard experience burned into their memory banks so they can more easily recognize pat-terns of play that have worked for them in the past.

The mind of a good chess player has to be so flexible, so adaptive and open to hidden resources even in hopeless situations... The mysteries of the Royal Game and the lessons it teaches us about our minds and attitudes are very valuable things. The greatness of the fighting spirit is shown to beautiful effect in the world of chess. At a minimum chess is just the most interesting game by far, and most other games are trivial in comparison. I am sorry but that is the truth. Some people go further and say that chess is one of the most interesting things out there, period. For me, there is very little in this world that can match the satisfac-tion of a well played game and I re-ally want to spread the word about how exciting, fascinating and fulfill-ing chess can be.

18 RANK & FILE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008 RANK & FILE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008

2008-2009 State Championship

Seeded into the Championship are 2008 co-champions Enrico Sevillano and Alexandre Kretchetov, two players selected on the basis of rating,

and four from the 2009 Candidates Tournament.

June 28-29 My Kingdom For A Horse Enrico Sevillano Joshua Gutman

July 4-6 Pacific Southwest Open Tim Taylor Gregg Small

July 17-20 Pacific Coast Open Melikset Khachiyan Joel Banawa John Daniel Bryant Eugene Yanayt

July 27 Westwood Summer Open Andranik MatikozyanAugust 9-10 San Diego County Open Peter Graves

Craig Faber Bruce Baker Romeo Ignacio Michael Yee August 16-24 State Championship Jack Peters Cyrus Lakdawala Julian Landaw Christian Tanaka Danyul Lawrence

Aug. 30- Sept. 1 Southern California Open Tatev Abrahamyan Vadim Kudryavtsev Garush Manukyan Lawrence Stevens

September 13 San Luis Obispo Cty Open Robert ReynoldsOctober 12 Westwood Fall Open Show Kitagami

UpcomingOct. 31-Nov. 2 Los Angeles Open LAX

November 27-30 American Open LAX December 13-14 Joseph Ileto Memorial Monterey Park January 16-19 Western Class Championships Agoura Hills January 25 Westwood Winter Open West LA

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; 3) The SCCF Amateur, SCCF High School and any one-day event will each have one qualifying spot; and 4) All one-day tournaments shall require a 75% score and only one player shall qualify on tiebreak.

Solutions to Chess Quiz(see page 24)

Zakaria -- Andin, Kuala Lumpur 2008: The Black Knight is overloaded after 1. Bxh7+ Nxh7 (or 1. … Kh8 Nf7+) 2. Qxe6+ 1–0 (2. … Kf8 3. Qf7#, or 2.

… Kh8 3. Ng6#Korostenski – Schalla, Bohemia 2008: Surprisingly, Black must lose a piece

after the harmless-looking 1. Ne5, for his Queen is nearly trapped: 1. … Qh5 2. Be2 Qh4 (or 2. ... Qf5 3. g4 Qe4 4.Bf3) 3. g3 Qxh3 (3. … Qe4 4. Bf3 Qf5 5. g4) 4.Nxd7 1–0

E. Holm, “Hvar 8 Dag,” 1923: A clever endgame study. White has three passed pawns, but Black’s h-pawn is poised to promote. But 1. Ng3 Kg2 2. Nh1 Kxh1 3. Kf1! creates a zugzwang position, and after 3. … Bd3+ 4. Kf2, one of the White pawns must Queen. But not 3. Kf2?? Bd3, and it is White who falls into zugzwang.


GM Vladimir Kramnik (2772) - GM Viswanathan Anand (2783)

World Championship (1), Bonn 2008

D14 SLAV DEFENSE, Exchange Variation1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.

cxd5 cxd5 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Nf3 e6 8. Qb3 Bb4 9. Bb5 0–0 10. Bxc6 Bxc3+ 11. Qxc3 Rc8 12. Ne5 Ng4 13. Nxg4 Bxg4 14. Qb4 Rxc6 15. Qxb7 Qc8 16. Qxc8 Rfxc8 17. 0–0 a5 18. f3 Bf5 19. Rfe1 Bg6 20. b3 f6

