A crucial win by George Li from yesterday's Barber Qualifier

George Li – Spencer Lehmann 
Illinois Chess Association Barber Qualifier, Round 4
Skokie, April 1, 2012 
Catalan Opening [E04] 

This interesting game does credit to both young players!

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 a6!? 

 White to move

5...a6 creates the possibility of holding the gambit pawn

A couple critical anti-Catalan lines begin with this move.

6.a4 c5! 

With a pawn on a4, White doesn't have Qa4+.

7.Qc2 

Karpov played 7.0–0 here.

7...cxd4 8.Qxc4 Nc6 

Black has gotten the better of the opening so far...

9.0–0 

Black to move

Can Black keep the extra pawn for good?

9...e5 

If Black can get away with this, White's in big trouble. I like Black after the modest 9...Be7.

10.Ng5! 

White finds a very cool variation: the next few moves are virtually forced for both sides.

10...Qc7! 11.Bxc6+! bxc6 

 White to play
As we learned from White's previous move, 
the Qc7 is overloaded protecting f7 and c6, so....

12.Nxf7! Qxf7 13.Qxc6+ Qd7 14.Qxa8

Winning a boatload of material.

 Black to play

How to develop?

14...Bc5 

14...Bd6!? takes the b8 square away from White's queen. Black has some compensation after 15.Bg5 0–0 16.Qg2.

15.Qb8 

Houdini points out 15.Nd2! 0–0 16.Ne4! (threatening Nxc5, attacking the Qd7) 16...Be7 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Qe4.

Some famous master (forgive me for forgetting who: maybe it was a go master!) argued that whenever you have a piece stuck in enemy territory, retreating isn't always the best option. Instead, look for ways to do something useful on another part of the board. The Qa8 is a problem for White (how to extricate?), but it is also a problem for Black (how to complete development with an enemy queen in the camp?).

15...Qe6 

As White's queen can't be trapped, this may be oversophisticated. (I think Spencer wanted to deny the b3 square to White, and it's nice to dream of mate on h2 after ...Qh3 and ... Ng4.

I prefer 15...0–0 16.Qb3+ Kh8:

White to play (analysis diagram)

Black is OK!

Black is down an Exchange and a pawn, but Black's position is OK. (For what it's worth, the computer tentatively agrees: Houdini even gives Black a slight edge at 17 ply.)

Why? 

1. Black is ahead in development. 
2. In many middlegames, a rook and two bishops are fully a match for two rooks and a bishop. 
3. White had to give up his best minor piece, the Bg2, to win the Exchange. The Bc8 is unopposed, and has the pleasant choice between ...Bb7 and a future ...Bh3. 
4. Black has an impressive pawn center. 
5. The f2 square is a potential target: the Rf8, Bc5, and Nf6 are all ready to hit that square. 

Having said all that, the position is perfectly OK for White, too!

16.Qc7! Be7 

16...Qh3?? 17.Qxc5 Ng4 18.Qxc8+ Kf7 19.Qb7+ followed by Qg2 crushes the dream.

17.Bg5 Nd5 18.Qc1 

White had to foresee this move.

18...Bb7 19.f3! 0–0 20.Bxe7 Qxe7 

There go the beloved two bishops! But the e3 square is rather weak....

21.Nd2 

 Black to play

A question of move order

21...Rc8 

The natural move should be 21...Ne3 (Euwe's rule of thumb: a knight on the sixth supported by a pawn is worth the Exchange.) 22.Rf2 Rc8 23.Qb1 Bd5 and it's not clear how White untangles.

22.Qb1 Qg5

If Black plays 22...Ne3 White can now reply 23.Rc1 : move order matters!

White to play

Time to move some furniture

23.Ne4! Qe3+ 24.Rf2 Rc6 25.Qe1 Rc2

White to play

As a general policy, what is the best defense?

26.Qa5! 


No fear!

26...Rc1+ 27.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 28.Rf1 Qe3+ 29.Nf2 

Black to play

Rearrangement almost complete: the rest is technique

29...Qg5 30.Qc5 Ne3 31.Rc1 Nf5 32.Qc4+ Kf8 33.Qb4+ Kg8 34.Qb3+ Kf8 35.Rc7 Nd6 36.Rxb7 Qc1+ 37.Kg2 Nc4 

Black understands that the piece-down ending is hopeless.

