northwest chess - nwchess.com · seriesin major openings"to concentrate on variations that ......

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NORTHWESTCHESS

928-0701AMIKE MACGREGOR

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Washington Chess FederationDecember 2006

1106 $3.95

11.1..1..1..1..111...1.1..1..1..1.1...11 11.1.1...11..1.1.1

GM Slugfest,Sluggers Lose,Karch Review,

and MorerI

GM VIctorMikhalevski with Clint's Cash

LNorthwest Chess

. .December 2006, Volume 60,12 Issue 702

ISSN Publication 0146-6941Published monthly by the Northwest Chess Board 0f-fice of record: 2420 S 137 St, Seattle WA98168.

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BookNote

rf

Dangerous Weapons:Nimzo- Indian

by GMJohn Emms, GMChris Ward and 1MRichard Palliserpublished by Everyman Chess, pb., 272 pages,

clear diagrams. @2006. Retail $23.95.

by Robert A. Karch

In a previous issue, I reviewedPlay the Nimzo-Indian by1MEdwardDearing. That book was geared for the Blackside, extolling the virtues of this solid and reliable de-

fense. Now comesalongDangerous Weapons,aimed at bothsides! Who to believe? I will compare the opinions of bothbooks in someplaces.

In the Preface, Dangerous claims to be part of a newseries in major openings "to concentrate on variations thatare ambitious, sharp, innovative, disruptive, tricky, enjoy-able to analyze; ones not already weighed down by moun-tains of theory, and ones unfairly ignored or discredited."Intent is "to present a considerable number of fresh, hard-hitting opening weapons for both White and Black."

Chapters 1-6 cover 4.1Vc2 (Classical line). Chapter 7in Dangerous shifts attention to 4.e3, the historically popu-lar Rubinsteinline. 1MDearingfavors4...b6, and after S.ttJge2cS!? "is highlyprovocativeandgives rise to intensely volatilepositions." Dangerou~recom-mends the immediate 4...cSS.Ad3 ttJc6 6.ttJge2 cxd47.exd4 dS S.cxdSttJxdS 9.a3!?Both books discuss the ramifi-cations of ...c7-cS. From hereon, I will review Dangerousonly. After 9.a3

If Black does not play an early.. .d7odS,White may him-self occupy the d5-square. Kingside castling is often de-layedwhile both sides fight for control in the center. Thereare middlegametactical shots and traps to be avoided (onboth sides). Good discussionon the placement of the Bish-ops; the Knights seem not tomattersomuch inthis variation,or perhaps the Knight movesare "obvious"(at theGM level).

A short chapter introducesthe Vitolinsh(1988): 1.d4ttJf62.c4 e6 3.ttJc3 Ab4 4.e3 0-0S.ttJge2 bS offering a pawn tounbalance the position.

Northwest Chess

the Vitolinsh

Northwest ChessDecember 2006

Book Note: Dangerous Weapons:Nimzo-Indian

RobertKarchexamines a new openingbook -=page 3

Mikhalevski Wins GM Slugfestpage 4

Tournament Adspages 14, 22, 23

USCF Crosstablespage 15

Sluggers Hit Pop Fly in USCL Playoffspage 18

Letter to the Editorpage21

Northwest Chess Calendarof Upcoming Events

back cover

On the Cover: GM Victor Mikhalevski, who flewin all the way from Israel for the GM Slugfest, capturedClinfs cash by winning both his games on the first andlast days of he tournament, while picking up zero BAPon the middle day. Photo courtesy of Clint Ballardand Slugfest7.com.

Then there is the Milov Gam-bit 4.ttJf3 b6 s.AgS Ab7 6.ttJd2h6 7.Ah4 cS S.dS in which White

prepares to advance the pawn toe4 without the stutterstep e2-e3(Kasparov's idea). This line isdeeply analyzed by GM Ward andwould make a useful reference forthe correspondence or e-mailplayer.

The authors don't really col-laborate as a team (there is no in-

dex of variations, players or games), but apparently each hashis own chapters for discussion of concepts and analysis ofmoves. I found GM Ward to be the most useful. However,other readers may prefer the other authors. If you play the Nirnzo,you will almost certainlyneedthis book in self-defense! .

the Milov Gambit

December 2006 3

GM Slugfest October 13-1

Mikhalevski Walks Off with Clint's Cashdraw against Ftacnik, with Readey playing White. In fact, iall four draws so far (28% draw rate), White was the lowerated player by around 100, 200, or 300 points. This is naccident, as it is easier to draw as White than it is as Black.

Day Two-Rounds Three and FourIn round three, we had a GM vs. GM game and two Gl\

vs. 1Mgames; so somewere expectingthat we would seesommore draws. Instead, we got a bloodbath. Seven games, aIdecisive. No question of how much a White draw is worth vsBlack draw. There were no draws! In almost all the gamesBlack, having castled kingside, either had no g-pawn or haIpushed it far forward.

In round four, we had three GM vs. GM games; so we hacto get more draws, right? Well, we did get one draw, but onl~one! The draw rate is still under 25%. The inclusion of nontitled players tends to lower the draw percentage overall, buthe lower rated players also draw games with White that oth.erwise would have been decisive; so the net change in dravrate is diminished. Since the Slugfest is over halfway done, iwill be unlikely that the draw rate will go above my predicte<level.

DayOne-RoundsOne and Two In a Slugfest tournament, a lot can change in a dayThe day started out with the normal first round confusion. Jonathan Berry was 0/5 on the first day,but 5/5 today and ha~

FM Nick Raptis, who had won a spot in the event at the quali- a 50% score, as does the leader after two rounds, GMfier,was unable to play. WCF PresidentGeoffGale offered to Mikhalevski, and should be just a couple points behind thebring NM Curt Collyer as a substitute, but, when he hadn't leaders going into the moneyrounds. Unlikeat non-BAPtour-arrived by start PIne, I had to fire up the Human Cloning Ma- naments,the moneyroundsare guaranteedto increasethe fight-chine. Well,it didn't create an exact clone of Nick, but at least ing spirit, as if that is even possible from where it is now.NM Elliott Neff, proprietor of the Chess4Life Center, where Th R d Fi d Six. Day ree- oun s ve anthe first four rounds wereto be held,knew howthe chess pIeces m ed th P h t I £ ds fi d

.ed t th first d d vvemov to e aragon 0 e or roun ve an SIX.mo¥ . so we go e roun un er way. ...

, . .. The new space ISWIdeopen WIththe seven tables along threeThe score mthe first roundwas four BlackWIllS,twoWhite of the walls. In the middle we have seating area for the spec-

wins and, one draw. Black scored 13 BAP to White's four. tatorsandtwoartificials~,courtesyofSunleashed.com. TheT~tally out of bal~ce, b~t the first round had several games lights were blinding and even though we have the typical Oc-WIthpretty large ratmg differences.The true measure of color tober rain outside it felt like the middle of a tropical summer.biasing is among approximately equal strength players. The lights are pointed directly up at the ceiling and even the

Round two pairings were much closer, for the most part, indirect light that is coveringalmost half the ceiling is glowingthan round one pairings.As such, it would be the first real test brighter than the built in fluorescent lights. Sunleashed sureofBAP at the GM level. Three of the sevengames were drawn, lives up to its name!

but none of them were grandmaster draws. Wow,what a fifth round!! If Shabalov could have drawnFor all the controversy about how much BAP is unfair to as White, then he would have been in the driver's seat, leading

White, in r~undm:o,.White scored 8 BAP ~s. only 3 BAP f~r by one. Another thing that Lubo did with the critical fifththe Black sIde. If It IS so easy to score P?mts ~ Black, ~s round win, was that four players were eliminated from conten-wasn't a very good example. Round one s lopsIded score m tion! Just a single point differenceand Akobian, Pruess, Berryfavor of Black needs to be adjusted by the fact that of the four and Friedel would have been in the running for the pounds ofBlack wins, only one was against a GM and that was a clock cash. In the analysis room, they were all hoping for a draw,confusion flagging. but knowing that there was no realistic chance for it. Still a

We can see some interesting things from the big rating last round win and these four could finish in the number twodifferencegames.The onlymajorupset sofar has beenReadey's spot, which will be good for bragging rights.

. 4 December2006 North'-'1pd rhpc:c:

The GMSlugfest was to be thefirst high-level test of theBallardAnti-Draw Point (BAP) System-Black win, three points; Whitewin, twopoints; Black draw, one point; other results, zero. Underthe currentpoint system,established in the mid-nineteenth century,the percentage of draws rises from about 30% at the Expert levelto about 55% at the GM level. Clint Ballard, the developer ofBAp, estimates that the draw percentage will fall to about 25%with his system. For more on BAp, see NWC January 2006, page17.

Story, game commentary, and S/ugfest pairing report are ex-tractedfrom Clint Ballard s tournament-related b/og entries, ap-pearing on the S/ugfest website.-ed.

by Clint Ballard

Get ready for a tournament with very few quick draws,I predict' a total of 0% of such things at the Slugfest. Iwill also go out on a limb and predict a 25% draw rate

between the titled players. The big question is the ratio ofWhite wins to Black wins. At anything over 1.7, BAP has thesame or less bias as the current point system. However, thecolor balancing in a BAP tournament removes any bias, mak-ing it more fair than existing ones, which is mathematicallyprovable.

Usually, the players arrive a few min-utes before the round starts. However,for this most important round of all,Shabalov was the only one of the top play-ers at the board. Did all the other playersdecide to go home early?

Of course not, they 'were just gettingtheir game face on and since this is THEgame of the tournament, it took a bitlonger than normal.

I put the big block of cash next to theplayers on Board One, just in case theyforgot what is at stake. I doubt it thoughas eight of the players still have a chanceto win the bundle of cash. That's over halfthe field!

I haven't had a chance to really studythe games in depth from the event yet.There will still be skeptics out there, butthe bottomline is that with the strength ofthe lineup we had, there were seven drawsout of forty games-17.5o/«r-and theywere all fighting draws, not a single GMdraw. Even the draws were exciting, butthere were 33 decisive games. Count 'em,33.

~C!g~~

Round One

Young Andy May put up a valianteffort against top seed Mikhalevski, fora whilethe position was pretty close andwildlyimbalanced. Andymade it intothemiddlegamewithout the game being de-cided!This was quite an achievementforone of the less well-known juniors inWashingtonstate. If you'venever playedagainst a GM, let me tell you, it is liketryingtojuggle chain-saws when you re-allycan'tjuggle that well. Just avoidinggettingparts of your body chopped off ishard enough, let alone making any sortof progress with anything resembling aplan. At leastthat's my usual experience.

Sicilian Grand Prix

Andy May (1952)GM Victor Mikhalevski (2661)

Bellevue, GM Slugfest (1) 2006

1.e4eS 2.lDe3lDe6 3.f4g6 4.lDf3 ilg7S.ilbSlDd46.0-olDxbs7.lDxb5d5S.e5d49.d3lDh610.a40-011.1Ve1 b612.b4ile613.bxeSbxe514.ila3a615.he5axbS 16.axbSlDf5 17.'8'b4Ad5 1S.lDxd4Ab719.lDxf5 gxf5 20.d41Vd5

Northwest Chess

8.1... ......~ m-7~ .i_i6....~\WIn ~5~8_..ui.

Wllnn..4RiUU.3~.. .2 .8. .8~N~

a bed e f 9 h

21.'8'd2 iilxa1 22.iilxa1 iileS 23.1V12ilh6 24.iile1 ~hS 25.he7 iilgS 26.ilf6+ ilg7 27.ilg5 h6 2S.h4 hxg5 29.fxg5 iilca 30.iile2 iile3 31.h5 ~gS 32.h6Af8 33.1Vxf5iilg3 34.1V12iilxg5 35.e6fxe6 36.h7+ ~xh7 37.'8'17+ ilg7 0-3

Third seed Shabalov had the mostinteresting game of the round againstJonathan Berry. After a somewhat nor-mal opening, things got quite compli-cated. Jonathan had Rook and Bishopversus Queen,but he also had a very dan-gerous a-pawn and SOmeincredibly richtactical variations arose. They went intoa tactical jungle. So close, but one tempothat Alexgainedwas all he neededto siezethe initiative.

Semi-Slav Meran

GMC Jonathan Berry (2284)GM Alexander Shabalov (2650)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (1) 20061.d4d52.c4e6 3.lDf3lDf64.lDc3e6 5.e3lDbd7 6.ild3 dxe4 7.hc4 b5 S.ile2ild69.1Ve20-0 10.e4e511.ilg51Ve712.a3a613.iild1 iileS14.0-oilbS15.iild2h616.ilh4exd417.lDxd4ilf41S.iildd1 lDe5 19.ilg3 hg3 20.hxg3 e521.lDf5lLxf5 22.exf5 iilaeS 23.84 lDe624.ilf3 lDd4 25.1Vd3b4 26.lDd5 lDxd527.hd5 lDe2+ 2S.~h2

8.Z..I....~ iilll m7~'. _i.6'. . . ~

~ m~"A"5~ ."".0.48.. . .~ "\WI" n3~ _.- U

2 ~ ..~8fAU . U ii!!1~ .:..tt.

a bed e f 9 h

2S...e4 29.he4 1Vg5 30.1Vxe2 iilxe231.he2 iile2 32.ha6 iilxb2 33. iild7iild234.iilb7 iild435.iilb5h536.a5h437.iLb7 hxg3+ 3S.fxg3 '8'h6+ 39.~g1

December 2006

1Ve3+ 40.~h21Vh6+ 41!~g11Ve3+42.~h21Ve243.ila6~h7 44.iilb6ffe545.ilb5 iilh4+ 46.~g1 ffe3+ 47.iil12iild448.ile2 Ild249.~f1 Ile250.Ild6b351.f6b2 0-3

Fourth seed Becerra was up agaInsta replacement player. Elliott has beennot so secretly practicing blindfold chessand can now play somethinglike twelvegames at once without looking at theboard. He is like Clark Kent, who lookslike an ordinary guy, but he does thattransformation thing and next thing youknow he is matching GM Becerra movefor move. The other GMs were sayingthat the position got to a drawn endgame,but there wasn't enough time left forElliott to hold it.

French Classical

GM Julio Becerra (2605)NM Elliott Neff (2268)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (1) 2006

1.e4e6 2.d4d5 3.lDe3lDf64.ilg5 ile75.e5lDfd7 6.he7ffxe77.f4a6 s.lDf3b6 9.1Vd2ilb710.lDd1 e511.e3lDe612.lDe3 exd4 13.exd4 ffb4 14.f5 as15.Ile1ffxd2+ 16.~xd2 IleS17.iLb5~e7 1s.Ilhf1 lDebS 19.94 h6 20.lDg2Ilxe1 21.Ilxe1 IleS 22.IlxeS heS23.lDf4 lDfS 24.ild3 f6 25.a3 tL1e626.~e3 ~17 27.h3 tL1e72s.lDh4 tL1e629.lDhg6 fxe5 3O.tL1xe5+tL1xe531.dxe5Ab7 32.~d4 ~e7 33.h4 ileS 34.b4axb4 35.axb4 ild7 36.~e3 ile6 37.h5~173S.ile2ilb7 39.ilb3~e7 4O.tL1e2ila6 41. lDd4iles 42.ile2 ild7 43.l;Je2ilc6 44.~d4 ilbs 45.tL1f4ilc4 46.ila4ila6 47.bS ileS 48.ile2 ild7 49.ild3ilea 50.~e3

81 . ~., .. - -7.. --~ E-iE- ~. - - !(15.8.iD8.8.. ~8.3

~~ ..i.= .2...~1... .

a bed e f 9 h

50... tL1d751 .lL1xe6lL1xe552.h2 tL1c4+

53.~d4hb554.lL1xg7 ild755.~xdSlDd6 56.ild3 lD1757 .ilc4 lDd6 5s.ilb3.lDeS 59.lDxeSheS 60.~e5 ~f8 61.f6

Ad7 62.g5llb5 63.g6 2-0

5

Fifth seed GM Ftacnik was upagainst the amazing John Readey, whohas been performing at the 2700+ levelfor about 100 moves now {in USCLplay-ed.}. It's not quite the 40,000movestreakthat the super-GMshave, butthe longest journey starts with the firststep. John felt he was unstoppable, buthe finally met his match and the game upwas the one and only draw of the firstround.

