Shabalov Wins Eastern Chess Congress

GM Alexander Shabalov scored 4 ½ out of 5 and took clear first at the 20th Eastern Chess Congress held at the Dolce Hotel in Basking Ridge, NJ from October 29-31. Shabalov played three GMs scoring 2 ½ out of 3 in those games and having a tournament performance of 2830! He started the three day schedule on board one and remained there throughout the weekend and was in clear first after rounds 3, 4, and 5. Shabalov was the top seeded player and enroute to his victory he defeated second seeded GM Alexander Stripunsky, drew with third seeded GM Joel Benjamin, and defeated fourth seeded GM Mark Paragua. Shabalov won the $2000 first prize and the $100 bonus for clear first. Here is Shabalov’s fourth round victory over GM Stripunsky:

[pgn][Event "Eastern Chess Congress"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.31"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Shabalov, Alexander"]
[Black "Stripunsky, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2667"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. g3 b5 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. d3 Nc6 7. O-O Nge7 8. Ng5
f6 9. Nh3 Ng6 10. f4 Be7 11. f5 Nge5 12. Qh5+ Nf7 13. Ng5 g6 14. fxg6 hxg6 15.
Qxg6 Nce5 16. Nxf7 Nxg6 17. Nxd8 Kxd8 18. a4 b4 19. Nd1 Ne5 20. b3 Nc6 21. Ne3
Nd4 22. Rf2 Bf8 23. Bb2 Bg7 24. Raf1 Ke7 25. e5 Bxg2 26. exf6+ Bxf6 27. Kxg2
Rhf8 28. Ng4 Bg7 29. Rxf8 Bxf8 30. Ne5 Kd6 31. Nc4+ Ke7 32. Ne5 Kd6 33. Bxd4
cxd4 34. Nc4+ Ke7 35. Nb6 Rb8 36. a5 Bh6 37. Rg1 Rf8 38. Rf1 Rg8 39. h4 e5 40.
Nd5+ Ke6 41. Nc7+ Ke7 42. Kh3 Rc8 43. Nxa6 Ke6 44. g4 Be3 45. g5 e4 46. dxe4
Bd2 47. Rf5 d6 48. g6 Rc3+ 49. Kg4 Be1 50. Kh5 Rxc2 51. g7 Rg2 52. Nc7+ 1-0[/pgn]

Tying for second at 4-1 were GMs Joel Benjamin and Alex Fishbein and IM John Burke. Each finished with 3 wins and 2 draws. The second place tie was worth $600. FMs Sahil Sinha and Boris Privman finished with 3 ½ and each won $600 for splitting the Under 2300 prize. This year the tournament had a $100 brilliancy prize. The prize was donated by past USCF President Steve Doyle. There were several contenders for the prize. The two co-champions of the Under 2100 section each submitted a game for consideration for the brilliancy prize. Both games would have been good choices. In round five Harold Scott defeated David Hauge in an exciting game. After barely making time control with seconds to spare, Hauge sacs a pawn to continue his attack. Scott defends well and presses his decisive advantage. However, on move 51, he allowed two much counterplay and Hauge could have drawn with a perpetual check. But with two minutes on his clock in sudden death in a very complicated position Hauge went for the wrong line. Here, Scott annotates the game:

