Yermo's Travels: Chihuahua Open 2018

by Alex Yermolinsky
1/8/2019 – Americans invade Mexico! At least to play some chess! Grandmaster ALEX YERMOLINSKY recounts his recent trip to a memorable tournament (with a memorable name) "south of the border", in an instalment of his ongoing travelogue featuring Latvian legend GM Alexei Shirov and GM Alex Shabalov and a photo tour of Chihuahua's central Plaza de Armas. | All photos: Alex Yermolinsky

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Reminiscences

One memorable thing I did in 2018 was to travel to Chihuahua, Mexico. The trip was made possible by my close friend, GM Alex Shabalov, who had played in this event in 2016 and 2017. Alex spoke to the organisers on my behalf, arrangements were made, and on October 9th I boarded a plane bound for El Paso, TX.

This seemingly easy part proved anything but. A huge thunderstorm had covered most of Texas, which caused enormous disruption in air travel. My plane was diverted to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where a lot of my fellow travellers were crammed into a small terminal. Eventually I made it to Dallas-Fort Worth airport, and after a few more delays finally made it to El Paso just after midnight the next day, some 18 hours after I left my house. Shabalov's ordeal was very similar, as his departure from Pittsburgh was also greatly delayed.

Martin Del CampoWhen such things happen I fully expect further problems but, fortunately, it wasn't the case this time. When I walked into a terminal at El Paso, I saw Shabalov in the company of IM Roberto Martin Del Campo (pictured) — jester, and a great storyteller, who inspires me to study Spanish. Del Campo was with his friend, who waited for us since about Noon. Such a show of friendliness from the people who hardly knew me was the defining moment. I instantly knew I came to the right place.

So, we got in the car and drove across the border to Ciudad Juarez, a town twice as large as El Paso, which has about 680,000 residents, versus 1.5 million living on the Mexican side of the border. The border crossing going south had an unattended booth, while there was a small line of cars waiting to go the other way. I took notice, but a bit more on the whole USA-Mexico border situation later.

We spent a night in Juarez and took off for Chihuahua the following morning. The landscape of a desert highway with a distant view of the mountains was very much familiar to me. In my time I have crisscrossed the American Southwest in all possible directions, and grown to appreciate its severe beauty. Some three and a half hours later we entered the city of Chihuahua.

Chihuahua

San Cristobal de Las Casas

The town, which is inhabited by some 800,000 people, has two distinct parts. The old city has a typical touristy feel with its central plaza, dominated by Cathedral of Chihuahua, where I struck my "Rocky" pose.

Yermo as Rocky

Of course, the climb was just a few steps, but who can tell (click or tap to enlarge)

The plaza is dotted with funny looking sculptural works by Rodrigo De la Sierra. Behind is a City Hall building where Shabalov and I attended a small press conference before the tournament. Later we were invited for an interview at a local University radio station.

Sculptures

Sculptures in the plaza by Rodrigo De la Sierra whose motto is, “Life is too serious to take us so seriously” (click or tap to enlarge)

Another big landmark is Angel de la Libertad, raised in honour of Miguel Hidalgo, the hero of the Mexican War of Independence which we viewed from the elevated deck of an adjacent building while enjoying a beer.

Angel de la Libertad

The "Angel of Liberty" stands 35 metres tall and was built in 2003, representing the freedom of Mexicans

The most of our time in Chihuahua was, however, spent in a new part of town, located alongside Perifico de la Juventud, an elevated highway heading north. Both sides of the road are littered with the trappings of the U.S. cultural invasion: shopping malls, car dealerships, gas stations and restaurants. I didn't care to take any pictures of that.

We stayed at the Microtel Inn on the side of the highway and were driven everywhere, to the tournament and back, and later in the day to places to eat and drink.

The tournament didn't boast a very strong field, but it was headed by two representatives of Latvian chess, both disciples of the great Mikhail Tal.

