V C IRGINIA HESS Newsletter The bimonthly publication of the Virginia Chess Federation 2015 - #3 V C IRGINIA HESS Newsletter 2015 - Issue #3 Editor: Circulation: Macon Shibut Ernie Schlich 8234 Citadel Place 1370 South Braden Crescent Vienna VA 22180 Norfolk VA 23502 [email protected] [email protected] k w r Virginia Chess is published six times per year by the Virginia Chess Federation. Membership benefits (dues: $10/yr adult; $5/yr junior under 18) include a subscription to Virginia Chess. Send material for publication to the editor. Send dues, address changes, etc to Circulation. The Virginia Chess Federation (VCF) is a non-profit organization for the use of its members. Dues for regular adult membership are $10/yr. Junior memberships are $5/ yr. President: Adam Chrisney, 6241 Windham Hill Run, Kingstowne VA 22315 [email protected] Membership Secretary: Ernie Schlich, 1370 South Braden Crescent, Norfolk VA 23502, membership@ vachess.org Treasurer Brennan Price, 1021 N Garfield St, Apt 432, Arlington VA 22201 [email protected] Scholastics Coordinator: Mike Hoffpauir, 405 Hounds Chase, Yorktown VA 23693, mhoffpauir@ aol.com Virginia/Maryland/DC Tournament Clearinghouse: Mike Atkins, [email protected] VCF Inc Directors: Mike Hoffpauir, Ernie Schlich, Michael Callaham, Andrew Rea, Adam Chrisney. otjnwlkqbhrp 2014 - #3 1 o t j n w l k q b h r p Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Championships The 2015 Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Championships drew 435 players to Monticello High School in Charlottesville over the weekend of March 14-15. State scholastic championship titles were awarded in five different age (grade) groups. The new champions are: Isaac Park (Kindergarten thru 3rd grad section); Aasa Dommalapati & Andrew Wang (co-champions tied for 1st in K-5 section); Evan Ling (K-8); Jennifer Yu, Taylor Brunotts, Vignesh Rajasekaran & Benjamin Lyons (co-champions in K-12, Yu also won Top Girl); and Quentin Moore (college). Twenty-six parents and friends of the scholastic players also scratched their competitive itch in a section just for them. Peter Abramenko finished 1st there. Other prizewinners in the K-3 group included Atmika Gorti (2nd place overall and Top Girl); Siddhaarth Balamuthaiya, Sergey Patsuk, David Li, Ronen Wilson, Rishabh Kumaran, Siddhant Nair, Andrew Rousseau, Pranav Konduru, Samarth Bhargav, Max Yan, Kingston Ho, Parth Jaiswal, Omkar Kovvali, Sriharsha Sambangi, Bryce Phillips, Abhinav Vonteru, Sathvik Redrouthu & Arnav Tamnash Gupta (4th place thru 20th place respectively); Arnav Bhat, Kyle Ding & Shaurya Bisht (1st, 2nd, & 3rd Under 800, respectively); Roland Foster, Jessica Chen & Aneesh Nagireddi (1-3 Under 600, respectively); Lane Downing, Shivam Suri & Carolyn Chen (1-3 Under 400, respectively); and Natalie Xie & Chance Nguyen (1-2 Unrated, respectively). Other K-5 prizewinners included Pranav Prem, Gideon Lohr, Jay Lalwani, Garrett Heller, Nithil Suresh, Varun Vonteru, Sudarshan Sriniaiyer, Kyle Phillips, Ted Tran, Geoffrey Davis, Ethan Zhou, Rick Sun, Nitin Kanuri, Franklin He, Akshay Kobla, Skyler Tunc, Srihan Kotnana, Prabhas Adivi, Daniel Zhou, Rahul Ponugoti, Akhil Morisetty, Mantra Vivek & Austin J Song (3rd thru 25th place, respectively— Mantra Vivek was also Top Girl); Kathleen Pham & Abhidyu