EnglishFM John Readey (2326)GM Lubomir Ftacnik (2599)


1.lL1f3lL1f62.c4 cS 3.g3 b6 4.iLg2 iLb 7S.0-Oe6 6.lL1c3iLe77 .d4cxd48.flxd4d6 9.lId1 a6 10.iLgslL1bd7 11.fld20-0 12.iLf4lL1e8 13.lIac1 flc714.e4IId8 1S.fie 1lL1ef6 16.eS dxeS 17.lL1xeS.!xg2 18.~xg2lL1xeS 19..!xeS flc6+20.f3IIxd121.lL1xd1IId822.tDf2tDd723.iLf4gS24.iLd2lL1eS2S.flxeSIIxd226.1Ic3 1Id7 27.lIc2 IIxc2 28.1Ixc21Id429.b3iLcS30.tDe4 1Ig1+31.~h3iLe7 32.11f2 1Ia1 33.g4 hS 34.gxhS 153S.lL1g3 ~f7 36.~g2 iLcs 37.1Id2'8g1+ 38.~h3 iLe7 39.1Ie2 !ld4 40.1Ic2 iLcs 41.'8e2 as 42.1If1 ~f6 43.1Ie211c344.1Id1 ~e7 45.fle2 ~d7 46.1Id1+ iLd647.~g2 ~e7 48.1Ie2 iLeS49.11f2 iLd4 SO.tDe2 iLxf2 S1.tDxc3iLd4 S2.tDe2Ae3 S3.tDg3~f6 54.~f1~g7SS.~e2iLg1 56.~f1 iLcSS7.tDe2~h6 S8.tDg3iLe3 S9.~g2 Acs 60.~f1Ae361.~g2iLd462.~f1 iLcS63.~g2Ae3 0-1

TorreAttack

1M Eric Tangborn (2475)1M Josh Friedel (2541)


1.d4 tDf62.tDf3e6 3.AgS cS 4.e3 1Ib6S.tDbd2dS6..ixf6 gxf67.c4 cxd48.exd4tDc6 9.cxdS exdS 10.iLd3 tDxd4 11.O-OAe612.tDxd411xd413.tDf311g414.AbS+ ~d8 1S.Ae2 Acs 16.lIc1lIeS 17.tDeS1Id4 18.lL1d3Ab619.!lb31Ie820.lIcd1'8c421.ffa3f1c722.Af31Ie7 23.b4 1Id6 24.lIc1 ~e7 2S.tDcSIIc7 26.1Id3 Axcs 27.bxcS IIxcs28.lIxcs!lxcS29.1Ixh7IId830.h4d431.11b1 b6 32.lIc1 1IeS 33.!ld3 ~f834.hS ~g7 3s.fld2 1IgS 36.1Ib2 d337.lId1 d2 38.a3 1IeS 39.1Ib4 IId440.1Ic3 Ad7 0-3

6

There was an unusual clock issue inthe Serper-Pruess game. The positionlooked unclear to me, though David saidhe was totally winning. Greg was in hisusual time trouble. Of course Greg neveractually loses on time, even though heends up with 10 moves to make in lessthan a minute on a semi-regular basis.He made a move with 12 seconds left,the clock goes to 1:00:12. David makesa move and Serper's clock starts ticking.As soonas the clockgoes belowonehour,David stops the clock! He very quietlysays to Greg that he has flagged. AftercheCkingscoresheets,both playersagreedthat the clock had added the time for the40th move, but it was really the 39thmove. So, in an unclear position, GMSerper flagged because he trusted theclock display. Ouch!

QGD Semi-SlavGM Gregory Serper (2582)1M David Pruess (2448)

Bellevue, GM Slugfest (1) 20061.d4 dS 2.c4 e6 3.tDf3 c6 4.lL1bd2tDf6S.e3 tDbd7 6.b3 Ad6 7.Ab2 tDe4 8.tDxe4 dxe4 9.tDd2 15 10.flhS+ g6 11.flh6 Af8 12.flf4 tDf6 13.iLe2 Ad614.!lh611e71S.0-0-oAd716.f3exf317.gxf3 cS18.lIhe1 0-0-0 19.~b1 eS20.1Ih4 IIhe8 21.11f2 exd4 22.exd4tDhS23.Af111gS24.dxcsAf42S.Ac1lLe3 26.tDe4 iLxf2 27.tDd6+ ~b828. iLxgS IIxe1 29.lIxe1 iLxe130.Axd8 Ab4 31.tDbS Axcs32.Ac7+ ~c8 33. iLeS iLxbS34.cxbS ~d7 3S.h3lLd6 36.lLd4b637.~c2 tDf4 38.a4tDe639.Af2Acs 0-3 {Time}

Second seed Akobian achieved

a nice position as White and Ignaciohad fewer and fewer good movesthat he could make. A very methodi-cal performance by Akobian. Igna-cio did have some chances, but itrequired going into the chaos andsomehow outdueling Akobian in avery complex middlegame.

Benoni

GM Varuzhan Akobian (2654)NM Ignacio Perez (2241)


1.d4 tDf6 2.c4 g6 3.tDc3 lLg74.tDf3 0-0 s.lLgS h6 6.iLh4 cS

December 2006

7.dS d6 8.e3 1Ias 9.lL1d2a6 10.a4 eS11.lLe2 tDbd7 12.0-0 flc713.f4 exf414.exf4IIe81S. 15gS16.lLg3IIe3

17.1Ic2 tDeS 18.tDde4 Ad7 19. .!xeSdxeS20.d611d821.tDxf6+ .ixf622.tDdSIIxe2 23.1Ixe2 ilc6 24.lIad1 iLxa42S.tDxf6+1Ixf626.lIdSlIe827.d7IId828.lIe1 IIxd7 29.1IxeS ~g7 30.g4 b631.~f2 fixeS 32.lIexeS ~f6 33.lIxd7iLxd734.lIdS~e73S.lId3bS36.lIh3b4 37.lIxh6 f6 38. IIh7+ ~d6 39.1If7h440.1Ixf6+ ~d7 2-0

Round TwoStandlnas:3: Friedel, Mikhalevski, Pruess,

Shabalov2: Akobian, Becerra,1: Ftacnik,0: Berry,May, Neff,Perez, Readey,

Serper, Tangbom

1M David Pruess was up a pawnearly in the opening phase and I couldn'tsee any real compensation. As the game

m ~; ~~~~~~~~~~972

www.ChessHouse.com1-800-348-4749

Northwest Chess

j

progressed, things looked worse andworse for Akobian. I fmally couldn'tstand it anymore and asked some GMswhat was going on and they confirmedthat Pruess was simply better! However,they also said that Akobian is a very gooddefender and it would be hard for David

to convert the win. David spent onetempo on a slow move and Akobian in-stantly pounced. The evaluation changedto being very double-edged and anybody'sgame. Not exactly good news for David.He decided to repeat positions and avoidany chance of losing.

.

[ID

French Rubinstein

1M David Pruess (3, 1.0)GM Varuzhan Akobian (2, 1.0)


1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~c3 ~ffi 4.JLg5 dxe45.Axf6 gxf66.~xe4 f5'7.~g3 c5 8.~f3~c69.dxc5'iWxd1+ 10.I!xd1 a611.~h5hc512.g3cbe713.JLg2e514.0-0ffi15.~h4

EI

II.

15..J1g8 16.1Ife1 JLe617.JLd51Iad818.~f4iLxd519.~5+cbf720.~xd5cbe6 21.~h6 1Igf8 22.~c7+ cbe7 23.~d5+ cbe624.~c7+ cbe725.~f5+ cbf726.cbg2 ~b4 27.~h6+ cbe7 28.~f5+cbf7 29.~h6+ cbe7 30.~f5+ 0-1

If you like "goal-line stand" defen-sive gems, then Shabalov-Serper will beyour cup of tea. Just when you think it'sover, there's a threatened brutal counter-attack. I heard that the computer found

. a win, but White was required to take anouter space EVA without a space suit,namely,marchhis Kingout intothe open!This seeminglysuicidalmaneuver is hardfor humans to even consider as viable,for such marches most often end with adead King.

This game is a perfect example ofwhy BAP is better than the 1867 system.For such an excellent defensive effort,Serper is the onewho had the victory. He

.I~

II'I! Northwest Chess

didn't score a touchdown,but he pre-ventedone. Inthe past, it wouldhavebeenscored as if the game didn't really hap-pen, nobodywon,nobody lost, they couldhave just agreed to a draw after blitzingout the opening and it would have beenthe same.

Sicilian

GM Alexander Shabalov (3, 1.0)GM Gregory Serper (0, 0.0)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (2) 20061.e4 c5 2.~a3 d6 3.c3 ~f6 4.g3 ~c65.JLg2 d5 6.exd5 ~d5 7.~f3 e6 8.0-0JLe7 9.~c2 0-0 10.d4 cxd4 11.~cxd4~d412.~d4 JLffi 13.~b3 a5 14.a3'iWc715.~d2 b5 16.a4 JLa6 17.axb5JLxb518.1Ie1 1Iac8 19..g4 JLc620.~e4JLe521.1Ie21Ia822.~g5JLf623.JLe4g6 24.h4 JLg7 25.h5 h6 26.~f3g5 27.JLc2 ~f6 28.~e5 JLb729.f4gxf430.iLxt4 "c5+ 31.cbh2 ~xh5 32.1Ig1~ffi 33.1Iaf1 1Iad8 34.g4 ~h7 35.g5cbh8 36.g6

6

36...1Id5 37.1Ie1 16 38.gxh7 fxe5 39.JLe3 "e7 40."g4 e4 41.JLxe4 h5 42.!Yxg7+!Yxg743.1Ixg7 cbxg744. l'iIg1+cbh8 45.iLxd5 iLxd5 46.c4 JLxc447.JLd4+ e5 48.JLxe5+ cbxh749.l'iIg7+cbh650.1Ia70-1

After Nat got control of d6, the restwas technique. Andy wasted a tempopursuing a plan that was a bit too slowand, as Black, that is a surefire recipe fordisaster.

Sicilian Rossolimo

NM Nat Koons (2317, 0, 0.0)Andy May (0, 0.0)

Bel/evue. GM Slugfest (2) 20061.e4c52.~f3~c63.iLb5~ffi4.e5~d55.0-0g6 6.~c3 ~xc3 7.dxc3 JLg78.1Ie1 0-0 9.JLg5 h6 10.JLh4 1Ie811.1Id5 ffb6 12.a4 a6 13.JLc4 e614..d3!Yc715.JLg3~a516.~d21Ib8

Decem ber 2006

17.~e41Id818.~d6~c419.'iWxc4b620.1Ie3 JLb721..f4 l'iIf822.JLh4 "c623. l'iIg3"d5 24.1Ie 1 b5 25.axb5 axtJ526.h3 l'iIa827.cbh21Ia128.JLe71Iaa829.JLf6c430.iLxg7cbxg7 31."f6+cbh732.~xf7 1Ig8 33.~d6 l'iIg7 34.1If4l'iIag835.~e4 2-0

After the openingendedup badly forEric, he fought back to where equalitywas in sight. However, it turned out tobe only a holographic projection. Lubofinishedthe game offwith a Capablanca-likepetite combinaison with 40.1Ixf6+.

Queen s IndianGM Lubomir Ftacnik (1, 0.5)1M Eric Tangborn (0, 0.0)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (2) 20061.d4 ~f6 2.~f3 e6 3.c4 JLb4+ 4.~bd2b6 5.a3 JLxd2+ 6.JLxd2 h6 7.g3 JLb78.JLg2d69.0-00-0 10.l'iIc1~bd711.b4 ~e4 12.JLe3 c5 13.1Ic2 1Ic8 14.1Ifd1 ~dffi15.dxc5 bxc516.~e1 cxb417.axb4 1Ic718.f3 ~g519.ffd2 l'iIfd820.iLxg5 hxg5 21."xg5 1Ib6+ 22.c5ffxb4 23.l'iIb1 .a4 24.cxd6 ~d5 25.1Id2 ~b626.e4e5 27.JLf1!Yd728.~c2JLc6 29."a5 "e6 30.~e3 l'iIxd631.I!xd611xd632.~f5"e633.1Id1 JLa434. l'iId6"e8 35."d2 ffi 36.JLh3 JLb337."e3 JLf7 38.I!xffi 2-0

(N.B. Score is missing two moves)

An early endgame, in my experience,increases the chances of a draw. This isnot a good strategy in a Slugfest tourna-ment and Friedel paid the price.

;- .

Ruy Lopez Open1M Josh Friedel (3, 1.0)GM Julio Becerra (2, 1.0)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (2) 20061.e4e52.~f3~c63.JLb5a64.JLa4lLiffi5.0-0 ~xe4 6.d4 b5 7.JLb3 d5 8.dxe5JLe6 9.~bd2 ~c5 10.c3 d4 11.JLxe6~xe6 12.cxd4 ~cxd4 13.~e4 JLe714.JLe3c515.b4'iWd516.~c5~3+

7

17..xf3.xf3 18.gxf3 ~xe5 19.bxe5<!>d720.ilfb1 ilab821.ilb48522.ilg4g623.ile1 <!>e624.e6 ilhe8 25.ild4ilb6 26.ild6+ Axd6 27.Axb6 <!>xe528.Axa5 <!>d529.e7 <!>e630. ile6 <!>d731.ilb6 IiIxe7 32.Ii1xb5 ile233.Ab4Axb4 34. ilxb4 0-1

Jonathan Berry wontwo pieces for aRook and had all the winning chances.Unfortunately, he was low on time andIgnacioPerez plays a lot of bullet games.Ignacio created enough complications toforce Jonathan to use up all his time.Berry is recovering from the flu, canbarelywalk around withouthelp, and hadjust played in a marathon Canadian tour-nament. It could be a very tough coupledays for him.

Ruy Lopez Steinitz DeferredNM Ignacio Perez (0, 0.0)GMC Jonathan Berry (0, 0.0)

Be/levue, GM Slugfest (2) 2006

1.e4e52.~f3 ~c6 3.AbSg64.o-0Ag75.e3 a6 6.Aa4 d6 7.h3 ~f6 8.d4 0-09.~bd2Ad710.ile1 ~h511.~f1.e812.Ab3 <!>h813.~e3 f5 14.dxe5 dxe515.~d5 ilc8 16.Ae3 f4 17.Ae5 ilg818.~b4 Ae6 19.~g5 Axb3 20..xb3Af6 21.~xe6 '8'xe6 22.~f7+ <!>g723.ilad1 ilgf824.iLxm+ iIxfs25.~e5AxeS 26..d5 .xd5 27.ilxd5 <!>f628.iled1 <!>e629.ild8 IiIxd830.ilxd8~f6 31.f3 <!>e732. ilb8 b6 33.<!>f1~d734.ila8 as 35.<!>e2.~e5 36.b4 ~b737.'if1d3<!>d738.<!>e4~d6+ 39.<!>b3axb4 40.exb4 b5 41. ila5 <!>e642.a4bxa4+43. L4 h5 44. ila 7 ~f7 45. ila8~d6 46.ilg8 <!>f747.ila8 g5 48.ila5<!>e649. ile5 g4 50.fxg4 hxg4 51.hxg4~xe4 52. ile2 <!>d5 53. ile 1 <!>d454.ild1+ <!>e355.ile1+ <!>d356.g5 f357.gxf3 ~d2+ 58.<!>a4~xf3 59.ild1+<!>e460.g6~d461.ile1+<!>d562. IiIxe7~e6 63.ile2 2-0

Victorgot a runningstart through hisknowledgeof openingtheory and, by theearly middlegmt:le,the position requiredSerper-likeskill to defend.

King s Indian ClassicalGM Victor Mikhalevski (3, 1.0)FM John Readey (0, 0.5)


1.d4d62.~f3~f63.e4g64.~e3Ag75.e4 0-0 6.Ae2 e5 7.0-0 ~a6 8.Ae3

8

,~g49:Ag5.e810.e5 h611.lLh4exd412.~d4dxe513.~b3'8'e614.~d5

4

14...e6 15.~e7+ <!>h7 16.~xe8 ~f6

17.~d6 ilfd8 18.e5 .xe5 19.~xf7

ilxd1 20.~xe5 ilxa1 21.ilxa1 ile8

22.Axa6 ilxe5 23.Axb7 e4 24.~d2

ilb5 25.Aa6 ilxb2 26.~xe4 ilb4

27.Axf6 .!.xf628.ilc1 ila429.Ab7

IiIxa230.Axe6 as 31.Ad5 a4 32.~e3

ilb2 33.ilc7+ <!>h834.'if1f1a335.ila7

ilb1+ 36.<!>e2Ab2 37.Ae4 2-0

Round ThreeStandings:6: Mikhalevski3: Akobian,Becerra,Friedel,Ftacnik,

Pruess, Shabalov2: Koons,Perez1: Serper0: Berry,May,Readey,Tangbom

Mikhalevski got into big time trouble.He had more than ten moves to make andseconds to do it in. In a wide open Queenand pieces endgame with pawns on bothsides of the board and an exposed King,Victor could not reach move 40 with asalvageable position. He made time con-trol with two seconds left, but was downa pawn and had worse piece activity.

GriinftldGM Varuzhan Akobian (3, 1.5)GM Victor Mikhalevski (5, 2.0)


1.d4 ~f6 2.c4 g6 3.~c3 d5 4.Ag5 ~e45.Ah4 ~xc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3Ae68.!fb1b69.~f3 Ah610.Ae2~e611.0-0 0-0 12.~g5 Axg513.Axg5 .d514.Ah6 AfS 15..c1 ilfe8 16.f3 Ad317.e4'8'b5 18.a4 .h5 19.Axd3 cxd320.ild1 ~a521.ilb1 c522.IiIxd3 ilad823.Af4 f6 24..e2 g5 25.Ag3 e426.ildd1 ~b327..e2 ilc828.d5 iled829.e5

~7. . . ..m . m .. - . ~

. . ~ m\1UJ5~ .I::.u.-41::..'.. .3~~~ .1::..2 . .".I::.~1~:t.1:l. =

a bed e f 9 h

29...f5 30.e6f431.Af2.g6 32.h4.f5 33.hxg5 ilxd5 34. ilxd5 .xd535.ild1 '8'xg5 36.ild7 ~e5 37..xc4.f638.IiIxa7 ild839.Ad4 .h440..e2~b3 41. ild7 ile8 42.Axb6 IiIxe343.ild1 .16 44.a5 ile6 45.'8'b5 '8'xe646..g5+ <!>f747.'8'xf4+ <!>g648.!fb4<!>f749. ile 1 ilc4 50. IiIxe6 ilxb4 51.ile4 ilb5 52.ila4 ~e1 53.a6 ~e2+54.<!>f1~e355.ila1 ~d556.Af2~e757.a7 ~a8 58.ile1 ila5 59.g3 ilg560.ile8 ilg8 61.ilb8 ile8 62.<!>e2h5

Slugfest PairingsIn SlugfestPairings, the highest-rated player gets to choose his first-round color.

