The End is Near: Day 8 in Orlando

GM Illia Nyzhnyk leads the 2019 U.S. Open at 7/8 after a win last night over IM Daniel Fernandez. Eleven players (!) are a half-point behind at 6.5/8: GMs Dariusz Swiercz, Lazaro Bruzon Batista, Timur Gareyev, Kamil Gragun, Victor Mikhalevski, Elshan Moradiabadi, Andrew Tang, Alexander Shabalov, Robert Hungaski, Mackenzie Molner, and IM Bryce Tiglon. At stake is a total prize fund of $40,000, with an $8,000 first prize. Of equal, if not greater, interest for some players is qualification to the 2020 U.S. Championship, awarded to the top finishing American-registered player. (An Armageddon game will be played if necessary to determine the qualifier.) Of the twelve players listed above, seven are “U.S. flagged” – Swiercz, Gareyev, Moradiabadi, Tang, Shabalov, Hungaski, Molner, and Tiglon. Last night’s Round 8 set the stage for today’s action, which kicks off at 3pm EDT. Nyzhnyk’s victory over Fernandez on Board 1 was perhaps his most difficult of the tournament thus far, but a slip near the time control by Fernandez opened the door for Nyzhnyk to enter a winning rook and pawn ending. It also put him in pole position as today’s final round nears.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.10"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Nyzhnyk, Illia"]
[Black "Fernandez, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2534"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. b3 Nc6 4. Bb2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. e3 a6 8. Na4
e6 9. Rc1 Nd7 10. Be2 b5 11. Nc3 Bb7 12. a4 b4 13. Nb1 Be7 14. d3 O-O 15. Nbd2
e5 16. Nc4 f6 17. Nfd2 Rc8 18. Bg4 f5 19. Bf3 Kh8 20. Qe2 Ba8 21. h3 Bf6 22. e4
Bg5 23. exf5 Nd4 24. Bxd4 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 cxd4 26. O-O g6 27. f6 Qxf6 28. Qe2
Bxd2 29. Nxd2 Nb6 30. Nc4 Nxc4 31. dxc4 Qf5 32. f3 Rcd8 33. Rcd1 Rfe8 34. Rfe1
d3 35. Qe3 Rd7 36. Rd2 Kg7 37. Qe4 Qxe4 38. Rxe4 Kf6 39. Kf2 a5 40. Re1 Kf5 41.
Red1 e4 42. fxe4+ Rxe4 43. Rxd3 Rde7 44. R1d2 Kf6 45. Rd6+ Kg5 46. R6d5+ R7e5
47. c5 Kf6 48. c6 Re2+ 49. Rxe2 Rxd5 50. Rc2 Rd8 51. c7 Rc8 52. Rc5 1-0

[/pgn]

