A fan’s season of plenty

It will be a bountiful holiday season for area chess fans, with two major events coming to Washington the last weekend of the year.

Advance entries are being taken for the 33rd annual Eastern Open, the traditional end-of-the-year tournament held at the Wyndham Washington hotel, 1400 M St. NW. The eight-round Swiss tournament typically attracts a nice complement of grandmasters and local stars, with a number of blitz and other side events on tap.

Details on the tournament are available at www.chessctr.org or by calling the U.S. Chess Center at 202/857-4922. The four-day tournament starts Dec. 27.

On the same dates and just a few blocks away, the 2006 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Championship, the “World Series of college chess,” will be held at the Renaissance Washington Hotel, 999 Ninth St. NW.

Local powerhouse the University of Maryland Baltimore County and archrival University of Texas at Dallas — the Ohio State and Michigan of the college chess world — figure to be in the mix again in the six-round team event.

The Pan-American also will hold a scholastic team event for elementary and secondary school players and teams, and the top scorer will receive a four-year scholarship to UMBC. There also will be exhibition matches and a closed Swiss tournament for coaches, students and fans of the teams.

Details on the Pan-American are available at www.umbc.edu/chess/Pan-Am2006 or by calling 410/455-2666.

We’ll have coverage of both events here early in the new year.

• • •

Keeping in the Pan-American spirit, we feature two games from recent team matches.

In an upset, the New York Knights last week eliminated the top-seeded Boston Blitz 3-1 in the semifinals of the U.S. Chess League. The Knights, anchored by UMBC alum GM Pascal Charbonneau, will take on the San Francisco Mechanics in the USCL finals Wednesday.

New York’s victory was powered by wins from IM Irina Krush over IM Igor Foygel on Board 2 and expert Matthew Herman’s upset of NM Ilya Krasik on Board 4. Krasik, playing Black in a Kan Sicilian, gets in the thematic freeing break 16…d5, but by that time White’s king-side attack already has built up overwhelming force.

With much of Black’s army cut off from his king, White pushes ahead energetically with 19. Kh1 Bb5?! (d4 20. Nd5 Qc5 21. Qg4 Qf8 puts up a tougher defense, though 22. Rf3 still leaves White in charge) 20. Qg4 Bh6 21. Rf3!, ignoring the central battle to get more pieces into the action.

On 23. exd5 Bd7 24. Rf1 (Ne4 Qxf5) e4!? (unsuccessfully trying to take the sting out of the coming knight move) 25. Nxe4 Qxb2 26. c3!, the queen is cut off from the defense as well, and Black’s cause may be hopeless already.

Herman removes all doubt with the precise 27. Qh4 (with the threat of 28. f6 Rg8 29. fxg7+ Bxg7 30. Ng5 h6 31. Nxf7+ Kh7 32. Be4+ Bf5 33. Bxf5 mate) Re8 28. f6! Rxe4 (desperation) 29. Bxe4! (Qxe4 was good enough for the win, but White has mate in mind) Qe2 30. fxg7+ Kg8 (Bxg7 31. Qxh7 mate).

White now deals with the double attack on his rook and bishop with the lethal 31. Bxh7+! Kxh7 32. g8=Q+! Rxg8 33. Rxf7+ Rg7 34. Rgxg7+ Kh8, and Krasik resigned before White could administer the coup de grace with 35. Qxh6 mate.

• • •

Another Sicilian, this time a Scheveningen, came to grief in a recent game taken from the current season of the Dutch Team Championships. The Dutch league can’t match the star power of Germany’s famous Bundesliga, but it does boast a number of top players, including Ukrainian super-GM Vassily Ivanchuk and local heroes such as Loek van Wely and Sergei Tiviakov.

Friso Nijboer, another fine Dutch GM, used a startling queen sacrifice in his win over FM Michael Hoffmann in a recent match. Once again, the classic Sicilian idea of a queen-side counterpunch falls short against a direct, brutal White king-side attack.

Like Herman, Nijboer ignores Black’s pathetic cries for attention on the other flank as he sets up his heavy pieces for checkmate. By 25. exf5 Qc2 26. Rg1, White already threatens 27. Nf6+! gxf6 (Kh8 28. Qxh7 mate) 28. Bxb7 Rxb7 29. gxf6+ Kh8 30. Qxh7+! Kxh7 31. Rh4+ Bh6 32. Rxh6 mate.

Best now for Black was 26…Kh8! (Qe2? 27. Nf6+! gxf6 28. Bxb7 Kh8 29. gxf6 Qxe3 30. Bd5 is strong for White), when it is Nijboer who has to be careful not to overshoot in lines like 27. g6 fxg6 28. fxg6 Qxg6! (h6? 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. Bxh6 Qxg6 31. Bxg7+ Kxg7 32. Be4 wins) 29. Be4? Qxe4+! 30. Rxe4 Bxd5 is winning for Black.

Hoffmann’s 26…Bxd5? 27. Bxd5 Re5 (see diagram) is brutally rebuffed by 28. Qxh7+!!, forcing instant resignation as 28…Kxh7 29. g6+ Kg8 (Kh6 30. Rh4 mate; 29…Kh8 30. Rh4+ Kg8 31. gxf7 mate) 30. Bxf7+ Kh8 31. Rh4 is checkmate.

New York vs. Boston, U.S. Chess League semifinals, November 2006

HermanKrasik

1. e4c518. gxf6Bxe3+

2. Nf3e619. Kh1Bb5

3. d4cxd420. Qg4Bh6

4. Nxd4a621. Rf3Qb6

5. Nc3Qc722. Rg3Qxf6

6. g3Bb423. exd5Bd7

7. Bd2Nc624. Rf1e4

8. a3Be725. Nxe4Qxb2

9. Be3Nf626. c3Kh8

10. f4d627. Qh4Re8

11. Bg2Bd728. f6Rxe4

12. 0-0Nxd429. Bxe4Qe2

13. Bxd4e530. fxg7+Kg8

14. Be30-031. Bxh7+Kxh7

15. f5Rfd832. g8=Q+Rxg8

16. g4d533. Rxf7+Rg7

17. g5Bc534. Rgxg7+Kh8

and Black resigns

Dutch Team Championships, Round 1, Netherlands, September 2006

NijboerHoffmann

1. e4c515. g4Bc8

2. Nf3d616. g5Nd7

3. d4Nf617. Bg2Na5

4. Nc3cxd418. Qf2Nxb3

5. Nxd4a619. cxb3Nc5

6. Be2e620. Rad1Nxb3

7. 0-0Be721. f5Bf8

8. f4Nc622. Qh4exf5

9. Be30-023. Nd5Qc4

10. a4Qc724. Rf4Bb7

11. Kh1Bd725. exf5Qc2

12. Nb3b626. Rg1Bxd5

13. Bf3Rfe827. Bxd5Re5

14. Qd2Rab828. Qxh7+Black

resigns

David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by e-mail at dsands@washington times.com.