This detennines the colors for all the other players, for this round and the next! Everypair of rounds, things reset, as everybody should have played one White and oneBlack. Since the even-numbered rounds are much more constrained and the pairingsare usually almost forced, it is critical to project the likely results in the odd-num-bered rounds so that problem pairings are minimized. So far, 1have been able to doit, especially with the involvement of the players. I find it best to get the peopleinvolved to participate or even make the decisions.

The other benefit of Slugfest Pairings is that the highest-ranked is paired with thelowest-ranked in each point group. The reason is to eliminate the random noiseadd~ by the halfway cutoff in traditional Swiss pairings. 1YPically,players justabove, and just below, the halfway point will have entirely different outcomes afterthe first round and, in a short tournament, that could be a significant difference. WIthSlugfest Pairings, you end up with roughly the same strength opponent each round asthe other players around you. Almost too simple. Players in the middle play againsteach other and even a 50-point rating difference doesn't significantly change the II-strength of the opponent.

December 2006 Northwest Chess

I -

,

II .

GM Slugfest HAP Crosstable(with old-stylepoints appended)

A Thank You from cUntI would like to thank eveJyOne who helped to put the GM Slugfest together. It was

a team dart and together we showed the rest of the country thai Seattle is indeed thechess capital of the USA!

Thanks to Elliott, who lets us use his Chess4life center, seemingly all the time; EdDaroza for tirelessly manning the relay machine for the bulk of the toumament; and theSunL.eashed guys for blinding us and, later, for unblinding us. All of the rides peoplegave to the GMs, people who helped with the cameras, fed us, helped setup, cleanup, itgoes on and on. There must have been over 50 people that chipped in, we definitelycouldn't pull it off without you.

We all need to thank Eddie Chang who dealt with logistics, so I could concentrate

on writing a few pages of stuIf to get the word out about BAP and the death of thegrandmaster draw. Without Eddie, there would have been no press, fewer GUs, and itcertainly wouldn't have been the first class setup that we had.

We also need to thank all of the ptayers, some of IIIIhomn- ~ across thewoI1d,who agreed to take part in this experimental new format. Without Victor,Varuzhan,~,Ju60,lubo, Josh, David, and Jonathan traveling to Bellevue, tbiswhole thing wouJdnot, have the international credibility that it has. Together with our Seattle Slugger he-roei>, Greg, Eric, John, and Nat, they proved that all you have to do is tweak the pointsystem and chess is totally r&enelgized. There is absolutely nothing wrong with chess,just, the point system. Once the word spreads and other people start running BAPtour-naments, then we WIllbe ready for the next step of getting chess on TV.

Northwest ChessI

December !2oo6 9

1 2 3 4 5 6 1867Ph

B15 W9 B4 W3 WtO B81. GM Victor Mikhalevski 2661 3 5 5 5 7 10 4.5

WtO B5 B13 W4 WI B32 GM Gregory Serper 2582 0 1 4 6 6 9 4.0

B9 W12 W6 Bl B5 W23. GM Lubomir Ftacnik 2599 1 3 5 6 9 9 4.0

W13 BI0 WI B2 B7 W54. GM Varuzhan Akobian 2654 2 3 5 5 6 8 4.0

B'r W2 Wl1 B8 W3 B45. GM Alexander Shabalov 2650 3 3 5 8 8 8 3.5

B12 WI B3 W7 Bl1 W136. 1MJoshua Friedel 2541 3 3 3 3 6 8 3.5

W5 B13 W9 B6 W4 BI07.GMC Jonathan Berry 2284 0 0 2 5 5 8 3.5

W14 B6 BI0 W5 B2 WI8. GM Julio BecelTa 2605 2 3 6 6 7 7 3.0

W3 B1 B7 W15 B13 W119. FM John Readey 2326 0 0 0 2 5 7 3.0

B2 W4 WI B12 Bl W710. 1M David Preuss 2448 3 3 3 6 6 6 25

Bye W15 B5 W13 W6 B911. NM Nat Koons 2317 0 2 2 4 4 4 20

W6 B3 B15 W1012. 1M Eric Tangbom 2475 0 0 3 3 3 3 1.0

B4 W7 W2 Bl1 W9 B613. NM Ignacio Perez 2241 0 2 2 2 2 2 1.0

B8 - -14. NM Elliott Neff 2268 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0

WI Bl1 W12 B915. Andy May 1952 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0

-

This was the quietest game of theround, and even it had some nice fire- Andy gave Eric a run for his money,works at the end. but didn't play precisely enoughto hold a

draw against the continual pressure.

63.r.t/d3Q:)c764.<bc4 e5 65.iIb7 iIe766.Ac5 2-0

NM Nat Koons played very well andgot all the way into the endgame until hewas outmaneuvered by Shabalov.

Ruy Lopez BerlinGM Alexander Shabalov (3, 1.5)NM Nat Koons (2, 1.0)


1.e4 e5 2.Q:)13tL1c63.Ab5 tL1164.0-0tL1xe45.d4 Ae7 6.dxe5 d5 7.c4 a60.hc6+ bxc6 9.ffc2 0-0 10.Ae3 f511.tL1d4ffd712.tL1e2c513.cxd5ffxd514.13tL1g515."d2ffxd216.lL1xd2Q:)e617.iIac1 f4 10.A12 ilf5 19.tL1c4as20.tL1c3h6 21.tL1e4hc4 22.i!xc4iIxe523.iIfc1 ilb024.b3 ilb4

8 . . ..~7~ - --...~ - - -6 . ... ~- - .5", - - .4 .:.ll).~3~8. .8.28. . .8~

MSi ~ ~1~ ~ . ~a bed e f 9 h

25.Ae1 ilb526.<bf1 g5 27.ila4 Ad620.Axa5c429.Ac3 iIxe430.fxe4cxb331.ilb1 tL1c532.ilc4 <bf7 33.a4 IIb734.a5 <be6 35.<be2 tL1d736.Ad4 c537.Ab2 ila7 30.Ac3 tL1e539. ila4 c44O.a6g441.Ad4 ilaO 42.<bd21343.g312 44.<be2 tL1f345.hf2 Ae5 46.a7tL1d4+47.hd4 hd448.iIxc4 2-0

Dutch Stonewall

GM Lubomir Ftacnik (3, 1.5)1M Josh Friedel (3, 1.0)


1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.tL1f3e6 4.e3 Ad65.tL1bd2156.c5 Ac7 7.b4 tL1160.Ab20-0 9.Ae2 Ad7 10.0-0 AeO 11.tL1e5Ag6 12.tL1b3ffeO 13.tL1c1Ah5 14.13tL1bd715.lOcd3 tL1xe5 16.dxe5 ltld717.ffd2 ffbO 10.Ad4 as 19.b5 cxb520.ilab1 Ae021.f4 ilf722.ltl12b423.a3 b5 24. axb4 a4 25.tL1d1tL1f826.tL1c3AdO 27. Ad3 ilb7 20.g4 g6 29."e2Ac6 30.il12 Ae7 31J1g2 <bf7 32.h4"dO 33.h51!abO 34.ff13 ffd7 35.hxg6+

10

hxg636.gxf5exfS37.1fh3"e6 30.~<be8 39. iIbg 11!Vf740. e6lL1xe6 41. i!xg6tL1xd442.exd4 Af6 43.iIxf6 "xf644. ilgo+ <bf745.fIh 7+ <be646.Axf5+2-0

Jonathan ("I carry a giant club.")Berry simplypulverizedReadey,who hadearlier held Lubo to a draw. We all needto find out what they put in the water upin Sasquatch country.-

Pire

GMC Jonathan Berry (0, 0.0)FM John Readey (0, 0.5)


1.d4 d6 2.e4 tL1163.tL1c3g6 4.Ae3 c65."d2 b5 6.13ltlbd7 7.a4 b4 0.ltld1 as9.c3 bxc3 10.tL1xc3Ag7 11.h4 tL1b612.Ah6Axh613."xh6e514.dxe5dxe515.h5 "e716.iId1 Ae6 17.hxg6 fxg610.tL1h3Ab3 19.ild2 lL1xa420.lL1xa4ha4 21.Ac411b4 22."g5 tL1d723.Ae6 tL1c524."16 ilf8

8".... .7~.. ..6.'..i..'.5". . .4.t~.8. .3~. .8.ll)

~ R _8-u ~ ~ ~1~

a bed e f 9 h

25.Af7+ ilxt726."xe5+ 'Ot>f827."hO+<be7 20."xaO tL1b3 29."dO+ <be630.tL1g5+<be531.ltlxf7+<be632."d7+<b16 33.e5+ 2-0

Sicilian Grand Prix

Andy May (0, 0.0)1M Eric Tangborn (0, 0.0)


1.e4c52.tL1c3g63.f4Ag74.tL113tL1c65.Ab5ltld46.0-0lL1xb5 7.lL1xb5d50.e5d49.d3ltlh610.a40-0 11."e1 b612.b4Ab7-13.ilb1 Ad514.bxc5 bxc515.c4dxc316."xc3"d717.Ae3 a610.tL1a3"xa4 19.Axc5 "xf4 20.d4 tL1f521.ilbe1 Ah622.tL1c4hc423."xc4tL1e324."a2tL1xf125.ilxt1 ilfe826.d5ilacO 27.Ad4 ilc1 20."xa6 ilecO29.A12 ilxt1+30.<bxf1 ilc1+31.Ae1

December 2006

AfS 32."d3 "84 33.h4 ild1 34."e3"c4+35.<bg1"xd5 36.h5 e6 37.c;Ph2"(1\3 30."f2 Ah6 39."h4 gxh540."xh5 "g6 41."h4 Ag742."a4ilxe1 43."aO+ AfO 44.tL1xe1"h5+45.<bg1 "xeS 46.tL113"c5+ 47.'bh1c;Pg748."a1+1649.tL1d4 fIh5+50.<bg1Ac551."a4"d5 0-3

Perez sacrificed a piece to get a strongattack against Serper, but missed thestrongest continuation.

Sicilian Kan

NM Ignacio Perez (0, 0.0)GM Gregory Serper (1, 0.5)

Bellevue, GM Slugfest (3) 20061.e4 c5 2.tL113e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tL1xd4 a65.Ad3ltl16 6.0-0 d6 7.tL1c3 b5 0.a4 b49.tL1b1Ae710.tL1d2Ab711."e2tL1bd712.b30-0 13.Ab2 ilea 14.ilad1 Af815.f4e516.fxe5lL1xe517."f2d510.tL115g6 19."f4 tL1h520."e3 gxfS 21.ilxf5lL1xd322.cxd3

22...tL1g723.ildf1 dxe4 24.ilxt7 AdS25.A16 "d6 26. iIxg7+ hg7 27."g5ila7 20.dxe4 he4 29.tL1c4 "d530.tL1e5h6 31.ffh5 ilxe5 0-3

A wildgame,Becerrahad nokingsidepawns, but was up the Exchange. Bothplayers were attacking with all they had.A great slugfest game!

English1M David Pruess (3, 1.5)GM Julio Becerra (3, 1.5)


1.c4c52.g3tL1c63.Ag2g64.Q:)c3Ag75.tL113tL1h66.d3 867.Ad2 ilbO 0.0-0b5 9.b3 0-0 10. ilc1 d6 11.lOg5 Ad712.ltlge4b413.ltld51514.hh6hh615.tL1d2e6 16.tL1f4tL1e517.ilc2 g510.tL1h3g419.tL1f4 hf4 20.gxf4 tL1g621.e3 ilf7 22.ile1 h5 23.tL1f1"b6.24.d4tL1h425.Ah1Ac626.d5exd527.cxd5Ab520.tL1g3 ilbf829.lL1xh5 ilh7

Northwest Chess

3O.~g3 "d8 31.13gxf3 32.Axf311ff733.~h1 I1fg7 34.l1g1 Ad335."xd3~3 36."xf5 ~xg1 37.~xg1

8

~

. II...7 ~ . . ..6'.. . .5. .~.'i!f.

m .. ~ ..- d u .." ~ ~ ~3~~. U ~

2 ~.:. . ~1W& .. .. ~W&- W&

a bed e f 9 h

37...lIh6 38.lIg2 as 39.~e4 1!xg2+4O.~xg2 c4 41.bxc4 a4 42.~g5 "e843.c5 dxc5 44.d6"c6+ 45.~g3 "xd646."f7+ ~h8 47."e8+ ~g7 48."xa41Ie7 49.e4 c4 50.e5 c3 51.h3 "c752.1Ic2 "c5 53."d3 "c7 54.e6 c255.e7"xe7 56."xc2 "'e3+ 57.~g4"g1+ 58.~f3 "h1+ 59.~e3 "e1+60.~13 "c3+ 61."xc3+ bxc3 62.~e2IId6 0-3

Round FourStandlnas:6: Becerra6: Akobian, Ftacnik, Mikhalevski,

Shabalov4: Serper3: Friedel, Pruess, Tangborn2: Berry, Koons, Perez0: May,Readey

Queen :s-Indian

FM John Readey (0, 0.5)Andy May (0, 0.0)


1.lLI13lL1f62.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Ag2 Ab 75.0-0h76.d40-07.lIe1lL1e48.lLIfd2d59.lLIxe4dxe410~lLIc3fS11.Ae3~d712.f3 exf3 13.exf3 e5 14.lLId5 Axd515.cxd5 Ad6 16.dxe5lL1xe517.f4lL1g418.Ad4 "d719.t'Ib3lIae820."c31If721.lIxe8+ "xe8 22. lIe 1 lIe723.1!xe7"xe7 24.h3lL1f6 25."e3 "f7 26."b3fIe 727. ~h2 "f7 28.Ae5 fIe 729. "c3

. lLId730.Ad4Ac531."c4Ad632."d3"f7 33."a6lL1c5 34.1Ixa7"e8 35."a3lLIe436."e3 Ac5 37.Axc5 bxc5 38.g4g6 39.Axe4 fxe4 4O.~g3 "e7 41.b3~f8 42.a4 ~e8 43.a5 ~d8 44.a6 c645.d6"a746."xe4c447."e7+ 2-0

Wow,Jonathan Berry won the short-est game of the tournament. And he wasplayingBlack against Josh Friedel,a rap-idly improving teenage 2500+ 1M, whoalready has two GM norms.

Northwest Chess

Jonathan is from Canada and looksa bit like Santa Claus. Nice guy, kindand gentle and carries hand grenades,rocket launchers and who knows whatelse in his backpack He says that he onlyattacks when the position calls for it, butI think that means he attacks wheneverhe has any pieces left.

Ruy Lopez Smyslov1M Josh Friedel (3, 1.0)GMC Jonathan Berry (2, 1.0)


1.e4e52.lLI13~c63.Ab5g64.d4exd45.Ag5 Ae7 6.Axe7 "xe7 7.0-0 lLIf68.e5lL1h5 9.Axc6 dxc6 10."xd4 0-011.lLIc3AfS12."e3f613.h3

13...fxe5 14.g4lL1f4 15.gxf5 lOxh3+16.~h2IIxf5 17. ~xh3IIaf8 18.lLIh2IIh5+ 19.~g2 "h4 20.lIh1 IIxf2+21."xf2"h3+ 0-3

Sicilian Sveshnikov

GM Julio Becerra (6, 2.5)GM Alexander Shabalov (5, 2.5)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (4) 20061.e4 c5 2.lOf3lL1c63.d4 cxd4 4.lOxd4lOf6 5.lLIc3 e5 6.lLIdb5 d6 7.Ag5 a68.lLIa3b59.Axf6gxf610.lLId5f511.g3Ag7 12.Ag2 f4 13.c3 h5 14.lOc2 h415.gxf4 exf416.lLIxf4lOe5 17.lOe3 h318.A13ffh419.lLId3Ae620."e2IIc821.lIg1 ~f8 22.lId1lL1xd3+ 23."xd3Ae5 24.lLIfS"f4 25.lIg4 "xh2 26."e3Af6 27.lIg3 Axf5 28."f4Ae5 29.'iYxf5IIc5 0-3

QGD SlavGM Gregory Serper (4, 1.5)GM Varuzhan Akobian (5, 2.5)

Bel/evue, GM Slugfest (4) 20061.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.lLIf3lL1f64.e3 Af55.lLIc3e66.lLIh4 Ag47."b3"c7 8.h3Ah5 9.g4 Ag6 10.lLIxg6hxg6 11.Ag2lObd7 12.Ad2lL1b6 13.cxd5 exd5 14.

