ICC Has Busy Weekend, Holds Three Simultaneous Events

Vladimir Belous (photo David Hater)

The Internet Chess Club (ICC) was quite busy during the weekend of October 3-4. Three large organizations – the Continental Chess Association, the Georgia Chess Association, and the Las Vegas Chess Festival – all hosted online events simultaneously. Collectively, these three events drew 419 players, including 8 Grandmasters and 2 International Masters, and gave away prize funds totaling almost $15,000. With a total of 13 sections, the events required 25 total tournament directors and staff, as well as 10 “bots,” for administration.

CONTINENTAL CHESS ASSOCIATION - Pittsburgh Open, Bradley Open

The CCA may have had the greatest success of the weekend, holding two one-day events that drew 240 players, including seven GMs and one IM, with a guaranteed $3,800 in prizes. Both events were directed by NTD Steve Immitt.

The CCA first held the Pittsburgh Open on Saturday, drawing 140 players competing for $2,500 in prizes. GMs Gadir Guseinov, Sergey Erenburg, Jakhongir Vakhidov, and Vladimir Belous were the top seeds, collectively scoring 18 wins and just one loss (and one half-point bye). That lone loss was by GM Guseinov at the hands of GM Belous, on the first board of the final round.

Only GMs Belous and Vakhidov turned in a perfect tournament at 5-0, winning first place and $300 each. GM Erenburg took third place and $50. And even though GM Guseinov scored 4-1 and only lost to another GM, the result was “only” good enough for a fifth-place tie – which did not cash. (It can be quite a challenge to make a living in chess, even as a 2700+ GM!) The 53-player U1700 section was won by Sridhar Jujjavarau, who scored 4.5/5 and won $260.

As noted, all four GMs won every game against non-GMs, so drama did not unfold until the fifth and final round. GM Erenburg took an early bye and stood at 3.5/4 along with FM Gregory Markzon and Nakul Ramaswamy, and the only 4-0 scores were GMs Guseinov, Vakhidov, and Belous. Here are the prize-winning fifth-round games:

[pgn][Event "Pittsburgh Open"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.03"] [Round "5"] [White "Guseinov, Gadir"] [Black "Belous, Vladimir"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2574"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 d6 8. Qf3 a6 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. Kb1 Rc8 11. g4 Nxd4 12. Rxd4 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Rxd5 Bc6 15. Qe4 Be7 16. Bd3 exd5 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Qc6 19. Be4 Qxd5 20. Bxd5 Rc7 21. Rd1 Bd6 22. Bb6 Re7 23. Bxb7 Rxb7 24. Rxd6 Rd7 25. Rd4 Rxd4 26. Bxd4 Kd7 27. g5 Re8 28. c3 Re4 29. Bxg7 Rxf4 30. b4 Rf2 31. h4 Kc6 32. a4 Kd5 33. h5 Kc4 34. a5 Rf5 35. Kc2 Rxg5 36. h6 Rg2+ 37. Kd1 f5 38. Ke1 f4 39. Kf1 f3 40. Bd4 Ra2 41. Bg7 Kd3 42. Bd4 Ke4 43. Bg7 Rc2 44. Bd4 Kd3 45. Bg7 f2 46. Bd4 Ra2 47. Kg2 Rb2 48. Kf1 Rc2 49. Kg2 Rxc3 50. Bxf2 Rc6 {White resigns} 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "ICC tourney 2029 (45 10)"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.03"] [Round "5"] [White "Vakhidov, Jakhongir"] [Black "Ramaswamy, Nakul"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2600"] [BlackElo "2000"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+10"] 1. c4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3 Qb6 7. Bd3 Bg4 8. f3 Bh5 9. Nge2 e6 10. O-O Be7 11. Nb5 O-O 12. Bc7 Qa6 13. Nd6 Bxd6 14. Bxa6 Bxc7 15. Bxb7 Rab8 16. Bxc6 Rxb2 17. Nf4 Bxf4 18. exf4 Bg6 19. Rf2 Rb6 20. Ba4 Rfb8 21. Bc2 Bxc2 22. Rxc2 Ne8 23. Qc1 Nd6 24. Rc6 Rxc6 25. Qxc6 Nc4 26. Qc7 Ra8 27. Rb1 g6 28. Rb8+ Rxb8 29. Qxb8+ Kg7 30. Qxa7 {Black resigns} 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "Pittsburgh Open"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.03"] [Round "5"] [White "Erenburg, Sergey"] [Black "Markzon, Gregory"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2624"] [BlackElo "2165"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Bb3 h6 11. Nh4 Qc8 12. Na4 Bxb3 13. Nb6 Qc6 14. Nf5 Bd8 15. cxb3 Qxe4 16. Nxd6 Qh4 17. Nxa8 Ng4 18. h3 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Nc6 20. Qd5 Bg5 21. Rxf7 Bxe3+ 22. Kh1 {Black resigns} 1-0 [/pgn]

The CCA followed up with the Bradley Open on Sunday. The event drew 96 players across two sections and gave away $1,300 in prizes. Once again, GMs Vakhidov and Belous were top seeds, along with GM Timur Gareyev.

