Gareyev and Bryant Top 52nd American Open

The 52^nd incarnation of Southern California’s premier tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend saw GM Timur Gareyev, 28, and IM John Daniel Bryant, 25, emerge as co-champions. Their 6 ½ - 1½ scores led the Open section field (which included three GMs, five IMs, three WGMs, and one WIM) by a point. Gareyev calls Kansas home but had been in Southern California for a month, preparing for his successful assault on the blindfold simultaneous record and tying for first in the Orange Pumpkin and Los Angeles Opens. He played in the “short” schedule as always, and at the merge was tied at 3½ /4 with Bryant and young FM Rayan Taghizadeh of Northern California. Timur annotates his Round 4 win against a many-time American Open champ featuring both a King’s Gambit and an instructive pawn ending!

[pgn] [Event "American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.11.25"] [White "Gareyev"] [Black "Khachiyan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C34"] [Annotator "Vetranio"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2016.11.30"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Ne7 4. d4 d5 5. Nc3 dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nd5 (6... Ng6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. c3) 7. Bd3 Be7 8. c4 Ne3 (8... Bb4+ 9. Ke2) 9. Bxe3 fxe3 10. Qe2 Bb4+ (10... O-O) (10... f5 11. Nc3 f4 12. Nd5 Nc6 13. O-O-O O-O 14. Qc2 (14. g3 Bg4 15. gxf4 Nxd4 16. Qxe3 Bxf3 17. Nxe7+) 14... h6) 11. Nc3 O-O 12. O-O c5 13. Nd5 Nc6 14. a3 Bd2 15. Nxd2 exd2 16. dxc5 Be6 (16... Qg5 17. Rad1 Bg4 18. Qxd2 Qe5 19. Rde1 Qd4+ 20. Kh1) 17. Qxd2 b6 18. cxb6 Bxd5 19. cxd5 Qxb6+ 20. Qf2 Ne5 21. Qxb6 axb6 22. Rfd1 (22. Bb5 Rfd8 23. Rfd1 Rd6 24. Rac1 h5 ) 22... Rfd8 23. d6 Nxd3 24. Rxd3 Rac8 25. d7 Rc7 26. Rad1 Kf8 27. Rd6 Rb7 28. a4 Ke7 29. Kf2 Rdxd7 30. Rxd7+ Rxd7 31. Rxd7+ Kxd7 32. Ke3 Kd6 33. b4 Kd5 34. a5 bxa5 (34... Kc6 35. Kd4 h6 36. Ke5 h5 37. axb6 Kxb6 38. Kd6) 35. bxa5 Kc5 36. Ke4 Kb5 37. Ke5 Kxa5 38. Kd6 Kb4 39. Ke7 f5 40. Kf7 f4 41. Kxg7 h5 42. h4 Kc3 43. Kg6 1-0[/pgn]

Gareyev and Bryant drew in the fifth round, and Timur then beat master Dayron Huertas (who had upset WGM Tatev Abrahamyan) with a sacrificial attack; 15…0-0 would have been the lesser evil, and after 16.Nxf7, taking is out of the question because of 17.Qf3+ followed by Bxe6.

 

[pgn] [Event "American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.11.27"] [Round "?"] [White "Gareyev"] [Black "Huertas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D31"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2016.11.30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bb4 6. e4 b5 7. Be2 Bb7 8. O-O a6 9. e5 Ne7 10. Ne4 Nd5 11. Bd2 Bf8 12. b3 cxb3 13. Qxb3 Nd7 14. Nfg5 Be7 15. Bg4 Qb6 16. Nxf7 Qxd4 17. Ned6+ Bxd6 18. Nxd6+ Ke7 19. Bg5+ N7f6 20. Qg3 1-0[/pgn]

Gareyev then drew with fellow GM Alex Yermolinsky, then downed Abrahamyan in the final round to reach 6½. Bryant, after a draw with IM Andranik Matikozyan, caught up by beating young Albert Lu and WGM Camilla Baginskaite in the last two rounds. Lu went wrong with 16…Nxe4, when 16…Nxd5 and 16…Rfe8 both look fine for Black.

[pgn] [Event "52nd American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.11.27"] [White "Bryant, John Daniel"] [Black "Lu, Albert"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C91"] [PlyCount "53"] [SourceDate "2016.11.30"] 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. d4 Bg4 10. Be3 d5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. exd5 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Ng6 14. Nd2 Qd7 15. Kh1 Rad8 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Qh3 18. Qe2 Bd6 19. f4 Rde8 20. e5 Nxe5 21. fxe5 Rxe5 22. Qf2 Rfe8 23. Bd2 Bc5 24. Rxe5 Rxe5 25. Qf1 Qg4 26. Qf4 Qh3 27. Rf1 1-0[/pgn]

Baginskaite, who is married to GM Yermolinsky (more on him soon), was trailing Bryant by a half point. She essayed a sharp variation against the Modern Benoni, but in a position with both sides uncastled, opted to force a queen trade on the 15^th move. 15.Qe2 or 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qe2 appear to improve. Yet after further minor inaccuracies typical of a tense last round game, White blundered a piece on move 28, when alternatives 28.d6, 28.Ra4, or 28.Bg3 are all approximately equal.