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21. e4 dxe4 22. fxe4 Rd8 23. Rad1 Rc2 24. e5 fxe5 25. Bxe5 Rxa2 26. Ra1 Rxa1 27. Rxa1 Rd5 28. Rc1 Rd7 29. Rc5 Ra7 30. Rc7 Rxc7 31. Bxc7 Bc2 32. Bxa5 Bxb3 ½–½

GM Viswanathan Anand (2783) - GM Vladimir Kramnik (2772)


E25 NIMZ)-INDIAN DEFENSE, Sae-misch Variation1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4.

f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 f5 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. e4 fxe4 11. fxe4 N5f6 12. c6 bxc6 13. Nf3 Qa5 14. Bd2 Ba6 15. c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18. Qe2 0–0–0 19. Qxe3 Nxe3 20. Kf2 Ng4+ 21. Kg3 Ndf6 22. Bb1 h5 23. h3

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23. ... h4+ 24. Nxh4 Ne5 25. Nf3 Nh5+ 26. Kf2 Nxf3 27. Kxf3 e5 28. Rc1 Nf4 29. Ra2 Nd3 30. Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2 Ne6 32. Kg3 Rd4 ½–½



D49 SEMI-SLAV DEFENSE, Meran Variation1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3

e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 cxd4 11. Nxb5 axb5 12. exf6 gxf6 13. 0–0 Qb6 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. Bxb5 Bd6 16. Rd1 Rg8 17. g3 Rg4 18. Bf4 Bxf4 19. Nxd4 h5 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rxd7 Kf8 22. Qd3 Rg7 23. Rxg7 Kxg7 24. gxf4 Rd8 25. Qe2 Kh6 26. Kf1 Rg8

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World ChampionshipFIDE has taken a long step to-

wards repairing the breach which has marred the World Champion-ship for the past fifteen years. From October 14 to 20, GMs Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik met in a 12-game match for the champi-onship in Bonn, Germany.

Reigning champion Anand won the title in September 2007 at the FIDE-organized tournament in Mexico City. Kramnik, who finished second in the tournament, was enti-tled under the rules to a rematch.

As for the chess – Anand domi-nated the match, going three up by game 6. Kramnik finally notched a win in game 10, but to come back from -3 in a 12-game match was just too much. It is to be hoped that FIDE will return to the tested 24-game format in future cycles.

The next stage in the cycle is sup-posed to be the selection of a chal-lenger to Anand through a match between Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky. Unfortunately, although the match is scheduled for Novem-ber, details have yet to be finalized.

International News


27. a4 Bg2+ 28. Ke1 Bh3 29. Ra3 Rg1+ 30. Kd2 Qd4+ 31. Kc2 Bg4 32. f3 Bf5+ 33. Bd3 Bh3 34. a5 Rg2 35. a6 Rxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Bf5+ 37. Kb3 Qe3+ 38. Ka2 Qxe2 39. a7 Qc4+ 40. Ka1 Qf1+ 41. Ka2 Bb1+ 0–1



D37 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4.

Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0–0 6. e3 Nbd7 7. a3 c5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Be5 Bf5 12. Be2 Bf6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Nd4 Ne6 15. Nxf5 Qxf5 16. 0–0 Rfd8 17. Bg4 Qe5 18. Qb3 Nc5 19. Qb5 b6 20. Rfd1 Rd6 21. Rd4 a6 22. Qb4 h5 23. Bh3 Rad8 24. g3 g5

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25. Rad1 g4 26. Bg2 Ne6 27. R4d3 d4 28. exd4 Rxd4 29. Rxd4 Rxd4 ½–½



D49 SEMI-SLAV DEFENSE, Meran Variation1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3

e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 cxd4 11. Nxb5 axb5 12. exf6 gxf6 13. 0–0 Qb6 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. Bxb5 Rg8 16. Bf4 Bd6 17. Bg3 f5 18. Rfc1 f4 19. Bh4 Be7

20. a4 Bxh4 21. Nxh4 Ke7 22. Ra3 Rac8 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Ra1 Qc5 25. Qg4 Qe5 26. Nf3 Qf6 27. Re1 Rc5 28. b4 Rc3 29. Nxd4 Qxd4 30. Rd1 Nf6 31. Rxd4 Nxg4 32. Rd7+ Kf6 33. Rxb7

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33. ... Rc1+ 34. Bf1 Ne3 35. fxe3 fxe3 0–1



E34 NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE, Classical Variation1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4.

Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. Bd2 0–0 9. h3 b6 10. g4 Qa5 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. a3 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 Qd5 14. Qxd5 Nxd5 15. Bd2 Nf6 16. Rg1 Rac8 17. Bg2 Ne7 18. Bb4 c5 19. dxc5 Rfd8 20. Ne5 Bxg2 21. Rxg2 bxc5 22. Rxc5 Ne4 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Nd3 Nd5 25. Bd2 Rc2 26. Bc1 f5 27. Kd1 Rc8 28. f3 Nd6 29. Ke1 a5 30. e3 e5

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31. gxf5 e4 32. fxe4 Nxe4 33. Bd2 a4 34. Nf2 Nd6 35. Rg4 Nc4 36. e4 Nf6 37. Rg3 Nxb2 38. e5 Nd5 39. f6 Kf7 40. Ne4 Nc4 41. fxg7 Kg8 42.

Rd3 Ndb6 43. Bh6 Nxe5 44. Nf6+ Kf7 45. Rc3 Rxc3 46. g8Q+ Kxf6 47. Bg7+ 1–0



D19 SLAV DEFENSE1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3

dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. 0–0 Nbd7 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. e4 0–0 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Qe3 Re8 15. Ne1 Bg6 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. Nd3 Qb6 18. Nxb4 Qxb4 19. b3 Rac8 20. Ba3 Qc3 21. Rac1 Qxe3 22. fxe3 f6 23. Bd6 g5 24. h3 Kf7 25. Kf2 Kg6 26. Ke2 fxe5 27. dxe5 b6

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28. b4 Rc4 29. Rxc4 dxc4 30. Rc1 Rc8 31. g4 a5 32. b5 c3 33. Rc2 Kf7 34. Kd3 Nc5+ 35. Bxc5 Rxc5 36. Rxc3 Rxc3+ ½–½



D39 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4.

Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qa5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxf6 Bxb5 11. Ndxb5 gxf6 12. 0–0 Nc6 13. a3 Bxc3 14. Nxc3 Rg8 15. f4 Rd8 16. Qe1 Qb6+ 17. Rf2 Rd3 18. Qe2 Qd4 19. Re1 a6 20. Kh1 Kf8 21. Ref1 Rg6 22. g3 Kg7 23. Rd1 Rxd1+ 24. Nxd1 Kh8 25. Nc3 Rg8 26. Kg2 Rd8 27. Qh5 Kg7


Solutions to Tactics by Hanks(see page 12)

Problem no. 1: b. 1. b3 is in-correct. The main line is 1. b3? b4! 2. Ne2 Nxe4 3. Qxe4? (bet-ter is to accept the loss of the pawn with 3. Nh4) Bf5 4. Qh4 Bxb1 5. Bg5 Bxa2 6. Bxe7 Qc7, and Black is winning.

Problem no. 2: a. 1. Be3 is incorrect. The main line goes 1. Be3? (much better is 1. Nh6!) Qh4! 2. Bxc5??? Qh1+ 3. Kxh1 Ng3+ 4. Kg1 Rh1#.

Problem no. 3: a. 1. … Na5 is correct. The main line goes 1.

… Na5 2. Nxe5! dxe5! (not 2. … Bxd1?? (nor 2. … Nxb3 since then 3. Nxg4 Nxa1 4. Ngf6+ gxf6 5. Nf6#), as 3. Nf6+ gxf6 4. Bxf7#) 3. Qxg4 Nxb3 4. axb3 Nxd5 5. exd5 Qxd5 and White maintains only a slight advantage.

Problem no. 4: c. Black is better. The main line goes 1. … Rxh2 2. Rxh2 Qa5+! 3. c3 Qxe5+ (there’s that wonderful gotcha!) 4. dxe5 gxh2 and Black will regain his Queen and is clearly better. Rec-ognize that Black took advantage of White’s inaccurate opening move sequence, as 6. Bg5 was incorrect and the ugly 7. N3e2 (instead of 7. Bxf6?) was forced.

