Gens Una Sumus!
Newsletter #978
July 24, 2021
Table of Contents
- Charles Bagby Memorial Report
- July TNM Live Report
- Tony's Teasers
- Events/Class Schedule
- Submit your piece or feedback
Charles Bagby Memorial Tournament Report
by Abel Talamantez
The 20th Charles Bagby Memorial had a full house of chess enthusiasts with 77 players participating in this one-day G/45;d5 USCF rated event. This tournament is held in honor of former Mechanics' Institute Trustee and Chair of the Chess Committee at the Mechanics' Institute. Here is an obituary from the California Chess Reporter, courtesy of Chess Dryad.
Split into two sections, the 1800+ was a wide open field, especially after top seed IM Elliott Winslow was upset in round 1 by Mikhail Molodyk. After three rounds, Nicholas Weng was in position to take clear first as the only player with 3/3 after a terrific win against Evan Ai. However, NM Siddharth Arun held on to a draw against Weng in round 4 to create a 3-way tie for 1st place between Matthew Ng and Luiz Uribe, who all finished 3.5/4.
Nicholas Weng (left) and Evan Ai square off in round 3
In the under 1800 section, recent UC Berkeley grad Adam Stafford continues his sharp rise with another tournament win, sharing first place with Daniil Kardava with a perfect 4/4. Stafford won his section at the recent Addison Memorial as well. We had 44 players in this section, and it was exciting to see many new faces jumping into live tournament play.
Adam Stafford (white) continues his fine play in the u/1800 section with another cash finish
It was a great day at the Mechanics' Institute, as the excitement and energy were definitely in the room for live chess. There were many talented young players participating, some of whom will be the next generation of Bay Area stars. We also had many new players, and our always faithful Mechanics' Institute regulars. I would like to thank my two volunteer TD's, Chief TD WCM Allyson Wong and Michael Hsu, for helping me keep an eye on the games and making sure everything ran smoothly. I would also like to thank Allyson's mom Alice Lu for the irresitable (too much so) doughnuts.
Here are the final standings for the 20th Charles Bagby Memorial
SwissSys Standings. 20th Bagby Memorial Championship: 1800+
# | Name | ID | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Total | Prize |
1 | Nicholas Weng | 15499404 | 2013 | W32 | W27 | W5 | D4 | 3.5 | 274.42 |
2 | Matthew Ng | 11440339 | 2000 | W21 | W17 | D10 | W15 | 3.5 | 274.42 |
3 | Luiz Uribe | 12839860 | 1856 | D4 | W9 | W14 | W10 | 3.5 | 274.42 |
4 | Siddharth Arun | 13206647 | 2253 | D3 | W26 | W6 | D1 | 3.0 | |
5 | Evan Ai | 14780703 | 2058 | W28 | W12 | L1 | W17 | 3.0 | |
6 | Jacob Chiang | 16093205 | 1998 | X14 | W13 | L4 | W16 | 3.0 | |
7 | Rithwik Narendra | 14903560 | 1849 | D9 | W23 | D11 | W22 | 3.0 | |
8 | Abhishek Mallela | 12888811 | 2159 | L27 | W32 | W19 | D12 | 2.5 | |
9 | Austin Mei | 16090452 | 2149 | D7 | L3 | W24 | W25 | 2.5 | |
10 | Laimonas Turauskas | 30228235 | 2126 | W19 | W18 | D2 | L3 | 2.5 | |
11 | Pranav Senthilkumar | 14020007 | 2046 | W20 | D25 | D7 | D13 | 2.5 | |
12 | Ako Heidari | 15206848 | 1964 | W33 | L5 | W29 | D8 | 2.5 | |
13 | Ranen Lardent | 12614986 | 1803 | W22 | L6 | W18 | D11 | 2.5 | |
14 | Glenn Kaplan | 12680193 | 1776 | H--- | W31 | L3 | W23 | 2.5 | |
15 | Aiden Liu | 16850092 | 1715 | D23 | W24 | W25 | L2 | 2.5 | |
16 | Elliott Winslow | 10363365 | 2278 | L25 | W20 | W27 | L6 | 2.0 | |
17 | Advay Bansal | 16068511 | 1949 | W29 | L2 | W30 | L5 | 2.0 | |
18 | Rohan Rajaram | 15739716 | 1933 | W30 | L10 | L13 | W26 | 2.0 | |
19 | Andrew Ng | 14302931 | 1844 | L10 | W33 | L8 | W29 | 2.0 | |
20 | Tony Zhou | 16147444 | 1816 | L11 | L16 | W33 | W30 | 2.0 | |
21 | Jacob Wang | 17083655 | 1782 | L2 | L22 | W28 | W27 | 2.0 | |
22 | Atul Thirumalai | 14973786 | 2043 | L13 | W21 | D26 | L7 | 1.5 | |
23 | Daniel Lin | 15176393 | 1983 | D15 | L7 | W31 | L14 | 1.5 | |
24 | Ethan Guo | 16761994 | 1953 | D31 | L15 | L9 | W33 | 1.5 | |
25 | Mikhail Molodyk | 13573825 | 1877 | W16 | D11 | L15 | L9 | 1.5 | |
26 | Dylan Tang | 16551237 | 1619 | B--- | L4 | D22 | L18 | 1.5 | |
27 | Patrick Liu | 16667410 | 1851 | W8 | L1 | L16 | L21 | 1.0 | |
