Super-GMs Win Weekend Swiss in Atlanta

It is not often that you see three 2700+ GMs and a 7 time U.S. Women’s Champion tie for first in a weekend Swiss that offers less than $15,000 in total prizes, but that is exactly what happened Father’s Day weekend at Emory University in Atlanta. GMs Daniel Naroditsky, Varuzhan Akobian, Alex Shimanov, and Irina Krush tied for first at the Castle Chess Grand Prix. Each won $1137.50. The Castle Chess Grand Prix is the culminating event of the Castle Chess Camp and most of the campers play in the tournament and make up a substantial part of the field. The other entries come from the surrounding area, though we occasionally have non-campers come from several states away.

Castle Chess Camp. Photo: Fun Fong

This year the Castle Chess Camp had 107 campers with a median rating of 1714! There were 7 GMs, 3 IMs and one Life Master on the instructing staff. This makes for a really good start all the campers. Seven of the staff played in the event. In total, there were 224 players in 7 sections. Two of the staff have been campers before. IM Keaton Kiewra was a camper in 2003 and Damir Studen was a camper in 2004 and 2005 and a counselor in 2009, 2010, and 2015. Because Castle is such a good camp, they have many top players apply for instructing positions and are in the enviable position of having top flight talent as instructors and an extremely strong open tournament. The 25 player open of the Castle Grand Prix had 7 GMs, 2 IMs, 2 Senior Masters, 9 Masters and 5 experts!

GM Akobian playing soccer campers. Photo: Fun Fong

GM Akobian playing soccer with the campers. Photo: Fun Fong

GM Daniel Naroditsky was the highest rated instructor and highest rated player. He had the hardest pairings playing one senior master, one IM and 3 GMs. He managed to start on board 1 and remain there for the entire tournament. Because the master section is relatively small, GMs are facing each other as early as round 3. In round three Naroditsky had white versus GM Magesh Panchanathan. He obtains a pawn and the bishop pair in the opening and methodically converts his advantage ending the game with a nice tactic.

[pgn][Event "Castle Chess Grand Prix"]
[White "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[Black "Panchanathan, Magesh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E25"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2601"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "6.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
dxc5 Qa5 9. e4 Ne7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Kf2 Nec6 12. Qb3 Nd7 13. Bb5 Qc7 14. Nh3 Na5
15. Qb4 e5 16. Rhd1 Nb8 17. a4 Nbc6 18. Qb2 Bxh3 19. gxh3 f5 20. Qc2 a6 21. Bf1
Rf7 22. Kg1 Raf8 23. Rd6 Qe7 24. Rad1 Kh8 25. Qg2 Qe8 26. Be2 Ne7 27. Rd7 Ng6
28. Rxf7 Qxf7 29. exf5 Nh4 30. Qg4 Nxf5 31. Bf2 Nc6 32. Bc4 Qf6 33. Rd7 e4 34.
Qxe4 Ne5 35. Rxb7 Qg5+ 36. Kh1 Nxc4 37. Rf7 Rd8 38. Rxf5 Rd1+ 39. Be1 Qd8 40.
Rf7 h6 41. Re7 1-0[/pgn]

Meanwhile on board 2, GM Var Akobian had a chance to defeat GM Alex Shimanov, but missed a win in a critical position. Can you find the move that Akobian didn’t play?

GM Var Akobian vs. GM Alex Shimanov

White to move and win.

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Castle Chess Grand Prix"]
[White "Akobian, Var"]
[Black "Shimanov, Alex"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2695"]
[BlackElo "2699"]
[Annotator "Hater,David"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2r1k2/1n2bpp1/1q2pn1p/ppN5/1P1PP3/2BBQ3/P4P1P/2R1K1R1 w - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "6.??.??"]27. Bd2 axb4 28. Rxg7 Kxg7 29. Qxh6+ Kg8 30. Ke2 *[/pgn]

GM Daniel Naroditsky. Photo: Fun Fong

On board 3, GM Irina Krush defeated Senior Master Deepak Aaron to stay perfect with Naroditsky. She obtained an attacking position won a pawn and converted a rook ending.