 
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1.e41,170,31954%2421---
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5 For this principled battle, Shabalov prepared the sideline of the Winawer long favored by Armenian players. 6.Qg4 Normally this move isn't played rightaway. 6.b4 cxd4 7.Qg4 is main line. 6...Kf8?! Shabalov mixed up his lines. 6...Ne7 7.dxc5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 and now Black chooses between 0-0 8...Ng6 or 8...Qa5 7.dxc5! Accepting triple pawns was Spassky's favorite idea in such positions. Here it's further justified by the uncastled black king. Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Nd7 9.Nf3 Ne7 10.c4! Energetic, as expected. Qc7 Black's only counterplay is to attack the e5-pawn. 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.c4 Nxe5 13.Qg3
13...Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Qxc5?! Knowing Shabba as well as I do after the 30 years of playing together, I knew he is always going to pick up the gauntlet, however suicidal it might be. A more sober decision would be to suffer in the endgame after 14...Qxg3 15.hxg3 Ne7 16.Rb1 f6 17.Bd3 Kf7 Not Shabba's style for sure. 15.Bd2 Ne7 16.Bb4 Qc6 17.Rd1 Bd7 18.Rg1 Rg8 19.Bd3 f5? The players post-mortem revolved around 19...a5 20.Be4 Shirov preferred 20.Bd6 f5 21.Be2+- 20...Qxc4 21.Bxe7+ Kxe7 22.Qd6+ Kf6 23.Qd2 23.Qxd7 Rad8 23...g5 24.Bxh7 Bc6 25.Bxg8 Rxg8 where Black can and will fight on. 20.Be4 Suddenly it's curtains. 20.Be4 fxe4 21.Qg5 Re8 22.Qf4#
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Shirov,A2636Shabalov,A25481–02018C18Chiahuahua Bionext5

This win pretty much cleared the path for Alexei, who picked up a quick win in the previous round as well. According to the poster in the tournament hall, his next opponent represented Russia.

 
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Anything to avoid the Semi-Slav was the game plan. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.d3 I didn't feel like entering long book lines after 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Na3 0-0 12.Nxb5 Bg4 13.Bc2 exd4 14.cxd4 d5 15.e5 Ne4 was the last thing I remembered. Shirov must have known ten more forced moves from this point onward. 7...d6 8.Be3 I was overtaken by a sudden impulse to give up my light-squared-bishop. 8.c3 h6 9.a4 Rb8 I wasn't sure what to do next. 8...Bxe3 9.fxe3 Na5 10.Nc3 0-0 11.Qe1 Nxb3 I expected 11...c6 and didn't rate my chances too highly. The game has already gone wrong for White. 12.axb3 b4 13.Nd5 Here I felt more optimistic. Nxd5 14.exd5 a5 15.c3?! I decided to lure his bishop to b7, counting on exactly what happened in the game, except for the last move. How ironic. Much better was 15.c4 f5 16.e4 f4 17.d4∞ 15...Bb7 16.c4 c6 17.e4 f5 18.Qh4 Rf6 All according to plan. 19.exf5 Too bad I didn't take a better look at 19.dxc6 Qb6+ 20.d4 Bxc6 21.c5 19...cxd5 20.Ng5 Or at 20.d4 here. 20...h6 21.Ne6 Qe7 22.d4?? Truth be told, White already has to fight for a draw, and he may get it after 22.Qg4 dxc4 23.bxc4 Bc8 24.Qe4 Ra7 25.Qd5 providing Black goes for Bxe6 25...Kh7!? 26.Rxa5 Rxa5 27.Qxa5 Qf7 28.Nd8 Qh5 29.Qxb4 Qe2 26.fxe6 Qxe6 27.Rxa5 Rxa5 28.Qxa5 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Qf5+ 30.Ke2 Qg4+ 31.Ke1 Qxg2 32.Qxb4 Qg1+ 33.Kd2 Qxh2+ 34.Kc3 e4 35.Qb8+ Kh7 36.Qe8= 22...Rxe6 Oops. I guess my plan had a hole in it. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yermolinsky,A2510Shirov,A26360–12018C77Chiahuahua Bionext4

Yermo from Russia?

