U.S. Open 1

* After the merge, total attendance is 455. Not impressive by the standards of the 70s and 80s, but pretty good for the current decade. The dog-and-pony show of 9-, 6-, and 4-day schedules has produced some oddities, like young master Jonathan Hilton facing GM Alex Yermolinsky on Board 2, but at least there will be three rounds for everyone to compete together. The Indianapolis Marriott East is a very nice playing site, but it's easy to see why it sold out early -- aside from the function space, it's a pretty small hotel. Complete standings may be found through the USCF web page, but they apparently cannot be linked to because of some some very annoying web design choices.

* Abby Marshall of Virginia took first place in the Denker Touranment of High School Champions with 5.5 out of 6. I think this is a first, though I haven't had a chance to check. Tied for second with 5-1 were Jeffrey Haskel of Florida and Michael Yang of Minnesota.

* Rumor is that the Bylaws Committee wants to deal with whinng complaints about the legality of the Delegate selection process by repealing the changes made by the "Blue Ribbon Commission" back in 1998 -- returning to appointment of Delegates by the State Chapters to one-year terms. We won't know for sure until the Delegates Meeting tomorrow. Which will also have the inestimable pleasure of ruling on whether it's OK to revoke the memberships of Polgar and Truong. It's going to be a long weekend.

Capablanca-Bernstein, San Sebastian 1911

The young Capablanca gained entry to this event, intended for those who had taken at least two third prizes in international tournaments, only at the insistence of Frank Marshall, who had lost to Capa in a match two years before. The Cuban won the event convincingly, losing only one game (to Rubinstein). Ossip Bernstein had been one of the most vocal opponents of Capablanca’s admission, and it befell that they met in the first round.

Capablanca - Bernstein
San Sebastian, 1911
C65 RUY LOPEZ, Steinitz Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Be7 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7

Black has adopted the Steinitz Deense to the Ruy Lopez, in which he obtains a cramped but solid position. The doubled c-pawns deny White the use of the d5 square, and Black may hope for counterplay on the b-file. Overall, White stands slightly better.

9. Bg5 0-0 10. Re1 h6 11. Bh4 Nh7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7

In a cramped position, it is usually wise to exchange a few pieces for greater freedom of movement.

13. Qd3 Rab8 14. b3 Ng5

In the days when this defense was popular, it was more common for Black to regroup with ... Rfe8 and Nh7-f8-g6.

15. Rad1 Qe5 16. Qe3 Ne6 17. Nce2 Qa5 18. Nf5 Nc5

The threat against the a2-pawn proves illusory, for after 18. ... Qxa2 19. Qc3 (threatening to trap the Queen with 20. Ra1) Qa6, White would obtain a strong attack with 20. Nf4 f6 21. Qg3 g5 22. Ng6 Rf7 23. Nxh6+ Kg7 24. Nxf7 Kxg6 25. Nxd6 cxd6 26. Rxd6 Rb7 27. e5.

19. Ned4 Kh7

To meet the threat of 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. Ne7+ and 22. Nxc8. The a2 pawn still cannot be captured, in view of 19. ... Qxa2 20. Ra1 Qb7 21. Reb1.

20. g4 Rbe8 21. f3 Ne6 22. Ne2 Qxa2

Seeing no direct threat, Black thinks that it is time to capture the a-pawn, but 22. ... Qb6 would have minimized White’s advantage.
23. Neg3 Qxc2?

(Diagram)

The only chance of defense was 23. ... f6, to defend the g7 pawn with ... Rf7.

24. Rc1 Qb2 25. Nh5 Rh8

Other moves are no better. Two variations given by Capablanca are 25. ... g5 26. e5 f6 27. Qd3, and 25. ... g6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. e5 gxh5 28. gxh5, and there is no answer to the threat of Re1-e2-g2+.

26. Re2 Qe5 27. f4 Qb5 28. Nfxg7 Nc5

Losing quickly. Capablanca expected 28. ... Nxh7, though White is still winning after 29. Nf6+ Kg6 30. Nxd7 f6 31. e5 Kf7 32. Nxf6 Re7 33. Ne4.

29. Nxe8 Bxe8 30. Qc3 f6 31. Nxf6+ Kg6 32. Nh5 Rg8 33. f5+ Kg5 34. Qe3+ Kh4 35. Qg3+ Kg5 36. h4 mate

Westwood final

Top-rated GM Melikset Khachiyan dominated the Westwood Summer Open, winning four straight before making a quick last-round draw with master Joel Banawa. Tied for second wre Banawa and another of Khachiyan's victims, master Ryan Porter. In the Reserve (U1800) section, unrated Michael Jaglom scored 4.5 to prove that you can start playing tournament chess at any age. (Hint: He's not a little kid.) John Hillery directed for Western Chess. Complete standings are psoted here.


Open:
1st: GM Melikset Khachiyan, 4.5-.5; 2nd-3rd: Joel Banawa, Ryan Porter, 4-1; U2200: Jeremy Stein, 3.5-1.5; U2000: Willis Kim, Zoran Djoric, Matthew Hernandez, Cheston Gunawan, 3-2.
Reserve:
1st: Michael Jaglom, 4.5-.5 (technically 1st U1400/unrated, however); 2nd-3rd: Saul Priever, Numan Abdul-Mujeeb, 4-1; U1600: David Steinhart, Sanjay Siddhanti, Bryan Shapiro, 3-2; U1200: Yechiel Goldberger, 3-1.