[pgn][Event "Castle Chess Grand Prix"]
[White "Krush, Irina"]
[Black "Aaron, Deepak"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2551"]
[BlackElo "2439"]
[PlyCount "151"]
[EventDate "6.??.??"]1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 b6 6. Nbd2 Bb7 7. e4 c5 8. Re1
Nc6 9. a3 Qc7 10. Qe2 dxe4 11. dxe4 O-O 12. e5 Nd7 13. Nb3 a5 14. Bf4 a4 15.
Nbd2 Rfd8 16. h4 Nd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. Nf3 Nb8 20. Rad1 Bc5 21.
h5 h6 22. g4 Nc6 23. Rd3 Ne7 24. Red1 Nd5 25. Bc1 Kh8 26. g5 hxg5 27. Nxg5 f6
28. Nf3 Qf7 29. Nh4 Ne7 30. Rg3 Nf5 31. Nxf5 exf5 32. exf6 Qxf6 33. Bg5 Qd6 34.
Bxd8 Qxg3+ 35. fxg3 d3+ 36. Kf1 dxe2+ 37. Kxe2 Ra7 38. Rd5 Rf7 39. Bg5 Kh7 40.
Bf4 g6 41. hxg6+ Kxg6 42. Kf3 Rh7 43. Be3 Bxe3 44. Kxe3 Kg5 45. Rb5 Re7+ 46.
Kf3 Rc7 47. c3 Rc6 48. Rb4 Rd6 49. Rd4 Re6 50. Rxa4 Kf6 51. Rb4 Rd6 52. Rb5 Kg5
53. g4 Rd3+ 54. Ke2 Rd6 55. gxf5 Kf4 56. f6 Rxf6 57. Kd3 Rd6+ 58. Kc4 Rc6+ 59.
Kb4 Ke4 60. c4 Kd4 61. Rd5+ Ke4 62. Kb5 Rh6 63. b4 Rg6 64. a4 Rf6 65. a5 bxa5
66. bxa5 Rf8 67. Rd6 Rb8+ 68. Rb6 Ra8 69. a6 Kd4 70. Rd6+ Ke5 71. c5 Rb8+ 72.
Rb6 Ra8 73. Rb7 Kd5 74. a7 Ke6 75. Kb6 Kd5 76. c6 1-0[/pgn]

GM Irina Krush. Photo: Fun Fong

On the final day, the GMs would be facing each other to determine first place. On board one in round four, Naroditsky and Krush drew. One has to admire Krush’s fighting spirit. She declined a draw, and sacrificed a pawn to play for a win. In the end, though, the game was drawn.

[pgn][Event "Castle Chess Grand Prix"]
[White "Krush, Irina"]
[Black "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2507"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "6.??.??"]1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e3 a6 6. Nge2 Ba7 7. d4 Nge7 8. d5
Nb8 9. e4 O-O 10. O-O f5 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. fxe3 Nd7 13. Qd2 Nf6 14. exf5 Bxf5
15. h3 Bd7 16. Kh2 Ng6 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Qg5 19. Nc3 Qh6 20. Bg2 e4 21.
Nxe4 Ne5 22. h4 Qxe3 23. Qxe3 Ng4+ 24. Kg1 Nxe3 25. Rxf8+ Rxf8 26. b3 Bf5 27.
Re1 Ng4 28. Ng5 Ne5 29. Nf3 Nxf3+ 30. Bxf3 Bb1 31. Bg4 Bxa2 32. Re7 Bxb3 33.
Rxc7 b5 34. cxb5 axb5 35. Be6+ Kh8 36. Rd7 Rb8 37. Rxd6 g6 38. Kf2 b4 39. Rc6
Ba4 40. Rc7 Rb6 41. h5 gxh5 42. Ke3 b3 43. Bf5 b2 44. d6 Rxd6 45. Rxh7+ Kg8 46.
Rb7 Rf6 47. Bh7+ Kh8 48. Be4 Re6 49. Rxb2 Bc6 50. Rb4 Kg7 51. Kf4 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Meanwhile on board two. Akobian defeated Panchanathan with Black to catch the leaders.

[pgn][Event "Castle Chess Grand Prix"]
[White "Panchanathan, Magesh"]
[Black "Akobian, Var"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2636"]
[BlackElo "2712"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "6.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. c4 Bb7 4. Nc3 e6 5. a3 d5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Rc1 Rc8 11. Bd3 c5 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qc2 g6 14. O-O Bxf3
15. gxf3 Nd7 16. f4 cxd4 17. Qxc8+ Rxc8 18. Rxc8+ Kg7 19. Rd1 Nc5 20. Bf1 Qd7
21. Ra8 e5 22. h3 Qa4 23. exd4 exd4 24. Rc1 d3 25. Rd8 Qxf4 26. Rxc5 bxc5 27.
Rxd3 Qc1 28. Rb3 c4 29. Re3 h5 30. Kg2 a5 31. Kg1 Kf6 32. Kg2 g5 33. Rc3 Qxb2
34. Rf3+ Ke5 35. Bxc4 Qb7 36. Kg3 h4+ 37. Kg2 f5 0-1[/pgn]

