Akobian and Aldama Top American Open

For the sixth straight year, the American Open was held over Thanksgiving Weekend in Orange County, California. There were 262 participants at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange. Two other “A’s” were prominent, as GM Varuzhan Akobian and IM Dionisio Aldama emerged on top with 6½ points of 8 in the Open section. It featured three GMs and eight IMs, an impressive roster although the last-minute cancellation of many-time champ GM Melik Khachiyan was a blow. Both had 4-0 starts. Olympian Akobian (back in Southern California after a stint in Kansas where his wife attended medical school), in the slow schedule, downed IMs Kesav Viswanadha, John Daniel Bryant, and Keaton Kiewra. In this game he displays tactical panache and earns a quick victory (though the computer prefers 12…exd5 13.Qxd5 Qe7+ 14.Be2 Nb4). After his 17…Nb4! the queen cannot be taken because 18…Nc2+ 19.Ke2 Ba6+ forces mate.

[pgn][Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "Orange"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[White "Kiewra, Keaton"]
[Black "Akobian, Varuzhan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A47"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2015.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 b6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. e4 Bb7 6. Nbd2 c5 7. c3 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Bc5 9. N4f3 g5 10. h3 Nc6 11. Nc4 d5 12. exd5 O-O-O 13. d6 h5 14. Qe2 Bxd6
15. Nxd6+ Rxd6 16. Qe3 Rhd8 17. Qxg5 Nb4 18. cxb4 Rd1+ 19. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 20. Kxd1
Bxf3+ 21. gxf3 Qxg5 22. Ba6+ Kc7 23. Ke2 Qe5+ 24. Kf1 b5 0-1

[/pgn]

Aldama is best known as the winner of the Second Metropolitan International in 2012. He faced down a weaker field in the fast schedule, but drew an evenly contested game with Akobian in Round 5 after the merge. He then downed IM Ray Kaufman, though not without difficulties. His enterprising play secured an advantage after White missed 24.e5, but then relaxed and allowed equality. White holds easily after 57.hxg4 h3 58.Nxd6 h2 59.Ne4+ Bf6 60.Rc1. Perhaps short of time, Kaufman blundered and Aldama won quickly.

[pgn]
[Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "Orange"]
[Date "2015.11.28"]
[White "Kaufman, Ray"]
[Black "Aldama, Dionisio"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A70"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2015.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bf4 Bg7 8. Qa4+
Bd7 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. e4 O-O 11. Nd2 Re8 12. Be2 a6 13. a4 Bc8 14. O-O Nbd7 15.
Nc4 Bf8 16. Bf3 Rb8 17. Rfe1 b6 18. Rad1 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Nxb5 Qb7 21. Nca3
Ne5 22. Qc2 Nxf3+ 23. gxf3 Qd7 24. Nc3 Nh5 25. Bc1 Bg7 26. Ne2 Ba6 27. Ng3 Qh3
28. Nc4 Bxc4 29. Qxc4 Bxb2 30. Be3 Be5 31. Qf1 Qh4 32. Rb1 Nf4 33. Kh1 h5 34.
Rb5 Rbc8 35. Qc4 Qh3 36. Qf1 Qxf1+ 37. Nxf1 c4 38. Bxf4 Bxf4 39. Ne3 c3 40. Rc1
Rc7 41. Kg2 Kg7 42. Rc2 Kf6 43. h3 Ke5 44. Kf1 f5 45. Rb4 Kf6 46. Rc4 Rxc4 47.
Nxc4 fxe4 48. Rxc3 g5 49. Kg2 h4 50. Ne3 exf3+ 51. Kxf3 Kg6 52. Rc6 Rf8 53. Ke4
Be5 54. Nc4 Rf4+ 55. Ke3 Bd4+ 56. Kd3 g4 57. Rxd6+ Kg5 58. Re6 gxh3 59. Re1
Bxf2 60. Rh1 Kg4 61. d6 Kg3 0-1

[/pgn]

Meanwhile, Akobian was unable to win an extra pawn up in a rook and opposite bishops ending against the Southern California Invitational champ, 18-year-old FM Michael Brown. Brown in the previous round had turned around a dubious position against Northern California wunderkind Andrew Hong. 25.dxe5 dxe5 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Qe3 would have left White on top, and when he blocked the center with 26.d5, Black soon had a winning attack.

