| White gets caught with his queen out in the wide
open: |
James Ramp (1348) - Manis Davidovich (1695)
[A56] Benoni: Czech
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 3
|
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. dxe6 fxe6 5. Nc3 Be7
| 5...d5 seems more appropriate here, but you can't
blame him for wanting to get castled and put the rook on the f-file. |
| Made possible by a small tactic. |
| This does nothing more than put the queen out there
for target practice. That is one big buck. |
| The first shot sends the big buck scurrying, but
it gets stuck out in the open and can't make it back to the woods. |
| Now the shot at the little buck and the white kingside
will look like venison sausage. |
|
|
Mark Ryan (1502) - Edward Laurin (1276)
[A40] Irregular Queen's Pawn: Owen
Michigan Open Reserve
|
1.d4 b6 2.c4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 Bb4 5.f3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qh4+ 7.g3 Qf6
8.Be3 Ne7 9.e5 Qg6 10.g4 f6 11.Bd3 Qf7 12.Be4 Bxe4 13.fxe4 fxe5 14.Nf3
| White gives up a pawn rather than going with 14.dxe5
and a disatorous pawn structure. |
| Missing mate with 24.Qf8#. |
|
|
| After the complete merger, here are the overall
standings: |
|
4.0
|
James, H. Sobh |
|
3.5
|
Jones, West, Shellenberger,
B. Avery, Zuniga |
|
| Another twelve players trail with three points. |
|
Round 5
|
| A single leader emerges: |
| 1. |
James |
0
|
Sobh |
| 2. |
Jones |
1
|
B. Avery |
| 3. |
West |
1
|
Zuniga |
|
| Shellenberger took a half point bye for the round. |
| In this next game, Black wins the queen, but he
falls victim to some fast pawns: |
Gary Jones (1777) - Bill Avery (1594)
[C34] King's Gambit Accepted: Knight's Gambit
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 5
|
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 d6 5.Bxf4 Nge7 6.Bc4
| I imagine that this is the type of position one
dreams of when playing the King's Gambit. |
| Black gives up a pawn to activate his pieces and
weaken White's strong pawn center. |
| Believe it or not, this move loses at least a piece,
since White still has to take back the bishop. It just opens the e-file
for the black rook. |
22...Re8!
| The queen is pinned to the back-rank mate threat. |
| Black is much better off going after those pawns
with 24...Qf6. |
| Black still could have saved the game with 26...Qh4 |
| 27...Qxd6 28.e7 and there is no stopping the pawn
from queening. With the text move, Black hopes to find a prepetual. |
|
|
| With all the pawn locked up, Black’s bishop was
no match for the white knight: |
Tony West (1731) - Jesus Zuniga (1571)
[C11] French: Steinitz
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 5
|
| 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Be3 Nc6 7.dxc5 Bxc5
8.Bxc5 Nxc5 9.Bd3 a6 10.a3 O-O 11.O-O f6 12.Re1 fxe5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Rxe5
Qf6 15.Qe2 Nxd3 16.cxd3 Bd7 17.d4 Rf7 18.Re1 Raf8 19.f3 Qg6 20.Kh1 Rf4
21.Qe3 Rh4 22.Ne2 Kh8 23.g3 Rh6 24.Rg5 Qf6 25.f4 Rg6 26.Rxg6 Qxg6 27.Ng1
Rc8 28.Nf3 Rc2 29.Re2 Rxe2 30.Qxe2 Bb5 31.Qe1 h6 32.Kg2 Qc2+ 33.Qd2 Qxd2+
34.Nxd2 g6 35.Kf2 Kg7 36.Ke3 Kf6 37.Nf3 Ke7 38.b3 Be8 39.Ne5 Kd6 40.a4
b5 41.a5 Ke7 42.Kd2 Kf6 43.g4 h5 44.g5+ Ke7 45.Kc3 Kd6 46.Kb4 Kc7 47.Kc5
Kd8 48.Kb6 b4 49.Kxa6 Kc7 50.Ka7 Bb5 51.Nxg6 Bc4 52.Ne5 Bxb3 53.Nd3 Bc2
54.Nxb4 Bg6 55.Na6+ Kc8 56.Kb6 Be8 57.Nc5 Bf7 58.a6 Kb8 59.a7+ 1-0. |
|
| Black allows white a passed pawn and regrets it: |
Eshal Peiris (985) - David Raban (1586)
[D79] Grünfeld: Kemeri (Kashdan)
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 5
|
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nf3 c6 6.O-O d5 7.cxd5 cxd5
8.d4
| The game has transposed to a symmetrical Fianchetto
Grünfeld. |
| With 16...axb4, the a-pawn is more weak than it
is scary. |
| On the other hand, White's b-pawn is now scarier
than it is weak. |
| It never hurts to create another weakness on the
kingside. |
|
|
| Jay Carr is probably known more for directing tournaments,
