| The Motor City Open was held Nov. 24th thru 26th at All The King’s
Men Chess Supplies at the Universal Mall in Warren. 90 players attended
and Ed Mandell directed the event. Here are some of the exciting
games. |
|
| Salah Chehayeb (1975) |
|
| Manis Davidovich (1758) |
|
| Round 5 |
|
| [B34] Sicilian Dragon |
|
|
Annotations by Bob Ciaffone
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6
| This variation of the Sicilian Defense is the Accelerated Dragon, characterized
by Black omitting both Nf6 and d6 for a while. Black hopes to get
in the move d5 in one go, freeing his game. |
| this is playable, but gives White nothing if black counters properly.
Note that black's b-pawn will be moved up a notch in value, becoming a
c-pawn, where it can participate more effectively in the fight for central
control. |
| A discovered attack on the Rh8. Donaldson and Silman, in their book,
"Accelerated Dragons," say,"White continues his macho display, but this
only helps Black gain a significant lead in development." |
| "Also good is 8...Nf6." Donaldson. |
Who is better here?
White has managed to inflict a pawn weakness on the opponent in the
form of an isolated c-pawn, but look at the cost in
development and center control. Black has a large advantage. |
| Motamedi-Donaldson, 1985, went 12.Qe2 and Black was better. |
What should Black play?
| Black has been making some sensible moves, and converted his opening
advantage to a material one - plus one pawn. By 29...Bb7 he would
have a good chance to win the game. |
| This suspicious-looking exchange of a bishop for a knight gives White
the bishop pair and weakens the light squares. White is now able
to draw the game. |
| 42. Rg6+ Kd5 43. Rd7+ Kc5 44. Rc7+ Kb5 45. Rh7 a5 46. Rh8 Kb4 47. Rb8+
Ka3 48. Kg1. |
|
|
| Manis Davidovich (1758) |
|
| Tom Manion (1849) |
|
| Round 6 |
|
| [B09] Pirc Defense |
|
|
Annotations by Bob Ciaffone
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4
| Black is playing the Pirc Defense. American players Anglacize the name
by pronouncing it "perk," whereas many foreign players pronounce it as
Vadja Pirc himself did, "pierts." White plays the Austrian Attack, one
of many vicious lines Black must be prepared to face, and perhaps the most
testing. |
| The move 6.Bd3 is more common, but the text was used by Hungarian superstar
Judit Polgar to destroy Israeli GM Ilya Smirin in the Istanbul Olympiad
last year. Looks like being married has not adversely affected her
chess results, as her performance rating in the Olympiad was well over
2700. The girls are a lot tougher these days than they were when Fischer
(faultily) claimed he could spot any woman in the world a knight. |
| Smirin played 6...b6. The text "looks a bit wet," as my droll British
friends would say. GM John Nunn in his book, "The Pirc Defense" mentions
several alternatives to 6...b6 for Black, but somehow failed to consider
this move. |
What should White play?
12. Bf4
| Looks to me that White should prefer 12.Qd2, since moving the f-pawn
forward to give the Nh6 a home allows white to get rid of the e5 pawn and
consolodate his material advantage. |
How does White win?
19. Bxh4 ??
| 19.bxc3 is winning, since 19...Rxd2 20.Bxh4 Rd1+ 21.Kb2 leaves black
down a piece. |
| I guess Black overlooked that after Bxg5 the bishop can return to stop
mate. He should have played 20...g5. |
| The dust has settled, and we see that White has two bishops against
a rook and pawn. Smart money in such cases bets on the bishops. |
| White has given up a bishop to gain two pawns and get out of the pin.
