Shimanov, Liang & Stukopin Win Chicago Open

Three Grandmasters tied for first in the Chicago Open, held over Memorial Day Weekend. Webster student Alex Shimanov earned the title and a bonus on tiebreak, taking home $6,133.34 for his 7/9 final score. Also scoring seven points were 15-year-old Grandmaster Awonder Liang and Andrey Stukopkin, who both won $5,833.34. IM Safal Bora earned the Under 2400 prize clear for a $2000 prize and a Grandmaster norm. Shimanov told US Chess that his most interesting game was against a good friend of his GM Ashwin Jayaram, also a Webster student. "we got a completely new position by the 7th move.At some point, I sacrificed a pawn for the initiative, and in the end managed to finish the game with a beautiful blow."

[pgn]

[Event "27th Chicago Open"]
[Date "2018.05.27"]
[White "Shimanov, Aleksandr"]
[Black "Ashwin, Jayaram"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2625"]
[BlackElo "2483"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 a6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. Nh3 h6 8. O-O
O-O 9. Nf4 c6 10. f3 Qb6 11. Kh1 Rd8 12. Na4 Qa7 13. e4 dxe4 14. fxe4 Bg4 15.
Qd3 Bxf4 16. gxf4 Rxd4 17. Qc2 b5 18. Nc3 Rd8 19. e5 Nd5 20. Qe4 f5 21. Qe1
Nxc3 22. Qxc3 Be2 23. Re1 Bc4 24. e6 Qe7 25. b3 Bd5 26. Bxd5 cxd5 27. Bb2 Ra7
28. Rad1 Rc7 29. Qe5 Rc2 30. Rg1 d4 31. Rxg7+ Qxg7 32. Rg1 Qxg1+ 33. Kxg1 Rxb2
34. e7 Re8 35. Qf6 Rxe7 36. Qxe7 d3 37. Qe6+ 1-0[/pgn]

On his way to the Continental Championships in Montevideo, Uruguay, Awonder Liang told US Chess that his own tournament began on a tough note, as he lost in round two to IM Safal Bora. "His rating is fairly low, but he is definitely underrated." In retrospect, Liang looked on the positive side. "I was paired with lower rated opponents for the first half of the tournament while I recovered from the painful and only loss of the event."

Awonder called his victory over Kamnik Dragun of Poland as his favorite of the event.

[pgn]

[Event "27th Chicago Open"]
[Date "2018.05.28"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Liang, Awonder"]
[Black "Dragun, Kamil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2561"]
[BlackElo "2591"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Poland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 h6 6. O-O d6 7. Na4 Bb6 8. c3
Be6 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. a4 O-O 12. b4 Ne7 13. Be3 Ng6 14. h3 Qd7 15.
a5 b5 16. Qe2 d5 17. Rac1 Qc6 18. Rfe1 b6 19. axb6 cxb6 20. d4 dxe4 21. Nxe5
Nxe5 22. dxe5 Nd5 23. Bd4 Nf4 24. Qxe4 Qxe4 25. Rxe4 Ra2 26. Kh2 Nd3 27. Rd1
Nxf2 28. Bxf2 Rfxf2 29. Rd8+ Rf8 30. Rd6 Rf5 31. Rxb6 h5 32. Re3 Rg5 33. Rg3
Rxe5 34. Rb8+ Kf7 35. Rb7+ Kf6 36. Rgxg7 Rd5 37. Rh7 Rc2 38. Rh6+ Kg5 39. Rxe6
Rxc3 40. Reb6 Kh4 41. Re7 Kg5 42. Rg7+ Kf5 43. Rgb7 h4 44. Rxb5 Rxb5 45. Rxb5+
Kg6 46. Rc5 Rb3 47. Rc4 Kh5 48. Rc5+ Kg6 49. Rb5 Rb1 50. Rb8 Kg7 51. b5 Kh7 52.
b6 Kg7 53. b7 Kh7 54. Rc8 Rxb7 55. Rc4 1-0

[/pgn]

"The game started out as a fairly innocuous opening, which after mistakes from both sides led to a complicated rook endgame with many subtleties. Though I didn't manage to convert in the best fashion, I was eventually able to come out with a nice win." Awonder has a busy summer ahead. After the Contintentals, he will play in the World Open in Philadelphia, the US Junior Closed Championships at the Saint Louis Chess Club and the US Open in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He'll also be giving a simul in Madison for participants at the Denker, Barber and National Girls Tournament of Champions. "The last tournament of the summer for me will probably be the US Masters organized by Dr. Walter High in North Carolina, which has been increasingly getting better and stronger every year. To all my younger chess friends, my advice to you is that keeping playing in as many tournaments as you can. Then study the games thoroughly by yourself and with your coach(es)." Stukopin also joined the winner's circle with an undefeated 7/9, including the following victory over young IM Nicolas Checa.

[pgn]

[Event "27th Chicago Open"]
[Date "2018.05.26"]
[White "Stukopin, Andrey"]
[Black "Checa, Nicolas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2586"]
[BlackElo "2481"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O c4 7. Be2 Nc6 8. b3
cxb3 9. axb3 Be7 10. c4 O-O 11. Nc3 Bg4 12. Ra4 dxc4 13. d5 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Ne5
15. bxc4 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Nd7 17. Be3 Bc5 18. Bf4 Nb6 19. Ra5 Bb4 20. Rb5 Bxc3
21. Qxc3 Rc8 22. Qd3 a6 23. Rb3 Nxc4 24. Rxb7 Qf6 25. Qg3 Qd4 26. d6 Rfd8 27.
Rc7 Ra8 28. Bg5 Nxd6 29. Bxd8 Rxd8 30. Qf3 Qe4 31. Rxf7 Qxf3 32. Rxf3 1-0[/pgn]