than playing in them. Here, he shows how to turn a really bad knight into
super-knight: |
Anthony Holden (1414) - Jay Carr (1600)
[D00] Queen's Pawn: Stonewall (Pillsbury)
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 5
|
1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 c6 4.Nd2 g6 5.f4 Bg4 6.Ngf3 e6 7.h3 Bxf3
8.Nxf3 Nbd7 9.Bd2 c5 10.g4 c4
| Normally, I wouldn’t suggest a move like this. But
in this case, it pushes the bishop back. That is why White usually responds
to the c5 push by playing c2-c3. |
| Winning the pawn and saving the pawn structure. |
| Figuring that possible complications are worth another
pawn. |
| Going for the f-file. Would you be willing to put
your knight on a square like that? Just keep an eye on him. |
| Well now, that knight has managed to go from the
worst square on the board to the best. It was at the price of a rook, looks
like a bargain to me. |
| Opening lines to his own king. |
| The king makes a poor defender. |
|
|
| Here are the leaders after round 5: |
|
5.0
|
H. Sobh |
|
4.5
|
Jones, West |
|
4.0
|
Shellenberger, James, Davidovich,
Bostic, McCarter, Pankov, Peiris |
|
|
Round 6
|
| 1. |
H. Sobh |
1
|
Jones |
| 2. |
West |
1
|
Shellenberger |
| 3. |
McCarter |
½
|
James |
| 4. |
Davidovich |
1
|
Pankov |
| 5. |
Bostic |
1
|
Pieris |
|
| No game was available for board 1, so here is board
2. White wins the exchange in the middlegame and brings home the point: |
Tony West (1731) - Richard Shellenberger
(1716)
[C19] French: Advance Winawer
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 6
|
| 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Nge7
8.Bd3 Qb6 9.O-O Bd7 10.Be3 c4 11.Be2 Nf5 12.Bd2 Qc7 13.h3 h6 14.Nh2 O-O-O
15.Qb1 Nb8 16.a4 Bc6 17.Qa2 f6 18.Nf3 Nd7 19.Bf4 g5 20.Bh2 fxe5 21.Nxe5
Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Qf7 23.Bxh8 Rxh8 24.Qa3 Qd7 25.Rfe1 Nd6 26.Bg4 Re8 27.f3 Re7
28.Re5 Kd8 29.Rae1 Bxa4 30.Rxe6 Rxe6 31.Rxe6 Nc8 32.Rxh6 Qe8 33.Re6 Qb5
34.Re5 Qb1+ 35.Kh2 Bc6 36.Qf8+ Kc7 37.Qxc8+ Kb6 38.Qd8+ Ka6 39.Qe7 Qc1
40.Qxg5 Qxc2 41.Qe3 Kb5 42.Bf5 Qa4 43.Qc1 a5 44.Re2 Ka6 45.Qb1 Qa3 46.Qe1
Qd6+ 47.Kg1 Qf4 48.Bg4 a4 49.h4 b5 50.Bc8+ Kb6 51.h5 Qg5 52.Re5 Qd8 53.Bf5
Qd6 54.Bb1 Ka5 55.Qd2 a3 56.h6 Ka4 57.Qc2+ Ka5 58.h7 Qh6 59.Re1 b4 60.cxb4+
Kxb4 61.Ba2 Ba4 62.Qb1+ Kc3 63.Qc1+ Kb4 64.Qxh6 1-0. |
|
| White’s pieces can never find decent squares and
black stirs up a kingside attack: |
Michael Perkins (Unr) - Danny Schey
(1600)
[A45] Indian
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 6
|
1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 b6 3.Bd3 Bb7 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c3 e5 6.dxe5 Ng4 7.e6
| An interesting idea is 7.Be4 making Black work a
little for the pawn. |
| Beginning the path for development of the bishop,
but allowing his kingside to get destroyed. |
22...Nf2+! 23.Kg1 Qxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Nxd1 25.Rxd1 O-O 26.Kf3 Rfd8 27.Ke2
c5
| Black now has all the time in the world with the
white pieces in a total zugzwang. |
|
|
| Black gets to an two bishops versus two knights
endgame and the bishops just dominate: |
Ken Wright (1588) - Jonathan Gorman
(1268)
[C01] French: Exchange
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 6
|
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.Nc3
a6 8.h3 Nb4 9.a3 Nxd3+ 10.Qxd3 Be6 11.b4 c6 12.O-O O-O 13.Rfe1 Nh5
| Hoping to get two bishops versus two knights. |
| Black now has his desired trade. As the game moves
closer to the endgame, the scope of the bishops completely overpowers the
knights. |
| Zugzwang. White can't continue to hold the pawn. |
|
|
| Black sacs a piece and it shouldn’t work. Instead,
White tries to sac it right back and gets run over: |
Rene Cooper (1106) - Jeffrey Solski
(1486)
[A45] Indian
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 6
|
1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 g6 3.Bd3 Bg7 4.f4 d5 5.Nd2 Na6 6.c3 c5 7.b3 Ng4 8.Ndf3
f5 9.Qe2 O-O 10.Ba3 cxd4 11.exd4 Re8 12.h3 Nf6 13.Qc2 Nh5 14.Ne2 Nxf4?!
