Today, we had 64 players participate in our quads! As I began to realize, we tend to get higher attendances on days that I play rather than direct. Coincidence?
I participated in Section 3 along with Andrew Cerami, Leon Shevelenko, and Ethan Fede. Leon and Ethan were much lower rated than Andrew and myself, meaning it was a huge chance for them to show why they belong at this level. Andrew, however, just won 2.5/3 points last week in the top section, easily making him the favorite to win the section. As for myself: my last competitive game was 6 weeks ago: a breakthrough win against a 1695 rated opponent at the US Ametaur Team East (my only game at the tournament). The stage was set for three rounds of competitive games!
In the first round, I was white against Leon, while Andrew was white against Ethan.
Unfortunately, Leon got off to the worst possible start after playing the Sicilian Defence. By developing the bishop and blocking its route back with a pawn, I was able to fork the king and said bishop with my queen at the very start of the match. This, however, seemed to wake Leon up as he then began relentlessly attacking my queen. It was as if I was on a minefield: because my pieces were underdeveloped, I had to be extra cautious to not make a mistake. Eventually, I was able to shift Leon’s pieces to defend the queen-side as I began attacking the king-side. The game went into “blitz mode” as both of us had to play quickly to avoid flagging. I was able to promote my pawn and checkmate with two queens after both of us dropped below the minute mark! As I was told by Section 2 players Thomas Holder, Albert Abzalimov, and Arnav Adepu, I need to learn how to play under time pressure!
After Andrew defeated Ethan, we began the second round: I was black against Ethan while Andrew was black against Leon.
I have been known to have a very predictable opening game: I always prefer a basic king’s pawn opening: this way, I do not have to study opening theory anymore! And if I play as black and my opponent starts with d4, I just play d5. However, if there was ever a day to debut a new opening, it was, of course, on April Fools Day!
I played the Old Benoni Defense: a gambit starting with 1. d4 c5. If 2. dxc5, black plays e6, allowing the bishop to attack the pawn (similar to the queen's gambit in a way). If white tries to defend, they will fall into traps. Worst case, they lose a rook by move 6!
But Ethan did not take it. Rather, he played 2. e6, meaning I was now the one lacking in theory! My plan was to try attacking the h2 square with my bishop, knight, and queen. Ethan, meanwhile, wanted to break my pawn chain and control the center. And that is exactly what Ethan was able to do with 9. e4, forcing a trade. My c-pawn was only protected by my queen, while Ethan was doubling up pieces on the e-file. And once we traded queens, the white rook was perfectly placed on e5, ready to cause damage. Within the space of three turns, Ethan gained two pawns! However, I have a track record of making unlikely comebacks. And what unfolded is right up there with one of the best.
My initial plan after going down was to bring a rook onto the g-file and attack the g-pawn. Once Ethan would defend that pawn, I would then either attack the h-pawn or the second rank. Obviously, plans change. After Ethan threatened checkmate in 1, the game proceeded: 29. Ra5. 30. A3 Bd5. 31. Rf4 Rb5. 32. Re5 Kb7. 33. Rf7+ Ka6. The plan was clear: if my rook could not move to capture the b-pawn, then my king would do it. And that is exactly what happened. I then wanted to loop my rook around so that it could attack from behind. I did end up needing to do this: after 43. Kc2, I forked his king and rook, completing the comeback and bringing my tally to 2/2 on the day.
Andrew also ended up defeating Leon. As I stated earlier, this was a great opportunity for Leon and Ethan to prove why they belong at this level. Although they both lost, they showed great fight: especially in their matches against me! They both learned that, at the highest level, chess is a game of fine margins.
But these results meant my match against Andrew Cerami was a winner takes all! We have been talking for months about eventually playing against each other at a tournament. However, we never discussed a possible “winner takes all” match: we were both very excited to play this game. And what a match this ended up being!
After the color draw, I ended up playing white, meaning Andrew was black. As I previously mentioned, I am an “e4” player. Andrew, meanwhile, loves the “London System” (1. d4 d5. 2. Bf4). So obviously, I opened the game with the London System!
After Andrew responded to my opening with the “Steinz Countergambit”, we traded queens early on. While Andrew had doubled pawns, his rook on the a-file suddenly became menacing. I then proceeded to play 7. Na3, with the idea to then play Nb5, gaining an outpost and creating problems for the king. This move, however, was an error: after 7. ... e5, a long exchange of material led to Andrew’s rook gaining full control. The game proceeded: 8. Bxe5 Nxe5. 9. dxe5 Bxa3. 10. Bxa3 Rxa3. 11. Ne2 Ne7. 23. g3 Bg4. I would inevitably lose the c-pawn, which would make Andrew’s pawn a passed pawn. Therefore, I needed to quickly create a counter-threat: allowing Andrew to play on the offensive with a passed pawn would give him a free victory. My plan was as follows: 1) threaten his d-pawn with many pieces (ie: the knight, bishop, and rook). 2) either win it, or play e4 to win it. If he captures I would have a back rank checkmate. 3) loop around and capture the c-pawn. Andrew, meanwhile, wanted to attack the a4 pawn and eventually promote one of his passed pawns. With both of us playing on the offensive, pandemonium was inevitable.
After I played 21. e4, Andrew pushed his passed pawn with 21. ... c3. I couldn't care less about that pawn, however. I played 22. exd5, which was met with 22. ... c2. Obviously, rather than defending my rook, I kept going. I played 23. d6 (not the best move, but good intent). He captured my rook, and I captured his pawn/queen back. If Andrew was to run away with the knight, I would have traded bishops and promoted the pawn. Instead, he played 24. ... Kf8. I pushed with 25. d7. He captured with the bishop and I captured back with the rook. By the end of this exchange, I was down a rook for a bishop and pawn: not the worst! However, after Andrew grabbed a pawn, I played 31. Nd7+, creating a discovered attack to win back the rook.
We then traded rooks, and arrived at a drawn endgame position. By move 38, I had two minutes left on my clock. Even though I was up a pawn, a draw was a sensible outcome. Therefore, when Andrew offered the draw, accepting would not have been the worst decision. However, I declined, as I was determined to win. However, the time pressure got to me, as I walked my king right into a checkmate trap. After 46. Be4, the game finished: 46. ... g5+. 47. Kh5 Kg7. 48. h4 Ng3#.
As a result, Andrew won the section with a perfect 3 points out of 3! This brings him a few rating points closer to the elusive 1600 mark!
Congratulations to all winners: click HERE to view rating reports!
We will NOT have Quads next week due to the holidays! Our next Quads will be held next Saturday, April 15. Click HERE to register!
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates on tournaments, classes, and other information.
Visitors: 700