[pgn][Event "20th Annual Eastern Chess Congress"]
[Site "Basking Ridge, NJ"]
[Date "2016.10.30"]
[Round "5.22"]
[White "Hauge, David"]
[Black "Scott, Harold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2137"]
[BlackElo "2035"]
[Annotator "Scott,Harold"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2016.10.30"]1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 {A modern move order of the Closed Sicilian normally
preferred my Najdorf or Kan players. As Black is not inconvenienced if White
transposes back into the Open Sicilian with 3.Nf3 and 4.d4.} 3. g3 (3. f4 {is
the second most common alternative.}) 3... b5 {Early expansion on the
queenside is the main idea of the 2...a6 move order.} 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d3 e6 6. f4
Nf6 7. Nf3 b4 8. Ne2 d5 9. e5 Nfd7 {The battle is beginning to take shape. The
structure bears some similarities to a line in the King's Indian Attack where
Black thrusts his pawn to ...d5,...c5,...b5, and ...a5. What is clear to me is
White is going to play actively and aggressively on the kingside and Black
will do the same on the queenside. Black will have to play accurately in
defense as his king will under fire. But, all in all, it is the perfect sharp
struggle that I am hoping for with Black in an important last round game.} 10.
O-O Be7 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. g4 Qc7 {With Black's configuration, it will be
difficult for Black to play the natural f4-f5 thrust as the e5-pawn will fall.}
13. Ng3 a5 14. c3 Ba6 {Re-routing the bishop to a more active diagonal.} 15.
Qe2 O-O 16. c4 Nb6 17. b3 a4 18. Be3 d4 19. Bf2 {White Black's play on the
queenside is well under way, it seems that White's minor pieces will get in
the way of creaating attacking lines against the Black king.} (19. Bd2 {is
better as the bishop is not accomplishing anything on a diagonal that is
opposed by pawns on ...d4 and ...c5.}) 19... Bb7 {The bishop belongs back on
the a8-h1 diagonal now that the structure has become fixed on the queenside.}
20. Ne4 Ra7 {Beginning a plan of doubling rooks on the a-file and taking
control of that file once Black plays ...axb3.} 21. Nfd2 (21. f5 $1 {would be
best for White. Black needs to be careful of his queen should he go
pawn-grabbing. i.e.} Nxe5 $2 22. Nxe5 Qxe5 $4 23. Bg3 $18) 21... Rfa8 22. Rab1
axb3 23. axb3 Ra2 {Taking the seventh can't be bad.} 24. g5 Nb8 25. Qh5 N8d7
26. Be1 Nf8 {A defensive maneuver used by Petrosian in the past. In fact, I
believe Bent Larsen said, "I can never get mated with a knight on f8."} 27. Rf3
Ra1 {Exchanging the lone defender of the back rank.} 28. Rxa1 Rxa1 29. Kf1 Nbd7
30. Rh3 Bxe4 31. Nxe4 Rb1 32. Nd2 Rc1 33. Be4 g6 34. Qe2 Qa5 35. Rg3 Qa1 36.
Bg2 Qb2 37. h4 h5 38. Bf3 Bd8 39. Rg1 Bc7 40. Rg2 Nb6 41. Ne4 $4 {Allowing me
to win the b-pawn is the losing moment.} Qxb3 42. Nf6+ {My opponent is all-in
with this move.} (42. Nxc5 {is the alternative.}) 42... Kh8 43. Bxh5 {I had to
anticipate this sacrifice when playing 37...h5. But I easily saw that pinning
his bishop on the back rank while running my b-pawn down the board was faster.}
Qb1 ({Black gets mated quickly if he recaptures on h5.} 43... gxh5 44. Qxh5+
Kg7 (44... Nh7 45. Qxh7#) 45. Qh6#) 44. Bf3 b3 45. Ne4 Rc2 46. Qd1 Rc1 47. Qe2
b2 48. Nd2 Qc2 49. h5 Na4 50. hxg6 Ba5 $1 (50... Kg7) (50... Nxg6) (50... fxg6
{are all solid alternatives as well. 50...fxg6 was my inital thought which
would have prevented any thoughts of Qh5+.}) 51. Be4 Bxd2 $4 {A costly slip-up
by me that could have allowed my opponent to secure a draw via perpetual check.
} ({Simple and winning is:} 51... Rxe1+ $1 52. Qxe1 Qc1 53. Re2 Bxd2 54. Rxd2
Qxe1+ 55. Kxe1 b1=Q+ $18) 52. Qh5+ {The only explanation that I have for
allowing this move besides moving too quickly was that initially I was not
concerned about this move as the bishop was blocking the queen from this
square while on f3. When my opponent played 51.Be4 I became concerned about
ideas of Rh2+ and how the bishop could factor-in by controlling the h7-square.
I should have taken a moment more to see the real threat of 51.Be4. No excuse!}
Kg8 53. gxf7+ Kg7 54. Qh6+ Kxf7 55. g6+ $4 (55. Qf6+ $1 Kg8 56. Bh7+ Nxh7 57.
Qxe6+ Kf8 58. Qh6+ $11 {and a draw is unavoidable.}) 55... Kg8 56. g7 Rxe1+ 0-1[/pgn]

The other co-champion was Simon Thomson. In round three he defeated Nikita Panasenko with a Tal like sacrifice. It is not clear that 29. Bc5 wins, but it is an amazing move. Here is the game.

[pgn][Event "Eastern Chess Congress"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.31"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Panasenko, Nikita"]
[Black "Thomson, Simon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2019"]
[BlackElo "2079"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Qc2 O-O 7. e3 Nbd7 8.
Nf3 Re8 9. Bd3 Nf8 10. O-O c6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. b4 Qd6 13. b5 Bg4 14. Nd2 Rac8
15. bxc6 bxc6 16. Nb3 g6 17. Nc5 Nd7 18. Nxd7 Bxd7 19. Na4 Bd8 20. Nc5 Bc7 21.
g3 Bb6 22. Rfc1 Bh3 23. a4 h5 24. a5 Bd8 25. Nb7 Qf6 26. Qc5 Be7 27. Qxa7 h4
28. f4 hxg3 29. hxg3 Bc5 30. Nxc5 Rxe3 31. Kf2 Rce8 32. Ne4 dxe4 33. Kxe3 exd3+
34. Kxd3 Qf5+ 35. Kd2 Qe4 36. Re1 Qg2+ 37. Kc3 Qxg3+ 38. Kc4 Rxe1 39. Rxe1 Qxe1
40. Qa8+ Kg7 41. a6 Bf1+ 42. Kc5 Qa5+ 43. Kd6 Qxa6 44. Qxa6 Bxa6 45. Kxc6 Bc8
46. d5 Kf6 47. d6 Kf5 48. Kc7 Be6 49. d7 Bxd7 50. Kxd7 Kxf4 0-1[/pgn]

Scott and Hauge each scored 4 ½ out of 5 and won $1050. Randall Frank finished with 3 out of 5 in the Under 1700 section. Only a last round loss kept him out of the money. In round 3, he sacrifices a piece for a nice attack.