28 | Max Hao | 16083648 | 1842 | L5 | L29 | L21 | W31 | 1.0 | |
29 | Vian Yang | 15804394 | 1620 | L17 | W28 | L12 | L19 | 1.0 | |
30 | Leon Quin | 30191497 | 1611 | L18 | B--- | L17 | L20 | 1.0 | |
31 | Vikrant Ganesan | 16786952 | 1628 | D24 | L14 | L23 | L28 | 0.5 | |
32 | James Mahooti | 12621393 | 1800 | L1 | L8 | U--- | U--- | 0.0 | |
33 | Jeff Andersen | 11296106 | 1643 | L12 | L19 | L20 | L24 | 0.0 |
SwissSys Standings. 20th Bagby Memorial Championship: under1800
# | Name | ID | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Total | Prize |
1 | Adam Stafford | 14257838 | 1473 | W35 | W17 | W21 | W4 | 4.0 | 198.88 |
2 | Daniil Kardava | 15961344 | 1380 | W44 | W7 | W23 | W5 | 4.0 | 198.88 |
3 | Wentao Wu | 16629782 | 1472 | W24 | D11 | W29 | W13 | 3.5 | 111.00 |
4 | Frederick Hope | 12646004 | 1646 | W19 | W15 | W16 | L1 | 3.0 | |
5 | Zachary Filler | 14040236 | 1609 | W20 | W10 | W18 | L2 | 3.0 | |
6 | Luke Widjaja | 16010621 | 1527 | L23 | W36 | W17 | W16 | 3.0 | |
7 | Kevin Sun | 16898540 | 1517 | W42 | L2 | W34 | W18 | 3.0 | |
8 | Nursultan Uzakbaev | 17137317 | 1513 | W28 | L16 | W19 | W21 | 3.0 | |
9 | Ella Guo | 16380657 | 1463 | W36 | L21 | W20 | W23 | 3.0 | |
10 | Aaron Craig | 12872385 | 1408 | W39 | L5 | W26 | W25 | 3.0 | |
11 | Andrew Ballantyne | 17079795 | 1299 | W41 | D3 | W27 | H--- | 3.0 | |
12 | Carliteau Leger | 12841454 | 1487 | D29 | L23 | W28 | W22 | 2.5 | |
13 | Aaron Ng | 14302925 | 1455 | W38 | D27 | W14 | L3 | 2.5 | |
14 | Abhi Kulgod | 13306912 | 1317 | D30 | W31 | L13 | W29 | 2.5 | |
15 | Sebastian Suarez | 16875347 | 1433 | X43 | L4 | L25 | W37 | 2.0 | |
16 | Greg Zhou | 16183296 | 1389 | W40 | W8 | L4 | L6 | 2.0 | |
17 | Matthew Perez | 16711456 | 1230 | W25 | L1 | L6 | W38 | 2.0 | |
18 | Cj Apel | 16165833 | 1223 | W26 | W33 | L5 | L7 | 2.0 | |
19 | Adithya Chitta | 16695036 | 1185 | L4 | W37 | L8 | W40 | 2.0 | |
20 | Matt Long | 13377410 | 1179 | L5 | W39 | L9 | W31 | 2.0 | |
21 | Shiv Sohal | 30032729 | 1168 | W31 | W9 | L1 | L8 | 2.0 | |
22 | Austin Jin | 17144712 | 1153 | L32 | W44 | W33 | L12 | 2.0 | |
23 | Justin Brunet | 30055583 | 1096 | W6 | W12 | L2 | L9 | 2.0 | |
24 | Arjun Muthukumaran | 30018527 | 909 | L3 | L26 | W39 | W33 | 2.0 | |
25 | Jay Phatak | 30220271 | unr. | L17 | W35 | W15 | L10 | 2.0 | |
26 | Aaron Metyko | 30209636 | unr. | L18 | W24 | L10 | W34 | 2.0 | |
27 | Teodoro Porlares | 12773115 | 1789 | W34 | D13 | L11 | U--- | 1.5 | |
28 | Noah Johnson | 30182833 | 1015 | L8 | W40 | L12 | H--- | 1.5 | |
29 | Tobiah Rex | 30164211 | 1013 | D12 | W30 | L3 | L14 | 1.5 | |
30 | Bradley Patterson | 30167485 | unr. | D14 | L29 | L31 | W42 | 1.5 | |
31 | Albert Starr | 12844781 | 1609 | L21 | L14 | W30 | L20 | 1.0 | |
32 | Dylan Tang | 16551237 | 1595 | W22 | U--- | U--- | U--- | 1.0 | |
33 | Daniel Marcus | 12905558 | 1458 | W37 | L18 | L22 | L24 | 1.0 | |
34 | Sean Wu | 16802870 | 1206 | L27 | W38 | L7 | L26 | 1.0 | |
35 | Rehaan Malhotra | 30118209 | 1007 | L1 | L25 | W43 | U--- | 1.0 | |
36 | Thomas Gu | 17005685 | 660 | L9 | L6 | L40 | B--- | 1.0 | |
37 | Eli Lee | 16707438 | 491 | L33 | L19 | B--- | L15 | 1.0 | |
38 | Luka Vyatkin | 30209432 | unr. | L13 | L34 | W42 | L17 | 1.0 | |
39 | Elizabeth Denhup | 30161536 | unr. | L10 | L20 | L24 | W43 | 1.0 | |
40 | Tyler Johnson | 30212590 | unr. | L16 | L28 | W36 | L19 | 1.0 | |
41 | Alexia Laffin | 30211880 | unr. | L11 | W42 | U--- | U--- | 1.0 | |
42 | William Thibault | 16716976 | 1050 | L7 | L41 | L38 | L30 | 0.0 | |
43 | Bolorkhuu Chadraabal | 30231347 | unr. | F15 | U--- | L35 | L39 | 0.0 | |
44 | Eric Castro | 30229549 | unr. | L2 | L22 | U--- | U--- | 0.0 |
Tuesday Night Marathon Round 2 Report
by Abel Talamantez
The big screen inside the chess room broadcasts our 10 DGT boards for viewers inside
Round 2 of the TNM finished leaving the top section completely up for grabs as seven players are at the top with 1.5/2. Abhinav Penagalapati drew with IM Elliott Winslow on board 1 and Christophe Bambou drew with NM Siddharth Arun. After receiving a half point bye for round 1, Nicholas Weng won in a tough game against Chelsea Zhou when she flagged in what lookd like a drawn endgame. With 5 rounds to go, the top section is still wide open for anyone to make a move towards the top.
