Ramirez: Playing Kamsky under Pressure

US Championships: The Playoff against Gata Kamsky

As reported Gata Kamsky and Alejandro Ramirez tied for first in the 2013 US Championship, each scoring 6.5/9 points. Both players had drawn their face-to-face battle in round eight; Kamksy was undefeated with four wins and five draws, while Ramirez had a loss but also one more win. All this necessitated a playoff for the title.

The playoff took place on Monday, May 13. In all three hours of competition, and for more than 150 moves, Gata Kamsky (above) was the aggressor, but he found himself unable to break through the stalwart and creative endgame defense of Ramirez – until the waning moments. “It feels a bit awkward,” Kamsky said. “I consider us equals. Someone just got luckier than the other.”

The suprise challenger to Kamsky's supreme dominance in the 2013 US Championship was Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez. Ramirez was born in San José, Costa Rica, June 21, 1988 and at the age of 15, he became the first Centro-American to achieve the Grandmaster chess title, and at the time also became the second youngest chess grandmaster in the world. Alej started playing chess at the age of four after watching the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer", and with the guidance of his father and mentor Jorge Ramírez, made rapid progress. At the age of 13 he earned a notable draw against Russian super grandmaster Alexander Morozevich during the Chess Olympiad 2002 in Bled.

The first grandmaster norm was obtained at the age of 14 by scoring 7.0/9 at the Capablanca in Memoriam Tournament in La Habana in May 2003. The second norm was obtained at the age of 15, when he tied for first place in the Zonal Tournament in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In this tournament Alejandro also got the right to participate in the World Chess Championship 2004, becoming the only centro-American ever to participate in such a magnum event, which was held in Libya. He obtained his third norm at the age of 15, gaining seven points in the Los Inmortales Tournament at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in November 2003.

Ramírez won first place in the Morelia Open 2008 and first place in the US Chess Open 2010 held in Irvine, California. In January 2011 he stopped representing Costa Rica, and is now listed as a US Chess player. He lives in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from the University of Texas with a Masters Degree in Arts & Technology / Design and Production of Videogames. He is now a co-editor of the ChessBase news site, where his technical expertise, quick-witted personality and entertaining writing style are greatly appreciated. He has recorded three training DVDs so far – the first was published at the beginning of this year, the other two will follow in the coming weeks.

The playoff – summaries by FM Mike Klein

Games one and two of the playoff for the 2013 US Championship were played at a time control of 25 minutes per player with a five second increment per move. Ramirez seemed determined not to get behind on the clock, but an early misstep allowed Kamsky to embed a knight on d5. Shortly after, Black’s pawns were crippled, but Ramirez found all the necessary countermeasures to prevent any white pawn from reaching paydirt. Of the many players who were spectating, GM Robert Hess said Kamsky did not need to be so quick to exchange his best piece.

Things getting really tense – Kamsky attacking, Ramirez defending precisely

Draw agreed in game one

Game two

After a short break, the players switched colors and resumed the rapid play. This time Kamsky broke through on the queenside, and probed Ramirez’s position with his rook. The minor pieces traded and another rook-and-pawn ending was reached, with Kamsky having all the chances.

Onec again Ramirez was up to the task, using a stalemate tactic to extend the tiebreak

The rare ending to a grandmaster game caused the supremely focused Kamsky to look at the crowd and laugh. Later, he said he had almost the same ending at the World Cup in 2011 against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, but was able to win that game.

The Armageddon

The rules dictated that in case of a 1-1 tie, the playoff would end in an Armageddon match, where players bid for time and color. In sealed envelopes, Ramirez wrote the time 19:45, while Kamsky’s envelope read 20 minutes even. Ramirez thus got 19:45 to Kamsky’s 45 minutes, while Ramirez had black and draw odds.

The two reprised the opening from their first rapid game. Kamsky, needing to win, decided to keep all the minor pieces on the board this time. He slowly increased his square domination while Ramirez listlessly shuffled pieces round the last two ranks. Eventually Kamsky pushed forward, and Ramirez, getting low on time, decided to take his chances in an opposite-colored bishop endgame.

With Ramirez playing only on increment, he could not defend once Kamsky got his third passed pawn. Ramirez resigned after Kamsky denuded black’s best defenders. After the game, Kamsky told Ramirez that 37…e5 was the critical mistake, without which Black should hold. Ramirez agreed, explaining that he did not see 39…g4 in his calculations. “I was starting to get really nervous,” Kamsky said. “It wasn’t clear until the last move.”

Ramirez said the experience of playing worse positions was “torture”, then he was reminded that he still pockets $20,000. “I’ve never won that much in chess, ever,” he said.

Photos by Tony Rich, Saint Louis Chess Club

Official tournament site All games in PGN: Open section + Playoff + Women Reports on the rounds + analysis The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.