FM Resika on US Senior: Yuri Barnakov Wins

FM Nathan Resika is a former US Senior Champion, an opera singer who recently performed at Carnegie Hall, and a father of twins. He writes about his participation in the US Senior in New Orleans, from June 21-24, which with the first annual National Senior Tournament of Champions (July 28-31) highlights an exciting summer of National Senior’s competition. I was honored to be asked by Jennifer Shahade to write both a pre- and post-tournament report for US Chess about the 2018 US Senior Open (please see my first article, "FM Resika on US Senior: Singing and Chess Are Icing on Cake").  The tournament has changed locations every year, to give seniors from different regions a chance to play locally. This year it was held In New Orleans, the legendary home to Jazz and of Paul Morphy. My old friend, Brian Hulse (1978 Marshall Chess club Champion), who recently relocated from NYC to Texas, helped convince me to make the trip from Valhalla, and provided much camaraderie while there. The tournament was held at the New Orleans Airport Hilton. It was one of the best hotels I've ever played chess at. The breakfast buffet featured fresh grits, tailor made omelets, a wide selection of southern breakfast meats, amazing oatmeal, and incredible southern hospitality. During the brutal 95% humid weather, the outdoor pool was a superb stress reliever.  I should say that the hotel was almost too cool.  I often ran through the hallway near my room to avoid shivering. I dubbed this area the "North Pole".  I also needed to wear a jacket, jeans, and a hat during my games, but this is better than roasting without A/C. The large, well-lit ballroom had well stocked, very clean bathrooms right next to it, another boon for seniors. The six round event drew five FIDE masters, and five national masters, and over half of the 66 players were class A or above. To kick off the event, I sang the national anthem, after which many local players introduced themselves and mentioned how much they appreciated the performance.  It was a great feeling to meet so many friendly chessplayers. The new US senior Champion is Yuri Anatolievich Barnakov, who at 2258 was the second ranked player in the event.  The 51-year-old won with a score of 5 ½ points.  He had to defeat three FIDE masters in a row, of which your author was the last. After sewing up a 5-0 score, Yuri had a grandmaster draw with veteran Florida master Constantine Xanthos (who tied for 2^nd), thus ensuring clear first place. Yuri is a research scientist and PhD who does research in a local university in his adopted hometown of Nashville, TN. Originally from Russia, he has lived in Japan and Europe as well. Since coming to the U.S. in 2002, he has won state championships in Louisiana, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as finishing second in Ohio. His father taught him the game when he was 5, and his wife and college age son are chess lovers as well. After playing his first "senior" event, he expressed to me that he appreciated the "gentlemanly attitude and fighting spirit of the players, whose physical age qualifies them as seniors, but whose minds are young, active, energetic, and, most importantly, creative!" In addition, he added " Whichever places we've lived and worked, this noble game always accompanies us, and indeed it helps us to make great friends and meet interesting people." Here is his tension filled 4^th round encounter with resourceful Delaware FM David Gertler, who tied for second with 4 ½ points. When Black sacs a pawn for activity, but misses a chance to sac an exchange with 15.. Bh3!?, White finds a pretty exchange sac to get loads of play.