The top four boards do battle, including Abhinav Pebagalapati from the San Jose Chess Club against IM Elliott Winslow
In the under 2000 section, some rising young stars and a veteran Mechanics' player occupy the top four spots in the standings with 2/2. Leon Quin, Adam Stafford and Kevin Sun won their games and are 2/2 representing youth, while veteran Albert Starr got a point by virtue of a no-show. Kevin used a great tactical shot to defeat Marty Cortinas, showing that the kid is definitely studying his tactics.
In the under 1600 section, Dominic Zirbel, Sebby Suarez, David Nichol, and Isaac Sterling are all perfect with 2/2.
Sebby Suarez (white) gets the win against Tobias Rex
Here are some games from round 2, annotated by GM Nick de Firmian
(5) Penagalapati,Abhi (2078) - Winslow,Elliott (2278) [D00]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM: 2000+ San Francisco (2.1), 20.07.2021
[Winslow,E]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 g6 [3...e6; 3...Bf5] 4.e3 [4.Qd2!?; 4.h4!?] 4...Bg7 [4...c6; 4...a6; 4...c5!?] 5.h4!?
When I first saw this in some game or other my thought was "how can that work together with e2-e3?" But a lot of other (or the same?) people also thought "maybe I should stop h4-h5." And the results keep poring in, there is no formula. 5...0-0?! Refusing to believe. [5...h5 is probably more circumspect, and is Stockfish's choice. 6.Be2 0-0 7.Nf3 c5 8.dxc5 (8.Ne5 Nc6 9.Qd2 cxd4 10.exd4 Nd7 11.Nf3 (White chickens out) (11.Nxd5 Ndxe5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.0-0-0 Be6 14.Ne3 Qb6 15.c3 Rfd8 16.Qc2 Bxa2 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 18.Rd1 Rc8 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.Rxd5 Qxf2 21.Qe4 Nc6 22.g4 Nb4! 23.Rd1 Bxc3! 24.bxc3 Na2+ 0-1 (24) Bentley,J (2211)-Lalic,B (2503) Halifax 2003) 11...Nf6 12.Ne5 Nd7 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bh6 Bxh6 15.Qxh6 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Qg5 Bf5 18.Qxd8 Rfxd8 19.0-0-0 Rab8 20.Na4 Re8 21.b3 Kg7 22.Rde1 Nd7 23.Kd2 c5 24.Ba6 Be6 25.Be2 Red8 26.Rd1 Rbc8 27.Kc1 Nf6 28.f3 Rc7 29.Rhe1 d4 30.Nb2 Nd5 31.Bc4 Nc3 32.Bxe6 Nxd1 33.Kxd1 fxe6 34.Rxe6 Rdd7 35.Nc4 Re7 36.Ra6 Rc8 37.Nd6 Rf8 38.Ne4 Rf4 39.Nxc5 Rxh4 40.Ne6+ Kh6 41.Nf8 Rg7 42.Re6 Rh2 43.Re2 h4 44.Ke1 h3 45.Kf1 Rxg2 46.Rxg2 hxg2+ 47.Kxg2 Re7 0-1 (47) Sjugirov,S (2661)-Guseinov,G (2665) 34th Leon Blitz op, Chess.com 2021.07.07. Two weeks ago! Hard to keep up. :-)) 8...Qa5 9.0-0 Qxc5 10.Nb5 a6 11.Nc7 Ra7 12.Nb5 axb5 13.Bxb8 Ra8 14.Be5 b4 15.Bd4 Qa5 16.c3 Bg4 17.Qb3 bxc3 18.Bxc3 Qc7 19.Rac1 Qd8 20.Rfd1 e6 21.Bb4 Re8 22.Bb5 Nd7 23.e4 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Ne5 25.Qh3 Nc6 26.exd5 exd5 27.Rxc6 bxc6 28.Bxc6 Rxa2 29.Bxd5 Kh7 30.Qf3 Rxb2 31.Bxf7 Rxb4 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.g3 Rb6 34.Bxg6+ Rxg6 35.Qxh5+ Rh6 36.Qf5+ Kh8 37.Kg2 Rf6 38.Qh5+ Kg8 39.Qe2 Rdf8 40.Qc2 Rxf2+ 41.Qxf2 Rxf2+ 42.Kxf2 ½-½ (42) Naiditsch,A (2702)-Carlsen,M (2838) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2017. Carlsen not winning. Not like him.] 6.h5 c5 7.hxg6 [7.Nb5!?; 