U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP U.S.

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP KAIDANOV ’S SOCRATIC I NJUNCTION

Dr. Jeanne and

Rex Sinquefield,
2018.

The
Sinquefield
Effect
From “We Need
a Chess Club”
to 10 Years
of the WCHOF
in St. Louis

JANUARY 2022 [Link]

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 JANUARY

COLUMNS
10 CHESS TO ENJOY
ENTERTAINMENT
The Death of Style
BY GM ANDY SOLTIS

49 PUZZLES
MAKE YOUR MOVE!
BY FM CARSTEN HANSEN

50 SOLITAIRE CHESS
INSTRUCTION
A Speedy Victory
BY BRUCE PANDOLFINI

52 BOOKS AND BEYOND

SHOULD I BUY IT?
There’s no doubting the
Reading Rakhmanov “Sinquefield Effect” on
BY IM JOHN WATSON American chess!

DEPARTMENTS
30 COVER STORY
4 JANUARY PREVIEW
SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE THE MIRACLES ON
FOR MEMBERS MARYLAND AVE.
Joe Posnanski visits the Saint Louis Chess Campus
5 COUNTERPLAY and finds the beating heart of global chess.
READERS RESPOND BY JOE POSNANSKI
6 FIRST MOVES
CHESS NEWS FROM
AROUND THE U.S.
14 EVENTS U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP
8 US CHESS AFFAIRS Returning to Normal
NEWS FOR The party was on in St. Louis as GM Wesley So won his
OUR MEMBERS third U.S. Championship.
BY IM YURIY KRYKUN
54 TOURNAMENT LIFE
22 EVENTS U.S. WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
58 CLASSIFIEDS Yip-Yip Hooray!
IM Carissa Yip wins her first U.S. Women’s Championship!
59 SOLUTIONS BY WGM TATEV ABRAHAMYAN
60 MY BEST MOVE 38 ANALYSIS ENDGAMES FROM THE U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / A. FULLER

PERSONALITIES
Grinding It Out
KENT B. NELSON
Three endgames from the U.S Championship
BY GM ALEX LENDERMAN
In the News will return when
space allows. Visit Chess Life
46 INSTRUCTION SELF-ANALYSIS
Online at [Link]/clo on
Know Thyself.
a regular basis. The immense value of self-knowledge
BY GM GREGORY KAIDANOV

[Link] JANUARY 2022 1

CONTRIBUTORS

J O E PO S N A N S K I
(Cover Story) is the New York
Times best selling author of six
books, including his newest title,
The Baseball 100. In a 30-year
career as a sportswriter for Sports
Illustrated, NBC Sports, and the
Kansas City Star among other pub-
lications, he was named National
Sportswriter of the Year by five E D I TO R I A L
different organizations. Joe has C H E S S L I F E / C LO E D I TO R John Hartmann ([Link]@[Link])
won two Emmy Awards. He has been anthologized widely. Joe A R T D I R E C TO R Kory Kennedy
lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Margo, daughters P U B L I C AT I O N S E D I TO R Melinda Matthews
Elizabeth and Katie, and poodle Westley. C R E AT I V E CO N T E N T CO O R D I N ATO R Natasha Roberts
T E C H N I C A L E D I TO R IM Ron Burnett
IM Y U R IY K RY KU N T L A mmatthews@[Link]
(U.S. Championship) is a chess player, coach, and
author. A native of Ukraine, where he won the U S C H E S S S TA F F
national U20 Championship, he now resides in St. E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R Carol Meyer
Louis, where he is a student at Webster University. S E N I O R D I R E C TO R O F ST R AT E G I C CO M M U N I C AT I O N Daniel Lucas
Yuriy is the author of courses for Chessable and [Link], and is D I R E C TO R O F E V E N TS Boyd Reed
a contributor to the news pages for [Link] as well. D I R E C TO R O F D E V E LO P M E N T Geoffrey S. Isaak
D I R E C TO R O F A D M I N I ST R AT I O N Judy Misner
WGM TAT E V A BR A H A M YA N W O M E N ’ S P R O G R A M D I R E C TO R Jennifer Shahade
(U.S. Women’s Championship) is a professional A S S I STA N T D I R E C TO R O F E V E N TS Pete Karagianis
chess player and the Director of Chess at Bryght F I D E E V E N TS M A N A G E R Christopher Bird
Labs. A member of many U.S. international teams, T E C H N I C A L & R AT I N G S M A N A G E R Korey Kormick
she finished in shared fourth through sixth place CO R R E S P O N D E N C E C H E S S Michael Buss
at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Championship. Known for her non-iron- S E N I O R A CCO U N TA N T Debra Robison
ic love of penguins, Tatev now resides in Kansas City, Missouri. G O V E R N A N C E CO O R D I N ATO R Jennifer Pearson
M E M B E R S H I P A S S O C I AT E Christine Green
GM A LE X LE N D E R M A N
(Endgames) won the 2005 World U16 Champi- EXECUTIVE BOARD
onship, and three years later he earned the first P R E S I D E N T Mike Hoffpauir (president@[Link])
of two consecutive US Chess Grand Prix titles. In V I C E P R E S I D E N T Randy Bauer (vp@[Link])
2015, he made his first appearance for the U.S. in V I C E P R E S I D E N T O F F I N A N C E Chuck Unruh (vpfinance@[Link])
international team play, scoring 5/7 at the World Team Champion- S E C R E TA R Y Fun Fong (secretary@[Link])
ship. Alex finished in shared fourth through sixth place at the 2021 M E M B E R AT L A R G E David Day (DavidChessDay@[Link])
U.S. Championship, and is seeded in the 2022 U.S. Championship. M E M B E R AT L A R G E John Fernandez ([Link]@[Link])
M E M B E R AT L A R G E David Hater (dhater1@[Link])
GM G R EG O RY K AID A N OV M E M B E R AT L A R G E Kevin Pryor (pryorkevin@[Link])
(Know Thyself) is the reigning U.S. Senior Cham-

PHOTOS: COURETSY SUBJECT (POSNANSKI), COURTESY SLCC / A. FULLER

pion. After becoming an international master in INQUIRIES
1987 and a grandmaster in 1988, he found great For communications and press inquiries, please contact
success on the American swiss circuit after emi- Dan Lucas at dlucas@[Link]
grating to the U.S. in 1991. A member of many U.S. international To submit letters to the editor, please email letters@[Link]
teams, today Gregory is one of America’s leading chess coaches.
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To join US Chess or enter a tournament directed by US Chess,

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Game changers. That’s what Dr.
Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield are To notify us of a change of address,
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nature of chess in America. Joe Pos-
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with particular reference to the 2018 please email tdcert-group@[Link]
unveiling of the iconic king in front For staff contact information, please see [Link]/about
of the World Chess Hall of Fame. It is
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PHOTOGRAPH BY AUSTIN FULLER
CHESS LIFE IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE US CHESS FEDERATION

2 JANUARY 2021 [Link]

[Link] JANUARY 2022 3
 WONDERING WHERE
TO FIND US?
IT USED TO BE THAT YOU COULD READ CHESS LIFE ONCE A
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ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK

new series like Jen

Shahade’s “Class is in
FACEBOOK All our Session” recordings
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4 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 Readers Respond COUNTERPLAY

IONALS MORAD IABADI AND AAGAA

RD ON WORLD CUP
y and prose...
LAWRE NCE ON INVITAT
date and brag about how she
dates something along the same lines,
beat her current boyfriend
bea but we are still digging our way
in cchess! out of COVID-related financial Rhyme Time
Eventually, my kids moved
E restraints and I have not been able [Regarding the November 2021
out and I joined US Chess to do so yet. Chess Life cover story on GM
and began playing tourna- Thanks for your note, and for Alex Lenderman’s victory at
ments. I never became very
me being a Chess Life reader. the U.S. Open:] I’m pretty sure
good (1300s), but I played for
goo winning the U.S. Open takes
fun. I taught my grandson
fun more pluck than luck.
how to play and he loves it.
ho Thanks Bruce! John Wallace
He is teaching his younger I just want to say how much I Via email

LUCK
brother. In this way the love
bro enjoy Bruce Pandolfini's col-

ALEX
THE off the game moves on. umn “Solitaire Chess.” When John Hartmann responds:
OF TH E Now, of course, anyone Chess Life arrives each month, After consulting the muses...
can play online at any time
ca it is the first article I turn to.
GM ALEX LENDERMAN and analyze their games
an After a hiatus of 50 years, I am I have no truck with what you say.
WINS 2021 U.S. OPEN
NOVEMB ER 2021 [Link] with engines. I cannot help
w rediscovering the joys of our Surely Alex’s pluck shone through.
but think how easy it is for
bu 10/6/21 4:01 PM

beloved game! But as he claimed good luck each

Memories...
M emories...
i
1
CL_11-2021_COVER_KKF_r5.indd

young players to get better, but Prof. Bruce Hedman, Ph.D. day,
I received my November 2021 also, how they might be missing Via email What is an editor to do?
issue of Chess Life today and so much fun.
began reading “Your Beth Mo- Regardless, thank you so
ment” by GM Andy Soltis. Im-
mediately I was flooded with
memories.
much for printing this article.
William Johns
Via email
US CHESS TRUST
PROVIDES FREE SETS, BOARDS AND US CHESS
I'm 62 now. I learned the
moves of chess when I was MEMBERSHIPS TO AT-RISK SCHOOLKIDS!
10 years old. When I was 13, The Basics?
Fischer beat Spassky. I waited I am a fairly new reader of Chess
USCT also supports:
each day for the newspaper to Life. I was browsing a few issues
come so I could see if there was in the archives online and found Scholar Chess Player Awards
a result. My parents bought me a column, “Back to Basics,” that GM Denker Tournament of
a magnetic folding chess set I am finding to be quite inter- HS Champs
(which I still have, in perfect esting and helpful as a new-ish WIM Haring National
condition) and I played games chess player. Girls Champs
against myself often while rid- I am not finding this column
Barber Tournament of
ing in the back seat. I did not in the more recent editions MS Champs
know anyone else who played (read: 2021 editions) of Chess
chess. Life. That is disappointing and
U.S. Blind Championship
Then, in 1977, the Fidelity I am wondering what happened Pan-American
Chess Challenger came out and to it. Intercollegiate Team
I bought one. I played thou- Chuck Eckerson Final Four of College Chess
sands of games. I married and Via email GM Wesley So World Chess Hall of Fame
had three kids and did not have 2016 US Chess Trust Samford Fellow
time for playing much. I taught John Hartmann responds: And many other programs
2021 US Chess Champion
my three kids how to play, but GM Lev Alburt decided to retire
only one showed any real inter- his column as of December 2020. For more information on the good work of the
est. She would come home from I have plans to replace it with US Chess Trust, please go to [Link].
Or contact us at info@[Link].
Send your letters to letters @[Link]. Letters are
The Trust is a separate 501(c)(3) organization
subject to editing for style, length, and content.
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[Link] JANUARY 2022 5

FIRST MOVES Chess news from around the U.S.

Cross-Cultural Chess
A team from Colombia visits Washington, D.C.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID BENNETT

A STELLAR TEAM FROM SAN

Bernardo del Viento, a small
town by the Caribbean coast of
Colombia, recently reminded
me why I love coaching chess.
For one week in October, I met with this
chess team of cultural ambassadors at the
Embassy of Colombia in Washington, D.C.
Their visit — made possible through a sports
or deportivo exchange program — was a dy-
namic experience that I fully appreciated,
especially after coaching endlessly on Zoom
throughout the pandemic.
Under the tutelage of Señor Edwin Mer-
cado, the Colombian team consists of eight
high school students. Here’s a brief introduc-
tion to each of these unforgettable ambas-
sadors: Bernardo has been playing for two
years and wants to be an actor; Juan David,
with eight years of experience, wants to be
a lawyer; Lily, seven years, wants to enter
The author, working one-
medicine; Mónica, two years, is also inter-
on-one with Bernardo.
ested in medicine; Luís Daniel, seven years,
aspires to become a grandmaster; Estéban,
nine years, mathematics; Ivan, five years,
biology; Juan Diego (the coach’s son), nine
years, civil engineer.
Bringing the Colombian team to the Unit-
ed States required collaboration among
several entities: the Embassy of Columbia,
Chess Girls DC, and Capital Area Chess,
as well as sponsorships and support from
private donors and others in the chess com-
munity. The intent was to create a compre-
hensive cultural experience for the team
— one that allowed them to soak up all
that Washington, D.C. has to offer while
also teaching them new perspectives from
various chess coaches. As you can imagine,
with so many moving parts, coordinating
the visit was tricky — meaning even more
Zoom meetings! — and the students had to
get their vaccinations in time.
But in the end, everything fell into place,
Shamiyah Boozer (L)
and I worked with the team for several hours
and Luis Daniel (R)
each morning. In the beginning, it felt like analyze their game.
both the team and I were in training: While
I assessed their skills with a couple of posi-

6 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

tional puzzles, I also tested my own ability Top: The Colombian team poses with the
to pull off teaching a dynamic class in Span- Howard University chess team. Right: IM Ol-
ish. Leading up to the week, I definitely had adapo Adu gives a simultaneous exhibition.
my doubts! Just imagine: if the mysteries
of chess aren’t difficult enough for you, try Nigerian-American International Master
firing all your “second language neurons” si- Oladapo Adu as well.
multaneously. (It’s actually quite stimulating, After a vibrant week of learning, the cul-
but just remember that in Spanish fila isn’t mination of this cultural exchange was,
a file, it’s a rank; the files are las columnas.) naturally, a chess tournament. Held at Cath-
We began our week by looking out for olic University on October 22, the tourna-
holes, or weaknesses, in the players’ posi- ment was hosted by Robin Ramson and
tions while astutely exploiting weak points her nonprofit Chess Girls DC, which had
in their opponents’ camps: for example, been instrumental in making the week
a dominant, centrally posted knight (el happen. The event, titled “Countries and
caballo, the horse) over a bishop (el alfil, Communities Connected Through Chess,”
a Spanish word of Arabic origin) with less included several former D.C. champions,
mobility than a poor backward pawn would plus teams from Catholic University and Meeting influential people such as these
cement el punto. Then we analyzed a full Howard University. This tournament, to me, was another important component of the
game that revolved around one weak point: epitomized the best of what chess offers: a week because it reminded the team that
Karpov-Browne, 1972. The students partici- space where people from a wide range of even potentially intimidating folks are only
pated vigorously, and I knew we were in for backgrounds come together to play. I think human. I told the team to remember this
an incredible week of chess. Throughout the one of the most beautiful aspects of chess and to treat every opponent as an equal.
week, no matter what I threw at this team, is when players sit down after a game to Mutual respect should be the only common
they comprehended the ideas quickly and review what happened. denominator — forget about rating or status.
often challenged me with complex lines I Juan Diego Mercado Tapias, the most ex- There are moments in life where it feels
had failed to previously consider. perienced member of the Colombian team, like everything coalesces. That was the case
Some of the key concepts that I wanted won the entire event with a score of 4½/5 for me — chess, Spanish and Latin America,
the team to take away, based on my early ob- — a great finish to the week. Local players community building, teaching, D.C. — the
servations, were to always consider defense Amanda Lossef and Aasa Dommalapati week encompassed them all. A bonus was
in their calculations, to master notation for scored second and third, respectively. that I worked with some truly amazing
their tournament play, and to really spend In addition to chess learning and touring people. Particularly noteworthy is how the
their time understanding the full complexity museums, monuments, and historic districts Embassy of Colombia, in collaboration with
of each position — no blitzing out a 90-min- of Washington, the group had intimate chats community partners, brought this team
ute game, por favor! with the Ambassador of Colombia to the from a small town to have an experience
The week also included guest appearanc- United States, Juan Carlos Pinzón; Cónsul that I hope they will not soon forget. It is
es (via Zoom) from Grandmasters Alonso General Erika Salamanca Dueñas; and po- my sincere hope that as chess continues to
Zapata (Colombia) and Victor Bologan (Mol- lice and military leaders who were passing flourish in this new era, more cultural ex-
dova), courtesy of FIDE, which wanted to through. We were thankful that Carol Meyer, change opportunities like this can happen
contribute to a successful program. The the executive director of US Chess, was also not only virtually but, as it becomes safer
team had the chance to play a simul with able to join us for a visit. and easier to travel again, in person.

[Link] JANUARY 2022 7

US CHESS AFFAIRS News for our Members

2022 All-America
Chess Team
T
HE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION IS sports teams. This year’s candidates were selected based on
pleased to announce the 2022 All-America Chess their age as of January 1, 2021, and their peak post-tournament
Team. Team members will receive team jackets and rating from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Since this award
plaques by mail. is a “post-season” selection, the minimum rating limits in each
The All-America Chess Team was created in 1987 age group are reviewed annually by US Chess staff and the US
to honor the very best players ages 18 and under. The team, one Chess Scholastic Council.
of the highest national honors attainable by a young chess player, The United States Chess Federation wishes to congratulate
is selected on the basis of age, rating, and chess activity during each of the 27 members of this year’s All-America Chess Team
that year, similar to the selection process of “all conference” for receiving this prestigious award!

AGE 18 (MIN. RATING 2500) AGE 13 (MIN. RATING 2350)

PRAVEEN BALAKRISHNAN (VA) JASON LIANG (NY)
DAVID BRODSKY (NY) ERIC YUHAN LI (CA)
EVAN PARK (PA)

AGE 17 (MIN. RATING 2475)

AWONDER LIANG (WI)
AGE 12 (MIN. RATING 2300)
HANS NIEMANN (CT)
LIRAN ZHOU (NY)
BRANDON JACOBSON (NJ)
DIMITAR MARDOV (IL)
CARISSA SHIWEN YIP (MA)
JOSIAH STEARMAN (CA)

PHOTOS: COURTESY SLCC/A. FULLER (BALAKRISHMAN), COURTESY SUBJECT (BRODSKY)

AGE 11 (MIN. RATING 2225)
Balakrishnan ABHIMANYU MISHRA (NJ)
AGE 16 (MIN. RATING 2450) BREWINGTON HARDAWAY (NY)
ANDREW HONG (CA)

AGE 10 (MIN. RATING 2150)

AGE 15 (MIN. RATING 2425) ANDY AUSTIN WOODWARD (TX)
JUSTIN WANG (TX)
RYO WENYU CHEN (TX)
ROBERT SHLYAKHTENKO (CA)
TANITOLUWA ADEWUMI (NY)
BALAJI DAGGUPATI (CA)
ANTHONY BI HE (WA)
MAXIMILLIAN LU (CT)
AGE 9 (MIN. RATING 2050)
NONE

AGE 14 (MIN. RATING 2400) AGE 8 & UNDER

CHRISTOPHER WOOJIN YOO (CA) (MIN. RATING 1950)
ARTHUR GUO (GA) NONE
Brodsky JASON WANG (OH)
NICO WERNER CHASIN (NY)

8 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 THE 2022
SCHOLAR
CHESS PLAYER
Liang
AWARD
APPLY NOW!
IF YOU ARE A HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR OR • Evidence, listed in the form or upload-
senior looking for scholarship money, read ed separately, that you have played at
on! If you are a current US Chess member, you least 25 US Chess or FIDE qualifying rated
are eligible to apply for a 2022 National Schol- games held from dates November 24, 2020
ar Chess Player Award and new special award through December 31, 2021.
PHOTOS: COURTESY SLCC/A. FULLER (LIANG/NIEMANN), COURTESY SLCC/OOTES (YIP), COURTESY SUBJECT (JACOBSON/STEARMAN), SHUTTERSTOCK (GRAPHIC)

The Junior Chess Ambassador (for players • A list and brief description of your best
rated under 2000) if: chess accomplishments.
• You played in at least 25 regular-rated • Examples of your chess-related community
US Chess or FIDE events held from dates service since 9th grade. or later.
Niemann November 24, 2020 through December 31, • A letter of recommendation from a teacher
2021. (Games with a Time Control less than in a current or former school you have at-
Game-30 delay-0 do not count toward the tended in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
25-game requirement.) • A letter of recommendation from a Chess
• You have shown outstanding achievement Coach or Tournament Director.
in academics and chess. • A letter of support from someone other
• You have completed at least one year of than a parent or guardian, bearing witness
chess-related community service since you to the nature, duration and impact of your
started the 9th grade. chess-related community service. We also
• You can demonstrate in an essay (of 500 encourage you to submit newspaper arti-
words or less) how your being selected as cles or web-based stories as evidence.
a 2021 Scholar Chess Player enables you to • Your essay uploaded in the application
Jacobson further your education, improve your chess, form of no more than 500 words describing
and continue contributing to the chess com- how your being recognized as a Scholar
munity for the next five years of your life. Chess player would help you continue con-
tributing to the greater US Chess communi-
The scholarships are provided by the US Chess ty over the next five years.
Trust, with a generous, supporting contri- • A recent color photograph of yourself, ei-
bution from the National Scholastic Chess ther a headshot or full-length.
Foundation (NSCF), to recognize and encour-
age outstanding high school students who Deadline for submitting the application is
promote a positive image of chess. Previous March 1st, 2022 11:59PM PST.
recipients of this award are not eligible. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed
by the selection committee.
Applications should be submitted using the
Yip
online form [Link] Awards will be announced at the 2021 Na-
camKH7 tional High School Chess Championship in
Documents (.doc, .pdf and other usual ex- Memphis, TN on April 9th. Recipients in atten-
tensions) can be uploaded to your application dance will be recognized in person. Partici-
via this form. pation in the tournament is not required for
eligibility.
Your completed application must include the
following: If you have any questions regarding this
• Submitted application form via https:// form, or if you need technical assistance in
[Link]/V8naJgsZLepcamKH7 completing it, please contact Korey Kormick,
• Your uploaded high school transcripts US Chess, at (931) 787-8783, or email korey.
showing all courses and grades. kormick@[Link] and write “2022 Schol-
Stearman • Your SAT or ACT scores. ar-Chess Player Award” in the subject line.

