Yermo's travels: U.S. Senior Open 2019

by Alex Yermolinsky
7/5/2019 – In the U.S. there's a new U.S. Senior Invitational starting soon, but as a warm-up GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY travelled to Illinois for the U.S. Senior Open. He and fellow former U.S. Champion Joel Benjamin were the top seeds, but 62-year-old GM Dmitry Gurevich, also a four-time U.S. Champion, scored a clutch last round win to finish in sole first with 5½/6. "Yermo" also snagged an annotated game from U.S. Junior Open winner IM Christopher Shen. | Photos: Alex Yermolinsky

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Gurevich is U.S. Senior Open Champion

U.S. Senior (50+) Open tournaments have a long history of being held at vacation spots. For the first 10 years of my own eligibility I had ignored them. The idea of going for a random open with just about $1,000 for first place just never clicked for me, mainly because of the difficulty in fitting it into an already busy summer schedule.

The change came two years ago, when the 2017 edition came to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, the site of the traditional Ole Chess camp run by a husband and wife duo, NM Kevin Bachler and Debbie Socha.

Starting on Friday afternoon, immediately following the camp's closing ceremony, the tournament had the convenience of being held in the same place, so I didn't even have to check out of my dorm room. (I recounted my experiences from that event at the time.)

Caveman chessFast-forward two years and the same thing happened again, only this time the venue was North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. The event was held at the Wentz Concert Hall on campus. Located just 30 miles (ca. 48 km) west of Chicago, Naperville is a nice little town complete with a river walk and numerous bars and restaurants. This was the second year Kevin Bachler held his camp there. Caveman Chess it is!

The usual suspects, GMs Gregory Kaidanov, Yuri Shulman, Alexander Goldin, Dmitry Gurevich, (my wife) Camilla Baginskaite and yours truly comprised the instructors core, and then at the end of the week, Dmitry and I stayed on for the 2019 U.S. Senior Open.

Organizer Kevin Bachler and Arbiter Glenn Panner

Two short days later this is how things stood:

No. Name Elo Pts Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6
1 Gurevich, Dmitry 2385 5.5 W41 W34 W17 W29 D2 W13
2 Benjamin, Joel 2524 5.0 W76 W33 W11 W18 D1 D3
3 Yermolinsky, Alex 2504 5.0 W77 W21 D10 W22 W12 D2
4 Eckert, Doug 2123 5.0 W78 W36 D13 W28 D6 W18
5 Jhunjhnuwala, Krishan 2341 4.5 W65 W32 L18 D20 W33 W22
6 Bereolos,Peter 2178 4.5 W66 W44 D12 W19 D4 D10
7 Dougherty, Michael 2140 4.5 D42 W56 W49 L12 W39 W29
8 Szpisjak, Steven J 2061 4.5 W51 W23 L29 W24 W34 D14
9 Vanmeter, Lester UNR 4.5 W54 W24 D31 D14 D29 W27
10 Dandridge, Marvin 2101 4.5 W68 W25 D3 D31 W44 D6