7.Qd2!? Nxh5 8.Bxb8 Rxb8 9.dxc5 Nf6 10.f3 Qc7 11.g4 Qxc5 12.0-0-0 b5 13.Kb1 b4 14.Nce2 e5 15.Ng3 h6 16.N1e2 e4 17.g5 hxg5 18.fxe4 Bg4 19.e5 Ne4 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Qd4 Qxe5 22.Qxe5 Bxe5 23.Rg1 f5 24.Rd5 Bf6 25.Ng3 Rbd8 26.Bc4 Rxd5 27.Bxd5+ Kg7 28.Nxe4 Rd8 29.Nxf6 Kxf6 30.e4 Bh3 31.c4 bxc3 32.bxc3 f4 33.Kc2 g4 34.Kd3 g3 35.Kd4 Kg5 36.c4 Kh4 37.Rh1 g2 38.Rb1 f3 39.Ke3 Kg3 40.c5 f2 41.Bc4 g1Q 42.Rxg1+ fxg1Q+ 43.Ke2 Qf2# 0-1 (43) Pranav,V (2311)-Rahul,S (2391) New Delhi 2018] 7...hxg6 This could be a bit too daring. [But after 7...fxg6 8.dxc5!? (8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Ne5 cxd4 10.exd4 Qb6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Rb1 Ng4 13.Be3 e5 14.Na4 Qc7 15.Qd2 Nxe3 16.Qxe3 exd4 17.Qg3 Qa5+ 18.b4 Qxa4 19.Qh4 Qxc2 20.Qxh7+ Kf7 0-1 (20) Rosen,E (2466)-Niemann,H (2956) Titled Tuesday, Chess. com 2020.04.21. A fast win by the Bay Area's prodigal prodigy, who promises to return (at least for a visit).) 8...Nc6 (8...b6?! 9.cxb6 Qxb6 10.Rb1 Nc6 was a Nepo experiment in 2017. He lost two, a quickie and a long ending, to Aronian.) 9.Nf3 Bg4 looks pretty loose 10.Qd2 Qa5 11.Ne5 Rad8 12.f3 Be6 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Ne2 Qa4 15.Qd4 Qa5+ 16.b4 Qa3 17.Be5 a5 18.Nf4 Bf7 19.b5 cxb5 20.Bxb5 Rb8 21.Rb1 Rbc8 22.c6 Qxa2 23.0-0 Qxc2 24.Rfc1 Qf5 25.Bd3 Qg5 26.Ba6 Nh5 27.Bxg7 Nxg7 28.Bxc8 Rxc8 29.c7 Nf5 30.Qe5 1-0 (30) Mueller,D (2252)-Schulz,L (2293) Magdeburg 2020] 8.Qd2
8...Ne4!? [8...Nc6 has mostly been played, and is engine-favored, which doesn't prove anything in these new lines. 9.0-0-0 c4!? 10.f3 b5 11.g4 b4 12.Na4 b3 13.axb3 cxb3 14.cxb3 Bd7 15.Qh2 was wild: 15...Nb4 16.Bh6 Rc8+ 17.Kb1 Rc2 18.Ne2 Bxa4 19.Bxg7 Nh5 20.bxa4 Qd7 21.Bxf8 Qxa4 22.Nc3 Rxc3 23.bxc3 Qb3+ 24.Kc1 Qxc3+ 25.Kb1 Qb3+ 26.Kc1 Qc3+ 1/2-1/2 (26) Kulaots,K (2577)-Wan,Y (2482) Riga 2017] 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.0-0-0 Qb6 11.Bh6 Bxh6!? [11...Bf5 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Ne2 Nd7 14.Ng3 Bg4 15.Be2 Bxe2 16.Qxe2 Nf6 17.dxc5 Qxc5 18.Rd4 e5 19.Rc4 Qb5 20.a4 Qa6 21.Rb4 Qxe2 22.Nxe2 b6 23.Nc3 Rac8 24.a5 Rh8 25.Rxh8 Rxh8 26.axb6 axb6 27.Rxb6 Rh2 28.Kd2 Rxg2 29.Ke2 Ng4 30.Nxe4 f5 31.Kf3 Rh2 32.c4 Rh3+ 33.Kg2 Rh2+ 34.Kg3 Rh1 35.Nd2 Rg1+ 36.Kf3 e4+ 37.Ke2 Rg2 38.c5 Rxf2+ 39.Ke1 Rh2 40.c6 (40.Nc4!? Rc2 41.b3 Nxe3 42.Nxe3 Rxc5+/- /+/=) 40...Rh1+ 41.Ke2 Rh2+ 42.Ke1 Rh1+ 43.Ke2 ½-½ (43) Kaufman,R (2269)-Canessa,J (1962) John Donaldson TNM, San Francisco 2019.12.21. A local game.] 12.Rxh6 Nd7 13.Rh4 Nf6 14.Nh3 Bxh3 15.Rxh3 Kg7 16.Be2 Rh8 17.Rdh1 Rxh3 18.Rxh3 Rh8 19.Rxh8 Kxh8 20.Qc3 cxd4 21.exd4 Kg7 22.Qc5 Qd6 23.Qxd6 exd6 24.c4 Kf8 25.Kd2 d5 26.b3 Ke7 27.Kc3 Ne8 28.c5 Nc7 29.b4 f5 30.a4 Kd7 31.g3 g5 32.b5 b6 33.cxb6 axb6 34.Bh5 Kd6 35.Kb4 Ne6 36.Kc3
36...f4? [36...g4!-+] 37.Bg4 e3?!= I thought I was winning! But White can get back and hold it together. [37...Nd8 38.Kd2 Nb7=/+; 37...Nc7 38.Kb4 f3=/+; 37...Ng7 38.Kd2 Ne8 39.Bc8 Nf6=/+] 38.fxe3 fxg3 39.Bf3 g4 40.Bg2 Ng7 41.Kd3 Nf5 42.Ke2 Ke6 [42...Nh4 43.Kf1 Nf5 44.Ke2 would be a rep.] 43.Bh1!