Unlike the previous day’s event, surprises on Sunday came as early as round one. Three masters were only able to fight to draws, NM Ruiyang Yan lost to Michael Thomas, and GM Garayev lost this game to Ethan Modi.

[pgn][Event "Bradley Open"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.04"] [Round "1"] [White "Gareyev, Timur"] [Black "Modi, Ethan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2511"] [BlackElo "1967"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "1800+10"] 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. b4 Bg7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Na3 a5 8. b5 Nbd7 9. Rc1 Ne4 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. Be2 e5 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. d3 Qe7 14. Qb3 Nef6 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. d4 Qe7 18. O-O a4 19. Qc3 Bf5 20. Nc2 Bxc2 21. Rxc2 Rfc8 22. Qd3 Rxc2 23. Qxc2 Qxe3+ 24. Kh1 Re8 25. Bf3 Ne4 26. Bxe4 Rxe4 27. Qxa4 Rxd4 28. Qa7 Qd3 29. Rg1 Rh4 30. Qb8 Qe3 31. Rf1 Qe7 32. h3 Rb4 33. Qa7 Qe2 34. Rc1 Qxb5 35. Kh2 Qb6 36. Qb8 Qf6 37. Rd1 d4 38. Rd3 Rb5 39. a4 Rf5 40. Qxb7 Qe5+ 41. Rg3 h5 42. h4 Rf4 43. Qb6 {White resigns} 0-1 [/pgn]

Only the two GMs and 1291-rated Saathvik Dasari (benefitting from a forfeit win) were left with perfect scores in tact as the tournament entered the penultimate fourth round. There, Dasari fell to NM Poliannikov, who improved to 3.5/4 and trailed only a half-point behind the winner of this top board game between GMs Belous and Vakhidov.

[pgn][Event "Bradley Open"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.04"] [Round "4"] [White "Belous, Vladimir"] [Black "Vakhidov, Jakhongir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A56"] [WhiteElo "2574"] [BlackElo "2600"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "1800+10"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 a6 7. a4 Be7 8. g3 O-O 9. Bg2 Ne8 10. O-O g6 11. Bh6 Ng7 12. Qd2 Kh8 13. Ne1 f5 14. Nd3 Nf6 15. f4 exf4 16. Nxf4 Ng4 17. exf5 Bf6 18. Bxg7+ Bxg7 19. fxg6 Ne3 20. gxh7 Bf5 21. Be4 Bd4 22. Kh1 Qf6 23. Qd3 Qh6 24. Rf3 Ng4 25. Qc2 Bxe4 26. Nxe4 Qxh7 27. Raa3 Ne5 28. Rf1 Nxc4 29. Qxc4 Qxe4+ 30. Raf3 Kg8 31. Kg2 b5 32. Qc1 Rae8 33. Ne6 Rxe6 34. dxe6 Rxf3 35. Qg5+ Bg7 36. Rxf3 Qe2+ 37. Rf2 Qe4+ 38. Kg1 Qe1+ 39. Rf1 Qxe6 40. axb5 axb5 41. h4 Kh8 42. Qh5+ Kg8 43. Qg5 Kh8 44. Kg2 Qe4+ 45. Kh3 Qe6+ 46. Rf5 Bxb2 47. Qh5+ Kg8 48. Qg4+ Bg7 49. Rf8+ Kxf8 50. Qxe6 Be5 51. Qc8+ Ke7 52. Qb7+ Ke6 53. Qxb5 Kd5 54. g4 Kd4 55. g5 c4 56. h5 c3 57. Qe2 Bf4 58. Kg4 { Black resigns} 1-0 [/pgn]

In round five, Belous needed just a six-move draw to take clear first and $240. The other half of that draw went to Pollianikov, who settled for a five-way tie for second place, each earning $45. Timothy Cao won $140 as top U2200 player. Prateek Nemalli won the U1800 section and $180 with a score of 4.5/5.

