This weekend I played in the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles. Although I have lived in California for 17 years, I’ve only played two previous tournaments in southern California (both U.S. Opens). Of course, one reason is that California is a big state; it’s a six-hour drive from my home in Santa Cruz to Los Angeles. And there are plenty of events in northern California. So I just don’t come down here that often.
Anyway, I enjoyed the tournament, and it was fun to see a different collection of people from the ones I’m used to. One name I was curious about was Matt Noble, who turned out is not the Matt Noble I used to play back in North Carolina, but the two of them are Facebook friends. They should should really play a game some day! The chess world unfortunately never got to see a GM Larry Evans vs. IM Larry Evans game, but NM Matt Noble vs. Expert (and maybe someday NM?) Matt Noble would be a fun consolation.
As usual there were some people at the tournament who read my blog, and some who know about my ChessLectures, and others who saw my recent article in Chess Life … So I guess it’s really hard for me to be a stranger.
The open section had a sizeable contingent of International Masters. Two of them, Andranik Matikozyan and Niccolo Ronchetti, split the top prize with scores of 5-1. I had heard of Matikozyan, but Ronchetti is a new name to me. They earned $980 apiece for their weekend’s work.
My results were a mixed bag. On the first day I took two byes, because I was driving down from Santa Cruz. (As it turned out I got here in time for the second round, but I didn’t want to play when I was still tired from driving most of the day.) On day two I played pretty badly, with a loss and a draw (the latter out of an opening where I was completely winning).
But today, everything clicked. I won both of my games to finish with a score of 3½-2½. I was a little unlucky that that score didn’t win any prize money. But maybe that’s fair. You shouldn’t really win a prize when you don’t play one day, play badly the next day, and then have one good day.
What’s more important than the prize, or lack thereof, is the fact that I have two beautiful positions to show you. The first comes from my round 5 game against a class-A player named Shaurya Jain.
Position after 23. Kc4. Black to move.
FEN: 1n3rk1/pQ4p1/2p1p3/6p1/2K5/2P2P2/6qP/3R3R b – – 0 23
Jain, who had White, has just played 23. Kc4 in hopes of escaping with his king to b3, after which he would have a decent chance to survive. But he never gets there! Can you see how Black wins this position by force?
The first move is 23. … Qa2+! This, of course, cuts off the king’s escape route. I’ll leave it to you to check that all four king moves lose: 24. Kb4 or Kc5 run into 24. … Na6+. Likewise, 24. Kd4 runs into 24. … Qd5+ and 24. Kd3 runs into 24. … Rxf3+. So White’s move, 24. Qb3, was more or less forced.
Now comes 24. … Rf4+!, a key move of the combination. White has to play 25. Rd4 or else lose his queen, but now White’s pieces unfortunately block all of his king’s retreat routes, and I played 25. … Qa6+!
I call it “moving your opponent’s pieces” when you force him to make moves like Qb3 and Rd4 that ultimately work against him. The rest was easy: 26. Kc5 Rf5+ 27. Kd6 c5+ (at this point it’s clear that Black is winning material, but of course I’m playing for mate) 28. Kc7 Qc6+! 29. Kxb8 Rf8+ 30. 0-1
Final position.
FEN: 1K3rk1/p5p1/2q1p3/2p3p1/3R4/1QP2P2/7P/7R w – – 0 30
It’s mate after 30. Kxa7 Ra8. This was a very pleasing combination. I think it was the first time I have played a “king hunt” in the middle game that chased my opponent’s king all the way to my back rank. I also really liked the way that my knight on b8 played a crucial role in the attack, even though it never moved from its starting square!
My final game was a vastly different kind of game. My opponent was a young girl named Agata Bykovtsev, an expert (actually rated slightly above me) who played the King’s Indian Defense. I played 5. Ne2 against her, and she seemed to have no idea how to meet it. She got just an awful, completely paralyzed position. I managed to handle it in textbook style (I might even say Mike Splane style), waiting and waiting and waiting and gradually increasing my grip until (a) her time got low and (b) she allowed me a petite combination.
Position after 37. ... Qc7. White to move.
2bk3b/2q2rrp/1p1p2pR/pPpPp1P1/PnN1P2R/4B3/1P2BP2/1K5Q w – – 0 38
This one probably won’t be too hard for you to solve. I played 38. Nxb6!, a deflection sacrifice. After 38. … Qxb6 39. Rxh7 she has to take once on h7 or else lose her bishop: 39. … Rxh7 40. Rxh7. Now a key point of the combination is that 40. … Bg7 does not save the bishop because of 41. Rxg7! Rxg7 42. Qh8+. Likewise, 40. … Rxh7 41. Qxh7 also wins the trapped bishop. With only 3 seconds left on her clock, she played 40. … Rd7? after which 41. Rxh8+ Kc7 42. Bg4! wins either a piece or the exchange. She resigned here.
All in all, a good weekend’s work!
