2022 New York Fall Invitational Draw Tournaments

After being taken to task by a reader from the Carolinas for not publishing short games from tournaments not in Carolina I went to the website of the 2022 New York Fall Invitational only after explaining to the Carolinian the decision had earlier been made to stop watching all so called “Norm” tournaments. After being lambasted for “picking on” the norm tournaments contested at the Charlotte Chess Center this writer reached out to several Chess friends, asking for their thoughts on “Norm” tournaments. The replies were along the lines of, “Why do you waste your time watching those things?” and, “I have absolutely no interest in those things.” The quotes are from two different people. It is ironic both consider a “Norm” tournament to be a “thing.” The reason I have not written about “Norm” tournaments is the decision was made to stop wasting my time watching tournaments in which there appears to be hanky panky. (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/09/11/the-charlotte-chess-center-mr-hankey-award/) In the interest of fairness I decided to follow the tournaments held in New York, and this will be the last time I ever waste my time watching Chess not being played.

Some of the “players”, and I use the word loosely, at the 2022 New York Fall Invitational are the same people who were written about in the posts concerning the plethora of short draws at the Charlotte Chess Center, such as IM Nikolai Andrianov, who should have his passport revoked and be sent packing to whatever hole out of which he crawled. Andrianov is no spring chicken, which may be why he has decided to rest on his limited laurels. The most disappointing player who has decided to stop playing Chess to make short draws is GM Titas Stremavicius (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2022/05/09/how-to-draw-a-chess-game-at-the-charlotte-chess-center/), who has obviously become a serial drawer, and who, like Andrianov, has become known for wearing “Maggie’s Drawers” when he “plays.” When Titus first began playing I checked him out, finding he played some of the same openings as I once played. Many of his games were replayed, finding him to be a “vicius” player. What happened Titus? When and why did you decide to embarrass yourself, and Caissa, and become a non-Chess player? Maybe if we Americans are lucky the passports of this serial drawer will be revoked.

Let me be as clear as a sunny day, all these short draws proliferating “norm” tournaments smack of collusion, and give the appearance of cheating. It smacks of selling “norms” to the highest bidder. The practice should have been stopped long ago, but since it was not it should be stopped NOW!

The low-life non-players and organizers accept no blame while saying they are “just following the rules.” This is done while they deposit digits into their bank accounts. It does not take a genius, or Grandmaster Chess player, to see what they do is harmful to Chess in the long run. These kind of people could care less about what happens to the Royal Game in the future as long as they can continue to stuff their bank accounts with inflated digits. Obviously, the rules should be changed. They should consider taking a page out of Rex Sinquefield’s book and institute their own rules, using the rules in play at the American Chess Mecca, the St. Louis Chess Campus as a guideline. The “go along to get along” Chess politicians at the United States Chess Federation need to grow some cojones and institute new rules.

Just sayin’, because someone needs to step up and tell it like it is. (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2022/07/29/gm-jacob-aagaard-blasphemes-caissia-at-the-charlotte-chess-center-gm-norm-invitational/)

2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A

Rd 1

Stremavicius, Titas (2527) – Kevlishvili, Robby (2536)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 09.11.2022

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Nf3 dxc4 4.Qa4+ Nd7 5.Bg2 a6 6.Qxc4 b5 7.Qb3 Bb7 8.O-O Ngf6 9.d3 Be7 10.Nc3 O-O 11.a4 1/2-1/2

Rd 2

Kaliksteyn, Alexander (2389) – Stremavicius, Titas (2527)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 10.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 1/2-1/2

Korley, Kassa (2451) – Nagy, Gabor (2482)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 10.11.2022

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.O-O e6 5.c4 c5 6.b3 Be7 7.Bb2 d6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.d4 cxd4 10.Qxd4 Nc6 11.Qf4 Qb8 1/2-1/2

Rd 3

No short games

All those long games must have really taken a toll on the players because they more than made up for all that expended engrgy in the following round.

