CCA Chess Tournaments

GM Varuzhan Akobian won the official title of Chicago Open 2008 Champion after defeating GM Tigran Petrosian in an exciting Armageddon blitz play-off. Having come from behind in the final round to catch up to Petrosian and GM Hikaru Nakamura, who had agreed to an early draw in their game, the young American GM managed to win with the white pieces in front of a captive audience who had hung around to watch the show.

Akobian had the highest tie-breaks of the three players tied at the top and had no hesitation in taking the white pieces plus 7 minutes against Petrosian’s 5 minutes plus draw odds with the black pieces. Petrosian had just narrowly edged out Nakamura for the other place in the play-off. About 30 spectators watched as Petrosian opened up the position for Akobian to get a slight edge out of the opening. In the middle game, Akobian managed to win a pawn after doubling rooks on the seventh rank.

Petrosian tried to complicate matters with his rook and knight swarming Akobian’s king but his initial 2 minute deficit was beginning to take its toll and he ended up having to give up his knight. In a last ditch effort to secure a draw, and with the flag teetering on the edge, Petrosian came up with an ingenious plan of sacrificing his remaining rook for a stalemate. Akobian however managed to avoid all the pitfalls and, just as he was about to queen a pawn, Petrosian flagged. A rapturous round of applause was given to both players for an exciting finale to a great weekend of chess.

Akobian took home the additional $300 for winning the play-off game and each of the three players netted approximately $6,000 each for their efforts during the long holiday weekend.

Earlier on in the day the crowd had gathered early, taking their seats in the audience in anticipation of the final round’s action. Most eyes were of course on the key board 1 match-up between Petrosian and Nakamura as the two players stood ahead of the field with 5/6. Unfortunately, and not only to the disappointment of spectators onsite as ICC had decided to only rebroadcast that one game, both players agreed to a 9 move draw, securing their share of the first place prize pot but ultimately denying the fans a chance to see what they really wanted.

However, there were no further quick draws in the remaining games and the spectators soon gathered to see if anyone would be able to catch the top two. Akobian didn’t disappoint, beating GM Alonso Zapata on board 2 as the other games relevant to the top spot all finished in fighting draws.

There were several players who finished just a half-point off the lead. GMs Alex Yermolinsky, Dmitry Gurevich and Julio Becerra, and IM (oops, GM-Elect) Josh Friedel all drew their final games and were caught up by GM Nikola Mitkov, the only person who had 4 points going into the round to score a victory.

We all know of Friedel’s success story for the event but there was also another similar feat accomplished by Canada’s FM Zhe Quan. Quan looks like he could have reached the FIDE 2400 rating mark for the first time in his chess career which, along with his 3 IM norms he already has, should secure him the title. Congratulations to IM-Elect Zhe Quan!

I hope you’ve enjoyed these light-hearted reports from the heat of battle at the Chicago Open and I look forward to seeing everyone in Chicago in 2009.

GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Tigran Petrosian, the top two seeded players in the event eventually managed to catch the leaders as they both won in round 5, against GMs Gilberto Hernandez and Darwin Laylo respectively, while all the leaders from the 4th round drew on the top two boards.

Both wins were very similar in style, winning a pawn as the games transitioned into the ending and then using their Grandmaster skills to convert the advantage into the full point. Nakamura’s king and pawn ending had some educational value that we can all learn from.

8/3R2pp/5p2/5k2/7r/8/6KP/8 w – – 0 53

Here Hernandez played 53. Rxg7 allowing a trade into the following king and pawn ending.

8/7p/5p2/8/6k1/8/6KP/8 w – – 0 55

This position is apparently a well known win, so long as the black rook’s pawn is on h7. If the pawn is on further up the board then the position is a draw!

8/7p/8/8/8/5k2/5p1P/5K2 w – – 0 63

Here white is in zugzwang. He is forced to push his pawn but he always gets the last move, e.g. 63. h4 h6! 64. h5 Kg3 and the white king has to move, or 63. h3 h5! 64.h4 Kg3 and again the white king has to move.