[Link] JANUARY 2022 9

CHESS TO ENJOY Entertainment

The Death of Style

Remembering when moves had personalities
BY GM ANDY SOLTIS

T WO-OH-TWO-TWO IS GOING
to be an anniversary year.
This summer will be the 50th
since the Bobby Fischer-Boris
Spassky World Championship
The sacrificial theme is ancient. But Garry
Kasparov was also surprised. He knew com-
puters could calculate forcing variations,
like 12. Kg1?? Qh4 and wins.
But he had predicted they would never
Style is the idiosyncratic fingerprint that
makes the moves of one player recognizably
different from another. In the past, the style
of masters could be based on their skill set
(Tactical versus Positional), their artistic
match. This spring will bring the 25th an- be able to make speculative sacrifices. Play feelings (Romantics versus Pragmatists),
niversary of Garry Kasparov’s historic loss continued 12. Kg3 Qg5 13. f4! Qh5 14. Bd2! or even a kind of chess ideology (Classical
match to Deep Blue. Qh2+ 15. Kf3 Qh4 versus Hypermodern).
Both matches earned huge media at- The irony of the man versus machine
tention and bookmarked their eras. Fisch- matches is that just when the style of com-
er’s victory began the big-bucks chess that puters was discovered, the style of human
continues today. Kasparov’s defeat was the champions was disappearing.
best-known event of a briefer period, the There once was a time when you could
time when human-versus-computer games look up the most recent grandmaster tour-
mattered. One of those computer games nament, cover over the names of players,
mattered a lot. and correctly guess whether the winner
of a game was GM Tigran Petrosian or GM
Mikhail Tal.
NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE A generation later you could look at a
(E48) game in a similar way and tell whether GM
GM Garry Kasparov Anatoly Karpov was White and Kasparov
Deep Junior Today, modern engines claim that White was Black, or vice versa.
“Man Versus Machine World Champi- would be better after 16. g3. They analyze No more. It is extremely difficult to dis-
onship” (5), New York, 02.05.2003 more than 15 moves further, e.g., 16. ... Qh2 tinguish, say, a GM Wesley So – GM Hikaru
17. Rae1 g6 18. e4 Nd7 19. e5 Ndf6! 20. f5! Nakamura game from a Nakamura - So game
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O Rxe5 21. dxe5 Nxe5+ 22. Ke3 c5 23. Bc1 Qh6+ — or from a GM Magnus Carlsen - So game,
5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Ne2 Re8 8. O-O 24. Nf4 Nxd3 25. Qxd3 Bxf5 26. Qd1 d4+ 27. a So - Carlsen game, a Carlsen - Nakamura
Bd6 9. a3 c6 10. Qc2 Kd2 and so on. game and so on.
Kasparov chose 16. Bxh7+ Kh8 17. Ng3 “The last player with style was Judit. And
and allowed a perpetual check, 17. … Nh2+ she quit,” said IM Anthony Saidy, who stud-
18. Kf2 Ng4+ 19. Kf3 Nh2+, draw. ied style in his underrated The March of
After the game he was able to laugh about Chess Ideas. Before GM Judit Polgar retired,
10. … Bxh2+. “That is its style. It is designed her style was: “Attack at (almost) any cost,”
this way, like Kasparov,” Kasparov said. Saidy said.
Hold on. A machine has a style? At the other extreme of the style spectrum
Yes. As we learned from Junior’s descen- are materialists. “There are players who
dants, including AlphaZero, an engine can will always take a pawn whenever one is
have its own way of attacking, defending, offered,” GM Lajos Portisch said. He recalled
and organizing its pieces. being one of Karpov’s seconds before the
It may even have its own irrational fears. 1990 world championship match. “When
Kasparov noticed how poorly Deep Junior we analyzed, he always took every pawn
The on-site spectators at the New York Ath- reacted when it had a black knight on f6 offered,” Portisch said.
letic Club gasped when they saw 10. … that was attacked by g2-g4-g5. “The machine Here’s what happens when stylistic ex-
Bxh2+! and 11. Kxh2 Ng4+. starts choking,” he said. tremes meet.

10 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 QUIZ FOR PROBLEM 1 PROBLEM 2 PROBLEM 3
JANUARY Karel Hromadka
Friedrich Sämisch
Alexey Selezniev
Richard Reti
Rudolf Spielmann
Paul Johner
THIS YEAR ALSO MARKS
the 100th anniversary of a
full-fledged return of inter-
national chess. Major tourna-
ments abruptly ended with the
beginning of World War I. This
changed in 1922: a series of
well-sponsored round robins at-
tracted a host of stars, including
Alexander Alekhine, Akiba Ru- BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE
binstein and Rudolf Spielmann.

The first elite event was held PROBLEM 4 PROBLEM 5 PROBLEM 6

in the Slovakian tourist town Richard Reti Ernst Grünfeld Max Euwe
Paul Johner Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann
known as Bad Pistyan (or Piešťa-
ny today). A memorial to Gyula
Breyer, who had died six months
earlier at the age of 28, it was
won by Efim Bogolyubov. Your
task in these six positions is to
find the fastest winning line of
play. This will usually mean the
forced with of a decisive amount
of material, such as a minor
piece or rook. For solutions, see WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE
Page 59.

and 23. ... Qh6 24. Bxc7 are bad. What changed, Przepiorka asked? Oh,
PETROFF DEFENSE (C42) Black had a limited choice of roughly said, Nimzovich, I always thought you were
GM Judit Polgar equal moves — 23. ... Qc5 and 23. ... Qxa3. a member of the Tarrasch school.
GM Anatoly Karpov The first was in some way safer, 23. ... Qc5 The best players of 2022 are eclectic. They
Hoogeveen (1), 10.12.2003 24. Qc2 h6 and now 25. Re3 Nc4 or 25. c4 have to be. To compete, they need to have
f6. Karpov instinctively grabbed a pawn, the same information as their rivals and to
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 23. ... Qxa3. be able to make moves of any style.
5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. c4 Nb4 Polgar also had a choice of roughly equal Tomorrow their best move may be a pawn
9. Be2 O-O 10. a3 Nc6 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. moves. She instinctively went for the at- grab, something Tal rarely did well. Or they
Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Qd6 14. Rb1 b6 15. Re1 tacking 24. Re3, rather than the engine ap- may need to win with Black, which Petrosian
Be6 16. Bd3 Rae8 17. Rb5 Na5 18. Rbe5 proved 24. d6. had great difficulty attempting.
Nc6 19. R5e2 Bd7 20. d5 Na5 21. Ne5 Bf6 She was rewarded with a forced mate after So, if you want to guess whether a move
22. Bf4 Bxe5 23. Bxe5 24. ... Qc5?? 25. Bxh7+!. For example, 25. ... was played by Carlsen or, say, GM Fabiano
Kxh7 26. Qh5+ Kg8 27. Bxg7! Kxg7 28. Rg3+. Caruana, you have to look beyond the move.
Choosing a style used to be as ideological You need to know how much time a play-
as politics. It could influence personal rela- er spent choosing it, how he stood in the
tionships. For example, Aron Nimzovich, a tournament, and how much time he and
devoted Hypermodern, disdained some op- his opponent had on the clock.
ponents who played in the Classical style es- And you need to know how confident,
poused by his bitter rival, Siegbert Tarrasch. depressed, ambitious, or nervous he was.
For 25 years Nimzo faced a master named The players have personalities that their
David Przepiorka at European tournaments. moves may lack.
According to legend, Nimzo treated him with
contempt, never even saying hello to him. For up-to-date chess news
Then at Liege 1930, Nimzo suddenly turned and information, check out
friendly. He warmly post-mortemed their Chess Life Online at uschess.
game, a draw in which Przepiorka played org/clo on a regular basis.
In this position both 23. ... Qxd5?? 24. Bxh7+ vaguely Hypermodernist moves.

[Link] JANUARY 2022 11

2022 World Amateur Team
& U.S. Amateur Team
Championship East

Welcome back
to the country’s
favorite event
—Live and
in-person!
Come on home
to friends old
and new.

February 19-21
Parsippany Hilton
1 Hilton Court
Parsippany, NJ 07054

For help forming teams contact:

noreenchess@[Link]
or esdoyle@[Link]
See TLA section of this issue
for complete details.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
THE

2022
SPRING
SCHOLASTIC
NATIONALS
2022 NATIONAL 2022 NATIONAL 2022 NATIONAL
HIGH SCHOOL (K-12) MIDDLE SCHOOL (K-8) ELEMENTARY (K-6)
CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPIONSHIP
APRIL 8-10 APRIL 29-MAY 1 MAY 13-15
Sheraton Memphis Gaylord
G l d Texan
T Resort
R t Greater C
G Columbus
l b
Downtown Hotel and Convention Center Convention Center
MEMPHIS GRAPEVINE COLUMBUS
Tennessee Texas Ohio

[Link] JANUARY 2022 13

EVENTS U.S. Championship

Returning
to Normal The party was on in St. Louis as GM Wesley So
won his third U.S. Championship.
BY IM YURIY KRYKUN

Top players love

bughouse at parties —
check out the total Elo
count for this crew!

PHOTOS: SLCC / C. FULLER (THIS PAGE); SLCC / OOTES (FACING)

14 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 Additional words p9 from rule DUMMY HEDDERTK
PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

GM Wesley So, 2021

U.S. Champion

[Link] JANUARY 2022 15

EVENTS U.S. Championship

A
FTER LAST YEAR’S PANDEMIC A pawn down, with a weakened second rank 37. Qc4+! Qxc4 38. Rxc4
caused a pause in over-the-board and a dubious f2-bishop, the position did Now White has chances to save the game as
(OTB) tournaments, in October not look particularly promising for Carua- the a6– and d6–pawns are somewhat fragile.
2021 chess fans were treated to two na. However, in this game, just as in many
of the biggest American events of others, he was not going to give up quickly 38. ... a5 39. Ra4 Rd5 40. Bb6 Nc6 41. Rc4
the year: the U.S. Championship — or give up at all. Ne7 42. Ra4!
and U.S. Women’s Championship, held at the
Saint Louis Chess Club from October 5-19. 28. Qd3 Rxe1 29. Rxe1 Ra4
(See pg. 22 for more on the women’s event.) Black simplified the game and is now look-
In the U.S. Championship, the tournament ing to hunt the weak a2- and d5-pawns.
field was a spectator’s heaven. It featured
some of the world’s best players, including 30. Rb1 f6!
GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Lei- Making room for the king on f7, which is
nier Dominguez Perez; experienced U.S. good both because it deals with a specific
Championship veterans such as GMs Ray tactical threat and because moving it to f7
Robson and Sam Shankland; young stars will be good in the upcoming endgame.
like GMs Jeffery Xiong, John Burke, and Sam
Sevian; and professional GMs Aleksandr Note that Bruzon’s move avoids the trap set
Lenderman, Daniel Naroditsky, Dariusz by Caruana: if 30. ... Rxa2?? 31. Rb8+ Kh7 32.
Swiercz, and Lazaro Bruzon. g4, winning a piece due to the pin. Of course, Caruana is happy to draw, and
The lack of in-person tournaments during having played an amazing game, Bruzon
the COVID lockdown made it difficult to pre- 31. a3 Ne7 32. Rb8+ Kf7 33. Rb7 Ra5 34. takes the draw via repetition in time trouble.
dict what shape the players would be in, or Qc3 However, he had great chances to play for
if they had made changes to their styles or Giving up his d-pawn to take the black a win in this position!
opening choices. Because of this uncertainty, c-pawn. However, Bruzon doesn’t mind
the entire field had the potential to surprise. this trade at all, as he will now have a passed 42. ... Nc6
And that happened from the very be- d-pawn. The way to play on begins with 42. ... Rb5!.
ginning. Now, if the bishop retreats, the problem
After the first round, Ray Robson, the 34. ... Rxd5 35. Rxc7 Rd1+ 36. Kg2 Qb5 with the a5–pawn is permanently solved
grandmaster known for his ferocious at- I think 36. ... Qe6! is an improvement, the and Black is just a pawn up. He can slowly
tacking style and incredible Puzzle Rush point being to either trade the queens under improve the king and the knight, run his
skills, shared the lead with 2020 U.S. Ju- better circumstances, or, ideally, to keep d-pawn, and so on.
nior champion John Burke. Meanwhile, them, as the white king is a lot weaker. After 43. Bxa5 Rb2+! White faces an ugly
top seeds Caruana and Dominguez Perez After 37. Qc4 Rd2! Black is ready to play ... choice: moving the king to the first rank
barely escaped losses: the former was com- d6–d5 to unpin and then attack, while after (or to h3) is really unappealing, while plac-
pletely outplayed with the White pieces by 38. Qxe6+ Kxe6 he managed to improve his ing it on the active f3–square abandons
GM Lazaro Bruzon, in his first-ever U.S. king position. Now, White can temporarily the h2–pawn. After 44. Kh3!? (after 44. Kf3
Championship; the latter was under a lot of get his pawn back, but that doesn’t help: 39. Rxh2 White will struggle to make a draw, as
pressure versus 2021 U.S. Open champion Ra7 h5! 40. Rxa6 Nd5! 41. Kf3 g5! he’s a pawn down) 44. ... Nd5 the knight is
Aleksandr Lenderman. coming to e3 and then to f1! Surprisingly,
White can even end up in a mating net if
he is not careful.
A NEAR-MISS
GM Fabiano Caruana (2871) 43. Rc4 Ne7 44. Ra4 Nc6, draw.
GM Lazaro Bruzon (2724)
U.S. Chess Championship (1), St. Louis, Every round was extremely exciting, filled
10.06.2021 with unexpected opening choices, spectac-
ular sacrifices, blunders, and, of course,
upsetting outcomes. Interesting to note
was that the top seeds’ paths were anything
AFTER 41. ... g5 but easy during this first major OTB event,
post-pandemic.
Here Black is threatening ... g5–g4, signifi- After round five, the tournament was led
cantly restricting White. The a6–rook is by the aforementioned Lenderman and Rob-
completely out of play, the white king is in a son, who were sitting at a comfortable +2
situation that is rather close to a mating net, with 3½/5, followed by So and Dominguez
and White’s position is nearly lost. However, Perez, who were just half a point behind.
it is totally understandable that Black did not Meanwhile, Caruana, who many expected
want to give up his extra pawn, especially as to crush the competition, was only at 2½/5,
he was in time trouble, where you normally having lost a stunning game to GM Daniel
WHITE TO MOVE want to keep things as clear as possible. Naroditsky.

16 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 Here 9. dxe5 does not make any sense,
as it concedes all the extra space White has
been currently enjoying, i.e., 9. ... Nxe5 10.
Bxd7+ Qxd7 11. Nxe5 dxe5 and Black is per-
fectly fine, as the structure is symmetrical
and two pairs of pieces have been swapped.

9. ... exd4
Also possible was 9. ... 0-0, but Naroditsky
rushes to release the tension. Possibly he
was less comfortable with White potentially
playing d4-d5, so he eliminates that possi-
bility right away.

Caruana - Naroditsky 10. cxd4 0-0 11. h3!

was a highlight of An instructive moment. Caruana is taking
the event. his time to slowly restrict the opponent’s
pieces, preventing moves like ... Bd7-g4
and ... Nf6-g4. Let’s see why this positional
While Naroditsky is a very strong grand- solid position. Instead, ... Ng8-e7 and ... move is strong and important by analyzing
master known for many things — from his g7-g6 are the more ambitious (but riskier) the ignorant alternative.
impressive writing ability to his amazing choices, which Naroditsky thought would White can try a typical Ruy Lopez rede-
educational work on YouTube and Twitch not make sense versus Caruana. ployment with 11. Nf1?!, bringing the knight
— the true surprise this tournament was his If you’re interested in something offbeat, to g3, but after 11. ... b5! 12. Bb3 Bg4! it is
opening choices. For almost every game in you might investigate 6. ... g5!?, which Ma- not entirely clear why White allowed the pin.
this event, he used little-known offbeat lines, medyarov used in 2017 to beat Harikrishna. Black now threatens to take on f3 and then
from the Ponziani to the 3. … f5 Schliemann on d4; moreover, he gets to trade some piec-
Defense in the Ruy Lopez. This approach 7. Re1 g6 es and resolve his space issues. Here 13. h3?
might sound impractical, but astonishingly, Note that 7. ... Be7 is a significantly inferior is a mistake, i.e., 13. ... Bxf3 14. Qxf3?? (14.
he was able to get very comfortable positions square for the bishop. Placed on g7, it is not gxf3 Qd7 results in a position where White
against the world’s best competition! only adding an extra layer of protection to has an awful king and a vulnerable center)
Here is the game between Caruana and the king’s position, but also exerts pressure 14. ... Nxd4 and Black is a clean pawn up.
Naroditsky, which might have been the on the long diagonal. It has much less to do 13. Be3 is a better move, protecting the
biggest upset of the entire event. on the e7-square! After 8. d4 0-0 9. Bc2 White center, but after 13. ... Na5! 14. Bc2 Nd7! the
has reason to be very pleased. d4-pawn is under pressure, ... Na5-c4 is com-
ing with a tempo, attacking the e3-bishop
RUY LOPEZ, NEO-STEINITZ 8. d4 Bg7 and the b2-pawn, and ... c7-c5 is underway.
VARIATION (C79) Here we reach a bit of a crossroads. White is clearly worse!
GM Fabiano Caruana (2871)
GM Daniel Naroditsky (2702) 9. Nbd2 11. ... Nb4
U.S. Chess Championship (5), St. Louis, The most flexible path, as White is not defin-
10.11.2021 ing the situation in the center yet, keeping
the tension.
I have originally annotated this game as Another pawn structure, one commonly
I was writing tournaments reports of the found in King’s Indian type positions, emerg-
event for [Link], but for the purpose of es after 9. d5 Ne7 10. Bxd7+ Nxd7. Most mas-
this article, I have somewhat reworked and ters would suggest that Black should play on
deepened my analysis. the kingside with ... f7-f5, ... f5-f4, etc., while
White should pursue queenside initiative by
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 trying to open the c-file with c4-c5, etc. This
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

The Improved Steinitz Defense. This is based on a rather simple rule of thumb:
turned out to be a rather smart choice by when you have a position with locked pawn
Naroditsky, who in fact did not have much chains, look at the direction at which your
choice: no matter what theoretical line he central pawns are aimed to determine the 12. Bxd7
would go for versus Caruana, the latter flank on which you should play. Here the Caruana makes the safer choice of trading
would be prepared much better. That’s why black d6- and e5-pawns are aimed at the the bishops right away and maintaining
it made sense to go for a less-researched white kingside, while the e4- and d5-pawns the center.
position. are staring at the queenside. Interestingly, 12. e5!? was a very interesting dynamic
Caruana chooses a more flexible approach opportunity, forcing the f6-knight away.
5. 0-0 Bd7 6. c3 Nf6 in the game, refraining from defining the After 12. ... Bxa4 13. Qxa4 the b4-knight
Black opts for a slightly inferior, yet rather tension just yet. is hanging, so Black has no choice: 13. ...

[Link] JANUARY 2022 17

EVENTS U.S. Championship

Nfd5 14. Ne4 and here the knights are very but that weakens the g5-square. 25. ... Nc4 26. exd6 Nxd6?!
loose: for example, Qa4-b3 followed by a2- Imprecise. Now the white knight gets an
a3! is a large threat. Black seems able to 20. ... Na5 opportunity to invade via the e5-square.
maintain the balance with precise moves,
but it doesn’t look safe at all. Black maintains a good position with
26. ... Rac8. He is by no means obliged to
12. ... Qxd7 13. Qb3 capture on d6, which means White cannot
Caruana keeps making all the challenging get the knight to e5 because the c4-knight
moves, but by now, he had already burned cannot be chased away.
25 minutes, which cost him dearly at the
end, as we will see. 27. Ne5! Qf5
After 27. ... Bxe5? 28. dxe5 Black loses a
13. ... a5 14. a3 Nc6 15. Nf1 piece on the d-file.
The alternative 15. d5 Nb8 16. Qxb7 offers
White a possibility to win a pawn. Howev- 28. g4! Qe6
er, Black has great compensation after 16.
... Na6 17. Qb3 Nc5 18. Qc4 Qa4! 19. Qxa4 Black could have traded an extra pair of piec-
Nxa4 and White’s queenside looks misera- es with 20. ... Nxd2, but perhaps Naroditsky
ble, while ... Ra8-b8, ... Nf6-d7, etc., are all was afraid of 21. Nxd2 Bg7 22. f4 when White
about to put a great amount of pressure on grabs space in the center and on the king-
his position. side. With so many pieces traded, Black
15. Qxb7?? Rfb8 is, of course, not some- shouldn’t have any worries, but it does look
thing Caruana would be interested in. somewhat uncomfortable!

15. ... a4! 21. Nb1?!

