Chess Room Newsletter #982

Newsletter #982

August 21, 2021

 

Table of Contents

• Berkeley Visit
• July/August TNM Live Report
• Championship Quads
• Thursday Night Marathon Report
• Tony's Teasers
• Events/Class Schedule
• Submit your piece or feedback

---

Berkeley Visit

by Abel Talamantez

 

For those that don't know, I lived for a little more than three years in Albany, a city right next to Berkeley, when I attended UC Berkeley from 1999-2002. For many years after, I would come back to Berkeley and visit the campus, and also went to some of my favorite spots. Tops among those were Picante, a Mexican restaurant by University Village, and Zachary's Pizza, with its deep dish mushroom and spinach. It had been quite some time since I had visited Berkeley for fun, and I got the opportunity to do that this past week as I met with my predecessor IM John Donaldson at Espresso Roma Cafe off of Hopkins. What stood out about this place, in addition to the fine latte, was its quiet suburban feel amidst the busy streets. Parking was plentiful (not something easily found in Berkeley), and the ambiance was very enjoyable, an outside seating area busy with people. One older gentlemen seated by us was yelling on speaker phone with someone that they were ruining his cappuccino by being on the phone. It was a valuable and enjoyable couple of hours of conversation, and I do reccommend a visit to this cafe if you are ever in Berkeley. They have a delicious looking selection of food and the outdoor area is a great environment to unwind.

After, I swung by Emeryville on my way back home to San Jose hungry, and I had to go with simple, but simply good. I stopped by Super Duper Burger for a mini burger combo with garlic fries. It hit the spot, and took my mind off the fact that I had a dentist appointment an hour later. Fortunately I was able to teach my MI member beginner's class in the evening, despite half my mouth still being numb. 

A very busy day, but a great day sans the dentist.

---

Tuesday Night Marathon Round 6 Report

by Abel Talamantez

The Tuesday Night Marathon delivered perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament and perhaps the year thus far, even as three of its top players took byes for the round. The action was delivered on board 8 in a battle between David Rakonitz and Teodoro Porlares that left GM Nick de Firmian and myself glued to the game to the point that we skipped our planned break from the broadcast to continue coverage. The game was an ode to club players everywhere, and is was a game where the element of extreme complexity mixed with the daring and fallability of under 2000 players added high drama. This game is annotated below, and it is definitely worth a look. While we all appreciate the skill and precision of the top players, the night belonged to these club regulars, as they showed there can exist beauty and passion amidst chaos.

David Rakonitz and Teodoro Porlares (left picture) gave viewers an exciting evening of chess. Adam Mercado and Nikhil Pimpalkhare closed the evening as the last game

In the top section, NM Siddharth Arun had requested byes in the final two rounds, and thus has secured at least a share of 1st place with a final score of 5/7. IM Elliott Winslow defeated Christophe Bambou, so Winslow is the only player in position to share 1st place with Arun with a victory in next week's final round. Richard Liu has 4 points also, but he has a bye in the final round so he will finish with 4.5/7. There will be a battle for 2nd-3rd next week as Bambou, Kristian Clemens and Kayven Riese are close behind at 3.5/6. 

In the under 2000 section, Kevin Sun maintains a half point lead in first place over Samuel Brownlow and Adam Stafford. Sun was put under a lot of pressure against Stafford, but he was able to foce a perpetual check to kep his section lead. 

In the under 1600 section, Isaac Sterling has locked up 1st place with yet another victory, this time against Claudio Bastiani-Fonck. He is a perfect 6/6 and is 1.5 points ahead of Sebby Suarez and Iven Yarovoy, both players he has already defeated. 

Here are some games from the round, annotated by GM Nick de Firmian.

(1) Rakonitz,David (1622) - Porlares,Ted (1789) [D55]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM u2000 San Francisco (6.8), 17.08.2021
[de Firmian]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 0-0 6.e3 A classic Queen's Gambit Declined in a game between two of our club's good players. 6...b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 Bg4 This could leave the light squares on the queenside a little weak. [More usual is 8...Bb7] 9.h3 Bh5 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Rc1 c6 12.Qe2N h6 13.Bh4 [13.Bf4 would be a nice square now. White would have the opening advantage then.] 13...b5 [13...Ne4! 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 is about equal] 14.Rfd1 Re8 15.Bg3 Nh7 16.e4?!

