FM Daniel Gurevich vs GM Illia Nyzhnyk
2014 Spice Cup Rd 1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6.
Nc3 e6 7. Bd3 d6 8. O-O Be7 9. Kh1 Qc7 10. f4 a6 11. Qf3 h5 12. a4 h4 13. Be3
Bd7 14. a5 Nb4 15. Bb6 Qc8 16. e5 Bc6 17. Qh3 dxe5 18. fxe5 Nh5 19. Nd4 Nxd3
20. cxd3 Rh6 21. Nxc6 Qxc6 22. Be3 Rh7 23. Ne4 Qb5 (Stop! Take time to answer the question of, “What move do I want, or need, to play?” The answer is from GM Kevin Spraggett. (http://kevinspraggettonchess.wordpress.com/)
“SPICE Cup Open Saint Louis USA 2014.10.21 Position after 23 moves. A quick glance at the position of Black’s pieces on the Kingside indicates that the higher rated player (Nyzhnyk) has taken some liberties. Clearly Black’s game lacks cohesion and harmony. Even so, one feels almost sorry for Black for the BRUTAL finish that White has in store…
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH!”
“SPICE Cup Open Saint Louis USA 2014.10.21 Gurevich, Daniel–Nyzhnyk, Illya: 24.Rxf7!! A brilliant move that exposes the lack of harmony in Black’s game 24…Kxf7 ( 24…Qxe5 25.Raf1 paralyzes Black and is not better than the move played in the game ) 25.Rf1+ Nf6 ( Relatively best. If instead 25…Kg8 26.Qxe6+ Kh8 27.Qxe7 Qe8 28.Qxe8+ Rxe8 29.Nd6 Rb8 30.e6 and the pawn must win: 30…g6 31.Bg5 etc or if instead 25…Ke8 26.Qxe6 with multiple threats) 26.exf6 Qxd3 ( 26…gxf6 27.Ng5+ ) And now the simplest is 27.Ng5+ Kg6 28.Qf3 gxf6 29.Nxe6 and Black is defenceless ) The game continuation was a bit imprecise, but good enough to win: 27.Qf3 gxf6 28.Nxf6 Bxf6 29.Qxf6+ Ke8 30.Qxe6+ Re7 31.Qg8+ Kd7 32.Qg4+ Kc6 33.Rc1+ Kd5 34.Qh5+ Ke6 35.Re1 Rae8 36.Bc5+ Kd7 37.Bxe7 Rxe7 38.Rd1 Kc7 39.Qc5+ 1-0 A pretty attacking game.” (http://kevinspraggettonchess.wordpress.com/page/2/)
GM Alonso Zapata, FM Kazim Gulamali, and NM Sanjay Ghatti each finished with a score of 6-3 at the US Open to lead the contingent of players from the state of Georgia. There is a dearth of games thanks to Monroi.
GM Zapata was upset in the second round by a young girl, Expert Jessica Regam. She played the GM tough enough to win when the GM could not make time control. The game score shows the GM making his last move, but since he lost on time I have no idea why the move is given.
Jessica Regam (2125) vs GM Alonso Zapata (2555)
Rd 2 2014 US Open
GM Zapata went into the penultimate round tied for first with nine other players while having White versus the seventeen year-old GM Illia Nyzhnyk of Ukraine. Since he is listed on the wallchart as being from Missouri, I assume he is one of the chess mercenaries at one of the colleges in the show me state.
After the teen GM played 14…h4 I thought back to a time when IM Boris Kogan was presenting a game from the US Championship when, in an analogous position his opponent had played his King Rook pawn across the Rubicon, just as Nyzhnyk. Boris moved his King Rook pawn to h3, and said while grinning, “He come no further!” I was flummoxed when GM Zapata did not move his Rook pawn, allowing his opponent to “come on down.” I was even more flummoxed when the youngster did NOT play h3 on his next move! I had been expecting the thematic 16 f5 when the much older GM played the cheap trick, 16 Nb5, losing a pawn. This move gave the advantage to the younger player. GM Zapata fought hard and after many vicissitudes had a chance to draw the game, but did not take advantage of the presented opportunities, and lost. Possibly demoralized, and certainly fatigued, the Senior GM lost his last round game with Black against NM Carl Haessler from Oregon. This was a fine win for the underdog out rated by more than five hundred points. Hopefully the game will be published in a future edition of the excellent Northwest Chess Magazine (http://www.nwchess.com/nwcmag/index.htm).