...104 players — view complete standings

Everything was decided in the last round. Gurevich had to win on demand to clinch the title, and he managed.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0-0 e5 8.Re1
8...Bg4 8...c6 Main line 8...Qe8!? 9.Be3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nc5 12.f3
12...a5N 12...Nh5 13.Rad1 Qh4 14.Qd2 12...c6 13.Rad1 13.b4 Ne6 13...Nfd7 14.b4
14...Qe7!? 12...Nfd7!? 13.Rad1 13.Ndb5 Nfd7 14.Rad1 13...Nfd7 13...Re8 14.Qf2 The problem is, Black has no time for 13...c6 on account of 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Bxc5 14.Ndb5! Re8 15.Qf2 15.Qd2 Re6 16.Bf2 15.Nd5 Na6 16.b3 15...b6?! 15...a4 16.Bd4 16.Nd5!? 16.Bd4!? 16...Na6 16...c6!? 17.Nxd6 cxd5 18.Nxe8 Qxe8 19.cxd5 19.exd5 Qd8 19...Qe7 20.g3 g5!? 17.Bd4
17.h4 17.a3 a4 17...c6? 18.Nxb6 18.h4!? 17...Bxd4 17...Bf8!? 18.Nbc3 18.Nf4 Nac5 18...Nac5 19.b3 c6!? 18.Nxd4 Kg7 18...Nb4 19.Nc3 19.Nxb4 axb4 20.Nc6 Qg5 21.Nxb4 Qc5 22.a3 Qxf2+ 23.Kxf2 19...Ne5 20.Re2 Nxc4 21.a3 Na6 22.Nd5+- 19.Nc6
19.a3!? Nab8 19...Qg5 20.b4 20.f4 19...Qg5? Now Black loses material 19...Qc8 20.a3± 20.h4 20.f4! Qg4 20...Qh5 21.Rd3 21.h3 Qh5 22.e5+- 20...Qh6 20...Qh5? 21.g4 Qh6 22.g5 Qh5 23.Nf4 21.Qd4+ f6
22.Nxc7! Nxc7 23.Qxd6 Ne6 24.Qxd7+ Kh8
24...Kg8 25.Ne7+ 25.g3 25.Ne7 Ng7 26.Nd5 25.e5 f5 26.Qf7 Qxh4 27.Qf6+ Qxf6 28.exf6 Kg8 29.Rd7 25...g5!?
In a bad position all the moves are bad, but Black is fighting until the end. 26.Ne7 26.hxg5 Qxg5 27.Kg2 Nf4+ 28.Kf2 Qc5+ 29.Qd4 26...Nc5 26...Qf8 27.Nf5 gxh4 28.Nxh4 26...gxh4 27.Qxe6 hxg3 28.Re2+- 27.Nf5 Nxd7 27...Qg6 28.Qd6! 28.Nxh6 Ne5 28...gxh4 29.gxh4 29.Kf2 gxh4 29...Nxc4 30.hxg5 fxg5 31.Re2 Kg7 32.Nf5+ 30.gxh4 30.f4 hxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Nxc4 32.Rd7 30...Nxc4 31.Nf7+ 31.f4 Kg7 32.Nf5+ Kh8 33.b3 Na3 34.Rd6 31.Rd7 Ne5 32.Rg1 Rf8 33.Rb7 31...Kg7 31...Kg8 32.Rd7 Kf8 33.Nh6 Re7 34.Rd4 32.Rd7 Kf8 33.Nd6 33.Nh6 Re7 34.Rd4 Nxb2? 35.Rb1 33...Ne5!? 34.Rxh7 Kg8 34...Nd3+ 35.Ke2 Nf4+ 36.Ke3 Ng2+ 37.Kf2 Nxe1 38.Nxe8 Nd3+ 39.Ke3 35.Rh6 35.Rh5? Nd3+ 36.Kf1 Re6 35...Nd3+ 36.Ke2
36...Nxe1 37.Nxe8 Rxe8 38.Kxe1 Kg7 38...f5 39.Rxb6 fxe4 40.Ke2+- 39.Rh5+- Re6 40.Rb5 Kf7 41.Kf2 Kg7 42.Kg3 Kf7 43.Kf4 Kg6 44.a4 Rc6 45.b3 Rd6 46.Ke3 Kf7 47.f4 Ke7 48.Kf3 Kf7 49.Kg4 Kg6 50.Rd5 Rc6 51.f5+ Kh6 52.Rd7 Rc3 53.Rd6 Rxb3 54.Rxf6+ Kg7 55.Rg6+ Kh7 56.Kf4 Rb4 57.h5 Rxa4 58.Rxb6 Ra1 59.Kg5 a4 60.Rb7+ Kg8 61.Ra7 a3 62.Kg6 Kf8 63.Kf6 Ke8 64.e5 a2 65.e6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gurevich,D-Kraft,C-1–02019E94Senior Open6

Top two boards before round 5

(L-to R) Joel Benjamin, Chip Kraft, Dmitry Gurevich

Congratulations, Dmitry! With this success he also earned a spot in the next year's U.S. Senior Invitational. In order to get an idea how senior chess is taking off (at just about the right time for your favourite author) one needs to check out Alexey Root's report.