[pgn]
[Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "Orange"]
[Date "2015.11.28"]
[White "Hong, Andrew"]
[Black "Brown, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C95"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2015.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15.
b3 c6 16. Bg5 h6 17. Be3 Qc7 18. Qd2 h5 19. Bh6 Rad8 20. Bxf8 Nxf8 21. Qh6 N6h7
22. Rad1 Qe7 23. Rd3 Qf6 24. Qd2 Ne6 25. Rd1 c5 26. d5 Nf4 27. Re3 Bc8 28. Rde1
Kh8 29. Bd1 Rg8 30. Kf1 g5 31. Ng1 g4 32. hxg4 Bxg4 33. Bxg4 Rxg4 34. Rf3 Qh4
35. Nf5 Qh1 36. Rg3 Nf6 37. Nh6 Rg7 38. Ree3 h4 39. Rxg7 Kxg7 40. Nf5+ Kh7 41.
f3 Rg8 42. Re2 N6h5 43. a3 Ng3+ 44. Nxg3 Rxg3 45. Rf2 h3 46. Re2 h2 47. Qe3
Rxg2 48. Rxg2 Qxg2+ 0-1
[/pgn]

Thus, after six rounds Aldama led with 5½, while Akobian had 5 and Brown 4½. Akobian faced GM Enrico Sevillano (who had 4 points; eight rounds is a bit too much for 31 players). His 8…g5!? threw White off his stride and led to a bind. 24.Bxd5 is losing, though the similarly-themed improvement 24.c4 still leaves Black with a clear edge.

[pgn]
[Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.29"]
[White "Sevillano, Enrico"]
[Black "Akobian, Varuzhan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. g3
g5 9. Be3 g4 10. Nd2 Qb6 11. Rb1 f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Bg2 e5 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15.
Bxc5 Qxc5 16. Nb3 Qd6 17. Qd2 h5 18. Rd1 Be6 19. Qg5 Bf7 20. O-O O-O-O 21. f4
gxf3 22. Bxf3 Rhg8 23. Qf5+ Rd7 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25. c4 Nd4 26. Rxd4 exd4 27. cxd5
d3 28. Qxd3 Bxd5 29. Nbd4 Kb8 30. Qf5 h4 31. Qf4 hxg3 32. Nxg3 Bxa2 33. b3 Ka8
34. Qxd6 Rxd6 35. Rf4 Rb6 36. Rf7 Rb4 37. Rd7 Bxb3 38. Nde2 Bc4 39. Nc3 a6 40.
Nce4 Kb8 0-1

[/pgn]

At the same time, Brown made his move by luring Aldama into an inferior opening variation. Given Black’s attacking style, White expected 12…Nxf2?!, though White is also clearly better after the alternatives. In the game, the messy variation 14.Bxf4 Rxf4 15.gxf4 Qh4+ 16.Ke3 Qh3+ 17.Kd2 e3+ 18.Kc2 Bf5+ 19.Kb3 leaves White up a full Exchange; Brown opted for a pawn-up technical win.

[pgn]
[Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.29"]
[White "Brown, Michael"]
[Black "Aldama, Dionisio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E92"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3 h6 8. d5 Ng4
9. Bd2 f5 10. exf5 gxf5 11. g3 e4 12. Nh4 Nxf2 13. Kxf2 f4 14. Kg2 f3+ 15. Nxf3
exf3+ 16. Bxf3 Nd7 17. Bg4 Ne5 18. Bxc8 Qxc8 19. Qe2 Qf5 20. Raf1 Qc2 21. Rxf8+
Rxf8 22. Bf4 Qxe2+ 23. Nxe2 Nxc4 24. Rc1 Re8 25. Kf3 Ne5+ 26. Bxe5 Rxe5 27.
Rxc7 Rxd5 28. Rxb7 Rd3+ 29. Ke4 Rd2 30. Ke3 Rxb2 31. Rxa7 Be5 32. h4 Rb4 33.
Kf3 Kf8 34. a4 Ke8 35. a5 Ra4 36. a6 Kd8 37. h5 Kc8 38. Nf4 Ra3+ 39. Kg4 Bd4
40. Rh7 Rxa6 41. Rxh6 Kd7 42. Rh7+ Ke8 43. Ne6 Bb6 44. Rb7 Ra4+ 45. Kf5 Be3 46.
Kf6 1-0

[/pgn]

With Brown’s college obligations committing him to a final round bye, Akobian clinched a first place tie via a quick draw with Ecuadorian GM Carlos Matamoros. This enabled Aldama to catch up by downing Bryant in a hard-fought game. Black’s enterprising Exchange sac led to a dynamically equal position, and Aldama went wrong on move 25 (25.g3=), but in a time scramble White emerged back on top, an advantage he could have cemented with 39.b6. As the game continued, 40…Qd7 would have been equal. White could have winning with 43.Qb3+ (possibly preceded by exchanging on f4). Instead the uncharacteristically cautious 43.Kh1 kept Bryant in the game, and he had reached equality again by move 54, but the erroneous queen trade left White with a won ending, as his king stops the d-pawn. A worthy last round struggle!

