On a dark, thunderous afternoon at the ICA, 52 participants came to participate in the first Glen Rock Quads of the fall semester. As always, we invited players to help write the report regardless of their results. Two players obliged: Dev Patel from Section 10 and Yegna Jandhyala from Section 1.
In addition, I, Alan Salnikov, who many know as a TD, returned from my summer hiatus to play in today’s tournament! I have many thoughts to share about my performance, but one match stood above the rest: stay tuned to see how I performed!
The final match of Section 10 was played between Grisha and Dev. Going into the match, Grisha was on 2 points while Dev was on one. Therefore, Dev needed to win to tie for first while Grisha just needed a draw.
This game had a wide variety of tactics used and was a real battle with the game lasting 48 moves. Grisha used the Ruy Lopez opening and I played A6 and B5 in response to it. After most of the pieces were developed and both players had castled, Grisha played D4! I decided to wait for him to take it so the queens could be exchanged. I played Bg4. He decided to lock the center by playing the move D5. Then I played the move Nd5 to pressure the knight and get the king exposed. I did just that as he played Bg5 and exchanged knight for knight and got his king exposed. Then I played H6 and a few moves later G5. Then he played the intriguing move F4!! Trying to exchange the bishop to get a way for the queen and rook to get a checkmate.
By now the opening had finished. After the move Nd7 to get an open file for the queen, Grisha played Qh4+ to hopefully get a checkmate. Kh7 was played to defend the check. After he took the pawn on H4 the queens were exchanged. After my rooks were doubled Grisha got into a problem involving a skewer. He defended it by playing Ne2. Then he blundered a pawn on F2 and got into more trouble. I doubled the rooks once more with Rgg2. Then he blundered his knight by playing C3. With that blunder I was in a clear winning position. After a few more moves, I played Rf3+ which is a discovered check with the bishop. He played Bc1, an illegal move and I got 2 extra minutes. After he blundered a pawn with that check he played an enormous blunder, Re1. Bf2 fork would have secured the win but I didn’t see it!! Instead I played Rxc3. After Bd1 I saw Bf2 and played it. After I captured the rook on H4 with my bishop, the middlegame had finished.
Rg1 and I played Rb1 pinning the bishop to the rook. After an exchange of the rooks. I started to think about pushing my A and B pawns to make a queen. I started to push my B pawn to make an exchange and get an open file for my A pawn. I did just that and now had an open file. Then he blundered a pawn with the move F6. I captured the pawn with the knight. The next move, he took the pawn on F7 with his bishop realizing his chances of winning were very slim. My king took the bishop. He started to repeat moves hoping to get a stalemate while I made a queen with my A pawn. After that I played a simple ladder checkmate. End result: 1-0. What a game!!
I’M BACK! After a summer of traveling and researching, I have made my return to the Glen Rock Quads. Only this time, with Noreen and Goktug holding the fort, I had the liberty to play: my first competitive outing since the Dr. David Ostfeld Memorial (which we will be hosting again October 15, register before early bird prices expire!)
While I was resting, my opponents spent the summer preparing for war. But no kid was as battle ready as Kian Zarineh, who, before my hiatus, was known for playing Quads at a Blitz pace - and now here I find him in my section!
But there is always respect: I knew Kian is very sharp tactically - which is why I believed starting the game off with e5 as a response to e4 would be a bad choice in the long run. Therefore, this was the perfect chance to debut the Karo-Cann.
The first 14 moves were like a game of cat and mouse: after I closed the position completely, I viewed Kian’s position as stagnant whilst I could create an attack. However, he responded well: 11. b3 after 10. … Nb6, preventing Nc4. And 13. a4 after 12. … a5 to prevent an assault on the queenside.
As a result, the position was a dead draw. Believing it was time to open the game up, I played 14. … f5, wanting to control the center and launch an attack on either flank. One minor problem: I left the e-file open for Kian to exploit! After allowing 21. Re6, I believed there was no threat, especially after a trade of bishops and 22. … Rf6?? Once Kian played 23. Rxc6!!, however, I knew the game was over. Not only did that move win a pawn: my entire position fell apart. My knight was pinned, at least two of my other pawns were dead, and my back rank was exposed. After around 10 more moves, I resigned, to the delight of every kid at the venue! They viewed this result as a massive upset, but not me: Kian improved massively over the summer, and I will be back sooner rather than later!
I was very excited to be part of the ICA Super Saturdays tournament just a day before my 10th birthday! I was very happy and excited that my first game was with NM Yefim Treger. I played a game with him a couple of weeks back but I lost after giving him a good fight.
This week also I wanted to give a good fight and do my best to win. I tried my best and I had a good chance but went for material and had to draw the game or lose my queen. So, I drew the game.
Next two games were pretty good too. I won after a tough fight with Jeremy Tao but lost against Leqi Han.
Congratulations to all winners: click here to view rating reports for QUADS!
Our next Quads will be held NEXT SATURDAY on September 16. Click HERE to register!
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SECTION 10 REPORT by Dev Patel
SECTION 2 REPORT by Alan Salnikov
SECTION 1 REPORT by Yegna Jandhyala
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