The Forester Open 2021 - Chess Among the Trees

by Alexey Root
12/6/2021 – Christmas trees mixed with chess boards at the 2021 Forester Open. Grandmaster Christopher Repka and International Masters Brian Escalante Ramirez and Viktor Gazik shared $3,224 for first through third places, acquiring spending money for this holiday season.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Thanksgiving

In the United States, the Christmas season starts early. Although the Forester Open included two chess games played on Thanksgiving, its Great Wolf Lodge playing site was already decorated for Christmas. Lighted Christmas trees lined the edges of the spacious playing room, where every board was positioned on its own six-foot table.

Great Wolf Lodge had a Thanksgiving buffet on November 25. Chess players who wanted traditional dishes, such as turkey, celebrated the holiday in between rounds.

UT Dallas Students Lead

The Forester Open’s last day, November 28, featured chess team members from The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) on board one for both rounds. In round 8, as White, International Master David Brodsky pressed his teammate International Master Brian Escalante Ramirez.

Brodsky (White) vs. Escalante (Board 1, Round 8)

Escalante Ramirez drew that game, keeping his shared tournament lead.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 French Tarrasch c5 /Nc6/Be7/ 3...Nf6 are some others moves played here, but c5 is considered the best 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bc4 Qd7 Over the recent years this move seems to hold up pretty well for Black 6...Qd6 is the mainline 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Nb3 a6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc7 11.Bd3 Bd6 So far the players have been following well known theory, with Qh5 white is trying to make the game interesting 12.Qh5!? The main point of this move is that Black cannot castle on the kingside due to the mating threat on h7 Nf6 13.Qh4 Bd7 Black is now planning to shift his king to the queenside. 13...0-0?? 14.Bg5!+- 14.Rb1!? With this move the war has begun both players will attack each other on the flanks h5!N Brian comes up with an aggressive novelty 0-0-0/ 14...h6 Are the moves tried before they really aren't bad, but Brian's move is better 15.h3 0-0-0 16.b4! David is starting to build his own attack. With b5 coming next Black should act quickly Ng4! 17.f4! Both the players are playnig the best moves in this complex position 17.hxg4?? hxg4 18.Qxg4 Bh2+ 19.Kh1 Bg1+ 20.Kxg1 Qh2# 17...g5!? 17...Qb6! leading to a forcing draw line 18.c3 e5 19.fxe5 Bxe5 20.hxg4 Bxd4+ 21.cxd4 Qxd4+ 22.Qf2 Qxd3 23.Bg5 f6 24.Rbd1 Qe4 25.Rfe1 Qxg4 26.Qa7 Qxg5 27.Rc1+ Bc6 28.Rxc6+ bxc6 29.Qa8+ Kc7 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qa8+= this is a possible line if both the players play a series of best moves, but this is impossible to occur in an real game 18.Qxg5 Rdg8?! a better move is 18...f6 as it makes the e5-break work 19.Qa5 Qxa5 20.bxa5 Bc5 21.c3 e5 19.Qa5 Qxa5 20.bxa5 Bc5 21.c3?! 21.Bb2 could have given white an upper hand in this endgame 21...Nf6= 22.Kh2 Rg7?! 23.Be2! Maneuvering the bishop to a better square where it can hit the backward b7-pawn Ne4 24.Bf3 Leading to a forcing line Nxc3 25.Bb2 Nxb1 26.Rxb1 Bd6 27.Nxe6 fxe6 28.Bxg7 Bxf4+ 29.g3 Bxg3+ 30.Kxg3 Rg8 31.Bxb7+ Kc7 32.Kh4 Rxg7 33.Bxa6+- Now the dust has settled and White is winning Rf7 34.Bb5? 34.Rf1! Rg7 35.Be2 is a good way to pick up the h5 pawn 34...Rf4+ 35.Kg3 35.Kxh5?? Rf5+ 35...Rd4! A good maneuver by Black, now the rook can help the h5-pawn, attack the a-pawns, and also help push the e6-pawn 36.a4 h4+ 37.Kf3 Bc6+ 37...e5= Would have been easier to hold 38.Ke3 Re4+ 39.Kd3 Bd5 40.Rg1! Rf4 41.Rg7+ Kb8 42.a6 This position is still probably a draw but Black cannot afford to make any more mistakes. Rb4 43.Kc3 Rf4 44.Rh7 Ka8 45.a5 Kb8 46.Be2 Ra4 47.a7+ Ka8 48.a6 Re4 49.Kd3 Ra4 50.Ke3 Re4+ 51.Kf2 Rf4+ 52.Kg1 Ra4 53.Rg7 Bc4 54.Bxc4 Rxc4 55.Rh7 Ra4 56.Kf2 e5 57.Kg2 Rf4 58.Rd7 Rf6 The first time control was 40/90. The players are on the second time control of SD30; +30 and each player has less than two minutes on his clock. 59.Re7 Rg6+ 60.Kh2 Rxa6 61.Rxe5 Kxa7 Although David tried to pull off some tricks, Brian held his ground and defended his way to a drawn ending 62.Re4 Rh6 63.Rb4 Ka6 64.Kg2 Ka5 White offered a draw, which Black accepted ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Brodsky,D-Escalante Ramirez,B-½–½2021C07Forester Open8