Rd 4

Siddharth, Jagadeesh (2407) – Kevlishvili, Robby (2536)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 c6 6.e4 dxe4 7.Ng5 Be7 8.Bc4 Nh6 9.Ngxe4 Nf5 10.d5 O-O 11.O-O b5 12.Bb3 b4 13.Na4 cxd5 1/2-1/2

Chasin, Nico (2429) – Stremavicius, Titas (2527)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 1/2-1/2

Nagy, Gabor (2482) – Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr (2371)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nb6 7.b3 Be6 8.Bb2 f6 9.Nc3 Qd7 10.Rc1 O-O-O 11.Qc2 Kb8 12.Rfd1 Nd4 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Ne4 d3 15.exd3 1/2-1/2

Rd 5

Kaliksteyn, Alexander (2389) – Siddharth, Jagadeesh (2407)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 c5 5.Nbd2 Qb6 6.Rb1 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.dxc5 Qxc5 9.c4 1/2-1/2

Rd 6

Jimenez Fraga, Pedro (2477) – Siddharth, Jagadeesh (2407)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.dxc3 Bf5 8.Be2 Be7 9.Qb3 b6 10.Qa4 Qd7 11.O-O O-O 12.Bf4 Nd4 13.Qd1 Nxe2+ 14.Qxe2 Bf6 15.Bg5 Rfe8 16.Qd2 1/2-1/2

Korley, Kassa (2451) – Kevlishvili, Robby (2536)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 Nd7 4.O-O c6 5.d3 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.c4 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 dxc4 9.d4 Ngf6 10.Nd2 Nb6 11.e3 Bb4 12.Qc2 Bxd2 13.Bxd2 O-O 14.Ba5 Re8 15.Rfd1 Nfd7 16.a4 Qg5 17.Bxb6 1/2-1/2

Nagy, Gabor (2482) – Stremavicius, Titas (2527)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 1/2-1/2

I add the following, decisive, game as a prelude to the next round game by Mr. Williams.

Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr (2371) – Williams, Justus (2395)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.Qg4 g6 8.Qe2 d6 9.O-O Nf6 10.Bh6 Nc6 11.h3 Nh5 12.N1d2 Ne5 13.Nc4 Nxc4 14.Bxc4 b5 15.Bd3 Bg5 16.Bxb5+ 1-0

Rd 7

Williams, Justus (2395) – Jimenez Fraga, Pedro (2477)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 1/2-1/2

Stremavicius, Titas (2527) – Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr (2371)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 1/2-1/2

Kevlishvili, Robby (2536) – Nagy, Gabor (2482)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 1/2-1/2

Rd 8

No short games. Makes one wonder…

Rd 9

Kaliksteyn, Alexander (2389) – Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr (2371)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c3 e6 4.Bf4 Bd6 5.e3 O-O 6.Nbd2 c5 1/2-1/2

Siddharth, Jagadeesh (2407) – Nagy, Gabor (2482)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM A (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.h3 Re8 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.Nf3 Nf8 11.O-O Be6 12.Ne5 1/2-1/2

2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B

Rd 1

Mandizha, Farai (2359) – Javakhadze, Zurab (2481)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 09.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 1/2-1/2

Rd 2

All decisive! Proving they can actually FIGHT. Still, it makes me wonder…

Rd 3

Paragua, Mark (2466) – Khamrakulov, Djurabek (2490)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 10.11.2022

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 c6 8.a4 Qc7 9.h3 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 1/2-1/2

Rd 4

Yudasin, Leonid (2401) – Khamrakulov, Djurabek (2490)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.c3 b6 5.h3 Bb7 6.e3 c5 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O d6 9.Bh2 Nbd7 10.a4 a6 11.Nbd2 Re8 12.Qb1 Rc8 13.Rd1 cxd4 14.exd4 Rc7 15.Ne1 1/2-1/2

Rd 5

Paragua, Mark (2466) – Javakhadze, Zurab (2481)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.Bd2 1/2-1/2

Rd 6

Javakhadze, Zurab (2481) – Khamrakulov, Djurabek (2490)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.O-O 1/2-1/2

Paragua, Mark (2466) – Mandizha, Farai (2359)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 e6 1/2-1/2

