I have no business playing this game if I play like this...

I played in the North American open in Las Vegas over the Christmas break. It was fun meeting old friends, but my playing was no fun at all. I was hoping I would play better in the New Year Open in San Antonio last w-end, so that I could end my report in a happy note but it was not to be.

San Antonio, New Year Open Jan.2-3

It was a strong event with 50 players, 3 Masters and several experts. BRADLEY J SAWYER won the event with a 5-0 performance.

Going into the 5th and final round, I was 2.5/4.0 after losing to an expert in round 2.

I was White against expert and current grade 11 champ MATTHEW LIU who had 3.0/4.0

I am White. Matthew blundered a pawn in the opening and here I had a chance to win another pawn with check. My last move was N b1-c3, but Qf7 wins another pawn with check! I looked at Qh8, but did not even look at Qf7. I was just plain lazy.

Here I had a chance to put the game away with f5, but played Rd3?? instead. My whole idea of f4 earlier was to play f5, when I finally got the chance I didn't take it becuase I moved too fast (6 seconds).

Here I had a chance to play Re3 and go into a Knight ending a pawn up, but played Rf5?? instead and went into a rook ending a pawn down. Apparently I forgot that Knights can move backwards as well! Another costly error due to lazyness.

I am sure that with accurate play it should still have been a draw, but I used up too much time and lost.

After reading the following chess base article, I am feeling better!

Wijetunge vs Liu

1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 f6 3.Bh4 Nh6 4.e3 Nf5 5.Bg3 Nxg3 6.hxg3 Bf5 7.Bd3 Bxd3 8.Qxd3 Qd7 9.Rxh7 Rxh7 10.Qxh7 Nc6 11.Qh5+ Kd8 12.Nc3 [ 12.Qf7 Qe8 13.Qxd5+ Qd7 14.Qf7 Qe8 15.Qc4 e6 16.Nc3 Na5 17.Qd3 Nc6 18.Nf3 Nb4 19.Qd2 Rc8] 12...e6 13.a3 Qe8 14.Qe2 a6 15.Nf3 Bd6 16.e4 dxe4 17.Nxe4 Qh5 18.Nxd6 cxd6 19.0-0-0 Qh6+ 20.Kb1 Kd7 21.d5 exd5 22.Rxd5 Re8 23.Qd1 Re6 24.Nh4 [ 24.c4] 24...Ne7 25.Rd3 Qh7 26.f4 Qe4 27.Rd4 Qe3 28.Rd3 [ 28.f5] 28...Qf2 29.Ka2 [ 29.Nf3 Qxg2 30.Nd4 Re4 31.Nb3 Kc7; 29.Qg4 g6 30.Nxg6 f5] 29...g6 30.c3 [ 30.c4 Qc5 31.Qc2] 30...Kc7 31.Rf3 [ 31.Qb3 Re2 32.a4; 31.Qf3] 31...Qe2 32.Qd3 g5 33.fxg5 fxg5 34.Qxe2 Rxe2 35.Nf5 g4 36.Rf4 [ 36.Re3 Rxe3 37.Nxe3 Kd7 38.Nxg4 Nf5 39.Nf6+ Ke6 40.g4 Ne3 41.g5 Kf5 42.Ne8] 36...Nxf5 37.Rxf5 Rxg2 38.Rg5 Rxg3 39.Rg7+ [ 39.c4 Kc6 40.a4 b6 41.b4 Kd7 42.Kb2 Ke6 43.a5 bxa5 44.Rxa5 Rg1 45.Rxa6 g3 46.Ra5 Rf1 47.Rg5 Rf2+ 48.Kc3 g2 49.b5] 39...Kc6 40.a4 Rg1 41.Kb3 g3 42.Rg5 Rg2 43.Rg7 Kd5 44.Rxb7 [ 44.Ka3; 44.Ka3 b6 45.Kb3 Rg1 46.Kb4 g2 47.Kb3 Ke4 48.Re7+ Kf3 49.Rf7+ Ke2 50.Re7+ Kd3 51.Rg7 d5 52.Rg8 d4 53.cxd4 Kxd4 54.Rd8+ Ke3 55.Re8+ Kd2 56.Rd8+ Ke2 57.Re8+ Kf2 58.Rf8+ Kg3 59.Rg8+ Kf3 60.Rf8+ Ke4 61.Rg8 Kf4 62.Rf8+] 44...Ke4 [ 44...Rd2 45.c4+ Ke4 46.Rg7 g2 47.Kc3 Rf2] 45.Rd7?? [ 45.Re7+ Kf4 ( 45...Kf3 46.Rf7+ Ke2 47.Rg7 Kf2 48.Rf7+ Kg1 49.Rg7) 46.Rf7+ Ke4; 45.Rg7 d5 46.Rg8 d4 47.cxd4 Kxd4] 45...Rd2 46.Re7+ 0-1

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