If the black pawn was on h6 then the position would be a draw, e.g. 63. h4 h5 stalemate or 63. h4 Kg3 64. h5 Kf3 stalemate. Don’t say you don’t learn anything by reading these reports! And, just incase you think Nakamura didn’t know all this, check out the following game he played against Joel Benjamin in the World Open in 2005.

Nakamura,H (2657) – Benjamin,J (2563) [A21]
33rd World Open Philadelphia USA (5), 02.06.2005
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.g3 Bxc3 4.bxc3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d6 6.d3 Nge7 7.Nh3 Bd7 8.f3 0-0 9.0-0 Ng6 10.e3 Qc8 11.Nf2 Nce7 12.Kh1 f5 13.f4 Bc6 14.Bxc6 Nxc6 15.Qf3 Qd7 16.Rb1 b6 17.h4 Rae8 18.h5 Nge7 19.h6 g6 20.e4 exf4 21.Bxf4 Ne5 22.Qg2 Ng4 23.Nxg4 fxg4 24.Bg5 Nc6 25.d4 Na5 26.c5 dxc5 27.dxc5 Nc4 28.cxb6 cxb6 29.Bf4 Qe6 30.Rbd1 Ne5 31.Bxe5 Qxe5 32.Rxf8+ Rxf8 33.Qe2 Qh5+ 34.Kg1 Qxh6 35.e5 Qg5 36.Qc4+ Kh8 37.Qd4 Kg8 38.e6 Qe7 39.Qxg4 Rf5 40.Qc4 b5 41.Rd8+ Rf8 42.Rxf8+ Kxf8 43.Qf4+ Kg7 44.Qe5+ Qf6 45.Qc7+ Kf8 46.Qc5+ Qe7 47.Qe5 Qd8 48.Qh8+ Ke7 49.Qxh7+ Kxe6 50.Qxg6+ Ke5 51.Qh5+ Ke6 52.Qxb5 Qd2 53.Qc4+ Kf5 54.Qf4+ Qxf4 55.gxf4 Kxf4

8/p7/8/8/5k2/2P5/P7/6K1 w – – 0 56

Look familiar?? It should! The game finished 56.Kf2 Ke4 57.Ke2 Kd5 58.Kd3 Kc5 59.c4 Kc6 60.Kd4 Kd6 61.c5+ Kc7 62.Kd5 Kd7 63.c6+ Kc7 64.Kc5 Kc8 65.Kd6 Kd8 66.c7+ Kc8 67.Kc6 a6 68.Kd6 a5 69.a4 1-0 (My thanks to Josh Friedel for all of this information while we were watching the finish to the Nakamura game.)

With the results we now have a 6-way tie at the top of the standings with 4 points: GMs Nakamura, Petrosian, Kolev, Mitkov, Yermolinsky and Zapata. The round 6 pairings should probably be… nah, don’t think so!

The “quest” update sees Josh scoring a draw against GM Varuzhan Akobian which, according to my calculations, leaves him at +8.5 from the event with a starting estimate of 2489. I did however tell everyone that my counts here are totally unofficial right? Well, if not, I’m doing it now. Of course, if he’d just win the rest of his games we wouldn’t have to keep track of this stuff.

Round 6 is on Monday starting at 10:00 am CST while round 7 is scheduled to start at 4:30 pm CST. Remember to also check out the photo gallery that now has over 30 photographs in it, although I will admit I have got lazy with the captions.

Three players stand atop of the standings with three points each after three rounds. (And if you don’t know what the title is in reference to, check out this YouTube video.)

The Yermonator, GM Alex Yermolinsky, is one of 3 people still with a perfect score after beating GM Julio Becerra in a theoretical line of the King’s Indian Defense. Becerra decided to trade his queen for a rook and a knight but his pieces ended up uncoordinated, especially his knight on a6 that was out of the play, which left Yermolinsky’s queen and two knights dominating the board, mopping up the full point when Becerra faced further material losses.