[pgn] [Event "52nd American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.11.27"] [White "Baginskaite, Camilla"] [Black "Bryant, John Daniel"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "76"] [SourceDate "2016.11.30"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 exd5 4. cxd5 d6 5. e4 g6 6. f4 Bg7 7. Nf3 Nf6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. e6 Nde5 13. Bg5 Qa5+ 14. Nc3 Qa6 15. Qa4+ Qxa4 16. Nxa4 h6 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. exf7+ Nxf7 19. Bf4 b6 20. O-O-O Kd7 21. Rhe1 Rae8 22. Nc3 Ne5 23. Kc2 Rhf8 24. Re4 Ng4 25. Rde1 Rxe4 26. Rxe4 Bxc3 27. bxc3 Rf5 28. c4 Nf2 29. g4 Rf7 30. Re6 Rxf4 31. Rxg6 Rxc4+ 32. Kd2 Nxg4 33. h3 Rd4+ 34. Ke2 Ne5 35. Rxh6 Rxd5 36. Rh7+ Kc6 37. Rxa7 c4 38. Ra3 b5 0-1[/pgn]

Yermolinsky, 58, returned to the tournament after several years’ absence. He jokingly compares his residence in South Dakota to being in Siberia (not sure whether he’s referring to the weather or isolation from the chess world), but he and Camilla seem to have carved out a nice chess niche there. After a stunning upset by young Daniel Mousseri, he reeled off four straight wins, moving into the first place tie after Round 5, but then drew with Lu, Gareyev, and Matikozyan to finish with 5½. Alex annotates his favorite game, a cut-and-thrust affair against another veteran, IM John Watson, in Round 4:  

[pgn] [Event "American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.11.25"] [White "Watson, John"] [Black "Yermolinsky, Alex"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E52"] [Annotator "Yermo"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2016.11.30"] {It was nice to see John after a long time. Our last game was in 2003!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 {After the game John expressed his regret about not choosing his usual 6.Nge2 line} b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. a3 Bd6 9. b4 ({Somewhat more common is} 9. cxd5 exd5 10. b4 a6 11. Qb3 Qe7 12. Rb1 Nbd7 13. a4) 9... dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 ({Perhaps more accurate move order is } 10... a5 11. b5 Nbd7 12. Bb2 e5) 11. Qe2 c5 ({For some reason I rejected} 11... a5 12. b5 e5 13. Rd1 Qe7 (13... e4 14. Ne5 {is the point of putting a rook on d1.}) 14. Bb2 Rad8 15. h3) 12. dxc5 ({Honestly I expected} 12. Nb5 Be7 13. bxc5 bxc5 14. dxc5 a6 15. c6 Bxc6 16. Nbd4 {with equality.}) 12... bxc5 13. b5 {Suddenly White shows his ambition. While this pawn structure may offer him good chances in the endgame, the middlegame can certainly go either way.} (13. Rd1 {suggests itself, but things may turn tactical after} cxb4 14. Nb5 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Be5) ({Once again, the simplest solution was} 13. bxc5) 13... Qe7 { I spent some time on this one. While the queens prospects are vague I felt like putting my rook on the only open file was important.} ({Similar purposae could be served with the more natural} 13... Qc7 {but then} 14. h3 Nb6 15. Bb2 Rfd8 16. Rfd1 {and what next? Funny, but I didn't think White should care much for his bishop pair.}) 14. e4 $5 {John wants it all. The downside of such an ambitious strategy is the weakening of the d4-square.} Ne5 {So, I begin fighting for it.} 15. Nd2 {After the game John was extremely critical of this move.} Ng6 16. g3 ({Perhaps} 16. Nf3 {was more prudent.}) 16... Be5 17. Bb2 Rfd8 18. f3 $6 {White is overreacting to yet non-existing threats.} ({ Surprisingly possible was} 18. f4 Bd4+ 19. Kg2 Bxc3 ({I was thinking of} 19... h5 $5) 20. Bxc3 Nxe4 21. Nxe4 f5 22. Kg1 ({Of course, not} 22. Bd3 $4 Rxd3) 22... Bxe4 23. Rad1 {Black is up a pawn, but White gets the desirable exchanges while keeping his edge on the queenside.}) 18... h5 $1 {This typical idea to soften White's kingside is very effective here.} 19. Rfd1 h4 20. Na4 hxg3 21. Bxe5 Nxe5 22. hxg3 Rd4 $1 $17 23. Nb2 Rad8 $2 (23... Nh5 24. Nf1 Qf6 25. Kg2 Nxf3 {would have won on the spot.}) 24. Nb3 ({I counted on} 24. Nf1 Nxe4 25. fxe4 Rxe4 {winning}) 24... Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 26. Qxd1 Nh5 {With his knight so far away White can no longer hold with normal means.} 27. f4 Nxc4 $1 {A good practical decision.} ({I was surely tempted by} 27... Nxg3 {but saw nothing definite after} 28. fxe5 Qh4 (28... Qg5 29. Qd2) 29. Nxc5) 28. Nxc4 Nxg3 29. Qd6 Qh4 $1 (29... Qxd6 $2 30. Nxd6 {and White is totally out of danger.}) 30. Qb8+ Kh7 31. Qxb7 Qh1+ ({My back up plan was} 31... Ne2+ 32. Kg2 Qg3+ 33. Kf1 Qh2 34. Ke1 Nc3 35. Nc1 Qh1+ 36. Kd2 Nxe4+ 37. Kc2 Qg2+ {leading to the same motif, a discovered attack on the white queen.}) 32. Kf2 Nxe4+ 33. Ke3 Qe1+ 34. Kd3 Qc3+ {So simple.} 35. Ke2 (35. Kxe4 f5#) 35... Qxc4+ 36. Ke1 Qc3+ 37. Ke2 Qb2+ 38. Ke1 Qf2+ 39. Kd1 Qf3+ 0-1[/pgn]

