This and that...

I haven't played much lately since there are not many opportunities to play rated games near Corpus Christi.

Last Sunday there was a 4 round quick rated event. There were 10 players & finished 4-0.

Round 1

Win Robert Muir (1441)

After an equal middle game and early end game, I played horribly and got to a lost position, but I had a big time advantage & won on time.

Here I am Black and just played Rf5, I missed that White can play g4, after which I should have played pxp e.p. and the game is fairly balanced, but after g4 I played R g5 and got into a worse end game.

Round 2

Win vs Joshua Newsham(1946)

I don't play the exchange variation of the Kings Indian often, but decided to give it a go.

Here Black is supposed to play cxd, but he erred with Nd7. I got a good advantage but later got into a bishops of opposite color ending up a pawn. The ending was probably drawn, but since I had no losing chances, I played on and tried to create as many problems for Black as possible . Just because it is an opposite colored bishop ending it does not mean it is an automatic draw, one still has to work!

Round 3

Win vs James Shaw(1837)

Shaw vs Me

1.d4 c6 2.f4 d5 3.e3 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.Nf3 Nd7 6.Be2 Ngf6 7.0-0 Ne4 8.Nc3 Ndf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Ne5 f6 12.Nd3 Bd6 13.g4 Bg6 14.f5 Bf7 15.Nf4 g5 16.fxg6 hxg6 17.Bf3 Qe7 [ 17...g5 18.Bxe4 gxf4 19.Bg2 fxe3] 18.Bxe4 Qxe4 19.Qf3 Qxf3 [ 19...g5 20.Qxe4+ dxe4 21.Ne2 Bxh2+] 20.Rxf3 g5 21.Nh5 Bxh5 22.gxh5 [ 22.Rh3 Kf7 23.Rxh5 Rxh5 24.gxh5 Rh8 25.h3 Rxh5] 22...Rxh5 23.h3 Kf7 24.Bd2 Rah8 25.Kg2 g4 26.Rf2 Rxh3 27.Rg1 f5 28.Rxf5+ Ke6 29.Rf2 Rh2+ [ 29...g3 30.Re2 Rh2+ 31.Kf1 Rf8+ 32.Ke1 Rff2] 30.Kf1 Rxf2+ 31.Kxf2 Rh2+ 32.Rg2 Rxg2+ [ 32...g3+ 33.Kf3] 33.Kxg2 Kf5 34.Kf2 Ke4 35.Ke2 g3 0-1

Round 4

Win vs Henry Velasquez (1534)

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I am also playing a 12 game rated match with Henry Velasquez (1534). The time control is G/60 with a 5 second delay. The score so far is 8-0=2 in my favor.

This is a position from our last game.

I am White and should have played Ra7, but chickened out an played Re2, I managed to get into some trouble, but my opponent blundered in time trouble.

Castling is for sissies

I started coaching my 12 year old's chess team a few weeks back. We went to our 3rd tournament yesterday.The walls of the playing hall were adorned with chess quotes, ones like "Take care of your pieces and they will take care of you", "Chess is the gymnasium of the mind" etc. The one that caught my eye right away was this doozy "Castling is for sissies". I talked to the organizers and had it removed!

As for the tournament we finished in 2nd place.

Could have should have........

A couple of week ago I had a chance to get my rating up to an all time high. All I had to do was win this game.

Wijetunge,I (1889) - Rodriguez,E (1717) [D70]
Corpus Christi Xtreme Chess G/60 (Rnd 3), 10.10.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.h3 [ 8.e5 Ng4 9.h3 Nh6 10.Bg5] 8...c6 9.0-0 b5 10.Bd3 b4 11.Na4 a5 12.Nc5 [ 12.Bd2] 12...Na6 13.Nxa6 Bxa6 14.Bxa6 Rxa6 15.Qd3 Ra8 16.Qc2 Rc8 17.Be3 Qc7 18.Rac1 Qb7 19.Nd2 Nd7 20.Nc4 Qa6 21.Qa4 Ra8 22.f3 Rfc8 23.Rfd1 Nb6 24.Nxb6 Qxb6 25.Rc5 Qa6 26.Qc2 e6 27.Rc1 Rab8 28.Qc4 [ 28.d5 exd5 29.exd5 b3 30.axb3 Re8 31.Rxc6 Qb5 32.Bf4] 28...Rb6 29.b3 Rd8 30.Qxa6 Rxa6 31.Rxc6 Rxc6 32.Rxc6 Bxd4 33.Bxd4 Rxd4 34.Ra6 Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Rd2 36.Rxa5 1/2-1/2

Click here to replay I stopped taking notation here, but this was the final position:

I am White & I had 1 min on my clock. I played RxR which draws, but it looks like it is a draw any way. My error was not getting my king to g7 instead of the pawn.