On board three Shimanov defeated Damir Studen to also join the leaders. This set up the last round with Naroditsky, Shimanov, Akobian, and Krush all with 3 ½. They were a point ahead of the field. The first issue was last round pairings. Naroditsky and Akobian were due white and Shimanov and Krush were due black and obviously Naroditsky cannot play Krush and Shimanov cannot play Akobian. Naroditsky, Shimanov, and Akobian are all closely rated. The computer preserved top half and had “bad” colors on the top boards. I interchanged Shimanov and Akobian (4 rating points) and made the colors work. So far all the NTDs I’ve discussed this with think I made the right call. The last round pairings were: Naroditsky-Shimanov and Akobian-Krush. Naroditsky and Shimanov drew quickly. Krush again declines a draw offer “wins” an exchange for two pawns and obtains a slight edge, but the game is drawn. I think the players agreed to a draw to catch their planes. Both went rushing for the airport. Irina did not even wait for her check!

[pgn][Event "Castle Chess Grand Prix"]
[White "Akobian, Var"]
[Black "Krush, Irina"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2712"]
[BlackElo "2507"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "6.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 bxc5 8. b3
d5 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. Be2 Bd6 11. Nc3 O-O 12. O-O Rc8 13. Rfd1 Qe7 14. Rd2 Rfd8
15. Rad1 h6 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Nh4 Qe6 18. Bf3 Nb6 19. Qf5 Bb8 20. a4 a5 21. Nb5
Nbd7 22. Bc3 g5 23. Bxa5 Re8 24. Rxd5 Bxd5 25. Bxd5 Nxd5 26. Qxd5 Qxd5 27. Rxd5
Nf6 28. Rf5 Ne4 29. Nf3 c4 30. Nfd4 cxb3 31. Nxb3 Rc2 32. Be1 Rc4 33. Ba5 h5
1/2-1/2[/pgn]

This tournament has somewhat of an international flavor. There were nine FIDE federations represented: USA, Columbia, Russia, India, China, Ecuador, Denmark, and Puerto Rico. The player from Ecuador was WFM Anahi Eduarda Ortiz Verdezoto. Each year the camp, in coordination with FIDE, awards a full scholarship to a South American lady. This year Anahi was the recipient and her 3 ½ points in the expert section tied for third. Anahi had interesting travel challenges. When she arrived, it took a while for her to connect with the person we assigned to pick her up. They were looking for each other for over an hour and finally discovered they were less than 100 feet apart! When she tried to leave the country, the airline and customs officials almost didn’t let her leave because her documents were in Spanish. They eventually let her leave but said she might not be admitted into Ecuador. She took the chance that her Spanish documents would be valid in Ecuador. ☺

An eager camper. Photo: Fun Fong

In any tournament there are always a few stories. In this one, the very last game was K+R vs. K+R in the Under 1200 section. I actually have a lot of experience with this ending. I see it many time a year and I would say 10-20% of the time it is decisive. I won this ending some 35 years ago after my 400-point lower rated opponent declined my draw offer. In this case, this last game determined first place for the section. Alex Glashausser was a full point ahead of the field. His opponent offered an early draw which Alex declined even though it would have given him clear first. They reached the K+R vs K+R ending and Alex offered a draw which his opponent declined because Alex was short on time. Alex asked me to count for the 50 move rule. While I was doing so, Alex hung his rook twice and twice his opponent did not see it! Alex’ son was watching the game and showed a reaction both times that neither player noticed all the while I am trying to keep a poker face, count moves, and keep spectators from interfering! On the 43rd move of the 50 move rule, Alex hung the rook again and this time his opponent took it. Still Alex tied for first by scoring 4-1 and his son Sho Glashausser also scored 4-1 in the class A section to tie for third. Here are the winners of each section: Master: GMs Daniel Naroditsky, Alex Shimanov, Var Akobian & Irina Krush 4-1 ($1137.50) Expert: Anthony Parker & David Mbonu 4-1 ($775) Class A: Alex Moore & Michaelangelio Barozzi 4 ½- ½ ($650) Class B: Anand Srinivasan 4 ½- ½ ($600) Class C: Nithin Naren 5-0 ($500) Class D: Casey Markulike & Amit Mydukur 4 ½- ½ ($325) Under 1200: Praneel D’Souza, Andrew Downes, Alex Glashausser & Isaac Gordon 4-1 ($162.50) The complete results are available on MSA at http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201606195572. Information on the camp and tournament are at www.castlechess.org. NTD David Hater directed for Castle Chess assisted by Georgia Chess Association President Dr. Fun Fong, and immediate past GCA president Scott Parker. The camp and tournament were expertly organized by Castle Chess Board President Jennifer Christianson.