16...Bg5! White broke open the game after fully developing, but this alert reaction makes some trouble in the white ranks. 17.Rc2 dxe4 18.Nxe4 f5

19.Rxc6? The very aggressive move loses at least one piece. I almost didn't give it a question mark as it leads to a fascinating position. 19. Be5 fxe4 20. Qxe4 would have only been slightly worse for White. 19...fxe4 20.Bxb5 exf3

White is two pieces down and objectively lost, but the board is wide open and the white pieces active. So there are real practical chances. David is usually careful with his material and here it is nice seeing him play like Tal. 21.Qc4+ Kh8 22.Rd3 Qe7 23.Rc7! Black has material and is getting some checks. Still the best course of action is to go for maximum couterplay and the rook on the seventh rank gives hope for the future. 23...Qe1+ 24.Kh2 fxg2 25.Kxg2 Qe4+ [25...Be2! 26.Rxd7 Qf1+ 27.Kh2 Bf4! would be really tough for White.] 26.Kh2 Nb6 27.Qb3 Bf4 28.Bc6 Two piece down, White fights to control center squares. The position is confusing to play. 28...Bxg3+ 29.Rxg3 Qf4 30.Bxe8

This changes the material so White is "only" down three pieces for a rook and two pawns. It is still lost for White but not as much as earlier. 30...Rxe8 [30...Qxf2+ 31.Rg2 Qf4+ 32.Qg3! Qxg3+ 33.Rxg3 Rxe8 34.Rgxg7] 31.Rcxg7 Qxf2+ [31...Ng5! would cut the line between the two rooks and solve the defensive issues (as well as attacking)] 32.Rg2 Qf4+ 33.Qg3 Qxg3+ 34.R2xg3 Re2+ 35.Kg1 Ng5 The resulting endgame is still objectively winning for Black with the three pieces for the rook, but practically it is hard to play. The white rooks have an easier time finding the right squares. 36.Rxa7 Nf3+ 37.Kf1 Nd2+ [37...Nxd4!] 38.Kg1 Re1+ 39.Kg2 Re2+ 40.Kg1 Ne4?! This attacks the rook but loses some coordination of the black forces. Better was [40...Bf3] 41.Rgg7 Ng5 42.Rgb7 Nxh3+?! snatching a pawn but placing the knight on a less active square. Chances are back to even now! 43.Kf1 Re6?! [43...Nd5 44.Ra8+ Re8 45.Rxe8+ Bxe8 46.Rb8 Nf6 is roughly equal] 44.Rb8+ Be8 45.a4?! [45.Ra6! wins the knight on b6] 45...Nc4! 46.Kg2 Nf4+ 47.Kf3 The white king also fighting even though it is in danger. 47...Nd5 48.b4 Nd6 49.b5 Re3+ 50.Kf2 Ne4+ 51.Kf1 The black rook and knights swarm around the white king. Very dangerous but there is no checkmate. 51...Ng3+ 52.Kf2 Ne4+ 53.Kf1 Ng3+ 54.Kf2 Nf5?! Not wanting to make a draw yet Teodoro moves the knight to a different square. Now White is starting to get winning chances. 55.Rd8 Nf6? [55...Nf4 would keep the attack strong enough for a draw] 56.b6 White is making fast progress with the queenside pawns. It's time for Black to look for perpetual check. 56...Ne4+ 57.Kf1 Nd2+ 58.Kf2 Ne4+

59.Kf1 David decides to repeat moves after a long crazy battle. In fact White is now winning if he runs well with the king - [59.Kg2! Rg3+ 60.Kf1 Rf3+ 61.Ke1 Re3+ 62.Kd1 and the powerful white rooks and queenside pawns should take home the point] 59...Nd2+ draw agreed. A wonderful and entertaining game! 1/2-1/2

(2) Bambou,Christophe (2121) - Winslow,Elliott (2278) [B22]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM 2000+ San Francisco (6.1), 17.08.2021

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 d6 5.exd6 e6 6.g3 Bxd6 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 9.d4