Creating an outpost on the b3-square. The This is where Caruana starts losing his
opening went extraordinarily well for Black, initiative, slowly letting the opponent take
who not only got a perfectly decent posi- over. 21. h4! seems strong again.
tion, but also pushed the top seed into time Another interesting path begins with 21. 29. Nc3?
pressure. e5!?, for example 21. ... dxe5 22. Ne4 Bg7 23. White gets too ambitious, and worse, he
The alternative 15. ... b6 protects the Nxe5 Bxe5? (after the superior 23. ... Qd5 24. only left himself seven minutes at this point!
pawn, but it’s a passive move, and it creates Qf3! threatens Ne4-f6+! and if 24. ... Rad8 25. Here 29. Nxd6 Qxd6 30. Nxc6 would have
weaknesses on the light squares. Nf6+ Bxf6 26. Qxf6 Black’s king is somewhat given Caruana an extra pawn, but Black
weak, h4-h5 is on the way and the a5-knight can hold, for example 30. ... Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1
16. Qd3 Na5 17. Bg5 Nb3?! now appears to be out of play. White is defi- Kh7 avoiding all the checks and asking
Black chooses to immediately utilize the nitely for choice here!) 24. dxe5 Qxd3 25. White how he will improve the position.
outpost on b3, winning a tempo. However, Rxd3 we reach an awful position for Black, The g7-bishop is very powerful, and d4-d5
this is not the best decision. as the f6-outpost is fantastic, the a5-knight is hardly possible, as the b2-pawn will like-
Immediately possible was 17. ... d5!? — see is stranded, and the queenside pawns — the ly hang. Black’s blockade and better minor
more details on the next move. a4-pawn in particular — don’t look great. pieces should save him half a point rather
easily. Still, this is White’s best option.
18. Rad1 h6 21. ... b5 22. Qc2 Bg7 23. Nc3 c6
Black should have tried 18. ... d5! when The key moment. White needs to make a de- 29. ... Rac8 30. Re2 Qb3!
after 19. e5 Ne4 he is only slightly worse. cision: to play e4-e5, d4-d5, or keep waiting? The endgame would be fantastic for Black,
Black is winning a tempo by attacking the as the b3-pawn is very advanced, while
g5-bishop, and he is about to follow with ... 24. e5 White’s queenside pawns are extremely
f7-f6 or ... Ra8-e8, centralizing his pieces. After 24. d5 cxd5 (24. ... c5? 25. e5! gives vulnerable.
White’s space advantage certainly counts White a tremendously powerful passed
and is not irrelevant, but this seems to be pawn on d5) 25. Rxd5 Nc4! Black is able 31. Qxb3
Black’s best practical chance. to generate enough counterplay with his Avoiding the endgame with 31. Qd3 looks
powerful g7-bishop, the c4-outpost, and the like a better choice, although after 31. ...
19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20. N1d2 vulnerable white queenside. Together these Red8 Black is already clearly for choice.
A potential improvement is 20. Ne3, intend- more than compensate for the white outpost The d4-pawn is a bit loose, and the White
ing to play Ne3-d5 followed by e4-e5, Re1-e3, on d5 and the “theoretical” weakness on queenside remains problematic.
etc., and looking to attack the king. d6 — I call it “theoretical” because it looks
Another interesting idea was 20. h4!?, the weak, but realistically cannot be attacked 31. ... axb3 32. Kg2 c5 33. dxc5 Nc4 34.
point being to play h4-h5, looking to force ... or challenged any time soon. Nxc4??
g6-g5, which would create a gaping hole on The key mistake. What did Caruana miss?
the f5-square for the knight via the Nf1-g3-f5 24. ... Rfe8 25. Ne4 I originally suggested 34. Nd3? as a po-
maneuver. Alternatively, Black can react At this point, Caruana had 25 minutes. Watch tential improvement on [Link], but this
with ... h6-h5, stopping the h4-h5 threat, what happens in a couple moves. is wrong, because after 34. ... Bxc3! 35.

18 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 let So unravel; consequently, at one point,
So was nearly winning. However, So missed
his chance and the players ended up split-
ting the point. Had So won, he would have
had the opportunity to take the lead sin-
gle-handedly.

BRILLIANT!
GM Wesley So (2853)
GM Daniel Naroditsky (2702)
U.S. Chess Championship (9), St. Louis,
10.16.2021

GM Daniel Naroditsky

Rxe8+ Rxe8 36. bxc3 Rd8! White runs into Kc6 49. Rb3 Rc3+ 50. Rxc3+ Bxc3 51. Nb1
an awful pin and ... Nc4-e5! is about to cost Bb4!
him a piece, while 37. Kf3 Nxa3 is also dead- The white b1-knight will never move.
lost for him.
34. f4! is an actual improvement, when 52. f4
after the natural 34. ... Nxe5 35. fxe5 Rxc5 White doesn’t have time to capture the
36. Kf3! White gets the king in the game, b-pawn after 52. Kd3 h5!. BLACK TO MOVE
anticipating the capture on e5, and with
36. ... Rexe5 37. Rd8+ Kh7 38. Rxe5 Bxe5 52. ... Kd5 53. Kd3 h5 54. f5 hxg4 55. Black’s position is considerably better but
39. Ne4! (the c5-rook is hanging!) 39. ... Rc2 fxg6 Ke6 56. Ke4 g3 57. Kf3 Bd6, White the path to an advantage is by no means
40. Rd5 Bxb2 41. Rxb5 Bxa3 42. Rxb3 White resigned. simple.
draws easily. White can’t fight against both passed pawns.
14. ... 0–0–0!
34. ... Rxe2 35. Nxe2 The next two rounds saw the status quo A brilliant concept!
I suspect that Caruana miscalculated in the change slightly, although most of the main
line beginning with 35. Nb6, when after contenders for the title remained at the top 15. Nd5
35. ... Bxc3 36. Nxc8 Bxb2 37. Rb1 Bxa3 38. of the rankings list. Taking the knight is verböten: 15. gxf4? exf4
Rxb3 Bxc5 Black is much better. Still, White Caruana went on to lose his round six 16. Bxe6+ Qxe6 and the e4–pawn falls next.
should draw, despite the misplaced knight, game, this time to Sam Sevian. This was The white king is awfully weak and the
after 39. Rxb5 Rxf2+ 40. Kg3. an historic upset: I challenge readers to queenside is undeveloped, so Black is com-
recall the last time the world’s number pletely winning.
35. ... bxc4 36. Rc1 two lost two games in a row prior to this
Now 36. Nc3!! was the only chance. I am tournament. 15. ... Bxd5!?
giving this move two exclamation marks Sevian’s win over Caruana put him at Objectively, this lets White off the hook, but
because the position after 36. ... Bxc3 37. 4½/7, enabling him to join shared first with practically, this bold move forces White to
bxc3 Rxc5 looks utterly lost due the powerful Lenderman and So, who scooped up a win play very precisely.
b3-pawn, but surprisingly, White can hold it! against Burke. Meanwhile, Robson, who lost Better was the quiet retreat 15. ... Qe8
After 38. Kf3 Kf8 39. a4! Ke7 40. Ke4 Ke6 41. to Caruana in round seven, followed closely keeping a large advantage as 16. gxf4? exf4
Rd8 it’s somehow not a loss, which is very behind with Dominguez Perez, both at 4/7. opens the position too much: now ... Nc6–
hard for a human to believe! In round eight, all games ended in a draw, e5 is on the way, coming to the d3- or f3-
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

not all of them peaceful. Lenderman needed squares, along with the ... f7–f5 lever.
36. ... Bxb2 37. Rxc4 Bxa3 a combination of stubborn defense and luck
Black is completely winning as his b-pawn to survive a woeful position versus Swiercz. 16. exd5 Na5!
is extremely strong. Check out Alex’s enlightening analysis else- Black is going after the bishop, ignoring the
where in this issue. (See pg. 38. ~ed.) hanging knight.
38. c6 b2 39. Nc3 Bf8 40. Nb1 Bg7 41. Kf3 The final leg of the tournament was even
Kf8 more eventful and entertaining. 17. gxf4
Time for the black king to get involved! In round nine, So faced Naroditsky, who After 17. Bb3? Nxb3 18. axb3 Nxd5 Black is
played the Italian with Black in a provocative winning without the sacrifices.
42. h4 Ke7 43. h5 Kd6 44. hxg6 fxg6 45. yet sound manner. Naroditsky sacrificed a
Rb4 Rxc6 46. Rb7 Be5 47. Nd2 Rc2 48. Ke3 piece and had a strong initiative, but then 17. ... exf4+ 18. Kd1 Nxc4 19. Qxc4

[Link] JANUARY 2022 19

EVENTS U.S. Championship

The position is very murky, as White is a will be. Here the white rooks can’t do much,
piece up, but his coordination and develop- so Black’s position is easier to play despite
ment are rather terrible. Eventually Wesley things being objectively balanced.
worked his way to a winning position, but
Naroditsky escaped with a draw. 17. Qc2 Nec5 18. Nd2 Qc7 19. Ra3 f5!
With kingside strength, Black starts to ad-
19. ... g3 20. fxg3 fxg3 21. Re1 Qf6? 22. vance his pawns. He has full compensation
Nd2 Kb8 23. Ne4 Qf5 24. Be3? Rhe8 25. for the Exchange with the a4- and c3- weak-
Nxd6 Rxd6 26. Bxa7+ Kxa7 27. Qa4+ Kb6 nesses and White’s poor rooks. From here
28. Qb4+ Ka6 29. Qa4+ Kb6 30. Qb3+ Ka7 the game was exciting and complex, with
31. Qa4+ Kb6, draw. Caruana eventually winning to join the
leaders. (For more on this game, see WGM
Meanwhile, Sevian drew Burke, while Lend- WHITE TO MOVE Jennifer Yu’s analysis in our Chess Life Online
erman faced some rather impressive prepa- report or in the Lichess study. ~ed.)
ration by Sam Shankland in the Grünfeld and Needing to win, Fabiano chose the complex
could not fight for much of an advantage. King’s Indian Defense, as opposed to more 20. f4 Re8 21. fxe5 Bxe5 22. Bf2 b5 23.
By this time, Caruana had completely solid Ragozin or Queen’s Gambit lines. Here axb5 Bxb5 24. Rfa1 Nd3 25. Qb1 Nab4 26.
recovered from his two losses in a row and Lenderman played a move that gave Caruana Rxa5 Qxc3 27. Be3 Bd4 28. Bxd4 Qxd4+
went on to win another game, this time with an amazing opportunity. 29. Kh2 f4 30. g4 Re2 31. Ra8+ Be8 32.
White versus Swiercz. The win allowed him Qg1 Qb2 33. Nf3 Kf8 34. R1a7 h6 35. Rb7
to edge closer to the leaders, as he now was 15. Nf3?! Ne5 36. Kh1 Nxf3 37. Bxf3 Re5 38. Rc8
only half a point behind, standing at 5/9 with After the game, Caruana said that he was Qd2 39. Rc1 Re3 40. Rf1 Nd3 41. Qg2 Qc3
Robson and Dominguez Perez. expecting 15. Qb3, analyzing 15. ... Qe7 16. 42. Qh2 g5 43. Bg2 Ne5 44. Rbb1 Bf7 45.
The penultimate round was a star day for Qxb7 Nc5 17. Bxc5 Rxc5. Here he correctly Rbc1 Qd4 46. Rcd1 Nd3 47. Rd2 Kg7 48.
Caruana, who beat Lenderman in a spectac- believed that Black had great compensation h4 Qc4 49. Rfd1 Ne5 50. hxg5 hxg5 51.
ular game with the black pieces and joined for the pawn due to his bishop pair and fan- Rd4 Qc3 52. Qg1 Nxg4 53. R1d2 Qc8 54.
the leaders. tastic piece activity. Qa1 Qh8+ 55. Kg1 Qh2+ 56. Kf1 Rf3+ 57.
Bxf3 Ne3+ 58. Ke1 Qg1+ 59. Ke2 Qxa1,
VALUING THE EXCHANGE 15. ... Rxc3! 16. bxc3 Nxe4 White resigned.
GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2705) What does Black have for the Exchange?
GM Fabiano Caruana (2871) Pressure on the backward c-pawn, a po- As he admitted in his interview with GM
U.S. Chess Championship (10), St. tential passer on the a-file, and of course, Maurice Ashley after the game, it was one of
Louis, 10.17.2021 a pawn. When sacrificing an Exchange, it’s the most complex and interesting encoun-
important to consider how active the rooks ters he’d had over the last couple of years.

2021 U.S. Championship

ST. LOUIS, OCTOBER 5-19, 2021

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1 GM Fabiano Caruana 2871 * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 6½/11

2 GM Wesley So 2853 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 6½/11

3 GM Samuel Sevian 2728 1 ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6½/11

4 GM Leinier Dominguez 2838 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 6/11

5 GM Aleksandr Lenderman 2705 0 ½ 1 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 6/11

6 GM Ray Robson 2743 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6/11

7 GM Sam Shankland 2790 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 5½/11

8 GM John Burke 2658 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ 5/11

9 GM Dariusz Swiercz 2730 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 5/11

10 GM Daniel Naroditsky 2702 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 4½/11

11 GM Jeffery Xiong 2778 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 * 1 4½/11

12 GM Lazaro Bruzon 2724 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * 4/11

20 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 Both players had chances, but eventually
Caruana prevailed, knocking Lenderman
out of first place.
The other two leaders, Sevian and So,
faced each other. The former had a sig-
nificant advantage, but decided to repeat
moves, which made Caruana and So the
favorites of the last round, as they both had
the white pieces.
In the final round, only Caruana, facing
Shankland with White, tried playing for a
win. He outplayed Shankland in the main-
line of the Catalan and was about to score a
full point at a certain moment; however, a
few imprecise decisions allowed Shankland GM Sam Sevian (R) waits for the
to escape with a draw. playoff with spectators IM Carissa
Yip (L) and GM John Burke (C)
Most of the other competitors settled for
quick draws one way or another: Sevian
didn’t have much choice after being dragged
into a famous quick repetition in the Italian Black is forced to return the piece. After 34. In the next match, Caruana defeated Se-
against Naroditsky, while So chose a harm- ... Be8 35. d6+! the pawns promote, because vian with the black pieces, which partially
less line with white versus Robson. In the 35. ... Kxd6? 36. Nc4+ wins the rook. made up for his round six upset in the clas-
only decisive game of the round, Burke de- sical games.
feated Xiong with the white pieces. 35. dxc6 Kd8 36. Nd5?! Next, Sevian faced So. Had he won versus
The final results had So, Caruana, and Allowing So to escape. The right way was So with black, everyone would have one
Sevian tied for the lead with 6½/11 and head- 36. Rb1!, the point being that 36. ... Kc7 37. point out of two and the blitz part would
ed for the rapid playoffs the following day. Nd5+! Kxc6 38. Rb6+ wins as White collects have begun.
In the first game of the playoffs, Caruana all the kingside pawns, while the black rook However, So did not give his opponent any
faced So with the white pieces. Let’s take a is useless and stuck. chances. By defeating Sevian, So became
look at the final stage of this game. the U.S. Champion for the third time, hav-
36. ... Nxd5 37. exd5 Ne7 38. e4 Nc8 39. ing previously won the nation’s most elite
Rb1 Nd6 competition in 2017 and 2020.
BOOMERANG Now Black has a blockade and White is in It is interesting to point out that So made
GM Fabiano Caruana (2871) danger, because the pawn chain is vulnera- it to the playoffs by scoring two wins and
GM Wesley So (2853) ble. Both ... f7–f5 and ... c5–c4 are possible. drawing nine games in the classical part of
U.S. Chess Championship Playoff (1), the tournament, which is a vastly different
St. Louis, 10.19.2021 40. Kf2 c4 41. Bc2 f5! path from Caruana’s, who won four games,
Chipping away at the fragile pawn center. lost two, and drew five. So almost never
risked losing a game; he either shared first
42. Ke3 Kc7 43. Rb4 fxe4! 44. Bxe4 c3 or stayed half a point behind. He likely felt
It’s difficult for White to deal with the c-pawn very comfortable throughout the entire
without losing all of his central pawns. tournament, and it showed in his games.

45. Bc2 Rxd5, White lost on time. Visit CLO and our Lichess study
And here, trying to capture the a4–pawn, for more annotations from top
Caruana lost on time in a hopeless position. American players:
Having scored this win, So only needed [Link]/study/iLDop9iy
half a point to win the championship.
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

WHITE TO MOVE

After a complex fight in the 4. e4 English,

2021 U.S. Championship Playoff
Caruana burnished his growing advantage ST. LOUIS, OCTOBER 19, 2021
with this killer shot.
1 2 3
33. Nc6+!! 1 GM Wesley So 2853 * 1 1 2/2
Black is forced to accept the sacrifice, but
the queenside pawns are now too powerful. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana 2871 0 * 1 1/2

3 GM Samuel Sevian 2728 0 0 * 0/2

33. ... bxc6 34. bxc6 Bxc6

[Link] JANUARY 2022 21

 i p
EVENTS U.S. Women’s Championship

Yi p -Y

IM Carissa Yip receives

congratulations from
her peers at the U.S.
Championship closing
ceremonies.

22 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

Ho o ray ! IM Carissa Yip
wins her first
U.S. Women’s
Championship!
BY WGM TATEV ABRAHAMYAN

A
FTER A TWO-AND-A-HALF-YEAR
break, it was great to return to St.
Louis for the 2021 U.S. Women’s
Championship. Walking into
the Saint Louis Chess Club
made me feel as though no
time had passed at all; the
same atmosphere that surrounded every U.S.
Championship was still very much present.
This year’s event was notable because the
co-founders of the Saint Louis Chess Club,
Rex and Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, were in-
ducted into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame for their
contributions to American chess. The event
kicked off with a large outdoor dinner at The
Muny, the venerable outdoor musical theater
of St. Louis. It was a lovely event with good
food and plenty of catching up with people
I hadn’t seen in over a year. After speeches
by Rex, Jeanne, and other distinguished
guests, it was time to draw the lots and an-
nounce the pairings. The tournament was
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

officially underway.
I was curious to see how the tournament
played out, for several reasons. It was the
first over-the-board tournament in months
for many of the players, so I figured rust-
iness would be a major factor. Several of
our young talents — WGM Jennifer Yu, IM
Annie Wang, WIM Akshita Gorti, and WIM
Emily Nguyen — were absent. But two new-
comers joined the field: WGM Gulrukhbe-
gim (Begim) Tokhirjonova, who recently

[Link] JANUARY 2022 23

EVENTS U.S. Women’s Championship

(Most of) the gang

is here! It’s all smiles
at the opening
ceremony before
hostilities commence.

switched to the U.S. from Uzbekistan, along I had faced the Advance variation in the can recapture and develop. The problem is
with WIM Megan Lee. Finally, the tourna- World Cup in July, and was running through that White has also run out of useful moves.
ment had a more leisurely pace with two rest the game to try to think of what she could At the same, it’s very difficult for me to finish
days after the fourth and eighth rounds. It’s have prepared, but as it turned out, she had my development. Either way, I was already
been my experience that rest days, and how something else in mind! so low on time that a future mistake in a key
one responds to them, can make or break moment was inevitable.
a tournament. 6. Bd3
I knew this event would be an uphill battle I hadn’t looked at this line in a while and 11. ... f5 12. exf6 e.p.
for me, as I had just started a new job in a was not aware of any new developments. Played quickly, this frees my pieces. Better
new city, but I could not have foreseen the 6. a3 is the main line, played by WGM would have been keeping the structure
disaster that was ahead. I began with three Viktorija Radeva against me in the World closed with something like 12. Na3 (with
losses and one win, while WGM Katerina Cup: 6. ... Nh6 7. b4 cxd4 8. Bxh6 gxh6 9. the idea of Na3-c2) asking me to develop my
Nemcova and IM Carissa Yip jumped out cxd4 Bd7 10. Be2 Rc8 11. 0–0 Bg7 in Rade- pieces and find safety for my king.
to the early lead. Carissa’s round two win va - Abrahamyan, Krasnaya Polyana 2021.
came at my expense. 12. ... gxf6 13. cxd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Qxd4
6. ... cxd4 7. 0–0 15. Be3 Qe5
This move has come into fashion lately. GM This looks natural, but the correct move
FRENCH DEFENSE, ADVANCE Magnus Carlsen played it in 2020, while GM (and the one I wanted to play) is 15. ... Qh4
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

VARIATION (C02) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave used it recently in making it difficult for White to get Nb1-d2-f3
IM Carissa Yip (2492) the Grand Swiss against GM Pavel Ponkratov. as the h5-pawn will hang. To be fair, it’s a
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (2447) difficult move for me as well, as my queen
U.S. Women’s Championship (2), 7. ... Bd7 8. Re1 might get stranded.
10.07.2021 8. cxd4 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 would transpose
to the main line of the Milner-Barry. 16. Nd2 Rg8 17. f4 Qd6 18. Qf2 Rc8 19.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Rad1
Carissa usually plays 3. Nd2 so this alarmed 8. ... Nge7 9. h4 a6 10. h5 h6 11. Qe2 The main problem in the position is that,
me a bit. I think this move loses the thread a bit. regardless of the evaluation, her moves are
White wants to always threaten taking on d4, easy to find, while it’s not super clear what
3. ... c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 forcing Black to play ... d4xc3, so the knight I should be doing with my pieces.

24 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 19. ... Bc6?? Carissa bounded into the rest day with a win
against GM Irina Krush after an uncharac- GRÜNFELD DEFENSE, FIAN-
teristic blunder by the seven-time champ. CHETTO VARIATION (D76)
WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova
(2384)
DOUBLE ATTACK IM Carissa Yip (2492)
IM Carissa Yip (2492) U.S. Women’s Championship (5),
GM Irina Krush (2521) 10.11.2021
U.S. Women’s Championship (4),
10.09.2021 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 d5 5.
cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. e3 0–0
9. 0–0 Re8 10. h3
A sideline in this position that has been
played a few times by Begim’s teammate at
This loses the game immediately. The move Mizzou, GM Grigoriy Oparin. Both 10. Re1
that I wanted to play, but managed to talk and 10. d5 are more common.
myself out of, is 19. ... f5! which stops any
piece from landing on the e4-square while 10. ... e5 11. d5 Na5
also keeping control of the center. This is the standard square for the knight
in this line, but Black must be vigilant to
20. Bh7!! Rg7 ensure that both knights aren’t stranded on
After 20. ... d4 21. Bxg8 dxe3 22. Qxe3 Nxg8 the edge of the board!
23. Ne4 Qc7 24. Nxf6+ Nxf6 25. Qxe6+ Be7 BLACK TO MOVE
26. Qxf6 I lose my entire kingside. 12. Qc2 Bd7
21. ... Nb4?? 22. Rxc8+ Rxc8 23. Rd4, This feels slow. More usual is 12. ... c6 as
21. Ne4 Qc7 22. Bb6 Black resigned. Black should feel a sense of urgency to
Cleaner was 22. Nxf6+ Kf7 23. f5!! when Those pesky backwards moves are easily break in the center. Play has continued 13.
23. ... e5 runs into mate: 24. Bg6+ Kxf6 25. overlooked! b4 Nac4 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Rd1 Qe7 16. Nd2
Qh4 mate. Bf5 17. Nce4, as found in the games of Gri-
For me, the day off couldn’t have come schuk and Ragger.
22. ... dxe4 23. Bxc7 Rxh7 24. Bd6 Rg7 sooner. I made peace with my struggles in
25. Rc1 the first four rounds and decided to start 13. Rd1 Qc8 14. Kh2 c6 15. dxc6 Bxc6?
While I don’t have enough for the queen, I anew. My next four games were all drawn, a It’s time for the knight to return home with
can still fight. Unfortunately, I immediately result that I wasn’t too unhappy about, even 15. ... Nxc6.
collapsed: with the missed chances. It was difficult for
me to find myself well off the pace for most 16. e4 Qe6 17. b4
25. ... Nf5 26. Bxf8 Kxf8 27. Rxe4 Rd8 28. of the tournament, rather than fighting for A very concrete move. After 17. b3 Black
Rxc6 bxc6 29. Rxe6 Ng3 30. Rxf6+ Ke7 31. the top spots as I usually do. has to figure out what to do with her minor
Qc5+ Kxf6 32. Qe5+ Kf7 33. Qc7+, Black Returning after the rest day in round five pieces on the queenside.
resigned. was not pleasant for Carissa.
17. ... Nac4 18. a4 a5 19. b5 Bd7 20. Nd5
The black pieces are starting to face some
serious problems.