In round 9, Escalante Ramirez, as White, defeated his teammate International Master Ivan Schitco. Thus, Escalante Ramirez shared first place with Grandmaster Christopher Repka and International Master Viktor Gazik, who also won their last round games.

Escalante Ramirez vs. Schitco (Board 1, Round 9)


Viktor Gazik vs. Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (Board 3, Round 6)

These two critical games by Escalante Ramirez are annotated by another UT Dallas chess team member, International Master Rahul Srivasthav Peddi. Peddi saw the games post tournament, as he was miles away in a two-way tie for first place at the 2021 US Masters. Peddi also earned a grandmaster norm for his performance in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Results

Forester Open Chief Tournament Director Louis A. Reed Jr. provided the following links, which have round-by-round pairings, crosstables, and wall charts:

Since the Open and Amateur did not draw the expected number of participants, the prize fund for those two sections was at 52% of the advertised amount. Blakeman Chess plans another Forester Open for 2022.

Games

In addition to the annotations by International Master Peddi on the two Escalante Ramirez games, FIDE Master Maria Malicka provided comments on her draw with Grandmaster Christopher Repka. The other two games, last-round wins by Repka and Gazik, are not annotated. There were no DGT boards so paper scoresheets were used for converting these games to ChessBase.

Malicka (White) vs. Repka (Board 2, Round 8)

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.d4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.h3 a6 5.a4 b6 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.0-0 e6 8.Re1 Ne7 9.Be3 Nd7 10.Qd2 h6 11.c4 a5 12.d5 Nc5 13.Ra3 e5 14.b4 axb4 15.Qxb4 0-0 16.Nbd2 Rxa4 17.Rxa4 Nxd3 18.Qb3 Nxe1 19.Nxe1 f5 20.f3 Kh7 21.Nc2 fxe4 22.fxe4 Bc8 23.Na3 Ng8 24.Nb5 Qh4 25.Ra8 Qg3 26.Nf1 Qe1 27.Qd3 Nf6 28.Qd2 Qb1 29.Nc3 Qb4 30.Qd3 Nd7 31.Nd2 Nc5 32.Qc2 Ba6 33.Ra7 Rf7 34.Na2 Qa3 35.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 36.Kh2 Bc8 37.Nf3 Qe3 38.Nb4 Qf4+ 39.Kg1 Bxh3 40.gxh3 Qxf3 41.Qg2 Qe3+ 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Dai,G-Gazik,V-0–12021Forester Open9
Repka,C-Sethuraman,S-1–02021Forester Open9
Escalante Ramirez,B-Schitco,I-1–02021B55Forester Open9
Malicka,M-Repka,C-½–½2021C01Forester Open8

Links:

Alexey was the 1989 U.S. Women's Chess Champion and is a Woman International Master. She earned her bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Puget Sound and her doctoral degree in Education at The University of California, Los Angeles. She has been a Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies at UT Dallas since 1999 and is a prolific author.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.