Gurevich gets a plaque

Chief Arbiter Glenn Panner hands out the championship plaque to GM Dmitry Gurevich

Five days from now an inaugural U.S. Senior Invitational begins in St. Louis. This is a warm-up game by the two of the participants,

 
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1.e4 "I don't often open with 1.e4, but when I do..." would be a great opening line for a chess TV commercial. c5 Joel took a moment or two to decide on this one. I expected 1...e5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 I breathed a sigh of relief. 5.Nb5 This had been played by Karpov about a couple of dozen times, but the game everybody remembers is his loss to Kasparov in Game 16 of their 1985 match. d6 6.c4 The game has transposed to a Hedgehog formation, which essentually is a closed opening, so my 1.e4 salvo went unpunished. a6 6...Nf6 is much more common. After some obvious developing moves, 7.N1c3 7.N5c3 is possible, but it's usually associated with a different plan, b6 8.Be2 Bb7 9.0-0 Be7 10.Bf4 7...a6 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be2 are played Black might want to stop and, instead of the expected 0-0 consider 9...b6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Be3 Nb8!? to force White into a modest setup with 12.f3 Nbd7 10.0-0 b6 11.Be3 Ne5 12.f4 Ned7 13.Bf3 Bb7 In this position, which has been seen quite a few times. White tries to combine the restrictive approach of a Maroczy Bind with aggressive K-side attacks typical of Open Sicilians. The results are often disastrous for him. 7.N5c3 Nf6 8.Be2 Be7 9.0-0 b6 10.Be3 Bb7 Here I quickly settled on anotehr Karpov's idea In case of the above mentioned knight repositioning 10...Ne5 11.f4 Ned7 White can do the same with his own knight, 12.Nd2 heading out to greener pastures that the old a3-patch. 11.Qb3!? The point is to disrupt the coordination of the black pieces by forcing the wrong knight to come to d7. Nd7 12.Rd1 0-0 13.Na3?! I wasn't sure about that one. I knew that with a different move order 6...a6 White would be forced to keep his knights on c3 and a3. Therefore I wanted to exercise my 13.Nd2 option. Then the plan Joel used in the game, Nc5 14.Qc2 Nb4 15.Qb1 Bf6 would allow White to defend with. 16.Nf1 Qc7 17.Ng3 Before the reader spots this and exclaims, see, you said it yourself, you are defending with White, what kind of thing is that? You should play a better opening next time, etc. I'd mention that such is the nature of many early middlegames stemming out of 1.d4: White builds to last, but he needs to apply prophylactic measures against Black's disruptive tactics, in order for his setup to be completed, and then, hopefully, in the not so distant future he will be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. 13...Nc5 Joel took quite a bit of time here, but not for nothing, as he worked out a plan of counterplay. 14.Qc2 Bf6! 15.Rac1 I thought it was clever to ignore the threat of Bxc3. Better was 15.f3 Be5 16.Qd2 Qh4 17.g3 Qf6 18.Rac1 15...Nb4! Benjamin prefers to change the character of the game and I completely agree with him. A lesser player might have gone 15...Be5 and let me play the one move I needed, 16.Nab1! Qf6 17.Qd2 Qg6 18.f4 Bf6 19.Bf3 and then everything falls in place. 16.Qd2 Bxc3 17.bxc3 Nxe4 18.Qb2 Nc6
19.Qxb6 This isn't going to cut it. White needed to start with 19.c5! although the real work is only about to begin after Ne7 20.cxb6 Nf5 19...Qe7 20.Bf3? The second weak move in a row. 20.c5 d5 21.f3 Nf6 22.Nc2 20...f5 I think I'd find myself in trouble after 20...Ne5 as the line I was looking at, 21.Bxe4 Bxe4 22.Qxd6 I'd have to settle for 22.Qd4 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Qb7+ 24.Kf1= 22...Qf6 23.Bd4 gets busted by Qg5 21.Bxe4 fxe4 22.Nc2
22...Ne5 I didn't think it was possible. 23.Qxd6 23.c5 d5 24.Nd4 Rae8 25.c6 Bc8 23...Qxd6 24.Rxd6 Nxc4 25.Rd7 It still took me a minute to realize the pawn was taboo: 25.Rxe6 Kf7 26.Nd4 Bd5 25...Rf7 26.Rcd1 Bd5 27.Rxf7 Kxf7 28.Nb4 Nxe3 liquidating. Could Black have tried for more? 28...a5 29.Nxd5 Rd8 30.Kf1 exd5 31.Ke1 Ke6 32.Rb1 etc. 29.fxe3 Rc8 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yermolinsky,A2585Benjamin,J2608½–½2019B44U.S. Senior Open6

