Gareyev Shines in San Diego Sun

For the eighth consecutive year, the Southern California Open was hosted by the San Diego Club over Labor Day weekend. The spacious Town and Country Resort (also the venue of scholastic nationals in the past) easily accommodated the 236-player turnout (the best since 1999). GM Timur Gareyev, less than a month from becoming US Open champ, took first by a full point with a 5½ - ½ score. He played in the two-day schedule, and, by the time he started, second seed GM Melik Khachiyan had already yielded two draws in the slow schedule. His first round game with 2211-rated Aaron Jones was a puzzler. In a rare sideline of the Giuoco Piano, he sacs a piece on for two pawns but lacks the firepower to launch a successful attack. Jones could have played for a win with 16…f6 17.Qxh6+ Kh8 18.Bxe6 Qxe6 19.Nf5 Rg8 20.Bh4 Ne7, but instead was satisfied with a perpetual.

[pgn][Event "Southern Caliornia Open, San Diego"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Khachiyan, Melikset"]
[Black "Jones, Aaron D"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C24"]
[PlyCount "46"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Na3
O-O 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Nxg5 hxg5 12. Bxg5 Kg7 13. Nc2 Qe8 14. Ne3 Be6 15.
Qf3 Nh7 16. Qh5 Nxg5 17. Qxg5+ Kh7 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Qxf5+ Kg7 20. Qg4+ Kf6 21.
Qh4+ Kg7 22. Qg4+ Kf6 23. Qh4+ Kg7 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Gareyev downed three masters in the G/45, including second seed IM Dionisio Aldama, and, at the merge of the two schedules, only local high school star Kevin Yang had equaled his perfect score.

[pgn][Event "SoCal Open G/45"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Aldama, Dionisio"]
[Black "Gareyev, Timur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B03"]
[Annotator "Timur Gareyev"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.30"]1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. exd6 exd6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. h3 O-O 8. Bd3
Nc6 9. O-O Bf6 (9... Nb4) 10. Nc3 h6 (10... g6 11. Be2 Re8 12. Re1 Bf5) 11. Bb1
Ne7 (11... Re8 12. Qd3 g6 13. Bxh6 Bf5 14. Qd1 Bxb1 15. Rxb1 Nxc4 16. Qb3 Nb6)
12. Ne4 Ng6 13. Qd3 Re8 14. Bd2 Rxe4 $5 (14... d5 15. Nxf6+ (15. cxd5 Nxd5 16.
Re1 Re6 (16... Be6 17. Nc5 $14) 17. Qc4 Nge7 $14) 15... Qxf6 16. c5 Nc4 17. Bc3
b5 (17... Re4 18. Qd1 Nf4 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Ne1 e3 21. fxe3 Nxe3 22. Rxf4 Qxf4
23. Qf3 $15) 18. Ne5 Nf4 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. Kh1) 15. Qxe4 Nxc4 16. Bc1 c6 17. Re1
Bd7 (17... Be6) 18. Qe2 Nb6 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Bf4 Qf8 21. Qd3 Kh7 22. Bh2 Nd5
23. a4 (23. Qa3) 23... a5 24. Rad1 Ra6 25. Nd2 Nb4 26. Qb3 Bxd4 27. Qf3 Qxf3 (
27... Qf5 28. g4 Qxf3 29. Nxf3 c5) 28. Nxf3 c5 29. Nxd4 cxd4 30. b3 Bf5 31. Re7
(31. g4 Bd3) 31... Bc2 32. Rd2 Bxb3 33. Rxb7 Rc6 34. Bg3 d3 35. Bf4 Bxa4 36.
Be3 Rc1+ 37. Kh2 Rc4 38. Rb2 Bc2 (38... Rc2) 39. Bd2 g5 40. g4 Kg6 41. Kg3 Kf6
42. Kf3 d5 43. Rb6+ Ke5 44. Kg3 Nc6 45. Rb7 g6 46. Rc7 Kd4 47. Rb6 Nb4 48. Be3+
$2 (48. Re7 Bb3) 48... Kc3 49. Rxc4+ dxc4 50. Rxg6 d2 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "Southern California Open G/45"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gareyev, Timur"]
[Black "Sam, Gabriel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D53"]
[Annotator "Timur Gareyev"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.30"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Qc2 h6 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8.
O-O-O a6 (8... b5 9. Nxb5 Na6 (9... a6) 10. e3 c6 11. Nc3 Rb8) (8... Nc6 9. a3
(9. e3 Nb4 10. Qb3 c5) 9... dxc4 10. e4 (10. Qe4) (10. e3 Na5) 10... Nxd4) (
8... c5 9. dxc5 Qa5 10. cxd5 Na6 11. e4 Nb4) 9. e4 dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Bb3 Bb7
12. e5 Bg5+ 13. Kb1 b4 14. Ne4 (14. d5 $1 bxc3 15. dxe6 Qe7 16. exf7+ Kh8 (
16... Rxf7 17. Bxf7+ Qxf7) 17. Qg6) 14... Be7 15. h4 a5 (15... Nd7 16. d5) 16.
Nfg5 (16. Neg5 hxg5 17. hxg5 g6 18. Rh6 Kg7 19. Rdh1 Rg8 20. Bxe6 Kf8 21. Rh8)
16... g6 (16... Bxg5) (16... hxg5 17. hxg5 g6 18. Nf6+) 17. Bxe6 Kg7 18. Bxf7
hxg5 19. Nxg5 (19. hxg5 Rxf7 20. Nf6 Bxf6 21. gxf6+ Rxf6 22. exf6+ Kxf6 23. Rh6
Qg8 24. Qxc7) 19... Ra6 20. Ne6+ Rxe6 21. Bxe6 Rh8 22. d5 Nd7 23. f4 Nf8 24. h5
Qe8 25. hxg6 Rxh1 26. Rxh1 Nxe6 27. dxe6 Qxg6 28. f5 1-0[/pgn]

