Hill and Watters Win U.S. Armed Forces Open Championship

Navy top service team; West Point top U.S. military academy

Fifty miles north of Manhattan, overlooking the strategic “S” curve in the Hudson River, West Point Military Academy honors its earliest history as guardians against British incursions with a row of captured canons that give the promontory the name Trophy Point. On Columbus Day weekend, a few hundred yards away in Cullum Hall, 44 representatives from the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force vied for top individual and team honors, angling to capture trophies of their own. After five rounds and three days of play, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant and a young Navy Lieutenant tied at the 4 ½ - ½.  Leroy Hill, Jr., of New Jersey, who had won the Inter-Service Championship back in 2003 while on active service with the Air Force, took home the first-place plaque. Navy Lieutenant Chase Watters of Maryland, who earned his Ph.D. in microbiology from Texas Tech University, where he was a stalwart in its championship chess program before enlisting, came up one tie-break point short of Hill’s total and settled for the second-place plaque and the title of co-champion. The two drew their game together in round three. In the final round Monday, Hill won with a slashing attack as Black on Board 2 against fellow Expert and Air Force Captain Gordon Randall of Virginia, a previous US AF Open champ.

[pgn][Event "AF Open Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.10.09"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gordon, Randall"]
[Black "Hill, Leroy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A90"]
[WhiteElo "2012"]
[BlackElo "2029"]
[Annotator "Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.12"]{Leroy Hill, Jr. (USAF, retired) went into the last round with 3.5 points.
While Larry Larkins (US Navy, retired), 4-0, battled Chase (3.5) on board one,
Hill played an attack against Gordon Randall (USAF) on Board 2 that Leroy's
old teammate IM Emory Tate would have admired.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 f5 4.
g3 c6 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Bg5 O-O 8. Rc1 Nbd7 9. Qb3 Kh8 10. cxd5 exd5 11.
O-O Qe8 12. Rfe1 Ne4 {Diagram [#]} 13. Be3 {White's choice of bishop retreats
leads to problems. Probably best was} (13. Bf4 Bxf4 14. gxf4) 13... Qh5 14.
Nxe4 {This capture gives Black an attacking wedge on f3.} fxe4 15. Nd2 Nf6 {
Diagram [#]} 16. f3 Rb8 {Diagram [#]} 17. f4 $2 (17. fxe4 Ng4 18. h3 Bxg3 19.
Rf1 $17) 17... g5 $1 $19 18. fxg5 Ng4 19. Nf1 (19. h3 Nxe3 20. Qxe3 Bxh3 21.
Rf1 Rg8 22. Rf2 Rxg5 23. Nf1 Rbg8 $19 {Diagram [#] Black has everything his
attacking heart desires.}) 19... Rxf1+ $1 $17 20. Kxf1 Nxh2+ 21. Kg1 Bxg3 22.
Bf2 Bxf2+ 23. Kxf2 Ng4+ 24. Kg1 Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Be6 (25... e3) 26. Qa3 c5 27. Rc3
Rf8+ 28. Rf3 {To prevent immediate mate.} exf3 29. exf3 Qg3 30. Re2 Nh2+ 31.
Kg1 Nxf3+ {0-1 With this pleasing win and 4.5 points, Hill awaited the outcome
of the Board 1 match-up, Larkins-Watters. (See below.)} 0-1[/pgn]

Then Hill had to wait for the results of the game on Board 1 between five-time champ Larry Larkins of Virginia (U.S. Navy, retired) and Watters. That contest was a marathon of back-and-forth stress, boiling down to a cat-and-mouse endgame that at moments made it impossible to tell the feline from the prey.