38.Rb8+ Ke7 39.Qb7+ Ke6 40.Re8+ Kf6 41.Ng4+ Kg6 42.Re6+ Kh5 43.Qf7+ g6 44.Qxh7+ Kg5 45.Qxg6# 1–0 
 

Illinois Youth Invitational Championships

Results are here!

Congratulations to the winners:

In the Illinois Chess Association Denker Qualifier (High School Invitational Championship), NM Sam Schmakel took clear first with a 4½-½ score, and wins the right to represent Illinois at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions.

In the ICA's Girls' Invitational Championship, Miranda Liu took first on tiebreaks over Penny Xu, each with an undefeated 4-1 score.  Miranda wins the right to represent Illinois in a national event.

In the ICA's Barber Qualifier (K-8 Invitational Championship), George Li took clear first with 4½-½ and wins the right to represent Illinois at the Barber K-8 Tournament of Champions.

Thanks to Sevan Muradian and the North Shore Chess Center for hosting and directing this event, to Warren Program director Pattie Zinski and the ICA Youth Committee members who organized this event for ICA (Brad and Andi Rosen were instrumental, I'm sure there were others), to Vince Hart for his absolutely amazing coverage on this blog (scroll to the many posts below for a treat), and to the players, coaches, and parents who helped make this happen.   Eight-year-old Shreya Mangalam deserves special mention for stepping in as a last-minute replacement, even though she was the youngest and lowest-rated player in the field.  Shreya's score does not reflect her excellent play!

I'll look at some of the games in detail as busy season allows.

Denker Round 5

Barber Round 5

Girls' Invitational Round 4

Youth Invitationals: Fifth Round

Pairings

Denker Qualifier


 Qazi v.  Moskwa 1-0
 Kogen v.  Schmakel  0-1
 Meduri  Dubin 0-1

Girls' Invitational 


Xu v. Padgett 1-0
Harihara v. Liu 0-1
Provine v. Mangalam 1-0

Barber Qualifier


Adve v. Li  1/2-1/2
Turner v. Sun 1/2-1/2
Lehmann v.  Kalgahtgi 0-1
Bronfeyn v. Hrach 1/2-1/2
Heil. Gilchrist 1-0
Do v. Xiao 1-0


3:05 PM  The final round is underway. 


3:15 PM  Kogen and Schmakel are playing a Closed Ruy Lopez (Petrosian variation I think).  Qazi is playing an Anti-Sicilian line with Bc4 and Qf3.  Meduri has played the Advance against Dubin's French. 


3:20 PM  Xu is playing the Tarrasch against Padgett's French.  Harihara is playing the Grand Prix Attack against Liu's Sicilian and Provine and Mangalam are playing the same variation of the Ruy Lopez as Kogen and Schmakel. 




3:25 PM  Adve plays the Austrian Attack against Li's Pirc.  Lehmann is playing the Yugoslav Attack against  Kalgahtgi's Dragon.  


3:30 PM  Hrach is playing the Petroff.  Gilchrist played the English Defense against the English Opening.  Sun played 1...c5 against Turner's English. Do and Xiao are in a Ruy Lopez.


3:35 PM   One might expect Dubin and Meduri to be peaceably inclined after tough losses in the fourth round, however, Meduri might have a little extra motivation as he is 0-4 lifetime against Dubin.  They first played at the 2002 National Youth Action Tournament and they last played at the 2006 Illinois Open.


3:45 PM   Meduri had sacrificed a piece to expose Dubin's king.  Kogen has closed the center with d5 so a lot of maneuvering can be expected.


3:55 PM   Adve has sacrificed a couple of pawns and castled long in an effort to get at Li's king, but Li has been happily accepting such material and cooling defending all tournament.


4:00 PM  First result:  Kalgahtgi beats Lehmann.


4:15 PM Kogen, Schamkel, Meduri, and Dubin have been competing against one another for a long time.  All four played in the primary section of the 2003 Illinois K-8 Tournament. Dubin finished 4th, Schmakel 5th, Meduri 7th and Kogen 19th.


4:20 PM Heil and Gilchrist have reached an ending with rooks and opposite colored bishops.  Heil has more space but Gilchrist controls the only open file.


4:25 PM Dubin seems to be weathering Meduri's attack.


4:30 PM  With a three pawn disadvantage, Adve accepts Li's offer of a draw.  One less tiebreak for Sevan to worry about.  Li will be Illinois' representative Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions. 


4:40 PM  Schmakel traded his bishops for Kogen's knights and has now planted a knight on d3 supported by a pawn on c4 and backed by the other knight on c5.