43...Nd6 44.Bg2 Nc4 45.e4!? The move I didn't want to see. 45...dxe4 46.Bxe4 Kd6 47.Bf5
47...g2 48.Kf2 g3+ 49.Kg1! Kd5 50.Bd7 Kxd4 51.Kxg2 Kc5 52.Kxg3 It's just a draw. 52...Kb4 53.Kf2 Kxa4 54.Ke2 Kb4 55.Kd1 Na3 56.Kc1 Nxb5 57.Kb2 1/2-1/2 1/2-1/2
(3) Weng,Nicholas (2013) - Zhou,Chelsea (1879) [B80]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM: 2000+ San Francisco (2.3), 20.07.2021
[de Firmian]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 [Trying to avoid 6.Be3 Ng4] 6...e6 [6...e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3] 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.g4 Nicholas plays the English Attack with real aggression. [9.0-0-0] 9...b5 [9...Nc6 10.0-0-0 Nd7 11.h4 Nde5 12.Qf2 Bd7 13.Kb1 Na5 14.g5 Nec4 15.Bc1 b5 16.f4 b4 17.Nce2 Qb6 18.Rh2 was about equal in Leko-Morozevich, San Luis 2005. 1/2 (39)-1/2 (68)] 10.g5 b4
11.Na4N [11.Nce2 is a reasonalble alternative] 11...Nfd7 12.h4 Qa5 13.b3 Bb7 14.Bh3 d5
15.f4 e5?! [15...dxe4 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Bxe6+ Kh8 18.Bxd7 Rd8 19.Bb6 e3 20.Qh2 seems to favor White; 15...Nc5 may be best] 16.Nf5 Re8 17.Bg2 [17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.0-0-0] 17...dxe4?! [17...Bf8] 18.Nxe7+ Rxe7 19.f5
White has an aggressive attacking position with the two bishops and advanced kingside pawns. 19...Nc6 20.Bxe4 [20.f6!] 20...Qc7 21.Qg2 Rb8 22.0-0?! [22.0-0-0!] 22...Nd4 23.f6 Re6 24.fxg7 Bxe4 25.Qxe4 Qxc2 26.Qxc2?! [26.Qg4] 26...Nxc2 27.Ba7 Nxa1 28.Bxb8 Nxb8 29.Rxa1 Kxg7
Black has an extra pawn in the ending but it's not easy to win. 30.Kg2 a5 31.Re1 h6 32.Kf3 hxg5 33.hxg5 Kg6 34.Nc5 Re7 35.Kg4 Nc6 36.Rf1! Nicholas gets some counterplay 36...Nd4 37.Rf6+ Kg7 38.Ne4 Rd7 39.Nd6 Ne6 40.Nf5+ Kg8 41.Nh6+ Kg7 42.Kf5 e4! 43.Kg4 Nc5 44.Nf5+ Kg8 45.Kf4 Rd2?! Chelsea starts to go wrong here. Letting the f-pawn go leaves White with a dangerous passed g-pawn 46.Nh6+ Kf8 47.Rxf7+ Ke8 48.Rf5 Rf2+?! [48...Ne6+! 49.Kxe4 Rxa2 is equal] 49.Ke3 Rxf5 50.Nxf5 Nd3 51.Kxe4 Nc1 52.g6 Nxa2 53.Ke5 Black lost (presumably on time.) After 53...Nc3 there are reasonable drawing chances. 1-0
(4) Liu,Richard (1824) - Heidari,Ako (1964) [E38]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM: 2000+ San Francisco (2.4), 20.07.2021
[de Firmian]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.Nf3 [5.dxc5] 5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e3 0-0 9.Bd3 e5 10.0-0 d5 Black is doing fine at this point. 11.b3 e4?! Black didn't have to comprise his center at this point. He had natural developing moves: [11...Re8; 11...Be6] 12.Be2
12...Bg4? [12...Ng4! all but forces a draw at least, but maybe Ako wanted more. 13.cxd5 Nxh2! 14.Kxh2 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Bd6 went it's a perpetual after either pawn move 16.f4 (16.g3 Bxg3=) 16...exf3 17.Rxf3 Qh2+ 18.Kf2 Qh4+ 19.Kf1 (19.Kg1; 19.g3?? Qh2+ 20.Ke1 Bg4-+) ] 13.Bb2+/- Rc8?