Kumcha (1-2 U1000, respectively); Ranesh Mopuru, Tyler Burch & Aditya Vasantharao (1-3 U800, respectively); Shahzad Sohail, Jackson Kennedy & Zachary Rader (1-3 Under 600, respectively); and Brian Bogle & Ethan Bhatia (1-2 Unrated, respectively). Other prizewinners in K-8 included Ryan Xu, Andy Huang, Isaac Chiu, Nathan Lohr, Bryant Lohr, Vishal Kobla, Jason Morefield, Vivian Cao-Dao, Kevin Zhang, Tan Nguyen, Neha Pattanaik, Justin Paul, Camden Wiseman, Diego On the cover... A bird's eye view as a young warrior gets some coaching between rounds at the World Open played over July 4 weekend in Arlington. Photo by Sharon Gustafson. Continued on page 4 Newsletter 2 Virginia Chess o t j n w l k q b h r p 79th Annual Virginia Closed State Championship Blitz on Friday Evening, Sept 4th Main Tournament on Saturday - Monday, Sept 5-7 Westin Dulles Airport, 2520 Wasser Terrace, in Herndon, VA. Chess Rate is $89 (plus taxes) from Friday night Tournament Sept 4 through Monday night Sept. 7th. Same rate for 1-4 persons in the room. Reserve your room using the VCF Location Website at www.vachess.org, or call the hotel at (703) 793-3366. You must reserve your room by 5PM on Tuesday, August 4th to receive the Chess Rate. Ask for the "Chess Rate." Eligibility: Main Event is open to all Virginia residents, military stationed in Virginia, and students attending any Virginia school or college (must show student ID or other proof of Fall 2015 school enrollment). Friday Night Blitz is open to ANYONE, you do not have to be a Virginia Resident. Format: 6 Rounds using the Swiss-System format. There will be two event Schedules, see below. All 3 Sections will be USCF Rated. Who can The Main Event on Saturday - Monday has 3 Sections, with $3800 in Cash Prizes & Trophies based on 90 Play? players. Choose a section based on your playing strength and competitive desires: -- Championship: 1st-$650+Champion's Plaque; 2nd-$375; 3rd-$275; Top Expert and Top Class A, $125 each Event + Trophy Format? -- Amateur (Under 1800): 1st-$525+Champion's Plaque; 2nd-$325; 3rd-$200; Top Class C & Class D, $100 each + Trophy PRIZES?? -- Under-1200 & Unrated: 1st-$400+Trophy; 2nd-$200; 3rd-$100; Top Unrated-$75; Trophies to Top U-1000, U-800, and U600. Unrated winning a place prize is limited to $200. Friday Night BLITZ has 2 Sections, with $400 in Cash Prizes based on 30 total players -- Championship: Cash to 1st-3rd places based on number of players in the section -- Amateur (Under 1800): Cash to 1st-3rd places based on number of players in the section Both Sections will be USCF Rated Friday Night Blitz: On-site Registration closes at 6PM for Blitz, with Round 1 at 6:30PM sharp!! Time Control is Game-in-5 minutes (G/5), with no Time Delay The MAIN EVENT has two Schedule options: A Long Schedule and a Short Schedule. Long Schedule: Time Control is 30/90, SD/1, d5 (e.g. 30 moves in the first 90 minutes per player, then complete the game in 1 hour per player, with a 5-second time delay throughout). -- Sat: Rd 1 at 1PM; Rd 2 at 7PM. Sun: Rd 3 at 11AM; Rd 4 at 5PM. Mon: Rd 5 at 9:30AM, Rd 6 3:30PM. Tournament Short Schedule: Time Control is G/60, d5 (e.g. 60 minutes per player, with a 5-second time delay). Schedule -- Sat: Rd 1 at 5PM; Rd 2 at 8PM. On Sunday all Short Schedule players join the Long Schedule. "Re-Entry": A