4:45 PM Harihara has sacrificed an exchange and is trying to get at Liu's king.   So far this round, the recipients of the sacrifices have been getting the better of things.


4:55 PM  Moskwa and Qazi have both castled queenside.  Moskwa is trying to gain some space on that side with his pawns, but Qazi knight is firmly ensconced on d5.


5:00 PM  Sun and Turner agree to a draw.  Meduri is still attacking.  He has two extra pawns one of which is a passer on e6.  Dubin has an extra bishop but for the moment it is sitting on c6 and doing little more than his pawns on b7 and d5. 


5:05 PM  Do beats Xiao.


5:15 PM  Heil beats Gilchrist.


5:20 PM Qazi has pawns on g5 and f5, and Moskwa's bishop on g7 is looking uncomfortable.  Kogen took the knight on d3 with his bishop and Schmakel is spent a long time deciding to recapture with the knight rather than the pawn.


5:50 PM  Bronfeyn and Hrach draw.  The Barber Qualifier is complete.  


5:55 PM  Liu has held of Harihara's attack and is still up the exchange and a pawn.  Xu has a knight and rook against Padgett's bishop and rook and is trying to exploit Padgett's isolated d-pawn.  Mangalam is down a pawn.


6:05 PM  Schmakel still has a very pretty looking knight on d3, but Kogen seems to have done a good job of clearing all his pieces out of the vicinity.


6:10 PM  Meduri only has one pawn for the bishop now, but the bishop is not contributing anything to the defense.  Qazi is generating some nasty pressure down the f-file.


6:15 PM  Liu defeats Harihara.  Xu managed to pick of Padgett's isolated d-pawn.  Schmakel has gone up a pawn on Kogen.


6:20 PM  It looks like Qazi has a draw by repetition if he wants it.


6:25 PM  Schmakel goes up an exchange.  Qazi declines to repeat.


6:30 PM  Provine has bishop against knight plus two pawns.


6:35 PM  Xu has knight, rook and extra passed pawn against bishop and rook.  Schmakel is pressing home his advantage.


6:40 PM  Qazi has gone up a pawn on Moskwa.  They both have a queen and a bishop left.  Dubin is finally creating some threats of his own.


6:45 PM Schmakel gives back the exchange to create connected passers on Kogen's third rank.  Qazi picks off a second pawn.  Meduri has no extra pawns now but he still has a passed pawn on e6.


6:45 PM Kogen resigns.  Only one set of tie breakers for Sevan to worry about. Quazi goes up by a piece.


6:50 PM Qazi defeats Moskwa.  Liu defeats Mangalam.  Xu defeats Padgett.


6:55 PM  Schmakel is the Denker representative.  Liu takes first on tie breakers.  Dubin trades off the queens and rooks leaving him with the extra bishop.


7:00 PM  Dubin maintains his hex on Meduri.  All the games are done.


10:00 PM 5th round games from the Denker and the Barber are posted.

Barber Round 4

Denker Round 4

Youth Invitationals: Fourth Round

After three rounds, the unofficial standings are as follows:

Denker Qualifier

2.5   Schmakel  
2.5   Kogen      
2.0   Moskwa
1.5   Meduri
0.5   Qazi
0.0   Dubin

Girl's Invitational

2.5  Xu
2.5  Liu
2.0  Harihara
1.0  Provine
1.0  Padgett
0.0  Mangalam

Barber Qualifier

3.0  Li
2.0  Bronfeyn
2.0  Lehmann
2.0  Kagahtgi
1.5  Turner
1.5  Sun
1.0  Do
1.0  Gilchrist
1.0  Hrach
0.5  Xiao
0.5  Heil


Pairings for the fourth round:


Denker Qualifier


Dubin v. Qazi  0-1
Moskwa v. Kogen  0-1
Schmakel v. Meduri  1-0

Girl's Invitational


Liu v. Xu  1/2-1/2
Harihara v. Provine 1/2-1/2
Padgett v. Mangalam 1/2-1/2

Barber Qualifier


Li v. Lehmann  1-0
Adve v. Bronfeyn 1-0
Sun v.  Kalgahtgi  1-0
Turner v. Do 1-0
Hrach v. Gilchrist  1-0
Xiao v. Heil 0-1

9:55 AM: The players are at their boards.  The big game this morning is between the leaders in the Girls' Invitational, Xu and Liu.  Schmakel plays his two highest rated opponents today, Meduri and Kogen.