20. ... Rec8

Of course, 20. ... Nxd5? 21. exd5 loses the
c4-knight.

21. Ng5 Qe8 22. Nxb6 Nxb6 23. Qd3 Rd8

24. Qe3 Nc8 25. Bb2 Bh6 26. h4 Bg7
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

Black’s last few moves expose her lack of a

plan, but even now, it is hard to suggest one.
White enjoys a space advantage and has the
superior pieces.

27. Bf1
Very nice maneuvering to improve the only
Abrahamyan
bad piece.
resigns her round
two game against Yip.
27. ... h6 28. Nf3 Qe6 29. Ba3 Qe8
30. Bc4

[Link] JANUARY 2022 25

EVENTS U.S. Women’s Championship

IM Nazi Paikidze
studies the board in
round seven.

That bishop pair is aimed right at the king!

30. ... Bg4 31. Bd5 Rd7 32. Bb3 Rd8 33.
Kg2 Ne7 34. Rxd8 Rxd8 35. Nh2 Bc8 36.
Rc1 Qd7 37. Nf3 Re8 38. Kg1
White is in no rush, as her opponent’s piec-
es are all tied down and her position will
eventually collapse.

38. ... Rd8 39. Bc5 Rf8 40. Rd1 Qe8 41.
Bb6 Bd7 42. Bxa5 Kh7 43. Bc3 Bg4 44. Rc1
f6 45. Bb4 f5 46. Rc7
The loss of material is inevitable.

46. ... f4 47. gxf4 exf4 48. Qd3 Ng8 49.

Bxf8 Qxf8 50. Ne5 Nf6 51. Nxg4 Nxg4 52. 8. Nxc3 Ne7 9. h4 h6 10. h5 Qd8 16. b3!
Qd7 Ne5 53. Qe7 Nf3+ 54. Kh1 Qh8 55. As in my game with Carissa, Black has to Keeping the a5–knight out of the game. This
Rxb7, Black resigned. figure out how to complete development. reminds me a bit of the Begim - Carissa
It’s even harder now that the white knight game from round five.
This result threw the crosstable into disar- is on the c3–square.
ray. Now it was a tight race between Kateri- 16. ... Rc8 17. Ne2 b6 18. Rcd1 Rc7 19.
na, Carissa, and Irina, all of whom jockeyed 11. Be3 Nec6 12. Rc1 Be7 13. Bb1 Qg3 Bc8 20. Nfd4
for the lead. Katerina was the only player Preventing Black from castling; Now that the king is on the f8-square, White’s
to have a perfect result after the first two plan of opening the f-file is very logical.
rounds, but she made too many draws and 13. ... Na5
couldn’t keep up with Carissa and her win- after 13. ... 0–0 14. Qd3 presents major prob- 20. ... Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Nc6 22. Nb5 Rd7 23.
ning streak. Carissa took the lead in round lems for Black. f4 d4 24. Bf2 Bc5 25. f5 exf5 26. Bxf5 Re7
seven with a win over IM Anna Zatonskih 27. Be4 Nxe5
and never looked back. 14. Qd4 Nbc6
Tempting and natural, but Black’s knights
are now superfluous. 14. ... Nc4 15. Qg4 Nxe3
FRENCH DEFENSE, ADVANCE 16. Qxg7 Nxf1 17. Qxh8+ Bf8 is some kind
VARIATION (C02) of insane computer line that would never
IM Carissa Yip (2492) happen in a game, but Stockfish thinks that
IM Anna Zatonskih (2483) Black is finally doing OK here.
U.S. Women’s Championship (7),
10.13.2021 15. Qg4 Kf8
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3
Bd7 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. 0–0
Repeating the same line she played against 28. b4! Bxb4 29. Rxd4, Black resigned.
me in the first round. In an echo of the game against Irina, here
a rook on d4 wins material with a double
7. ... dxc3 attack!
Anna deviates, though I am not a fan of this
capture. It seems to give White everything Another noteworthy moment from round
she wants. Allowing the knight to land on seven is found in the game between Megan
c3 is not worth the pawn! Lee and Nazi Paikidze. I think the biggest

26 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 lesson here is to be mentally and emotional- Nxd8 Qf1+ 64. Kc2 Qf2+ 65. Kd3, Black 40. Rc5! Nxa7 41. Ra5
ly ready to punish our opponents’ blunders resigned. Black cannot move her pieces, and the king
in a completely lost position. doesn’t have time to run to the queenside
Carissa went on to win her third game in a because White will simply capture all the
row in round eight to put her a half-point kingside pawns!
BACK AND FORTH ahead of Katerina and a full point ahead of
WIM Megan Lee (2324) Irina at 6/8. The second rest day was very 41. ... Kh6 42. Ra6
IM Nazi Paikidze (2458) much a welcome change of pace for me, and Black is in zugzwang.
U.S. Women’s Championship (7), it did not seem to derail Carissa either. She
10.13.2021 went on to win her fourth game in a row as 42. ... Kg7 43. Bc4 Rc8 44. Rxa7+ Kf6 45.
play resumed. The ninth round also saw a Ra6+ Kg7 46. Bb5 Rb8 47. Ba4 Kf7 48. Rd6
big result for the standings with Irina’s win Kg7 49. Kf1 Kf7 50. Ke2 Rb4 51. Bc2 Rb2
over Katerina. 52. Kd2 Kg7 53. Kc3 Ra2 54. Rb6 Ra1 55.
Rb1 Ra2 56. Rb2 Ra3+ 57. Bb3 Ra1 58.
Ra2 Rb1 59. Bc4 Rd1 60. Ra6 Rd8 61. Bb5
TACTICS... Kf7 62. Ra7+ Ke6 63. Rg7 Kf6 64. Rd7 Ra8
GM Irina Krush (2521) 65. Kd4 Ke6 66. Kc5 Ra5 67. Rd6+ Kf7 68.
WGM Katerina Nemcova (2409) Ra6, Black resigned.
U.S. Women’s Championship (9),
10.16.2021 With two rounds to play, Carissa was one
point ahead of Irina and a point and a half
ahead of Begim, who was slowly climbing up
the standings. Victory was close, but nerves
WHITE TO MOVE can always play a role, as I very well know!
I think one of Carissa’s strongest quali-
56. Rxe5?? ties are her strong nerves and her ability
A blunder that gives away a half-point. to bounce back from disappointments.
She credited her friends for cheering
56. ... Qa4+?? her up after losing to Begim in round five,
Black returns the favor immediately. Psy- but I think most of the credit belongs to
chology is a funny thing: if this position her fighting spirit and perseverance. I often
were given to Nazi as a puzzle, she would think of her performance in the 2020 Cairns
doubtless have found the correct 56. ... Cup, where she started with four losses,
Rxb2+!!. Here the key idea is that the black WHITE TO MOVE but earned four points in the last five
king is stalemated. All she has to do is give rounds of the tournament, defeating World
away her remaining pieces. 57. Kxb2 (or 57. 38. Rxd5! Champion GM Ju Wenjun in the process.
Kd3 Rd2+ 58. Kxd2 Qxc3+ 59. Ke2 Qd2+ 60. Taking advantage of the overworked rook That kind of experience is invaluable for
Kf1 Qf2+ 61. Kxf2 stalemate) 57. ... Qxc3+ 58. on d8. a young player.
Kb1 Qb2+ 59. Kxb2 — a miraculous draw! Carissa sewed things up with a victory over
38. ... Rxd5 39. Rxd5 Ra8 IM Nazi Paikidze in the penultimate round.
57. Kc1 Qa1+ 58. Qb1 Qa6 59. Ng3 Rd8 60. The rook cannot be captured, of course: 39.
Nf5+ Kh7 61. Nd6+ Kh8 62. Nf7+ Kg7 63. ... Rxd5 40. a8=Q.
ALL HAIL...
IM Nazi Paikidze (2458)
IM Carissa Yip (2492)
U.S. Women’s Championship (10),
10.17.2021
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

The key ninth round

matchup between
Krush and Nemcova

WHITE TO MOVE

[Link] JANUARY 2022 27

EVENTS U.S. Women’s Championship

22. f4??
An apparent hallucination; I think Nazi IM Carissa Yip winds
thought she could take on f4 twice with a her way to a key win
pawn. in round 10.
White would have had a big edge after 22.
Na2 with the idea of c2–c4 and opening the
queenside. To her credit, Nazi did manage to
avoid a trick: after 22. Bxg5 h4 23. g4 Bxg4 24.
hxg4? Nxg4+! the f2–pawn is not defended;
i.e., 25. Kg1 h3 26. Bf3 h2+ when Black wins.

22. ... gxf4 23. gxf4 exf4 24. e5

Black has many options here, including
taking another pawn on e5!

24. ... Ng4+ 25. hxg4 hxg4+ 26. Kg1 dxe5

27. Bc5 Qd8 28. Ne4 f5 29. d6 c6
Black’s pawns will roll down the board and
overwhelm the white king. becoming a U.S. Women’s Champion is a tournament for me were less quantifiable.
huge accomplishment at such a young age, My hopes are that the long-term effect on
30. Bb6 Qh4 31. Bf2 Qh5 32. Qd3 fxe4 33. I can’t help but think it will be a small mile- my chess will come from the work that I put
Bxe4 Nf8 34. Bd4 f3 35. Bxf3 gxf3, White stone in a long, successful career to come. into preparation during the tournament,
resigned. One telling moment: during the opening along with the growth that comes from
With this resignation, a new champion was ceremony, Carissa asked me to introduce her stepping out of my comfort zone in a major
crowned. to my friend GM Levon Aronian, her favorite tournament. To sit down at the board and
player since childhood. After the introduc- play a brand-new opening... it was a nice
The new champion was all smiles during tions and photos, Levon turned to Carissa, reminder that I am capable of navigating
her post-game interview with GM Maurice looked her in the eye, and said, “I hope you unknown terrains on my own.
Ashley. “I guess it still didn’t really sink in decide to play chess professionally.” I hope
[yet],” she said, “but I’m so happy I can’t she follows her chess hero’s advice! Visit CLO and our Lichess
stop smiling!” As for me, the tournament took a dras- study for more annotations
From my perspective, Carissa’s dominant tic positive turn in the last three rounds. from top American players:
win came as no surprise. She was simply the Finishing in a tie for fourth place was a [Link]/study/iLDop9iy
strongest player in the tournament. While pleasant surprise, but the highlights of the

2021 U.S. Women’s Championship

ST. LOUIS, OCTOBER 5-19, 2021

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1 IM Carissa Yip 2492 * 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 8½/11

2 WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova 2384 1 * ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 7/11

3 GM Irina Krush 2521 0 ½ * 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 6½/11

4 WGM Tatev Abrahamyan 2447 0 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 6/11

5 WGM Katerina Nemcova 2409 ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 6/11

PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

6 WIM Ashritha Eswaran 2324 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 6/11

7 WGM Thalia Cervantes 2308 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 0 1 5/11

8 IM Nazi Paikidze 2458 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 ½ ½ 4½/11

9 IM Anna Zatonskih 2483 0 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 4½/11

10 WIM Megan Lee 2324 ½ 1 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 4/11

11 WGM Anna Sharevich 2354 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 4/11

12 WGM Sabina Foisor 2314 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * 4/11

28 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

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PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

30 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 The Sinquefield Effect COVER STORY

JOE POSNANSKI
visits the
Saint Louis Chess
Campus and finds
the beating heart
of global chess.

ST. LOUIS — We begin, of course, with the WORLD’S

LARGEST CHESS PIECE. I’m not entirely sure that it’s gram-
matically correct for WORLD’S LARGEST CHESS PIECE to
be all capital letters — as a player who specializes only in
hanging queens, I’m still learning the chess stylebook —
but it seems right.
The WORLD’S LARGEST CHESS PIECE is a king, naturally, and
it stands regally here in the Central West End neighborhood of St.
Louis, in front of the World Chess Hall of Fame, down the block
from the chess-themed Kingside Diner and across the street from
the very nucleus of competitive American chess, the ever-expanding
Saint Louis Chess Club.
Many grandmasters walk by the WORLD’S LARGEST CHESS
PIECE every day.
But we’ll get to all that.
“The piece is made of African sapele mahogany,” Rex Sinquefield
says with obvious pride in his voice. I do not know what African
sapele mahogany is, so I ask the only friend I have who can explain
Top: Rex Sinque- it — actor, writer, and woodworker Nick Offerman — and he says,
field, 2018. Left: “It’s as good a choice as you can get these days if you’re going for
the unveiling of the mahogany.”
(second) World’s
The mahogany is an important part of the piece because you
Largest Chess Piece,
2018. Both photos should know this is not the first WORLD’S LARGEST CHESS PIECE
courtesy SLCC / Car- to stand on the Saint Louis Chess Campus. No, the first one was built
mody Creative. in 2012, and it was a beauty in its own right — 14 feet six inches tall,

[Link] JANUARY 2022 31

COVER STORY The Sinquefield Effect

Rex and Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield at the Sound of Art Concert at the Record is that the piece has to, at least theoretically, be movable —
WCHOF, featuring the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, May 2013. otherwise it wouldn’t be a chess piece.
At the unveiling, a reporter asked Rex Sinquefield if he was wor-
2,280 pounds, light brown, and it was made out of plywood (I don’t ried that he had unleashed a chess arms race with Antwerp … or
have to ask Nick Offerman what plywood is; I can just go to Lowe’s). any other ambitious city looking to make a name in the chess world.
That plywood chess piece was nicknamed “King Kong” and was Sinquefield did not hesitate.
validated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest in “Bring it on,” he growled.
the world, beating out a 13-foot king built by an artist named Mats
Allanson in Sweden.
The tale could have ended there. St. Louis, largely behind the ex-
traordinary chess passion of Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield (and a EANNE SINQUEFIELD TELLS THIS little joke: Some 15
not-insubstantial amount of their money), was building a robust chess
community and the plywood King Kong was a symbol of that energy.
Then two years later, a team of teachers and students at a school
in Antwerp, Belgium, decided to break a bunch of Guinness Book
records to raise money for an orphanage in Cambodia. They strung
J years ago, her husband Rex came home and said that he
wanted to start a chess club in their hometown of St. Louis.
“And I let him do it,” she says, “because I thought, ‘How
expensive could that be?’”
The joke has become funnier over the years as the Sinquefields
together the world’s largest cork necklace. They found 353 people have poured untold amounts of money into completely reshaping
to do simultaneous pushups. They broke 73 matches in a minute. St. Louis and American chess. But inside the joke is something
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / SARAH CARMODY

And, yep, they built the new world’s largest chess piece, 16½ feet more, and it’s fascinating to look at all this through Jeanne’s eyes,
high, two feet taller than King Kong. to watch St. Louis become not only the chess capital of the United
Obviously, this could not stand. Not in St. Louis. Not with Rex Sin- States (as endorsed by the U.S. Senate) but one of the true chess
quefield. Plans were immediately made. African sapele mahogany centers of the world.
was promptly purchased. King Kong was moved to the campus of “I think St. Louis has to be, if not the main, then certainly one of
Saint Louis University. And in 2018, the (new) WORLD’S LARGEST the main places in the world,” says Leinier Dominguez, the 15th-
CHESS PIECE was unveiled — 20 feet tall and nine feet wide (53 times ranked player in the world and one of 26 grandmasters to move to
larger than original Staunton King it was based on). St. Louis because of the chess club. “I’m thinking now — what other
It weighs exactly 10,860 pounds, almost five times heavier than city has this number of elite-level events? Moscow, maybe. But I don’t
the original King Kong. That’s the mahogany. The weight matters know. I think St. Louis is the main chess city nowadays in the world.”
because one of the requirements for the Guinness Book World “And 15 years ago?” I ask him.

32 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 “Fifteen years ago,” he admits, “it was nothing.” 1985 as he built the business and became more involved in politics.
By the time Rex decided to start the club, Jeanne was well aware of But he never moved too far from the game, always reading about
his growing passion for chess. He was fascinated by the game before it and keeping up with the top-level players. And in 2005 when he
he ever learned to play it. Rex’s father died when he was five, and retired from Dimensional Fund Advisors (“Bored,” he says) and
his mother could not afford to support him or his younger brother. moved back to Missouri (“I left LA, thank God,” he says), he wanted
For six years, he grew up at the German St. Vincent Orphan Home to get back into chess.
in Normandy, a Northwestern suburb of St. Louis. From the start, he “At the beginning,” Jeanne says, “he was just interested in a club
loved Cardinals baseball, cracking jokes, and, yes, the stock market. for people to play. But, as you know, it became bigger than that
And when he saw people playing chess in the movies, he was really fast.”
smitten. He didn’t know the rules, but there was something about It all came together so neatly and quickly that Rex has come to
the game that drew him in. His chess origin story comes just after believe it was something like destiny. He was out one night with
he got out of St. Vincent’s, and his uncle Fred taught him how to play. some people to discuss art, and two of those people happened to
“I beat him the second game we played,” he says. “I always felt a be leaders in the St. Louis chess community.
little guilty about that.” “We need a chess club,” Rex told them. He mentioned it would
Sinquefield has told that story many times … but people close to be good to have the club in the St. Louis inner city so they could
him are pretty dubious about him ever feeling guilty for winning. teach chess in the schools. They decided as a group they would start
Rex is a ferocious competitor. Truly ferocious. One of the stories looking around for a place.
The next night — the very next night — Sinquefield went out to
dinner with a public finance manager who was in St. Louis to work
“To be honest,” he says, on a city project. He mentioned chess again, and the guy [current
“[chess] probably played an even EB member Randy Bauer ~ed.] said that he was on the executive
board of the US Chess Federation.
MORE IMPORTANT ROLE “Well,” Sinquefield said, “you know someday, I’d love to host a
U.S. Championship.”
than I realized.” “Huh,” the guy said. “Well, it just so happens they’re looking for
a sponsor.”
people on campus love to tell is of the time Rex played a five-year-old The timing wasn’t just right for Sinquefield, it was right for United
Rachael Li, who would go on four years later to play in the 2019 U.S. States chess. The Fischer Boom had long dissipated. Tournament
Girls’ Junior Championship. They talk about how focused he was chess was at a low ebb in America. There was no U.S. Championship
over the board, and how she — being a five-year-old — was entirely in 2005. In 2007, the U.S. Championship was played at the Quality
unfocused, how she kept getting up, walking around, spending no Inn in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The next year, it was at the Radisson in
time on moves, seemingly more interested in basically everything Tulsa. There had been various patrons through the years who had
but the chessboard. worked to build up chess in the United States.
And how she won anyway because prodigies are like that. “Chess in the United States cannot survive if it’s for profit,” says
But if you ask Rex about it … no, he doesn’t really find the humor Wesley So, the number six ranked player in the world. “So you really
in the story. need someone who really loves chess as a sponsor.”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he grumps, and you look to see And as everyone would soon find out, there had never been a spon-
if he’s joking, and you realize that he is not. sor in America who loves chess quite the way Rex Sinquefield does.
Jeanne has a story about Rex like that, too — it’s been told many
times how she met Rex at the Judo Club at the University of Chica- Rex Sinquefield does battle with five-year-old Rachael Li at the St.
go in 1970. She was getting her doctorate in demography. He was Louis Chess Club, July 14, 2015.
studying for his MBA after getting out of the Army.
This was before he became serious about chess.
“The first two times I played Rex, I beat him,” Jeanne says. “And
he was really pissed, OK? I mean really pissed. And do you know
why he was so pissed? It’s because I didn’t even know there were
chess books. Look, to me, chess was something you played on the
back porch with your grandpa.”
Rex got himself a chess coach and began to study compulsively.
“I didn’t beat him after that,” she says.
He was hardly alone among Americans getting fired up about
chess in the early 1970s. This was precisely at the time of Bobby
Fischer’s rise to the World Championship. Just as he was building
his career — converting what he has called “the first two S&P index
funds on the planet,” then co-founding Dimensional Fund Advisors
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC

and starting the first small-cap index fund in the United States — he
was also playing in chess tournaments. He has talked about how
important chess was in shaping his life at that time.
“To be honest,” he says, “it probably played an even more import-
ant role than I realized.”
Sinquefield says that he mostly stopped playing in tournaments in

[Link] JANUARY 2022 33

 Rex and Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield at their induction to the U.S. Chess
Hall of Fame, celebrated on October 5, 2021 due to the pandemic.
O YOU KNOW HOW I STARTED here?” Tony Rich, the

D executive director of the Saint Louis Chess Club, asks.