[pgn][Event "AF Open Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.10.09"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Larkins, Larry"]
[Black "Watters, Chase"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2089"]
[BlackElo "2167"]
[Annotator "Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.09"]{Larry Larkins (US Navy, retired) entered the fifth and last round with the
only perfect score. Just one more AF Open win, and Larkins would set a record
with six titles. His Board 1 opponent, Chase Watters (US Navy) had 4.5 points)
and was trying for his first title. The result was a tense struggle that never
reached a simple position.} 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 5. d3 Nxc3
6. bxc3 c5 7. h3 Nc6 8. Bf4 h6 9. g4 g5 10. Bg3 Bg7 11. d4 Qa5 $17 12. Qd2 O-O
(12... h5 {is another way.}) 13. Be2 f6 (13... f5 {right away maintains the
pressure on d4.}) 14. Rb1 cxd4 15. cxd4 Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 a6 17. c3 f5 18. Ne1 f4
19. Bh2 Na5 20. Bf3 Nc4+ 21. Kc1 e6 22. h4 Rd8 23. hxg5 hxg5 24. Bg1 Bf8 25.
Nd3 (25. Be2) 25... b6 26. Rh5 Be7 $17 27. Nb4 Bb7 (27... Bd7) 28. Rh6 Kf7 29.
Rh7+ Ke8 30. Bd1 Kd7 (30... Rac8) 31. Ba4+ b5 32. Nd3 Ke8 $11 33. Bc2 Rd7 34.
Nb4 Bxb4 35. Bg6+ Kd8 36. Rxd7+ Kxd7 37. cxb4 Rh8 38. Bh5 Bc6 39. Rb3 Ke7 40.
Rh3 Be8 $1 41. Rh2 {Diagram [#]} Bxh5 42. gxh5 Kf7 43. f3 Kg7 44. Bf2 Rc8 45.
Kd1 Kh6 46. Ke2 Nb2 (46... Na3 47. Kd1 Rc3 48. Rh3 Rc2 49. Be1) 47. Kd2 Rc4 48.
Be1 Na4 (48... Rxd4+ {is possible and seems clearer but not necessarily better:
} 49. Kc2 (49. Kc3 Rd1 50. Rxb2 (50. Bd2 Nc4) (50. Re2 Nc4 $19) 50... Rxe1)
49... Nc4 $19) 49. Kd3 Nb6 (49... Rc1 $1 50. Bd2 (50. Rh1 Rd1+ 51. Kc2 Rxd4)
50... Nb2+ 51. Ke2 Rc2 52. Ke1 Nd3+ 53. Kd1 Rxa2 54. Re2 Ra4 55. Kc2 Nxb4+) 50.
Bc3 Rc6 51. Rh1 Na8 52. Bd2 Nc7 53. Ra1 {Diagram [#]} Kxh5 $2 {Black gives
away his advantage by snatching the pawn. Patience! The pawn isn't going
anywhere. The knight can be maneuvered to make the capture without permitting
White's rook to penetrate.} (53... Rc4 54. Rh1 Ne8 55. Bc3 Ng7) 54. Rh1+ Kg6
55. Rh8 Rb6 56. Rg8+ Kh6 57. Rc8 Rc6 58. Rg8 Rc4 59. Bc3 Rc6 60. a3 Rb6 61. Rc8
Rb7 62. Rg8 Ra7 63. Rc8 Kg7 64. Rd8 Na8 65. Rb8 Kf7 66. Bd2 Nc7 67. Rd8 Ne8 68.
Rc8 Re7 {Black has played with steely reserve to reorganize after realizing he
had snatched the forbidden fruit on h5. He may have missed a chance here:} (
68... Rc7 69. Ra8 Rc6 {and Black may bring his knight through g7 to f5.}) 69.
Ra8 Nc7 70. Rh8 {This looks like a mistake. White voluntarily moves from
behind the black queenside pawns.} Ne8 $1 71. Rh1 Ng7 (71... Kg6 {Diagram [#]}
72. Rh8 Ng7 73. Ra8 Nf5 74. Rxa6 Kh5 75. a4 Kh4 76. Be1+ Kh3 77. a5 Kg2 78. Rc6
Kxf3 {is a fascinating Stockfish 8 line in which Black lets the queenside go
to blazes while crashing through kingside. But it's a tough endgame in time
pressure. And perhaps more than anything else, Watters has his eye on Larkins'
clock!}) 72. Rg1 Nf5 73. Rxg5 Re8 74. Rg4 Rc8 (74... Rh8 75. Bxf4 Rh3 76. Bc1
Rxf3+ 77. Kd2) 75. Bxf4 Rh8 76. Rg1 Rh3 77. Rf1 Rh4 78. Be3 Rh2 {Diagram [#]
And finally, a pawn up (although it's a likely draw), White lets his flag fall.
Larkins will have to wait until next year to try again for the six-time record.
} 0-1[/pgn]

Watters had to win to have a shot at first. If Larkins won, he would secure sole first and go into the record books with six titles. Meanwhile, Hill’s first U.S. AF Open title depended on a Watters victory. In the end, it was the clock, not the pieces, that made the call, as Larkins overstepped. “I’ve tied many times but always lost on tie-breaks,” Hill said afterward, grinning with relief as he clutched the top plaque. The U.S. Navy earned Top Service Team. Air Force was second, and Army was third. Hosts West Point U.S. Military Academy won honor as Top Service Academy Team. U.S. Naval Academy Annapolis was second. Another five-time champ, Robert Keough (U.S. Air Force, retired) of Arizona tied with Larkins at 4-1. Army Cadet David Yue was the U.S. Military Academy Champion and Top Cadet. Randall was Top Active Air Force. Lieutenant Commander Chip Kraft was the Top Active Navy representative. Cesar A Estrada was Top Active Marine. and Major Benjamin S. Griffin was top active Army. Captain Patrick Dowd was Top Reservist. The annual tournament is open to active duty, reservists, and retired military. Eligible participants also include the Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, U.S. Public Health Service, ROTC college students, and U.S. Academy students for the above services. A Military Veterans tournament, in which all honorably discharged vets are welcome, is offered in conjunction with the AF Open Championship. Randall and Keough won Saturday night’s bughouse event with a perfect score. Kraft won the Sunday night blitz tournament with 7 ½ out of 8, two points ahead of his nearest competition. Current US Chess Federation President Mike Hoffpauir, a former U.S. Army brigade commander organized and personally sponsored the event. Rudolph Abate served as chief TD and Ernest Schlich as assistant TD. All three were volunteers. Complete results are available at: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201710092432-12293870

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About the Author

Al Lawrence is a frequent contributor to US Chess News. He is a two-time winner of the Chess Journalist of the Year award (2000 and 2016) and a former Executive Director of the US Chess Federation. He currently serves as the Managing Director of the U.S. Chess Trust.