Joel Benjamin

GM Joel Benjamin was the tournament's top seed

Joel played a couple of nice games which he generously offered for this article. I think both are very instructive and indicative of how Grandmasters outplay less sophisticated opponents.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.d3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.0-0 Bg4 10.Be3 Nd4 11.Bxd4 exd4 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Rc8 14.h3
14...Bxf3 This gives White a small but nagging edge. Possible was 14...Bd7!? 15.Nxd4 Bf6 16.c3 Bxd4 17.cxd4 c6 18.Ba2 Qf6 15.Qxf3 c6 16.Bb3 Qd7 17.a4 Rc7 18.Qh5 c5 19.Bd5 c4 20.axb5 axb5 21.Ra5 cxd3 22.cxd3 Ra7 23.b4 23.Rxa7 Qxa7 24.Rc1 23.Rfa1 Rxa5 24.Rxa5 Qc7 25.Ra1 23.Bc6 Qc7 24.Rxa7 Qxa7 25.Bxb5 Qa2 26.Bc4 Qxb2 27.Qd5 23...g6 23...Rxa5 24.bxa5 Qa7 25.Ra1 Qa6 26.Qg4 Bd8 27.h4 Bxa5 28.h5 h6 29.Qf5 Qb6 30.e5 dxe5 31.Be4 24.Qg4 Rb8
25.Qxd7 25.Qf4 Bf8 26.Qxf7+ 25...Rxd7 26.Rc1 Bd8 27.Ra6 Kf8 28.Kf1 Ke7 29.Ke2 f6 30.Rcc6 Rbb7 31.Kd2 Bc7 32.Rc2 Rb6 33.Ra8 Bb8 34.Rc6 Bc7 35.Rc8 Bd8 36.Rxb6 Bxb6 37.Rb8 Bc7 38.Rh8 Bb6 39.Bc6 Ra7 40.Rxh7+ Ke6 41.Rxa7 Bxa7 42.Bxb5 d5 43.exd5+ Kxd5 44.Ke2 Ke5 45.Be8 g5 46.g3 Bb8 47.Kf3 f5 48.h4 Kf6 49.Bd7 gxh4 50.gxh4 Kg6 51.Be8+ Kf6 52.h5 Bd6 53.b5 Bc7 54.Ke2 Ke7 55.Bg6 Kf6 56.Kd1 f4 57.Ke2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Benjamin,J2608Sana,M21931–02019C84US Senior Open3
Rademacher,T2193Benjamin,J26080–12019E61US Senior4

To conclude this report I'd like to offer a little bonus coverage. Parallel with the Senior Open, a U.S. Junior Open was held. 15-year old Christopher Shen (Elo: 2283) upset Zhaozhi Li (2395) in round 5 to take first place and qualify for the U.S. Junior Invitational. Below is the game annotated by the winner!