December 2006

o-o-OO-D-D15.~b1 mb816.Ac1Ad617.g5lL1h5 18.e4 dxe4 19.Axe4lL1f420.h4 IIhe8 21.l1he1 lIe722.Axf4Axf4 23.d5 cxd5 24.lOxd5 lLIxd525.Axd5IIxe126.1!xe1 f627.a3fxg528.hxg5 Axg5 29.Axb7 /

- - .. ~- - d ..~mH ~ m7 "i.. . -

6 . . ...5~.. .4....3," . .~ .. ~ ..u d u ~

1~a bed e f 9 h

29...Af6 30.1Ie4 Ad4 31.Ad5+ Ab632.lIe6 IId6 33.11e8+ l1d8 34.11e6IId6 35.lIe1 "d7 36.Ag2 "f5+37.~a2 "xf2 38.11e8+~c7 39."c4+"c5 40."e4 11d7 41.lIe6 IId442.lIc6+ ~d8 43.lIxc5 2-0

GrUnftld ExchangeGM Victor Mikhalevski (5, 2.0)GM Lubomir Ftacnik (5, 2.5)


1.d4lOf6 2.c4 g6 3.lLIc3d5 4.cxd5lL1xd55.e4lL1xc36.bxc3 Ag7 7.lO13c5 8.l1b10-0 9.Ae2 lLIc610.d5lL1e5 11.lLIxe5Axe512."d2e613.f4Ac714.0-DexdS15.exd5 h516.d6 l1b8 17.Aa3 AfS18.lIbd1"f619.Axc5 Axc3 20.Ad4Axd4+ 21."xd4 "xd4+ 22.1!xd4b523.IIc1 Ae624.11d2IIfd825.lIc6b426. '

lIa6 IIb6 27.1!xb6 axb6 28.h3 ~f8 29.Af1 h530.h41Ia831.lId411d832.lId2lIa8 33.lId41Id8 34.lId2 0-1

English1M Eric Tangbom (3,1.0)1M David Pruess (3, 1.5)


1.d4e62.lO13c5 3.c4cxd44.lLIxd4lL1f65.lLIc3 d5 6.e3 Ae7 7.cxd5 lLIxd58.Ab5+ ~f8 9.Ad2 b6 10."f3 Af611.lLIxd5"xd512.Ab4+~g813."xd5exd514.Ac3 h615.a4 g616.0-0 ~g717.l1fd1 IId8 18.lLIe2Ab7 19.Axf6+~xf6 20.lLId4 a6 21.Ae2 as 22.lIac1lOd7 23.Ab5lL1c5 24.13 lIac8 25.~f2lOe6 26.~e2 ~e5 27.lOc6+ Axc628.1!xc61!xc629.Axc6d430.f4+~d631.Ab5 ~c5 32.l1c1+ <ct>b433.lIc6 .IIb8 34.lId6 dxe3 35. <ct>xe3lLIc536.lId4+ ~b3 37.Ac4+ ~xb2 38.Axf7

11

....

l1b739.Ads l1e7+40.'.t>t3 11d741.g4~xa4 42.llxa4 l1xdS 43.c!>e4 l1d144.15 'itb3 45. 11d4 gxf5+ 46.gxf511e 1+47.c!>dS a4 48. l1d3+ «1>b249.1113 a350.16a2 S1.f7 a1=" S2.f8=" "as+53.«1>c611e6+54.«1>b7"d5+ 55.«1>b8"e5+ 0-3

King s Indian ClassicalNM Nat Koons (2, 1.0)NM lenado Perez (2, 1.0)


1.e4 g6 2.d4 Ag7 3.c4 d6 4.~c3 ~16S.~f3 0-0 6.Ae2 e5 7.0-0 ~c6 8.dS~79.~d2~d710.11b1 f511.b4~f612.cS c!>h813.13 Ah6 14.c!>h1Axd21s.Axd2 f4 16."c2 a6 H.bS gS 18.b6cxb619.cxd6~g620.a4g421.1fb2 g322."xb6 "e8 23.Ae1 ~hS 24."c711f7 2S.d7 11xd726."cS "d8 27.aS1rh428."g1 l1c729.~a4 11c230..Ad1llxg2 31."xg2 Ah3 32."c2 g2+

, 33."xg2Axg2+34.c!>xg2"e735.«1>h1l1g8 36.Af2 ~g3+ 37.hxg3 fxg3 38.Axg3 ~f4 39.llxf4 exf4 40. l1b2 "d741.11h21fbs 42.11g1 l1g343.11hg2l1h3+ 44.11h2 l1g3 45.llxg3 fxg3 46.l1e2 hS 47.«!>g2h4 48.d6 "d3 49.e51Ixd15O.~c3"d3S1.e6h3+S2.c!>xh3"xf3 53.d7 g2+ 54.«1>h2g1="+ SS.«1>xg1"g3+ S6.«;Ph1 "13+ S7.«;Ph2"f4+ S8.«1>g2"gS+ S9. «1>f1"16+60.1112 "d8 61.~dS chg7 62.11g2+«!>h663.11e21ff8+64. 1112"d8 65.11e21If8+ 66.«;Pg2"d6 67.11d2chgS68.'.t>t3bS 69.axb6 as 70.b7 84 71.11d3 8372.b8=""xbB 73.1Ixa3 "f8+ 74.«1>e4"d67S.1Ia6 tIb8 76.11b6"as 71. l1a6"d8 78.11c6 tIb8 79.e7t1b1+ SO.cheS1fb2+ 81.«1>d6"a3+ 82. lIeS "g3+83.«1>c62-0

Tho KnightsNM Nat Koons (4, 2.0)1M Josh Friedel (3, 1.5)

Bellevue, GM Slugfest (5) 20061.~f3~c62.e4e53.Ac4~4.d4exd4S.eS dS 6.AbS ~e4 7.~xd4 Aes 8.0-00-0 9.Axc6 bxc6 10.b4 Ab6 11.Ae3 "e8 12.~d2 ~e3 13."hS 1614."xe81lxe81S.11fe1 Aa616.~c6~e2+ 0-3

Younggun Pruess couldn't dodgetheMikhalevskian opening book and gotdazed when it hit him m the head. Whenhis head cleared. he realized he was mtrouble. but couldn't hold the draw.

Catalan

GM Victor Mikhalevski (5, 2.5)1M David Pruess (6, 2.5)


1.d4 dS 2.e4 86 3.~f3 e6 4.g3 ~16S.Ag2 ~bd7 6."e2 Ad6 7.0-0 0-08.~e3dxc49.11d1 bS10.e4h711.d5exdS12.exdScxd513.~d5

13...Ab 714. trud6+ .Axf61S.~gS Axgs16..Axb7"e717..ba8Axe118.11axc111xa819."f5~e520.11dSf621."e6+c!>f822.11xbs l1e823.!fds l1d824."e4 "d62S.!fxh7 ~f3+26.chg2~gS27.llxgS fxgS 28.11e3 "d5+ 29.1113+che7 30."xg7+ chd6 31.g4 l1d7 32."f6+ «1>e733.chg3 "d1 34."eS+ «1>b735.lfb5+ chca 36."xc4+ 2-0

Round FiveSt8nd1nas:8: Shabalov6: Becerra.Ftacnik.Pruess,Serper -6: Almbian,Berry,Mikhale¥ski Pirc4' Koons .

(2 )3; Friedel NM Ipaao Perez, 1.02: Perez,Readey FM John Readey (2, 1.5)

WIthinan hour. a knockoutblowwas Bellevue, GM Slugfest (5) 2006.deliveredby Josh ("I really shouldn'thave 1.e4d62.d4~f63.~c3g64.f3c6S.Ae3lostyesterdayjFriedel. Joshtumedinto b56.a4b4 7.~b1 aS8.g4Ag79.h4hSsome sort of crazed maniac and just 10.g51llid711.f4c512.c31fb613.~d2rippedoffNat's headand handedit to him. Ab 714. lIb 1exd4 1S.cxd4 dS 16.~gf3Ouch! Joshstillhastheshortestgameof eS 17.fxeS ~eS 18.~eS AxeS 19.the tournament, but it is this 16-move .1\b5+Ac620.t!ff3.1\xd421.exdSAxe3miniahtre. 22."e4+ chf823.dxc6 Axd2+ 24.c!>xd2

12 December2006

D,

«1>g72s.11bf1 l1d8+ 26.«1>e2 l1a727."eS+ «1>g828.1116 "e729."xe7llxe730.11d1 l1e7+31.<itn211xd132.Ac4 l1e133.b311xc434.bxc4 l1e735.<t>e3~c6 36. <t>e4~e 7 37. <t>d4~f5+38.chd3 l1b7 0-3{in48)

CanJ1diCU1wildman Jonathan Berrypushed Akobian to a Rook ending withonly two pawns. WJien he couldn't see aRook sac that led to a forced mate, heofrered a draw. Akobian reluctantly tookit, as he didn't have a Rook sac either.

French Steinitz

GMC Jonathan Berry (5, 2.0)GM Varuzhan Akobian (5, 2.5)

Paragon Hote~ GM Slugfest (5) 2006

1.e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.~c3 ~f6 4.eS ~fd7S.f4 eS 6.~f3 ~c6 7.Ae3 a6 8."d2 b59.Ad3b410.~1lLe711.0-0cxd412.~d4 ~ 13.Axd4 ~c5 14.~t2 as1S."e3 tre7 16.~h1 Aa6 17.~g3 g618.11ac1~a419.~e2Ac520.b3.Axd421.trxd4~e3 22.~e3 bxc3 23.11cd1«1>e724.11f3l1hc8 2S..\\xa611xa6 26.l1dd3 11c627.g4'8b6 28. trxb6 11xb629.11xc311xc330.11xc3 11b431.11e7+che8 32.c4 84 33.«1>12axb3 34.axb311xb33S.cxdS exdS 36.15gxf5 37.gxf511b438.'.t>t311e439.e6 fxe640.fxe6 h641. l1d7 1lxe6 42.11xdS 0-1

Becerra gambitted a pawn as Blackand had quite a few open lines. but, ofcourse.against Serperyouneedmorethanthat. To Becerra's credit, he didn't pushtoo far and was able to score the fieldgoal.

QGD Semi-SlavGM Gregory Serper (6, 2.5)GM Julio Becerra (6, 2.5)


1.d4dS2.c4c63.~f3~f64.e3e6s.Ad3 I

~bd7 6.0-0 ~e4 7.~fd2 158.13~d2 I9.hd2 Ad6 10.cxdS exdS 11.Axf5

Northwest Chess

r

}

11...Wh4 12.f4 0-0 13.Ad31D16 14.l;,)e3'.1>h81S."e2 Ad716.Ilae1I;,)o417.h3ID1618. Ilf3 Ilae819.Ilef11;,)e420.Ae1 "e7 21.04 bS 22.be4 dxe423.1I3fl as 24.15 b4 2s.lDa4 Ac8 26.1;,)b6D7 27.1;,)c4Ae7 28.16gxf6 29.Ilf5 Ac8 30. IleS15 31.gxf5 Ilg8+ 32.'.1>h1"gS 33. "121rhs 34.1fh4 "e235."121JhS36.1fh4 "e237."121rhS0-1

In a massively complicated middle-game with the clock wmding down forbothofthem, Shabalovand Lubo stillhadto make about a dozen moves. When thedust settled Lubo had a fivepawn to fouradvantage and even had a Bishop versusKnight. Try as he might, Alex couldn'thold the draw

Sicilian

GM Alexander Sbabalov (8, 3.5)GM Lubomir Ftacnik (6, 3.0)

Bellevue, GMSlugfest (5) 2006

1.e4 eS 2.l;,)a3 d6 3.e3 IDf6 4.g3 g6S.Ag2 Ag7 6.1De20-0 7.d4 ~bd7 8.0-0 IlbB 9.1;,)b5'tfb6 10.a4 a6 11.l;,)a3.e7 12.b4 eS 13.dxc5 dxc5 14.b5 c41s.Ilb1 Ild8 16."c2 ~eS 17.b6"e718.lt~xc4~fxe4 19.Aa3 Ad7 20.lDb2"e6 21.Ilbd1 JU8 22.Ilfe1 "16 23.~e1 ~g524..e2Ac6

I .

2S."e3 IDf3+26.Axf3 "xf3 27."xf3Axf3 28.Ilxd8 Ilxd8 29.beS AxeS30.~cd3 Axb6 31.~eS Ild2 32./;)xf3Axf2+ 33.'.1>f1be1 34.~d2 bd23S.c4 Ae3 36.'.1>e2AM 37.~d3 fS38.~1 c;tm39.~b3Ag140.'.t.>f3'.1>e641.~aSAb6 0-3

Round SixStandlllAS:9: Ftacnik8: Shabaloy7: Becerra.Mikhalevski6: Akobian,Friedel,Pruess, Serper5: Berry,Readey4: Koons2: Perez

Northwest Chess

Mikhalevski showed us why he is oneof the top players in the world. In a must-wm situation and with things going badly,he upped the ante into an endgame race.After the game, he said that he overlookedBecerra's g4 move and was forced to doan unintentional Exchange sac. One in-accurate move by Becerra and. all of asudden, he was fighting to hold the draw.From the brink of being eliminated. Mikh-alevski heroically fights back and getsinto a worse endgame, but at least onewith winning chances. Talk about a highpressure wm! This is what champions aremade oft

Sicilan DragonGM Julio Becerra (7, 3.0)GM Victor Mikhalevski (7, 3.5)

Bellevue, GMSlugfest (6) 20061.e4 c5 2.1;,)13d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.~d4l;,)f6S.I;,)c3g6 6.h3 Ag7 7.f3l;,)c6 8."d20-09.0-0-0 dS10.'.1>b1 eS11.~c6bxc6 1~.exdS exdS 13.~d5 Ae6 14.~+ "xf6 1S.AgS "15 16.g4 "xf317.Ag21!fxo418.Axa8 Ilxa819."d8+Ilxd8 20. Ilxd8+ Am 21.Ah61fb4 22.i1xf8+ 1!fxf8 23.Axf8 '.t.>xf8

Sicilian Dragon1M Josh Friedel (6, 2.5)NM Ignacio Perez (2, 1.0)

Bellevue, GMSlugfest (6) 2006'1.e4eS2.~f3d63.d4cxd44.~d4~f6S.~c3 g6 6..i.e3 Ag7 7.13~c6 8."d2

December 2006

0-09.0-0-0 Ad7 10.h4 IleB 11.'IPb1~eS 12.hS Ilxe3 13."xc3 ~S 14."e1 ~f61S.Ah6bh616.Ilxh6«;t>g717."d2~g818.Ilh11!fb619.o4h620.h2IleB21.Ildg11Dc422.Axc4Ilxc423.1;,)f5+Axf5 24.gxf5 "d4 2S.1!fxd4+Ilxd426.fxg6fxg627.Ild1 Ilc428.eSdxeS29.Ild7 Ilb430.Ile1 hS31.a3 Ilb632.Ilxe5 '.1>1633.Ile4g5 34.b4 h435.c4

~ .........

When our Can~cli~nwildmanpushedhis pawn to h3, David looked a bit con-cerned.

Ruy Lopez Smyslov1M David Pruess

GMC Jonathan BerryBellevue, GM Slugfest (6) 2006

1.e4 eS 2.~f3 ~c6 3.DS g6 4.d4 exd4S'¥ Ab4+ 6.1Dbd2 167.Af4 a6 8.Ac4d69.0-0~eS10.bg8 Ilxg811.~d4AeS 12.c3 "e7 13.Ag3 Ag4 14."c2gS1s.Ilfe1 hS16.f3 Ad717.lDf1 h418..11.12h3

19.~e3hxg220.I;,)d5"d821.!Jb3 Ilha22."xb7 IlbB23.~c7+c;tm24.1!fd5+'.1>g62S.~ce6 1!fg8 26.'.1>xg2be627.~e6 AxI2 28.ci>xf2Ilxb2+ 29.<!>e3Ilhxh2 30.l;,)d4 1!fe8 31.c4IDxc4+32.«;t>d3~e5+ 0-3

13

-

. . . .7. . ...- .. - ~- .,- ~5

~~ . ...,

4 8.8. ~.I..3.8..:.-..+.--R ~.~

~w. ~ .

1~Lubo went into an early endgame. a bed e f 9 h

His edge, the .queensidepawn ~jority, 34...e5 35.h3 iIh4 36.Ac3 e4 37.Axb4seemedtoo thin to convert to a WID. exf3 38.Ad6 1lxh3 39.~d3 h4 40.~e4

iIh5 41.15 iIh1 42.c5 bxc5 43.hc5 h344.Ad6h245.~ ilxfs+46.~g2 iIb147.Axh2 iIxf2+48.c!>xf2iIxb3 0-3

John Readey did an old fashionedKnight fork against his fellow teammateNat Koons. When Board Three playsBoard Four, it is a must-win game forthe board three player and John was morethan ready to teach Nat some things.-

Reti

FM John Readey (5, 2.5)NM Nat Koons (4, 2.0)

Bellevue, OMSlugfest (6) 2006

1.~f3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 ~f6 4.Ag2 dxc45."c2~bd76.0-0a67.a4 iIb88.~a3b59.axb5axb510.~d4c511.~c6"c712.~"xb813.b3cxb314."xb3c415.~c4 2-0

Sicilian AlapinGM Lubomir FtacnikGM Gregory Serper

Bellevue, OMSlugfest (6) 20061.94 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 "xd5 4.d4 e65.~f3 ~f6 6.~a3 ~c6 7.Ae3 cxd48.~b5 "d8 9.~bxd4 ~xd410."xd41rxd411.Axd4Ae712.~e50~0 13.0-

0-0 ~d5 14.Ac4 16 15.~d3 iId816.iIhe1 b6 17.f4" 18.a3 ~c719.iId2iId620.g4Aa621.Axa6~622. iIde2~c723.a40024.iIf1 iId525.iIf3h526.g5 iI15 27.gxf6 gxf6 28. iIef2 Ad629.c4 ~a6 30.b3 iIg8 31. iIg3 iIg4 32.~c2 ~b4+ 33.~ Axb4 34. iIgf3

Akobian relished his rol~ as thespoiler forAlex's grab for the cash. Thesetwo players go way back and Akobiansaid that if he can't get the cash, there'sno way he's gQingto let Alex get it.

