Ehlvest leads crew in Atlantic

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Estonian-born GM Jaan Ehlvest won a speed playoff to claim bragging rights as six players tied for first at last week's highly successful Atlantic Open downtown.

A week after the U.S. Open in Los Angeles, an impressive turnout of some 380 players competed in the Continental Chess Association event, annually the strongest on Washington's summer calendar. Sixty-four players competed in the top section.

Ehlvest and fellow GMs Gennadi Zaitshik, Ildar Ibragimov and Alexander Stripunsky went 4-1, along with masters Norman Rogers (who drew Ehlvest in Round 1) and Marc Esserman to pace the Open section. Ibragimov set the early pace with three straight wins, only to fall to Zaitshik in Round 4. At 31/2-1/2 going into the final round, Polish GM Pawel Blehm had a chance to win the event outright but fell to Ehlvest in one of the tournament's most exciting encounters.

Expert Roland Yakobashvili may have been the weekend's big winner, taking the Under-2200 competition outright with a 41/2-1/2 score. Parker Zhao and Michael A. Damey tied for first in the 57-player Under-2000 competition, both at 41/2-1/2, while William J. Barrow and Htay Kyawe had the same score and the same result at the top of the Under-1800 section.

Lamont Rogers and unrated Samir Elbehiry matched perfect 5-0 scores in sharing first in the Under-1600 section, the weekend's biggest competition with 75 entries. In the Under-1400 section, Eugen Roemischer had the Atlantic's only other perfect result, edging Oliver Paredes and Michael Benz by a half-point.

The 41-player Under-1200 competition saw a three-way tie for first, with Daniel Huffman, Chris Bechis and Jefferson Apolonio finishing at 41/2-1/2. A big tip of the hat as always to tournament director Mike Atkins, who passed along the tournament cross-tables as well as a selection of games from the event.

Blehm deserves an enormous amount of credit for refusing to play it safe in the final round against Ehlvest. The players showed their aggressive intentions early on by going into one of the sharpest and most topical Sicilian Defense lines, with Ehlvest as Black grabbing the two bishops even as his king comes under tremendous sacrificial fire.

After 18. Rhe1 Nd3+ 19. Qxd3+ Qxf4+ 20. Nd2 Bc5, White may already have been looking longingly at the sacrifice on e6; but 21. Nxe6!? fxe6 22. Rxe6+ Kf7 23. Rde1 Rh8 24. Bf1 Rh2 does not appear to offer enough compensation, as the Black pieces cover the key invasion squares.

But two moves later, Blehm can't resist, and the battle is joined: 21. N4b3 Bb6 22. g5 Nd7 (see diagram) 23. Bxe6!? fxe6 24. Rxe6+ Kd8 25. Rxb6!. White is willing to play a full rook down to remove a critical defender, and Ehlvest's king must walk a tightrope.