Stockfish's three top moves are bishop retreats! 14.Rfd1?! [14.Nxe4! works nicely!] 14...Qd7 15.Bxg4 Qxg4 16.Ne2! It mght look like Black is okay, but White gets to the key squares quickly. 16...Rfd8 17.Rac1 h5?! 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.h3! An important escape for the king 19...Qg5?! 20.cxd5 Rxd5 [20...cxd5 21.Qxc8 Rxc8 22.Rxc8+ Kg7 23.Nf4 is too much for Black to survive.] 21.Qxe4 Sadly Black's pawn structure is shattered. There is little hope here. 21...Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1 Bf8 23.Ng3 a5 24.Qf3 h4 25.Ne4 Qg6 26.Nxf6+ Kh8 27.Rd4 Ouch 27...Be7 28.Rxh4+ Kg7 29.Rh7+ Qxh7 30.Nxh7 Rh8 31.Ng5 [31.Qg4+ Kxh7 32.Qe4+ Kg7 33.Qxe7 doesn't even let it get interesting.] 31...Bxg5 32.Qg3 Kh6 33.Qd6+ Kg7 34.Qxc6 Bf6 35.Qf3 Rd8 36.g3 The queen is just too powerful. It takes a while but there is really no chance for Black. 36...Rd2 37.Qg4+ Kf8 38.Qa4 Bc3 39.Qa3+ Bb4 40.Qa4 Kg8 41.a3 Ra2 42.Qe8+ Bf8 43.a4 Rb2 44.Qa8 Rxb3 45.Qxa5 Ra3 46.Qa8 Kg7 47.a5 Ra2 48.a6 Ra1+ 49.Kg2 Bc5 50.Qd5 Rc1 51.Qa2 Rd1 52.a7 Bxa7 53.Qxa7 Rd6 54.Qd4+ A game with some fine points. 1-0
(1) Talamantez,Abel (1646) - Starr,Albert (1609) [A85]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM: Extra Game San Francisco (2.9), 20.07.2021
[de Firmian]
1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Bf4 An unusual but reasonable move. It has themes from the London System. 5...0-0 6.e3 d6 7.Be2 Be6?! This is certainly provacative. 7...c6 would be safer. 8.Ng5 Bd7
9.h4 A good positional move, but [9.c5! Kh8 (9...h6 10.Qb3+ d5 11.Nxd5) 10.Qb3 would win at least a pawn for White] 9...h6 10.Nf3 Be8 11.Qb3 b6 12.d5 Nbd7 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.Qc2 a5 White has the edge with the strong knight on d4 and the soft black light squares on e6 and c6. 15.f3 Bf7 16.0-0-0!? Abel plays aggressivley! The game is heating up. 16...e5 17.dxe6 Nxe6 18.g4! A fine move, not worrying about the doubled f-pawns that arise. 18...Nxf4 19.exf4 Qc8?! [19...fxg4 20.fxg4 Qd7 21.Rhg1 is very good for White but material stays equal] 20.gxf5 c5! 21.fxg6! cxd4 22.gxf7+ Rxf7 23.Rxd4 Ne8 24.Re4 Nc7 25.Rg1
With the two extra pawns and safer king White is winning. Albert makes it a fight though. 25...Kh8 26.Bd3 Ne6 27.Nb5?! [27.Nd5] 27...Qc5! 28.Rge1 [28.Rg6 Nxf4 29.Nxd6!] 28...Nxf4 29.Re8+ Rxe8 30.Rxe8+ Rf8 31.Re1?! [31.Rxf8+ Bxf8 32.Qd2 would keep a big edge] 31...Nxd3+ 32.Qxd3 Qf2 [32...Bxb2+!] 33.Re2 Qf1+ 34.Kc2 Be5 35.Qd2 Rf6 36.Rxe5?
A bit of a panic move to force the issue. White is still fine after [36.Nc3] 36...Qxc4+! The zwischenzug crosses White up. Now Black gets a clear edge. 37.Kb1?! [37.Nc3] 37...dxe5 38.Qd8+ Kg7 39.Qe7+ Qf7 40.Qxe5 Qg6+ 41.Kc1 Qg1+ 42.Kd2 Qf2+ Nice technique by Albert. Collecting the f-pawn makes the ending an easy win. 43.Kd3 Qxf3+ 44.Kd2 Qf4+ 45.Qxf4 Rxf4 46.h5 Rb4 0-1
(2) Clemens,Kristian (1997) - Argo,Guy (1928) [E16]
Mechanics' Jul-Aug TNM: 2000+ San Francisco (2.6), 20.07.2021
[de Firmian]
1.Nf3 f5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bd2
Does this have a name? Some combination of Nimzo and Bogo followed by Dutch seems like it gets there. 5...Bxc3 6.Bxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 0-0 8.g3 Nxc3?! There should be no rush to trade off the strong knight right away. 9.Qxc3 b6 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.0-0 d6 12.Rfd1 Qf6 13.Rac1 a5?!