King s Indian ClassicalGM VaruzhanAkobianGM AlexanderShabalov

Bellevue, OM Slugfest (6) 2006

1.d4 ~f6 2.c4 g6 3.~c3 Ag7 4.~f30-0 5.e4 d6 6.Ae2 c6 7.0-0 a6 8.h3 b59.a3 bxc4 10.hc4 d5 11.Ad3 ~bd712.Ae3 dxe4 13.~e4 ~d5 14.Ag5 h615.Ad2 '8b6 16.b4 iId817.iIc1 ~f8

8"'."'....7 ~!~ ~~ .i_'-6 Awn,. --,~- - - lf1I5~.~..4 nJ nJ 1:'\ --.!U U"Z..J.3 ~ ..i..~2 -- ~ nJ8~.

~.~ - u ~

m R\Wt~ ~1. ~W.:~a bed e f 9 h

18."a4 ~e6 19.iIxc6 "b8 20."a5~df4 21 .Axt4 "xf4 22.~c5 hd4 23.~d4 iIxd4 24.Axa6 ~c5 25."xc5Ad726. iIc7~g727.b5 e528. iIe1 iIea29.b6Axh330.gxh3"g5+31.~f1"1532.Ab7"xh3+ 33.Ag2 "d3+ 34.~g1iIg435.iIe7 iIxe736."xe7 iIg537.b720 .

The Gresham Open is back!January 6-7,2007

5-round Swiss Time Control:Rounds 1-3: 40/90; SD/30Rounds 4-5: 40/120; SD/60

Registration: Sat 9-9:45; Rounds: Sat 10, 2, ASAP; Sun 10, ASAP

Location: Mt. Hood Community College, Jazz Cafe and Town & Gown Room;26000 SE Stark, Gresham. Check www.pdxchess.orgfor directions to playing site

Yzpoint byes available for rounds 1-4 if requested at registration, limit 1

$1,500 (Based on 60 entries)1st $300; 2nd $200; 3M $125; U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400: $100 - $75

Entry Fee $40, $10 discount to PCC members ifregistered in advance before January 4

Memberships: USCFand OCF/WCFrequired(OSA) NW Chess Grand Prix event.

I Entries: Payable to Portland Chess Club; mail to Mike Morris, 2344 NE 27thAve., Portland, OR 97212

14 December 2006 Northwest Chess

I

USCF Crosstables(qq9q) indicates Quick Rating

Spokane End-of-Summer Quick 9/71 Countryman, Zachary (1649) (1669)2 Korsmo, Kevin (1550) (1583)3 Attwood, Adam (1677) (1663)4Snpes, James (1594) (1590)5 Baker, Kevin (1589) (1576)6 Ackerman, Ryan SC (1361) (1419)7 Chow, Alex (1452) (1447)8 Pajanllo,Jose (1300) (1400)9 Blue, Alton (1365) (1361)

10 Weyland, Ronald 10 (1322) (1293)11 Blue, Benjamin (1225) (1261)12 Waugh, James (1209) (1225)13 Blue, David (596) (696)14 Chow, Ward (1401) (1383)15 Baker,Ted (1342) (1324)16 Weyland, Annette ID (1253) (1190)17 Chnstiansen, Peter (917) (907)18 Pajanllo,Jomell (463) (307)

TD: David GriffinWl5 we W5 H 3.5Wll D14 W4 W7 3.5L6 Wl 7Wl4 we 3.0Wl6 W9 L2 Wl2 3.0WlO W7 Ll D6 2.5W3 L15 W9 D5 2.5Wl2 L5 Wl5 L2 2.0Wl 7 Ll Wll L3 2.0Wl8 L4 L6 Wl4 2.0L5 L12 Wl 7 W18 2.0L2 Wl6 L8 Wl5 2.0L7 WlO Wl3 L4 2.0L14 Wl8 L12 Wl6 2.0Wl3 D2 L3 L9 1.5Ll W6 L7 Lll 1.0L4 Lll Wl8 L13 1.0L8 L3 L1O B 1.0L9 L13 L16 L1O 0.0

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Tacoma/Pierce County Quick Champ. 9/30 TD: Gary Dorfner1 Bartron, Paul (2052) (2080) W6 Wll W7 W2 W3 5.02 McGeary, Bill (2176) (2178) W5 we W3 Ll W7 4.03 MacGregor, Michael (2198) (2180) W4 W7 L2 we Ll 3.04 Smith, Allen (1566) (1586) L3 W9 W6 L7 we 3.05 Etingher, Constantin (1395) (1390) L2 WlO L8 B Wll 3.06 Bleich,Travis (1282) (1281) Ll B L4 W9 WlO 3.07 Lowther, Jeff (1834) (1824) W9 L3 Ll W4 L2 2.08 Buck, Sephen (1684) (1669) WlO L2 W5 L3 L4 2.09 Nikolskyy, Daniel (750) (750) L7 L4 Wll L6 B 2.0

10 Nikolskyy, Oleksiy (1300) (886) L8 L5 B Wll L6 2.011 Smith, Patrick (100) (100) B Ll L9 L1O L5 1.0

PCC Game-in-60 9130 TD: Gregori Alpemas1 Raptis, Nick 2299(2205) 2298(2204)2 Haessler, Carl 2200(2130) 2205(2133)3 Magee, Tony 1800(1658) 1819(1697)4 Banner, Richard 1840(1560) 1846( 1584)5 Peake,Ethan 1829(1624) 1841(1643)6 Kaiser,Brian WA 1727(1550) 1734(1562)7 Breckenridge, Seve 1889(1809) 1899(1819)8 Gutman, Richard 2000(2165) 2000(2145)9 Robinson, Marcus 1761(1740) 1752(1722)

10 Arun, Aditya 1687(1514) 1707(1557)11 Smith, Micah WA 1666(1468) 1663(1464)12 Kudva, Vikram 1553(1427) 1563(1436)13 Bailey, Tayfor 1669(1367) 1663(1366)14 Porter, Nathan 1598(1397) 1567(1366)15 Dietz, Miss 1500(1429) 1500(1403)16 Harry, Ken 1325(1204) 1315(1196)17 Becker, Brett 1626(1449) 1606(1423)18 Taylor,Michael 1484(1319) 1492(1337)19 Fnesen, Daniel 1447(1351) 1452(1353)20 Porter,Joel 1209(1098) 1211(1089)21 LeGrove, Jeremy 1029(946) 1079(995)22 Carney,Dirk i 1571(1490) 1567(1486)23 Morehouse, Brandon1436(1329) 1427(1313)24 Robinson,Tim 1391(1165) 1370(1159)25 Smith, Chloe 681(646) 734(715)26 Smith, James 576(801) 576(799)27 Kudva, Sudhlakar 797(888) 760(842)28 Lehto, DaniellWA 1300(1300) 818(699)

Seattle Fall Open 9/22-24 TD: Fred Kleist1 Koons, Nat 2303 2317 W3 Wl8 Wll W52 Guo, Alex 1881 1911 D24 W22 Wl6 W93 O'Gorman, Peter 1821 1874 Ll Wl4 W23 Wll4 Wilson, Mattl)ew 1789 1810 H D17 D19 Wl35 Rupel, David 2050 2047 H W7 W21 Ll6 Calpo, Benjamin CA2018 2013 W7 Lll W12 W207 Xing, Kerry 1674 1704 L6 L5 B Wl78 Arganian, David 2039 2020 D21 L1O W17 H9 Chen, Howard 1898 1893 D17 W15 WlO L2

10 Watts, Peter 1720 1749 D19 we L9 W21

W22 Wl3 W5 D2Wl2 WlO W6 DlD18 W23 W9 W7Wl5 Wll L7 Wl3Wl9 Wl7 Ll WllW24 W26 L2 Wl5W25 we W4 L3Wl4 L7 W22 D1OD23 W18 L3 W22Wl6 L2 Wl2 D8W21 L4 W17 L5L2 Wl6 L1O Wl8W20 Ll W26 L4L8 L21 W27 W25L4 W28 W25 L6L1O L12 W28 W26W28 L5 Lll H.D3 L9 W23 L12L5 W20 H UL13 L19 D24 W28Lll Wl4 H ULl W24 L8 L9D9 L3 L18 D24L6 L22 D20 D23L7 W27 L15 L14B L6 L13 L16U L25 L14 UL17 L15 L16 'L20

H 4.5W6 4.5D5 3.5W1O3.5D3 3.0L2 3.0W14 3.0H 2.5U 2.5L4 2.5

Northwest Chess

11Collyer,Curt 2217 2202 W13 W612 Wu, Darren 1841 1840 H H13 Hickey, Patnck 1714 1700 Lll B14 Buck, Sephen 1718 1714 L18 L315 Lee, Nathan 1712 1706 H L916 Li, Jerry 1639 1654 W20 H17 Kolde, Serling 1639 1661 D9 D418 Lee, Michael 2163 2159 Wl4 Ll19 Gale, Geoffrey 1974 1964 D1O H20 Kalina, CMs 1974 1953 L16 H21 Crawford, Scott OR 1759 1744 D8 x22 Omon, Michael 1646 1618 H L223 Wang, Michael 1659 1628 H H24 Kolde, Serling 1639 1661 D2 U

Reserve1 Warrier, Krishnan 1623 1649 W232 Piper, August 1522 1506 L193 Kleist,Carol 1439 1459 W204 Fan, George 1594 1588 Wl75 Monahan, Darby 1500 1506 WlO6 Lee, Megan 1565 1541 L147 McClung, Charles 1424 1436 H8 ~,Thomas TX1425 1431 Wl39 VanVeen, Kerry 1436 1455 W22

10 Guo, Anthony 1357 1395 L511 Wu, Darryl 1291 1293 H12 Qu, Frank 1210 1249 H13 Mellott, Michael 1157 1152 L814 Dawson, Drew 1090 1220 W615 Etingher, Constantin 1400 1400 H16 Yu, Justin 906 1029 D2117 Sun, Tnstan 1313 1264 L418 Omori, Jeffrey 1314 1269 H19 Grabar, Svetlana 1173 1186 W220 Milener, Gene 1434 1395 L321 Mathews, Dan 1734 1720 D1622 Piper, August 1522 1506 L923 Louie, Henry AK 1468 1458 Ll

Ll L3 U 2.0L6 Wl6 U 2.0H L4 D16 2.0W22 W23 L7 2.0L20 D22 W23 2.0L2 L12 D13 2.0L8 L7 W222.0H U U 1.5D4 U U 1.5Wl5 L6 U 1.5L5 L1O U 1.5L14 D15 L17 1.0L3 L14 L15 1.0

U U U 0.5

we D4 W5 H 4.0Wl6 W20 Wl4 W3 4.0H H W9 L2 3.0H Dl D7 D9 3.0Wl4 H Ll D7 3.0WlO H D12 Wll 3.0D19 Wl8 D4 D5 3.0Ll H Wl9 H 3.0H Wl9 L3 D4 3.0L6 Wl 7 W20 Wl5 3.0H D12 Wl3 L6 2.5D15 Dll D6 D14 2.5B D16 Lll Wl9 2.5L5 Wl5 L2 D12 2.5D12 L14 Wl8 'L1O 2.0

L2 D13 D17 D18 2.0L20 L1O D16 B 1.5H L7 L15 D161.5D7 L9 L8 L131.5Wl 7 L2 L1O U 1.0

U U U U 0.5U U U U 0.0U U U U 0.0

~'~ Eckstein Friday Night Seattle 9/15 TO Siva Narayanan3'5 1 Narayanan, Siva 1448(1402) 1456(1409) - W W W 3.0

. 2 McPoland,Gary 599(592) 810(782) L - W W 2.03.0 3 Song, Matthew 1074(969) 1051 (952) L L - W 1.0

~:g 4 McPoland, Devin A 1117(1036) 1043(960) L L L - 0.03.02.52.52.52.02.02.02.02.02.01.51.51.51.51.51.01.01.01.01.00.00.0

Portland Fall Open 10/14-151 Schulien, Charles 23392336 W92 Brownell, Landon 22422250 WlO3 Foster,Raleigh 19771993 Wl34 Jacobi,Gunther 18521913 L65 Smigel,Ezekiel 17201759 L86 Pupols,Viktors WA 22032200 W47 Janniro, Mike 2079 2061 Dll8 Tisinger, Seve 19992002 W59 Breckenridge, Seve 1899 1903 Ll

10 Gay, Daniel 18671854 L211 Robinson, Marcus 17521766 D712 Alpernas, Gregon 19791951 Wl413 Arun, Aditya 17071700 L314 Becker, Brett 16061610 L1215 Pendergraft,Troy 17581727 H

Reserve1 Bailey, Tayfor 16641704 W62 Buck, Sephen WA 1714 1706 WlO3 Gagnon, William 1624 1628 W204 Dietz,Arliss 1500 1518 W215 Fnesen, Daniel 1452 1469 Lll6 Hong, Brian WA 13661442 Ll7 Olson, Michael 16591630 L198 You, Sean 14501454 Wl89 Midson, Tony 14241468 H

10 Robinson,Tim 13701400 L211 Shimida, Masakazu 1300 1485 W512 Smith, Micah WA16631600 L1713 Fortune,JonathanWY 1500 1500 H14 Taylor, Michael 1492 1465 W2315 Hong, Albert WA 14501422 W2216 Etilllher,ConstarmnWA1400 1408 H

Decem ber 2006

TD: Komelijs DaleW3 L2 W7 we 4.0W8 Wl W6 L4 4.0Ll D6 Wll WlO 3.5Wll D8 Wl2 W2 3.5D13 D1O Wl5 W9 3.0Wl2 D3 L2 U 2.5L9 Wl5 Ll Wl42.5L2 D4 W9 Ll 2.5W7 Wl2 L8 L5 2.0D14 D5 Wl3 L3 2.0L4 Wl3 L3 D122.0L6 L9 L4 Dll1.5D5 Lll L1O Wl51.5

D1O H H L7 1.5H L7 L5 L13 1.0

W8 Wl4 W2 D3 4.5Wl5 D4 Ll W9 3.5D17 H Wl6 Dl 3.5Wl9 D2 D9 D5 3.5W23 Wl9 Wl4 D4 3.5Wle Wl5 De Wl23.5D21 H W20 Wl63.0Ll D1O D6 ,Wl73.0Wl3 Wl 7 D4 L2 3.0W22 D8 D17 Wl43.0L14 L16 Wl5 w2o3.0L20 W21 Wl9 L6 2.0L9 D20 W22 U 2.0.

Wll Ll L5 L1O 2.0L2 L6 Lll W212.0H Wll L3 L7 2.0

15

-~I

17 Harry, Ken 13151344 W12 D318 Hong,Katie WA 752 811 L8 L619 Cohen, David 12921291 W7 L420 Chin, Benjamin WA12251269 L3 W1221 Tanquary, Joseph 12021205 L4 D722 le Grove, Jeremy 10791094 L15 L1023 Mullins, Michael WA 10891020 L14 L5

Lt D10 L8 2.0B L21 W232.0L5 L12 D221.5D13 L7 L111.5L12 W18 L151.5W23 L13 D191.5L22 B L181.0

Autumn Leaves1 Fan, George2 Hubbell, Lany3 PIesha, Joe4 MIIener,Gene5 Weller,Stephen6 Frybefg, Skylor7 Breneman, Jesse8 Poyneer,Thomas9 McGee, Donald

'10 Yu, Justin11 Zhu, Hanlin12 Bravrnan, Vladislav

9J8..291602 we1754 u1437 u1400 u1229 B1855 u1129 W121054 L1933 B

1022 u157 B438 L7

TD: Fred KleistW7 B D6 3.0B we u 1.5B W7 u 1.5U B 11101.5"9 U U 1.5U B D1 1.0L1 L3 U 1.0Wl1 L2 U 1.0L5 U U 0.5U B L4 0.5L8 U U 0.5U U U. 0.0

Seattle15881753143113951221186311391057943

1029157440

G;

Soccer Season Quads Portland 10122 TD: Sudhakar Kudva1 Taylor,Michael 1465(1337) 1511(1398) - W W W 3.02 Hannibal, Carson 1459(1432) 1443(1403) L - D W 1.53 Scott, Ryan WA 1262(1106) 1284(1146) L D - W 1.54 Chin, Benjamin WA '~(1'O4) 1229(1068) L L L - 0.01 Diamond, Noah 1285(1182) 1301(1203) - L "w 2.02 Hannibal,Dana 1279(1282)1296(1279) W - W L 2.03 U, Devin 1223(1117) 1212(1110) L L - W 1.04 Kesey, Caleb 1282(1139) 1259(1127) L W L - 1.0,

