Chess Room Newsletter #425

~ Garry Kasparov talking about Mikhail Tal ( from an interview on "Echo Moskvy" on November 30th, 2008)

---

1) Kacheishvili leads Berkeley International
2) Matikozian-Sevillano annotated by Jeremy Silman
3) Missing Fischer Games
4) Mechanics Member Kyle Shin wins US Championship for Grade 5 by Michael Aigner

---

Georgian GM Giorgi Kacheishivili leads the Berkeley International with two rounds to go with 6 from 8 followed by countryman GM Zviad Izoria and IM Irina Krush a half point back. Several players are in contention to make norms. Daniel Rensch with a plus score against opposition averaging 2476 has already clinched an IM norm through nine rounds. Marc Esserman with an even score against a similarly rated field needs a draw today for a nine game norm and Iryna Zenyuk, who has already made a nine game WGM norm needs a draw today to mage a nine game IM norm.

The last two rounds can be followed in person or observed in person at the Berkeley Chess School. The starting time is 2 PM.

For games on this event go to the Internet Chess Club. A selection of games and reports with photos is available at http://uschess.org.

Standings after Round 8

1. GM Giorgi Kacheishivili 6
2-3. GM Zviad Izoria, IM Irina Krush 5.5
4. GM Josh Friedel 5
5-7. GM Dashzegve Sharavdorj, FM Daniel Rensch, WIM Iryna Zenyuk
8-11. GM Vinay Bhat, IM Lev Milman, IM Justin Sarkar, FM Marc Esserman 4
12-14. GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, FM Daniel Naroditsky 3.5
15-16. IM Sandor Kustar, FM Dale Haessel 3
17. FM Bela Evans 2.5
18. Salar Jashedi .5 (from three games)
19. FM Shikumar Shivaji 0 (from one game)

Jahedi and FM Shivaji played as house players to avoid byes.

