The Serial Drawer

An email received from a reader advised me to check out the Charlotte Spring IM 2021 held in March of this year. My first thought after reviewing the games was that IM Nikolay Adrianov

Some of the 2019 summer camp attendees with IM Nikolay Andrianov.

is a “serial drawer.” This is the game “played”, and I use the word very loosely, in the very first round, so age, or fatigue, could not have played a roll in the outcome of the game:

Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS) – Griffith, Kyron (USA)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 01

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 b5 5. O-O ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/01-Andrianov_Nikolay-Griffith_Kyron

I then proceeded to examine each and every other game in the tournament, before doing the same with the GM tournament from the same event. Then I sat back and reflected for some time…

The name of the establishment in which the games were contested, at least some of them, is the Charlotte Chess Center and SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=charlotte%20chess%20centerhttps://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=charlotte%20chess%20center

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=charlotte%20chess%20center

The last part is all caps for a reason. Children are the driving force not only at the CCCSA but in everything Chess these days. I assume children come to the CCCSA to LEARN. The question the Chess community must ask itself is, “What are the children being taught?”

Children learn from the adults with whom they associate. Children emulate the actions of the adults with whom they are in close proximity.

Grant Oen,

the Assistant Director of the Charlotte Chess Center, wrote in a recent email, “If he
(IM Nikolay Adrianov) is fine with several quick draws, that is acceptable with us as long as the rules are followed.”

Could it be time to change the rules?

Ask yourself what the children, the “Scholastic” part of the CCC, think when they see players sit down at the board, play a few perfunctory moves, shake hands, and sign scoresheets, before leaving the playing area.

Imagine being a parent of that child who knows little about Chess and seeing the “buddy-buddy” draw occur only too often. The child is at the CCCSA to LEARN about how to play Chess. If a game consists of only a few perfunctory moves would you want your child spending their time, and your money, learning how to push a few pawns before shaking hands?

If I were a parent seeing this at the CCCSA, or any other place where Chess is played, I would want my child playing anything but Chess! It would be far better for a child, any child, to learn how to play the wonderful, ancient oriental game of Go, which almost always ends with someone winning the game, (In rare situations such as triple ko, quadruple ko, eternal life, and round-robin ko, if neither side will yield, the referee may declare a draw or a replay. See Diagrams 4 to 7. {This is a clear conflict with Section 6, forbidding the reappearance of the same board position. –wjh} (https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~wjh/go/rules/Chinese.html) than to waste his or her time learning how to not play Chess.

The Chess community needs to do some serious collective soul searching and ask some serious questions about what has happened to the Royal game. Something is seriously wrong when five move “games” are acceptable to the Chess community. If nothing is done the Golden goose will stop laying those golden eggs.

For the record I present all of the other games played by IM Andrianov in this tournament. It is obvious he can play Chess when he wants, or is forced, to play, which happens all to infrequently. The games show the tournament director was aware that IM Andrianov was a serial drawer when allowing him to adulterate the tournament written about previously. (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/06/01/the-thrill-of-victory-and-the-agony-of-defeat-at-the-charlotte-chess-center/)

Wang, Tianqi (USA) – Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 02

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 d5 4. Nf3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Nxf6+ gxf6 7. b3 Nc6 8. Bb2 Rg8 9. g3 f5 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. Rf1 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Qd5 14. Qe2 O-O-O 15. O-O-O Bg7 16. Bxg7 Rxg7 17. Rf3 f6 18. Rd3 Qc6 19. Rxd8+ Kxd8 20. Re1 Re7 21. Qc4 Qd5 22. Qe2 Kc7 23. Kb1 b6 24. Qa6 Kb8 25. Re2 e5 26. fxe5 Rxe5 27. a4 Qh1+ 28. Kb2 Qf1 29. Rxe5 Qxa6 30. Rxf5 Qe2 31. d3 h5 32. h3 Qe3 33. Rxh5 Qxg3 34. h4 Qg6 35. Rh8+ Kc7 36. h5 Qg7 0-1
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/02-Wang_Tianqi-Andrianov_Nikolay

Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS) – Adamson, Robby (USA)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 03

1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. b6 e6 ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/03-Andrianov_Nikolay-Adamson_Robby

Matros, Alexander (KAZ) – Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 04

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/04-Matros_Alexander-Andrianov_Nikolay

Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS) – Murugan, Krishnamoorthy (IND)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 05

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 a6 ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/05-Andrianov_Nikolay-Murugan_Krishnamoorthy

Chasin, Nico (USA) – Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 06

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Bf4 dxc4 6. a4 Nd5 7. Bg3 e6 8. Qc1 Nd7 9. e4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O Be7 13. Qb1 Qc8 14. d5 cxd5 15. axb5 dxe4 16. bxa6 Rxa6 17. Nd2 Rxa1 18. Qxa1 Bd5 19. Qa2 O-O 20. Bxc4 Qc6 21. Qa6 Qxa6 22. Bxa6 Nc5 23. Bb5 f5 24. Be5 Bf6 25. Bd6 Rc8 26. Bxc5 Rxc5 27. c4 Ba8 28. Rb1 Kf7 29. Kf1 Ke7 30. g3 Rc7 31. Nb3 g5 32. Ke2 f4 33. Nd2 Ra7 34. c5 Ra2 35. Bc4 Rb2 36. Rxb2 Bxb2 37. gxf4 gxf4 38. Bb5 f3+ 39. Kd1 Bd5 40. c6 Kd8 41. Ba4 Bd4 42. Bc2 e3 43. fxe3 Bxe3 44. Bxh7 f2 45. Nf1 Bd4 46. Ke2 Bxc6 47. Bd3 Bg2 48. h4 Ke7 49. h5 Kf6 50. h6 Kg5 51. Ne3 Bh3 52. Kf3 Kxh6 53. Ng4+ Bxg4+ 54. Kxg4 ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/06-Chasin_Nico-Andrianov_Nikolay

Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS) – Oberoi, Shelev (USA)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 07

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 c5 5. Be2 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. c3 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. Be3 Qd6 11. Re1 b6 12. Nf1 Bd7 13. Qd2 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Bf3 Qd6 17. Bxd5 Qc7 18. Bxa8 Rxa8 19. Bd4 Bc6 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Rad1 Qc8 22. Ng3 Nf6 23. Qd4 Qb7 24. f3 Qa6 25. a3 Qb5 26. Re5 Qa4 27. c4 h6 28. Nf5+ Kh7 29. Re7 Rf8 30. Nd6 Kg7 31. Rc7 Ba8 32. Re1 Qc2 33. h3 g5 34. Ne8+ Rxe8 35. Rxe8 Bxf3 36. gxf3 Qc1+ 37. Kf2 Qh1 38. Rc6 Qh2+ 39. Ke1 Qg3+ 40. Kd2 Qg2+ 41. Re2 Qxf3 42. Qxf6+ 1-0
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/07-Andrianov_Nikolay-Oberoi_Shelev

Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS) – Canty, James (USA)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 08

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/08-Andrianov_Nikolay-Canty_James

Martin Del Campo Cardenas, Roberto Abel (MEX) – Andrianov, Nikolay (RUS)

Charlotte Spring IM 2021 round 09

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5 ½-½
   https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-spring-im/09-Martin_Del_Campo_C_Roberto-Andrianov_Nikolay

Ask yourself the question, “Is this good for Chess?”