Rd 8

Yudasin, Leonid (2401) – Javakhadze, Zurab (2481)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Qc2 Nxc3 10.Qxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 c5 12.O-O Nc6 13.dxc5 Qxc5 14.Rac1 Bd7 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 1/2-1/2

Mandizha, Farai (2359) – Khamrakulov, Djurabek (2490)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.c3 c6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Qb3 e6 7.O-O O-O 8.Bf4 d6 9.Qa3 Ne8 10.Nbd2 Rf7 11.e4 h6 12.exf5 exf5 13.h4 Be6 1/2-1/2

Rd 9

Believe it or not, four out of the five games ended decisively. Must have been something in the water…

Oberoi, Shelev (2328) – Yudasin, Leonid (2401)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 c4 7.Bc2 Nc6 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Na3 Qe6+ 10.Kf1 Qd5 11.d4 cxd3 12.Qxd3 Qxd3+ 13.Bxd3 Bg4 14.Be4 O-O-O 15.Be3 Nd5 16.Nb5 Nxe3+ 17.fxe3 f6 18.Nfd4 Nxd4 19.cxd4 Bd7 20.Rc1+ Kb8 21.Nc3 e6 22.Ke2 Be7 23.Bd3 f5 24.Rhf1 g6 25.Bb5 Bxb5+ 26.Nxb5 e5 27.dxe5 1/2-1/2

2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C

Rd 1

Andrianov, Nikolai (2297) – Rama, Tejas (2189)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 09.11.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Rc8 15.Bb3 h6 16.Qf4 1/2-1/2

Rd 2

Lee, Justin (2113) – Andrianov, Nikolai (2297)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 10.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.O-O O-O 11.e4 e5 12.h3 Qe7 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Nh5 16.Bxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.Rac1 Rad8 1/2-1/2

Rd 3

Andrianov, Nikolai (2297) – Akylbekov, Nasyr (2208)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 10.11.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 b6 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.O-O 1/2-1/2

Rd 4

Andrianov, Nikolai (2297) – Antova, Gabriela (2302)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 11.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6 1/2-1/2

Rd 7

Managadze, Nikoloz (2383) – Rama, Tejas (2189)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 12.11.2022

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 c5 7.e4 Nc6 8.Re1 b6 9.c3 dxe4 10.dxe4 Bb7 11.Qc2 Qc7 12.Nf1 Rad8 13.Bf4 Qc8 14.Rad1 1/2-1/2

Rd 8

Lee, Justin (2113) – Managadze, Nikoloz (2383)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 1/2-1/2

Andrianov, Nikolai (2297) – Berczes, David (2446)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 1/2-1/2

Rd 9

Berczes, David (2446) – Antova, Gabriela (2302)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Bg4 4.h3 Bh5 5.O-O Nd7 6.d4 Ngf6 7.c4 e6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Qe3+ Be7 11.Nh4 Bg6 12.Nc3 Nf8 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Rd1 Ne6 15.Qd3 Rd8 16.h4 O-O 17.Rb1 a5 18.a3 Qa7 19.Bh3 1/2-1/2

Managadze, Nikoloz (2383) – Andrianov, Nikolai (2297)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 1/2-1/2

Make no mistake, all the players listed above are cheaters. They have cheated Caissa and the spirit of the game. It is long past time for the USCF pooh-bahs to STEP UP and SPEAK UP. Someone, anyone, in power needs to do something, anything, about those who blaspheme against the Royal Game! If the current Fools In Power do not do something immediately their heads should roll so they can be replaced by someone, anyone who cares about CHESS! This “go along to get along” crap ain’t working. It is long past time for someone, anyone, in power to GROW A PAIR and STEP UP TO THE PLATE! If, that is, they are not too busy taking cash to stuff into their pockets…

Cheating and Collusion in Charlotte?

The Memorial Day 2021 CCCSA GM/IM Norm Invitational, held over the Memorial day holiday, May 27-31, 2021, two separate and distinct Chess tournaments were held at the Charlotte Chess Center & Scholastic Academy. The Grandmaster event was written about yesterday. The International Master event is the focus of this post.