[pgn]
[Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.29"]
[White "Aldama, Dionisio"]
[Black "Bryant, John Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C77"]
[PlyCount "137"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. c3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4
b5 9. Bc2 Re8 10. Re1 Bf8 11. a4 b4 12. d4 Rb8 13. d5 Ne7 14. cxb4 Rxb4 15. b3
c6 16. Ba3 Rb7 17. Nc4 Rd7 18. Bb4 Bb7 19. Ba5 Qb8 20. Nb6 Rc7 21. Nd2 cxd5 22.
exd5 Rxc2 23. Qxc2 Nexd5 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Ne4 Rc8 26. Qd2 Nf4 27. Rad1 d5 28.
Ng3 d4 29. f3 Bd5 30. Ne2 Ne6 31. b4 Qb7 32. Rc1 Rb8 33. Rb1 Be7 34. Ng3 Bg5
35. Qd3 Nf4 36. Qd1 f6 37. b5 Ra8 38. Ne4 Bh6 39. Bd2 axb5 40. Rxb5 Qc6 41. Qb1
Bxe4 42. fxe4 Rxa4 43. Kh1 Ra8 44. Rc1 Qe6 45. Rb6 Qa2 46. Rb8+ Kf7 47. Rxa8
Qxa8 48. Qb3+ Kg6 49. Qg3+ Bg5 50. Bxf4 exf4 51. Qf3 Qa5 52. Rd1 Qc3 53. Qd3 f3
54. gxf3 Qxd3 55. Rxd3 Be3 56. Kg2 Kg5 57. Ra3 g6 58. Ra5+ Kh4 59. Rd5 h6 60.
Rd6 Kg5 61. h4+ Kxh4 62. Rxf6 Kg5 63. e5 d3 64. Kf1 h5 65. Rf7 h4 66. e6 Bc5
67. e7 Bxe7 68. Rxe7 Kf4 69. Kf2 1-0
[/pgn]

Thus the “two A’s” emerged on top, with Akobian taking the tiebreak. Brown’s 6 points left him in clear third place (and brought his rating over 2500 for the first time), Kiewra was fourth with 5½, and Matamoros was fifth – with 5. Among the 4½’s, Kaufman, WIM Annie Wang, FM Eugene Yanayt, FM Movses Movsisyan, Daniel Mousseri, and Conrado Diaz pooled and split the Under 2450 and Under 2350 prize money. Here’s one more game from the Open, which concludes with a king hunt. Annie Wang’s solid handling of the Dutch is fine, but she begins to go wrong on moves 15 and 16, underestimating Black’s attacking chances.

[pgn]
[Event "51st American Open"]
[Site "Orange"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[White "Wang, Annie"]
[Black "Clarke, Brandon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A85"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2015.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. Bd2 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. O-O
Na6 9. a3 Bd6 10. b4 c5 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. b5 Nc7 13. Qc2 Qe8 14. Rfd1 Qh5 15.
h3 g5 16. Bc1 g4 17. Ne1 Nce8 18. f4 Qh6 19. hxg4 fxg4 20. Bd3 g3 21. Ne4 Qh2+
22. Kf1 Be5 23. Rb1 Ng4 24. Ke2 Qg1 25. Kf3 h5 26. Ke2 Nd6 27. Bd2 Nxe4 28.
Bxe4 Qf2+ 29. Kd3 Qf1# 0-1

[/pgn]

The Under 2200 section was topped by 12-year-old Arman Baradaran, who represented the US internationally back in 2011, when he played in the World Youth Under 8 in Brazil. Having won the American Open Scholastic the weekend before and tallied 6½ in this event, he posted a total 87 point gain, bringing him almost to Master level. Younger players often have difficulties when facing dubious openings, but in Round 2 Arman promptly secures an advantage against the Albin Counter Gambit, and cashes in tactically.

[pgn]

[Event "51st American Open U2200"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[White "Baradaran, Arman"]
[Black "Gandhi, Shyam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D08"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Nge7 6. Nb3 Nf5 7. Bg5 Qd7 8.
h3 h6 9. Bf4 a5 10. g4 a4 11. Nc1 Nfe7 12. Nd3 Ng6 13. Bg3 h5 14. gxh5 Rxh5 15.
Bg2 Nce7 16. e6 Qxe6 17. Nxd4 Qxc4 18. e3 Rh8 19. Rc1 Qxa2 20. Rc2 Nf5 21. b4
Qa3 22. Nb5 Bxb4+ 23. Ke2 Qb3 24. Nxc7+ Ke7 25. Nxb4 Rd8 26. Nbd5+ Kf8 27. Nxa8
b6 28. Nac7 a3 29. Qd3 Qa4 30. Nxb6 Rxd3 31. Nxa4 Rd8 32. Rd1 Rxd1 33. Kxd1 Bd7
34. Nb6 Be6 35. Nxe6+ fxe6 36. Be4 1-0 [/pgn]

In another game from the same section, 17-year-old Rachael Eng of Arizona played an uneven game but a great ending, adroitly deflecting her opponent’s attempts at stalemate.