His pawns look very dangerous. |
| No defenders in front of the goal line; Black is toast. |
|
|
Playing the black pieces in this game is the Michigan chessplayer with
the best pedigree, the youngest Finegold. His grandpa Ron was one of the
state's leading masters, his father Ben is the current State Champion,
Uncle Mark is a
master, and mother Gina, now teaching at Harvard, was a strong expert
when playing regularly. Spencer's age is working its way toward double
digits, and his chess shows promise. |
| Joe Fee (Unr) |
|
| Spencer Finegold (942) |
|
| Round 3 |
|
| [D02] Catalan |
|
|
Annotations by Bob Ciaffone
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6
| We know where this idea came from, as Spencer's father Ben has been
a Chigorin defense enthusiast for a long time. |
| Not a testing move, but a playable one. |
| Black is making normal-looking moves. White's 7.c3 is like the rest
of his opening; passive and unambitious, but solid. |
| Playing Bg5 does not go well with g3, since as soon as Black hits the
bishop with h6, it cannot keep the pin. For example, you hardly ever see
white play bg5 in the Catalan. |
| Spencer knows about pins, and gets this one over with in a hurry. |
| This lemon loosens the pawn structure around white's castled king,
a bad idea. Preferable was getting the other horse into action. |
| A mystery move. White overprotects b4. That is like putting a patch
on your garage window when the front door of the house is under a hurricane's
fury. It was imperative to play g5 |
14...Bd3 !
| This hits the Rf1, at the same time clearing the route for the queen
to the h-file. |
| 17.Kh1 Qh7 is not very appitizing, but it’s better than allowing
mate in one. |
| Spencer was in good form for this tournament. |
|
|
| Dennis Seawald (2187) |
|
| Daniel G. Bolda (1795) |
|
| Round 3 |
|
| [C10] French |
|
|
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6
6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bc4 Nb6 8. Bb3 Bd7 9. O-O c6 10. Bf4 Bc8 11. Re1 Bd6 12.
Qd2 Qc7 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. c4 Qe7 15. d5 Bd7 16. d6 Qf8 17. c5 Nd5 18. Nd4
O-O-O 19. Bxd5 cxd5 20. Qa5 Kb8 21. c6 bxc6 22. Nxc6+ Bxc6 23. Qc7+ Ka8
24. Qxc6+ Kb8 25. Re3 1-0. |
|
| Walt Smith (1961) |
|
| Charles Minskey (1834) |
|
| Round 4 |
|
| [A27] English |
|
|
Annotations by Phil Roe
1. c4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 f5 4. d3 Bb4 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2
d6 7. O-O Bxc3 8. bxc3 Bd7 9. Rb1 Rb8 10. Ne1 Ne7
| A very interesting move, offerring the b7 pawn to lure the Bg2 away
from its usual home. |
| White is unimpressed, and grabs another pawn, but soon finds himself
in a horrendous pin. |
What should Black play?
14...Kf7!!
| I think this amazing move wins. Black cannot yet play ..Qc7 because
of Qa8+, so you would expect 14..O-O. But that leaves the Ne7 unprotected,
allowing 15. c5! dxc5 16. Qxc5. |
| I don't see a way out; If 15. Qa3 Qb6 16.Ba6 Ra8. |
| So black wins a piece for three not-very-good pawns. The rest of the
game is interesting, but not very interesting. Black plays soundly to activate
his extra piece and to control whites only real asset, the a-pawn. |
|
|
| Jack Wiener (1292) |
|
| Anthony Heard (775) |
|
| Round 5 |
|
| [D00] Queen’s Gambit |
|
|
Annotations by Phil Roe
1. d4 d5 2. h3
| Eccentric but not exploitable. Black could now go ..c5 and pretend
to be white, but the more agressive lines of the Queens Gambit do not apply
because ..Bg4 could not be played. |
| Offering a gambit which looks unsound. 7. c3 would be more natural. |
| An ambitious move, trying to dominate the center with his extra pawn. |
| However, black fails to find the tactics needed to back this up. Safe
was to get the queen out of danger with ..Qb6, intending ..Bd6. Whites
reply is instuctive, clearing the e-file with tempo. |
| 11..Bd7 was better. Now white could already make combinations with
12. Bxe5! |
| White has come well out of the opening, on account of black's ineffective
bishop. This should probably have gone to e6. Putting it on b7 lets white
knight into f5, for which square it at once sets out. |
| Giving away the square e7 leaves him helpless. white wraps thing up
very efficiently after this. Watch how his pieces come quickly to dominant
positions. |
|
|
| Ben Finegold (2600) |
|
| John Brooks (2000) |
|
| Round 5 |
|
| [E38] Nimzo Indian |
|
|
Annotations by Ben Finegold
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2
| The Qc2 Nimzo, one of my favorite openings with white. I have wins
versus GMs Gelfand, Farago, and deFirmian with this system. |
| A new move, and not a good one. Best is 9...d5 with a complicated game.