[pgn][Event "U.S. Senior Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Barnakov , Yuri "]
[Black "Gertler , David"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A31"]
[Annotator "Yuri Barnakov "]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 c5 {Black demonstrates his desire to get a complex
and uncompromising game.} 4. Nc3 {I decided to avoid the sharpness of the
Benko and Benoni, instead focusing on having a solid positional game.} cxd4 5.
Nxd4 Bg7 6. g3 {avoiding classical variations after 6. e4.} d5 {the Grunfeld
defence! It is obvious that opponent has fighting spirit and attitude.} 7. Bg2
(7. cxd5 {is also possible.}) 7... dxc4 8. Qa4+ Nfd7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qxc4 ({
interesting is} 10. Rd1 Nb6 11. Qa3 {with pressure.}) 10... Nb6 11. Qd3 N8d7
12. Rd1 {It is needed to consolidate pieces in the center.} Ne5 13. Qc2 Bd7 {
pawn sacrifice with the hope for activity.} 14. Bxb7 Nec4 15. Bc1 ({sacrifice
continues, it is dangerous to accept it, for instance,} 15. Bxa8 Qxa8 16. O-O (
{or} 16. Qe4 Qxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxe3 18. fxe3 e5 19. Nf3 Bc6 {with activity.}) 16...
Bh3 17. Qe4 Qxe4 18. Nxe4 Bxf1 19. Kxf1 Nxe3+ 20. fxe3 Nc4 {with activity.})
15... Rb8 (15... Bh3 {deserves attention.}) 16. Bg2 Qc8 17. O-O Qc5 18. Nb3 $6
(18. Ne4 {defines a problem for black - where will the Queen go?}) 18... Qb4
19. Rxd7 ({I felt that something was in the air,} 19. Nd5 {doesn’t bring
anything exciting, such as} Nxd5 20. Rxd5 (20. Bxd5 Nb6 21. Bf3 Rfc8 22. Qd3
Be6 {with following} 23. Na5) 20... Be6) 19... Nxd7 20. Nd5 Qb5 ({decisive
mistake,} 20... Qa4 {is much better with a lot of variations to be calculated.}
) 21. Nxe7+ Kh8 22. Nc6 (22. Bc6 {is not winning material due to} Qb4 {and
White has to prove that they are better.}) 22... Rb6 23. Nbd4 $1 Qc5 24. b4 $1
(24. b3 {is also good.}) 24... Rxb4 25. Nxb4 Bxd4 26. Nd3 {When the dust
settles, White has a clear advantage both positionally and materially. The
rest is a matter of technique.} Qc8 27. Bh6 Ncb6 28. Qb3 Bg7 29. Bxg7+ Kxg7 30.
Rc1 Qd8 31. Qb2+ Kg8 32. Nb4 Qg5 33. e3 h5 34. Qd4 a5 35. Nc6 Qb5 36. a3 Qb3
37. Ne7+ Kh7 38. Qd6 Qb2 39. Rc7 Ne5 40. Be4 Ng4 41. Bxg6+ $1 Kh8 ({If} 41...
fxg6 42. Qxg6+ Kh8 43. Qxh5+ {leads to a quick mate.}) 42. Bc2 {and Black
resigns.} *[/pgn]

Barnakov's first prize check was just over $1000. Seven players tied for 2^nd-4^th prizes as well as two Under 2300 prizes thrown in. This amounted to $284.oo each to:

FM Nathan Resika

FM David Gertler

FM Lester Van Meter

FM Brian Hulse

NM Constantine Xanthos

NM Nels Truelson

Expert Rene Phillips

I'd expected and hoped that local master and New Orleans "legend" Jude Acers would play in our event to defend his turf, but it was not to be. Twenty-one states were represented, and the top 8 finishers all hailed from different states, with your author representing New York. I greatly enjoyed trying out some new variations in my recently adopted Sicilian Defense for this full bodied time control of G/120 with a 30 second increment. When I used to play e4 every game, I had a great record against the Sicilian. However, I always felt that it was Black's best defense and that I often won because Black overlooked some sacrifice.  Indeed, I now feel that if Black can only be aware of sacrifices on d5, f5, e6, b5 as well as watch out for kingside pawn-rollers (is that asking too much?), Black has all the long lasting advantages in the position: two center pawns against one as well as huge play on the c file. I had to win this game to share second place.  Here we see a typical sacrifice on the e6 square. Fortunately, I had seen it coming.