On board 1 GM Nikola Mitkov played a good game against GM Varuzhan Akobain. Mitkov, having the black pieces, played a temporary pawn sacrifice that left Akobian’s king side pieces undeveloped.

1rr3k1/p4pp1/4bq1p/2np4/3N4/Q1P1PP2/P4KPP/2R2B1R b – – 0 18

Black to play
Akobian-Mitkov, Chicago Open, Round 3

Mitkov’s 18… Qe7 was a simple but sophisticated maneuver that left white’s rook on h1 permanently out of play since the threat of a discovered check forced 19. Kg1. Mitkov’s pieces were left unchallenged on the queen side and by the time Akobian got developed, it was too late.

The final member of our coveted trio is GM Atanas Kolev. Kolev put a dint in Josh Friedel’s “quest” while slowly squeezing him to death using a combination of a pawn on d6 and a bishop on e7. Friedel’s rook was totally tied down which left him to tell me after the game “I kept wishing my pawn on b7 would disappear so my rook could get into the play.”

A little (half a point to be exact) further down the standings are GMs Tigran Petrosian (no, not the World Champion), current US Champion, Yury Shulman and former US Champion and 7 times Chicago Open winner, Alex Shabalov. They are joined by UTD IM, Jacek Stopa, who actually is suffering from a horrendous cold as evidenced by his very red and raw nose. Stopa and Petrosian played out a draw in round 3 while Shulman once again showed his endgame finesse against IM Mark Ginsburg. Shabalov overcame GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj after apparently working his way through a complicated minefield of tactics better than the Mongolian.

Trying to work out the pairings in my head, I’m guessing that Yermolinsky and Kolev will play each other on board 1, while Mitkov will have the pleasure of being “dropped” down to meet Petrosian on two. Of course, nothing is ever as plain and simple as it looks on the surface, and I have definitely known to be wrong every now and again.

Elsewhere in the tournament, GM Hikaru Nakamura bounced back with a comfortable victory over Glenn Bady, who had been having a good tournament up until this round. Glenn had drawn in the first round with GM Alonso Zapata and then had a crushing victory over FM Andrew Karklins. (You can find all of Glenn’s games in the pgn database.) However, to make his success a sin he was paired against an undoubtedly determined Nakamura after his loss in the previous round.

Nakamura (black) reached the following position.

r7/pp4pR/4pkP1/1Q1p1p2/3Pnq2/8/PPP1r3/1K1R4 b – – 0 27

Black to play
Bady-Nakamura, Chicago Open, Round 3

27… Qd2! (not the only move that wins but definitely the prettiest!) The game continued 28. Rc1 Qxc1+! 0-1.

Tomorrow sees the 2-day schedule play the first 4 rounds at G/45, while the main group plays round 4 at 12:00 pm CST. The 2-day people will then merge with the main field for the final 3 rounds, starting with round 5 at 7:00 pm CST.

For those who are interested, standings are now being updated once each round is paired and a new database containing 53 games from the first three rounds is available for download. I’m also hoping to start the photograph gallery real soon!

Round One Report

First of all, let me give you everyone a laugh and tell you about one of my most embarrassing experiences ever. Have you ever seen the Southwest Airlines commercials, you know, the ones that end with the punch line “wanna get away?”

Let me paint the picture. I am a Tournament Director at the event, as well as doubling up as MonRoi live/onsite coverage, and even tripling up as keeping on top of this website. The pairings for the 1st round came out a few minutes late and so I gave MonRoi’s to players I know and kept score of the other games myself.