9...b6 After both sides blitzed out moves, Black is the first for a long thing, followed by White in response [Relevant: 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Bc7 12.Nd2 Bb6 13.Qd3 Nf4 14.Qxd8 Ne2+ 15.Kh1 Rxd8 16.Nc4 Nxc1 17.Raxc1 Bc7 18.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Kf8 20.Kg1 Ke7 21.Kf1 Rb8 22.b4 b6 23.Ke1 Ba6 24.Ne3 Be5 25.Rc1 Rc8 26.Kd2 Rd8+ 27.Kc2 Bd3+ 28.Kb3 Bg6 29.Rd1 Rxd1 30.Nxd1 Bc7 31.a4 Bd3 32.Nb2 Be2 33.Kc2 f5 34.Kd2 Ba6 35.Nd1 g6 36.Ne3 f4 37.Nc2 h5 38.Nd4 fxg3 39.fxg3 Abdusattorov,N (2627) -Andreikin,D (2726) chess.com INT 2020 0-1 (73)] 10.c4 As so often in the Alapin, it comes out feeling more like a queenpawn opening than a kingpawn, in this case a Catalan. It's about solving the question of the Black's light-squared bishop. White has pressure on the long diagonal but doesn't manage to make anything of it -- and in fact it is that diagonal that ends up costing him the game. 10...Nde7 11.Nc3 [On the forthright 11.d5 exd5 12.cxd5 Nb4 13.Nc3 Bf5 14.Ne1 c4 would be Black's intention.] 11...Bb7 12.dxc5 [12.d5 exd5 13.cxd5 Nb4 14.Ne1 Qd7 still seems okay for Black.; 12.Nb5 cxd4 (12...Nxd4!? 13.Nfxd4 Bxg2 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Kxg2 Nf5 is only slightly uncomfortable.) 13.Nfxd4 (13.Nxd6? Qxd6 14.Nxd4 Rad8 15.Be3 Nxd4 16.Bxb7 Qc7 and there's the c-pawn hanging.) 13...Be5!? 14.Bg5 Qc8! 15.Nf3! Bb8! 16.Rc1! seems to be some pressure.] 12...Bxc5 13.Ne4 Nd4 [13...Nf5!? 14.Nxc5 bxc5 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.g4 Ncd4! 17.Nxd4 Bxg2 18.Nxe6 Bxf1 19.Nxd8 Bxc4 keeps the balance. So often it's the c-pawn at the end of a long series of captures.] 14.Nxd4?! [14.Nxc5 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 bxc5 17.Bg5!? Qc7 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Rfd1= gives White some tiny plus for getting to the d-file first, but not enough to claim must of anything.] 14...Bxd4

And now it's Black with the long diagonal pressure! White plays too bluntly to handle that, and the original long diagonal becomes sensitive after all. 15.Qc2N [Predecessor: 15.Bg5 f6 16.Qg4 f5 17.Qh4 Ng6 18.Bxd8 Nxh4 19.Bxh4 Bxe4 20.Bxe4 fxe4 21.Rae1 e3 22.fxe3 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Bxb2 24.Rd1 h6 25.Rd8+ Rxd8 26.Bxd8 Be5 27.Be7 Kf7 28.Bb4 Ke8 29.Ke2 Kd7 30.Kd3 Kc6 31.Bf8 Bf6 32.g4 Kd7 33.Ke4 Bc3 34.h3 Bf6 35.Kd3 Kc6 36.a4 a6 37.Kc2 b5 38.cxb5+ axb5 39.axb5+ Kxb5 40.Kd3 Kc6 41.Ke4 Kd7 42.Bc5 Bd8 43.Bd4 g6 44.Bc3 Ke8 Chadaev,N (2577)-Tilicheev,V (2361) Moscow 2011 1/2-1/2] 15...Qc7 16.Bd2

16...f5!? 17.Ng5?! [17.Bc3!? Bxc3 18.Nxc3 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Qxc4 grabs that pawn, with maybe even money to convert.] 17...Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qc6+

19.Kg1? [19.f3?! h6 20.Nh3 Rac8 21.Rac1 e5 when Black has a lot of better pieces but no clear win in sight.; 19.Nf3!? walks into a dangerous pin: 19...Ng6 20.Qb3 Ne5 21.Bf4 Nxf3 22.Qxf3 Black now has various ways to win a pawn, when White puts up difficult resistance.] 19...h6 20.Nh3 Ng6-+