[pgn][Event "U.S. Senior Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rusyniak, George"]
[Black "Resika, Nathan"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "B89"]
[WhiteElo "2031"]
[BlackElo "2233"]
[PlyCount "74"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 (7. Be3 {
is normal.}) 7... Be7 8. Be3 a6 9. Qe2 Qc7 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Rhg1 (11. f3 {
seems more solid.}) 11... b5 12. a3 $6 {It may be ok, but all Sicilianites are
happy to see this hook appear. 12. g4 seems better in my mind.} Bb7 13. g4 Na5
{baiting white into the sac.} 14. Bxe6 $5 fxe6 15. Nxe6 Qc4 {I know Tal proved
that a rook is better than a bishop and knight, but there are still many
pieces left, and the bishop pair makes this far from a simple imbalance to
judge.} 16. Nxf8 Qxe2 {I thought for a few minutes here but didn’t think it
necessary to allow Qe1 for White.} 17. Nxe2 Rxf8 18. f3 Nc4 19. Bd4 Nd7 {
anticipating g5 and hitting f3. I wanted also to make sure never to allow a
rook to fork my bishops from d7.} 20. Rdf1 d5 {getting rid of a weakness and
awakening both bishops.} 21. exd5 Bxd5 (21... Nf6 {is also interesting.}) 22.
f4 Bd6 23. h4 Re8 24. Nc3 Bc6 25. f5 $2 {Even though White has a rook and 2
pawns for a bishop and knight, Blacks minor pieces are ideally placed. b3 is
prevented. However, perhaps 25. Rf2, sitting tight, was called for.} Bh2 {
dominating the rook, but I had to see Black's next in order to play this.} 26.
Re1 Nde5 $1 {not allowing a rook trade. Note how the Bc6 also defends the rook
e8.} 27. Rgf1 Bg3 $1 (27... Nxg4 {lets the rooks get traded and is much weaker,
though not bad.}) 28. Rd1 Bxh4 29. Bxe5 Rxe5 {It's remarkable how the bishops
prevent any rook entry at all here.} 30. Rg1 Kf7 31. b3 $2 (31. Kb1 $5) 31...
Bg5+ 32. Kb1 Nxa3+ 33. Kb2 b4 34. Rd6 ({If} 34. Na2 Nxc2 $1 {Black wins anyway.
}) 34... Rc5 {an endgame mating net is weaved, White is lost.} 35. Rxc6 Rxc6
36. Ne4 Rxc2+ 37. Ka1 Bf4 {and White resigned.} *[/pgn]

I should mention a few interesting stats and stories. Local player Leila D'Aquin, the only woman in the event, and an active member of the US Chess Women's Initiative, was the lowest rated player at 1184. However she managed to score the tournament's biggest upset in round 3 by defeating a player over 600 points above her at 1802! The only player in the top finishers below 2200 was the very likeable Rene Phillips. He is the 2017 Louisiana State Champion as well as a police officer. We became fast friends as both of us are huge boxing fans. My story was: In round 4 during a 5 hour game, I was pressing my opponent for a long time while retaining a tremendous advantage. Finally, I let him back in the game a bit, and we were playing on increment. After making a move, he suddenly stood up in front of the spectators and pumped his fist and said, "Yes!" Apparently, he thought I was getting mated and that I had to resign. I was slightly rattled but answered with a counter check and softly pumped my fist while seated. In the complications that followed, my opponent resigned about 7 moves later. Several spectators said they would never forget that moment. My fellow players, it might be good to remember a very famous New Yorker's wise saying Yogi Berra's most famous aphorism, "It aint over till its over!" Brian and I ventered into the city (20 minutes via Lyft or Uber) a few times for dinner. We sampled amazing soul food on Frenchman street and heard some great street jazz. Hearing a twenty horn instrumental rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual healing" was a surreal experience. We wanted to get into Paul Morphy's house, but it was only open during our games and closed at 3 pm every day. Next time. I look forward to playing more senior events in the future, and I'll be seeing you there, as you all will qualify... eventually! Kudos to TD Korey Kormick for running a great event! For info on more New Orleans tournaments, visit CajunChess.com. Find out more about the first annual National Tournament of Seniors of Champions (July 28-31) here.