Weakening the queenside. [13...Nd7 Development was called for.] 14.c5! In an otherwise quiet game so far, White opens lines to capitalize on his better development. 14...Na6 [14...dxc5 15.dxc5 Qxc3 16.Rxc3] 15.cxb6 cxb6 16.Qb3?! [16.a3! first stops Black from an interim defense of b6.] 16...Nb4! Back to the center. Now Black is close to equality. 17.Nd2 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qe7 [18...f4! peeks into White's kingside and leaves White with no advantage.] 19.Nc4 Rab8 20.a3 Na6?! [20...Nd5 21.Ne3! is better, but not by much.] 21.Kg1?! White had more useful things to do. 21...Nc7 22.Nd2 And here: [22.Rc2; 22.Qf3] 22...f4 23.Rc6 Nd5 24.Ne4 Rbd8
25.Nc3? [25.Qd3 keeps the advantage.] 25...fxg3 26.hxg3 Nf4? Black sees a mirage -- [26...Qf7 27.f3 Ne3-/+] 27.gxf4 Rxf4 28.Rd3 -- and is lost. [28.f3!] 28...Rdf8 29.Nd1 Qf7 30.Rf3 This really dampens the attack. 30...Qg6+ 31.Rg3 Qe4 32.Qc2 Qxc2 33.Rxc2 Rxd4 34.Ne3 b5 35.Rc7 Rf7 36.Rc8+ Rf8 37.Rc2 h5 38.Rg5 Rdf4 39.Rc7 R8f7 40.Rxf7 Kxf7 41.Rxb5 d5 42.Rxa5 g5
43.Nxd5 Not necessary, and objectively giving away some of his advantage, but the simplification should convince Black to resign. 43...exd5 44.Rxd5 Kf6 45.Rd3 g4 46.Rd5 Kg6 47.b4 Rc4 48.Rc5 Rd4 49.b5 Rd2 50.e3 h4 51.b6 Rb2 52.Rc6+ Kf5 53.a4 Ke4 54.Rc4+ Kf5 55.Rf4+ Kg5 56.a5 h3 57.Kh2 Kh4 58.e4 Rxf2+! At least Guy throws in a scare. It doesn't work though. 59.Rxf2 g3+ 60.Kg1 gxf2+ 61.Kxf2 1-0
Here are the current standings
SwissSys Standings. Jul-Aug 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: 2000+
# | Place | Name | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Total |
1 | 1-7 | IM Elliott Winslow | 2278 | W8 | D4 | H--- | H--- | 1.5 | |||
2 | NM Siddharth Arun | 2253 | W14 | D3 | H--- | H--- | 1.5 | ||||
3 | NM Christophe Bambou | 2121 | W9 | D2 | 1.5 | ||||||
4 | Abhi Penagalapati | 2078 | W12 | D1 | 1.5 | ||||||
5 | Nicholas Weng | 2013 | H--- | W10 | H--- | 1.5 | |||||
6 | Richard Liu | 1824 | H--- | W11 | 1.5 | ||||||
7 | Anthony Acosta | 1818 | H--- | W13 | 1.5 | ||||||
8 | 8-10 | Kristian Clemens | 1997 | L1 | W14 | 1.0 | |||||
9 | Kayven Riese | 1900 | L3 | B--- | 1.0 | ||||||
10 | Chelsea Zhou | 1879 | B--- | L5 | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
11 | 11-13 | Ako Heidari | 1964 | H--- | L6 | 0.5 | |||||
12 | Andrew Guo | 1885 | L4 | H--- | 0.5 | ||||||
13 | Andre Persidsky | 1828 | H--- | L7 | 0.5 | ||||||
14 | 14 | Guy Argo | 1928 | L2 | L8 | 0.0 |
SwissSys Standings. Jul-Aug 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: Under2000
# | Place | Name | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Total |
1 | 1-4 | Leon Quin | 1611 | W14 | W10 | 2.0 | |||||
2 | Albert Starr | 1609 | W9 | X13 | 2.0 | ||||||
3 | Kevin Sun | 1517 | W24 | W12 | H--- | 2.0 | |||||
4 | Adam Stafford | 1473 | W25 | W15 | 2.0 | ||||||
5 | 5-8 | Samuel Brownlow | 1795 | D7 | W19 | 1.5 | |||||
6 | Nikhil Pimpalkhare | 1577 | W16 | H--- | H--- | 1.5 | |||||
7 | Daniel Perlov | 1555 | D5 | W18 | 1.5 | ||||||
8 | Nursultan\ Uzakbaev | 1513 | W17 | H--- | 1.5 | ||||||
9 | 9-14 | Luiz Uribe | 1856 | L2 | W21 | 1.0 | |||||
10 | Amitoj Singh | 1819 | W20 | L1 | 1.0 | ||||||
11 | Ted Porlares | 1789 | D21 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
12 | Marty Cortinas | 1720 | W22 | L3 | 1.0 | ||||||
13 | Frederick Hope | 1646 | W23 | F2 | 1.0 | ||||||
14 | Aaron Craig | 1408 | L1 | B--- | 1.0 | ||||||
15 | 15-23 | Adam Mercado | 1879 | D19 | L4 | 0.5 | |||||
16 | James Mahooti | 1800 | L6 | H--- | H--- | 0.5 | |||||
17 | Gregory Rousso | 1745 | L8 | D22 | 0.5 | ||||||