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28. Qg4+ Kh8 29. Qh5 Kg7 30. Qg4+ Kh8 31. Qh4 Kg7 32. e5 f5 33. Qf6+ Kg8 34. Qg5+ Kh8 35. Qf6+ Kg8 36. Re2 Qc4 37. Qg5+ Kh8 38. Qf6+ Kg8 39. Qg5+ Kh8 ½–½



D43 SEMI-SLAV DEFENSE, Anti-Meran Variation1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4.

Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. Qc2 Nbd7 11. Rd1 Bb4 12. Ne5 Qe7 13. 0–0 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 0–0 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. f4 Qg7 17. e5 c5 18. Nxb5 cxd4 19. Qxc4 a5 20. Kh1 Rac8 21. Qxd4 gxf4 22. Bf3 Ba6 23. a4 Rc5 24. Qxf4 Rxe5 25. b3 Bxb5 26. axb5 Rxb5 27. Be4 Bc3 28. Bc2 Be5 29. Qf2 Bb8 30. Qf3 Rc5 31. Bd3 Rc3 32. g3 Kh8

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33. Qb7 f5 34. Qb6 Qe5 35. Qb7 Qc7 36. Qxc7 Bxc7 37. Bc4 Re8 38. Rd7 a4 39. Rxc7 axb3 40. Rf2 Rb8 41. Rb2 h5 42. Kg2 h4 43. Rc6 hxg3 44. hxg3 Rg8 45. Rxe6 Rxc4 ½–½



E21 NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE, Fianchetto Variation1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4.

Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 0–0 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Qa5 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. 0–0 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ba6 14. Rfd1 Qc5 15. e4 Bc4 16. Qa4 Nb6 17. Qb4 Qh5 18. Re1 c5 19. Qa5 Rfc8 20. Be3 Be2 21. Bf4 e5 22. Be3 Bg4 23. Qa6 f6 24. a4

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24. ... Qf7 25. Bf1 Be6 26. Rab1 c4 27. a5 Na4 28. Rb7 Qe8 29. Qd6 1–0

GM Viswanathan Anand (2783) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2772)


B96 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Najdorf Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.

Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. f5 Qc5 10. Qd3 Nc6 11. Nb3 Qe5 12. 0–0–0 exf5 13. Qe3 Bg7 14. Rd5 Qe7 15. Qg3 Rg8 16. Qf4 fxe4 17. Nxe4 f5 18. Nxd6+ Kf8 19. Nxc8 Rxc8 20. Kb1 Qe1+ 21. Nc1 Ne7

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22. Qd2 Qxd2 23. Rxd2 Bh6 24. Rf2 Be3 ½–½

Upcoming Events

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January 252009 WESTWOOD WINTER OPEN. 5-SS, G/40. Los Angeles Chess Club, 11514 Santa Monica Blvd, LA, CA 90025, 2nd floor (4 blocks West of 405 Fwy). $$1500 b/50, 80% of each prize guaranteed. In two sec-tions: Open: $400-200-50, U2200 125, U2000 125. Reserve (U1800) $$200-125, U1600 $100, Under 1400/unrated $100, U1200 $75. EF: $47 if received by 1/24, $55 at site. SCCF memb. ($18, under 18 $10) req. for rated S. CA resi-dents. 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 cor-ner of Santa Monica & Purdue, or in the building basement ($3). Inf: [email protected]. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1, Los Angeles, CA 90038. On-line entry: www.westernchess.com. GP: 10. State Championship Qualifier.

SCCFPO BOX 205MONTEREY PARK CA 9754

ZAKARIA – ANDIN

KUALA LUMPUR, 2008WHITE TO MOVE

E. HOLM

“HVAR 8 DAG,” 1923WHITE TO MOVE AND WIN

KOROSTENSKI – SCHALLA

BOHEMIA, 2008WHITE TO MOVE

Solutions on page 18

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sevillano im enrico - sccf home · im enrico sevillano. ... opinion: chess blindness & blunders...

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