GM Smith and FM Petesch Win the Pittsburgh Open

GM Bryan Smith

GM Bryan Smith and FM Gabriel Petesch each scored 4-1 to win the 110 player Pittsburgh Open held March 3-5^th at Wyndham Pittsburgh Airport hotel. The Pittsburgh Open is one of the smaller Continental Chess (CCA) events at a based on prize fund of $10,000 and just over 100 players, but it still draws strong players and produces fighting chess. Smith and Petesch met in round 4 with Smith in clear 1st at 3-0, leading the field by half point. In order to win the tournament, Petesch would need to beat Smith. At least, Petesch had the white pieces. He did win the game---to become the tournament leader going into the last round. In the last round, Petesch assured himself of at least a tie for first by drawing with FM Akshita Gorti. The draw allowed Smith to catch up by beating NM Mark Eidemiller. Here is the critical game of the tournament where Petesch defeats Smith.

[pgn][Event "18th Pittsburgh Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.03.05"] [Round "4.1"] [White "FM Petesch, Gabriel"] [Black "GM Smith, Bryan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A49"] [WhiteElo "2367"] [BlackElo "2493"] [PlyCount "109"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. b3 a5 6. c4 d6 7. Bb2 Na6 8. O-O c6 9. Nc3 Bf5 10. Nh4 Bd7 11. Qd2 Rb8 12. d5 Nc5 13. Rab1 Qb6 14. Ba1 Qb4 15. Qc1 cxd5 16. Bxd5 Rfc8 17. Bg2 a4 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Bxd5 axb3 21. axb3 Ra8 22. Qe3 Re8 23. f4 e6 24. Bg2 Kg8 25. g4 Ra3 26. Rfd1 d5 27. Qd2 Qxd2 28. Rxd2 Rxb3 29. Rc1 dxc4 30. Rxc4 b6 31. Rxc5 bxc5 32. Rxd7 Rc8 33. Rd2 c4 34. Kf2 c3 35. Rc2 Rb2 36. Rc1 Rc4 37. Ke3 f5 38. gxf5 gxf5 39. Nxf5 c2 40. Nd4 Ra2 41. Kd3 Rb4 42. e3 Kf7 43. Rxc2 Rxc2 44. Nxc2 Rb2 45. Be4 h6 46. Ke2 Kf6 47. Kf3 e5 48. h4 exf4 49. Kxf4 Rb1 50. Nd4 Rf1+ 51. Bf3 Ra1 52. Nf5 Ra5 53. Nxh6 Kg6 54. Ng4 Kh5 55. Kg3 {Many more moves were played, but both players were in time pressure. White eventually won.} 1-0[/pgn]

The Under 1800 section had a repeat customer. The previous weekend Jason Zipfel went 5-0 at the George Washington Open Under 1800 section. This week, he gives up two draws, but his 4-1 score is still good enough to tie for first in the Under 1800 section. Since he has now gained nearly 150 points in two weekends and is slightly over 1800, he can move up a section. The section winners were:

Under 2100

Maxim Yaskolko, 4 ½ - ½ $732

Under 1800

Jason Zipfel & Jeff Hohn, 4-1, $549

Under 1500

Rohan Padhye, 4 ½ - ½, $586

Under 1200

Ivan Voinov 5-0, $293

Mixed Doubles

FM Akshita Gorti & Vasishta Malisetty, 7 ½ - 2 ½, $110 each player

Blitz Tournament

Alexander Heimann, 7 ½ - ½, $80