18 | David Rakonitz | 1622 | H--- | L7 | 0.5 | ||||||
19 | Joel Carron | 1610 | D15 | L5 | 0.5 | ||||||
20 | Nick Casares Jr | 1600 | L10 | H--- | H--- | H--- | 0.5 | ||||
21 | Stephen Parsons | 1532 | D11 | L9 | 0.5 | ||||||
22 | Anvi Penagalapati | 1485 | L12 | D17 | 0.5 | ||||||
23 | Jerry Morgan | 1483 | L13 | H--- | 0.5 | ||||||
24 | 24-25 | Glenn Kaplan | 1776 | L3 | U--- | 0.0 | |||||
25 | Jim Cohee | 1612 | L4 | U--- | 0.0 |
SwissSys Standings. Jul-Aug 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: u/1600
# | Place | Name | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Total |
1 | 1-4 | Dominic Zirbel | 1481 | W17 | W14 | 2.0 | |||||
2 | Sebastian Suarez | 1433 | W18 | W13 | 2.0 | ||||||
3 | Isaac Sterling | 1236 | X--- | W23 | 2.0 | ||||||
4 | David Nichol | 435 | B--- | W11 | 2.0 | ||||||
5 | 5-9 | Valerie Jade | 1490 | W15 | H--- | 1.5 | |||||
6 | Claudio Bastiani-Fonck | 1377 | W27 | D9 | 1.5 | ||||||
7 | Charles James | 1368 | W21 | H--- | 1.5 | ||||||
8 | Paul Reed | 1322 | W30 | H--- | 1.5 | ||||||
9 | Ambrogino Giusti | unr. | W25 | D6 | 1.5 | ||||||
10 | 10-23 | Samuel Agdamag | 1586 | L13 | W26 | 1.0 | |||||
11 | David Olson | 1400 | W31 | L4 | 1.0 | ||||||
12 | Andrew Imbens | 1296 | H--- | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
13 | Tobiah Rex | 1013 | W10 | L2 | 1.0 | ||||||
14 | Andrew Ballantyne | 948 | W28 | L1 | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
15 | Andrejs Gulbis | 826 | L5 | W31 | 1.0 | ||||||
16 | Pratyush Hule | 825 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
17 | Romeo Nehme | 795 | L1 | W30 | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
18 | Thomas Gu | 660 | L2 | W28 | 1.0 | ||||||
19 | Kevin Nguyen | unr. | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
20 | James Wang | unr. | H--- | H--- | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | ||||
21 | Tony Kachakji | unr. | L7 | W29 | 1.0 | ||||||
22 | Ian Atroshchenko | unr. | D24 | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
23 | Iven Yarovoy | unr. | W29 | L3 | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
24 | 24-27 | Peter Borah | 1232 | D22 | U--- | 0.5 | |||||
25 | William Thibault | 1050 | L9 | D27 | 0.5 | ||||||
26 | Thomas Dobbs | unr. | H--- | L10 | 0.5 | ||||||
27 | Tyler Johnson | unr. | L6 | D25 | 0.5 | ||||||
28 | 28-31 | Richard Hack | 1569 | L14 | L18 | 0.0 | |||||
29 | Richard Ahrens | 1228 | L23 | L21 | 0.0 | ||||||
30 | Trent Hancock | unr. | L8 | L17 | 0.0 | ||||||
31 | Jabez Wesly | unr. | L11 | L15 | H--- | H--- | 0.0 |
SwissSys Standings. Jul-Aug 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: Extra Games - JulyAugTNM
# | Place | Name | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Total |
1 | 1-5 | Kayven Riese | 1900 | U--- | W2 | 1.0 |
2 | Juan Cendejas | 1718 | W6 | L1 | 1.0 | |
3 | Albert Starr | 1609 | U--- | W7 | 1.0 | |
4 | David Nichol | 435 | W9 | U--- | 1.0 | |
5 | Kevin Nguyen | unr. | U--- | W8 | 1.0 | |
6 | 6-9 | Chelsea Zhou | 1866 | L2 | U--- | 0.0 |
7 | Abel Talamantez | 1800 | U--- | L3 | 0.0 | |
8 | Pratyush Hule | 825 | U--- | L5 | 0.0 | |
9 | Benjamin Grant | unr. | L4 | U--- | 0.0 |
Tony's Teasers
Here is a mate in four from longtime Mechanics' Institute player Tony Lama. This should occupy a good chunk of your time this weekend!
White to move and mate in 4 Francis C. Collins 1881
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Solution To Tony's Teaser
1. Qf6+!! Kb4 2. Qd4+ Kb5 3. Qc5+ Ka4 4. Qc4#
1. Qf6+!! Kb4 2. Qd4+ Kb5 3. Qc5+ Ka6 4. Qxa5#
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