 
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Entering round 5 of the US Junior Open, Li had a perfect score (4/4) so far, while I was behind by half a point (3.5/4). Obviously, this was a must-win game for me in order to have a chance at first place. In the early stages of the game, my opponent offered a draw which I declined. During the complicated middlegame both of us fell into time trouble and made some inaccurate moves, however, after all the dust settled I came out on top. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Nc3?! Perhaps not the greatest move 6.d4! Would have been more theoretically correct with tons of different lines and variations that could follow 6...c5! 7.d3!? 7.d4?! In a must-win situation, this isn't the best decision cxd4 8.Nxd4 8.Qxd4!? d6 9.b3 0-0 10.Bb2 Nbd7 11.Qd2 Nc5 12.Rad1 Nfe4= Black equalizes without much difficulty 8...Bxg2 9.Kxg2 Nc6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.e3 h5 13.h4= 7...0-0 8.e4 Nc6 9.h3 Guarding g4 d6 10.Be3 Nd7?! I think he underestimated my response 11.d4! Rc8 11...cxd4!? 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 12...Nc5 13.Qd2 Rc8 14.b3 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.Qxd4 e5 17.Qe3 Ne6 18.f4 An interesting game follows with White holding onto some advantage 13.Bxd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Rc8 15.b3 a6 16.Rfd1 White can comfortably improve his position along with a small edge 12.b3 a6 13.Rc1 e5!
Time to make a critical decision 14.dxc5! 14.d5?! Inaccurate Nd4 15.a4 15.Qd2?! b5 16.Rfe1 bxc4 17.bxc4 Nb6 18.Nd1 a5 19.Bh6 Ba6 Black is slowly taking control of the position with promising play 15...Rb8 16.Re1 f5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Nh4 f4!? 19.Bd2 Bh6 20.Qh5 Qg5= An interesting game lies ahead 14...dxc5 14...Nxc5?! 15.h4 Ne7 16.Ng5 h6 17.b4 hxg5 17...Nd7 18.Nf3 Nf6 19.Qd3 Ng4 20.Bh3 h5 21.a4± White has the advantage because of his space and more active pieces 18.bxc5 gxh4 19.cxd6 Nc6 20.Nd5 Qxd6 21.Nxb6± With a solid plus 14...bxc5!? 15.Qxd6 Nd4 16.Nd5 Ne2+ 17.Kh2 Re8 18.Rce1 Rc6 19.Bg5 Rxd6 20.Bxd8 Nxg3 21.fxg3 Rxd8 22.h4 White's strong knight on d5 offers him some edge 15.Nd5 Kh8!? Not sure what this was about... 16.Nd2 Nd4 Black offered me a draw here, considering the tournament situation I decided to continue playing for the win. 17.f4 exf4 18.gxf4 b5? Allows white to take control. 18...Nf6! The best move 19.Nf3 Nxe4 19...Nxf3+ 20.Bxf3 20.Qxf3? Nxe4‼ 21.Qxe4 Re8 22.Qd3 Rxe3!-+ 20...Nxe4 21.Bxe4 Re8 22.Qd3 f5 23.Bxf5 gxf5 24.Rce1 Qd7 25.Bf2 Re4 26.Kh2= Dynamic equality with chances for both sides 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.Bxd4 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Rxc1 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qd4+ Qf6 25.Qxf6+ Nxf6 26.Rxc1= With equality 19.Nf3! Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3± Qe8 21.Qf2 Getting out of the b7 bishop's gaze and tieing down the knight on d7 f5 22.e5