21.Nf4 [21.Bf4 at least keeps Black's knight from overrunning White's kingside.] 21...Ne5 22.Ng2 Qxc4! Stockfish 14 concurs: simply claiming the ending is the best plan. 23.Rfc1 [23.Qxc4 Nxc4 24.Bc3 (24.Bb4 Bxb2!) 24...Bxc3 25.bxc3 Kf7 for example.] 23...Nf3+ [23...Rac8 24.Qd1 Qd3 is the computer choice; Black keeps it human.] 24.Kh1 Qxc2 [24...Qd5] 25.Rxc2 Rac8 26.Rac1 Rxc2 27.Rxc2 Rd8

28.Be3?! [28.Ne1 Nxd2 29.Rxd2 Bf6-+ it fairly routine if you know something about endings.] 28...Bxb2! 29.Rxb2 Rd1+ 30.Ne1 Nxe1 31.Re2 e5 32.h4 f4

[32...Nf3+ 33.Kg2 e4 is in fact crushing (...g5 is coming), but Black was lured away by the domination of the bishop on an open board. The choice was fairly irrelevant in terms of allowing White any chance.] 33.gxf4 exf4 34.Bxb6 axb6 35.Re6 b5 36.Rb6 b4 37.Kh2 Nd3 38.f3 Rd2+ 39.Kh3 h5 White can now dream of sacrificing the a-pawn and the rook for a stalemate... 40.a4 Ra2 41.a5 Rxa5 42.Rb7 Ra3 43.Re7 b3 44.Re2 b2 45.Rd2 b1Q 46.Ra2! Qh1+ 0-1

(3) Clemens,Kristian (1997) - Weng,Nicholas (2013) [A34]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM 2000+ San Francisco (6.2), 17.08.2021
[de Firmian]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The Grunfeld pattern for Black is certainly playable, but less effective against the English Opening for the obvious reason: how do you attack White's center pawns if White hasn't advanced them yet? 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 White proceeds classically, as is Kristian's general preference. Over the years of the current century so far White has thrown all sorts of curious plans Black's way: [5.Qa4+; 5.e4; 5.Qb3; Even 5.Qc2 has a plan (to play 6.e4 Nxc3 7.dxc3 without allowing a queen trade).; But certainly the biggest development has been 5.h4!? , the sort of move Bent Larsen was fond of playing half a century earlier, and now rabidly taken up by the super-GMs of today.] 5...Bg7 6.Bg2 c5 7.Qb3 White chooses this moment to shine a light on Black's knight. [It's not too late for 7.h4 apparently: 7...h6 8.0-0 Nc6 9.d3 0-0 10.Bd2 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bg4 12.Rb1 Qd7 13.Re1 Rad8= 14.Qc2?! b6-/+ 1/2-1/2 (29) Grischuk,A (2777)-Svidler,P (2723) Chess.com INT 2020; And there's always just 7.0-0] 7...Nb6?! Black's coordination starts to suffer. [7...Nc7!? has an interesting intention: 8.Qc4 b6 9.Ng5 does indeed win the Exchange, which Black readily allows with 9...0-0 10.Bxa8 Nxa8 11.0-0 Nc6 Black has full compensation.] 8.d3 0-0 9.Be3

9...N6d7N Black is going to have some serious untangling to do if he's going to equalize after this. [Predecessor: 9...Na6 10.Rc1 Be6 11.Qa3 c4 12.Ng5 Bc8 13.0-0 cxd3 14.exd3 e5 15.Nge4 Re8 16.Qd6 f5 17.Bg5 Qd7 18.Qxd7 Bxd7 19.Nd6 Re6 20.Nxb7 h6 21.Be3 Rb8 22.Na5 Nb4 23.Rfd1 Rd6 24.Bc5 1-0 (24) Ilic,Z-Djurovic,S Skender Vakuf (Knezevo) 1980] 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Rac1 b6?!

12.Rfd1?! [12.d4!+/- cxd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Bxc6 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Nc5 16.Qb4 Bb7 17.Bxb7 Nxb7 18.Rfd1 White may have the worse pawn structure, but it's Black who gets caught in the center. 18...Qe8 19.Nd5+-] 12...e5?! Black tries to put his bind in order, but White's way ahead of him. 13.Nb5?