Kazim Gulamali also had a chance to finish in the second score group only a half point behind the co-champions, but alas, he too was upset in the last round, losing to Expert Mariano Sana of Tennessee. Check out this picture of Kazim in the blitz tournament here (http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2014/07/30/2014-u-s-open-orlando-usa/). Once again, there is no game, so I will present one of the few games to appear on Monroi:
Kazim Gulamali (2397) vs Sir Jalen Wang (2206)
Rd 7 2014 US Open
Benjamin Barry Moon finished only a half point behind those above, scoring five and a half points, with four wins, threed draws, and two losses. BB gained sixty rating points, improving from 2084 to 2144.
Constantine Xanthos (2218) vs Benjamin Barry Moon (2084)
Rd 5
Reece Thompson, who represented the Great State of Georgia in the Denker tournament of High School players, also scored five and a half points by winning five, drawing one, and losing three.
Carter Peatman also scored five and a half points by also winning five, drawing one, and losing three. A picture of Reece can be found here (http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2014/07/30/2014-u-s-open-orlando-usa/). Just look to the immediate left of the number 134. Unfortunately, the only game I found was this loss:
Alex Little scored five points with three wins, four draws, and only two losses. He went from 1634 to 1792, gaining a whopping 154 points! Again it is unfortunate, but I have no game to present.
Kevin Schmuggerow, the owner of the North Georgia Chess Center (http://www.northgachesscenter.com/) scored four and a half points, taking a half point bye in the last round. Schmuggy. a floored NM, won three, lost three, and drew two.
Daaim Shabazz (2093) vs Kevin Schmuggerow (2000)
Rd 6 2015 US Open
Jeffery Rymuza scored an even fifty % with four wins and losses to go with a single draw. The beautiful Elena Gratskaya also scored fifty % by also winning and losing four while drawing one. Her opponent in this game is the man behind the excellent Chess Drum website (http://www.thechessdrum.net/), Dr. Daaim Shabazz, who has played at the House of Pain. Elena did cross over into class “A” territory, now rated 1819. A couple of hundred more points and she may be invited to participate in the US Women’s Championship.
Daaim Shabazz (2093) vs Elena Gratskaya (1792)
Rd 4 2014 US Open
Over 350 pages in the new book, “The Modern French: A Complete Guide for Black,” by Dejan Antic & Branimir Maksimovic and not one word on the second move of g3. Two Georgia players succumbed to the “Shabazz.” This sent me to the CBDB where I found this recent game:
Carlsen, Magnus (2881) vs Rodriguez Vila, Andres (2437)
Four Player Festa da Uva 2014 03/06/2014
Thomas Jackson Campbell scored four and a half points by winning three, losing three, drawing one, and availing himself of two half-point byes. Sujay Jagadeesh also scored four and a half by winning three, drawing and losing two, with one half-point bye. Prateek Mishra won his last two games to finish with an even score, while Samhitha Dasari won and lost three to go with one draw and a half-point draw to also finish with an even score. GCA President Fun Fong also scored four and a half points by winning three, drawing one, while losing four. Michael Mulford, Steven Boshears, Ainesh Balaga, and Srihitha Dasari all finished with four points. Tom Kayma, Tyler Schmuggerow, Steven Eisenhauer, Skyler Kelly, and Shyam Dasari each scored three and a half points. Dhruv Rajaganesh finished with three points. Pranit Mishra and Sanjay Jagadeesh each scored two and a half. Anish Kumar finished with a point and a half, as did Pranav Devalapalli. By my count that makes twenty-nine players from the Great State of Georgia at the 2014 US Open, the majority of whom are children, with a few adults, most of whom are eligible to play in the US Senior. This closely matches the current demographic profile of the USCF. It is obvious from the names of many of the players that it is a good thing that Vishy Anand has been World Human Chess Champion recently. I shutter to think of what the USCF would be without the influx of Indian players.
Armchair Warrior 