Senior Master Andrew Cherepanov Wins Georgia State Championship

Tournament Director David Hater with Georgia State Champion Andrew Cherepanov. Photo: Priya Srinivasin

Senior Master Andrew Cherepanov won the Georgia State Championship held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgi from April 28-30th with a score of 3 wins and 2 draws for clear 1st place, $1000, and the title of Georgia Champion. Cherepanov started the tournament as the 3rd seed behind Defending Champion GM Alonso Zapata and Senior Master Deepak Aaron. He played both of his chief rivals, defeating Aaron and drawing with Zapata. This year’s tournament drew 129 players in four sections of the state championship event and 20 scholastic players in the scholastic sections. The event offered a $10,000 guaranteed prize fund, which was augmented by a late $500 anonymous donation which raised the prize fund to $10,500. The tournament also receives an annual $2000 donation from Phillip Taylor. The effect of these donations is a relatively large prize fund for a tournament of this size and entry fee. One feature of this tournament is that players must play in the section corresponding to their rating---playing up is not allowed. This coupled with the fact that the second section is Under 2000 makes for a small, but strong top section. This year’s top section had one GM, two SMs, 3 NMs, and 12 experts. Since there were five place prizes and five class prizes, odds were pretty good that a player would win money and that is exactly what happened. Of the sixteen players who completed their schedule, eleven won money. In round one of the three day schedule, there were several surprises. Defending Champion Zapata was held to a draw by NM Benjamin Moon.

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.28"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "GM Zapata, Alonso"]
[Black "Moon, Benjamin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B35"]
[WhiteElo "2518"]
[BlackElo "2313"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 Qa5 8.
O-O O-O 9. Nb3 Qc7 10. Be2 a6 11. f4 d6 12. Bf3 Be6 13. Rf2 Rac8 14. Rd2 Na5
15. Nxa5 Qxa5 16. Kh1 Rc4 17. Bd4 b5 18. a3 Rfc8 19. e5 dxe5 20. fxe5 Nd7 21.
Nd5 Bxd5 22. Bxd5 Nxe5 23. Bxe5 Bxe5 24. Bxc4 Rxc4 25. c3 Rh4 26. h3 Qb6 27.
Qe2 Qf6 28. Rf1 Rf4 29. Rf3 Bd6 30. Rdd3 h5 31. Rxf4 Qxf4 32. g3 Qf5 33. Kg2 h4
34. Rf3 Qg5 35. g4 Qd5 36. Kf1 Qg5 37. Qe3 Qd5 38. Ke2 Qa2 39. Qd2 Qb1 40. b4
Qe4+ 41. Qe3 Qc2+ 42. Kf1 Qh2 43. Qf2 Qh1+ 44. Ke2 Bg3 45. Qf1 Qh2+ 46. Kd3 Qa2
47. Qe2 Qb1+ 48. Kd4 Qg1+ 49. Qe3 Qd1+ 50. Qd3 Qg1+ 51. Qe3 Qd1+ 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

The bigger surprise was NM Damir Studen being held to a draw by expert Jim Mundy, a game that he easily could have lost.

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.28"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Studen, Damir"]
[Black "Mundy, Jim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D53"]
[WhiteElo "2337"]
[BlackElo "2041"]
[Annotator "David Hater"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 h6 7. Bh4 Ne4 8.
Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Nd2 Nf6 11. f4 exf3 12. Qxf3 (12. Nxf3 b6 $11) 12...
e5 13. O-O-O {Black has a winning advantage due to development and king safety,
though there is still much chess to be played} Bg4 14. Qxb7 O-O 15. Re1 exd4
16. e4 {Qb3, Nb3 or developing the bishop are better choices} Rab8 (16... Rfb8
17. Qa6 Rxb2 18. Kxb2 Qb4+ 19. Nb3 (19. Kc2 Qc3+ 20. Kb1 Qxd2) 19... Qxe1) 17.
Qxa7 Rxb2 18. Kxb2 Qb4+ 19. Nb3 Qc3+ 20. Ka3 Qxe1 21. Qxd4 Ra8+ 22. Kb2 Qb4 {
Bd1 is hard to see, but it seals white's fate.} (22... Bd1 23. Qd3 Bxb3 24.
Qxb3 Qf2+ 25. Be2 (25. Ka1 Nxe4 26. Bd3 Qd4+ 27. Qb2) 25... Nxe4 26. Qf3) 23.
e5 {Bd3 is better. White would be worse, but he is still in the game.} Qa3+ 24.
Kc3 Qxa2 (24... c5 25. Qf4 Qb4+ 26. Kb2 Bd1 27. Kc1 (27. exf6 Rxa2+ 28. Kxa2
Qxb3+ 29. Ka1 Qc3+ 30. Ka2 Bb3+ 31. Ka3 Bxc4+) 27... Rxa2) 25. Bd3 c5 {Black
is still better, but there is no longer a decisive knock out punch.} 26. Qxc5
Rb8 27. Rb1 Nd7 28. Qd6 Qxg2 29. Rb2 Qb7 30. Rb1 Qa8 31. Qd4 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

The only decisive game of the round was Cherepanov defeating expert Prateek Mishra. The two-day schedule was not as strong as the three-day as the only master was SM Deepak Aaron. He took care of business on board one by defeating Arden Markin. In round two, there were not as many surprises as Aaron and Cherepanov defeated the experts that they were playing. There was an upset on board three as expert Sijing Wu defeated NM Matthew Puckett. Zapata was playing the lowest rated player at 1-0, and he won pretty handily to stay in the mix. That left only three players at 2-0. The top two were Aaron and Cherepanov, and they would be paired on board one. They played an exciting game---with Cherepanov coming out on top.