1 Piatski,Alex 1251(1072)1255(1092) - D W W 2.52 Chen,Joseph 841(815) 970(921) D - W D 2.03 Pikus, Benjamin 1147(1030) 1106(990) L L - W 1.04 Peake, Annelise 938(888) 918(858) L D L - 0.51 Dirickson,Mason 1071(801) 1062(816) - L W W 2.02 Kelly,Connor 755(581) 841(701) ,,- L " 2.03 Pikus,Aaron 1051(994) 1040(967) L W - W 2.04 Nisbet, Robert 556(565) 538(527) L L L - 0.01 Kudva, Priya 802(751) 935(896) -" D W W W 4.52 Hamsberger,Ephriam869(810)916(872) L - W W W W 4.03 Petersen, Alexander 893(867) 875(853) D L - D W W 3.04 Smith,Chloe 734(715)746(720) L L D - W W 2.55 Paralkar,Mihir 428(428) 564(526) L L L L - W 1.06 Thakkar,Pawn 665(604) 577(521) L L L L L - 0.01 Stole,Kyler 301(270)683(617) - W W W W W 5.02 Hamsberger,Alex 640(528)672(579) L - W W W W 4.03 SliD,Craig 466(526) 522(511) L L - W W W 3.04 Mitchell,Allison 584(432) 529(397) L L L - W W 2.05 Quiring, Benjamin 568(329) 466(276) L L L L - W 1.06 Paralkar, Mayur 428(428) 100(100) L L L L L - 0.0see Tornado 10/8 TO: Chris Babcock1 Pupols, Viktors 2203 2206 W14 W4 W7 W3 4.02 Wentz, Dale OR 1503 1547 Wl3 D9 W14 D7 3.03 Briggs, Mark 1623 1685 D5 WlO W9 L1 2.54 Van Wyk, Daniel 1638 1660 W15 L1 D10 W9 2.55 Torkelson, Alan 1400 1452 D3 D13 W8 B 2.56 Sun, Tristan 1264 1362 L8 W16 W12 B 2.57 Xing, Casey 1239 1390 Wl6 we L1 D2 2.58 Fan, George 1602 1582 W6 L7 L5 WlO 2.09 Hickey, Patrick 1700 1671 W11 D2 L3 L4 1.5

10 Xing, Kerry 1704 1674 W12 L3 D4 L8 1.511 Thollgmee,ThomasTX1431 1426 L9 D14 D13 B 1.512 Inglis, David 1414 1403 L10 Wl5 L6 B 1.513 Unscott, Gary 1191 1338 L2 D5 D11 B 1.514 KoIde, Ster1ing 1681 1624 L1 D11 L2 D15 1.015 Gossman, John 1300 1363 L4 L12 D16 D14 1.016 Wang, Michael 1628 1571 L7 L6 D15 U 0.5

see Quad 101141 Kleist, Fred2 Desmarais, Niles3 Desmarais, Cyrus4 lee, Megan5 NikoIskyy,Oleksi

16

TD: Fred Kleist2025 2021 W41741 1756, W51584 1580 W61541 1539 L1

547 547 L2

D2 W3 2.5D1 W6 2.5W5 L1 2.0W6 W5 2.0L3 L4 0.0

6 NikoIskyy, Daniel 114 114 L3 L4 L2 0.0

see Tornado 10129 TO: Fred I<IeIst1 Pupols, Viktors 2200 2203 W8 W6 W3 W7 4.02 Pitre, H G 1826 1836 Wl2 Wl1 B B 3.03 Xing, Kerry 1674 1719 Wl6 W5 L1 "6 3.04 Kleist,Freel 2021 2025 Wl5 B WlO U 2.55 Gregg, Bruce 1821 1807 Wl3 L3 D8 Wl1 2.56 Hickey,Patrick 1671 1667 W9 L1 Wl2 L3 2.07 KoIde,Ster1ing 1622 1615 Wl7 L10 W16 L1 2.08 Hotcomb, Eric 1518 1529 L1 W1e D5 D13 2.09 Sun, Tristan 1303 1366 L6 Wl5 D11 B 2.0

10 Mathews, Dan 1732 1737 B W7 L4 U 1.511 Buck, Stephen 1706 1700 1114 L2 D9 L5 1.512Tho1vnee,Thcmas TX 1426 1421 L2 Wl7 L6 B 1.513 Etingher,Constantin 1408 1400 L5 L16 Wl7 D8 1.514 Xing, Casey 1231 1250 L11 L8 D15 Wl7 1.515 Monahan, Darby 1514 1500 L4 L9 D14 B 1.016 Kelley,Arcus 1100 1234 L3 Wl3 L7 U 1.017 Dawson, Drew 1187 1147 L7 L12 L13 L14 0.0

Close Ratings 2 Seattle 1016-27 TD: Fred Kleist1 Fan, George 1582 1583 D7 W9 W12 L3 2.52 Yu,Justin 1022 1024 Wl4 W13 U U 2.03 Fryberg, SkyIor 1855 1859 U U U Wl 1.04 Watts,Peter 1749 1758 W8 U U U 1.05 Kelly,David 1389 1395 U U U WlO 1.06 Heimisch, Roland 1300 1326 U U U Wl1 1.07 KoIde,Sterling 1624 1622 D1 U U U 0.58 Baxter,Cecil 1611 1601 L4 U U U 0.09 Weller, Stephen 1229 1223 U L1 U U 0.0

10 poyneer, Thomas 1054 1047 U U U L5 0.011 Mcgee, Donald 933 927 U U U L6 0.012 Babcock, Chris 681 680 U U L1 U 0.013 Zhu, Hanlin 157 157 U L2 U U 0.014 Bi, Patrick 391 391 L2 U U U 0.0

Portland Game-in-60 10/28 TD: Komelijs Dale1 Surak, Steve 1946(1804) 1956(1821)2 Gutman, Richard 2000(2145) 2005(2139)3 Banner, Richard 1846(1584) 1859(1629)4 Holler,Robert 1669(1605) 1703(1651)5 Smith, Micah WA 1600(1464) 1623(1506)6 May, Sarah WA 1263(1234) 1368(1349)7 Porter, Joel 1211(1089) 1333(1227)8 May, Andy WA 1946(1713) 1926(1695)9 Peake, Ethan 1863(1643) 1856(1654)

10 Sharp, Austin 1509(1423) 1548(1442)11 Dietz, Arliss 1518(1403) 1513(1400)12 Morehouse, Brandon 1427(1313) 1526(1418)13 Bailey,Taylor 1704(1366) 1690(1381)14 Nyman, Michael 1642(1563) 1626(1541)15 Becker, Brett 1610(1423) 1590(1407)16 Fortune, Jonathan WY 1500(1741) 1500(1703)17 You, Sean 1454(1322) 1432(1301)18 Hooker, Justin 1394(1294) 1408(1305)19 Robinson, Marcus 1766(1722) 1731(1676)20 Porter, Nathan 1567(1366) 1530(1330)21 Friesen, Daniel 1469(1353) 1477(1357)22 Kim, Isaac 1283(1193) 1286(1192)23 Shimida, Masakazu 1485(1485) 1417(1377)24 Terrill, Michael 1415(1259) 1398(1241)25 Mullins, Michael WA 1020(1020) 1015(1017)26 Young, Heather WA 618(713) 702(772)27 Smith, James 576(799) 634(824)28 Nikolskyy, Oleksiy WA 547(886) 671 (950)29 leGrove, Jeremy 1094(995) 1041(943)30 Jackson, Joshua 862(873) 778(812)

W21 W14 W5 W4 4.0W23 Wl3 D3 W9 3.5W24 W20 D2 WlO 3.5W22 Wl6 W8 L1 3.0W6 Wl1 L1 Wl8 3.0L5 W28 Wl6 Wl5 3.0L13 W27 Wl7 Wl9 3.0Wl7 W15 L4 D12 2.5D12 W23 Wl9 L2 2.5W26 D19 ,W13 L3 2.5W28 L5 W22 B 2.5D9 D21 Wl4 D8 2.5W7 L2 LlO W21 2.0W29 L1 L12 W24 2.0W25 L8 W24, L6 2.0W27 L4 L6 W25 2.0L8 W25 L7 W26 2.0L19 W26 W20 L5 2.01118 D10 L9 L7 1.5W30 L3 L18 D22 1.5L1 D12 W23 L13 1.5L4 W30 L11 D20 1.5L2 L9 L21 W28 1.0L3 W29 L15 L14 1.0L15 L17 W27 L16 1.0L10 L18 W29 L17 1.0L16 L7 L25 W30 1.0L11 L6 W30 L23 1.0L14 L24 L26 B 0.5L20 L22 L28 L27 0.0

f" ~'1f.J,.:PY1fofUJ"lIY6:froMfA'ortG1Ve6I'G'GUI! !

Northwest Chess is now a marketing affiliate ofThe Chess House (see ad p. 6]. Purchasesmade through the link on the NWC homepage

~ (www.nwchess.com) will benefit Northwest Chess. ~December 2006 Northwest Chess'

~

Frane1:1: :M:eIDorial

N or1:h~es1: ,Grand PrixMurlin Varner, administrator

13329 208th Ave. NEWoodinville WA 98077

mevj [email protected]

t

One monthto go for the 2006 edition of the Grand Prix. It looks asthough prizes and participation will be roughly equivalent to 2005,barring extra large, or extra small turnouts at the few remaining

events. The big event on the horizon is the Washington Class with a 4xmultiplier, which will be complete before you read this. The recently com-pleted SCC Extravaganza had a 3x multiplier and is included in these data.Coming in December is the Washington Challenger's Cup in Spokane witha 3x multiplier. These events have or will have an impact on many of thefinal standings.

The December ratings update has been processed and all classes arefinal for this year. Many people moved up in the October supplement, butonly a few as a result of December. Two notable movers were from theWashington list, where Sterling Kolde moved from 3rdplace in Class C to2ndin Class B, and Tristan Sun moved from 2ndClass D to 3rdClass C. TheDecember rating supplement is everyone's starting point for 2007.

The USCF is changing its supplement schedule, going to a monthly re-port available electronically. I probably will not be able to keep up withmonthly upgrades in my database, but your Grand Prix rating will continueto be your peak official rating during the competition year. I will just haveto modify the methods by which I conduct my updating.

A few class winners are pretty well identified already, such as StephenBuck and Constantine Etingher in Washington, and some others have com-fortable, although not insurmountable leads (Eduardo Daroza, Tony Midsonand Darryl Wu. In most of those classes, second place is still very muchup for grabs. Elsewhere in the standings there are two, three, or four playersstill with a shot at top money. In the overall standings, Taylor Bailey andBrett Becker aare in a hot race in Oregon, while Buck, Etingher, and NickRaptis appear to be headed to a photo finish in Washington, as only 8.5points currently separate them. It may rest on if they go and how they doin Spokane at the Challenger's Cup.

The standings below include all events through November 19th.Players fromOtherStates

1Weyland,Phillip ID 18992Weyland,Ronald ID 15403 Milner,Arie CAN 15524Anderson,Mark ID 17505 Martin,Robert MT 17646 Carpenter,Romie MT 18257 McBroom,William MT 15898 Mulford,Michael GA 18089 Monkhouse,Neale CAN 1741

10Pechisker,Alfred CAN 222211Walker,Andrew NJ 183612Brewster,Robert CAN 201413Milner,Aviv CAN 141814Zhao,Donovan CAN 120915Erickson,Kenneth ID 1594

Oregon

II

I

~

II

",:Jlit

:1

1 Haessler, Carl2 Roua, Radu3 Prochaska, Peter

Northwest Chess

60.558.5

37.5 Players in Database 200636.0 OR WA Other34.5 Master 7 12 333.5 Expert 12 17 232.5 Class A 23 32 1330.0 Class B 23 71 927.5 Class C 32 50 727.5 Class D-below 45 124 1827.5 totals 142 306 5225.025.025.024.0

WashingtonMasters50.0 Raptis,Nick49.0 Collyer,Curt42.0 Koons,Nat

194.0102.0

98.0

December 2006

1 Midson, Tony2 Kudva, Vikram3 Terrill, Michael4 Wentz, Dale5 Dietz, Arliss6 Friesen, Daniel

Class C75.0 Etingher, Constantin 197.553.5 Homickle, John 102.044.5 Sun, Tristan 98.042.5 Lee, Megan 92.538.5 Monahan, Darby 76.536.0 Li, William 76.0

Yang, Matthew 76.0

1 Cohen, David2 Porter,Joel3 Petersen, George4 Harry, Ken5 LeGrove, Jeremy6 Petersen, Dennis

Class D and Below59.0 Wu, Darryl49.0 Omori, Jeffrey30.0 Kirlin, Patrick28.0 Waugh, James23.0 Guo, Anthony21.5 Yu, Justin

94.561'.559.059.055.053.0

Overall Leaders

1 Bailey,Taylor 103.0 Buck, Stephen 206.02 Becker, Brett 94.5 Etingher, Constantin 197.53 Daroza, Eduardo 84.5 Raptis, Nick 194.04 Gay, Daniel 82.5 Mathews, Dan 124.55 Midson, Tony 75.0 Gale, Geoffrey 117.06 Foster, Raleigh 74.0 Bartron, Paul 115.57 Banner, Richard 70.5 O'Gorman, Peter 112.58 Peake, Ethan 69.0 Wang, Michael 110.09 Serres, Drew 68.0 Kolde, Sterling 104.0

10 Porter, Nathan 62.5 Wu, Darren 103.5

T 11 Breckenridge, Steven 60.0 Collyer, Curt 102.022 12 Robinson, Marcus 60.0 Homickle, John 102.031 13Cohen,David 59.0 Lee,Nathan 101.068 14 Phillips, Blake 55.0 Koons, Nat 98.0

103 Sun, Tristan 98.089

187500 From the Business Manager.

Northwest Chess could use a few donationsto help co~er expenses, including library sub-scriptions. Even small donations are helpful.Donations of $15 or more to the "knighthood"will be listed in the magazine for a period ofone year after the donation is recei~ed.

17

4 Brownell, Landon 30.0 Pupals, Viktors 90.05 Harmon, Clark 15.5 MacGregor, Michael 80.5

Experts1 Daroza, Eduardo 84.5 Gale, Geoffrey 117.0

2 Phillips, Blake 55.0 Bartron, Paul 115.53 Gutman, Richard 54.5 Sinanan, Joshua 78.5

4 Morris, Michael 52.5 Lee, Michael 68.5

5 Alpemas, Gregori 37.5 Selzler, Richard 65.56 Yu, Corbin 34.5 Julian, John 60.5

Class A

1 Gay, Daniel 82.5 Buck, Stephen 206.0

2 Foster, Raleigh 74.0 Mathews, Dan 124.53 Banner, Richard 70.5 O'Gorman, Peter 112.54 Peake, Ethan 69.0 Wu, Darren 103.55 Serres, Drew 68.0 Guo, Alex 85.0

6 Breckenridge, Steven 60.0 Smith, Allen 83.56 Robinson, Marcus 60.0

Class B1 Bailey,Taylor 103.0 Wang, Michael 110.02 Becker, Brett 94.5 Kolde, Sterling 104.03 Porter, Nathan 62.5 Lee, Nathan 101.0

4 Breckenridge, David 54.5 Piper,August 87.05 Sinclair, Paris 42.5 Countryman, Zachary 83.06 Gagnon, William 41.5 Hickey, Patrick 70.5

6 Taylor,Michael 41.5 Omori, Michael 70.5

"'"

USCLPlaloffs

Sluggers Defy Destiny,Overhauled by Mechanics

As noted in the previous issue of North- are headed away from the safe harbor ofwest Chess, the Sluggers made it to the a balanced game.playoffs:The~ opponentwas the Dal- 10...c6 11.e3 d>f812.Ad3 d>g7las DestIny,Withwhomthe Sluggershad - . . .drawn in the last weekof the regular sea- I guess wIth thmgs qUIet on theson. In the WeekThree match, the Des- queenside, there is time for this unusualtinyhadlost I Yz-2Yzonanendgameblun- slow castling. With ...Ac8-e6 andder. With the teams this evenly matched, ...lZJb8-d7,Black's development will beit was fortunate forthe Sluggersthat they complete and it is not clear what advan-had draw odds. tage White will have in exchange for the

The Sluggers fell behind 0-2, losing Bishop pair.on boards one and 'four though John 13.ffb31tb614.0-0-0Ae615.f4Ae7Readey(Bd. 3) seemedto be clearlywon. 16.ffc2lZJa617.ha6ffxa6He took .his !ime, but eve?tually won. Now Serper gets the Bishoppair ver-~lava MI~I~ mean~hlle, nursed a sus the Knight pair. This game sure looks~y edge,WInnmgw~enhis oppon~ntde- like it will be opening up and that bodesCidedto exch~ge .BIS~OpSand fall~ to well for Bishops, which have 60% morefind the draWIngIme m a pawn ~~g. mobility in open boards than Knights.The Sluggers advanced to the DIVIsIon Serper could have recaptured with his b-Championship with a 2-2 draw! pawn to get an open b-file, but opted for

In the Division Championship, the the more solid Q recapture to preserveSluggers faced the San Francisco Me- his pawn formation. If Serper can get thischanics. The season series went to San to an endgame, it looks like the full pointFrancisco, having drawn the first match for us.on October11thandhavingwonthe sec- 18.15ond 2Yz-lYzon October 2300,by one game.This time the Mechanics throttled the

Sluggers, taking boards one and four anddrawing the middle boards.

Ed.-Notes to the games are extractedfrom Clint Ballard's running commentaryto the matches, appearing on the Slugfestwebsite. The Game-of-the-Week is selectedby the USCLPresident 1M Greg Shahade.