Matikozyan hasn’t been playing too much in recent years, but he turned in a workmanlike undefeated performance to get into the third/fifth place tie. Another IM, Keaton Kiewra, took a more circuitous path to that perch. After starting with ½/2 in the slow schedule, he reentered (well, it’s allowed in the US Open too) and lost again in Rounds 2 and 3 of the three-day. A burst of 4½ /5 left him with a reasonable prize – but still 15 rating points poorer. As mentioned above, GM Melik Khachiyan has won the tournament many times, but the rigors of the unaccustomed fast schedule may have taken a toll, and he finished tied for sixth place in a group of seven players, including Under 2450 co-winners Hurertas and Lu, as well as Under 2350 leaders Baginskaite and FM Alex Kretchetov, the victim in Khachiyan’s favorite game, a positional squeeze that duly generates some tactics.

[pgn] [Event "American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.11.26"] [White "Khachiyan"] [Black "Kretchetov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2016.11.30"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e5 h5 5. h3 Nh6 6. Nf3 b6 7. Bf4 Nf5 8. Qd2 e6 9. O-O-O Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. g4 Ng7 12. Bg5 Be7 13. Bh6 Bf8 14. Qf4 Qc7 15. Bg5 Nb8 16. Ne2 Nd7 17. Kb1 b5 18. Bf6 Rb8 19. Ng5 Nb6 20. Qf3 Rb7 21. Nf4 c5 22. gxh5 gxh5 23. Bxg7 Bxg7 24. Nxh5 Bf8 25. Nf6+ Kd8 26. dxc5 Qxc5 27. Nxd5 Nxd5 28. Qf6+ Ke8 29. Qxh8 Rc7 30. Nh7 Qxc2+ 31. Ka1 Qc5 32. Rhg1 Nb4 33. Nf6+ 1-0[/pgn]

Section winners included many-time participant Saleem Kiwan of Fresno (Under 2200), Michael Taylor and Amarjargal Ganbaatar (tied at 6½ in Under 2000), and Christotpher Tyau of Hawaii, whose 7-1 tally lapped the field by a full point in Under 1800. Under 1600 was a triple tie among Paul Savage (another veteran participant from Northern California), Gokhan Akat, and Pranav Kumarsubha. Young Aidan Ye earned the only perfect score, winning Under 1400 by two points and gaining 249 rating points (the sky’s the limit when those bonus points kick in!). Last year he went 5-0 in JV K-12 Under 1200 – that’s the kind of annual progress we like to see! Two Mongolians, the afore-mentioned Ganbaatar and Damdinbazar Baterdene (he scored 4 ½ in Under 2200) took Mixed Doubles honors. In the Scholastic, with a total entry of 332 in the rated sections, Aaron Chang unsurprisingly topped the Varsity K-12 section – he was a 359 rating point favorite! In smaller side events, Expert Nicanor Navarro took both the Blitz and Action. Space availability forced the tournament to find a new venue after five years In the City of Orange. The Costa Mesa Hilton was up to the task, with two huge ballrooms smoothly accommodating both the 255-player main event and the scholastic. Well-received lectures were a feature as always, this time by Gareyev, Yermolinsky, and Khachiyan. The Ong family, proprietors of Chess Palace, worked hard to ensure the players’ comfort, and are looking forward to number 53 in 2017. Find the final tournament crosstable on MSA.