IM Andrey Gorovets
Philadelphia — Two IMs joined a GM in a three-way tie for first place in the National Chess Congress over the Thanksgiving weekend — a noteworthy feat given the fact that the two IMs edged four other GMs out of the top place in the winner’s circle.
“I would say it’s very rare only because you had some (very strong) GMs,” said assistant tournament director David Hater, referring to five-time US Chess Champion GM Gata Kamsky (2775) and Sergey Erenburg (2660), who both were held to 4.5 points — half a point shy of the 5 out of 6 points scored by the winners.
IM Kaiqi Yang, of Ontario, won a first place $100 bonus on tiebreaks to collect a total prize of $1866.67. IM Andrey Gorovets, of Texas, whose 2625 rating suggests GM strength, and GM Magesh Panchanathan, of New Jersey, also tied for first and each collected $1766.67.
This year’s National Chess Congress drew about 620 players, most of whom played in Millennium Hall at Loews Philadelphia Hotel — a historic building with a decor reminiscent of the bank it used to be.
IM Kaiqi Yang, of Ontario, going over his Round 6 game with GM Vladislav Kovalev, of New Jersey.
IM Yang dominated the tournament the whole time and was the only player who entered Round 5 4-0. Yang threatened to win clear first place as he was the sole player to enter the final round with 4.5 points, but GM Vladislav Kovalev, of New Jersey, held Yang to a draw.
Interestingly, 12-year-old Carissa Yip, who this year became the youngest female in US Chess history to earn the title of master, had scored an upset against Kovalev earlier in the tournament.
[pgn]
[Event "46th National Chess Congress"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[White "Yip, Carissa"]
[Black "Kovalev, Vladislav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C56"]
[WhiteElo "2235"]
[BlackElo "2596"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2015.11.??"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8.
Bxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Bc5 10. Be3 O-O 11. f3 Ng5 12. f4 Ne4 13. Nd2 Nxd2 14. Qxd2
Bb6 15. c3 Qe7 16. Rae1 c5 17. Nb3 Bb5 18. Rf3 Bc4 19. f5 Qxe5 20. Bg5 Rae8 21.
Rxe5 Rxe5 22. Be3 Rfe8 23. Kh1 Bxb3 24. axb3 d4 25. cxd4 cxd4 26. Bg1 Re2 27.
Qd3 Rxb2 28. f6 g6 29. Rf2 Rxf2 30. Bxf2 h6 31. h3 Rd8 32. Qd2 Kh7 33. Qe2 Kg8
34. Qe7 c5 35. Be1 Rf8 36. Bd2 Bd8 37. Qd6 g5 38. Qe5 Kh8 39. h4 Rg8 40. hxg5
Kh7 41. Qf5+ Kh8 42. Qd7 1-0 [/pgn]
Gorovets didn’t make too much of his first-place victory, saying he played “badly” throughout the tournament. He said the best “move” he made actually wasn’t a move at all.
“In my game against (Erick) Garcia, I think I made my best move in the tournament: I offered a draw in a position that I didn’t like, and he took it,” Gorovets explained.
[pgn]
[Event "46th National Chess Congress"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "2015.11.28"]
[White "Garcia, Erick"]
[Black "Gorovets, Andrey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A91"]
[WhiteElo "2344"]
[BlackElo "2625"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2015.11.??"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nh3 c6 5. O-O Be7 6. c4 d5 7. Nd2 O-O 8. b3 a5
9. a3 Bd7 10. e3 Bd6 11. Bb2 Be8 12. Nf4 Qe7 13. Qc2 g5 14. Nd3 Bh5 15. Rfe1
Nbd7 16. Bc3 Ne4 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Be2 20. c5 Bb8 21. Nxe4
Bxd3 22. Qxd3 fxe4 23. Qe2 Nf6 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]
Gorovets also counted his Round 5 game as a lucky break.
“Round Five was really a drawish position for me but I managed to trick my opponent,” Gorovets said, referring to Rico Salimbagat. “He miscalculated a pawn end game. I had some interesting ideas so he didn’t see that.”
[pgn]
[Event "46th National Chess Congress"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "2015.11.29"]
[White "Gorovets, Andrey"]
[Black "Salimbagat, Rico"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D91"]
[WhiteElo "2625"]
[BlackElo "2341"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2015.11.??"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Ne4 5. Bh4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. e3 c5 8.
cxd5 cxd4 9. cxd4 Qxd5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. Qd2 e5 12. dxe5 Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Nxe5 14.
Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bb5+ Bd7 16. Rab1 b6 17. a4 Bd6 18. Bf6 Rf8 19. Rhc1 Bxb5 20.
axb5 Bc5 21. Rc4 Kd7 22. Bd4 Bxd4 23. Rxd4+ Ke6 24. Re4+ Kf6 25. Rf4+ Ke6 26.
Re4+ Kf6 27. Rc1 Rac8 28. Rf4+ Ke6 29. Re4+ Kf6 30. Rc3 Rfd8+ 31. Rd4 Ke6 32.
Kd3 Rxc3+ 33. Kxc3 Rc8+ 34. Rc4 Kd7 35. e4 Rxc4+ 36. Kxc4 Kc7 37. Kd5 Kb7 38.
Ke5 a5 39. bxa6+ Kxa6 40. Kf6 b5 41. Kxf7 b4 42. e5 b3 43. e6 b2 44. e7 b1=Q
45. e8=Q Qb7+ 46. Kg8 Qxg2 47. Qa4+ Kb6 48. Qf4 g5 49. Qg3 Qd5+ 50. Kxh7 Qf5+
51. Kg7 g4 52. Qe3+ Kc6 53. Qe8+ Kd6 54. Qg6+ Ke5 55. Qxf5+ Kxf5 56. Kf7 Kg5
57. Ke6 Kh4 58. Kf5 1-0[/pgn]
Gorovets, a graduate student who is studying geoscience at Texas Tech University, where he is a member of the powerhouse chess team, said the trip to Philadelphia was worthwhile for more reasons than just chess.
“I wanted to visit Philly because I’m a big ‘Rocky’ fan,” he said of the iconic boxing movie figure played by Sylvester Stallone, whose famous run up the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the movie has led the steps to become known as the “Rocky Steps.”
Gorovets conceded he only went to look at Rocky Steps but didn’t actually run them.
“Maybe I will,” he told US Chess.
See final standings and more information at http://chessevents.com/nationalchesscongress/
IM Andrey Gorovets
IM Kaiqi Yang, of Ontario, going over his Round 6 game with GM Vladislav Kovalev, of New Jersey.