Crosstables and all games for the Pittsburgh and Bradley Open events can be found here.

GEORGIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Georgia held its state championship across both days of the weekend, directed by NTD David Hater. Despite the $6,000 guaranteed prize fund, however, the online event drew a disappointing 74 players where the OTB state championship typically sees more than 100. The bright spot was that 100% of entry fees were returned to the players as prizes, the tournament run at a loss because of Phillip O. Taylor’s generous contributions over many years.

There were four perfect scores after two rounds, producing this top-board matchup between GM Alonso Zapata and Yury Barnakov.

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.03"] [Round "3"] [White "Zapata, Alonso"] [Black "Barnakov, Yury"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "2518"] [BlackElo "2283"] [PlyCount "209"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "4500+10"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 c6 8. a4 a5 9. b3 Qc7 10. h3 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Ba3 Nb6 13. Bf1 h6 14. Nf3 Be6 15. Qd2 Rfe8 16. Rad1 Bf8 17. Qc1 Rad8 18. g3 Bc8 19. Bg2 Nbd7 20. Qa1 exd4 21. Nxd4 Ne5 22. Bc1 Ng6 23. Be3 Nd7 24. f4 Nc5 25. Bf2 Be7 26. Nf3 Na6 27. Na2 c5 28. Nc3 Nb4 29. Qc1 Bd7 30. Bf1 Bf6 31. Nb5 Bxb5 32. Bxb5 Rf8 33. Qd2 h5 34. c3 Nc6 35. Bc4 Rfe8 36. Qc2 Nf8 37. h4 g6 38. Ng5 Bxg5 39. hxg5 Qe7 40. Qd3 Kg7 41. Re2 Ne6 42. Be3 f6 43. Rf1 Rf8 44. gxf6+ Qxf6 45. Ref2 Qe7 46. Bc1 Kh7 47. Bd5 Ng7 48. Bb2 Qd7 49. Rh2 Ne7 50. c4 Nxd5 51. cxd5 Kg8 52. Rh4 Rde8 53. Rh2 Rf7 54. Rhf2 Qg4 55. f5 gxf5 56. exf5 Re4 57. f6 Ne8 58. Rf4 Rxf4 59. Rxf4 Qg5 60. Qf3 Qg6 61. Qf2 Nc7 62. Rf5 h4 63. Kg2 Kf8 64. Qf3 hxg3 65. Rh5 Rh7 66. Rxh7 Qxh7 67. Kxg3 Qg6+ 68. Kh4 Kf7 69. Qf4 Qh7+ 70. Kg5 Qg6+ 71. Kh4 Qh7+ 72. Kg5 Qg6+ 73. Kh4 Nxd5 74. Qxd6 Qe4+ 75. Kg5 Qe3+ 76. Kf5 Qf3+ 77. Ke5 Qxf6+ 78. Kxd5 Qxb2 79. Qe6+ Kf8 80. Kxc5 Qc3+ 81. Kb6 Qb4+ 82. Ka7 b5 83. Qf5+ Kg8 84. Qxb5 Qe7+ 85. Qb7 Qc5+ 86. Qb6 Qe7+ 87. Ka6 Qe2+ 88. Kxa5 Qe5+ 89. Qb5 Qc3+ 90. b4 Qc7+ 91. Qb6 Qe5+ 92. Ka6 Qe2+ 93. b5 Qc4 94. a5 Qc8+ 95. Qb7 Qe6+ 96. Qc6 Qe2 97. Ka7 Qe7+ 98. Qb7 Qc5+ 99. Ka6 Qd6+ 100. b6 Qd3+ 101. Ka7 Qb5 102. a6 Kf8 103. Qc7 Qd3 104. b7 Qd4+ 105. Kb8 {Black resigns} 1-0 [/pgn]

NM Graham Horobetz beat NM Maria Bortnyk on the second board, setting him up with Zapata as the only perfect 3/3 players in round four.