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2596) – Ryan Porter (2293)

Westwood Summer Open, Los Angeles 2009

B06 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 b6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0–0 Ne7 8.Re1 0–0 9.Bf4 h6 10.h4 Bb7 11.Qd2 Kh7 12.Rad1 Nd7 13.Bg3 Qb8 14.Qe2 Qa7 15.h5 g5 16.e5 Bxf3 17.gxf3 d5 18.Bd3+ Kh8 19.f4 gxf4 20.Bxf4 c5 21.Qd2 cxd4 22.Ne2 Nc6 23.Bxh6 Rg8 24.Bxg7+ Rxg7+ 25.Kh1 Ndxe5 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Rg1 f5 28.Qxe6+ Qf7 29.Rxg7+ Kxg7 30.Rg1+ Kf8 31.Qh6+ Ke8 32.f4 1–0

Westwood Summer Open

A rush of door entries resutled in a good turnout of 43, one of the best for these one-day events at the L.A. Chess Club. Leaidng the field are GM Melikset Kahchiyan, IM Tim Tatylor, and U.S. Junior participant Joel Banawa. Standings are posted here, and will be updated throughout the day.

Nelson Farber (2012) – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2596)

Westwood Summer Open, Los Angeles 2009

B24 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Closed Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Rb8 6.Be3 b5 7.Rb1 b4 8.Nce2 Qa5 9.b3 d6 10.Nf3 Qxa2 11.d4 cxd4 12.Ra1 Qb2 13.Rb1 dxe3 14.Rxb2 exf2+ 15.Kxf2 Bxb2 16.e5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Nd4 Bd7 19.Nc6 Bxc6 20.Bxc6+ Kf8 21.g4 Kg7 22.g5 e6 23.Be4 Ne7 24.h4 h6 25.gxh6+ Rxh6 26.h5 f5 27.Bf3 g5 28.Re1 Kf6 29.Rxe5 dxe5 30.Qd6 Rhh8 31.Be2 Rhd8 32.Qa6 Rd2 33.Qxa7 Rc8 34.h6 Rcxc2 35.Qa8 Rxe2+ 36.Kf1 Rc8 37.Qb7 Rh2 0–1

USCF election final

Final totals for the USCF Executive Board election:

Jim Berry: 3030
Bill Goichberg: 3014
Ruth Haring: 2952
Michael Atkins: 2672
Michael Korenman: 822
Mike Nietman: 732
Eric Hecht: 717
Blas Lugo: 657
Sam Sloan: 588
Brian Lafferty: 576
Brian Mottershead: 435

There were also 123 Write-in ballots. A total of 4379 ballots were received.

No significant changes from yesterday. A breakdown of votes by USCF Region may be found here.

Comments: Brian Lafferty did surprisingly well for someone who dropped out in May. Perhaps he was seen as a "safe" choice for a protest vote. Brian Mottershead was unable to make traction out of inciting the USCF's current legal problems with the eponymous "Mottershead Report." Sam Sloan's support continues ot decline, but, well, every nut has a hard kernel. Numbers for the "Goichberg group" are comparable to the vote totals he and his endorsees received in 2005 (a bit lower, but not by a lot), but the "Polgar group" got clobbered. Seems like the voters looked at the facts rather than the spin.

USCF election, day 1

Mike Nolan has posted the results of the first day's counting on the USCF Forum. He writes:

They're a bit over half way through the states after the first day of counting.

So far the states that have been counted are:

CT, ME, NY, PA, DE, DC , SC, GA, IN, OH, MI, MN, IL, MO, AL, AR, TN, LA, KS, CO, OK, AZ, CA, AK, WA, MT and foreign.

The vote tallies so far are:

Jim Berry 1829
Bill Goichberg 1826
Ruth Haring 1802
Mike Atkins 1569
Mikhael Korenman 483
Eric Hecht 420
Mike Nietman 400
Sam Sloan 360
Blas Lugo 358
Brian Lafferty 348
Brian Mottershead 252

Various Write-ins 75

I think they'll be complete some time Thursday afternoon, at which time detailed totals by region will be released.

A total of 4379 ballots were received.

Could be better, could be a lot worse.

Pacific Southwest Open final

IM Enrico Sevillano took first place in the 49th Annual Pacific Southwest Open defeating Senior Master John Daniel Bryant in the last round to finish with 5.5-.5. Next at 5-1 were GM Melikset Khachiyan and Joel Banawa. In the Amateur (U1800) section, Brian Glover topped the field with 5.5-.5, a half point ahead of Carla Naylor and John Ballow. See below for a complete list of prize winners, or click here for complete standings.

Prize Winners

Open

1st: IM Enrico Sevillano, 5.5-.5; 2nd-3rd: GM Melikset Khachiyan, Joel Banawa, 5-1; 4th-5th: IM Jack Peters, Tatev Abrahamyan, Julian Landaw, 4.5-1.5; U2200: 1st: Konstantin Kavutskiy, 4.5-1.5; 2nd-3rd: Takashi Kurosaki, Show Kitagami, Larry Stevens, Michael Brown, Randy Hough, Bobby Hall, 4-2; U2000: 1st-3rd: Darren Wu, Larry Young, Hubert Jung, 3.5-2.5.

Amateur

1st: Brian Glover, 5.5-.5; 2nd/1st U1600: Carla Naylor, John Ballow, 5-1; 3rd: Winston Zeng, Gerson Miro, 4.5-1.5; 2nd U1600: Alexander Xie, 4.5-1.5; 3rd U1600: Jonathan Homidan, 4-2; U1400: 1st: Agata Bykovtsev, 3.5-2.5; 2nd: Annie Wang, Ezekiel Liu, 3-3; U1200: Michael Rose, 2.5-3.5.