One of the participants in the IM event, Nikolay Andrianov,

http://chessstream.com/Invitational/Memorial-Day-2021-GM-IM-Norm-Invitational/Default.aspx

played as an International Master from Russia. These are the “games” played by the IM at the CCC&SA in the IM event:

NM Dominique Myers (1985) vs IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 01

  1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 ½-½

NM Eddy Tian (2204) vs IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 02

d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Ne5 Bc6 10. Nxc6 Nxc6 11. e3 Na5 12. Nd2 c5 13. Nxc4 cxd4 14. Nxa5 Qxa5 15. Bxb7 Rab8 16. Bf3 Rfc8 17. Qe2 Bc5 18. Bd2 Qb6 19. exd4 Bxd4 20. Bf4 Qxb2 21. Bxb8 Qxe2 22. Bxe2 Bxa1 23. Rxa1 Rxb8 24. Bxa6 Ra8 25. Bb5 Ra5 26. Kf1 Nd5 27. Rc1 Kf8 28. Rc6 Ke7 29. Ke2 Kd8 30. Rd6+ Kc8 31. Kd3 Nc7 32. Bd7+ Kb8 33. Kc4 Rf5 34. Rb6+ Ka7 35. Rb2 Na6 36. Bb5 Rc5+ 37. Kd4 Rd5+ 38. Kc4 Rc5+ 39. Kb3 Nc7 40. Kb4 Rc1 41. Bd3 Nd5+ 42. Ka3 f5 43. Rc2 Ra1+ 44. Kb3 Rb1+ 45. Rb2 Rc1 46. Bb5 Rc3+ 47. Ka2 e5 48. Rd2 Rc5 49. Kb3 Rc3+ 50. Kb2 Rc5 51. Bd7 g6 52. Be6 Nb6 53. Kb3 e4 54. Bg8 h6 55. Kb4 Re5 56. a5 Nc8 57. Rd7+ Kb8 58. a6 Ne7 59. Bc4 Nc6+ 60. Kc3 e3 61. fxe3 Rxe3+ 62. Kd2 Re7 63. Rd6 Ne5 64. Bb5 Nf3+ 65. Kc3 Nxh2 66. Bc6 g5 67. Kc4 Ka7 68. Kb5 Rc7 69. Rd8 Rxc6 70. Kxc6 Nf3 71. Kb5 f4 72. gxf4 gxf4 73. Rd7+ Ka8 74. Kb6 1-0

IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365) vs FM Robby Adamson (2250)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 03

  1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 ½-½

IM Alexander Matros (2373) vs Nikolay Andrianov (2365)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 04

  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 ½-½

IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365) vs NM Matan Prilleltensky (2136)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 05

  1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. dxc5 Ng8 ½-½

IM Roberto Abel Martin Del Campo Cardenas (2290) vs IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 06

  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 ½-½

IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365) vs FM Carlos Sandoval Mercado (2252)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 07

  1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. c4 ½-½

FM Vincent Tsay (2285) vs IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 08