II-

~ QGD Ragozin1M Jacek Stopa (2512)GM Gregory Serper (2570)

US Chess League Playoffs (1.1) 2006Commentsby Clint Ballard1.lZJ13d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4liJf6 4.liJc3 AM5,cxd5exd5 6.Ag5 h67.Ah4g58.Ag3liJe49.liJd2liJxg310.hxg3

Serper has traded off a Knight for aBishop, but his opponent has an open h-file in return. With Serper's pawns on g5and h6 beinga potentialweakness, things

18

Ah, I see, Stopa can play g3-g4,blockingup the position. In that case, theKnights will be just fine, but how willStopa be able to break through?18...Ad7 19.e4 dxe4 20.ffxe4

Stopa has a menacing centralizedQueen. If it weren't for the fact that it isSerper defending, I would be worried.20...iIae8 21.ff13AM 22.lZJde4ttc4

Serper is daring Stopa to play f5-16with check. With two Knights, it wouldseem that getting a pawn on f6 is verytempting, but Serper has many threats ofhis own on White's King.

23.d>b11624.g4

Most of the kingside pawns arelocked, acting as a heat shield againstWhite's force. With a breakthroughneededto salvagethis game, expect Stopato do something dramatic soon.

December 2006

24...lle725.lIh3Aea

26.liJxf6

What else could Stopa do?26...d>xf627.liJe4+iIxe428.ttxe4ttd529.ffe5+ ttxe5 30.dxe5+d>xe5

Stopa was forced into an endgameand Serper thought a while before takingthe e5-pawn. Greg definitelyhas the ma-terial to win.Will Stopa winback enoughto stem the tide?

31.iId8 Ac5 32.iIh1 d>f433.iIe1.d>xg4 34. iIdxe8 iIxe8 35. IIxe8 d>xf5

Serperwontwo pawns,but at the costof an Exchange. It looks likehe will haveto give up a queenside pawn; so a winlooks doubtful.

36. iIh8 d>g6 37.d>c2 h5 38.d>d3 g439.d>e4d>g540.iIh7b541.iIc7 Ab642.iIxc6 h4 43.iIc3 a5 44.iId3 Ac745.iId5+ d>g6 46.iIc5 Ag3 47.iIxb5h3 48.gxh3 gxh3 49. iIb3 1-0

Serper couldn't hold, as, on a wideopen board with pawns 00 both sides, aRook is better than a Bishop.

!r4DIIBof tlie 'W"eeA

EnglishFM Slavs Mikhailuk (2438)1M DavorioKuljasevic (2423)

US Chess League Playoffs (1.2) 2006

Commentsby Clint Ballard1.c4e52.liJc3liJf6 3.lZJ13lZJc64.g3Ab45.Ag2 0-06.0-0 e4 7.lZJe1hc38.dxc3h6 9.liJc2 d6 10.liJe3

Northwest Chess

~

n

Ii

~

Slava has spent three moves on asingle piece, but his Knight is safelyplanted on e3, radiating power in all di-rections. Not only is it preventing Blackfrom advancingthe e4-pawn, it prevents...d6-d5 to support it, and also protectsthe doubledc4-pawn.I have a feelingthatthe Knight will become so annoying thatSlava's opponentwillplay somethinglike...'Dg4 at some point to trade if off.10...iIe811.ffc2 iIeS

A bit unusual, Rooks can often beattacked with gain of tempo by pawns orminor pieces this early in the game.12.Ad2'De713.f4 ex1314.exf3'D15

As predicted,Blackhas playedto getrid of Slava's e3-Knight, but he has pre-served his King Knight.1S.iIae1 c616.f4'Dxe317.Axe3 11.1518.ffd1 iIe6 19.Ad4 ffe7 20.iIxe6ffxe6 21.iIe1 ffxc4 22.Axf6 gxf623.ffxd6

IIII

Slava decided to give up the Bishoppair to double Black's' f-pawns. Thislooksto turn into a pawn-munchingcon-test, but Slava should come out ahead ashe gets a head start with 23.'8'xd6 andimmediatelythreatens the f-pawn.

23...~g7 24.a3 '8bS 2S.'fId2 '8'b6+26.'8'12iId827.!fxb6 axb628.Af3 iId229. iIe2 iIxe2 30.Axe2 Ae6 31.~12 15

Slava is down to a Bishop ending wherehis opponent has two sets of doubledpawns. Slavahas an edge,especiallywiththe isolated,doubledf-pawns on the samecolor as the remainingBishops.However,this one will not be easy to win.32.~e3 ~f6 33.~d4 cS+ 34.~e3 AdS3S.b4 ~e6 36.Ad3 ~f6 37.Ac2 ~e638.h4 ~d6 39.AbS Ab340.Ae2 AdS41.iLf1 ~e642.~d3~d643.Ah3~e644.~e3 ~f6 4s.Af1 ~e6 46.Ae2 ~d647.Af1 ~e6 48.h3 ~f6 49.Ad3 Ag25o.Ac4 ~e7 S1.h4 f6 S2.Ae2 AdS53.g4 fxg4 s4.Axg4 ~d6 ss.A15 Af7S6.Ae4 Ad5 S7.~d3 ~e6 s8.Ag6 ~d6s9.AfS Af7 6o.Ae4 AdS 61.c4 Axe4+62.~xe4

As soon as the Bishops came off, Iknew that Slava wouldwin. The psycho-logical pressure of going from a deaddrawn position to a precarious endgamerace would be too much for the defender.We were in "Hail, Mary" desperation

II

rIi

(J

Northwest Chess

mode, as the Destinyhad already won onboards one and four.

62...~e6 63.fS+ ~d6 64.bS hS 6S.a4~d7

(1)6S...~e 7 66.~d5 ~d7 67.a5 bxaS68.~xcS ~e7 69.b6 a4 70.~b4 ~d671.~xa4 ~c5 72.~b3 ~xb6 73.~b4=-1M Greg Shahade66.~dS ~e 7 67.aS bxaS 68.~xcS

81 . . . ..7.'. . .. . - .. . - ..5

~. ~~ .~...'" ~ ~ ~

4 .~. . ~3... .. . . ..1.. . .a bed e f 9 h

69...~d7

68...~e8!! 69.~b6 (69.b6 ~d7 70.~b5 a4 71.~xa4 ~c6 72.~b4 ~xb6 73.c5+~e6 74.~c4 ~d775.~dS ~e 776.e6b6!!77.e7 ~d778.e8='iW+~xe8 79.~e6b5 80.~xf6 b4 81.~g6=) 69...a4 70.~xb7? (70.e5 a3 71.e6 bxe6 72.bxe6 a273.e 7 a 1='8'74.e8='8'+=) 70. ..a3 71.eS a272.e6 a1='fI-IM Greg Shahade69.~b6 a4 70.~xb7 ~d6 71.b6 a372.~e8 a2 73.b7 a1='8' 74.b8=!f+

As our season was going over theedge of the ~liff, Slava grabbed an ex-tended branch and flung himself up andaround and now he just has to convertthis Queen and pawn endgame!74...~eS 7S.'fIbS+ ~d4 76.!fdS+ ~e377.cS'8a6+ 78.~d7'8a7+ 79.~e6'8g780.'8d7 '8g8+ 81.~xf6 '8'f8+ 82.~g6'ffxcs 83.16'ffg1+ 84.~xhS 'fIg3 8S.f7'8'f3+ 86.<bgS '8'g3+ 87.'8'g4 '8eS+88.'8'15 'ffg7+ 89.~hS 1-0

John had an adventurous game thatkept us on the edgeof our seats. He tookno chances and just kept building up hisadvantage. While he missed muchquicker wins, White never had a chance.-

Pirc

FM Igor Schneider (2387)FM John Readey (2331)

US Chess LeaguePlayoffs (1.3) 2006

1.e4 d6 2.d4'Df6 3.'De3 g6 4.h3 Ag7S.iLe3 a6 6.g4 hS 7.gS'Dfd7 8.iLg2 eS

December 2006

9.'Dge2'Dc610.dS'Da511.0-0bS12.f4'Dc413.iLc1 b414.tL1a4aS1S.c3Aa616.iIb1 tL1cb617.'Dxb6'ffxb618.Ae3iIb819.cxb4axb420.iIf2 b321.a3'ffaS22.eS dxeS 23.fS gxfS 24.iIxfS 'ffbS2S.tL1g3'fId3 26.'ffe1 h4 27.iId1 'fibS28.tL1e4'ffe2 29.'ffxe2 Axe230.iId2Ahs 31.tL1xcStL1xcs32.Axcs

John is up a pawn in a complexendgame with a Bishop pair and a Rookpair for both sides, but I don't get thefeelingthat pawns will decidethis one, atleast not for a while. Piece activity is thekey in this one.

32...iIc8 33.Ab4 Ag6 34.iIf3 Ac23s.Ac3 iIhS 36.iIe3 iIxgS 37.~h2Ah6 38.iIde2 1639.Ah1 iIg84O.A13iLf4+ 41.~h1 Ad1 42.iIe1 iIg343.Axd1 Axe344.Ag4 iIxc345.bxc3Ad246.iIb1 iIxc347.Ad1 iIxh3+48.~g2iIg3+ 49. ~f2 Ae3+ SO.~e2 h3S1.hb3 Ag1 S2.Aa4+ ~f7 s3.iIb8iIxa3 54.Ad7 h2 SS.iIh8 ~g7 S6.iIhSiLe3S7.iL15Ah6S8.~f2 iIa4S9.Ae6iIa2+ 60.~f3 ~g6 61.iIh4 iLf462. iIg4+ AgS 0-1

TrompowskyNM Nat Koons (2223)NM Keaton Kiewra (2239)

US ChessLeague Playoffs (1.4) 2006Comments by Clint Ballard

. 1.d4 tL1f6 2.AgS cS 3.dS tL1e4 4.Af4'ffb6s.iLc1

Nat seems to have lost a move bymoving his ~ishop for the third time outof five moves. With Black having planteda Knight on e4 and a Queen on b6, it lookslike Nat's used up his advantage as White.Of course, this is the Tromp and strangemoves like 5.Ae1 are "book," but I per-sonally don't like moving one piece to theexclusion of the other pieces. They justfeel left out and get cranky.

S...g6 6. f3 tL1f67.e4 Ag7 8.eS tL1hS9.g4AxeS

Kiewra is staking the entire Dallasseason on the result of this sac!

10.gxhSAxb211.Axb2'f1xb212.tL1d2'ffeS+

Black can pick up a third pawn forthe Knight.When a sac is doneto exposea King, anything that isn't bolted downcan usually be picked off. Good thing for

19

I

I Nat, Blackhasusedup allhisdeveloped Withan extrapieceand a passeda-piecesotherthan the Queen.With no safe pawn, Nat is getting close to the techni-place for his King, Nat is still not out of cal win category. Unfortuately, the posi-the woods and when he does get out, he tion is tricky; 30 seconds per movemightwillhavea complexendgameto dealwith. not be enough to find the win. UntilIfNat can avoid losing another pawn and Queens are traded, this one is solidlyuse his extra piece to win a pawn back, planted in the expected draw category.then we win. 34...iIbh8 3S.tDe4 fS 36.tDxcS .f613.tDe2 ffxdS14.hxg6 hxg6 1S.c4 37.iIa6 iIxh2+ 38..xh2 IiIxh2+ 39.

Thi will bin Bl k' ~xh2 tth4+ 40. ~g2 .g4+ 41. ~h2s game. ge on ac s un- tte2+ 42.~g1 tte3+ 43.~h1 ffxcs

developed queensIde and whether Nat 44.iIc1 .e3 4s.iIc2 .e1+ 46.~h2finds a way to take advantage of that. ffh4+47.~g1ffg4+48.~f2.d1 0-11S...ffeS 16.f4 '8'hs 17.Ag2 tDc6 18.tD13d619.iIb1

Nat's pawn structure looks like aweek old halloweenpumpkin that had adentistry accident. If he didn't have anextra piece, he would surely be lost!19...ff15 20.0-0

At least Nat is safe from perpetualsin this setup.

20 e421.tDgS

Nat offers Black another pawn. Hey,it's not like he can win the endgame byqueening a pawn, so he has to play toactivate his pieces!

21...e3+22.~h1 Ag4

At first, 21 e3+, forcing Nat'sKing into the comer, looked decent, butafterward there was an immediatethreatto trap Black's Queen!! Rather than re-treat her, Black ups the ante with 22...Ag4 double-attacking the e2-Knight.

23.Af3 tDe5 24.fxeS ffxgS 2S.hg4ffxg4 26..a4+ ~f8 27.ffc2 ~g7

Blackjust went 27...~g7to connecthis Rooks. I guess he saw what Serperdid and figured if it works on Board One,it should work on Board Four!

28.IiIf2 dxeS 29. IiIxb7 .h4 30.tDc3iIab8 31.IiIxa7 iIb4 32.ffe2 iIhS33.IiIa4 iIb8 34. IiIf1

20

Division Championship!r..., oft". 1f"'..£

Sicilian Kan

1M Josh Friedel (2513)GM Gregory Serper (2570)

US Chess League Playoffs (2.1) 2006Comments by Clint Ballard1.e4 cS 2.tD13e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tDxd4 a6S.tDc3 bS 6.Ad3 d6 7.0-0 tDf6 8.f4 g69.~h1

With four White pieces aimed at fS,clearly the fS-pawn push is what the restof the opening, and maybe even themiddlegame, will revolve around.

9...Ag710.eSdxeS11.fxeStDdS12..130-0 13.tDxdSexdS14.Af4 Ae6 1S.a4b4 16.aS .c7 17.tDxe6 fxe6 18..g4ffd719.h4 tDc6 20.hS tDxeS 21.heSAxeS 22.hxg6 Axb2 23.iIf7

8K.. ...7~ .'ii.:.'6,. .'.8.5""... .4... .'if.3m.i....8. .8.1.-",. . .~

a bed e f 9 h

23...hS 24..gS .d8 2s.iIxf8+ .xf826.iIf1 .d8 27..xhS iIa728.iIf3ffxaS29.g7 1-0fTime}

Reti

1M Georgi Orlov (2580)1M Vinay Bhat (2463)


Commentsby Clint Ballard1.tD13dS2.c4 c6 3.b3 Ag44.Ab2 tDd7S.g3 tDgf66.Ag2 e6 7.0-0 Ad6 8.d3

December 2006

0-09.tDbd2.e710.h3AhS

Georgi's Bishops have a bit morescope and development is pretty muchequal. Maybe Georgi has a slight edge,but demonstrating the advantage takesGM-level skill.

11.ttc2 as 12.e4 dxe4 13.dxe4 Ag614.tDh4a4 1S.iIfe1 eS 16.tD15Axt517.exf5Ab418.Ac3 iIfe819.tWb2h320..c2Ab421.tD13 ffcS22.iIe3axb323.axb3 iIxa1+ 24.ha1 .a72S.Ac3Acs 26.iIe2 e427.tDgSe328.f4 Ad429.hd4 .xd4 30.tDf3 .b6 31.~h2tDcs 32.tDeS .xb3 33..c1 iId834.iIxe3.a2 3S.iIa3 .e2 36..g1tDa637.iIe3.c238.g4h639.iIe1 iId24O.gS tDhS 41.iIf1 hxgS 42.fxgS .c343.tD13iIc244..a7ttb445..a8+.f846.ffxf8+ ~xf847.tDeS tDcs 48.16gxf649.gxf6 tDe4 SO.tDg4 ~g8 s1.iIfStDhg3S2.iIf4bS S3.cxb5cxb554.tDh6+~f8 SS. iIg4 c.t>e856. iIg8+ c.t>d7S7.tDxf7 tDf1+ S8.~g1 tDxf6 s9.iIg6tDe3 60..11.13c.t>e661.tDh6 b4 62.tDg8~ 63.i1xr6+c.t>xg864. iIb6 iIb2 65.h4tD1566.hS tDd4 67.AdS+ ~h8 68.h6tDe2+ 69.~f1 tDg3+ 70.~e1 iIh271. iIxb4 Draw

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon1M David Preuss (2459)FM Marcel Milat (2345)

US Chess League Playoffs (2. 3) 2006

Commentsby Clint Ballard ..

1.e4 cS 2.tD13tDc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tDxd4g6 S.tDc3 Ag7 6.Ae3 tDf6 7.Ac4 0-08.Ab3 as 9.a4 tDg4 10.t!xg4 tDxd411.t!h4 tDxb3 12.cxb3

Pruess has more space and a possibleattack on Black's King in exchange forcrippled queenside pawns.

12...iIa613.0-0 iIe6

Very strangeto seea Rookin frontof thee-pawnandsoearly in thegame,but, hey,Marcel is from Canada.14.iIad1 b61S.Ah6hh616..xh61517.iIfe1 Ab718.exf5 iIxe1+ 19.iIxe1iIxfS 20.trh4 iIf7 21.tDe4 Axe422.t!xe4 trc723.g3 trcs 24. iIe2.c62S.t!xc6 dxc6 26. c.t>g2c.t>f827. iIe6 iIf628.iIxf6+ exf6 29.c.t>f3 c.t>e730.c.t>e4c.t>d631. ~d4 cS+ 32. ~c4 c.t>c633.131534.f4 h6 3S.h3 hS 36.h4 c.t>c737.c.t>dSc.t>d7 38. c.t>eS ~e 739. c.t>dS c.t>d7 40. c.t>eS

c.t>e7 41. ~dS c.t>d7 Draw .Northwest Chess

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EnglishMichaelLee (2102)Sam Shankland(2106)


1.c4 e5 2.li.)c3 Ab4 3.li.)d5 Ac5 4.e3li.)e7 5.li.)e2 0-0 6.d4 IiJxd5 7.cxd5exd4 8.li.)xd4 1116 9.li.)b3 Ab6 10.Ae2d6 11.0-0 Af5 12.li.)d2li.)d7 13.li.)c4li.)e514.fub6axb615.f311g616,c!>h1Ad3 17.Axd3 'fIxd3 18.Wg1 f5 19.