75th Annual Southwest Open

GERGELY ANTAL  Wins clear first in the Open with 6 points.

PHUNG N NGUYEN Wins the Under 2000 with 7-0.[Phung has a FIDE rating of 2123]

He started the tournament with a provisional rating of 1803 and finished with
a established rating of 1999! Look for Phung in a big money under 2000 event.
10/19/2009 Update :
Phung beats a master and 2 experts at the Lone Star Open : Click here
9/26/2009 Update : 
Phung had another "fishy" result where he drops a boat load of points : Click here
Results

Replay games from the Open at Monroi : Click Here
I finished with 3-0=3 (Not so good since I was paired down in every game.)

1. Draw vs Mark Marshall (1599) In a clearly drawn position I tried too hard and was losing, but managed to draw.
2. Win vs Richard Herrington (1440)
3. Draw vs Victoria Zhang(1726) I got to a rook and pawn ending, up a pawn with very good winning chances, but only manged a draw.
4. Win vs Suchinder Kalyan(1696)
5. Win vs Alfredo Garcia(1663)
6. Draw vs James Ukoli (1860)
7. Bye

Since I had a last round bye I had to win my 6th round game to finish in the money. I reached the following position as Black with White to play and agreed to a draw since I was in a little bit of time trouble. But I should have played to the bitter end à la Nakamura. I gained one rating point to end up at 1889.

10/1/2009 Update : I was pleasantly surprised to receive a check for $31.00 , I did finish in the money!

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History
2009 Ft. Worth 49+82+29 = 160 (Particpants Open+Reserve+Novice)
Open: G ANTAL
Reserve: P NGUYEN

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2008 Houston 62+94 = 156 (Particpants Open+Reserve)
Open: A RAMIREZ, J STOPA, P WANG, S BERCYS
Reserve: E LU

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2007 Brownsville 43+33 = 76
Open: A BACHMANN, S BERCYS, A ALMEIDA, D FERNANDEZ, T VEDRICKAS
Reserve: V FLORES

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2006 Ft. Worth 42+105 = 126
Open: D BOSKOVIC
Reserve : T GWAZE

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2005 Dallas 55+101 = 156
Open: M ZIVANIC, J BRADFORD
Reserve : J CRAWFORD, F BRACK, K WANG

San Antonio - Summer Slammer 7 rounds! of G/60

1st ERNESTO MALAZARTE(2125) with 6.0/7.0
2nd-4th ANDERSON, SELBY K(2234) , PAUL HANEY(2092), STANLEY, GREGG(2086) with 5.5/7.0

USCF Results

Top seeded LANGER, MICHAEL(2319) finished with 5.0/7.0 He lost to ERNESTO MALAZARTE & VERGARA, MITCHELL(2060)

46 players

2 Masters
6 Experts
7 A-Players

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Rnd 7
1 ERNESTO LAGO MALAZARTE(5.0) vs ANDERSON, SELBY K(5.5) 1-0
2 STANLEY, GREGG (4.5) vs FLOURNOY, DONALD W (5.0) 1-0
3 VERGARA, MITCHELL(4.5) vs PAUL ANDREW HANEY (4.5) 0-1

Rnd 6
ANDERSON, SELBY K (4.5) vs VERGARA, MITCHELL(4.5) 1-0
LANGER, MICHAEL (4.0) vs ERNESTO LAGO MALAZARTE (4.0) 0-1
FLOURNOY, DONALD W (4.0) vs CARRIZALES, JUAN (4.0) 1-0

Rnd 5
ERNESTO LAGO MALAZARTE(3.5) vs VERGARA, MITCHELL (4.0) 1/2
ANDREW MINA ISTAFANOUS (3.5) vs ANDERSON, SELBY K (3.5) 0-1
PAUL ANDREW HANEY (3.5) vs LANGER, MICHAEL(3.0) 0-1

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I finished with 4-2=1. Which was enough for a tie for first & second place in class A. (good for $90.00 and a performance rating of 2054)

1) Win DAVID PACHECO (1400)
2) Draw ERNESTO LAGO MALAZARTE (2125)
3) Loss FLOURNOY, DONALD W (2048)
4) Win HUNG, DANIEL (1913)
5) Win BRADLEY, ROBERT D (1945)
6) Loss PAUL ANDREW HANEY (2092)
7) Win HERBERT A BAUMANN (1788)

This position is from my 3rd round loss, All I have to do is move the rook to a7 or b7 and I should win without much trouble, but I played Rxe4 and managed to lose! That's what happens when you only have 12 seconds. (my opponent had around 2 min)

Sacrifice or not?