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.30"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Aaron, Deepak"]
[Black "Chenepanov, Andrew"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A55"]
[WhiteElo "2453"]
[BlackElo "2390"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. g3 e5 5. Nf3 c6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. e4
Re8 9. h3 Bf8 10. Be3 a6 11. d5 cxd5 12. cxd5 b5 13. Ne1 Nb6 14. b3 Bd7 15. a4
bxa4 16. Nxa4 Bxa4 17. Bxb6 Qxb6 18. Rxa4 Rec8 19. Nd3 Rc3 20. Rb4 Qa7 21. Qd2
Rac8 22. Ra4 Rxb3 23. Nb4 Qb6 24. Nc6 Nd7 25. Ra2 Nc5 26. Kh2 Rc7 27. f4 exf4
28. Qxf4 Nd3 29. Qf5 Rb2 30. Rxb2 Qxb2 31. Rd1 Qe2 32. Qf1 Qxf1 33. Bxf1 Nc5
34. Ra1 Nxe4 35. Rxa6 Rb7 36. Ra8 Rb2+ 37. Bg2 g6 38. Ra4 Nc3 39. Rb4 Re2 40.
Kg1 Bh6 41. Rc4 Be3+ 42. Kh2 Nxd5 43. Re4 Nf6 44. Re7 Kf8 45. Rb7 Bc5 46. Rb8+
Kg7 47. Rb7 Nd5 48. Nd8 Ne3 49. Ne6+ Kf6 50. Nf4 Nf1+ 51. Kh1 Nxg3+ 52. Kh2
Nf1+ 53. Kh1 Re1 54. Nd5+ Kg7 55. Re7 Ra1 56. Nc7 Ng3+ 57. Kh2 Nf5 0-1[/pgn]

The other perfect score was Sijang Wu. His reward for pulling off an upset against a master was to face GM Zapata. Wu was not up to the task of another huge upset, and Zapata won to stay in contention for the State Championship title. Going into Sunday, Cherepanov was the only perfect score at 3-0, and he was followed closely by Zapata and Moon at 2 ½. Aaron, Singji Wu, and expert David Mbonu all had 2-1. This setup several critical games in the penultimate round that would have a huge impact on who the State Champion would be. On board one, Zapata would have white against Cherepanov and would likely need to win in order to win the title. On board two, Moon would have white against Aaron, and the winner would still have a shot at the title. Board three were the dark horses, as experts Singji Wu and David Mbonu would play. Board one ended in a draw, and, since Aaron defeated Moon, Charepanov had excellent chances to win the tournament. Mbonu defeated Wu and would play Cherepanov on board one. A draw would give Charepanov at least a tie for 1st and, with likely better tiebreaks, probably the state championship. A draw is exactly what occurred, but Cherepanov did not need tiebreaks, as he could only be caught by the winner of the Aaron-Zapata game, but they drew. Zapata, Aaron, and Mbonu all shared 2nd place and won $358.33.

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.30"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Moon, Benjamin"]
[Black "Aaron, Deepak"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2313"]
[BlackElo "2453"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Nd2 Nc6 5. c3 d5 6. Ngf3 Bd6 7. Bg3 Qe7 8. Ne5
cxd4 9. exd4 Bxe5 10. dxe5 Nd7 11. Nf3 f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Be2 O-O 14. O-O Ne4
15. Bh4 Qf7 16. Bd3 Qh5 17. Re1 Rxf3 18. gxf3 Nxc3 19. bxc3 Qxh4 20. Bf1 Bd7
21. c4 Nd4 22. Bg2 Bc6 23. cxd5 exd5 24. Qd3 Bb5 25. Qd2 Rf8 26. Rad1 Rf4 27.
Re5 Bc6 28. Qe3 h6 29. Kh1 a6 30. Rg1 Nf5 31. Qd3 Qh5 32. Rxd5 Rh4 33. Rd1 Rf4
34. Re1 Qf7 35. Rd8+ Kh7 36. Re5 Qf6 37. Re1 Qg6 38. Qb3 Qg5 39. Qg8+ Kg6 40.
Re6+ Kh5 41. Rxc6 bxc6 42. Qe8+ g6 43. Rd3 Re4 44. Qxg6+ Kxg6 45. fxe4 Qc1+ 0-1[/pgn]

In round three, Mbonu defeated Logan Wu. He presses finishes the game with some nice tactics. How does white continue?

David Mbonu vs. Logan Wu

White to move.

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Georgia State Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.29"]
[Round "3.6"]
[White "Mbonu, David"]
[Black "Wu, Logan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B86"]
[WhiteElo "2164"]
[BlackElo "2028"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2r1k2/1q1bnp2/3p2p1/5pPp/pP2P3/P5NR/BQ5P/3R2K1 w - - 0 31"]
[PlyCount "21"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]31. Rxh5 $1 gxh5 32. Nxh5 Rdc8 33. Qg7+ Ke8 34. Qh8+ Ng8 35. Qxg8+ Ke7 36.
Qxf7+ Kd8 37. Qf8+ Kc7 38. Qxd6+ Kd8 39. Qf8+ Kc7 40. Qd6+ Kd8 41. Ng7 1-0[/pgn]

The section winners were:

Under 2000

Michael Rose 4 ½ - ½, $900

Under 1700

Austin Downes Jr & Devin Robinson, 4 ½ - ½ $700

Under 1400

David Colon & Vikram Rajmohan 4 ½ - ½, $700

Scholastic Under 1100

Likhith Permulla, 4 ½ - ½,

Scholastic Under 850

Kovid Parashar, 5-0

FIDE Arbiter & NTD David Hater directed for Georgia Chess Association CCA, assisted by Keith Sewell and Gabriel Bittman. For more information, visit: