GM Barbosa wins 141st New York State Championship

GM Oliver Barbosa scored 5-1 to win the 2019 New York State Championship, taking home the $2,100 first prize and State Champion title.  The 2019 event drew 189 players in six sections, all playing for a prize fund of $15,000, and the Championship section had 44 players with 21 players rated over 2200.

The tournament started off with several surprises that show how competitive the tournament would be. The combination of upsets and draws in the first two rounds meant that at the merge there were only six perfect scores:  GM Oliver Barbosa, IMs David Brodsky and Vitaly Bachin, FM Robert Sulman, and NMs Zachary Tanenbaum and Jason Liang.  Brodsky drew with Liang and Bachin defeated Sulman. Barbosa defeated Tanenbaum on board one, a game that Barbosa considers his best of the event and that he annotates for CLO.

[pgn] [Event "New York State-ch141"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.08.31"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Barbosa, Oliver"] [Black "Tanenbaum, Zachary"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2620"] [BlackElo "2289"] [Annotator "GM Barbosa"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.09.09"] {This is my game against Zachary Tanenbaum on the third round of the New York State Open. I had played him several times already and when I glanced on his games, I knew I could use some of my preparations 9 years ago.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O c5 {This is one of those lines I'm comfortable playing as white or black. Could result to easy equality or slow middlegame.} 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 {Idea will become clear a few moves later. This knight is going for the dark squares specially on the queenside black has already played a6 weakening b6.} b5 10. Be2 Bb7 11. a4 { Fighting for c4 square and trying to expose black's weaknesses on a6.} bxa4 12. Rxa4 Nbd7 13. Nb3 Be7 14. Nfd4 {Centalizes and tries to exploit the c6 square.} O-O 15. Na5 Bd5 16. f3 {Restriction and trying to get rid of black's most active piece which is the bishop on d5.} (16. Nac6 Bc5 17. Rxa6 Rxa6 18. Bxa6 e5 $15) 16... Bc5 17. Kf1 Nb6 18. Ra1 e5 19. Ndc6 (19. Ndb3 Bb4 20. e4 Be6 21. Be3 Nbd7 {and here I'm not sure if I can capitalize on black's a6 pawn without weakening pieces on my b file}) 19... e4 20. b4 Bd6 21. Bb2 $18 {I evaluated this position as advantageous for white as I have all of my pieces activated while black's pieces are lacking coordination.} Nbd7 22. fxe4 Bxc6 23. Nxc6 Nxe4 24. Bf3 $5 {Time became a factor on this position and I quickly looked at Bf3 take the knight, move the king and win material. I overlooked black's third move from here.} (24. Rxd6 Nxd6 25. Rd1 $18) 24... f5 25. Bxe4 fxe4+ 26. Kg1 Nb6 {the move I overlooked} 27. Rac1 {I went for this safer move but clearly looking deeper into the position seems like Rxd6 and an immediate check Ne7 should win.} (27. Rxd6 Nc4 28. Ne7+ Kh8 (28... Kf7 29. Rd4 Nxb2 30. Rxe4 $18) 29. Rdxa6 Rxa6 30. Rxa6 Nxb2 31. b5 $18) 27... Nc8 28. Rd5 Re8 29. Rf1 Bf8 30. Rd7 Nb6 31. Rb7 Nd5 32. Bd4 Rac8 33. Ne5 Nxb4 34. Ng4 Be7 (34... Nc2 $4 35. Rxf8+ Kxf8 36. Bxg7+ Kg8 37. Nf6#) 35. h4 h5 36. Ne5 Bf6 37. Ng6 Bxd4 38. exd4 Kh7 39. Ne7 Rb8 40. Rf5 Kh6 {The last 10 moves were played on faster evaluations since we are trying to make the first time control. Second time control reached and I need to regroup my pieces and come up with control of the board.} 41. Rc7 e3 42. Re5 e2 43. Kh2 e1=Q 44. Rxe1 Nd5 {I saw this position 3 moves earlier and at first thought it would lead to liquidation, until I saw a nice tactic.} 45. Nf5+ Kg6 46. Rxg7+ Kxf5 47. Rg5+ {gets the piece back plus black is in trouble since if I can get the h pawn, I can slowly move my pawns together compared to his a pawn} Kf4 48. g3+ Kf3 49. Rxe8 Rxe8 50. Rxd5 Rh8 $2 (50... Ra8 {This is black's active defence. Rather than defending his h pawn, he should have put his rook behind his passed a pawn and start scaring me of that one.} 51. Ra5 Ke4 52. d5 Ke5 53. Kh3 Kf5 54. Kg2 Ke5 55. Kf3 Rf8+ 56. Ke3 Ra8 {The position I looked at and I'm not sure how to improve.}) 51. Re5 Rh6 52. Kh3 Kf2 53. d5 a5 54. Re6 Rh7 55. Ra6 Rg7 56. Kh2 Kf3 57. Rxa5 Ke4 58. d6 Rd7 59. Rxh5 Rxd6 60. Ra5 Kf3 61. Kh3 {I'll slowly move my pawns and king together and win the game and cutting the enemy king from defending even so this would be winning for white} 1-0 [/pgn]

This meant that there were only two perfect scores going into round four.  GM Barbosa and IM Bachin faced off on board one in a game that ended in a draw.  IM Brodsky caught up by defeating Joseph Zeltsan, with the result that Barbosa, Brodsky, and Bachin would be tied for first going into the final day’s games. Several players were a half point back including GM Mark Paragua, FM Ben Dean-Kawamura, and NMs Zachary Tanenbaum, William Graif, Jason Liang and Stanislav Busygin. In the penultimate round, Barbosa defeated Brodsky on board one and Bachin lost to Paragua on board two.

[pgn] [Event "New York State-ch141"] [Date "2019.09.02"] [Round "5"] [White "Barbosa, Oliver A"] [Black "Brodsky, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2620"] [BlackElo "2532"] [Annotator "Townsend,William"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2019.08.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 g6 6. Qc2 c5 7. dxc5 bxc5 8. Bf4 Nh5 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bd2 f5 11. e3 Bg7 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Qe7 14. b4 cxb4 15. axb4 Na6 16. Rab1 Nxb4 17. Rxb4 Bxf3 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. cxd5 Nf6 20. dxe6 dxe6 21. Bf3 Rac8 22. Qa2 Rc7 23. Rfb1 Rd8 24. Rb8 Rxb8 25. Rxb8+ Kf7 26. g3 Nd7 27. Bb4 Nxb8 28. Bxe7 Rxe7 29. Qa5 Bf6 30. h3 Kg7 31. Kg2 h5 32. Qc5 Na6 33. Qd6 Nc7 34. e4 fxe4 35. Bxe4 Kh6 36. Qd1 g5 37. Bc2 Ne8 38. Qd3 Kg7 39. Qe3 Kf8 40. Qf3 h4 41. Bg6 Kg7 42. Qh5 Nd6 43. g4 e5 (43... Rb7) 44. Bh7 Rf7 45. Qg6+ Kf8 46. Bg8 Ke7 47. Bxf7 Nxf7 48. Kf3 Nd6 49. Qh7+ Ke6 50. Qxa7 Be7 51. Qa2+ Kf6 52. Qg8 Nb5 53. Qh8+ Ke6 54. Qc8+ Kd6 55. Qb8+ Nc7 56. Ke4 Bf6 57. Qb6+ 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "New York State-ch141"] [Date "2019.09.02"] [Round "5"] [White "Paragua, Mark C"] [Black "Bachin, Vitaly"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B28"] [WhiteElo "2626"] [BlackElo "2433"] [Annotator "Townsend,William"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2019.08.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 a6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Qe2 d5 6. e5 Nd7 7. O-O e6 8. d3 h6 9. h4 Be7 10. h5 Qc7 11. Re1 Nb6 12. c4 Bd7 13. Nc3 O-O-O 14. Bf4 dxc4 15. dxc4 g5 16. hxg6 fxg6 17. Ne4 g5 18. Nd6+ Kb8 19. Be3 Bxd6 20. exd6 Qxd6 21. Red1 Qe7 22. b4 Nxb4 23. a3 Nc6 24. Rab1 Na8 25. Ne5 Na5 26. Bxb7 Nxb7 27. Rxd7 Qxd7 28. Nxd7+ Rxd7 29. Bxc5 Rhd8 30. Qxe6 (30. Kg2 Kc8 31. Qe4 Nxc5 32. Qxa8+ Kc7 33. Qa7+ Kd6 34. Qb6+ Ke7 35. Qxc5+) 30... Rd1+ 31. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 32. Kg2 Nxc5 33. Qe5+ Kb7 34. Qxc5 Nb6 35. Qf8 Rd7 36. c5 Nc4 37. c6+ Kxc6 38. Qc8+ Rc7 39. Qxa6+ Kd5 40. a4 Rc6 41. Qa8 Nb6 42. Qa5+ Kd6 43. Qb5 Nd7 44. a5 Nc5 45. Qc4 Ra6 46. Qb5 Kd5 47. Kf3 Rf6+ 48. Kg2 Ra6 49. Qb8 Kc4 50. Qf8 Rxa5 51. Qxh6 Nd3 52. Qe6+ Kc3 53. Kf3 Re5 54. Qd6 Kd2 55. Kg4 Ke2 56. Qa6 1-0 [/pgn]

With Tannenbaum defeating Dean-Kawamura, Barbosa sat in clear first place headed into the last round with only two players trailing by a half point:  GM Paragua and NM Tanenbaum. Paying a second consecutive game with white because Paragua had a forced black, Barbosa only needed a draw in the last round, and he got it, ensuring at least a piece of first place. Tanenbaum could have caught Barbosa with a win over Brodsky, but he could only draw, giving him shared second place along with   GM Paragua,  IM Bachin, NM Graif and NM Jason Liang.  Each of the players tied for second won $600.

[pgn] [Event "New York State-ch141"] [Date "2019.09.02"] [Round "6"] [White "Liang, Jason"] [Black "Bonin, Jay R"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2285"] [BlackElo "2408"] [Annotator "Townsend,William"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2019.08.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 a6 3. c3 d6 4. Nf3 Qc7 5. Bf4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Nxf3 e5 9. Bh2 Ngf6 10. Bd3 g6 11. O-O Bg7 12. Re1 O-O 13. Qb3 Rae8 14. Rad1 Re7 15. Qa3 Rfe8 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. Qc5 Rd7 19. Bc2 Bf8 20. Qe3 Red8 21. Rxd7 Nxd7 22. Rd1 Bc5 23. Qe2 Kg7 24. Bb3 b5 25. Bg3 f6 26. a3 Be7 27. Bc2 Nc5 28. f3 Ne6 29. Bb3 Bc5+ 30. Kh2 Nf4 31. Qc2 Ba7 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. Bf2 Bxf2 34. Qxf2 Qd7 35. Bc2 c5 36. Kg1 a5 37. Kf1 Qd6 38. Qe1 b4 39. Qd1 Qxd1+ (39... Qa6+ 40. Kf2 bxc3 41. bxc3 Qa7 42. Kf1 c4 43. Qd2 Nh5 44. Qf2 Qd7 $15) 40. Bxd1 Nd3 41. cxb4 Nxb2 $6 42. Bb3 (42. b5 $1 Nc4 43. Ke1 Nb6 44. Kd2) 42... cxb4 43. axb4 a4 44. Ba2 Nd3 45. b5 Kf8 46. b6 Nc5 47. Ke2 Ke7 48. Kd2 Kd6 49. Bd5 a3 50. Kc2 Na4 51. b7 Kc7 52. Kb3 a2 53. Kxa2 Nc3+ 54. Kb3 Nxd5 55. exd5 Kxb7 56. Kc4 Kb6 57. Kb4 h5 58. h4 g5 59. hxg5 fxg5 60. Kc4 g4 $4 (60... Kc7 $11 61. Kc5 Kd7 62. d6 e4 63. fxe4 g4 64. e5 h4 65. Kd5 h3 66. gxh3 gxh3 67. e6+ Kd8 68. Kc6 h2 69. e7+ Ke8 70. Kc7 h1=Q 71. d7+ Kxe7 72. d8=Q+) 61. fxg4 hxg4 62. Kd3 1-0 [/pgn]

The section winners were: U2100 Dore Sheppard, Tofig Musayev, & Ruizhong Wang, 5-1, $600 U1800 Jared Schwartz, 5.5-0.5, $1000 U1500 Justin Trey, 5.5-0.5. $900 U1200 John Femia & Nathan Shaffer, 5-1, $500 Mixed Doubles Kiley Mitchell and Jason Liang, 8 points, $250 to each player Blitz Jimmy Heiserman, 7.5-0.5, $150 NTD Steve Immitt directed for Continental Chess assisted by Bill Goichberg. Previous Continental Chess tournaments can be found at the Continental Chess website at  http://www.chesstour.com/cross.html.