player who loses his/her Rd 1 game can "re-enter" the tournament by paying the $30 Re-Entry Fee. -- If you lose your Rd 1 game, you can re-enter the tournament in the Short Schedule, or you can re-enter the tournament by taking a 1/2-point bye in Rd 1 and playing in Rd 2 of the Long Schedule. -- If you re-enter into the Short Schedule, you will play a new Rd 1 game at 5PM. Your previous Rd 1 game only counts for "rating points." So if you lose in your "new" Round 1 game, you get 0 points for Round 1, and if you win you get a full point for Round 1. -- If you decide to Re-enter into Round 2 of the Long Schedule, you receive a 1/2-Point Bye for Rd 1 and then play Rd 2 with the Long Schedule at 7PM. Entry Fees & Deadlines: Main Event is $65 before Sept 1st; $80 starting Sept 1st and On-Site. Blitz is $25 before Sept 1st, $35 on Sept 1st and at the Tournament. Entry Fees -- On-Line Entry: Enter early using our On-line Registration option at www.vachess.org & -- On-site Entry: Enter at the Hotel on Saturday from 8AM - 12 Noon for the Long Schedule. Registration for the Tournament Short Schedule continues until 4PM. Registration -- By Mail: If you prefer to enter by mail, follow the instructions for payment and mailing on the Entry Form on the next page. Your Entry must be post-marked by Sept 1 to receive the Early Entry Fee. Entries post-marked AFTER Sept 1st will be assessed a $15 late fee. What to Please bring your Chess Set, Clock (delay capable), and your favorite score book. Bring Version 1.0, 11 July 2015 2015 - #3 3 o t j n w l k q b h r p Tournament Entry Form (use this form to enter by mail) You can enter on-line at www.vachess.org Last Name: _____________________ First Name: ______________ MI: ______ USCF Member: YES NO If Yes, write your USCF ID Here: ________________ Street Address: _________________________ Email: ____________________ _________________________ Phone: ____________________ City: ____________________, VA Zip: _________ Birth Date: _____________ Tournament Dates: Saturday-Monday, Sept 5-7, 2015. Entry Fee is $65 by mail, $80 at the door. Section you are entering (circle one): OPEN AMATEUR (U1800) Under-1200 Schedule you are playing (circle one): LONG (Rd 1 at 1PM) Short (Rd 1 at 5PM) Byes (up to 2): Rd ___, Rd ___ Mail your completed form to and Payment to: Mike Hoffpauir ATTN: VA Closed 405 Hounds Chase Yorktown, VA 23693-3356 Checks payable to “VCF” or “VA Chess” YOUR ENTRY MUST BE POST-MARKED BY TUESDAY SEPT 1st to receive the Early Entry Fee Entries post-marked after Sept 1st will be assessed a $15 late entry charge. If you have any questions, please contact Mike by email at [email protected], Or call me at 757-846-4805 Version 1.0, June 24, 2015 2017 US Open Set for Norfolk! The 2017 US Open Chess Championship will take place at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk, Va, from July 29 to August 6, 2017! This is the third US Open to be held in Virginia, the previous two being Fairfax 1976 and Alexandria 1996. The hotel rate will be $114 and complimentary self- parking will be provided for overnight guests (others $5 per day). Virginia Chess will provide additional information about the 2017 US Open as it becomes available! Newsletter 4 Virginia Chess o t j n w l k q b h r p Scholastic & Collegiate Vahmpionship, continued from page 