| Played based on the fact that the king is still
on the e-file. It shouldn't work because Black's pieces are not ready to
take advantage of the exposed king. |
| White should just be happy to take the piece with
17.dxe5 Rxe5+ 18.Ne2 and he will still be able to castle. |
| White has a fighting a chance with 25.Rxe1. |
|
|
| The cream has risen: |
|
6.0
|
H. Sobh |
|
5.5
|
West |
|
5.0
|
Davidovich, Bostic |
|
|
Round 7
|
| 1. |
H. Sobh |
½
|
West |
| 2. |
Bostic |
0
|
Davidovich |
|
| After the early draw, West was able to work his
way back to the top. He needed a win to become champion, but was never
really able to get anything going: |
Hassan Sobh (1681) - Tony West (1731)
[B20] Sicilian: Snyder
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 7
|
1.e4 c5 2.b3
| Needing only a draw, white avoids the main Sicilian
lines. |
| Not considered best against this line. |
| White decides to keep thing quiet. He could gain
a small advantage after 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Nh5 Qh6 (17...Qg5 18.f4) 18.Nxf6+
gxf6. |
| White could win a pawn with 29.Bxf6 Bxf6 30.Nd6+.
The text move pretty much guarantees a draw. Maybe he just wanted to get
home early. |
|
|
| So with that, the 2000 Michigan Open Reserve Champion
is Hassan Sobh. Followed by Tony West in clear second. Manis
Davidovich placing third. |
| Black accepts a pawn, which ends up doing nothing
more than opening up the lines to his kingside: |
Joe Corbeill (1736) - Justin Aldrich
(1584)
[D02] Queen's Pawn: Zukertort (Chigorin)
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 7
|
1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 O-O 7.Rc1 Ne7
8.a3 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 c6 10.c5 Ne4 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 f5 13.b4 Qe8 14.Ng5 Qg6
15.f4 h6 16.Nf3 Qxg2
| A pawn is worth a little trouble. I think this was
more than Black bargained for. |
| Probably a better way to defend is 19...Kh8 followed
by 20...Rg8. |
| Just another kingside weakness. He was better off
trying some queenside counter-play and waiting for White to make his move
on the kingside. |
30.Bxh5
| Actually, White could have broke open the kingside
at anytime the last five moves. Not like there was any need to hurry as
Black had no good defense. |
|
|
| Too many passed pawns! |
Norman Haygood (1416) - Harold Steen
(1670)
[A42] Modern: Averbakh
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 7
|
1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Be3 Ngf6 7.h3 a6 8.Be2
O-O 9.O-O b6 10.Qd2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bb7 12.Bd3 Nc5 13.Qc2 Nfd7 14.b4?!
| Leads to the loss of the c-pawn. Necessary was 14.Be2. |
| Black needs to slow the queenside pawns with 24...b5 |
| Pawns are stronger in a chain. |
| 31...bxa5 32.b6 Black can't stop both passers or
31...Rxa5 32.c7 and Black can't stop the c-pawn. |
| Another passed pawn, Black can't stop them all. |
|
|
| This games shows the importance of developing your
pieces the right way: |
Paul Kane (1643) - Jonathan Gorman
(1268)
[D13] Slav: Modern Exchange
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 7
|
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5?!
| It is always dangerous to develop the queen's bishop
like this in the Slav. |
| Much better is 9...e6, giving the other bishop a
chance to be developed. With the text move, there is chance the bishop
will never see the light of day. |
| Overaggressive, but Black has serious problems either
way. |
| About the only move stopping 20.Bb5+ is 19...Qxf1. |
|
|
| Here is a nice game between a cagey veteran and
a future all-star: |
Spencer Finegold (952) - Oliver Saylor
(1244)
[D43] Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran
Michigan Open Reserve, Round 7
|
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.e3 O-O 8.Bd3
dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nbd7 10.Qd2
| More accurate is 10.Qc2, White is stronger on the
white squares. |
| This is not a good place for the rook as it has
nowhere to go but back. |
| Missing the tactical shot 27.Nf5 Rc7 28.Rc1. |
| This position is screaming for 34.Nb2 followed by
Nc4. |
| White should repeat the position with 41.Kg2 and
make black find a different move. |
| There is no way to stop ...Bf1#. |
|