  1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 a6 7. Ne5 e6 8. e3 Nxe5 9. Bxe5 Be7 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O b5 12. a4 b4 13. Nb1 a5 14. Nd2 Bd6 15. Qc2 Ba6 16. Bxa6 Rxa6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Rfc1 e5 19. dxe5 Qxe5 20. Nf3 Qh5 21. Qd3 Raa8 22. Rc6 h6 23. h3 Ne4 24. Rac1 Rfd8 25. Rc7 Qf5 26. R1c6 Rd7 27. Rxd7 Qxd7 28. Qb5 Qf5 29. Rc7 Ng5 30. Nxg5 hxg5 31. Qd7 Qxd7 32. Rxd7 Rc8 33. Rxd5 Rc1+ 34. Kh2 Rc2 35. Kg3 f6 36. b3 Rc3 37. Rxa5 Rxb3 38. Rb5 Rb2 39. a5 b3 40. a6 Ra2 41. Rxb3 Rxa6 42. h4 gxh4+ 43. Kxh4 Ra2 44. Kg3 Ra7 45. e4 Kf7 46. Rb5 g5 47. Rb4 Ra2 48. f3 Kg6 49. Kh3 Ra6 50. Kg4 Ra2 51. g3 Ra6 52. Rb5 Rc6 53. Rd5 Ra6 54. Rf5 Re6 55. Ra5 Rb6 56. Ra3 Re6 57. Re3 Re5 58. Rd3 Re6 59. Kh3 Ra6 60. Rd2 Rb6 61. Kg2 Ra6 62. Kf2 Ra3 63. Rd6 Kf7 64. Rb6 Rc3 65. Rb5 Kg6 66. g4 Rc2+ 67. Ke3 Rc3+ 68. Ke2 Ra3 69. Rd5 Kf7 70. Rd3 Ra2+ 71. Ke3 Ra4 72. Rb3 Ra6 73. Kd3 Ra4 74. Rb7+ Kg6 75. Rd7 Ra3+ 76. Ke2 Rb3 77. Rd3 Rb2+ 78. Ke3 Rb4 79. Rd5 Rb3+ 80. Kf2 Rb2+ 81. Kg3 Re2 82. Rf5 Kg7 83. e5 Rxe5 84. Rxe5 fxe5 85. Kf2 Kf6 86. Ke3 Ke7 87. Kd3 Kd7 88. Kc3 Kc7 89. Kb3 Kb7 90. Kc3 Kc7 91. Kb3 Kd6 92. Kc4 e4 93. fxe4 Ke5 94. Kd3 Kf4 95. Kd4 Kxg4 96. e5 Kf5 97. Kd5 g4 ½-½

IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365) vs FM Doug Eckert (2165)

Charlotte CLT IM 2021 round 09

  1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 ½-½

Here is the deal…The creek began emanating a malodorous scent during the second round but by the penultimate round the stench was stinging and overwhelming the olfactory region. Granted, some of the Russian players have been known to bend the rules to the breaking point, often not only shattering the bat but breaking it into two pieces. As has been heard by more than one or two players in the last round when two Russian players were paired and a full point was needed to garner the most prize money, “One of us had an accident. Today it was me, tomorrow it will be him!” Spend enough time late into the night at the bar with Igor and the guys and one learns much about the Russian way to play Chess…

I can only speculate, but could it be that NM Eddy Tian refused the draw offer of the Russian? But what the hell happened in the eight round? According to the moves given at the ChessBomb, the game (https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-charlotte-clt-im/08-Tsay_Vincent-Andrianov_Nikolay) between FM Vincent Tsay (2285) vs IM Nikolay Andrianov (2365) was a well played, evenly matched game until the IM lost his mind and played 92…e4, a bright RED MOVE! The move is so bad that it throws away the draw and loses on the spot! Yet the game ENDED IN A DRAW after the IM made his 97th move. Why? The position is, as Sherlock Holmes would say, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” The Stockfish program at the ChessBomb gives these move: (98. e6 Kg6 99. Kd6 g3 100. e7 Kf7 101. Kd7 Kf6 102. e8=Q Kf5 103. Qe3 g2 104. Kd6 g1=Q 105. Qxg1 Ke4 106. Qg3 Kd4 107. Qe1 Kc4 108. Qe3 Kb4 109. Qd3 Ka5 110. Kc5 Ka4 111. Qe3 Ka5 112. Qa3#)
Why would Mr. Tsay agree to a draw in a won position? Even the 1400 rated Coach Steve would be able to demonstrate the win!

Now things begin to get really strange…I went to the FIDE website and located a “Nikolay” Andrianov, a male born in 1962. His federation is “Russia.” His FIDE ID number is: 24125482. He is rated 1862! (https://ratings.fide.com/profile/24125482)

There is another player from Russia with almost the same name, one “Nikolai” Andrianov, born in 1961, who is an International Master with a rating of 2359. His FIDE ID is: 4101642 (https://ratings.fide.com/profile/4101642)

There is no picture included on either FIDE webpage.

Will the real Nikolay Andrianov please stand up?