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.04"] [Round "4"] [White "Horobetz, Graham"] [Black "Zapata, Alonso"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "2309"] [BlackElo "2518"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "4500+10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. Bf4 e5 7. Be3 Be6 8. Nd2 Nf6 9. Bg5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nc4 O-O 12. Qxd6 Qc8 13. c3 Bxc4 14. Bxc4 a6 15. Na3 Rd8 16. Qc5 Be7 17. Qe3 Bxa3 18. bxa3 Ne7 19. Bb3 Ng6 20. g3 Rd6 21. Bd5 Ne7 22. c4 Rb8 23. Rd1 Rh6 24. h4 Nc6 25. Kf1 Rf6 26. Kg2 Qc7 27. Rhf1 Re8 28. Rb1 Re7 29. Rb6 h6 30. Rfb1 Qc8 31. Qc5 Rc7 32. Qe3 Kh7 33. h5 Qd7 34. R1b3 Qe7 35. Rb1 Qd7 36. f3 Qe7 37. Rf1 Nd4 38. Rxf6 Qxf6 39. f4 b5 40. Qc3 bxc4 41. fxe5 Qxe5 42. Rf5 Qd6 43. Qxd4 c3 44. e5 Qd8 45. Rf1 Rd7 46. Be4+ Kg8 47. Qxc3 Rd2+ 48. Rf2 Rd4 49. Qf3 Qd7 50. Bc2 {Black forfeits on time} 1-0 [/pgn]

The result left Horobetz in clear first at 4/4, with a full point lead over GM Zapata, NM Barnakov and IM Ron Burnett at 3/4. Horobetz closed the remaining event with two fighting draws, leaving him alone atop the standings with 5/6 and the $1,000 prize – however, as an official resident of Tennessee, he was not awarded the Georgia State Champion title. That honor was passed to Zapata in second place with 4.5/6, tied with Barnakov. Burnett finished clear fourth.

Georgia State Championship section winners are:

2020 Georgia State Champion - GM Alonso Zapata

U2100 - Abinav Mysore and Sanjeev Anand, 4.5/6

U1600 - Gauri Sreekumar and Kaya Keski, 5/6

U1200 - Muling Lu, 5.5/6

Crosstables and all games for the 2020 Georgia State Championship can be found here.

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2020 International Youth Championship offered a fun and exciting weekend for scholastic players across the nation. This prestigious online tournament also provided an excellent warmup for Janelle Losoff and 2020 US Chess TD of the Year NTD Glenn Panner, who are collaborating for the upcoming 2020 National Open, planned online for Nov. 21-22.

Like most online events, all prize contenders were required to be participants in their designated “zoom rooms” with web camera monitoring in effect at all times. The zoom format also offered the option for players to socialize with each other between rounds, an important component for the young players in these challenging, socially distant times.

The 2020 IYC attracted 99 players across 5 different sections. Each section played six rounds, though the time control differed: Open and Premier participants played with a longer time control of G/45 +10, and the six games split across both days of the weekend. Reserve sections employed a shorter time control of G/15+5, with each section completed in just one day.

9U Reserve (U800) Stanley Deng 6/6

9U Premier (U1800) Krishna Rallabandi 5/6

14U Reserve (U1000) Kayva Handa 6/6

14U Premier (U1800) Adrien Cheng 5/6

For the crown, the 14U Open section collected 16 players with an average rating of 1561, including three Experts. The 2020 IYC champion, Leonard Vu from Southern California, earned clear first with a perfect 6/6. He was trailed by Carlos Varela with 5/6 in clear second, and Hersh Singh and Nicholas Weng with 4/6 in third.

Vu faced incredibly strong competitors and played some interesting and complex games. His fourth-round win against Hersh Singh was especially brilliant and deemed the best game of the event by section chief NTD Tom Brownscombe.

[pgn][Event "International Youth Championship"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2020.10.04"] [Round "4"] [White "Vu, Leonard"] [Black "Singh, Hersh"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C91"] [WhiteElo "2000"] [BlackElo "2129"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+10"] 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 exd4 11. cxd4 d5 12. e5 Ne4 13. Nc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Na5 15. Bc2 Nc4 16. Qd3 g6 17. Bh6 Re8 18. h3 Be6 19. g4 a5 20. Nh2 Bg5 21. Bxg5 Qxg5 22. Qg3 Qd2 23. Rac1 b4 24. Nf3 Qh6 25. h4 Nd2 26. Ng5 Qg7 27. h5 Qh6 28. f4 Kh8 29. Kg2 Qg7 30. hxg6 fxg6 31. Rh1 Bg8 32. f5 gxf5 33. gxf5 Ne4 34. Bxe4 dxe4 35. f6 Qg6 36. f7 Rf8 37. e6 h6 38. Qe5+ {Black resigns} 1-0 [/pgn]

Crosstables and all games for the International Youth Championship can be found here.

Each of these events had some of the best and most experienced online directors to ensure quality and security of the tournament for all of the online participants. The final results are not official until fair play analysis is complete. All games are reviewed by the ICC fair play team and as necessary further analyzed and reviewed by Dr. Ken Regan, the renowned fair play analysis expert from the University of Buffalo.