[pgn][Event "Eastern Chess Congress"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Pulugurtha, Venkata"]
[Black "Frank, Randall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C89"]
[WhiteElo "1464"]
[BlackElo "1571"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 Nf6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Ng4 14. g3 Qf6
15. Be3 Nxh2 16. Bd5 Bg4 17. Qd3 Rae8 18. Kxh2 Qh4+ 19. Kg1 Bxg3 20. fxg3 Qxg3+
21. Kf1 Bh3+ 22. Ke2 Qh2+ 23. Kd1 Qxb2 24. Rh1 Bg4+ 25. Ke1 Bf5 26. Qxf5 Rxe3+
27. Kf1 0-1[/pgn]

There was also a nice finish in the following game. Fireman is wining due to the attack and extra pawn. Can you find the move that brings home the point?

Fireman vs. Misha

White to move.

Show Solution

[pgn] [Event "Eastern Chess Congress"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Fireman, Richard"]
[Black "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "1950"]
[BlackElo "2006"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/1q1r2p1/1ppr1n1p/4Qp1P/1P3P2/PB2P3/1K1P2R1/6R1 w - - 0 47"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]47. Rg6 Rxd2+ (47... Qb8 48. d4 {followed by Be6}) {And the game ended with:}
48. Kc1 Re7 ({Black could've prolonged the game with} 48... Qa8 {but White
plays} 49. Rxh6+ Nh7 50. a4 {and will play Rxg7}) 49. Rxf6 Rxe5 50. Rf8+ Kh7
51. Bg8+ Kh8 52. Bf7+ Kh7 53. Bg6# 1-0[/pgn]

All of the above games were considered for the brilliancy, but the winner is Peter Korzeb for his win over Abhimanyu Mishra. Korzeb sacrifices a queen for mate. Declining the sacrifice leaves black down a piece with no compensation.

[pgn][Event "Eastern Chess Congress"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.31"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Korzeb, Peter"]
[Black "Mishra, Abhimaryu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2013"]
[BlackElo "2006"]
[Annotator "Hater,David"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 d6 5. Nd2 Nf6 6. Ngf3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nh4
Nd7 9. Nhf3 b6 10. h4 Bb7 11. Nh2 b5 12. f4 a5 13. a4 b4 14. Nc4 Nb6 15. Ne3
Qd7 16. f5 exf5 17. Nxf5 Rfe8 18. Bh3 Qd8 19. Qh5 Ne5 20. Ng4 g6 21. Nfh6+ Kg7
22. Nxe5 gxh5 (22... dxe5 23. Rxf7+ Kh8 24. Rxh7+ Kxh7 25. Bf5 Qd6 26. Nf7+ Kg7
27. Qh6+ Kg8 28. Qh8+ Kxf7 29. Qh7+) (22... Bf6 23. Nhxf7 gxh5 24. Bh6+ Kg8 25.
Nxd8) 23. Rxf7+ Kh8 24. Bf5 dxe5 25. Rxh7# 1-0[/pgn]

The mixed doubles competition was an exciting finish with many familiar faces in the race. There were 20 mixed doubles teams competing and in the end, WIM Jennifer Yu and Augusto Gutierrez tied with Stephanie Ballom and Peter Giannatos. Both teams finished with 7 ½ and each team won $600. The amazing result was the team of Adia Onyango and David Hauge who tied for third with 6 ½. After 3 rounds, both Onyango and Hauge were 3-0 and leading both the mixed doubles by a full point and were on board 1 of their respective sections. It looked like they were cruising for the mixed doubles prize and would finish with a top prize in their section. Collectively they managed ½ in the final two rounds and tying for third mixed double had to be a major disappointment. Even though this did not end as well as they would have liked, both Onyango and Hauge have enjoyed much tournament success in the past and I am sure they will do so again in the future. The section winners were:

Under 2100

Harold Scott & Simon Thomson, 4 ½ - ½ $1050

Under 1900

Michael Laverty, 4 ½ - ½ $1400

Under 1700

Albert Ye Yao, 5-0, $1300

Under 1500

Daniel Shen, 4 ½ - ½ $1200

Under 1300

Danny Hoffman, 5-0, $1000

Under 1000

Dylan Clark, 4 ½ - ½, $500

Mixed Doubles

WIM Jennifer Yu & Augusto Gutierrez and Stephanie Ballom & Peter Giannatos, 7 ½ - ½ $600 each team

Blitz Tournament

FM Anthony Renna, 7 -1 $85

NTD Steve Immitt directed for Continental Chess Association assisted by David Hater and Jabari McGreen. Full tournament details including some games can be found at www.easternchesscongress.com. Previous Continental Chess tournaments can be found at the Continental Chess website.