Yang and another young local master, Alex Costello, were the next two victims.

[pgn][Event "SoCal Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gareyev, Timur"]
[Black "Yang, Kevin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D03"]
[Annotator "Timur Gareyev"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.30"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nd2 Nbd7 4. Ngf3 e6 (4... g6 5. c4 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. a4
c6 8. e5 h6 (8... Nd5 9. Ne4 f6 10. Bd2 Bg7 11. axb5 cxb5 12. b3) 9. Be3 Nd5
10. e6 fxe6 11. Qc2) 5. e3 Be7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Qc7 8. O-O O-O (8... b6 9. Ne5 (
9. Bf4 Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. e4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Bxe4 Rb8 14. Qa4 Qc7 15.
Rad1 O-O 16. Rfe1 (16. Qc6)) 9... Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nd7 11. Bxe7 Nxe5) 9. Rc1 (9.
Bf4 Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. Re1 h6 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Qc7 14. Bc2 (14. dxc5)
14... b6 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Qd6) 9... b6 10. c4 Ba6 (10... Bb7 11. cxd5 exd5 $11
) 11. b4 dxc4 (11... h6) 12. Nxc4 Qd8 13. bxc5 bxc5 14. Nce5 (14. Nfe5 Nxe5 15.
dxe5 Bxc4 (15... Nd7) (15... Nd5 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Nd6) 16. Bxc4 Nd7 17. Bxe7
Qxe7 18. Qd6) 14... Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Rc8 17. Qa6 (17. dxc5 Qc7 18.
Bf4) 17... h6 18. Bh4 g5 19. Bg3 Qb6 20. Qd3 cxd4 (20... Qb7) 21. Ng6 fxg6 22.
Qxg6+ Kh8 23. Qxh6+ Kg8 24. Qg6+ Kh8 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 26. Be5 Rf8 27. Bxd4 $6 (27.
exd4 Qc6 28. f4 g4 29. h3 $1 (29. f5 exf5 (29... Qe4 30. Qh6+ Kg8 31. fxe6 Qd3
(31... Bd8 32. Qg5+ (32. Rd1 Qf5 33. a4 Be7 34. Rf1 Qe4) 32... Kh7 33. Bxf6
Bxf6) 32. h3) 30. Rxf5 Qc1+ 31. Rf1)) 27... Qb5 28. f4 g4 29. Qxg4 (29. Rc1 Qf5
30. Qxf5 exf5 31. Rc7 Bd8 32. Rxa7 Kg8) 29... Qf5 30. Qf3 (30. Qxf5 exf5 31.
Rb1 Kg8 32. Rb7 Kf7 (32... Rf7 33. Rxa7 Ne4 34. a4 Bb4 35. Ra8+ Rf8 36. Rxf8+
Kxf8 37. h3 Kf7 38. g4 Kg6 39. Bb6 Nd6 40. Kf2 Nc4 41. Bd4 Nd2 42. Ke2 Ne4 43.