Of course, I do not, so he tells me that he was a network
security guy in St. Louis, and back in high school he had
run a chess club out of a bookstore. He was helping the Missouri
Chess Federation with their website when he was asked to go to
Fame in Miami could no longer support itself. So, heck, why not,
the Sinquefields brought that to St. Louis, too.
Rex’s passion for chess seems to have no bounds. Everyone loves
talking about how during tournaments, he will find a seat in front
of the television at the chess club, take off his shoes, sip on a Diet
dinner with Sinquefield and about a dozen other people. Coke, and watch the commentary all day. “I do find it endlessly
“We had a nice, wonderful dinner, and Rex treated us all very fascinating,” he says.
well,” Rich says, “and at the end of it, he’s like, ‘All right guys, I’m I ask Rex Sinquefield if he would like to bring a World Chess
happy to let you know that I’m going to start a chess club.’ And we Championship to St. Louis.
were like, ‘Great!’ Everybody’s excited. We leave dinner. Everybody’s “I would,” he said, “but that costs a lot of money.”
happy. We think that’s the end of it.” “Doesn’t everything cost a lot of money?” I ask him.
Two weeks later, he gets a call from Rex’s assistant asking if he He nods. But he says there are politics involved. He says it’s
would like to help start the chess club. Tony says, “Sure, that sounds complicated.
great.” And she says, “When can you start?” He also admits that he and Jeanne have gone around St. Louis
And Tony goes: “Well, hey, I can start right now. I’m ready to help.” looking at possible venues.
And she says: “Don’t you have to give two weeks to your employer?”
“That,” he says, “is when I realized, ‘Wait a minute, he was offering
me a job.’” This wasn’t going to be just any chess club.
The Sinquefields insist that they did not have any grand vision for E ALWAYS SORT OF WORK as a team,” Jeanne says.

W
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / AUSTIN FULLER

chess in St. Louis, but it’s pretty clear that a grand vision emerged “So, originally, it was just going to be the chess club,
quickly. They found an old consignment shop in the Central West that was where Rex’s interests lie. My interests are
End and thought it might make for a decent chess space. “It hadn’t different, I’m a music person, art, education. And so
been used in years,” Rich says. “Everything’s dusty and dirty and we expanded the vision.”
old. They’re asking me, ‘What do you think?’ And I’m like, “I don’t This is the part that I found utterly fascinating — the expanded
know what you’re going to do with this space.’ vision. Even before I came to St. Louis, I was well aware of St. Louis’
“Turns out a million dollars and six months of work can really reputation as the center for competitive chess in America and the
make it into a chess club.” world. “If you’re a chess player at pretty much any level,” one of my
The club opened in 2008. In 2009, it held its first U.S. Champion- favorite chess streamers, Eric Rosen, says, “you basically have to
ship (and has held it every year since). And right around that time, visit St. Louis at some point.”
the US Chess Trust called and said that the World Chess Hall of What I didn’t know was how vast and far-reaching the scope of

34 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 The Sinquefield Effect COVER STORY

chess is in St. Louis.

“Yes, of course, St. Louis is a chess hub,” Wesley So says. “I think
Saint Louis is one of the best chess clubs in the world. All the top
players come and go. But what I think makes it different is that not
only do they support the best players, they have grassroots. They
support the lower level and mid-level players. They teach chess.
They explore chess.”
Chess is everywhere in St. Louis. There’s the public school initia-
tive — the Saint Louis Chess Club has more than thirty instructors
who teach in more than 100 schools in the area, from kindergarten
through 12th grade.
“The educational benefits of chess are really extraordinary,” Rich
says. “I think most people might naturally connect it to math, spatial
awareness, simple stuff like ranks and files and what a diagonal is.
… But what has blown my mind is the behavioral side. Kids who
went to school before and said, ‘I’m not smart, I can’t solve hard
problems, I don’t like school,’ would say, ‘I like to come to school
when there’s the chess club.’”
There’s the C.H.E.S.S. Cops program (Chess Helping Enhance
Student Skills) which has police officers trained to teach chess to More than 250,000 Scouts have earned the Chess Merit Badge, and the
at-risk kids. St. Louis Chess Club regularly hosts events for chess-loving scouts.
There’s the college chess scene, which is unlike anywhere else
in the country. Legend Susan Polgar started the incredible chess And then there’s maybe my favorite part of all: the World Chess
program at Webster University. Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez Hall of Fame.
has built Saint Louis University into one of the top programs in
America, and Grandmaster Cristian Chirila is trying to do the same
two hours away at the University of Missouri. The Saint Louis Chess
Club was instrumental in starting the teams at SLU and Missouri. K, LOOK, I DON’T KNOW A LOT about a lot … but I
There’s Jeanne’s personal project of getting the Boy Scouts of
America to create the Chess Merit Badge — more than 250,000
scouts have earned one since she personally lobbied the Scouts to
approve the badge in 2011.
“I can’t even begin to describe the impact that has had,” she says.
O know Halls of Fame. They’re a passion of mine. I grew
up near the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton — it was
our annual class trip — and I have been a Baseball Hall
of Fame voter for years. I have wandered many miles off course
to stop at the National Teachers Hall of Fame (Emporia, Kansas),
“When the Boy Scouts joined, that made chess OK. Does that make the Cowgirl Hall of Fame (Fort Worth, Texas), the Polish American
sense? It was like, ‘Well, this is an all-American deal. The Boy Scouts Sports Hall of Fame (Troy, Michigan), and I am already plotting my
are doing it.’ And that influences families. You have all these kids trip to the Bobblehead Hall of Fame (Milwaukee).
The World Chess Hall of Fame is different from all of them.
“The thing that amazes me,” Chief Curator Shannon Bailey says,
“... they have grassroots. “is that chess touches everything. Literally everything. It touches
They support the lower level and history and art and music. Food. Poetry. And the wonderful thing
about Rex and Jeanne is that they are so inspirational and supportive.
mid-level players. They teach chess. They never dictate our projects. Sometimes, they’re like, ‘Well, that’s
not really my thing, but I love the show.’ And that kind of freedom
THEY EXPLORE CHESS.” allows us to try so many things.”
And that’s what they do at the World Chess Hall of Fame — they try
going back to schools and saying, ‘Why don’t we have a chess club?’ things. Yes, there is the Hall of Fame itself. In fact, there are two, a
You have all these parents saying, ‘What is this game? Should I play?’ World Chess Hall of Fame and a U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, honoring
The impact has been extraordinary.” some of the greatest players and personalities ever — including Dr.
Jeanne Sinquefield got so into expanding the reach of chess that Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield, both inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall
she has written a book called Read & Write Chess. It is available for free of Fame in 2020. Yes, there are chess specific exhibitions, such at
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / CRYSTAL FULLER

on the Saint Louis Chess Club website in eight different languages. the 50-year anniversary exhibition of Bobby Fischer’s world cham-
It is a step-by-step instruction book for exactly what it promises to pionship coming up next year.
teach, how to read and write chess. But then on the 50-year anniversary of the moon landing, they
“I about killed myself writing it,” she says. “It was the hardest did an exhibition on chess in space. When the Marvel movies really
thing I’ve ever written. I’ve written articles and papers with a lot of took off, they did an exhibition on chess and comic books. They did
complicated quantitative data, I’m working on a book with Art Laf- an exhibition on chess and hip hop, another one on chess and the
fer, that type of high-end stuff. And this was so much harder than U.S. presidency, and another one called “Ladies Knight: A Female
anything else. But I think it’s so important. Perspective on Chess.”
“It just occurred to me that chess is like everything else, if you On the day I’m there, there have an entire exhibition dedicated
can’t read and write, you can’t read books to improve, you can’t play to chess and food — focusing on the diners and coffee houses and
in tournaments, you can’t really get better.” bars where chess has been played for centuries.

[Link] JANUARY 2022 35

 “That’s what drew me here,” says Assistant Curator Emily Allred. Joe Posnanski (right) checks out the exhibitions at the World Chess
“I was really impressed and inspired by how wide-ranging and ambi- Hall of Fame with Shannon Bailey (left) and Emily Allred (center).
tious it was. It was everything from chess and street art to chess and
fashion. I really think they just expanded the vision of what a chess idea whatsoever how to build a non-profit chess club with such
Hall of Fame could be. It was both about honoring the players, the oversized ambitions.
legends of the game, but also situating them in culture and history.” “Different people doing different things,” Rex Sinquefield says.
“I like to say that here at the club, we teach people how to play “They’re just amazing people, and that’s why this has worked. It
chess,” Tony Rich says. “But at the Hall of Fame, they teach you doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
WHY we play chess.” He smiles.
And what you see here is the vastness of chess’ reach through “Well, we spent a lot of money hiring them,” he says. “But it’s
history. It really is everywhere. And seeing the World Chess Hall worth it.”
of Fame up close helps me understand why the Sinquefields have
taken chess to a whole new place in the United States. Shannon
and Emily are certainly not obsessive chess players. Tony had no
ET’S FINISH THIS OFF WITH A little story from Alejandro
GM Wesley So (left) confers with Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield (right) at the

L Ramirez. He remembers St. Louis before the Sinquefields

PHOTOS: COURETSY SLCC / A. FULLER (TOP), SLCC / C. FULLER (BOTTOM)

2021 “Strategy Across the Board” Gala, held December 4, 2021. began their quest — he was dating a woman in St. Louis, so
it was convenient to come to play in the Mid-America Open.
“I mean, I was the only grandmaster who would come,” he says.
“At some point, one of the players came up to me and said, ‘We
should rename this tournament, instead of the Mid-America Open,
we should just call it the Ramirez Fund.’ I would win it so easily
every year. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was like 500 easy dollars.”
He laughs.
“That’s the level of transformation that has happened here,” he
says. “I would not be ranked in the top 15 of this tournament now.
There are so many grandmasters in the area nowadays that when
there’s a tournament, I’m like, ‘You know what? There are better
things to do with my weekends.’ Now, I’m coaching the Saint Louis
University Chess Club, a scholarship chess program, which wasn’t
even a serious possibility until the Saint Louis Chess Club formed it.
“I’ve seen it all grow … and there’s been a certain amount of magic
involved. I don’t know how else to describe it. I wish I could tell you
that I saw this coming, but I didn’t see it. I don’t think anyone did.
I don’t think even Rex saw all this.”

36 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 Additional words p9 from rule DUMMY HEDDERTK

THE BEST OF THE

WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
THIS YEAR MARKS THE TENTH anni-
versary of the World Chess Hall of Fame
as part of the Saint Louis Chess Campus.
We asked Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator,
and Emily Allred, Curator, about their fa-
vorite artifacts and exhibitions, and here’s
what they sent us. For all the details on
each photo, please check out our accom-
panying story on Chess Life Online.

Clockwise from top left: chess table, 1966 Havana Olympiad; Glenn Kaino’s “The Burning
Boards;” Keith Haring chess set; Bruce Benton’s “Capturing Fragile Instants” pieces; a Bird
chess set; Guido van der Werve performance. Center: Fischer / Spassky board and pieces.
COURTESY
PHOTO: TKTK
PHOTOS: SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX
CTRL +WCHOF

[Link] JANUARY 2022 37

ANALYSIS Endgames from the U.S. Championship

Deep in thought: GM
Alex Lenderman at the
2021 U.S Championship

38 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

Grinding
It Out
Three endgames EDITOR’S NOTE: GM Alex Lenderman was
not one of the pre-tournament favorites at the
from the U.S. 2021 U.S. Championship, but his solid play
earned him a piece of shared fourth through

Championship sixth place with a score of 6/11. The deter-

mined New Yorker earned his money, showing
great sitzlfleisch in multiple endgame battles,
including the two longest games of the event.
BY GM ALEX LENDERMAN When I spoke to Alex for the November
edition of my podcast, “Cover Stories with
Chess Life,” I asked him about a few of these
endings, and whether he might not be willing
to annotate them for Chess Life readers. The
fruits of his labors are presented here with his
exclusive notes.

WIN OR DRAW?
GM Alexander Lenderman (2705)
GM Samuel Sevian (2728)
2021 U.S. Championship (5), Saint
Louis, 10.11.2021
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

WHITE TO MOVE

White has an extra pawn and two bishops

against a bishop and knight. It looks like this

[Link] JANUARY 2022 39

ANALYSIS Endgames from the U.S. Championship

Sevian paces as
Lenderman thinks
in their fifth
round battle.

should lead to a fairly easy win, but things side, and try to create a second weakness. the queenside with 39. c5 Nd8 40. Kd4 Nc6+
aren’t nearly that simple! Black is still very Black has several defensive ideas, but none 41. Kc3 Kg7 42. Ba4 Kf6 43. Kc4.
solid. He has no pawn weaknesses, no bad of them are successful. Here are a few
pieces, and there aren’t a lot of pawns left sketches: 39. ... Nd8 40. Bc3+ Ke7 41. Be1 Nc6 42.
on the board. All of this complicates the After 31. ... g6 I can damage his pawn Bg3 Ke6
win a bit. structure with 32. Kf2 h5 33. f5, while 31. ...
At the board, I thought that the game f5? fails to 32. Bc4+ when Bc4–e6 is crushing.
would somehow slowly win itself, but this And after 31. ... f6 White slowly advances
was optimistic. In this position I had to with 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. g3 Be4 34. Ke3 Bf5 35.
find the correct plan here to maximize my c4 and White should win. Finally, after 31.
winning chances; unfortunately, I didn’t ... Nf8 32. Kf2 Ne6 (or 32. ... f6 33. Bc4+ Kh7

PHOTOS: COURTESY SLCC / L. OOTES (THIS PAGE), SLCC / C. FULLER (FACING)

discover the best way forward, which al- 34. g3 Kg6 35. Ke3) 33. Be5 f6 34. Bd6 it’s
lowed Sevian to fight bravely for a very very difficult for Black to activate his king
long time. The defense was ultimately too and coordinate his pieces.
taxing, although he did have a few drawing
opportunities along the way. 31. ... Nf8 32. Bc5 Ne6 33. Bd6 g6 34. f3
Kg7 35. Kf2 h5 36. h4?!
31. Bb5?! Imprecise. This allows ... f7–f6 and ... g6–g5,
This is very natural, trying to ask the knight which exchanges more pawns. It also limits Compare this position with the initial dia-
where he wants to go. On the other hand, my pawn mobility. gram. Black’s chances of holding now are
the knight probably wants to go to the e6– Better was 36. Ke3 h4 37. c4 (or 37. Bd7 much better than they were at move 30.
square anyway! Bd5 38. Bb5 and c3–c4 anyway) 37. ... Kf6 38. But I doubt that anyone predicted that the
As it turned out, I think my best plan Bd7 Ng7 39. Kd3 Nf5 40. Bb4 h3 41. g4 Nh4 game would last almost 100 more moves!
began with 31. f4!. During the game, I didn’t 42. f4 Nf3 43. g5+ when White wins. With both of us in time pressure, the follow
want to rush with this move — pawns can’t moves are certainly not precise. I missed
go backwards, and I wanted to keep the 36. ... Bd5 several winning plans, while Sam had mul-
option of restricting his b7–bishop. But the Black should try 36. ... f6 followed by ... tiple drawing opportunities. But in the end,
bishop is quite active and cannot easily be g6–g5, as above. the continual pressure wore him down, and
restricted, and it’s not clear that it’s really I was able to break through.
necessary to restrict it. Instead, I should 37. c4 Bb7 38. Ke3 Kf6 39. Bb4
focus on trying to gain space on the king- Better is 39. Bd7 Ng7 40. g4, or I can turn to 43. Bf2 Kf5 44. Ba4 Ke6 45. Be1 Kd6 46.

40 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

Bb5 Ke6 47. Kd3 Kd6 48. Bg3+ Ke6 49. Kc3 121. Kf4 Nh3+ 122. Ke3 Ng1 123. Bd3 Bd5 several winning tries, but they do not yield
f6 50. Ba4 Ne7 51. Bf2 Nc6 52. Be3 Ne7 124. Bc2 Nf3 125. Ba4+ Kb7 126. Bd7 Nh2 anything special.
53. Bf2 Nc6 54. Bc2 Ne7 55. Kb4 g5 56. 127. Kf4 Bf3 128. Kg5 Bd5 129. Bxg4 Nxg4 (a) After 31. Rxa7 I have enough coun-
Kb5 Kd7 57. Kb6 Bc6 58. Kc5 Ke6 59. Be1 130. Kxg4 Kc6 131. Kf5 Kd7 132. g4 Be6+ terplay against the two connected passers
Kd7 60. Bg3 Bb7 61. Be1 133. Kg5 Kc6 134. Kh5 Kd7 135. g5 Bc4 thanks to my h-pawn. After 31. ... Rxg4+ 32.
One key improvement would have begun 136. Kh6 Bb3 137. g6 Bc4 138. Kg7 Bd3 Kf1 (or 32. Kh2 h5 33. Ra6+ Kf5 34. a3 Rh4+
with 61. Ba4+. More generally, I should have 139. Kf7 Bc4+ 140. Kf8, Black resigned. 35. Kg2 Rg4+ 36. Kf1 h4) the king cannot stay
been willing to exchange bishops to enter a on the g- or h-files without being checked
winning bishop versus knight ending. endlessly. With 32. ... h5 the king is cut off,
A SURPRISING MOVE and the h-pawn will be enough counter-
61. ... Bc6 62. hxg5 fxg5 63. Bd2 g4 64. GM Dariusz Swiercz (2730) play for Black to make a draw. One sample
fxg4 hxg4 65. g3 Bf3 66. Bf4 Ke6 67. Bh7 GM Alexander Lenderman (2705) variation is 33. Ra8 h4 34. Rd8 Rc4 35. Kg2
Be2 68. Be4 Bf3 69. Bd3 Nc6 70. Bc2 Ne5 2021 U.S. Championship (8), Saint g4 36. Rd2 Rc1 37. b4 Rb1 38. a3 Kf5 39. Rd4
71. Kd4 Nc6+ 72. Kc3 Ne7 73. Bh7 Kf7 74. Louis, 10.14.2021 h3+ 40. Kh2 Rb2 41. Kg1 Rb1+ with equality.
Bc2 Ke6 75. Bb3 Nc6 76. Ba4 Kf6 77. Bc2 (b) It looks like 31. f3 is another winning
Ke6 78. Be3 Ke5 79. Bh7 Ne7 80. Bd4+ Ke6 attempt but there is a drawback: 31. ... Rd2!
81. Bd3 Nc6 and White is facing two problems: the f3–
Here Sevian might have tried to tie my bish- pawn became a hook and the king is cut off.
op to the defense of the g3–pawn with the Play might continue 32. a3 (32. Rxa7 Rxb2
thematic 81. ... Nf5. Is also a fairly easy draw.) 32. ... h5! and
here I’m able to exchange a pair of pawns,
82. Bc5 Ne5 83. Bf1 Nc6 84. Be3 Ke5 85. which wasn’t possible in the game. With 33.
Bd3 Ke6 86. Bc2 Ke5 87. Bh7 Ne7 88. Kb4 gxh5+ Kxh5 34. b4 Kh4 35. Rxa7 Kg3 Black
Ke6 89. Kb5 Be2 90. Bf4 Kf7 91. Bc2 Ke6 has enough counterplay for a draw.
92. Kc5 Nf5 93. Be4 Ne7 94. Bb7 Bf3 95. I did consider 30. ... h5? right away, but it
Ba6 Be2 96. Kb6 Ng6 97. Bc7 Ne5 98. Bc8+ fails due to 31. Rxa7 hxg4 32. Rb7. The differ-
Nd7+ 99. Kc6 Bf3+ 100. Kb5 Be2 101. Bf4 ence between this line and that after 30. ...
Ke7 102. Kc6 Nf6 103. c5 Bf3+ 104. Kb5 BLACK TO MOVE Rd4 is that the doubled g-pawns are useless,
Kd8 105. Bf5 Nd5 106. Bd6 Be2+ 107. Ka5 unable to help drum up counterplay. Worse,
Ne3 108. Be4 Nc4+ After an unsuccessful opening, and a fur- activating my king will cost me a pawn.
After the correct 108. ... Bf3, Sevian would ther mistake on move 26, I found myself in
have continued to put up very strong resis- this position. 31. Rb6+ Kf7 32. Rb5 Kf6 33. Kg2 a4?!
tance. In the game I was eventually able to Another surprising inaccuracy. The correct
convert, despite missing some quicker wins. 30. ... a5?! 33. ... Rd4! 34. Kg3 Ra4 35. a3 Rd4 is a very
Very natural, but a serious inaccuracy. My obscure idea, one that I admittedly still don’t
109. Kb4 Bf3 110. Bd3 Ne3 111. Kc3 Nd5+ position has gone downhill and I’m on the fully understand!
112. Kd4 Ne7 113. Ke5 Nc6+ 114. Kf4 Nd4 brink of being lost.
115. Ke3 Ne6 116. Bf5 Ng5 117. Kd4 Nf7 I didn’t consider 30. ... Rd4!!, but it should 34. a3?
118. Bg6 Ng5 119. Ke5 Kd7 120. Bf5+ Kc6 lead to a draw with best play. White has Stopping ... a4–a3, this is a very natural move
to make, especially in time pressure. As it
turns out, Swiercz had to play 34. Rb6+!,
prophylaxis against the idea that was avail-
able on move 34.

34. ... Rd4?

But I don’t take advantage of an unusual
opportunity, one that admittedly didn’t even
occur to me!
The correct move was 34. ... Rd6!! 35.
Rb4 Ra6.

Lenderman spots the

camera during his
game with Swiercz.