In my last USCF game in Wisconsin, I played Rc8 in the following position:
I called that move a sacrifice, but many did not agree. WI expert John Becker had this to say:

[It is a pleasing combination that forces the win of material based on taking advantage of overloaded and/or unprotected pieces, but in no way, shape or form can it be considered a "sac".]

To settle the issue I sent in the question to GM Larry Evans, and he replied in the current version of Chess Life for kids: Link here

If you can't get to the link here is the question and answer:

Q: Can you please settle this debate? In this position I played 26.Rc8. Does this move fit the definition of a sacrifice?

A: A sacrifice—whether sound or unsound—is generally understood as a move that gives up material intending to get something good in return. A gambit, for example, usually is a sacrifice in the opening that offers a pawn for speedy development. Here 26.Rc8! (ignoring the knight hanging on f3) could be defined as a temporary and sound sacrifice since after 26...Rxc8 27.Nxe7+ Kg7 28.Nxc8 Qc7 29.Qc2 Qxc2 30.Bxc2 gxf3 31.gxf3 White simplifies to a winning ending a pawn ahead.

Pikes Peak Open

Playing White in round 1 is top seed R ANDERSON (2251)

I had a great first day scoring 2.5/3.0 including a 3rd round draw against NM Brian Wall

Brian is a very interesting Chess personality check out the following links:

http://brianwallchess.net/

http://www.walverine.com

http://chessville.com/Wall/index.htm

Wijetunge,I (1810) - Wall,B (2207) [A40]
Pikes Peak Open (3), 01.08.2009

1.d4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f6 3.c4 e5 4.d5 Nce7 5.e4 Ng6 6.Nc3 Bc5 7.Na4 Bb4+ 8.Nd2 Nh6 9.a3 Be7 10.g3 f5 11.Bg2 0-0 12.0-0 f4 13.Nf3 d6 14.Qd3 Bd7 15.Nc3 Qc8 16.Ne2 Bh3 17.Bd2 Rf7 18.Kh1 Qd7 19.Bxh3 Qxh3 20.Nfg1 Qd7 21.b4 Raf8 22.gxf4 exf4 23.Qh3 Qa4 24.Rac1 Bf6 25.Bc3 Qxa3 26.Ra1 Qb3 27.Bxf6 Qxc4 28.Bd4 [28.Bg5 Qxe4+ 29.Qf3 Qxb4 30.Bxh6 Ne5 31.Qc3 Qxc3 32.Nxc3 gxh6 33.Rxa7] 28...f3 29.Rfc1 Qxb4 30.Rab1 Qa4 31.Ra1 Qb4 32.Rab1 ½-½

Round 4 - Win by forfeit

Round 5
R ANDERSON #4 in Colorado (2251) vs me
Tied for first playing on board 1 in the last round, it doesn't get much better than that! I played a great game to reach this position with Black to play. I preferred Black here, but failed to see the danger associated with the attack on e6 after I played ...Na5 and White plays Bd7. I should have played ...Nb8 or ...Bd8.

USCF Results

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Pikes Peak Open History
2009 34 R ANDERSON,J EVANS
2008 28 R ANDERSON
2007 30 R ANDERSON,B WALL,J HAMBLIN,S MACMILLAN
2006 27 I BARLAY,P ANDERSON

Waukesha CC Round Robin

The tournament has been rated : Click here
First three rounds : Click here

Format : G/90 Double RR. 8 six person sections.

Location : Waukesha Chess Club

There are 48 players, making this the most attended tournament at the WCC.

Click here for schedule

Round 3
Cardenas widthraws. Since he has played less than half his games, results against him will not count toward section totals. The first three rounds have been rated, since Cardenas' member ship was to expire before the tournament ends. Click here for those results.

Round 1. (June 10)
James Coons ended Jake Kohlenberg's 15 game unbeaten streak.

Click here for the game.

This was Coons 7th straight win, but he lost the next day to Jerry Zhou at the SWCC.