---

Sevillano's performance was more willpower than perfection ... he seemed to will his opponent off the board! This game won the top Joyce Jillson brilliancy prize at the recent American Open. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 c6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0–0 9.Ne5 c5 Trying to undermine white's center while his King still resides there. 10.Be3 b5!? An interesting, aggressive move. White's King is in the middle and Black is going all out to milk as much goodness from that fact as possible. 11.Qf3 A greedy, but not a wise, decision. 11.Bxb5 is possible, but Black has nothing to fear after 11…Qa5 12.Bd3 (12.Qd3 Bf5 13.Qxf5 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Qxc3+ 15.Ke2 Qb2+ 16.Kf3 Qxb5 17.Rab1 Qa4 18.Rhd1 Re8 19.Bg5 [19.g4!?] 19…Nbd7 20.Bxf6 (20.Nxd7 Nxd7 21.Kg3 and now both 21.. .h6 and 21...Rac8 are fine for Black) 20…Nxf6 21.dxc5 Qa3+ 22.Qd3 Qxc5 =) 12…Bxc3+ (12…Rd8!? 13.0–0 cxd4 14.Bxd4 Rxd4 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Qxd4 Bxc3 17.bxc3 Be6 = ) 13.bxc3 Qxc3+ 14.Kf1 Ba6 15.Rc1 Qa5 16.Rxc5 Bxd3+ 17.Qxd3 Qxa2.11.Bd3 is another possibility, when 11…c4 12.Bc2 Nd5 13.0–0 Bxc3 leads to an interesting game. 11…bxc4 Tempting and okay, but 11…cxd4! is far stronger: 12.0–0–0 (12.Rd1 Qe7 13.Bxd4 [13.Qxa8 Qxe5 14.Rxd4 bxc4 is winning for Black] 13…Bb7) 12…Bxc3 13.Bxf7+ Rxf7 14.Nxf7 Qe7 is strong since 15.Qxa8 gives up control over f5: 15…Bxb2+ 16.Kxb2 Qb4+ 17.Kc1 Qc3+ 18.Kb1 Bf5+ and mates. 12.Qxa8 cxd4 13.Rd1 13.0–0–0 is best, but Black retains a dangerous attack: 13…Bxc3 14.bxc3 (14.Qxb8 might be best: 14…Qa5 15.Nc6 Qxa2 16.bxc3 dxe3 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18.Nxc8 e2 19.Rde1 Ne4 20.Qb2 Qa5 21.Nd6 Nxf2 22.Nxc4 Nd3+ 23.Kd2 Qd8 24.Qa3 Ne5+ 25.Kxe2 Nxc4 26.Qc5 Re8+ 27.Kf2 Qf6+ and the attack continues) 14…Qa5 15 .Bxd4 Qa3+ 16.Kb1 Na6 17.Qxa7 (Or 17.Qf3 Bg4 18.Nxc4 Qa4 19.Qf4 Rb8+ 20.Nb2 Rxb2+ 21.Kxb2 Bxd1 =, and 17.Qc6 Be6 18.Ka1 Nb4 which is strong for Black) 17…Ne4 18.Qb6 Be6 19.Nc6 Ra8 20.Qb2 Qa4 seems to leave White in a precarious position. 13…dxc3?! Fun and very brave, and it also keeps a draw in hand (so there's no risk), but 13…Qe7 just appears to win: 14.Rxd4 (14.Bxd4 Bb7 15.Qxa7 Nc6) 14…Bb7 15.Qxa7 Bc5 16.Qa5 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 Nc6 18.Qc5 Qxc5 19.Bxc5 Nxe5 20.Bxf8 Bxg2 winning. Also interesting is 13…Nbd7!?, while 13…Qc7 deserves consideration, though its assessment most likely depending on the evaluation of the line 14.Bxd4 Bb7 15.Qxa7 Nbd7 16.Nxd7 Nxd7 17.Qa4 Bxg2 18.Rg1 Bxc3+ 19.bxc3 Re8+ 20.Kd2 Ra8 21.Qb5 Ra5 22. Qb2. 14.Rxd8 cxb2+ 15.Ke2 Rxd8 16.Qxa7 Ba6 Black won't take the easy way out and keeps things as complicated as possible in his quest for victory. 16…c3 17.Qxf7+ Kh8 18.Qb3 (18.Bh6 Bf8 19.Qc7 Re8 20.Be3 Bb4 21.Qb6 Ba6+ 22.Kf3 Nd5 favors Black) 18…Ba6+ 19.Kf3 Bb7+ is a draw. 17.Qxf7+ 17.Kf3 Rf8! 18.Qd4 Bb7+ 19.Ke2 Ba6 20.f3 Nbd7 21.Nxd7 Nxd7 22.Rb1 (22.Qxd7 c3+ 23.Kf2 c2 24.Qf5 Rc8! 25.Rc1 Bf8 and things are not that easy for White) 22…c3+ 23.Kd1 Rc8 24.Kc2 Nc5 25.Qxb4 Bd3+ 26.Kxc3 Na6+ 27.Kxd3 Nxb4+ 28.Ke2 Nxa2 =) 17…Kh8 18.Qe6 18. Bh6 Bf8 =. 18…c3+ 19.Kf3 Bb7+ 20.Ke2 Bd5 21.Qb6 Be7 22.Qc7 Nc6 23.Nxc6 Bc4+ 24.Kf3 c2?? Now Black has to take a draw, but he just can't accept that result and so throws the dice: 24…Bd5+ 25. Ke2 = since 25.Kg3?? Bd6+ wins on the spot. 25.Qxe7?? I wonder if one or both players were in serious time trouble at this point? 25.Nxe7! wins: 25…Re8 26.Qb7 (26. Nf5 might be even stronger) 26…b1Q 27.Rxb1 cxb1Q 28.Qxb1 Rxe7 29.a4. 25. … Bd5+ Now it’s over. 26. Kf4 26.Kg3 Re8 27.Qb7 Rxe3+ 28.fxe3 c1Q 29.Qb8+ Bg8 also wins for Black. 26…Re8 27.Qb7 Re4+ 28.Kg5 h6+ 29.Kg6 Rg4+ 30.Kf5 Be4+ 31.Ke6 b1Q 32.Qc8+ Kh7 33.Rc1 Qxa2+ 34.Ke7 Qa3+, 0-1. A magnificent creative effort by Sevillano. Of course, the old adage of "Long analysis wrong analysis." will apply here, and the notes are meant to give insight into the position, but not any final truth.