The main line is 10. c5, but I prefer to play quietly with 10. cxd5. |
| Now black is lost. White has two bishops and more space and a better
center. White also has vicious threats which cannot be parried. |
12…Nb5 13. Qd2 Qe5!
13... e5 14. Bg3 d5
| 14...Nd4 also loses a piece after 15. Qxd4. |
| The rest is easy with an extra piece. |
|
|
| Harold Steen (1715) |
|
| Beatrice Chapman (1194) |
|
| [D05] Queen’s Pawn |
|
|
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Nc6 6. Bb2
Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. Qh5 g6 11. Qh3 b6 12. f4 Bb7
13. f5 c4 14. bxc4 Re8 15. fxg6 fxg6 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 17. Qf7 Rf8 18. e6+
Nf6 19. Bxf6+ Bxf6 20. Qxb7 Bxa1 21. e7 Qd6 22. exf8=Q+ Rxf8 23. Rxf8+
Qxf8 24. Qxd5 Bf6 25. Nd2 Bg7 26. Nf3 1-0. |
|
| Ethan Socia (1155) |
|
| Charles Minskey (1834) |
|
| [E61] King’s Indian |
|
|
1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. g3 O-O 6. Nf3
Nbd7 7. Bg2 a5 8. O-O e5 9. d5 Nc5 10. Re1 Bg4 11. h3 Bd7 12. Bg5 Qc8 13.
Bxf6 Bxf6 14. g4 Be7 15. a3 a4 16. Nd2 Nd3 17. Re3 Nf4 18. Bf3 Nxh3+ 19.
Kf1 Bh4 20. Re2 Bxg4 0-1. |
|
| Michael Marson |
|
| Tim Morana |
|
| [D00] Queen’s Gambit |
|
|
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6.
e3 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. Rc1 Nd7 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12.
Rxc7 Qb4+ 13. Qd2 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Rfd8 16. Rhc1 e5 17. Be4
Rab8 18. Rxa7 Nc5 19. d5 Nxe4+ 20. fxe4 g5 21. Rcc7 Rf8 22. Re7 Kg7 23.
Rxe5 Kf6 24. Rae7 h5 25. Kd3 1-0. |
|
| Ricky Reid |
|
| James Loo |
|
| [A46] Indian |
|
|
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6.
Bg2 d5 7. O-O h6 8. c3 Bf5 9. Nbd2 Bd6 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nh4 Bh7 12. Qb3
Na5 13. Qd1 Rc8 14. Bh3 Rc7 15. Nf5 Qd7 16. Nxh6+ gxh6 17. Bxd7 Rxd7 18.
Nf3 Bf5 19. Qd2 Ng4 20. h3 Nc4 21. Qxd5 Nxf2 22. Qxc4 Rc7 23. Qh4 Bc5 24.
Kh2 f6 25. e4 Bxh3 26. Be3 Bxe3 27. Rxe3 Be6 28. Kg2 Bh3+ 29. Kxf2 1-0. |
|
| Ben Finegold |
|
| Dennis Seawald |
|
| [E33] Old Indian |
|
|
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6.
Bg5 h6 7. Bd2 O-O 8. a3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Qe7 10. e3 a5 11. Be2 a4 12. O-O e5
13. d5 Nb8 14. Nd2 Nbd7 15. Rae1 b5 16. e4 bxc4 17. Nxc4 Nc5 18. f4 exf4
19. e5 Nfe4 20. Rxf4 Nxc3 21. Qxc3 Bb7 22. Bf3 Rae8 23. Re2 dxe5 24. Rxe5
Qd8 25. Rxe8 Qxe8 26. Ne3 Nd7 27. Re4 Qd8 28. Nf5 Qf6 29. Qxf6 Nxf6 30.
Rb4 Ba8 31. Ne7+ Kh7 32. Rxa4 Rb8 33. d6 1-0. |
|
|
Motor City Tournament Winners!
|
Ben Finegold (1st Place)
|
|
John Brooks (2nd Place)
|
|
Ron Finegold (3rd Place)
|
|
Don Vandivier (1st Class A)
|
|
Manis Davidovich & Peter Sattler (Tied 1st Class B)
|
|
Dan Haidukewych (1st Class C)
|
|
John W. Frantz (1st Class D)
|
|
Oliver Saylor (1st Class E)
|
|
James Loo (1st Unrated)
|