[13.Bg5! first is essentially winning.] 13...a6? [13...Nf6! almost equalizes, in that 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Bxa8?? (15.d4! might, confusingly, lead to some advantage for White!) runs into 15...Be6] 14.Nd6+- Qe7 15.Qd5 Ndb8

These poor knights don't seem to understand, the idea is to go *forward*. 16.Nxc8! Rxc8 17.Ng5? Letting quite a chunk of White's advantage get away. [17.b4!+- breaks down Black's position nicely: 17...cxb4 18.Bxb6 Ït might not look like much at first, but Black is getting overrun.] 17...Ra7 18.Qb3 Nd8?? [18...h6 19.Nxf7 Kh7!? leaves White little choice than to make it a piece sac (but for a handful of pawns): 20.Qxb6 Qxf7 21.Qxc5 Black has a good chance of holding after 21...Rac7] 19.Qxb6 Now Black falls apart completely. Clemens plays it for certainty, in the form of a two-pawn up ending (with the two bishops as well), and it's as good as over. That there are more than that many moves still to come is besides the point. 19...Rd7 20.Rxc5 Rxc5 21.Qxc5 Keeping the queens on probably favored White but White has his plan. 21...Qxc5 22.Bxc5 h6 23.Ne4 Ne6 24.Be3 Rc7 25.Rc1 Rooks too. 25...Rxc1+ 26.Bxc1 Nd4 27.Kf1 Kf8 28.e3 Ndc6 29.Ke2 Ke7 30.Bd2 f5 31.Nc3 Kd6 32.Nd5 a5 33.Nb6 Kc5 34.Nc4 Kb5 35.Bc3 Nb4 36.Bxe5 Bxe5 37.Nxe5 Nxa2 38.Nxg6 Nb4 39.Ne5 N8a6 40.d4 A master class in the English by Clemens. And Weng's answer to the English is needing some work! 1-0

(4) Uzakbaev,Nursultan"] (1513) - Starr,Albert (1609) [A85]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM u2000 San Francisco (6.13), 17.08.2021
[de Firmian]

1.d4 f5 Albert uses his usual Dutch Defense. He likes using the wing pawns rather than direct central confrontation. 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.Be2 d6 8.Qb3 Qb6 Offering the endgame, which is alright for Black. 9.Qc2 Re8

10.c5!? Nursultan plays an aggressive pawn sacrifice to open up the a2-g8 diagonal. This is a fair choice - it's just a matter of style. 10...dxc5 11.0-0 cxd4 12.exd4 Nd5 13.Be5 White has better development for the pawn and Black has a few weak squares. Chances are equal. 13...Bxe5 14.dxe5 Nxc3 perhaps 14...Na6 developing would be safer 15.Qxc3 Be6?! This gives White a tempo to attack the bishop, making the gambit more dangerous. Again ...Na6 would be a good move. 16.Ng5! Bd5 17.e6 Rf8? [17...h6! is really needed here to drive the knight away. White could retreat or go forward with 18.Bh5 gxh5 19.Nf7 Bxe6 20.Qh8+ Kxf7 21.Qh7+ but this looks like only a draw] 18.Qh3 h5

19.Bxh5! Kg7 the best defense [19...gxh5 20.Qxh5 Kg7 21.Qh7+ Kf6 22.Qh6+ is an easy win] 20.Bxg6! Nursultan is inspired! The attack is worth more than the material. 20...Kxg6 21.Qh7+ Kf6 [21...Kxg5 22.Rae1! is a mating attack (22.Qxe7+ Kg6 23.Qxf8 is also good) ] 22.Qh6+ Ke5 23.Rfe1+ Kd4 [23...Be4 24.Rad1!] 24.Qxf8

With extra material and the black king in the center White is easily winning. 24...c5 25.Rac1 c4 26.Qxe7 Be4 27.Nxe4 fxe4 28.Rcd1+ Ke5 29.Qg7+ Kxe6 30.Rxe4+ Kf5 31.Qg4+ [31.Re5+ Kf4 32.Qg5#] 31...Kf6 32.Rf4+ Ke7 33.Qg7+ Black resigned. Great attack from Nursultan! 1-0

 

---