---

Bill Price has a very nice website which appears to be temporarily down but is definitely worth checking for. Thanks to a tip from Chris Mavraedis here are three games from Bobby's 1964 simul tour not featured in Legend on the Road.

The following game pits Bobby against the late Charles Powell. Charles, who became a Senior Master and lived the last decade of his life in San Francisco, was nineteen year old and champion of his native Virginia when the following game was played. The simul went into the wee hours of the morning because of a late start (11pm!). 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Rb1 c4 9.Qg4 Qxc2 10.Qxg7 Qxb1+ 11.Ke2 Bd7 12.f3 Ba4 13.Qxh8 Qd1+ 14.Ke3 Qxf1 15.Qxg8+ Ke7 16.Kf4 Nd7 17.Qxa8 Qxg2 18.Be1 Qxh1 19.Bh4+ f6 20.exf6+ Kf7 21.Qh8 Qxh2+ 0-1 Source: NOST ( Knights of the Square Table) July 1964 ( page 11). Thanks to NOST member Walt Erdman for preserving this game.

"Played May 1964 in Philadelphia at Northeast Philadelphia Chess Club. Approximately 70 boards simultaneous match (I believe the event was staged at the Cheltenham Art Center). If I recall there was one draw vs. our club president who was a grand master and Bobby won the rest...Playing Fischer was a gift from my father for my 11th birthday, which was the next day May 4. I was an avid chess player at the time, and went on to win Philadelphia city title in 1964 and 1965." - Anthony Killian 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.f4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.d3 Nc6 7.f5 a6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 b5 10.Bb3 Nb4 11.a3 Nc6 12.Nd5 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.c3 c6 15.Nxf6+ gxf6 16.cxd4 d5 17.Qh5 Kh7 18.dxe5 Qa5+ 19.Kd1 Kg8 20.Qxh6 dxe4 21.Bxf6 exd3 22.Qg7 1-0 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Nc6 5.a3 Ba5 6.f4 f6 7.Nf3 a6 8.Bd3 Bd7 9.0-0 Bb6 10.Be3 f5 11.Kh1 Nh6 12.Ne2 Qe7 13.b4 Na7 14.a4 c6 15.a5 Bc7 16.c3 0-0-0 17.Nc1 Be8 18.Nb3 Bh5 19.Nc5 Nb5 20. Qb3 Ng4 21.Bg1 Bb8 22.c4 Nc7 23. Rac1 Nh6 24. cxd5 exd5 25. Ng5 Bf7 26. Na4 Ba7 27. Rc2 Be6 28. Rfc1 Bd7 29. Nb6+ Bxb6 30. axb6 Na8 31. b5 axb5 32. Qxb5 Kb8 33. Qa5 Nxb6 34. Qxb6 Rc8 35. Ra1 Qd8 36. Qb4 Qf8 37. Qa4 Kc7 38. Qa5+ b6 39. Qa7+ Kd8 40. Qxb6+ Ke8 41. e6 Ke7 42. exd7 Kxd7 43. Ra7+ Kd6 44. Qc5 1-0

---

Perhaps California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger played "the Terminator" in the movies, but San Francisco's Kyle Shin deserves that nickname at the chess board. He survived the jungle of upsets in 5th Grade at the National K-12 Championships in Orlando, not by firing an Uzi but by confusing his opponents with a hail of tactics. Somehow, he was the only of the top six seeds to survive the first two days of competition unscathed at 5-0.

Talented Kyle finished near the top in previous years, but this time his final score of 6.5 out of 7 was sufficient for undisputed first place! Having fulfilled one chess dream at the Magic Kingdom, Kyle's next goal no doubt should be to bring his 1923 USCF rating up to expert level.