AFTER 35. ... Ra6

[Link] JANUARY 2022 41

ANALYSIS Endgames from the U.S. Championship

Amazing! If someone were to have shown generally trade pawns when you’re up ma- careful here. I do have the d4–square, but
Tarrasch this, he’d say that it was a sign terial. But Black’s main problem is that the he has more central control, and he can
that the player didn’t understand basic end- liquidation of the kingside pawns doesn’t activate his king more easily.
games! How much things have changed with guarantee the draw — the a4–pawn is still
Stockfish 14! It turns out that I really need to very weak. In fact, White can easily collect 35. Ne3 Nc6 36. Nd5 Ne8?!
place my rook on this passive square in order it with the king. My only hope is potential Already a step in the wrong direction.
to play ... Kf6–g6 and ... h7–h5, generating counterplay against his kingside pawns if he Everything stayed under control with
counterplay on the kingside without fear shifts his king to the queenside. The f3–f4 36. ... f6, with ... e6–e5 to follow, and while
of a side check. Black holds this position idea rids him of his only weakness: 46. ... making sure there is no e4–e5 for White.
with best play. gxf4+ 47. Kxf4 Kf6 48. Rb6+ Kg7 49. Ke5 Rc5+
50. Kd6 Rg5 51. Rb4 Ra5 52. Kc7 Kf6 53. Kb6 37. Kf2 Kf8 38. Ke3 Na5?!
35. Kf3 Ra8 54. Kb5 Kg5 55. Re4 Ra7 56. Kb4 and here Another mistake, misplacing the knight. I
White is back in business. White should win. was trying to stop d3–d4, but I could have
discouraged it without misplacing my piece.
35. ... Rf4+ 36. Kg3 Rd4 37. Rb6+ Kf7 38. 46. ... Rxb2 47. Rb4 Ra2 48. Rb3 h5! The position after 38. ... Ng7 39. d4 cxd4+
Rb7+ Kg6 39. Rb6+ Kf7 40. Rb7+ This was the last big calculation I needed to 40. Nxd4 Nxd4 41. Kxd4 Ne6+ should still
Not 40. Rb4?? Rxb4 41. axb4 Ke6 with equality. make, as I had to be sure that I’m in time to be equal.
exchange all the kingside pawns AND return
40. ... Kg6 41. Rb4 with my king to the drawing zone. 39. e5 Nc6?!
White played very accurately here. First, he The move 39. ... f6 is still a good idea.
repeated moves twice to make the time con- 49. gxh5 Kh6 50. Kd4 Kxh5 51. Kc5 g4 52.
trol on move 40. He also forced my king to fxg4+ Kxg4 53. Kb4
the g6–square, so that he could play Rb7–b4 After 53. Rb4+ Kf5 54. a4 Ke6 55. Kb6 Kd7
without my being able to trade down into a 56. a5 Kc8! I make a draw by one tempo!
drawn pawn endgame.
53. ... Kf4 54. Rh3 Ke5 55. Rh6 Kd5 56. a4
41. ... Rd3+ 42. Kg2 Rd2 43. Kf3 Rc2 44. Rb2+ 57. Ka5 Kc5 58. Ka6 Rb8
Ke3 The rest is relatively easy.
Here I was getting seriously worried about
the possibility of losing the game. Indeed, 59. Ka7 Rg8 60. a5 Rg7+ 61. Ka6 Rg8 62.
I’m now only hanging on by a thread. Kb7 Rg7+ 63. Ka6 Rg8 64. Rh7 Ra8+ 65.
Ra7 Rxa7+ 66. Kxa7 Kc6 67. a6 Kc7 68.
44. ... h6 45. f3?! Ka8 Kb6 69. a7 Kc7, draw.
The correct path was 45. Rb6+ Kg7 46. f4 An epic endgame! 40. a3
with excellent winning chances. Now 40. d4! leads to a very serious advantage
for White. Luckily, we were at move 40, and
45. ... Kg7?! KEY SQUARES it’s hard to make such a committal decision
After 45. ... Rg2! , stopping f3–f4, I would GM Lazaro Bruzon (2724) while trying to make the time control. After
still be within the drawing margin. 46. Kd4 GM Alexander Lenderman (2705) both 40. ... cxd4+ 41. Nxd4 and 40. ... dxe5
Rf2 47. Ke4 Kf7 48. Ke5. 2021 U.S. Championship (11), Saint 41. dxe5 (41. Nxe5!?) White is firmly in the
Louis, 10.18.2021 driver’s seat.

40. ... f6 41. exd6

While not as strong as on the previous move,
41. d4 is still good.

41. ... exd6 42. g4 Kf7

The endgame is very unpleasant for Black.
I was very happy to find a way to reach a
defendable queen and pawn against queen
endgame.

43. Ke4 Ne7 44. Nxe7 Kxe7 45. d4 Nc7 46.

46. Rxa4? dxc5 dxc5 47. f5 Kd6 48. h4 Ne8 49. g5
After Sweircz thought for a long time, this WHITE TO MOVE fxg5 50. hxg5 Ng7 51. Nh4 Nxf5 52. Nxf5+
move came as a relief for me. I can survive gxf5+ 53. Kxf5 Ke7
here, and in many lines by just one tempo. In this position I thought that the endgame After some serious calculation, I realized
The correct 46. f4! was probably winning, was roughly equal, but I also believed that I that the best White can do here is reach an
or, better put, it would have been practically might be the only one with winning chances endgame with a queen and a-pawn against
impossible for me to defend against. The due to my control of the d4–square. This is a queen. This should be a theoretical draw.
idea is a bit strange, as you don’t want to a misevaluation, and in truth, I have to be I had some experience with this kind of

42 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 A man on a mission:
Lenderman prepares
for his final round.

position in the 2010 U.S. Championship, 66. Qe7 Qc8 67. Qb7 Qe6+ 68. Ka7 Qd6 69. 75. a6 Qa2+ 76. Kb5 Qd5+ 77. Qc5 Qb3+
where I was the one trying to win the game Qb6 Qa3 70. Kxa6 Kg4! 78. Kc6 Qa4+ 79. Kb7 Qb3+ 80. Qb6 Qd5+
against GM and endgame specialist Dmitry 81. Qc6 Qb3+ 82. Kc8 Qg8+ 83. Kc7 Qf7+
Gurevich. Now that experience was helping 84. Qd7 Qc4+ 85. Qc6 Qf7+ 86. Kd6 Qf6+
me more than a decade later in the same 87. Kd5 Qf3+ 88. Kc5 Qe3+ 89. Kd6 Qf4+
tournament! 90. Ke6 Qh6+ 91. Kd7 Qg7+ 92. Kd6 Qf6+
93. Kc7 Qe7+ 94. Kc8 Qf8+ 95. Kb7 Qb4+
96. Qb6 Qe4+ 97. Ka7 Kh3
After 97. ... Qe7+ 98. Ka8 Qe4+ 99. Qb7 I
run out of checks in light of 99. ... Qe8+??
100. Qb8+.

98. Qd6 Qe3+ 99. Kb7 Qb3+ 100. Kc7 Qc4+

101. Qc6 Qf4+ 102. Qd6 Qc4+ 103. Kb6
Qb3+ 104. Ka5 Qa2+ 105. Kb4 Qb2+ 106.
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / LENNART OOTES

Moving my king as far from the pawn as Kc4 Qc2+ 107. Kd4 Qd2+ 108. Ke5 Qg5+
possible in order to shield my king from 109. Ke4 Qg2+ 110. Kf5 Qg4+ 111. Kf6 Qh4+
cross-checks that would force queen ex- 112. Kg6 Qe4+ 113. Kg7 Qg4+ 114. Qg6
changes. This is a typical idea in these kinds Qd7+ 115. Qf7 Qd4+ 116. Qf6 Qa7+ 117.
54. Ke5 Kf7 55. Kd5 Kg6 56. Kxc5 Kxg5 57. of positions. Kg6 Qg1+ 118. Kf7 Qa7+ 119. Kf8 Qb8+
Kb6 h5 58. c5 h4 59. c6 h3 60. c7 h2 61. 120. Ke7 Qa7+ 121. Kd8 Qb8+ 122. Kd7
c8=Q h1=Q 62. Qc5+ Kf4 63. a4 Qa8 64. 71. Qd4+ Kh3 72. Kb5 Qb3+ 73. Qb4 Qd5+ Qa7+ 123. Kc8 Qa8+ 124. Kd7 Qa7+ 125.
Qd6+ Ke4 65. a5 Kf5 74. Ka4 Kh2 Ke8 Qa8+ 126. Kf7 Qa7+ 127. Kg8, draw.
My task would have been a bit easier after The idea here is to be able to give a check on Here I invoked the 50–move rule — no pawns
65. ... Qd5 66. Qe7+ Kd4 67. Qb4+ Ke5 68. a2, without allowing Qb4–a3+, which would have moved since move 75 — and was re-
Kxa6 Qa8+. force a queen exchange. lieved to earn the draw.

[Link] JANUARY 2022 43

DUMMY HEDDERTK Additional words p9 from rule
OPENS JANUARY 27, 2022
ON VIEW THROUGH JULY 17, 2022
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 GM Gregory Kaidanov
at the 2021 U.S.
Senior Championship.

Know Thyself.
PHOTOS: THIS PAGE, COURTESY SLCC / C. FULLER; FACING: COURTESY SUBJECT / R. FERNANDES
THE IMMENSE VALUE OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE
BY GM Gregory Kaidanov

W
HAT IS THE BEST OPENING FOR WHITE? WHICH Moscow and I was a strong master. Some of my peers, with whom I
book would you recommend for an 1800 player? successfully competed in junior tournaments, had already become
Should I spend more time on tactics or endgame? grandmasters, and some were even world-class players. When the
Every coach gets questions like this all the time. opportunity to play in an international round-robin tournament
And, surprisingly enough, all these questions have came my way, I thought: Now is the time. I need to make an IM
one answer. Now, it’s not the answer that you want to hear. But I’ll norm and, finally, take my next step toward the GM title.
still clue you in. I prepared diligently for the tournament and I felt rather good
The answer is: IT DEPENDS. before the first round. However, it turned out to be a near-disaster.
Sometimes improvement is very easy. You work with chess books. I didn’t come close to an IM norm, and, quite honestly, I was not
You play in a lot of tournaments, preferably against players who are sure what exactly went wrong. So I began to analyze my games to
a little bit stronger than you. You solve lots of calculation problems. learn from my mistakes. And let me remind you that this was 1985.
And your rating keeps going up. Chess engines didn’t exist, which means that I had to find my mis-
But there are also times when nothing works and you hit a wall. takes all by myself.
You do the same things you did before, those same tasks that allowed Below are the moves for two games that I lost quite badly. I would
you to progress with great speed, but instead, you are stuck. You suggest that the reader first play through these games rather quickly
keep losing and, in most cases, you don’t know why. and try to answer one question: What is the common thread in both
That’s what happened to me in the mid-1980s. I was living in those games? (Hint: it’s actually several things.)

46 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 Self-Analysis INSTRUCTION

QUEEN’S GAMBIT, SEMI-SLAV both games Black never had the chance to 15. ... Nd7?
VARIATION (D44) castle and was busted with his king in the Instead of 15. ... Nd7, which I played in the
GM Konstantin Lerner center. The remainder of my observations game, Black should play 15. ... Nxa4! 16.
Gregory Kaidanov will be hard for reader to glean without some Nxa4 Qxf2+!! (a desperado!) 17. Kxf2 Bxb4
Moscow International-B, 1985 “inside information.” and the position is at least unclear. Modern
First of all, in both games I surprised my engines evaluate it as equal.
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. opponents in the opening. Lerner started to
Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. a4 Qb6 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. think after 10. … a6, and Tseshkovsky after 16. Qh4! b4? 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. Ne4 Bg7
Be2 Bb7 10. 0–0 a6 11. b3 cxb3 12. Qxb3 11. … Nd3. Before I started analyzing these 19. Rfd1 Bd5? 20. a5! Qb8 21. Qh5+ Ke7
Nd7 13. d5 cxd5 14. exd5 Nc5 15. Qb4 Nd7 games, I believed they followed a similar 22. Rxd5! exd5 23. Qxd5 Rc8 24. Rd1 Nf8
16. Qh4 b4 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. Ne4 Bg7 19. pattern: (a) my opponents experienced 25. Nd6 Ne6 26. Nd4, Black resigned.
Rfd1 Bd5 20. a5 Qb8 21. Qh5+ Ke7 22. difficulties in the opening due to my supe-
Rxd5 exd5 23. Qxd5 Rc8 24. Rd1 Nf8 25. rior preparation, (b) they tried to sacrifice
Nd6 Ne6 26. Nd4, Black resigned. material to mix things up, and (c) in those YOUTHFUL FOLLY
complications I made some mistakes (to be GM Vitaly Tseshkovsky
discovered via analysis) and lost. Gregory Kaidanov
RUY LOPEZ, OPEN VARIATION Hours of work spent on those games Moscow International-B, 1985
(C80) revealed that those evaluations were com-
GM Vitaly Tseshkovsky pletely wrong.
Gregory Kaidanov
Moscow International-B, 1985
FEELING GOOD...
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. GM Konstantin Lerner
0–0 Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 Gregory Kaidanov
9. Be3 Be7 10. Nbd2 Nc5 11. c3 Nd3 12. Moscow International-B, 1985
Qc2 Ndxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Bd4 f6 15.
Rfe1 Qd6 16. Rad1 Rd8 17. Bxe5 fxe5 18.
c4 Bg4 19. cxd5 Bxd1 20. Qxd1 c5 21. dxc6
e.p. g6 22. Qe2 Bf6 23. Nf3 Kf8 24. g4 e4
25. Qxe4 Kg7 26. g5 Bxb2 27. Qc2, Black
resigned. BLACK TO MOVE

So what is common to both those games? 11. ... Nd3

To begin, there are some obvious answers After a long think, my opponent sacrificed
that have nothing to do with chess, like “both the pawn. As I said above, I wasn’t worried.
were played the same year and in the same After all, he was going to lose a pawn any-
city” or “in both games Black was crushed way, so clearly this is a decision born of
before move 30,” and so forth. desperation.
One important commonality is that in WHITE TO MOVE
both games White sacrificed a pawn and, 12. Qc2 Ndxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Bd4 f6
later, an Exchange. OK, that’s kind of obvi- I felt quite good here. I have an extra pawn 15. Rfe1 Qd6
ous. Another point: in both games Black had and White lacks obvious compensation. Back in 1985, after many painstaking hours
a good position out of the opening. Also: in of analysis, I felt that this move was a seri-
15. Qb4 ous mistake.
A young Kaidanov (right) meets Mikhail Tal This move came as a surprise, but maybe Instead I thought I should have played
at the 1985 Moscow Blitz Championship. he wants to repeat? 15. ... Bf7! 16. Bxe5 fxe5 17. Rxe5 0–0, when
Black even has a slight edge. I remember
what relief I felt when I found this move,
because at that time I could not find ways
to make 15. ... Qd6 work.

16. Rad1 Rd8?

Modern engines point out that 16. ... 0–0
was still fine for Black. At the time I ana-
lyzed 17. Ne4 Qc6 (I saw during the game
that White would win after 17. ... dxe4 18.
Bxe5 Qxe5 19. Rxe4, and while the engine
thinks that 17. ... Qd7! is slightly better for
Black, I thought it was too scary in 1985 and
wanted to move away from the d-file.) 18.
Bxe5 fxe5 19. Ng5 Bxg5 20. Rxe5 and thought

[Link] JANUARY 2022 47

INSTRUCTION Self-Analysis

Ka
Kaidanov as seen on the October 2021 and
January 2009 Chess Life covers.
Ja

H
Home- and self-analysis let me come to
recognize serious weaknesses in my play:
re

1 I seriously overestimated the value

1.
of material. I knew that when I was at-
o
tacking, I was very good at finishing my
ta
opponent off. However, when my oppo-
o
nent was the one sacrificing material, I
n
sshrugged it off and called it “desperation.”
This brings us to the next point.
T

2 I tended to hugely overestimate my po-

2.
ssition. Despite the fact that was I playing
much stronger players and was in visible
m
ttrouble, I still thought that I was fine!

T
Those two observations alone allowed
me dramatically improve my play.
I kept working on chess, but while I
was analyzing grandmaster games or solv-
that
h White
hi wins
i his
hi materiali lb
back
k and
d should
h ld g6 23. Qxe5 when White wins. But it turns ing calculation puzzles, I was always aware
be better. Today the engine disagrees and out that Black can hold after 22. ... Kd7!!, that I had to question my judgments about
thinks position is equal. a stunning move that I missed both at the material and needed to make sure that I
board and in my home analysis. Today, of developed my sense for danger.
17. Bxe5 fxe5 18. c4 Bg4 19. cxd5 Bxd1 20. course, the computer points it out instantly! The point of this article: revelations like
Qxd1 c5 21. dxc6 e.p. g6? these could be more useful than many hours
Back then I felt this was forced in light of 21. 22. Qe2 Bf6 23. Nf3 Kf8 24. g4!! e4 25. spent analyzing (and memorizing) openings.
... Qxc6 (or, worse, 21. ... Qxd2? 22. Qh5+ g6 Qxe4 Kg7 26. g5 Bxb2 27. Qc2!, Black Does that mean that you should stop
23. Qxe5, as I gave in Informant 39) 22. Qh5+ resigned. studying openings? Well, it depends…

It Depends... IM Greg Shahade once quoted you as saying something along

the lines of “if you don’t understand an engine move, it doesn’t
exist for you.” What does that mean? Is it still true?
Yes, I still believe it. Here is a typical conversation with one of my
While specific improvement advice should always be tailored to the students:
individual, we were able to get some general insights from Gregory
Kaidanov about books, tactics trainers, and chess engines. ~ed. Student: “I was completely winning!”
Me: “Why do you think so?”
CHESS LIFE: What are your favorite chess books? Student: “Because the engine says I was!”
GM GREGORY KAIDANOV: Generally speaking, the ones that most Me: “And why is the engine’s move winning?”
helped me to improve were Mikhail Botvinnik’s One Hundred Selected Student: “I am not sure...”
Games and Mark Dvoretsky’s books, although I liked different books
at different times in my development. I would not recommend them I’ve seen it again and again: not only could you not find this move
today, at least not to everyone, because times have changed. There during the game, but even after the engine shows you this move,
are many other great books available today, and many other ways you still don’t understand why it is so good! If this is true, I think
to improve your chess game besides books. it’s important to refrain from using this move as an argument that
your position was winning. It’s only a win if you know how to win it!
Is there value in still knowing the classics? In the past, it was not very common for an amateur to find a
Only if you want to impress someone with your erudition. If your winning move in a grandmaster game years after it was played. Just
time for studying chess is limited, studying the games of modern imagine — the grandmasters spent a lot of time playing this game,
grandmasters should bring better practical results. then even more time analyzing it, and still they could not find this
move! Today, of course, things are different.
Are online tactics trainers good for honing your your tactical Using a chess engine is, obviously, a blessing. You have an abso-
skills? lute world champion at your beck and call, ready to tell you almost
Yes, absolutely! Just try to get to the level where problems will be everything about any position. But you need to learn how to use it
hard, but doable. properly so that you can get maximum benefit from it.

48 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 January 2022 PUZZLES

BY FM CARSTEN HANSEN Try first to solve the puzzle before reading the text at the bottom
of the page. If unsuccessful, play through the solution, but return
THIS MONTH’S PUZZLES ARE FROM ALL TAKEN FROM THE 2021 to the puzzle in 1-2 weeks to see if you can now solve it. That way
U.S. Championships that took place in St. Louis in October 2021. you gradually expand your tactical vision, and it will be more likely
The puzzles start from easy and gradually move toward being that you will spot tactics as they occur in your own games. Whatever
difficult. It is worth noting that “easy” is a relative term. If you are you do, do not use an engine to solve the puzzles. You will only cheat
new to the game, the easy ones can also represent a challenge. yourself out of improving your game.

TACTIC I. TACTIC II. TACTIC III.

WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE

TACTIC IV. TACTIC V. TACTIC VI.

BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE

TACTIC VII. TACTIC VIII. TACTIC IX.

PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE

Position 1: REMOVE THE DEFENDER Position 4: TEARING THE CAN APART Position 7: MOVE ORDER MATTERS
Position 2: COORDINATED ATTACK Position 5: MAKE ROOM FOR PENETRATION Position 8: TIE A BOW BEFORE STRIKING
Position 3: DISTRACT THE DEFENDERS Position 6: ATTACKERS AND DEFENDERS Position 9: WEAKNESSES FOR ATTACKERS

[Link] JANUARY 2022 49

SOLITAIRE CHESS Instruction

A Speedy Victory
Topalov’s Quick, Brutal Brilliancy.
BY BRUCE PANDOLFINI

S UPERFICIALLY, RAPID CHESS

games tend to be superficial.
Without ample time to analyze
fully, players are constrained
to move more intuitively. That
paper to cover the article, exposing White’s
next move only after trying to guess it. If
you guess correctly, give yourself the par
score. Sometimes points are also awarded
for second-best moves, and there may even
10. Nf3 Par Score 6
White mobilizes his kingside, aiming to castle
soon. You my accept full credit for 10. Bb3,
reducing the danger of tactics on the c-file.

doesn’t mean they don’t analyze at all. Of be bonus points — or deductions — for other 10. … e6
course, they do, and sometimes quite deep- moves and variations. Note that ** means Black will develop his king-bishop through
ly. But often good speed players don’t have that White’s move is on the next line.** the center. Also plausible was fianchettoing
to. Drawing upon opening knowledge, ef- it with 10. ... g6.**
ficiently sufficient calculation, and overall 6. cxd5 Par Score 6
natural feel, the best players are capable of White clarifies matters in the center, while 11. 0-0 Par Score 6
fashioning ingenious spontaneous attacks in accepting an isolated d-pawn. Accept full White is now ready for business. His king is
all kinds of quick play. Such is the case for credit for either 6. Nf3 or 6. c5. out of the center and he can proceed with
a rapid game played by GM Veselin Topalov aggressive plans.
against GM Jonathan Speelman (Black) at 6. … Nxd5
Moscow in 1995. Moving on the spirit of the Naturally, Black takes back. The isolated 11. … Bd6
initiative, White rides a string of aggressive pawn gives White more space and oppor- This is an active placement, but also reason-
moves into a sudden mating attack. The tunities for attack. Black hopes to restrain able were both 11. ... Be7 and 11. ... Bd7.**
opening began as a Caro-Kann Defense: the isolani and mount pressure against it as
the game goes on. It doesn’t go on long.** 12. Re1 Par Score 6
Topalov takes the half-open file, a natural
CARO-KANN DEFENSE (B13) 7. Bc4 Par Score 6 and good move under speedier conditions...
GM Veselin Topalov This develops with a threat, but Black has and under slower ones.
GM Jonathan Speelman easy enough responses. Accept full credit
Intel Grand Prix (Rapid), Moscow, 1995 for 7. Nf3. 12. … a6
A functional move, stopping a possible check
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. 7. … Nxc3 on b5, and also supporting a subsequent
Nc3 h6 Black saves time, while giving White the hang- ... b7-b5.**
ing pawns (the c3/d4 complex). He also could
have played either 7. ... e6 or 7. ... Nb6.** 13. a4 Par Score 6
White stops 13. ... b5, while giving his bish-
8. bxc3 Par Score 5 op a convenient retreat square at a2. Such a
withdrawal would enable the light-squared
8. … Qc7 bishop to remain on the a2-g8 diagonal.
Black’s skewering attack limits White’s rea-
sonable responses.** 13. … Na5
Black goes after the bishop, but it’s a two-sid-
9. Qd3 Par Score 6 ed place for the knight. It positions the knight
Accept full credit for 9. Qb3. It deals with to shift to the c4-square, but it gives up imme-
the threats while building his own game. diate influence over the central e5-square.**

Now ensure that the position above is set up 9. … Nc6 14. Ba2 Par Score 6
on your chessboard. As you play through the Speelman develops usefully. He still must The expected transfer. White’s bishop con-
remaining moves in this game, use a piece of muster his kingside.** tinues to be a menace along a key diagonal.