	Player	Rating	1	1	2	2	3	3	4	4	--	--	6	6	Total
1	W. Williams	2200	**	**	.5	.5	1	0	0	1	--	--	.5	1	4.5
2	D. Paitrick	2007	.5	.5	**	**	.5	.5	1	U	--	--	1	1	5.0
3	J. Kohlenberg	1993	0	1	.5	.5	**	**	1	1	--	--	0	.5	4.5
4	J. Veech	1972	1	0	0	U	0	0	**	**	--	--	1	U	2.0
6	J. Coons	1842	.5	0	0	0	1	.5	0	U	--	--	**	**	2.0
	Player	Rating	1	1	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6	Total
1	J. Nickell	1755	**	**	0	0	0		0	0	.5		.5	0	1.0
2	R. Jayne	1748	1	1	**	**	1	.5	0	0	1				4.5
3	S. Garvin	1739	1		0	.5	**	**	0	1	0	.5	.5	1	4.5
4	A. Krause	1724	1	1	1	1	1	0	**	**	0	0	.5	1	6.5
5	T. Schneider	1714	.5		0		1	.5	1	1	**	**	.5	.5	5.0
6	T. Zimmermann	1676	.5	1			.5	0	.5	0	.5	.5	**	**	3.5

Chess in Texas

After leaving Wisconsin I played in the San Antonio City Championship and had a pretty good result. After that it has been all down hill. I usually don't play rated games with a time control faster than G/60, but since I did not have much options in Corpus Christi decided to play in 3 such events which brought my rating down from 1852 to 1821. (I am going to stick to G/60 of slower!)

I was looking forward to the Houston Open with a time control of G/120 to recover some pride, but it was not to be!

I played round 1 of the 3 day schedule and had the following position as Black.
Some times you lose because you do not see tactics, other time you lose because you see tactics that are not there. Can you guess Black's losing move. (Answer in comments)

I decided to re-enter the 2-day event and had 1.5/2.0 before I got to the following position with Black to play in round 3 . Here I had to make a decision:
a) ...Rxa4 and after Rb4 play Ra7
b) ...Rxa4 and give up the b pawn and activate the rook behind Whit's b pawn
c) ...Rb5 and go for the pawn endgame

I thought that all the options would lead to a draw and chose option c, but managed to lose. The reason I lost was because I did not play b6 to cut off the White king.

That loss was hard to take. In round 4 I some how managed to draw a position that evaluated to +4.5! (I was white)

I had the following position in round 5 after the moves ...Bc2 and Rf1.
I played ...h6, allowing White to play e4 and trap my Bishop. Although I could have complicated matters with ...Rfd8, I did not find that move during the game & lost.

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I met fellow blogger Donnie from Liquid egg product who tied for 1st in the U1600 section. We played a few blitz games after the event.

My next tournament will be the Pike's Peak Open in Colorado Aug 1-2. That will be on our 2009 road trip.

Houston Open History
2009..153..JACEK STOPA
2008...94..KIRILL KUDERINOV
2007..156..AMON SIMUTOWE
2006..123..DANIEL FERNANDEZ

World Open : Wisconsin's Alex Gianos-Steinberg wins $14,000 Alex Responds (see comments)

Alex won clear first with 8.0/9.0 ! in the U2000 section.

He is also Wisconsin's newest expert!

Who is Alex Gianos-Steinberg?

All I know about Alex is his MSA record at uscf. After his first tournament at the WCC in 2001, he has only played in the Chicago Open until now, with very good results.

2002 U1400 Tie for 26th
2003 U1400 Tie for 4th
2004 U1600 Tie for 22nd
2005 U1600 Clear 1st $5000
2006 U1800 Tie for 8th
2008 U1900 Clear 1st $5000

San Antonio City Cahmpionship 2009 June 20, 21

San Antonio City Championship

48 players
1 Master
6 Experts
10 A-players

S ANDERSON & G STANLEY tie for first with 4.5/5.0

USCF Results

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I finished with 3.5/5.0 I lost to the top seed NM Selby Anderson in round 2 & took a last round bye.
I thought that Black could hold this ending. Although White can create a passed pawn in the middle of the board, I thought that Black had enough resources to defend. I played ..Ng5 to go into a Bishop vs Knight ending. But I think that was was a mistake.

I went over the position with an Expert and he suggested ...a5.