1 Gutierrez, Saigautam Bonam, Trung Nguyen, Sam Schenk, Niraj Patel & Vedant Balu (2nd thru 20th place, respectively—Vivian Cao-Dao was also Top Girl); Yevgeny Dodzin & Andrew Song (1-2 U1400, respectively); Tarun Ravi, Ritvik Kumaran & Gautam Lalwani (1-3 U1200, respectively);, Justin Kreft, Nathan Moskowitz & Deepika Gunturu (1-3 U1000, respectively); Sidhardh Burre, Nicholas Yowell & John Ryan Sedovy (1-2 U800, respectively); and Virginia Peng & Bharath Vemuri (1-2 Unrated, respectively). Other prizewinners in K-12 included Brian Li, Sean Senft, Alvin Cao, Matthew Shih, Akshita Gorti, Abhinay Dommalapati, Jeevan Karamsetty, Vikas Rajasekaran, Justin Lohr, Isuru Attanagoda & Isaac Steincamp (5th thru 15th, respectively); Jeffrey Song & Sadhana Suri (1-2 U1400, respectively); Mark Tenzer & David Normansell (1-2 U1200, respectively); Nathaniel Davidson & Evan Lin (1-2 Unrated, respectively). Paul A Cordova finiahed 2nd in the College section, followed by Benjamin Vaughan. Andrew Williams was top U1400 and Brian Ammer top U1200. Among the Parents & Friends, Luan Nguyen finished 2nd and 3rd was a 5-way tie between Deodato Obregon, Brian Failon, Hrishikesh Karambelkar, Csaba Gabor & Manohar Viswanathan. In addition to the individual titles, schools that sent multiple entries to the event vied for team honors. Two Fairfax County elementary schools topped both the K-3 and K-5 section team standings: McNair and Greenbriar West. McNair won in the K-3 group, but the schools switched places atop the standings in the K-5! The K-8 team competition was won by Rocky Run Middle School, followed by Haycock Elementary. Thomas Jefferson High School, in Alexandria, won the K-12 team title, with Richmond’s Maggie Walker HS second. The University of Virginia was the only team in the College group. A blitz tournament was also held on the eve of the championships in two sections. Aasa Dommalapati & Siddhant Nair tied for 1st/2nd in the K-5 group, with Pranav Prem & Andrew Wang half a point behind tied for 3rd/4th. In K-12, Justin Paul won clear 1st place followed by Aditya Ponukumati. Isuru Attanagoda & Justin Lohr tied for 3rd/4th. 2015 - #3 5 o t j n w l k q b h r p Aasa Dommalapati - Pranav Prem French 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 e5 Nfd7 6 h4 h6 7 Bxe7 Qxe7 8 f4 a6 9 Nf3 c5 10 dxc5 Nxc5 11 Qd2 Nc6 12 O-O-O b5 13 Bd3 b4 14 Ne2 a5 15 Kb1 Ba6 16 Ned4 Nxd4 17 Nxd4 Bxd3 18 cxd3 b3 19 a3 Qb7 20 f5 Qb6 21 fxe6 Nxe6 22 Nf5 O-O -23 d-4 R-a7 -24 g-4 R-c7 2-5 Q-g2 / + + Tl+\ /+ T +oO \ / W +j+ O\ /O +oPh+ \ / + P +pP\ /Po+ + + \ / P + +q+\ /+k+r+ +r\ ________ 25…Rc2 26 Qxd5 Rd8 27 Nd6 Qb8 28 Rhf1 Rf8 29 Rxf7 Rxf7 30 Qxe6 Rf2 31 Nxf7 Rxf7 32 Rf1 Qb7 33 Qxf7+ Qxf7 34 Rxf7 Kxf7 35 d5 g5 36 hxg5 hxg5 37 Kc1 a4 38 Kd2 Ke7 39 Ke3 Kf7 40 Kd4 Ke7 41 d6+ Ke6 42 Ke4 1-0 Vishnu Pulavarthi - Zachary Anderson Sicilian 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 e6 4 d3 d5 5 exd5 exd5 6 Bb3 Nf6 7 Bf4 Qa5+ 8 Nbd2 Bg4 9 O-O Be7 10 Bg5 Rd8 11 Re1 O-O 12 c3 b5 13 c4 dxc4 14 dxc4 a6 15 h3 Bxf3 16 Qxf3 Rxd2 17 Bxd2 Qxd2 18 Qxc6 Re8 19 cxb5 axb5 20 Rf1 c4 21 Bd1 Qxb2 22 Bh5 Rd8 23 Rae1 Bb4 24 Qc7 Rf8 25 Rd1 Nxh5 26 Rd8 c3 27 Rxf8+ Bxf8 28 Qc8 c2 29 g4 Nf4 30 Re1 0-1 Maggie Luo - Krishan Perumal Sicilian 1 e4 c5 2 d3 e6 3 g3 Nc6 4 Bg2 Nf6 5 f4 d6 6 Nf3 Be7 7 O-O O-O 8 c3 b6 9 Qe2 Ba6 