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Some might think following classical chess tournaments live does not make sense unless you are really into analysing positions deeply and want to improve your own game. However, round four of the US Championships was a clear example of how things can take completely unpredictable turns even when first-calibre grandmasters are the ones in the fray.
The first surprise was given by Timur Gareyev...and this time it was not his outfit or demeanour over the board, as the Uzbek-born arrived no less than 25 minutes late to the round. It is true that unexpected circumstances can lead to anyone missing the starting time of any sort of important commitment, but this was clearly not Timur's case on Saturday — he actually registered to play another tournament at the same time! Gareyev already won his first game at the Mid-America Open and is paired against 2351-rated Jason Wang in round three (he asked for a bye in the second round).
Not that anyone was competing against him in this category, but now, more than ever, we can say Gareyev is the most eccentric character in the field...
Time to go, finally | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
Sam Sevian did not get confounded by Timur's 'no-show tactic' and achieved clear positional domination with the white pieces. When everything seemed to be a matter of time before he would get his second victory of the tournament, however, the youngster gifted Timur a stunning resource:
The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.
Sevian completely blew up his advantage with the previous blunder 32.♖d3?, and Gareyev needed less than a minute to find the incredible 32...♜xb2 — White cannot capture 33.♖xb2 due to 33...♜xc4+ 34.♗d4 cxd4 and Black's three extra pawns would be enough to claim a big advantage.
A bewildered Sam continued with 33.f6+ and eventually found himself with an extra bishop against Timur's two extra pawns. However, as it usually happens in these situations, the weaker side can always go into a rook and bishop v rook endgame, and that is exactly what Gareyev did. Sevian tried to squeeze the unlikely win until move 117, but his rival did not put a foot wrong and took home the half point.
In a post-game interview, Cristian Chirila asked Gareyev about his participation in the Mid-America Open, and the following exchange ensued:
Chirila: Do you plan on continuing to play 'that' tournament or are you done with it?
Gareyev: Which one? (laughs)...No, no, I think I'm done.
Timur drew after all | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
After the draw, Sam Sevian remains on 50%, just like Fabiano Caruana, who tied for a fifth time after missing great chances against Leinier Dominguez. After the game, Leinier admitted to simply have blundered on move 37:
The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White!
The Catalan is one of the most solid openings for White. It forms part of the large and strong fianchetto family in which White builds his strategy mainly around the bishop on g2. Grandmaster Victor Bologan covers all of Black’s replies to the Catalan, some of which can even transpose to other openings such as the Tarrasch System and the Queen’s Indian. Suffice it to say that the Catalan rules!
Black seemed to be holding off well until 37...♜a3? appeared on the board. Fabiano calculated correctly the winning continuation 38.♘xh6+ gxh6 39.♘f6+ ♞xf6 40.exf6 and the queen cannot keep defending the rook while avoiding a checkmate after ♕g4-♕g7. Therefore, Dominguez continued 40...♜xg3+ and went into an endgame of rook versus knight and pawn with both queens on the board.
Is anyone else as busted as I am? | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
Fabiano continued to play accurately...until he missed a rather simple winning manoeuvre:
Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play
Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.
Caruana's 47.♔h2 does not give away all the advantage, but he did miss the strong 47.♕f3, when due to the threats against f7 Black is forced to offer the exchange of queens with 47...♛d5, and White is left with an easy technical task.
After about forty more moves filled with suspense, Leinier found a perpetual check and got the half point. Fabiano has not won a classical game since before the London World Championship match, and none other than Magnus Carlsen took the chance to remind him of precisely that on Twitter:
When your winless streak matches your age #goals #Caruana
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) 23 de marzo de 2019
The only decisive game of the day — a surprising fact given the level of excitement on most boards — was Ray Robson's 45-move win with Black over Jeffery Xiong. The latter gave up a piece in a complex middlegame, but then missed the right continuation to maintain the dynamic balance of the position:
White put all his hopes on a queenside attack, but a cold-blooded Robson placed his king on d8 in the previous move to avoid any tricks with the knight. Jeffery needed to continue pushing his initiative with 32.c4, but instead played the harmless 32.g3. Ray did not take long to capture the free knight and went on to prove that Black's material advantage is enough to get the full point.
After Xiong's loss, there is no player in the Championship with more than +1 on the score board. Dominguez, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura now share first place with the youngster.
Xiong vs Robson | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
It is four down, seven to go for Jennifer Yu in the women's section, as she achieved another win on Saturday after her opponent, Emily Nguyen, blundered as early as move ten in their fourth round encounter:
My Black Secrets in the Modern Italian
The Italian Game is considered a sound but quiet opening without early trades, giving rise to rich positions where plans are more important than forced variations. So shows black's plans on this DVD.
You can move the pieces on the diagram above
The Italian has proven to be an opening filled with hidden resources for both sides, but to play it one needs to know all the tricks that might come up on a board filled with pieces. Nguyen went astray with 10...d5? and Yu swiftly showed that 11.♗xf6 gxf6 12.exd5 ♝xd5 13.♗xd5 ♛xd5 14.♘e4 ♝e7 15.♘h4 ♛e6 16.♕h5 leaves White with a considerable advantage.
"I can't stop winning..." | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
It took the leader 32 moves to seal the deal. Jennifer is the only player that still has a chance to claim the $64,000 "Bobby Fischer prize", given to the player that gets an 11-0 score in either tournament.
The battle for first place is still wide open, however, as Anna Zatonskih won again and remains half a point behind Yu. Annie Wang and Tatev Abrahamyan are also in the hunt on 2½ out of 4 points.
Everyone is invited to the show | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
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