22...Qe6?! Now white's rook has potential on d6 with tempo 22...g5! Creating counterplay immediately and disturbing white's center was the best here 23.Rfe1 23.fxg5?! Nxe5 24.Rcd1 bxc4 25.bxc4 f4 26.Bxf4 Bxd5 27.cxd5 Ng6 28.Qd2 c4 Black has neutralized nearly all of white's threats 23...gxf4 24.Bxf4 Qe6 24...Nxe5?? 25.Qg3+- 25.Rc3 Rg8 26.Rg3 Bc6 27.Rg5 bxc4 28.bxc4± White retains a solid plus 23.Rfd1 Rfd8 24.Qh4 Threatening Nc7 or Ne7 bxc4?? In time trouble, both of us missed the next move 24...Re8! Black's best chance 25.Rd2 bxc4 26.bxc4 Bc6 27.Rcd1 Qf7 28.Qg3 Nf8 29.Nb6 Rc7 30.Bd5 Ne6 31.h4± Still gives White a significant advantage 25.bxc4? 25.Ne7‼ The threat of Rd6 is devastating and unstoppable Bxg2 25...Rb8 26.Rd6 26.Bxb7+- Also wins 26...Qf7 27.Nxg6+ Kg8 28.Bxb7 Rxb7 29.Qxd8++- 25...Nb6 Fails to 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Nxg6+! Qxg6 28.Qxd8+ Bf8 29.Qxf8++- 26.Nxc8 Rxc8 27.Rd6 Qe8 28.Kxg2 cxb3 29.axb3+- 25...Re8 Struggling to find a move in time pressure, I make two "increment" moves 26.Kh1?! 26.Rb1! Bc6 27.Bd2 Nf8 28.Bc3 Qf7 29.Rb6 a5 30.Rdb1± White slowly increases the pressure 26...Bc6 27.Kg1 h6?! Now time for the blow 28.Nc7! Rxc7 29.Rd6!
29...Qxd6!? Sadly this doesn't relieve the pain 29...Qf7? 30.Bxc6 g5 31.Qg3! 31.Bd5!? Qf8 The only move 31...Qxd5?? Is a good try, but fails to the following beautiful variation 32.Rxh6+ Kg8 33.Rh8+‼ Bxh8 33...Kf7 34.Qh5+ Ke7 35.Qxe8# 34.Qxg5+ Kf7 35.Qxf5+ Ke7 36.cxd5+- 32.Qh5 Nxe5 33.Bd2! gxf4 34.Bc3! Ree7 35.Rb1 Kh7 36.Rbb6 f3 37.Kf1! f2 38.Bd2 f4 39.Bc3 f3 40.Rxh6+ Bxh6 41.Bxe5 Rxe5 42.Qxe5 Re7 43.Be4+ Kg8 44.Qh5 Rxe4 45.Rxh6 Qg7 46.Rg6+- What a crazy variation! 31...gxf4 32.Bxf4 Rxc6 33.Rxc6 Nxe5 34.Bxe5 Rxe5 35.Rxh6+ Kg8 36.Rd1+- 29...Qe7!? 30.Qxe7 Rxe7 31.Bxc6 g5 32.Rxd7 Rcxd7 33.Bxd7 Rxd7 34.Bxc5 gxf4 35.Bd6+- Now it's just a matter of technique 29...Qg8!? 30.Bxc6 g5 31.Qg3 gxf4 32.Bxf4 Rxc6 33.Rxc6 Nxe5 34.Rxa6 Nxc4 35.Rg6+- And White wins 30.exd6 Rcc8 31.Bf2 31.Bxc6?? Rxc6 32.Bf2 Rxd6∞ Black has quite a bit of compensation and the position is no longer clear 31...Bxg2 32.Kxg2 Rc6? The final mistake 32...Kh7 Black's best chance 33.Qg3 Re6 34.Rd1 Rc6 35.Qf3 Rexd6 36.Rxd6 Rxd6 37.Qb7 h5 38.a4 Kg8 39.Kf3+- 33.Re1! Rg8 33...Rxe1 Fails to 34.Qd8+! Kh7 34...Bf8 35.Qxd7 35.Bxe1 Also wins Rxd6 36.Bc3+ Kg8 37.Qe8+- 35...Rxd6 36.Qf7 Rd2 37.Qxf8++- 34...Nf8 35.Bxe1+- 35.Qxd7+- 34.Qe7 Nf6 35.d7 The pawn can't be stopped Nxd7 36.Qxd7 Rb6 37.Re8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Shen,C2362Li,Z25131–02019A30US Junior Open5

Christopher Shen

Well done, Christopher! Thanks to Maret Thorpe for running the Junior!

US Junior participants

More participants of the Junior Open

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Yermo is enjoying his fifties. Lives in South Dakota, 600 miles way from the nearest grandmaster. Between his chess work online he plays snooker and spends time outdoors - happy as a clam.

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