50 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 ABCS OF CHESS PROBLEM 1
Mating net
PROBLEM 2
Mating net
PROBLEM 3
Mating net
THESE PROBLEMS ARE ALL
related to key positions in
this month’s game. In each case,
Black is to move. the answers
can be found in Solutions on
page 59.

JANUARY EXERCISE:
Big time sports have
changed, and so has chess.
These days, important decisions
are made in sports by consult-
PROBLEM 4 PROBLEM 5 PROBLEM 6
ing statistics. The same kinds of Mating net Mating net Mating net
numerical truths can come from
assessing chess stats. Make data
entries for all your games —
openings, game lengths, types
of errors. Then calculate the
percentages of this and that.
Once these numbers have been
determined, you can start to see
certain realities about your play.

14. … Bd7 18. Rxe5 Par Score 6 22. Bf4 is crushing.**

Black eyes the a4-pawn, with the idea of ... This is the more promising way to recap-
Ra8-c8 to follow.** ture. White keeps open the e-file, as the 21. e7+ Par Score 7
rook remains poised for tactical operations. Black’s position falls apart. After 21. ... Ke8
15. Ne5 Par Score 6 (or 21. ... Kxe7 22. Qxg7+) 22. Qg6+ Kxe7 23.
Now that Black’s influence over the e5- 18. … Kf8 Qxg7+ wins. If 23. ... Ke8 (or 23. ... Kd8 24.
square is lessened, the white knight assumes The g-pawn had to be defended. Both ... Qf6+), then 24. Qf7+ Kd8 25. Qf6+ Ke8 26.
this imperious perch. g7-g6 and ... g7-g5 were thinkable, though Bf7+ Kf8 27. Bg6+ Kg8 28. Qf7 mate (1 bonus
either advance could be severely destabiliz- point). If instead 23. ... Kd6, then 24. Qf6+
15. … Rc8 ing to Black’s kingside.** Be6 (or 24. ... Kc5 25. Be3 mate) 25. Qxe6+ Kc5
Black follows through on the anticipated 26. Be3 mate (1 bonus point). Accordingly...
scheme, but with the white knight on e5, 19. d5 Par Score 7
he cannot yet play ... Na5-c4.** White pushes caution to the wind, risking 21. … Black resigned.
the acceptance of weaknesses to open lines
16. Bd2 Par Score 6 leading to the enemy king. The threats are
White develops the bishop and strengthens mounting.
his c3-weakness. He’s set to pursue more TOTAL YOUR SCORE
dynamic potentialities. 19. … f6 TO DETERMINE
Black envisions forcing a queen trade, which YOUR APPROXIMATE
16. … b6 generally is what one should consider doing RATING BELOW:
An indifferent move. Better was castling. when under attack. But here, the advance Total Score Approx. Rating
Add 1 bonus point if you planned to answer 19. ... f7-f6 is a bit impairing to Black’s pawn
16. ... Bxa4 by either 17. Bxe6 or 17. Nxf7.** structure. More optimistic was 19. ... Nc4.**
95+ 2400+
81-9 2200-2399
17. Qg3 Par Score 7 20. dxe6 Par Score 8 66-80 2000-2199
White shifts his attack directly to the king- It’s now or never. White lets his rook go to
side. Obviously, Black can’t play 17. ... 0-0 bring home a winning attack. It’s there, as 51-65 1800-1999
because of 18. Bxh6. we shall soon see. 36-50 1600-1799
21-35 1400-1599
17. … Bxe5 20. … fxe5
Speelman opts to eliminate the dangerous As my teacher often said to me, a dying 06-20 1200-1399
white knight before dealing with the threat man can eat anything. On 20. ... Qxe5, add 0-05 under 1200
to the g7-square.** 1 bonus point if you saw that 21. exd7 Rd8

[Link] JANUARY 2022 51

BOOKS AND BEYOND Should I Buy It?

Reading Rakhmanov
Deep thoughts about opening preparation from an underrated
Russian Grandmaster.
BY IM JOHN WATSON

C HESS OPENING PREPA-

ration has undergone a
dramatic change over
the past decade, both
at tournaments and in
the board, then I will do
so without hesitation. I
like to control the course
of actions; therefore, I
would prefer to play with
w
between them. In the past, more ex- tthe initiative without a
perienced and higher-rated players pawn than vice-versa. In
p
tended to gain a substantial advantage general, giving the oppo-
g
in the opening, but today the average nent dynamics is a bad
n
tournament includes many player iidea. In most cases, my
— especially young ones — who are game is built on pawn
g
using online sites such as Chessable and sstructures. I adore posi-
Modern Chess, combined with massive tions with weaknesses,
ti
databases, to memorize large swaths doubled pawns, and a bet-
d
of opening theory on a level compa- ter arrangement of piec-
te
rable to masters and even grandmas- es. I prefer to play short
e
ters. This leads to the odd situation opening variations with a
op
at tournaments at which, even if the fixed pawn structure and
fix
pairings go up an hour before the positions with an open
p
game, the savvy competitor has time center.” (pg. 8)
ce
to ascertain the opponent’s favorite
openings and quickly verify what You will see these preferenc-
Yo
the currently recommended lines es reflected in a repertoire
on Chessable and other sites are. It’s that emphasizes solidity and
th
a new world. generally avoids dynamism,
ge
It’s clear that opening books as I’ll outline later. But against
need to adapt to the times if they lower players (especially re-
low
are to remain relevant. Fortunately, flected in his youthful games)
fle
specialized repertoire books about he often plays somewhat more
a single opening can provide the riskily, but within the context
ris
reader with a variety of options off ttruly non-theoretical lines.
and still be able to offer consider- For example, he has consis-
ably more explanation, ideas, analysiss than off analysis on variations that provide the tently employed the Rubinstein
ten
website products. But general repertoire reader with a loose repertoire versus all Variation of the Sicilian Defense (generally
books that try to cover a lot of ground are important options. called the “Nimzovich” Variation in the
particularly vulnerable to the latest new A 2650 grandmaster (peak rating 2676 with West), 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 , allowing the
move being readily available a click away. 2700+ Rapid and Blitz ratings), Rakhmanov critical 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3.
GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov’s Rakhmanov’s describes himself as follows:
Secrets of Opening Preparation offers a unique (see diagram top of next page)
approach that should make it appealing to “I play simple positional chess and
those intimidated by the flood of theory. like to play the endgame. I don’t look This has long been considered better for
The book is an entertaining games collec- for complications for the sake of com- White, but Rakhmakov’s opponents have
tion, to be sure, but with a huge emphasis plications, but if the position requires either not studied the theory, or are oth-
on the opening, including separate sections sacrifices based on the situation on erwise put off their game. In my database,

52 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 theoretical importance, so there’s plenty of depth analysis.
material for the active tournament player. Against the Grünfeld, Rakhmanov plays a
Versus 1. e4, he has a lifetime of playing variety of underrated systems. One I found
the Petroff, but several different variations, fascinating is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4.
saying, “My openings are not that common. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Qa4+. His analysis
Even in the Petroff, I choose my own options provides a basis for a repertoire based upon
most of the time.” Against 1. d4, he has this move.
played the solid and recently fashionable 1. Rakhmanov has played a variety of sys-
d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 (or 3. Nf3) 3. ... a6 for tems against the Nimzo-Indian but mostly
many years and been a major contributor stuck with 4. e3. He gives his early favorite
to its theory. Alternatively, there’s 1. d4 Nf6 4. ... 0-0 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nge2 considerable
2. c4 d6 as “a sideline to beat lower-rated attention, but he has the most games and
opponents.” analysis in the now-popular 4. e3 0-0 5. Nf3
remarkably, he has scored 19 wins with six Rakhmanov devotes a lot of analysis in d5 6. Bd2 variation.
losses and 14 draws after 2. … Nf6, with an the book into his openings as White. He Apart from the games and analysis, Ra-
over 100-point performance rating lead. plays 1. d4, 1. c4 (see above) and 1. Nf3, khmanov gives a lot of general advice. He
He has a 2561 performance rating after the often transposing into 1. d4 systems. There has a section on common mistakes in the
critical 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 Nxc3, only 10 points are many tips and ideas for White in the opening and discusses the nuances of prepa-
below White’s performance rating for those English Opening and also after 1. Nf3, but ration at some length, including how it
games; several of these were played against for reasons of space, let me point out just a succeeds and when it goes horribly wrong.
2600+ opponents in the past few years (i.e., few of his 1. d4 choices. He describes how to look for weaknesses in
the opening had no surprise value). Against the Slav, he has used several sys- your opponent’s repertoire and takes into
Impressively, Rakhmanov uses the close- tems (such as 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. account factors like age and experience,
ly related system 1. c4 e5 2. Nf3 as White g3), but always specialized in the Exchange playing style, frequency of participation in
against even the strongest opponents. Variation 3. cxd5 cxd5. “I think it’s good to tournaments, and even their country, since
know and play all possible options in the players from, say, India or Armenia tend to
Exchange Variation,” he says. “I use both play very differently and follow different
systems: 4. Bf4 and 4. Nf3 with 5. Nc3. It opening fads. He even provides his specific
is difficult for opponents to prepare, be- approach to preparation for a forthcoming
cause from time to time, I play other lines game in the Introduction, and the concrete
against the Slav. So I manage to catch them details can easily be replicated by the reader.
off guard. But even when I did play the Ex- The games mostly go through the year
change Variation, my opponents still didn’t 2019, and the last chapter shows 10 games
manage to prepare well.” A 34-page section from 2020, played in a six-month period
is devoted to games and dense analysis of after he had finished the book and wanted
3. cxd5. to use the analysis he prepared for it. It’s
Versus the King’s Indian, Rakhmanov a nice touch, since it shows what kinds of
used to play orthodox lines, but recent- problems and surprises he ran into, and
I spent five pages of dense analysis on this ly has used 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 how his very strong opponents either rose
move in my Mastering the Chess Openings, 4. e4 d6 5. h3 with the modern twist that to the occasion or, in a few cases, collapsed
Volume 3, and got flak for wasting so much the space-grabbing g2-g4 and other pawn because they weren’t well enough prepared
space on an “inferior” line. As far as I know, moves come early at the expense of devel- for the variations.
no other book or article devotes more than opment, as in 5. … 0-0 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Na6 This is an extremely original contribution
a brief analysis to it. 8. g4 Nc5 9. f3 to the literature and I hope it is indicative of
But over many years, in spite of common how books about openings can remain rele-
knowledge that he plays it, Rakhmanov has vant in a time where seemingly everything
scored 16-9-2 with a 2700+ performance can be learned by clicks and keystrokes. A
rating after 2. Nf3, with a 300+ performance fine effort by a strong player and author
rating advantage over his opponents (one from whom I hope we’ll be hearing more.
of them a game versus Carlsen in which he
stood better and Black only just escaped with Rakhmanov, Aleksandr. Rakhmanov’s Secrets
a draw). This includes a 12-5-0 record and of Opening Preparation. Thinkers Publishing,
2868 performance rating in what is consid- 2021. ISBN-13: 978-9464201277, 359 pages.
ered the main line for Black: 2. … e4 3. Nd4 (Available from [Link], product code
Nc6 4. e3. There’s a real case demonstrated B0103TH. $39.95.)
here for having a portion of your repertoire
in less respectable variations. As another For more from IM John Watson,
option “to play for a win against players I’ve played 5. h3 and 5. Nf3 0-0 6. h3 for check out our Chess Life Digital
below 2500,” he uses 1. e4 d5. decades and never considered this radical Archive: [Link]/chess-
For the most part, however, Rakhmanov approach, which has suddenly become a life-digital-archives
plays safer mainstream openings of current standard treatment. Rakhmanov offers in-

[Link] JANUARY 2022 53

 The Executive Board authorizes a temporary change in the US Chess Grand Prix (GP) rules for the period March 4, 2020 through January 31, 2022 out of concern for the unforeseeable impacts
the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) could have on participation in GP events. The change allows organizers with guaranteed prize funds to change the status of their prize fund without first seeking US
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tournaments that already have been advertised in Chess Life. For any GP events being publicly advertised (whether by TLA, another website, flyers, emails, social media, etc.), organizers shall take
all necessary steps to ensure their revised pre-tournament announcements call attention to this change in prize fund status and provide the appropriate “Projected based on XXX players” in the
language of their updated publicity. US Chess asks that the chess community support this temporary change in the spirit that it is intended. The Executive Board shall revisit this matter as necessary.

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The Grand Prix continues in 2022. Look for 2021 stand-
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54 JANUARY 2022Q[Link]
 See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing January 1-14 TOURNAMENT LIFE

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AMERICAN CLASSIC • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED TLA ID: 32066 every other Saturday from September through June
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX MAY 26-30, 2022 & 12+ annual 1-day or multi-day open tournaments
16th annual Philadelphia Open FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022 31st annual Chicago Open (IL) for adults & K-12 players on weekends. See www.
JUNE 24-26, 2022, PENNSYLVANIA See Grand Prix or [Link]. [Link] for tournament announcements, reg-
2022 U.S. Amateur Team istration for tournaments, updated wallcharts, live
Event site: Philadelphia Sheraton Downtown Address: Championship - South (FL) standings, signup for K-12 & open e-newsletters, lists
201 North 17th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Overall prize JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022
See National Events or [Link]. of coaches & clubs, camp announcements, & news.
fund: $15,000 GP Points: 100 FIDE Rated: Yes Handi- 50th annual World Open (PA) K-12 MD players who compete in the Varsity section
cap accessible: Yes Residency restriction: No Organiz- See Grand Prix or [Link].
er: Continental Chess Association Affiliate: Continental FEBRUARY 26, 2022 (for players rated 1600+) of 1 of 8+ annual MD-Sweet-16
Chess Association Email: director@[Link] Phone: Tom Nard Memorial VIII Qualifiers can qualify for the $48,000+ scholarship to
the University of Maryland, Baltimore County awarded
3472012269 leave message including email address Event site: Evangel Church Address: 3975 Vaughn
Rd, Montgomery, AL 36106 Overall prize fund: $1,250
GEORGIA annually. UMBC is a perennial top-10 contender for the
Website: [Link] TLA ID: 32123
b/12; 70% gtd. GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: No Handi- JANUARY 7-9, 2022 collegiate national chess championship.
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR cap accessible: Yes Residency restriction: No Organ- 7th Annual Gulf Coast New Year’s
GRAND PRIX izer: Doug Strout Affiliate: Evangel Chess Club Email: JANUARY 8-9, 2022
evangelchess@[Link] Phone: 3343963491 Web- Open (FL)
15th annual Philadelphia site: [Link] See Grand Prix or [Link]. Dewey Beach Open (DE)
International See Grand Prix.
TLA ID: 32067
JUNE 24-28, 2022, PENNSYLVANIA FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022
Event site: Philadelphia Sheraton Downtown Address: 2022 U.S. Amateur Team JANUARY 14-17, 2022
MARCH 17-19, 2022
201 North 17th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Overall prize
19th annual Southern Class Championship - South (FL) 54th annual Liberty Bell Open (PA)
fund: $22,000 GP Points: 200 FIDE Rated: Yes Handi- See National Events or [Link]. See Grand Prix or [Link].
cap accessible: Yes Residency restriction: No Organ- Championships (FL)
izer: Continental Chess Association Affiliate: Continen- See Grand Prix or [Link]. MARCH 17-19, 2022 FEBRUARY 25-27, 2022
tal Chess Association Email: director@[Link] Phone:
3472012269 leave message including email address 19th annual Southern Class 7th annual George Washington
Website: [Link] TLA ID: 32121 ARIZONA Championships (FL) Open  (VA) - CANCELED
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix or [Link].
REGIONAL • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX JANUARY 14-17, 2022
World Open Amateur 13th annual Golden State Open JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022 JUNE 24-26, 2022
JUNE 27-29, 2022, PENNSYLVANIA (CA-N) 50th annual World Open (PA) 16th annual Philadelphia Open (PA)
Event site: Philadelphia Sheraton Downtown Ad- See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix or [Link].

[Link]QJANUARY 2022 55
 Chess Association Email: director@[Link] Phone: JANUARY 28-30, 2022
For complete details on individual events, please visit 3472012269, leave message including email address 59th Annual Baltimore Open (MD)
Website: [Link] TLA ID: 31491 See Grand Prix.
[Link]/node/[TLA ID]. You will find the event’s unique
five-digit TLA ID at the end of each TLA. MAY 26-30, 2022 FEBRUARY 25-27, 2022
31st annual Chicago Open (IL) 7th annual George Washington
See Grand Prix or [Link].
JUNE 24-28, 2022 JANUARY 28-30, 2022 Open  (VA) - CANCELED
See Grand Prix or [Link].
15th annual Philadelphia 59th Annual Baltimore Open (MD) JUNE 24-26, 2022
International (PA) See Grand Prix. 16th annual Philadelphia Open (PA) MAY 26-30, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix or [Link].
FEBRUARY 19-21, 2022 31st annual Chicago Open (IL)
JUNE 24-28, 2022 See Grand Prix or [Link].
JUNE 27-29, 2022 World Amateur Team & U.S. Team
World Open Amateur (PA) East (NJ) 15th annual Philadelphia JUNE 24-26, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See National Events. International (PA)
See Grand Prix or [Link]. 16th annual Philadelphia Open (PA)
JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022 FEBRUARY 27, 2022 See Grand Prix or [Link].
50th annual World Open (PA) New Jersey Junior High JUNE 27-29, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. Championship World Open Amateur (PA) JUNE 24-28, 2022
Event site: Brookdale College Address: 765 Newman See Grand Prix or [Link]. 15th annual Philadelphia
Springs Rd., Lincroft, NJ 07738 Overall prize fund: International (PA)
MASSACHUSETTS n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: No Handicap acces- JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022 See Grand Prix or [Link].
sible: No Residency restriction: No Organizer: Hal
MARCH 12-13, 2022
Sprechman Affiliate: New Jersey State Chess Fed- 50th annual World Open (PA)
54th annual New York State eration Email: halsprechman@[Link] Phone: See Grand Prix or [Link]. JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022
Scholastic Championships (out of 7322593881 Website: n/a TLA ID: 31742 50th annual World Open (PA)
state welcome)(NY) NORTH CAROLINA See Grand Prix or [Link].
See Grand Prix or [Link]. FEBRUARY 27, 2022
FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022
New Jersey Elementary SOUTH CAROLINA
JUNE 24-26, 2022 Championship Land of the Sky XXXIV (NC)
See Grand Prix.
16th annual Philadelphia Open (PA) Event site: Brookdale College Address: 765 Newman FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. Springs Rd., Lincroft, NJ 07738 Overall prize fund:
n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: No Handicap acces- FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022 2022 U.S. Amateur Team
JUNE 24-28, 2022 sible: No Residency restriction: No Organizer: Hal 2022 U.S. Amateur Team Championship - South (FL)
Sprechman Affiliate: New Jersey State Chess Fed- Championship - South (FL) See National Events or [Link].
15th annual Philadelphia eration Email: halsprechman@[Link] Phone: See National Events or [Link].
International (PA) 7322593881 Website: n/a TLA ID: 31758
See Grand Prix or [Link].
MAY 26-30, 2022 TENNESSEE
MARCH 12-13, 2022
JUNE 27-29, 2022 31st annual Chicago Open (IL) FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022
54th annual New York State See Grand Prix or [Link].
World Open Amateur (PA) Scholastic Championships (out of 2022 U.S. Amateur Team
See Grand Prix or [Link].
state welcome)(NY) JUNE 27-29, 2022 Championship - South (FL)
See National Events or [Link].
JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022 See Grand Prix or [Link]. World Open Amateur (PA)
See Grand Prix or [Link].
50th annual World Open (PA) MAY 26-30, 2022 MARCH 25-27, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. 26th annual Mid-America Open (MO)
31st annual Chicago Open (IL) OHIO
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix or [Link].
MICHIGAN MARCH 25-27, 2022
JUNE 24-26, 2022
MAY 26-30, 2022
16th annual Philadelphia Open (PA)
26th annual Mid-America Open (MO)
See Grand Prix or [Link].
TEXAS
31st annual Chicago Open (IL) See Grand Prix or [Link]. JANUARY 8-9, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link].
MAY 26-30, 2022 Dewey Beach Open (DE)
JUNE 24-28, 2022 31st annual Chicago Open (IL) See Grand Prix.
JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022
50th annual World Open (PA) 15th annual Philadelphia See Grand Prix or [Link].
See Grand Prix or [Link]. International (PA) FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link].
OKLAHOMA 2022 U.S. Amateur Team
MINNESOTA JUNE 27-29, 2022 FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022 Championship - South (FL)
See National Events or [Link].
MAY 26-30, 2022 World Open Amateur (PA) 2022 U.S. Amateur Team
See Grand Prix or [Link]. Championship - South (FL)
31st annual Chicago Open (IL) FEBRUARY 12, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Nationals or [Link].
JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022 Southwest Action
See Online Events or [Link].
50th annual World Open (PA) FEBRUARY 17-21, 2022
MISSISSIPPI See Grand Prix or [Link].
13th annual Southwest Class FEBRUARY 17-21, 2022
FEBRUARY 4-6, 2022 Championships (TX)
NEW YORK 13th annual Southwest Class
2022 U.S. Amateur Team See Grand Prix or [Link].
Championships (TX)
Championship - South (FL) JANUARY 7-9, 2022 See Grand Prix or [Link].
See National Events or [Link]. OREGON
7th Annual Gulf Coast New Year’s
Open (FL) MARCH 25-27, 2022
JANUARY 14-17, 15-17, OR 16-17, 2022
MISSOURI See Grand Prix or [Link]. 26th annual Mid-America Open (MO)
13th annual Golden State Open See Grand Prix or [Link].
MARCH 25-27, 2022 JANUARY 8-9, 2022 (CA-N)
26th annual Mid-America Open (MO) Dewey Beach Open (DE) See Grand Prix or [Link]. MAY 26-30, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix. 31st annual Chicago Open (IL)
MAY 26-30, 2022 JANUARY 14-17, 2022
PENNSYLVANIA See Grand Prix or [Link].