Swiercz – Mikhalevski and Tiglon – Bruzon Batista were both drawn on Boards 2 and 3. In both cases Black might have had an advantage, but White was up to the task in holding firm. Tiglon’s defense is particularly instructive.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.10"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Tiglon, Bryce"]
[Black "Bruzon Batista, Lazaro"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2454"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 d4 11. cxd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Bxe6 Nxe6 14. a4 Bb4
15. axb5 O-O 16. Nf3 Qxd1 17. Rxd1 axb5 18. Be3 c5 19. Kf1 h6 20. Ke2 Kh7 21.
g4 Rfe8 22. h3 c4 23. Nd4 Nxd4+ 24. Bxd4 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 f6 26. Ra6 fxe5 27. Bc3
Bxc3 28. bxc3 Rd8 29. Rb6 Rd3 30. Rxb5 Rxh3 31. Rxe5 Rxc3 32. Rc5 Rc2+ 33. Ke3
c3 34. f3 Rc1 35. Kd3 Kg6 36. Rxc3 Rxc3+ 37. Kxc3 Kg5 38. Kd3 Kf4 39. Ke2 Kg3
40. Ke3 g6 41. Ke2 h5 42. gxh5 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Two more draws between players at who entered the round at 6 points (Hungaski – Gareyev and Dragun – Moradiabadi) added to the burgeoning pool of players at 6.5. They were joined there by Tang, Shabalov, and Molner, all of whom won to keep within shouting distance of Nyzhnyk.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.10"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Tang, Andrew"]
[Black "Paul, Justin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2369"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. c3 c5 7. Bd3 b6 8. Qe2
Bxf4 9. exf4 a5 10. O-O Ba6 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. Rfd1 Qb8 13. Ne5 Qb7 14. Rac1
Rac8 15. h3 Rc7 16. Kh2 cxd4 17. cxd4 Rfc8 18. Rxc7 Rxc7 19. Nf1 Nb4 20. a3 Qa6
21. Qf3 Nc2 22. Ng3 Qb5 23. f5 Qxb2 24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Nh5 Ne4 26. Qg4 Nxd4 27.
f3 Nf2 28. Qg5 Nc6 29. Nxc6 Rxc6 30. Rd2 Qc3 31. Rc2 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.10"]
[Round "8.7"]
[White "Shabalov, Alexander"]
[Black "Shibut, Macon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C15"]
[WhiteElo "2575"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 dxe4 6. Qg4 Nf6 7. Qxg7 Rg8 8.
Qh6 c5 9. Ne2 Nbd7 10. Qd2 Qa5 11. Nf4 Nd5 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Qd4
Be6 15. Rb1 Qc7 16. g3 b6 17. Bf4 Qe7 18. Bb5+ Nd7 19. c4 dxc4 20. O-O f5 21.
Rfd1 Rd8 22. Bc7 Kf7 23. Bxd8 Rxd8 24. Bxc4 Qxa3 25. Rb5 Qf3 26. Bxe6+ Kxe6 27.
Rd5 Nb8 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.10"]
[Round "8.9"]
[White "Molner, Mackenzie S"]
[Black "Nguyen, Emily Quynh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C90"]
[WhiteElo "2545"]
[BlackElo "2278"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
b4 9. a5 d6 10. c3 Rb8 11. Bc4 Bb7 12. d4 bxc3 13. Nxc3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15.
Qxd4 Nxe4 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Nc5 18. Ra3 Bf6 19. Rh3 h6 20. Rg3 c6 21. Qxc6
Qxa5 22. Rd1 Rfe8 23. Re3 Rxe3 24. Bxe3 Qa4 25. Qd5 Kh8 26. b3 Qe8 27. Bf4 Be5
28. Bxe5 Qxe5 29. Qxf7 a5 30. Qc7 Rf8 31. Qxa5 Qb2 32. Qe1 Qc2 33. Rd2 Qf5 34.
Rxd6 Ne4 35. Rd5 Qf6 36. f3 Qb6+ 37. Kf1 Nf6 38. Rd3 Ng4 39. g3 Qb8 40. Kg2 Ne5
41. Re3 Nxc4 42. bxc4 Qc7 43. Re8 Rxe8 44. Qxe8+ Kh7 45. Qe4+ Kh8 46. h4 Qa5
47. Qd5 Qa2+ 48. Kh3 Qf2 49. h5 Qf1+ 50. Kg4 Kh7 51. c5 Qb5 52. Kf5 Qb8 53. Kg4
Qb5 54. Kh4 Qb4+ 55. Qe4+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Key pairings for today’s final round (subject to change): Gareyev – Nyzhnyk, Shabalov – Swiercz, Bruzon Batista – Tang, Hungaski – Dragun, Mikhalevski – Tiglon, Moradiabadi – Molner. Live coverage is available on our US Chess Twitch channel with IMs Kostya Kavutsky and Eric Rosen beginning at 3pm EDT. You can also drop by Salon 7 and watch them live if you are on-site here in Orlando! “Your humble reporter” Two US Chess employees – FIDE Events Manager Grant Oen and “your humble reporter” (YHR) John Hartmann – have been playing in the Open. Both Oen and YHR are at 5/8 as today’s round approaches. (Assistant Director of Events Pete Karagianis took part in the Bughouse and G/15 as well.) Last night we were joined by Senior Director of Strategic Communications Dan Lucas, who entered the fray as the “house player.” It was his first rated game in five years, and he won! YHR has struggled with the question of whether to include any of his games, lest he be seen as hubristic or (worse) an utter bore. Despite fond memories of Jerry Hanken’s writing, to which this should be seen as an homage, and despite the approval of the Twitterati… …YHR was leaning towards not publishing his own games, unless something special happened. Well, it happened last night. Playing Black against Florida’s Phillip Durand, and admittedly against the run of play, YHR won a precisely calculated pawn ending that, in its finale, echoes a Grigoriev study. (See Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, 1-30.) A true gentleman, Durand chuckled when he saw the shoulder and skewer over-the-board, and he graciously allowed me to execute the winning idea. Thank you, Phillip.

[pgn]

[Event "US Open"]
[Date "2019.08.10"]
[Round "8.66"]
[White "Durand, Phillip"]
[Black "Hartmann, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C13"]
[WhiteElo "1959"]
[BlackElo "1762"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/p4p2/3k1p1p/P1p1p2P/2P1KPP1/1P6/8 b - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.10"]

35... Ke5 $8 (35... exf3 $2 36. Kxf3 Ke5 37. Ke3 f4+ (37... a5 38. Kf3 f4
39. gxf4+ Kf5 $11) 38. gxf4+ Kf5 39. Kf3 a5 {looks like it should win, but...}
40. Ke3 Kg4 41. Kd4 Kxh4 42. Kxc4 Kg3 43. b4 $3 h4 44. b5 h3 45. b6 h2 46. b7
h1=Q 47. b8=Q $11) 36. a5 (36. f4+ Kd5 $19) 36... exf3 $1 37. Kxf3 f4 $3 38. g4
(38. gxf4+ Kf5 {Note the key difference between 35...exf3 and this variation -
b2-b4 no longer creates a passer.} 39. Ke3 Kg4 40. Ke4 Kxh4 41. Kf5 (41. f5 Kg3
) 41... Kg3) 38... hxg4+ 39. Kxg4 Ke4 $1 {Key idea - shouldering} 40. h5 f3 41.
Kg3 (41. h6 f2 42. h7 f1=Q 43. h8=Q Qg1+ {is the same}) 41... Ke3 42. h6 f2 43.
h7 f1=Q 44. h8=Q Qg1+ (44... Qg1+ 45. Kh4 Qh1+) 0-1

[/pgn]

The Blitz! Saturday also saw the 2019 U.S. Open National Blitz Championship, and in a turn of events that will surprise absolutely no one, it was won by the PenguinGM1, Andrew Tang. Tang scored 13/14 to claim the $400 first prize. His only dropped points came in Round 6 against second-place finisher Daniel Cheng. Delegates do the Double The Delegates continued their work this morning after a long day on Saturday. As per tradition, US Chess President Allen Priest is ‘liveforuming’ the proceedings in the US Chess Issues Forum. The US Chess Annual Report and Delegates Call are available for those who want to know more about what goes on, and what is presented, at the Delegates Meetings. Annual Report: http://www.uschess.org/docs/gov/reports/2019-Annual-Report-Lo-Resolution.pdf 2019 Delegates Call: http://www.uschess.org/docs/gov/reports/2019_Delegates_Call.pdf