10 Rd1 Qc7 11 Nbd2 Rad8 12 Nf1 e5 13 Nh4 d5 14 fxe5 Nxe5 15 Bf4 Bd6 16 Nf5 g6 17 Nxd6 Qxd6 18 exd5 Rfe8 19 Re1 Bxd3 20 Qxd3 Nxd3 21 Rxe8+ Nxe8 22 Bxd6 Nxd6 23 b3 Nf5 24 Rd1 Ne5 25 Kf2 a5 26 Ne3 Nd6 27 g4 f6 28 Kg3 g5 29 Nf5 Nb5 30 c4 Nc3 31 Rd2 Ng6 32 Rc2 Nd1 33 Bf3 Ne3 1-0 (34 Nxe3) Newsletter 6 Virginia Chess o t j n w l k q b h r p Reflections Reflections Looking Back on an Amateur Chess “Career” by Mark Warriner are You readY For Me?! The last edition of this column featured some really bad chess on my part. In my defense, it was early in my “career” and I hadn’t put in much study effort. I figure it’s time to “gun the engine” and show that I was capable of some “decent” chess. Okay, perhaps that’s using the term liberally, but certainly not awful chess. It’s nice to have some decent prep/research and just play for gusto, not worrying about absolute precision, but overall soundness. No player is perfect; maintaining a level of consistency is paramount to success. The movie 2 Guns starring actors Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg features a loud and boisterous song called “Are You Ready For Me?” by the band The Unknown. It perfectly fits the mood when you just want to steamroll your opponent. So lock and load, gas up, and let’s take the fight to them! Sathish Nath - Mark Warriner 1988 George Mason University Open Grünfeld 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Nf3 c5 8 Bb5+ Nc6 [Kasparov and Karpov played several Gruenfelds in 1987. I have fond memories of playing over their World Championship games during lunch breaks at work, eating “Russian Reubens” from Dunderbachs. Sigh... My opponent walked right into some ideas with which I was already familiar, and interestingly this was a line I’d actually studied and prepared. It’s one of the few times I can say that most of it was already known and I only had to find a few moves over the board. My, the nervous energy this saves!] 9 d5 a6 10 dxc6 [And White makes the positional mistake. Either 10 Be2 or 10 Ba4 was necessary.] 10...Qxd1+ 11 Kxd1 axb5 12 Be3 [if 12 cxb7 Bxb7 Black’s bishops rule the board.] 12...bxc6 [12...Bxc3 was better, but this works also.] 13 Kc2 Ra3 14 Bd2? [14 e5 was necessary] 14...Bg4 15 Rhb1 [15 Ne1 may have been better.] 15...O-O 16 Rb3 Rfa8 [I had thought this strong and best but engines indicate retreating the a-rook is stronger.] 17 Kb2? [17 Rxa3 Rxa3 18 Ne1] 17...b4 [Even looking at it today this feels convincing, but again engines indicating retreating with 17... 2015 - #3 7 o t j n w l k q b h r p R3a4] 18 Ne1 [Too late as now 18....Rd8 would have been very strong. Instead, however…] 18...Be6? […giving up some of the advantage.] 19 Rxa3 Rxa3 20 Nd3 Bxc3+ [“Metal Friend” also likes 20...bxc3+ 21 Kxa3 cxd2 22 Rd1 c4 23 Rxd2 cxd3 24 Rxd3 B-e5 b-ut w-ou-ld yo-u g-o fo-r tha-t?!] 21 Bxc3 Rxc3 22 Ne5 / + + +l+\ /+ + Oo+o\ / +o+n+o+\ /+ O H + \ / O +p+ +\ /+ T + + \ /pK + PpP\ /R + + + \ ________ 22…Bc4? [Clank—the only really sour note in an otherwise good game. Had White now played 23 a4! Black would have work to do to hold.] 23 Nxc6? Bd3 24 a4 Rc2+ 25 Kb3 Rxf2 [There are several better alternatives—25...Bxe4; 25...Rc3+; or even 25...Kg7—but this still works.] 26 a5? [White needed to try 26 Rc1] 26...Bxe4 [26...Bc2+ 27 Kc4 b3 28 Kc3 Bxe4 poses bigger problems.] 