10:05 AM:  The round is underway.  We have Dubin playing the Samisch against Qazi's King's Indian.  Kogen played 1...e5 and Moskwa is playing the Scotch Gambit.  Padgett is playing a one of those miscellaneous 1.d4 openings that I have trouble telling apart (and beating for that matter).  Harihara is playing the King's Indian Attack against Provine's French.  Liu played 1.d4 and both she and Xu have fianchettoed their king's bishops.  Li and Lehmann are in an Open Catalan. 


10:10 AM:  Bronfeyn has played Alekhine's Defense and Kalgahtighi the Dragon.  Turner played the English and Hrach played the Italian.  Xiao and Heil are in a Closed Sicilian.


10:15 AM:  Schmakel played the English against Meduri and they appear to be in the neighborhood of the Open Reti.  Kogen declined Moskwa's gambit and the queens and two pairs of minor pieces are gone already. 


10:25 AM:  Qazi decided to attack Dubin's center with ...c5 rather than ...e5 and the position is looking Benoni-ish.  Lehmann is playing the same line against Li that he played against me at Tim Just's Winter Open.  I managed to win that one, but Li had best not underestimate his opponent's understanding of the positions.  I think it's the Colle that Padgett is playing with the thematic kingside expansion with Ne5 and f4.


10:30 AM:  Sun is developing in classical fashion against Kalgahtgi's Dragon.

10:40 AM:  Xu and Liu have morphed into a Dragon formation with Liu developing her light squared bishop on g2.  Moskwa has two rooks, a knight, and six pawns against Kogen's two rooks, bishop, and six pawns, but Kogen's pieces are on their original squares and he has lost the right to castle.   Hard to say whether White's lead in development means much with so much material gone.



10:45 AM:  Qazi was frustrated to only have 1/2 point after a tough endgame loss to Meduri last night, but when you've been playing rated chess for less than three years 1/2 point isn't bad against three oppponents with an average rating over 2150.


10:50 AM:  Adve has traded three of his pawns for one of Bronfeyn's knights.


10:50 AM:  Padgett is building up the pressure on the kingside.  Dubin has a half-open f-file to work with but Qazi has an outpost for his knight on e5.


11:05 AM:   Denker trivia:  Moskwa is the only player rated under 2150 to score a point against Meduri in the last eight months.



11:15 AM:   More Denker trivia.  Meduri and Schmakel have played six USCF games against each other.  Schmakel holds a 4-2 edge, however Meduri has a win and two draws in their last three meetings.  Meduri also drew Schmakel at IHSA tournament in February. That draw cost Schmakel a share of the first medal on first board which went to Moskwa.  Dubin went 7-0 on second board including a win over Qazi.  Kogen did not play because Deerfield High School does not have a chess program.


11:20 AM:   Li has gone up the exchange against Lehmann.  Hrach is attacking Gilchrist's king.



11:25 AM:   Kogen and Moskwa are in a double rook plus even pawns endgame.  Kogen has a,b,d,g and h-pawns.  Moskwa has a,d,e,g and h-pawns.


11:30 AM:   Kalgahtgi is up a piece on Sun.  Correction:  material is still even.  I didn't notice Sun's threats.

11:40 AM:   Qazi has won a queen for a rook and a knight.

11:45 AM:   Hrach has traded three minor pieces for a rook, a knight, and two pawns.  Li has added a pawn to his exchange advantage but his king is under some pressure.


11:50 AM:   Kogen and Moskwa each control one of the open files, but neither can achieve unhindered penetration with the rooks.  Meduri and Schmakel looks pretty even.


11:55 AM:   Harihara has gone up by a pawn.  Queens are gone.  Xu and Liu are still even material and development.  


12:00 PM:   First result, Sun defeats Kalgahtgi.

12:10 PM:   Schmakel has given up the exchange against Meduri, but he has a lead in development and Meduri has a knight that looks none too secure.  Moskwa and Kogen have traded a pair of rooks.


12:15 PM:  Heil has the exchange for a pawn.  Li is up a rook and on a king hunt.  


12:15 PM:  Li defeats Lehmann.  




12:20 PM:  Harihara and Provine are down to rooks plus bishops of opposite colors with Harihara on the offensive with an extra pawn.  If the rooks come off it will be very drawish but until then the chances are on Harihara's side.   


12:25 PM:  Meduri's king is still in the center and Schmakel's trying to keep it there.  He has a big lead in development for the exchange. 


