Liem, Oparin, and Neiksans Win at Summer Classic

The 2019 Summer Classic came to an end Friday in Saint Louis, with all three sections featuring clear winners and solid, fighting chess. A GROUP

Le Quang Liem (photo Austin Fuller)

Le Quang Liem (6/10) took a tightly-bunched A section by a half-point over Jeffery Xiong and David Howell. Here’s Liem’s round 7 win over Xiong, featuring a sweet knight sacrifice and brisk king hunt.

[pgn]

[Event "St Louis Summer A"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.06.25"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Le Quang Liem"]
[Black "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2694"]
[BlackElo "2684"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4
Qc7 9. Bb3 Be6 10. O-O O-O 11. Nh4 g6 12. Bh6 Rd8 13. Nf3 Bc4 14. Ng5 Bf8 15.
Bxf8 Kxf8 16. Bxc4 Qxc4 17. f4 exf4 18. Kh1 Qc5 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. exd5 h6 21.
Nxf7 Kxf7 22. Rxf4+ Kg7 23. Qe2 Qc7 24. Raf1 Nc6 25. dxc6 bxc6 26. Qe6 Rf8 27.
Rf6 1-0

[/pgn]

Turnabout is fair play, as Xiong defeated Liem in round 2 in good style.

[pgn]

[Event "St Louis Summer A"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.06.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Black "Le Quang Liem"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2684"]
[BlackElo "2694"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Nc6 7. Rc1 O-O 8.
e3 Ne7 9. Qb3 a5 10. a3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 a4 12. Qb2 Ne4 13. Nd2 c6 14. Nxe4 dxe4
15. Bg3 Nf5 16. Be2 g6 17. Bf4 g5 18. Be5 f6 19. Bg3 Kg7 20. c4 Qe7 21. Rb1 Qf7
22. Qb6 Re8 23. h4 Nxg3 24. fxg3 Ra6 25. Qc5 Qc7 26. hxg5 Ra5 27. gxf6+ Kxf6
28. Qb4 Rf5 29. g4 Qg3+ 30. Kd2 Rf2 31. Rbf1 Kg7 32. Rxf2 Qxf2 33. Qd6 Qf7 34.
g5 Kg8 35. Rf1 Qe7 36. c5 Qxd6 37. cxd6 Kg7 38. Bh5 Rf8 39. Rxf8 Kxf8 40. g6
Bd7 41. gxh7 Kg7 42. Bg6 1-0

[/pgn]

Jeffery Xiong (photo Crystal Fuller)

Xiong’s play continues to impress, and one wonders whether the Summer Classic will, in retrospect, be remembered as part of his ascent to the chess elite. http://twitter.com/Tatev__A/status/1144698183987224585 David Howell picked up his share of second place in the last game of the event, taking down Gawain Jones in a long fight.

[pgn]

[Event "St Louis Summer A"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.06.28"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Jones, G."]
[Black "Howell, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2709"]
[BlackElo "2692"]
[PlyCount "148"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O Qe7 7. Be3 Bg4 8.
Nbd2 Nd7 9. Nc4 f6 10. a3 O-O 11. b4 Bd6 12. h3 Bh5 13. g4 Bf7 14. Na5 Rfb8 15.
Nh4 g6 16. Qd2 c5 17. Rab1 cxb4 18. axb4 c5 19. b5 Nf8 20. f4 f5 21. fxe5 Qxh4
22. exd6 Qg3+ 23. Kh1 Qxh3+ 24. Kg1 Qg3+ 25. Kh1 Qh3+ 26. Kg1 fxe4 27. dxe4
Qg3+ 28. Kh1 Qh3+ 29. Kg1 Re8 30. Qf2 Qxg4+ 31. Kh2 Qh5+ 32. Kg1 Qg4+ 33. Kh2
Qh5+ 34. Kg1 g5 35. Qg2 Bg6 36. Qxg5 Qxg5+ 37. Bxg5 Rxe4 38. Be7 Rg4+ 39. Kh2
Nd7 40. Nxb7 Rc4 41. Nd8 Rxc2+ 42. Kg1 Be4 43. Rf4 Rg2+ 44. Kf1 Bxb1 45. Kxg2
Rb8 46. Ne6 Rxb5 47. Nf8 Rb7 48. Nxd7 Rxd7 49. Kg3 Kg7 50. Rf8 a5 51. Kf4 a4
52. Ke5 Ba2 53. Rc8 Kf7 54. Rf8+ Kg7 55. Rf4 Bb3 56. Bf8+ Kg6 57. Rf6+ Kg5 58.
Be7 Kg4 59. Ke4 Bc2+ 60. Kd5 a3 61. Rf2 a2 62. Bf6 Bb3+ 63. Kc6 Rf7 64. d7 Ba4+
65. Kd6 Rxf6+ 66. Rxf6 Bxd7 67. Rf1 Bf5 68. Ke5 Bc2 69. Rc1 h5 70. Kd5 h4 71.
Kxc5 h3 72. Kb4 Bb1 73. Rc4+ Kg3 74. Rc3+ Kg2 0-1

[/pgn]

B GROUP

Grigoriy Oparin (photo Austin Fuller)

Grigoriy Oparin had the most dominating result at the Summer Classic, winning the B section by a full point and a half over Hovhannes Gabuzyan and Igor Kovalenko. His round seven win over Sam Sevian was his third and final victory of the tournament, and perhaps his best.