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History (year/players/winner(s))
2009 48 S ANDERSON, G STANLEY
2008 51 E MALAZARTE
2007 54 D SUTHERLAND, G STANLEY, A SMITH
2006 70 P YEH, J HYLTIN, A GUERRA

Waukesha CC 4 Round G/90

36 Players

USCF Results

Final cross table

Rnd 4
1-0 Coons(3.0) vs Krause(3.0)
1-0 Kohlenberg(2.5) vs Reese(3.0)
1-0 Williams(2.0) vs Smith(2.5)
1-0 Wijetunge(2.0) vs Zimmermann (2.0)

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My last game (at least for a while) in WI was memorable since I got to play Rc8 in the following position:

Black just attacked my knight on f3, instead of doing something about it, I sacAfter Rc8

Wjetunge(1848) vs Zimmermann(1676) June 3, 2009
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Be7 5.Bd3 0-0 6.0-0 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.Nbd2 Bb7 9.c3 Nbd7 10.Rc1 c5 11.Re1 Rc8 12.Bb1 Re8 13.Qc2 b5 14.Ne5 Nf8 15.Ndf3 cxd4 16.exd4 b4 17.Qb3 a5 18.a3 Ba8 19.cxb4 Qb6 20.b5 g5 21.Bg3 Nh5 [21...g4 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Bh4 gxf3 24.Qxf3] 22.a4 Nxg3 23.hxg3 f6 24.Ng6 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 g4 26.Rc8 [26.Qe3 gxf3 27.Qxh6] 26...Rxc8 27.Nxe7+ Kg7 28.Nxc8 Qc7 29.Qc2 Qxc2 30.Bxc2 gxf3 31.gxf3 Nd7 32.Kf1 e5 33.Bf5 Nf8 34.Ke2 e4 35.Ke3 Kf7 36.fxe4 dxe4 37.Bxe4 Bxe4 38.Kxe4 Nd7 39.Kd5 Ke8 40.Kc6 Kd8 41.Nb6 Nf8 42.d5 Ng6 43.Nc4 f5 44.b6 Kc8 45.Nd6+ Kb8 46.Nxf5 Ne5+ 47.Kb5 Nd3 48.d6 Ne5 49.Nxh6 Kb7 50.b4 axb4 51.Kxb4 Kxb6 52.a5+ Kc6 53.f4 Nd3+ 54.Kc3 Nc5 55.Nf5 Nd7 56.Kc4 Nf6 57.Kd4 Nd7 58.g4 Nf8 59.g5 Kb5 60.Ne7 Kxa5 61.f5 Kb5 62.g6 Nd7 63.Nd5

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Rnd 3
Many upsets today!

1-0 A. Krause vs W. Williams
1-0 G. Reese Jr. vs C. McCutchin
0-1 T. Zimmermann vs J. Coons
0-1 Russ Montney vs J. Kohlenberg
1-0 J. Smith vs  S. Garvin
1/2 R. Hayes vs R. Lauzums
0-1 Pranav Kulkarni vs Ivan Wijetunge

Rnd 2 (Reese Jr vs Wijetunge)
I obtained a very good position, but bad time management did me in.Here I played Bd5 and White replied Ne1. Instead the best move for Black is Bxh3

Crosstable here

Waukesha Chess Club

SW Chess Club Quads G/100

There are 6 Quads and a 5 person Swiss
Quad 1

			1	2	3	4
1	John Veech	2040	X	-0-	-1-	-1-
2	Allen Becker	2000	-1-	X	-1-	-0-
3	Daniel Munoz	1854	-0-	-0-	X	.5
4	Ivan Wijetunge	1836	-0-	-1-	.5	X

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Veech vs Wijetunge Rnd 2
I got a chance to play WI newest expert. (so new that he still had the "new expert smell") We played a crazy game with inaccuracies on both sides and pieces flying every where. The following position is right after Veech played Rxh5? I didn't find the winning move f5 here, but played Bc6 which should have lost if White finds the right continuation, but since he did not I still had chances to be slightly ahead or =. But in the end I lost with the clock ticking down.

Postion after Rxh5?

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Wijetunge vs Becker Rnd 1
This is the position after I played Nf3xg5!!

The !! is not because it is the best move (I thought that Bg3 was the best move), it is because sometimes other factors also come in to play. Allen usually spends a long time on the first part of the game leaving him little time for the rest, and this game was no exception. One of the hardest things to do is defend with not much time on the clock. I give up a Knight for 2 pawns. In exchange I get:

• an annoying pin of the f6 knight
• good attacking chances with a possible rook lift with f4 and Rf3
• force Black to play accurately in time trouble