12:30 PM:  Bronfeyn has gotten one of his extra pawns down to b2.


12:35 PM:  Hrach is up the exchange but both his rooks are en prise and he is getting low on time.  Padgett has a lot of pressure on Mangalam's king but hasn't found a way to break through yet.


12:45 PM:  Heil defeats Xiao.


12:50 PM:  Adve was able to round up the pawn on b2 but Bronfeyn still has three pawns for a bishop.  Schmakel is starting to pick up material.  Kogen and Moskwa have taken each other's isolated pawns leaving them both with connected passers.  Moskwa's are in the center and slightly farther advanced.


12:55 PM:  The rooks have come off the board in Harihara v. Provine.  Harihara still has an extra pawn, but bishops of opposite colors are terribly drawish.


1:00 PM:  Xu has an extra pawn in a queen and rook ending but her king is slightly more exposed. 


1:05 PM:  Schmakel defeats Meduri.  Provine looks like she has Harihara's extra pawn well blockaded.




1:10 PM:  Xu and Liu draw.  Mangalam and Padgett draw.


1:15 PM:  Moskwa has a pawn on d6 and Kogen's king is cut off.  Hrach liberated his rooks and now he is up the exchange and several pawn.  Adve got one of his pawns back.


1:20 PM:  Kogen is going to have to give up his rook for Moskwa's d-pawn, but then his own connected passers will be hard to stop. 


1:25 PM:  Hrach defeats Gilchrist.


1:35 PM:  Kogen's passers prove unstoppable and he defeats Moskwa.  Qazi defeats Dubin.


1:45 PM:  Turner beats Do.  Provine and Harihara draw.


1:55 PM:  Adve has bishop and h-pawn against two isolated pawns for Bronfeyn but the bishop controls the queening square.


2:00 PM:  Sevan is trying to figure out all the tiebreak permutations in Kogen and Schamkel draw in the last round.


2:05 PM:  Adve beats Bronfeyn.


2:30 PM:  Denker Round 4 games are posted.

Girls' Invitational Round 3

Denker Round 3

I wish to apologize. My goal had to been to publish all the Denker games from each round at the same time but I find that I am missing Kogen-Dubin. I think I remember Josh leaving a copy of his scoresheet, but I seem to have mislaid it. If Josh or Jonathan sees this and can post a copy of the pgn in the comments, that would be great.

Barber Round 3

[Event "Youth Invitational"] [Site "?"] [Date "2012.03.31"] [Round "3"] [White "Heil, Sam"] [Black "Hrach, Jonathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A26"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2012.03.30"] [SourceDate "2012.03.30"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 d6 6. d3 f5 7. Nge2 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. f4 Ne7 10. h3 c6 11. Be3 Be6 12. b3 Qd7 13. Kh2 b6 14. Qd2 Rad8 15. Rad1 Qc8 16. Qc2 h6 17. d4 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 fxe4 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. fxe5 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 g5 22. Bd4 c5 23. Bc3 Bf5 24. g4 Bg6 25. Bxe4 Qe6 26. Ng3 Rf4 27. Bxg6 Qxg6 28. Qd2 Kh7 29. Nh5 Qf7 30. Nxf4 gxf4 31. Qd3+ Ng6 32. Qe4 f3 33. e6 Qc7+ 34. Be5 Qxe5+ 35. Qxe5 Bxe5+ 36. Kg1 Bd4+ 37. Kf1 Kg7 38. Re1 f2 39. Re4 Kf6 40. h4 Ne5 41. g5+ hxg5 42. hxg5+ Kxe6 43. Rf4 Ng6 44. Rf3 Ke5 45. Rf7 Ke4 46. Rxa7 Nh4 47. Re7+ Kf4 48. g6 Nxg6 49. Rf7+ Ke4 50. Rb7 Ne5 51. Rxb6 Nf3 52. Re6+ Kd3 53. Kg2 Nd2 54. Rf6 Bxf6 55. Kxf2 Nxb3 56. axb3 Kc3 57. Ke2 Kxb3 58. Kd3 Bd4 59. Kd2 Kxc4 60. Kc2 Kb4 61. Kc1 Kc3 62. Kb1 Kd2 63. Ka2 c4 64. Kb1 c3 65. Ka1 c2+ 66. Ka2 c1=Q 67. Kb3 Qc5 68. Ka2 Qb6 69. Ka3 Bc3 0-1