27 Nxe7+ Kf8 28 Nc8 Rxg2 [28...Bc2+ 29 Kc4 Rf4+ 30 Kxc5 b3 31 Re1 b2 32 Nd6 Ra4 33 Nc4 b1Q] 29 a6 Rxh2 30 a7 Rh3+ 31 Kc4 Rc3+ 32 Kb5 Ra3 33 Rd1 b3 34 Rd8+ Kg7 35 Nb6 b2 36 a8Q Bxa8 0-1 Good enough for the win, but 36...b1Q+ was a quicker mate. Jaime Foote – Mark Warriner 11th US Correspondence Championship Preliminaries English 1 c4 e5 2 g3 d6 3 Bg2 f5 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 d3 g6 6 e4 c6 [Very punchy to say the least. I’d already established that I wasn’t afraid of uncharted waters with 2.... d6, 3....f4 and 4....Nf6, but this was really out there.] 7 Nge2 Bg7 8 O-O O-O 9 h3 [There’s really no need for this weakening at this point. Something like 9 exf5 or 9 Bg5 was fine.] 9...a5 [I really liked this move at the time, but our Metal Friend says “nay”, preferring 9....f4, at least after a few minutes “thought”.] 10 Be3 Kh8 [Again, I liked this but again MF says “nope” because now, it indicates, 11 Qd2 Na6 12 Rad1 White is for choice.] 11 Rb1 Na6 12 a3 Nh5 [I liked this move at the time too but these days I cringe a little, recalling “LPDO” (Loose Pieces Drop Off) from John Nunn’s excellent seCrets oF PraCtiCal Chess (ISBN 987-1-904600-70-1, Gambit, 2007). After 13 exf5 gxf5 and the knight wouldn’t be protected.] 13 f4 Qe7 14 Kh2 [Not sure what White was thinking as there were plenty of palatable alternatives that accomplished more.] 14...Nc5 15 fxe5 Newsletter 8 Virginia Chess o t j n w l k q b h r p 23rd David Zofchak Memorial Open Nov. 21-22, 2015 Norfolk, VA A Virginia Chess Federation & VCF Cup Event $1200 in prizes b/o 40 2 Sections 5 Round Swiss System Game/120 d5 Prizes: Open Section 1st $160 2nd $140 3rd $120 Top A $110 Top B $100 Under 1600 Section 1st $120 2nd $110 3rd $100 Top D/unr $90 Top E $80 U1000 $70 Site/Hotel: Sleep Inn Lake Wright 6280 Northampton Blvd, Norfolk, VA 23502 (757) 461-6251 Rooms $74 + tax w/free breakfast. Please Reserve by 11/10. The hotel is one block from the I-64 Northampton Blvd. exit. Entry Fee: $50 if received by 11/19, $60 thereafter. No credit cards: Cash or check only on site. Memberships: USCF [all] and VCF ($10 $5 jr.) for VA residents is required and can be purchased on site. Registration: Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Please be on time. Registration will close promptly at 9:30 and if late arrivals cannot be properly paired without delaying the start of the 1st round, they will have to take a 1st round 1/2 pt. bye. On-line registration, Advance entries, links to maps and additional information can be found at www.vachess.org Register and pay on-line at the VCF website Rounds: Saturday: Rd. 1 9:45 Rd. 2 2:00 Rd. 3 7:00 Sunday: Rd. 4 9:30 Rd. 5 2:45 Byes: A single half pt. bye is available & must be requested before the start of Rd.3. Byes for rounds 4 & 5 may not be removed after the start of Rd. 3. No Phone Entries Accepted. Info only. Call Ernie at (757) 362-6542 or e-mail [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- 23rd David Zofchak Memorial Nov. 21-22, 2015 EF $50 if received by 11/19 Request Bye for Rd.: ______ Name: Last First MI. Address: City: State: Zip: USCF ID: USCF Exp. Date: VCF Exp. Date: Phone: ( ) E-mail: Birthdate: mm / dd / yyyy Make Checks Payable To: Virginia Chess and Mail Entry To: ERNEST W. SCHLICH 1370 South Braden Crescent Norfolk, VA 23502