Kd3) 33. Bc5 Nd5 34. Rxa7 Ke6 35. Bxe7 Nxe7 36. Ra6+ Kf7) 30... Kg8 (30... Bc5
31. g4 Qc2 32. Qc6) 31. Rc1 Rd8 32. Qb7 Kf8 33. Qxa7 Nd5 34. a4 Qe4 35. Qb7 Kf7
36. g3 Qd3 37. Qb1 Qxb1 38. Rxb1 Ra8 39. Ra1 Bb4 40. Kf2 Ra5 41. Kf3 Bc3 42.
Bxc3 Nxc3 43. Ra3 (43. h4 Rxa4 44. Rxa4 Nxa4 45. g4 Nc5 46. h5 Kg7 47. g5 Kf7
48. Ke2 Kg7 49. Kf2 Kf7 50. Kg3 Kg7 51. Kf3 Kf7 52. e4 e5 53. f5 Kg7 54. Ke3
Kf7 (54... Nb3 55. Kd3 Nc5+ 56. Kc4 Nxe4) 55. h6) 43... Nxa4 (43... Nb1 44. Ra1
Nd2+ 45. Ke2 Nc4) 44. h4 Ra6 45. h5 Nc5 46. Rc3 (46. Rxa6 Nxa6 47. g4 Nc5 48.
g5 Kg7 49. e4 Kg8 50. e5 Kh7 (50... Kg7 51. Kg3 Ne4+ 52. Kg4 Nf2+ 53. Kf3 Nd3
54. Ke3 Nc5 55. Kd4 Nb3+ 56. Kc4 Nd2+ 57. Kc5 Ne4+ 58. Kc6) 51. Ke3) 46... Ra5
47. g4 Nd7 (47... e5 48. f5 Kf6 49. h6 Rb5 50. e4) 48. Rc7 Rd5 49. g5 Kg8 50.
h6 Kh7 51. Kg4 (51. Rc8) 51... Rd1 52. Rc8 Rg1+ 53. Kf3 Rd1 54. Re8 Rd6 55.
Re7+ Kg8 56. g6 Nf6 57. Rf7 Nd7 58. Rg7+ Kf8 59. e4 Rd1 60. Ke2 Rd4 61. Ke3 Rd1
62. Rf7+ Kg8 63. h7+ Kh8 64. Re7 Re1+ (64... Nf6 65. Rxe6 Nxh7 66. gxh7) 65.
Kf2 1-0[/pgn]

Leading by a point, Gareyev still made an effort with White, but IM Keaton Kiewra held the draw. Timur took $2400 of the guaranteed $20,000 prize fund. Kiewra and Robert Shlyakhtenko, ranked fifth among 13-year-olds by US Chess, tied for second with 4½. The latter drew Khachiyan (who returned to Los Angeles early), upset Aldama, and had a fighting draw with another young SoCal star, Gabriel Sam, in the last round. Robert showed great enterprise against the always-dangerous Aldama and reaped the reward after some ups and downs. 12…fxe5!?? should have left White with an edge after first 14.Qb3 and a move later, 15.Ng5 or Bg5. Instead of equalizing with 15…b6 or 15…e4, Robert went for 15.,.g5?!,  attempting to put White’s knight to sleep. Aldama was on top until he missed the counterattack 23.Rc7!, and lost all advantage on move 24. In the ensuing complications, 35.Nh2 was the last chance for equality, and after 39.Nh2? Black gets connected passers and wins. In the final position, after 59.Kg1 Kf4 it’s mate in a few moves.