[pgn]

[Event "St Louis Summer B"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.06.25"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Oparin, G."]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2644"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 e6 6. b3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Be7 8. Bb2
O-O 9. c4 Bd7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Na3 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Bf6 13. Qd2 Bc6 14. Nc4 Bxb2
15. Qxb2 Nb6 16. Bxc6 Nxc4 17. Qc3 Nd6 18. Bf3 Qb6 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Qe5 Rac8
21. Rd3 Ne8 22. Rad1 Rxd3 23. Rxd3 Qc7 24. Qb5 Nd6 25. Qb4 Rd8 26. Bxb7 a5 27.
Qf4 Qb6 28. Bf3 Nb5 29. Rxd8+ Qxd8 30. Qc4 Nd6 31. Qc5 g6 32. a4 Nf5 33. b4
axb4 34. Qxb4 Qd1+ 35. Kg2 Nd4 36. Qb8+ Kg7 37. Qe5+ Kg8 38. a5 Nc2 39. h4 Ne1+
40. Kh2 Nxf3+ 41. exf3 Qxf3 42. Qb8+ Kg7 43. Qb2+ Kh6 44. a6 e5 45. a7 f5 46.
Qa2 Qa8 47. Qa5 f4 48. gxf4 exf4 49. Qg5+ Kg7 50. Qe5+ Kh6 51. Qb8 Qf3 52. a8=Q
Qxf2+ 53. Qg2 Qxh4+ 54. Qh3 1-0

[/pgn]

C GROUP

With two wins in the final two rounds, Aram Hakobyan almost caught him, but Arturs Neiksans was victorious in the C section with a score of 6.5/10 to Hakobyan’s 6/10.

Arturs Neiksans (photo Austin Fuller)

Here Neiksans defeats Elshan Moradiabadi in their round six matchup. Moradiabadi finished in fourth place with an even score.

[pgn]

[Event "St Louis Summer C"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.06.24"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Moradiabadi, E."]
[Black "Neiksans, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E16"]
[WhiteElo "2548"]
[BlackElo "2566"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3
Na6 9. Re1 c5 10. e4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nc5 12. Qe2 Qc8 13. b4 Na6 14. a3 d6 15.
Rac1 Nb8 16. f4 Nbd7 17. e5 dxe5 18. fxe5 Ne8 19. Bxb7 Qxb7 20. Qg2 Qxg2+ 21.
Kxg2 Nc7 22. Nc6 Rfe8 23. Ne4 Nb8 24. Nxe7+ Rxe7 25. b5 Ne8 26. Bb4 Rb7 27. a4
Nd7 28. c5 bxc5 29. Nxc5 Nxc5 30. Bxc5 Nc7 31. Bd6 Nd5 32. Rc6 h5 33. Rec1 Kh7
34. Rc8 Rxc8 35. Rxc8 f6 36. Rb8 Rd7 37. a5 fxe5 38. Bxe5 Ne3+ 39. Kh3 g5 40.
b6 axb6 41. axb6 Kg6 42. g4 hxg4+ 43. Kg3 Rd2 44. Rg8+ Kf5 45. Rxg5+ Kxg5 46.
Bf4+ Kf5 0-1

[/pgn]

Hakobyan’s round nine win over Cristian Chirila featured a potent kingside attack.

[pgn]

[Event "St Louis Summer C"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.06.27"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Hakobyan, Aram"]
[Black "Chirila, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "2559"]
[BlackElo "2561"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bd3 d6 8.
O-O a6 9. Be3 Qc7 10. f4 Be7 11. Qf3 O-O 12. g4 Nd7 13. g5 Re8 14. e5 Nf8 15.
Qh5 dxe5 16. Rf3 g6 17. Qh6 f5 18. gxf6 Bxf6 19. Ne4 Bg7 20. Qg5 Qe7 21. Bc5
Qd8 22. Nd6 Nd4 23. Nxd4 exd4 24. Nxe8 Qxe8 25. Re1 Bd7 26. f5 gxf5 27. Bxf5
Ng6 28. Qg4 exf5 29. Rxe8+ Rxe8 30. Qg5 f4 31. Qd5+ Be6 32. Qxb7 Bg4 33. Rf1
Rd8 34. Bb6 Rd7 35. Qb8+ Bf8 36. Bc5 Rf7 37. Bxf8 Rxf8 38. Qd6 f3 39. h3 1-0

[/pgn]

The Classic series will return this fall at the Saint Louis Chess Club, tentatively scheduled for September 4-14th.