[pgn] [Event "51st American Open U2200"]
[Site "Orange"]
[Date "2015.11.28"]
[White "Handigol, Abhishek"]
[Black "Eng, Rachael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C06"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2015.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.27"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 Qb6 8. Nf3
cxd4 9. cxd4 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. O-O Bd6 12. Bf4 Bxf4 13. Nxf4 O-O 14. Re1 Ne4
15. g3 Qxb2 16. Re2 Qa3 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. Rxe4 Ne7 19. Ng5 Nd5 20. Nfxe6 Bxe6
21. Nxe6 Rf7 22. Qc2 h6 23. Rae1 Nb4 24. Qb3 Qxa2 25. Qxa2 Nxa2 26. R1e3 Nb4
27. Nf4 Rd7 28. Re7 Rad8 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30. Ne2 a5 31. Re5 Rd5 32. Re8+ Kf7 33.
Rb8 Rd7 34. Nc3 Nc6 35. Rc8 Nxd4 36. Ra8 Nc6 37. Kf1 Rd3 38. Ne4 Rd8 39. Rxd8
Nxd8 40. Ke2 Ke6 41. Nc3 Kd6 42. f4 Kc5 43. Kd3 b5 44. g4 b4 45. Ne4+ Kd5 46.
f5 Nf7 47. f6 Ne5+ 48. Kc2 gxf6 49. Nxf6+ Kc4 50. h4 a4 51. g5 hxg5 52. hxg5 a3
53. Ne4 b3+ 54. Kb1 Kb4 55. Ka1 Kc4 56. Nd2+ Kc3 57. Nb1+ Kc2 58. Nxa3+ Kc1 59.
g6 Nxg6 60. Nc4 Ne5 61. Nb2 Kc2 62. Nc4 Nd3 63. Nb2 Nb4 64. Nc4 Kc1 65. Nb2
Nc2# 0-1[/pgn]

Under 2000 honors were split between Queena Deng, the 14-year-old daughter of Beyond Chess program organizers, IM Ben Deng and WIM Sarah Lu, and Alex Silvestre, 16, of San Diego. They drew in the last round to reach 6½ , with Queena ahead on tiebreaks. Youth also triumphed in Under 1800, with Jaren Huang, a sophomore at San Marino High School (appropriately, the Titans) alone in first, again with 6½. Under 1600 was the only section with an adult winner, as Henry Romero of Oregon notched 7. With a provisional rating (21 games), Henry’s check was capped at $700, leaving $800 to trickle down and enhance the winnings of the top scorers below. Jonathan Chen and Dylan Gould (yes, both juniors!) trailed a respectful point behind. In Under 1400, Jasmine Yang, a sophomore at Troy High (a magnet school in Orange County known for its science and technology program), lost her last round but still went 7-1 for first place. This was especially impressive given that she was originally seeded 23rd among the 36 players. Jasmine gained 318 rating points, and with her brother Michael (a Troy freshman who scored 5½ in Under 1600), won the Mixed Doubles competition to put icing on the cake. Agustin Reyes was top Under 1200 and Campbell Queen earned the Unrated prize. The afore-mentioned American Open Scholastic, held at the same venue the previous weekend, drew 377 players. An anonymous donation of 16-gigabyte Apple Air ipads for the winners of the varsity sections (who included Benjamin Bankhead and Reagan Pearl, as well as Baradaran) enhanced the treasure trove of computers, trophies, and medal prizes. Akobian also won the 44-player Blitz, giving up just three draws in ten games, and FM Eduardo Ortiz, after a disappointing result in the Open, switched to the 20-player Action and emerged on top. The main event featured an unfortunate cheating incident. A previously repentant player who had been caught with an elaborate device (reflecting hundreds of hours of ingenuity at work – what a waste!) based on transmitting coded (by foot-tapping) moves through a device strapped to his ankle and receiving recommended moves coded (silent vibrations) via smartphone, apparently decided the American Open would be a good time for recidivism. Since San Diego Club President Chuck Ensey, who had caught him in the first place, was present, this was dumb as well as immoral. The miscreant’s games were eliminated for rating purposes, and he swears he’s quitting chess. Let’s hope so! Marking the beginning of a second half-century, the American Open was again organized by the Ong family (aka Chess Palace). John McCumiskey headed the TD staff. This writer thanks IM Jack Peters for game inputting and Kele Perkins for photography. Hope to see you in Orange next Thanksgiving!