[pgn][Event "Southern Caliornia Open, San Diego"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Aldama, Dionisio"]
[Black "Shlyakhtenko, Robert"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A08"]
[PlyCount "116"]1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. c3
O-O 9. e5 Ng4 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 f6 12. h3 fxe5 13. hxg4 exd4 14. Nb3 e5 15.
Nh2 g5 16. Bd2 e4 17. Rc1 h6 18. Nc5 Ne5 19. Qb3 Kh8 20. Nxb7 Bxb7 21. Qxb7 Rb8
22. Qxa7 Rxb2 23. Ba5 Rxa2 24. Qxg7+ Kxg7 25. Bxd8 Rxd8 26. f4 Nc4 27. Bxe4 Ne3
28. Rc7+ Kh8 29. Bd3 Nxf1 30. Nxf1 Rd6 31. Rc8+ Kg7 32. Rc1 Rb6 33. Rd1 Rbb2
34. f5 Ra3 35. Rb1 Rxb1 36. Bxb1 Rb3 37. Bc2 Rb2 38. Bd3 Kf6 39. Nh2 Rb3 40.
Bf1 d3 41. Nf3 d2 42. Nxd2 Rxg3+ 43. Kf2 Rxg4 44. Bd3 Rf4+ 45. Ke1 h5 46. Nf1
h4 47. Ne3 Ke5 48. f6 d4 49. Nd1 Rxf6 50. Nf2 Rxf2 51. Kxf2 Kf4 52. Ba6 g4 53.
Bf1 h3 54. Ba6 g3+ 55. Ke2 d3+ 56. Kf1 Ke3 57. Bc8 d2 58. Bg4 g2+ 0-1[/pgn]

A large group split the remaining places and under 2300 prize money: Costello, Sam, Nicky Korba, Alex Kolay of Northern California, and three more local youngsters: Thomas Diem, Gordon McNeill, and Ming Lu. The Open section totaled 34 players. In briefly recognizing the class section winners, we’ll focus on the dynamics of last round “money game” pairings. In Under 2200, recent college grad Austin Hughes had 4½, played down a half point, and quickly forced a draw with an Exchange French to share first with Krishan Warrier of Washington State, who had a last round bye. Under 2000 leader Datris Robinson of San Diego also had 4½ and  played “down,” but there was one rival who could also reach 5, so he went for the gusto with the Milner-Barry Gambit in the Advance French. The position after 15 moves is known to favor Black – if he’s tactically alert. Alas, he misses the main threat of 16.Rf3, it costs him a piece, and he resigns. Two pawns for a piece, but White still has super attacking chances, and the beast says it’s about +4.

[pgn][Event "Southern Calif Open U2000, San Diego"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.03"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Robinson, Datris"]
[Black "Duerksen, Theodore"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[PlyCount "36"]1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 Bd7 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4
Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 10. Nc3 a6 11. Qe2 Ne7 12. Kh1 Ng6 13. f4 Bc5 14. Bd2 O-O 15.
a3 Ba7 16. Rf3 Bc6 17. Be3 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 Qc5 1-0[/pgn]

William Wijaya (a re-entrant) and Brent Bennett led the Under 1800 group by a full point going into the last round, and a quick draw was predictable. The next section had a more intriguing story (and a pairing anomaly, as sisters Julia and Elizabeth Wiley, as the only 4-pointers, had to be paired in the last round; Elizabeth won to tie for second). At 1400, Crystal Gu was nationally ranked tenth among eight-year-old girls and seeded 27^th among the 40 players in Under 1600. She had 4½ going into the last round and beat the clear leader, taking first and moving all the way up to 1619. A player to watch! Three players were tied at 4 in Under 1400 after five rounds, San Diegan Sepehr Golsefidy beat Alexander Backues, and the other contender, Roger Shi, played down a point but lost (to Leo Wang, younger brother of WIM Annie Wang, who was playing in a title tournament in North Carolina). And finally, young Sterling Patick led the Under 1200 group and played two points down – but lost, allowing Maricela Valenzuela, whom he had beaten in Round 2, to catch up. Chuck Ensey did his usual great job of organizing for the tournament, and Bruce Baker and Jim Harrell headed up the TD staff. My thanks to Jim Woodward, Chris Roberts, and Larry Stevens for photography, mostly omitted because of space considerations. Chuck is hopeful that upcoming renovations of the resort will still accommodate the Open for next year. Link to rating report: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201809036632 Link to standings and prize list: http://blog.sandiegochessclub.org/2018/09/so-cal-open-2018-wallchart-with-prizes.html