This weekend, there were four big chess events to discuss: the Glen Rock Quads, a highly rated exhibition match, a FIDE event, and, most importantly, the NJ High School Team Championship.
First, I will discuss the quads, where 42 participants were split into 10 sections. On average, the games today were much faster than usual, and this is not just because we only had two game 45 sections. Rather, many players made severe blunders: our Section 10 winner, Jack Holder, came back in the first game after losing a queen, won the second game with the Scholar’s mate, and won the third game by skewering the king to the queen! Meanwhile, the final game of Section 9, between Nicholas Mccahey and Mason Chang, was also decided by a mistake: after Mason took his rook, the only defender, off the back rank, Nicholas was able to create a powerful attack, forcing Mason to resign! (although Mason admitted that his resignation was premature: another ‘blunder’!)
But that’s not all: the results of our top two sections were also decided by blunders: in Evan Roque’s second match, his opponent had a strong attack on the queenside. This attack consisted of two passed pawns and lots of reinforcement from the other pieces. There was just one problem: the opponent completely neglected the kingside! As a result, Evan found a mate in two, completely stealing the match! This led to Evan winning Section 2 with 2.5/3 points!
But the blunder of the day has to go to the top section. At 2:30pm, I wondered why nobody from Section 1 was playing: the games went way too fast. The answer, one of the players hung their queen! The summary: when mistakes like these are happening in Section 1, it is just “one of those days”!
Fortunately, there was loads of quality in our other events at the ICA this Saturday. Two regulars at our open, Shahryar Siamdoust and NM Yefim Treger, agreed to place $30 each to play a series of three games, with the winner receiving $60. For the first match, Shahryar was white and Yefim was black. The game was even throughout, with neither player able to break through. It seemed that, after the players traded queens, there would be a fight for the d-file. Both players were ready to double up their rooks on that file to put pressure on Shahryar’s d-pawn. However, after both players realized the position was deadlocked, they agreed to a draw.
The players then switched colors for the second match, leading to a much less cagey affair. After the opening, Yefim sacrificed his knight via 10. Nxd5. If Shahryar would have accepted, Yefim would have played 11. Bxh7+. Afterwards, black would either run away with the king, ceding control of the kingside, or capture the bishop, leading to 12. Nxf7, trapping the queen. As a result, Shahryar did not accept, and the game moved forward.
Just like the earlier game, both players traded queens and doubled up their rooks: Yefim took the e-file, and Shahryar took the d-file. At this point, Yefim made another sacrifice, taking the bishop via 24. Rxe6. Although there was no immediate threat if black would have accepted, white would have complete control of the e-file and would be able to create serious threats on the back rank with the rook and bishop. Once again, Shahryar did not accept. Yefim then doubled up his rooks on the eighth rank and won a pawn. More importantly, he used his rook to cut off the black king from the h-file, allowing his h-pawn a free route to promotion. After it was evident there would be no way for Shahryar to stop the pawn, he resigned, giving Yefim a lead in the series. Unfortunately, there would be no third game as Yefim had to catch a train. As a result, the series finished 1.5-.5 in Yefim’s favor!
In addition, Derin Goktepe came all the way from Virginia to play in the virtual FIDE Series against opponents from Serbia. Why the long commute? The ICA has all the tools to host this series: a reliable arbiter in Noreen Davisson, good tech support from myself, and a private room for focus.
After drawing his first match, Derin played as black for his second. The game was even until 16. e5, taking the initiative in the center. White accepted the pawn-trade, handing Derin’s rook the center square -> a mistake! Derin capitalized by: 18. Qf1 dxc4. 19. Nxc4 Rg5. 20. F3 Nef. 21. Be2 Nxc4. 22. Bxc4 Qf4. 13. Ne2 Qxf3, winning a pawn! The match then petered out, with the players trading material, leaving Derin up a pawn in the endgame. From there, there would be only one winner as Derin comfortably navigated the endgame and picked off all of his opponents pawns!
Lastly, at the NJ High School Team Championship, a team of current and former ICA students, all from the high school Bergen County Academies, won the school the second place trophy after finishing with a combined 16.5 points! Our two best performers were Ethan Modi and Matthew Lerman, who finished with 4 and 3.5 out of 5 points, respectively. Our other three players, Goktug Bas, Arnav Adepu, and Albert Abzalimov, also did extremely well, finishing with 3 points each!
Congratulations to all winners: click HERE to view rating reports!
Our next Quads will be held next Saturday, March 11. Click HERE to register!
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