'fIxd3 li.)xd320.f!d1IiJc5 21.b4li.)a422.f!d4 b5 23.h4 li.)b6 24.Wf2 f!fe825. Wg3 IiJc4 26.Wf4 f!e5 27.a3 g628.f!a2 f!e729.f!d3 f!ae830.a4 f!a831.a5 f!a6 32. f!e2 b6 33.axb6 li.)xb634.Wg5 f!e5 35.f!c2 f!a7 36.f!cd2f!a8 37.f4 f!e4 38.h5 Wf7 39.hxg6+hxg6 40. f!c2 f!c4 41. f!xc4 bxc4 42.f!d1 f!h8 43.g4 f!h244.f!g1 fud545.gxf5 f!h5+ 46.Wg4li.)f6+ 47.Wf3gxf5 48.f!g2 c3 49.We2 f!h1 0-1 .

I'm writing" because Iwould like to see more lettersto the Editor in this magazine.Every day in the morning pa-per I read exciting opinions

Northwest Chess

and often learn new facts and widen per-spectives, but among the chess commu-nity silence is too golden.

As volunteer at my local chess clubI would welcome ideasfor realistic improve-ment or encourage-ment for what is foundpleasing and desirable.The Northwest ChessMagazine is everychess player's oppor-tunity to enthuse,vent, invite the chesscommunity to take onhis/her ideas, and ingeneral, to be heard.Surely the Washington

Chess Federation would also like tolmowwhat the players like and don't:like.

Yes, there are on line forumsand blogging, but dashing off an e-mail letter to the editor is not reallymore work, and ensures an addi-tional audience. Or, if you still re-member how to use the little boxeson the corner, you could drop astamped (no more licking required)master-crafted essay into one.

Here's to hearing more of yourthoughts on any chess subject!

t? 41"6/GX!6ist. Carl A. HaesslerLessons . Lectures. exhibitions

USCF Ute Master

3-Time Oregon Champion(503) 358-7871

ssrnith6154 0 801.com

Decem ber 2006 21

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SeaUie Gib ChampionshipJanuary 12-14,2007

A 2-section, 5-round Swisschess tournament. Time controls:40/2 & SO/l. Prize fund: $1000 based on 50 paid entries,Sper prize group.

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City Champlonshlp(5SS): $225-140, X II

$90, A $70 EF: $40 by 1/10, $48 a,t site. \Reserve (555, U1800): $125-80,C $60, D

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Miscellaneous: USCF & WCF required. Nosmoking. No computers.

RJJan.20,Feb.24see Saturday QuadsRJ

Format: 3-RR, 4-plyr sections by rating. TC: G/120. EF: $6 (+$5 fee for non-SCC). Prizes: Freeentry for future quad. Reg: 9:00-9:45 a.m. Rds:10:00-2: 15-ASAP. Mise: USCF, WCF/OCFmemb. req'd, OSA. NS, NC.

RJ Jan. 7, Feb. 4 (NOTE DATECHANGE)

see Sunday TornadoRJFormat: 4-SS. TC: G/64. EF: $15 (+$5 fee fornon-SCC). Prizes: 1st 350/0,2nd 27%, BottomHalf 1st 22%, 2nd 16% ($10 from each EF goesto prize fund). Reg: 10:30-11:15 a.m. Rds:11:30-1:50-4:10-6:30. Mise: USCF, WCF/OCFmemb. req'd, OSA. NS, NC.

February3 see NoviceFormat: 4-SS. Open to U1200 and unrated. TC:G/75. EF: $10 by 9/7, $15 at site. (20% disc.forSCC mem., 10% memo of other dues-req'd CCsin WA,OR, & BC). Prizes: Memberships (SCC, .WCF, USCF). Reg: 9-9:45a. Rds: 10-12:45-3:30-6. Byes: 1(Rd3 or 4--<:ommitat reg.). Mise:USCF memb. req'd. NS, NC.

Northwest Chess22 December 2006

Future EventsFb indicates a Christopher Memorial NW Grand Prix event

FbDec16-17 Christmas CongressFbSite: Tacoma CC, Rm. II (2nd floor), 409 Puyallup Ave, TacomaWA. Format: 5-rd. Swiss. TC: 40/90, SD/60. EF: $30 adv., $35at site; jrs $20 adv., $25 at site; Economy (no prize money) $10,free for UNR; UNR may play for 1st w/regular EF. Prize Fund:67% of full-paying EFs. Prizes: 25%, U2000 15%, UI700 14%,UI400 13%. Econ. winner: certificate and free econ. entry to fu-ture event. Reg: Sat. 9-9:45 a.m. Rds: Sat 10-2:30-7, Sun 10-3(or ASAP).Byes: Two Y2-pt.byes avail. if requested in advance.Mise: USCF and WCFIOCF membership req'd. NS, NC. Ent!Info: GaryDorfuer, 8423 E 'B' St,TacomaWA98445 (make checkspayable to TCC); 253-535-2536, [email protected].

FbDec 16-17 Washington Challengers' CupFbSite: Schoenberg Center, Room 201, Gonzaga U., N 900 Pearl St,Spokane WA (SW comer of campus - I blk E of DivisionlRubycouplet off DeSmet Ave). Format: Two Sections: Open - 4-rd.Swiss. TC: 40/2, SD/I. Reserve (U1800): 5-rd. Swiss, TC: G/2.EF: Open: $30; $40 ifU1800. Reserve: $25 ifrec'd by 12/15, $30 .

at site; ul8 - $5 less. Prize Fund: $$1,000 gtd. Prizes: Open:$250-150,U2000 100.The highest finishing WAresident who meetsWCF activity requirements will be seeded into the 2007 Washing-ton Closed Championship in February. Ties for Championshipseed will be broken in following order: (I) head-to-head result; (2)GIIOplayoff. Reserve: $140-100, C 70-40, D/E/UNR 70-40, Big-gest Upset (estab. rtgs only) 40. Class prizes b/5 per class; classes(and class prizes) may be reconfigured if fewer than 5 class entries.Reg: 9-9:45 a.m. Rds: Open: 10-5, 9-4 (or ASAP);Reserve: 10-2:30-7; 9-1:30 (or ASAP).Byes: Open: One Y2-pointbye avail. for

rounds 1-3 if declared at reg. Reserve: One Y2-pointbye avail. ifrequested by end of preceding rd. Sunday bye must be requested byend ofrd 3. Mise: WCF/Ocfreq'd. OSA. NS, NC, W. Entries:Spokane CC, c/o Kevin Korsmo, N 9923 Moore, Spokane WA99208-9339. Info: 509-466-0530 evenings or weekends; 509-477-2871 days. www.spokanechessclub.org.

FbDecember 30 PCC Game-in-60FbSite: Portland CC, 8205 SW 24th Ave, Portland OR 97219.Format: 4-rd Swiss. TC: G/60. TD may switch to 5SS and G/45if more than 25 entries. EF: $20, $5 discount for PCC members.No advance entries. Prize Fund: $$200/b20. Prizes: $60-40-30,UI800 35, UI500 35. Reg: 9-9:30 aID. Byes: One Y2-pt.bye avail.if requested at reg. Mise: USCF & OCF/WCF membership req' d,OSA. Info: [email protected], 503-246-2978, www.pdxchess.org.

FbJanuary 6 TCC TornadoFbSite: Tacoma CC, Rm. II (2nd floor in the DTI Soccer store bldg),409 Puyallup Ave E, Tacoma WA. Format: 4-rd. Swiss. TC: GI60. EF: $15. Prize Fund: $$205 b/20. Prizes: $70-50, BottomHalf 45-40. Reg: 9-9:45 a.m. Rds: 10-1-3:30-6 (or ASAP).Byes:One Y2-pt.bye avail. Mise: USCF and WCFIOCF membershipreq'd. NS, NC. Ent/Info: Gary Dorfner, 8423 E 'B' St, TacomaWA98445 (make checks payable to TCC); 253-535-2536, [email protected].

FbJan 18,25; Feb 1,8,15 Spokane Winter Champ.FbSite: Herak (Rm 121), Gonzaga U, Spokane WA. TC: G/l20.EF:$16. Reg: 6:30-7:15 p.m. Rds:7:15p.m. Mise:USCFmem-bership req'd. Info: David Griffin 509-928-3260; [email protected]

More Scholastic EventsJanuary 2007

20 King's Way Chess Tmt (K-3,4-6,7-12) Trish Seydlitz 360-885-7065 [email protected] http://www.nwchess.com Vancouver WA24 Tacoma CC Wed. Kids Night(K-12) Gary 253-535-2536 [email protected] www.tacomachessclub.netfirms.com Tacoma WA26-27 WA State HS Individual (9-12) Kirk Winges [email protected] www.whsca.org/TA-HSIndivid2007/html Lynnwood.WA27 NW Grade-Level Ch. (K,I,2,3,4,5,6,7/8) Joe Roseto jroseto@comcastnet http://www.signup4chess.com Seattle WA27 Scholastic at Meridian Park (K-6) http://www.chessplayer.com/SignuptoPlayChess.htm Shoreline WA27 John Muir Scholastic (K,I-3,4-6) www.chessplayer.com/SignuptoPlayChess.htm Kirkland WA27 Blitz at John Muir (1-6) www.chessplayer.com/SignuptoPlayChess.htm Kirkland WA

February 20073 Blitz at UCDS www.chessplayer.com/ucds.htm Seattle WA3 UCDS(K, K-3,K-3 USOO,4-6,4-6 U900) www.chessplayer.com/ucds.htm Seattle WA3 Washington Hoyt Challenge (K-3,4-6) Scott MacDonald [email protected] Tacoma WA3 InternationalChessJam 2007 (K-12) RandyKaech [email protected]://mysite.verizon.netlkaech FerndaleWA3 Seaview Classic (U800,K-3,4-6,7-8) April Nowak 425-771-5259 mrsnowak@cmcastnet Edmonds WA9-IOWHSCA High School Team Tmt http://www.whsca.org/tournannounce.html Issaquah WA10 TCC Scholastic Bughouse Gary 253-535-2536 [email protected] www.tacomachessclub.netfirms.com TacomaWA10 Knightmare'sGauntlet(K,1-3,4-6;K-8 Qds) http://signup4chess.com/ Shoreline WA14 TCC Wed. Kids Night Gary 253-535-2536 [email protected] www.tacomachessclub.netfirms.com Tacoma WA17 8 Diva Claissa Classic Kate Taylor [email protected] http://clatskaniechessclub.tripod.com Clatskanie OR19 Pres. Day Capital City Chess Festival Eric Hannibal 503-931-5626 erichannibal@comcastnet Salem OR23-24 Oregon HSCTA State Tmt , Portland OR24 CornerstoneChessChallenge(K-12,parents)NormMay [email protected] VancouverWA

NOTE: A ' 8 ' in front of the tournament name indicates an OSCF qualifying tournamentUSCF NATIONAL Scholastics ,For information on any national event, contact Diane Reese at [email protected]. 3D-Apr.1 Nat'l Junior High (K-9) Championship Sacramento CAApril 13-15 Nat'l High School (K-12) Championship Kansas City MOMay 11-13 Nat'l Elementary (K-6) Championship Nashville TN

Northwest Chess December 2006 23

if'

DecemberG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WASiva 206-963-1841 [email protected] Seattle WAK Korsmo www.spokanechessclub.org Spokane WAG. Dodner 253-535-2536 ggaryches.<;@aol.amwww.tacomachessclub.netfums.comTacoma WADavid Hendricks 425-868-3881 DavidCHendricks@comcastnet Sammamish WAG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WAG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA503-246-2978 portlandchessclub@gmaiLcom www.pdxchess.com Portland OR

January 2007G. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA503-246-2978 portlandchessclub@gmaiLcom www.pdxchess.com Gresham ORG. Dodner 253-535-2536 ggaryches.<;@aol.amwww.tacomachessclub.netfinns.am Tacoma WAG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WASCC InfoUne 206-417-5405 [email protected] www.seattiechessclub.org Seattle WA503-246-2978 [email protected] www.pdxchess.com Portland ORDavid Hendricks 425-868-3881 DavidCHendricks@comcastnet Sammamish WASCC InfoUne 206-417-5405 [email protected] www.seattiechessclub.org Seattle WADavid GritTm 509-928-3260 dbglffn@ho1maiLcom www.spokanechessclub.org Spokane WASCC Infoline 206-417-5405 [email protected] www.seattiechessclub.org Seattle WAG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA503-246-2978 [email protected] www.pdxchess.com Portland ORG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WAG. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA

Febuary 20072,9,16,23 Pierce County Chess League G. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA3 SCC Novice SCC Infoline 206-417-5405 [email protected] www.seattiechessclub.org Seattle WA3 TCC Quads G. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WAfb4 see Sunday Tornado NOTEDATECHANGESCC InfoUne 206-417-5405 [email protected] www.seattiechessclub.org Seattle WA4 TCC Sunday Blitz G. Dorfuer 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA6 Portland CC Tuesday Quad Tmt Begins 503-246-2978 [email protected] www.pdxchess.com Portland, OR10-11,17-19 WA Championship & Premier Dan Mathews 425-778-7482 [email protected] Seattle WAfb17 8 PCC Game~in-60 503-246-2978 [email protected] www.pdxchess.com Portland OR17-18 TCC Under 1800 G. Dorfner 253-535-2536 [email protected] WA

NOI'E: A 'fb' in front of the date indicatesa Franett Memorial NorthwestGP event A 8 in front of the tournament name indicates an OSCF

qua6fying tournament Boldface type indicatesa tournament announcement fm our Future Events Section)or display ad in this mue.

Scholastic Events

1515fb16-17fb16-1720-212729fb30

I"

5,12,19fb6-7fb67fb7915fb12-14fb18,25fb2026fb27fb27-2831

TCC Christmas Swiss (Rd 3)Eckstein MS Friday Weekly QuadWA ChaUengers~ CupChristmas CongressWashington Junior Closed (inv.)TCC Wednesday Night BlitzTCC G/15 Championship8 PCC Game-in-60

TCC New Year QuadsGresham OpenTCC TornadoTCC Sunday BlitzSCC Sunday TornadoPCC Tuesday Quads beginWashington Junior Open (u21)Seattle City ChampionshipSpokane CC Winter ChampionshipSCC Saturday QuadsTCC Annual Membership Meeting8 PCC Game-in-60

Stephen Christopher MemorialTCC Wednesday Night Blitz

Open Events

December 200616 8 Hillsboro Holiday Classic (K-12) Helen 503-628-7305 hnoonanharns@comcastnet www.oscforg Hillsboro OR16 Skagit Chessfest (K-4,5-8) Randy Walther [email protected] http://mysite.verizon.netlkaech/ Sedro-Woolley WA16 Ridgefield Holiday Extravaganza (K-12) Steve 360-887-8315, [email protected] Ridgefield WA18-22 Winter Break Chess Camp (K-6) http://www.chessplayer.com/winterchess.htm Shoreline WA18-22 Winter Break Chess Camp http://www.chessplayer.com/winterchess.htm Kirkland and Bellevue WA20 TCC Wed. Kids Night (K-12) Gary 253-535-2536 [email protected] www.tacomachessclub.netfirms.com Tacoma WA27-29 Chess Odyssey Holiday Chess Camp 503-504-5756 [email protected] www.chessodyssey.com Portland OR27-29 WinterBreakChessCamp2 (K-6) http://www.chessplayer.com/winterchess.htm Shoreline WA27-29 Winter Break Chess Camp 2 http://www.chessplayer.com/winterchess.htm Kirkland and Bellevue WA

January 2007various Chess for Success Regional Tmts Julie Young [email protected] www.chessforsuccess.org various OR6 Blitz at NSC (1-2,3-4,5-6) http://www.chessplayer.com/SignuptoPlayChess.htm Shoreline WA6 Rookies (U800,U900 & Open) at NSC http://www.chessplayer.com/SignuptoPlayChess.htm Shoreline WA13 State Qualifier (K-6) Elliott Neff 425-283-0549 [email protected] www.chess4life.com Tacoma WA13 Whatcom Cty Championships (K-12) Randy Kaech [email protected] http://mysite.verizon.netlkaechl Lynden WA13 Meridian Park (K, K-3, K-6) www.chessplayer.com/mrp.htm Shorcline WA13 Blitz at Meridian Park (1-2,3-4,5-6) http://www.chessplayer.com/SignuptoPlayChess.htm Shoreline WA13 Chess Pentathalon (5-12) http://www.whsca.org/tournannounce.html Lynnwood WA15 8 Martin Luther King Jr. Classic (K-12) Helen 503-628-7305 hnoonanharns@comcastnet www.oscforg Hillsboro OR15 WAJr Open & Res. (K-3,4-6,7-12,Open) David Hendricks 425-868-3881 DavidCHendricks@comcastnet Sammamish WA20 8 Mystery Scholastic Kate Taylor [email protected] http://clatskaniechessclub.tripod.com Clatskanie OR20 Purdy Panther Open (K-3,4-6) Jane Hansen jane&[email protected] www.tacomachessclub.netfirms.com Purdy WA.20 Medina Elementary Tmt (K,1-3,4-6) Marianne Mowat [email protected] www.signup4chess.com MedinaIBellevue WA

NOTE: A I g I in front of the tournament name indicates an OSCF qualifying tournament.1

For more scholastic tournaments, see inside back cover

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