31st annual Chicago Open (IL) 54th annual Liberty Bell Open (PA) North Penn Chess Club JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. Main & Richardson - St. John’s UCC, 500 West Main
See Grand Prix or [Link].
St., Lansdale, PA 19446. See [Link] 50th annual World Open (PA)
[Link] for schedules & info or 215-699-8418 See Grand Prix or [Link].
JUNE 29-JULY 4, 2022 JANUARY 28-30 OR 29-30, 2022
50th annual World Open (PA) 59th Annual Baltimore Open (MD) JANUARY 7-9, 2022
See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix. 7th Annual Gulf Coast New Year’s
VERMONT
Open (FL) JANUARY 8-9, 2022
NEW JERSEY MARCH 12-13, 2022, NEW YORK See Grand Prix or [Link]. Dewey Beach Open (DE)
JANUARY 8-9, 2022
54th annual New York State See Grand Prix.
Scholastic Championships (out of JANUARY 8-9, 2022
Dewey Beach Open (DE) state welcome) Dewey Beach Open (DE)
See Grand Prix.
Event site: Courtyard by Marriott Address: 11 Excel- See Grand Prix. VIRGINIA
sior Ave, Saratoga Springs NY 12866 Overall prize
JANUARY 14-17, 2022 fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: No Handicap JANUARY 14-17, 2022 JANUARY 8-9, 2022
54th annual Liberty Bell Open (PA) accessible: Yes Residency restriction: No Organizer: 54th annual Liberty Bell Open (PA) Dewey Beach Open (DE)
See Grand Prix or [Link]. Continental Chess Association Affiliate: Continental See Grand Prix or [Link]. See Grand Prix.

56 JANUARY 2022Q[Link]
 See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing January 1-14 TOURNAMENT LIFE
JANUARY 14-17, 2022
54th annual Liberty Bell Open (PA)
See Grand Prix or [Link].
THANK YO U TO OUR
JANUARY 28-30, 2022
59th Annual Baltimore Open (MD) Membership Rates BENEFACTORS
See Grand Prix.
(U.S., CANADA, MEXICO)
FEBRUARY 25-27, 2022
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Open  (VA) - CANCELED
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Adult (ages 25-64) $45 $87 behind all our initiatives, and for making all
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JUNE 24-26, 2022 of our programs possible.
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JUNE 24-28, 2022 Family Plan 1* $87 N/A

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See Grand Prix or [Link]. Printed copies of Chess Life or Chess Life Kids
will be available as an add-on to any Adult, Senior,
JUNE 27-29, 2022 Young Adult, Youth, or Family Plan membership.
World Open Amateur (PA) Membership entitles you to purchase one or both
See Grand Prix or [Link]. magazines at the member rate, set at no more
than 105% of printing and mailing costs. For the
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your membership will you need to select the add-on
JANUARY 14-17, 2022 option to continue receiving your print magazine.
13th annual Golden State Open See [Link] for other membership cate-
(CA-N)
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gories. Dues are not refundable and may be changed
without notice.
For a full
f ll list
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MAY 26-30, 2022 **all children under age 19 living in a household
31st annual Chicago Open (IL) at the same address
See Grand Prix or [Link].

Continental Chess OTB Tournament Schedule

See [Link] for details & possible changes, or TLA for details
BOSTON CHESS CONGRESS, Jan 7-9 or 8-9, Hyatt OPEN AT FOXWOODS, April 13-17, 14-17 or 15-17,
Regency Boston Harbor, $12,000 guaranteed prizes. Easter weekend, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Connecticut.
LIBERTY BELL OPEN, Jan 14-17, 15-17 or 16-17, $75,000 projected prizes, $50,000 minimum. GM & IM
Martin Luther King weekend at Sonesta Philadelphia. 7 norms possible in 9 rd Open Section; others are 7 rds.
rounds, $20,000 projected prizes. EASTERN CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Apr 29-May
GOLDEN STATE OPEN, Jan 14-17, 15-17 or 16-17, 1 or Apr 30-May 1, Sturbridge, MA.
MLK weekend, Crowne Plaza Concord, 7 rounds, prizes CHICAGO OPEN, May 26-30, 27-30, 28-30 or 29-30,
$25,000 guaranteed. Memorial Day weekend, Westin North Shore Hotel.
SOUTHWEST CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Feb 17- $100,000 guaranteed prizes, GM & IM norms possible in
21, 18-21, 19-21 or 20-21, Presidents weekend at DFW 9 round Open, other sections 7 rounds.
Marriott South, Fort Worth, TX. Master Section 9 rds with CLEVELAND OPEN, June 10-12 or 11-12, Crowne
GM & IM norms possible, others 7 rounds, $32,000 Plaza Cleveland Airport.
guaranteed prizes. PHILADELPHIA OPEN, June 24-26 or 25-26. 5
GEORGE WASHINGTON OPEN, Feb 25-27 or 26- rounds, $15,000 guaranteed prizes.
27: CANCELED. PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL, June 24-28: 9
WESTERN CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS, March 4-6 or rounds, prizes $22,000, GM/IM norms possible.
5-6, Hilton Orange County Airport, Irvine, CA. $20,000 WORLD OPEN AMATEUR, June 27-29: 6 rounds for
guaranteed prizes. Under 2200/Unr; $5000 guaranteed.
NEW YORK STATE SCHOLASTICS, March 12-13 at WORLD OPEN, June 30-July 4, July 1-4, 2-4, or
Saratoga Springs. Out of state welcome. Over 1200 June 29-July 4, Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown.
players in 2019! World’s biggest open tournament! 9 rounds, $225,000
SOUTHERN CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS March 18-20 guaranteed prizes, GM & IM norms possible. Many side
or 19-20, Wyndham Orlando Resort. $17,000 events in addition to those above.
guaranteed prizes.
MID-AMERICA OPEN March 25-27 or 26-27, Clayton FOR OTHER OTB EVENTS and online events on
Plaza Hotel (Saint Louis). $20,000 guaranteed prizes. ICC: See [Link].

[Link]QJANUARY 2022 57
CLASSIFIEDS January

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Check out these US Chess Rated Events! • Visit us online at [Link]
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Name__________________________________________USCHESSID#___________________________Est.Rating__________Phone________________________

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58 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 January SOLUTIONS

game continuation. 35. ... Qxg6 36. Qe3 h4 37. Ne2 Rxd4 Nxd1 54. Rxd1 Rxh3 and Black is winning. 48. h4
Solutions Rf8 38. Ng1 Qd6 Game over! 39. Nxf3 Rxf3 40. Nxe4 This looks like a bad idea but White is out of good moves.
PAGE 11 CHESS TO ENJOY Rxe3 and White resigned. Cervantes – Sharevich, U.S. 48. ... Qc4 49. Rfd1 Ne5 50. hxg5 hxg5 51. Rd4 Qc3
PROBLEM 1. 35. ... Qe1 36. Qd3 Rd1! White resigns (37. Women’s Championship, 2021. TACTIC 5. 22. d5! A 52. Qg1 Nxg4 53. R1d2 Qc8 54. Qa1 Qh8+ 55. Kg1
Rxd1 Qxf2+ 38. Kh1 Qg1 mate). PROBLEM 2. 37. ... Re1+ brilliant stroke that rips Black’s position apart. 22. ... Qh2+ 56. Kf1 Rf3+ 57. Bxf3 Ne3+ 58. Ke1 Qg1+ 59.
38. Kh2 Rxg2+! 39. Rxg2 Nf3 mate. PROBLEM 3. The Bxd5 Or 22. ... cxd5 23. Nd4 Bd7 24. c6 Bxc6 25. Bxf5 Ke2 Qxa1 and Black resigned. Lenderman - Caruana,
knight checks are good but Black resigned when 18. Bb7 26. f4 Rc7 27. Bd3 and White has a large advantage U.S. Championship, 2021. TACTIC 9. 19. Qe4! Ne6
Rf7! threatened Rf7-h7 mate, e.g., 18. ... Qe3+ 19. Kh1 23. Nc3! Qa6 The alternatives are no better: 23. ... Qb3 20. Qh4 c4 21. Nbd2!! In the game, White played less
Rxf7 20. Nxf7+ Kg7 21. Qg6+ Kf8 22. Nxh6 and Ra1-f1(+) 24. Bc2 Qc4 25. b3 traps Black’s queen, while after 23. accurately: 21. Nc3? dxe5?? (Black immediately returns
to follow. PROBLEM 4. Fastest is 29. Bc1!, threatening ... Qa5 24. Nxd5 Qxd2 25. Bxd2 cxd5 26. Bxf5 Rxe1 27. the favor; with 21. ... Ng5! Black could have put up a
30. Nh6! Qxf3 31. Rg8+ and mate. PROBLEM 5. Black Rxe1 White is winning. 24. Nxd5 cxd5 25. Bxf5 Material defense) 22. Qxh6! Bc6 23. d5 cxb3 24. Ne4 Qd8 25.
played 29. ... Bxh3? based on 30. gxh3 Rxf1+ 31. Rxf1?? balance has been restored but White has the bishop pair, dxe6 and Black resigned as there was no good way of
Qxh3+. Both players overlooked 31. Kg2 R8f2+ 32. Bxf2 a guarded passed pawn, and the better coordinated preventing a knight landing on the g5-square, deciding
Rxf2+ 33. Kg1 Qxh3 34. Qxg3 and White wins. The right pieces. In other words, White has a winning position. The the game. Burke - Xiong, U.S. Championship, 2021. 21.
way is 29. ... Bf5! since 30. Qd2 Bxh3! works. PROBLEM eventual U.S. Women’s Champion expertly converts her ... Ng5 Now, this move has less of an effect because the
6. Take extra credit for 24. ... Rxf4! if you saw that 25. advantage. 25. ... Rcd8 26. Bd4 Be5 Or 26. ... Rxe1 27. d2-knight can replace the other knight on f3 when it
Kxf4 Qe4+ is good but 25. ... Ne5! and … Ne5-g6+ is faster Rxe1 Qc6 28. Qc3 with a decisive advantage for White. gets captured. None of Black’s alternatives would have
(26. Qxe5 Bh6+). If 25. Rxf4 Qe1+ 26. Rf2 f4+. 27. Bxe5 Rxe5 28. Rxe5 Nxe5 29. Qf4 Ng6 30. Qc7 Re8 saved him: (a) 21. ... Nxd4 22. Bxc4 Nxf3+ 23. Nxf3 dxe5
31. Qd6 31. c6! sends the pawn forward to its eventual 24. Rac1 Qd8 25. Qxh6 Qf6 26. Ng5 or (b) 21. ... cxb3 22.
PAGE 49 MAKE YOUR MOVE destination: the c8-square. 31. ... Qa4 32. Bc2 Qa5 33. Qxh6 Bc6 23. Ne4 Bxe4 24. Rxe4 Qd8 25. Rh4 or (c) 21.
TACTIC 1. 27. Rxe7+! Without this bishop, Black’s king Qxd5 Re1 34. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 35. Ka2 Nf8 36. Bb3 Qe7 ... d5 22. Bxc4 dxc4 23. Qxh6 followed by Nd2-e4 — in
is defenseless. 27. ... Kxe7 28. Qg5+! The most accurate 37. c6 Ne6 38. g6 Kf8 39. Qf5 Nc7 40. Qc8+ and Black all cases with a decisive advantage for White. 22. Qxh6
continuation. Note that 28. Qe3+?? Kd7 allows Black to resigned. Yip – Eswaran, U.S. Women’s Championship, Nxf3+ 23. Nxf3 cxb3 24. Ng5 Threatening both Ng5-e4
defend. White also gets an advantage after 28. Qe1+ Kf6 2021. TACTIC 6. 29. Nxg6! In the game, White played and Ng5-h7. 24. ... Be6 25. Nh7 with Nh7-f6+ to follow.
29. Bh4+ g5 30. Bxg5+ Kxg5 31. Qe7+ Kg6 32. Qd6+ Kg5 the careful but weaker 29. Kg2 Qg7 30. Qd2 Ba6 31.
33. Rg3+ Qg4 34. h3 Qxg3 35. Qxg3+, while after 28. Rb7+ a4 g5 32. Bc2 h5 33. Ng6 Rf6 34. Qxg5 and White had PAGE 51 ABCS OF CHESS
Rc7 29. Qg5+ Ke6 30. Rb6+ Rc6 31. Rb1 Qg4 32. Re1+ Kf7 a decisive advantage which eventually was converted in PROBLEM 1. Mating net: Black mates in one: 1. ... Bd6
33. Re7+ Kf8 34. Qe3 White should win. 28. ... Ke6 29. Zatonskih – Foisor, U.S. Women’s Championship, 2021. mate. PROBLEM 2. Mating net: Black mates in three: 1.
Re3+ Kd6 30. Qe7+ Kc6 31. Re6+ and facing mate in a 29. ... hxg6 30. Rxe6! Qf7 Or 30. ... Rf7 31. Qxg6+ Kf8 ... Bc2+ 2. Kc1 Bxb3+ 3. Kb1 Qc2 mate. PROBLEM 3.
few moves, Black resigned. Eswaran - Zatonskih, U.S. 32. Qh6+ Rg7 33. Qf6+ Qf7 34. Qd8+ with mate to follow. Mating net: Black mates in two: 1. ... Qf3+ 2. Ke1 Bc3
Women’s Championship, 2021. TACTIC 2. 34. ... Re2! 31. Rxg6+ Kh8 32. Qd2! White has a lethal attack. 32. mate. PROBLEM 4. Mating net: Black mates in two:
The obvious first move. 35. Rxe2 Rxe2 36. Qd1 Qh5! ... Rg8 33. Qh6+ Qh7 34. Rxg8+ and White is winning. 1. ... Re4+ 2. Kxe4 Qe5 mate. PROBLEM 5. Mating
Threatening mate on h2. 37. g4 Qxd5+ Oh yes, that was TACTIC 7. 24. axb5! In the game, White did not find net: Black mates in two: 1. ... Qe2+ 2. Kg1 Qe1 mate.
the second threat. White resigned. Cervantes - Paikidze, the best continuation. After 24. exf6? Rxf6 25. axb5 PROBLEM 6. Mating net: Black mates in two: 1. ...
U.S. Women’s Championship, 2021. TACTIC 3. 27. Qb1! cxb5 26. Qa3 Qd6 27. Nxg4 Qxa3 28. Rxa3 Bxg4 29. Qd1+ 2. Kb2 Nc4 mate (or 2. ... Qc2 mate).
White played 27. Bb5!? Rb8? (Black does not defend Rxe7+ Rd7 30. Rxd7+ Bxd7 Black had an advantage
accurately: the best was 27. ... cxd4 28. Qb1 Bd5 when and eventually won the game in Swiercz – Burke, U.S.
White is clearly better but Black is still alive) 28. Qb1! Championship, 2021. 24. ... axb5 Or 24. ... cxb5 25. Qa3 CHESS LIFE USPS # 102-840 (ISSN 0197-260X). Volume 77
c4 29. Bd7 Qa3 30. Qf5 Rf8 31. Bxe6 fxe6 32. Qxe6+ and Black cannot defend the a6–pawn, for instance, 25. No. 1. PRINTED IN THE USA. Chess Life, formerly Chess Life
Kh8 33. Rxf8+ Qxf8 34. Qxb6 and White was winning & Review, is published monthly by the United States Chess
... Kb8 26. Qxa6 Nc6 27. Bf5 Bxf5 28. Nexf5 fxe5 29. dxe5
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35. Qe5 Nxf4 and Black is winning. 33. f5 Nxe1 34. precise) 43. Rbb1 Kg7 44. Rb7+ Bf7 45. Qh2 Qc8 46. Rb3
Address all submissions to Chess Life, PO Box 3967, Cross-
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49. Kg1 Qd4 50. Qf2 Ke7 51. Rfd1 Rg3+ 52. Kf1 Nxf2 53.

[Link] JANUARY 2022 59

 KENT B. NELSON
2020 NEBRASKA STATE
CO-CHAMPION AND
ALL-AROUND MENSCH I came to identify
with Captain
Ahab in his

I
preoccupation
’VE PLAYED TOURNAMENT
chess for nearly 50 years. In that
with slaying
time, and despite many opportu- Moby Dick...”
nities, I’ve never managed to win
the Nebraska State Chess Championship.
While I came close from time to time, my
inability to actually win the state champion-
ship became an obsession. I came to identify
with Captain Ahab in his preoccupation
with slaying Moby Dick, his “white whale.”
Here in Nebraska, competitors for the
state championship qualify on the basis
of accumulated points in specific events. I
was one of the qualifiers in the 2019 cycle,
with the round-robin “Closed” set for spring
2020. And we know what happened then.
It was only in October 2021 that the Ne-
braska State Chess Association felt com-
fortable scheduling the 2020 championship
tournament. With a few weeks lead time, I
did my best to get ready, but I was also pre-
pared for another disappointment.
Going into the last round, I was in shared
second place with a score of 2½/4 points. Bb2 e4 10. Nd2 d5 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Rc1 ning attack. Play continued:
Only one person — my longtime friend and a6 13. Na4 Re8 14. e3 Nb6 15. Nxb6 Qxb6
fellow competitor John Linscott — was ahead 16. Rc3 Bg4 17. Qc2 Rac8 18. Rc1 h5 19. 23. Qd6 Bf3 24. Bf1 Ng4 25. Rc3 Be2
of me with three points, and he was paired Nb1 Rxc3 20. Nxc3 Qe6 21. Na4 Qf5 22. Here I couldn’t see any defense for him.
with Kirill Belaschenko, the other person Qc7 Black’s pieces start pouring in.
at 2½. This made me feel like my last game
was a must win if I was to have any chance 26. f4 exf3 e.p. 27. Bh3 f2+ 28. Kg2 f1=Q
of finally slaying that whale. mate.
My opponent, playing the white pieces, With a draw in the Linscott – Belaschenko
was Noah Polacek, the 2018 and 2019 Ne- game, the deed was finally done. After de-
braska high school champion. I’ve never cades of disappointment, I “got the whale
defeated Noah, so I knew I had my work by the tail” and tied for first in the Closed.
cut out for me. My tiebreaks were identical to Linscott’s, as
we both drew and beat the same players. It
would have been nice to win it outright, but
a shared title is a title all the same.
PHOTO: COURTESY MICHAEL MILLS

KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE With the monkey off my back, I’m look-
(E67) ing forward to trying to defend my title
Noah Polacek (1773) When Noah played 22. Qc7, I knew Noah next year!
Kent Nelson (1807) was intending Qc7-f4 to stymie my attack.
2020 Nebraska State Championship After considerable thought, I came up with You can read archival copies of
(5), 10.24.2021 MY BEST MOVE… “My Best Move” on [Link],
click on “Chess Life Magazine,”
1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nf3 0–0 22. ... Bh6! and then “Archives.”
5. c4 d6 6. 0–0 Nbd7 7. Nc3 c6 8. b3 e5 9. After playing 22. ... Bh6, I felt I had a win-

60 JANUARY 2022 [Link]

 The United States’ Largest
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Jesus de la Villa Nikolay Kalinichenko
͞/ůŽǀĞƚŚŝƐŬ͊/ŶŽƌĚĞƌƚŽŵĂƐƚĞƌĞŶĚŐĂŵĞ ͞WƌĂĐƟĐĞƚĂĐƟĐƐǁŚŝůĞůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐĂďŽƵƚǀĂƌŝŽƵƐŽƉĞŶŝŶŐƐ
ƉƌŝŶĐŝƉůĞƐLJŽƵǁŝůůŶĞĞĚƚŽƉƌĂĐƟĐĞƚŚĞŵ͘͟ ;ƚLJƉŝĐĂůƉŝĞĐĞͲƉůĂĐĞŵĞŶƚƐĂŶĚƉůĂŶƐͿĂŶĚŐĞŶĞƌĂů
NM Han Schut, [Link] ƉƌŝŶĐŝƉůĞƐƚŽŽ͘͟
͞dŚĞƉĞƌĨĞĐƚƐƵƉƉůĞŵĞŶƚƚŽĞůĂsŝůůĂ͛ƐŵĂŶƵĂů͘dŽ Paul Kane, The Caissa Kid
ŐĂŝŶƐƵĸĐŝĞŶƚŬŶŽǁůĞĚŐĞŽĨƚŚĞŽƌĞƟĐĂůĞŶĚŐĂŵĞƐ ͞dƌĂƉƐ͕ƚƌŝƉǁŝƌĞƐ͕ĨƵŶ͕ƐĐŚĂĚĞŶĨƌĞƵĚĞ͘&ŽƌĂŬŽĨ
LJŽƵƌĞĂůůLJŽŶůLJŶĞĞĚƚǁŽŬƐ͘͟ ƚŚŝƐƐŝnjĞƚŚĞƉƌŝĐĞŝƐǀĞƌLJĨƌŝĞŶĚůLJ͘͟
IM Herman Grooten, Schaaksite Johan Hut, Noord-Hollands Dagblad

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