On board two I see the names Dan Wolf and GM Tigran Petrosian. I think to myself “wow, the great Tigran Petrosian is playing in this event!” Play starts and this board is moving much quicker than the other games. Suddenly Petrosian, an oldish looking fellow after playing chess at a high level for so many years, plays an attacking move and Wolf, a young kid obviously on a hiding to nothing, ignores it with his own counter-attack. I watch the position develop as Petrosian sacrifices the exchange for an attack, which looks pretty strong. Petrosian then decides to sacrifice another piece (a knight on f5), which is declined and the piece stays en-prise for a few moves before Wolf has the gall to actually take it. Wolf, surprisingly, has seen a good defense and ends up in a position a whole rook up. Eventually, after what I presume was about 30 minutes looking for a perpetual check, the great Petrosian plays a check, Wolf plays the right king move and Petrosian resigns. An upset on board two of about 400 points!

When the score popped up on my screen, it was then that I realized it said Wolf 0-1 Petrosian. I looked at the pairings sheet I had and gasped in horror when I realized these guys had been playing with the wrong colors. I grabbed Wolf and let him know that when he marks up the results, he has to cross out the names and reverse them. He looks at me, and then tries to ask in his broken, but understandable, English “I mark up the result 0-1?” I try to explain again what has happened and that he should reverse the colors, thinking that I was going to probably have to go to the results room and do it for him. At that point, IM Mesgen Amanov comes over and, since we know each other, I try explaining it to him and then he explains everything in Russian to Wolf. After Wolf and Amanov talk together a little in Russian, Amanov then says “so Nakamura was playing with the wrong color?” (Referring to Nakamura playing on board 1.) I said “no, he was playing with the wrong color, he should have had white,” pointing to Wolf. I got a confused look. So again, I say “Mr. Wolf should have had white but mark it up as 0-1 and change the names.” Suddenly Amanov said “but this is Petrosian.”

This is now the point where the voice over would come in and say “wanna get away?” After apologizing profusely to GM Tigran Petrosian for my, ahem, misunderstanding, I crawled away back to my little desk to get back on with my duties, thinking about what a stupid idiot I looked like! Tomorrow, when I get organized a little, I will take photos of the players so that hopefully I can play on the sympathy vote with everyone.

As for the rest of the games from round 1 of the 4-day schedule, GM Hikaru Nakamura (maybe he’ll be blogging on his Chicago Open progress?) made relatively easy work of Matt Perry Parry (like he hasn’t heard that one before) on board 1 while 7 times Chicago Open Champion, GM Alex Shabalov, out calculated FM Andrew Karklins in a complicated position on board 3. Newly crowned US Champion, GM Yury Shulman, had a fight on his hands with Seth Homa on board 4, surviving to be the last game to finish in the round, but eventually succumbing to a subtle final pawn push in the ending.

Of the other GMs that graced us with their presence in the 4-day schedule, GM Varuzhan Akobian beat CLO blogger, Jonathan Hilton, on board 5, GM Julio Becerra beat Loal Davis on 6, Mexican GM, Gilberto Hernandez, beat David Filipovich on 7, GM Yermolinsky beat Silvio Pereira on board 8 and GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj beat Leonardo Campiz on board 11.  The only GM to slip a half-point to anyone was GM Alonso Zapata who was held to a draw by Glenn Bady down on board 10.

On board 9 the “quest for 2500” got underway with IM (yes, I’ve got all my norms) Josh Friedel having to play against his good friend, WFM Iryna Zenyuk. It’s always tough to play a friend but unfortunately for Zenyuk, Friedel was in a fighting mood and he managed to finish her off with a neat little mating combination as she suffered in time trouble. This should help him pick up a couple of points in his quest to reach 2500 and secure his GM title.

As you may have noticed, live games are being broadcast here on this site. Also, check out the PGN database as it has a few more games than you can view on the live games viewer. I plan to try and bring you as many live games as possible but there are still a few players out there that just refuse to use the MonRoi for one reason or another.

Tomorrow (noon CST) sees the start of the 3-day schedules and then they all merge in round 3 in the evening. I hope you keep checking in over the weekend and I will try to put up as many reports as possible. Enjoy the show!