Shabalov's quip: Yermo changed his federation back to Russia in protest against Kavanaugh's nomination to SCOTUS.

What happened to me in his game can be described as a senior moment. Fortunately, I didn't have any more of those in Chihuahua. Meanwhile, Shirov concluded the event with two more wins, finishing with a perfect 7/7 score.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 "He sticks to his guns he takes the road as it comes" describes Shirov's way of life and chess, courtesy of Dire Straits. 7.e4 Kudos to Shirov's unknown opponent for taking up the challenge. b5 8.e5 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.g3 Bb7 12.Bg2 Qb6 13.exf6 0-0-0 14.0-0 c5 15.d5 b4 16.Rb1 Qa6 17.dxe6 Bxg2 18.e7 Bxf1 19.Qd5 Re8 A relatively new path Alexei took lately. Prior to that there had been many games featuring 19...Bh6 20.Bxh6 Bd3 21.Qa8+ Nb8 22.exd8Q+ Rxd8 23.Re1 bxc3 24.Bf4 and 19...Bxe7 20.fxe7 Rdg8 21.Ne4 Rg6 22.Qa8+ Nb8 23.Rxf1 Qc6 24.Rd1 While I used to be well versed in those matters, having invented this whole 19.Qd5 thing during my game with Ivanchuk, USSR Ch Qualifier Pinsk 1986, these days I don't think I have anything to add. 20.Ne4 Bh6
Crossroads 21.Nd6+ I'm curious about this one: 21.Rd1 Bxg5 22.Qxd7+ Kb8 23.Nxc5 Qb6 24.Qd5 Bh3 25.Qe5+ Kc8 26.Qxg5 Qc6 27.Rd5 Does White have enough for a rook? Known is 21.Bxh6 Rxh6 22.Nd6+ 22.Qxf7 Rhh8 23.Rxf1 Qc6 Once the black queen intercepts this vital long diagonal White will be reduced to searching for a draw. 22...Qxd6 23.Qxd6 Rxf6 24.Qd5 Bd3 Engines say 24...Be2! 25.Re1 Kc7 Kopasov-Arslanov, 2012 and Grigorian-Shirov, 2016. 21...Kc7 22.Bxh6? This is where the local kid went wrong. 22.Nxe8+ Rxe8 23.Bxh6 Bh3! It's a safe bet we won't see 23...Qc6 again: 24.Qxc6+ Kxc6 25.Kxf1 Nxf6 26.Re1 Nd5 27.h4± Pacher-Shirov, Avicenna Open 2017 24.Bf4+ Kb6 White is still in the game, albeit I'd trust Shirov's analysis more. 22...Qxd6! 23.Bf4 Qxf4 24.gxf4 The queen sac was rather obvious and forced, but this whole thing is about the next move. Bh3! 25.f3 Reg8+ 26.Kf2 Be6 In the Botvinnik, Black can give up anything, but the f7-pawn. Here it is safe. 27.Qe4
As expected Shirov's calculations were impeccable. 27...Rh5! 27...Rxh2+ 28.Ke3 Rh5 29.Qxe6! fxe6 30.f7 Rhh8 31.Rh1 and White might escape with a draw in the resulting rook endgame. 28.f5 Now 28.Qxe6 fxe6 29.f7 meets with Rxh2+ 30.Ke3 30.Kf1 Rf8 31.e8Q Rh1+ 32.Kf2 Rxb1-+ 30...Rgg2! 31.Re1 Nb6 mating. 28...Rxf5 29.Qh4 Ne5 30.Rg1 Rxf3+ 31.Ke2 Rxg1
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Martinez,C2166Shirov,A26360–12018D44Chiahuahua Bionext6

Shirov

The winner in concentration mode

I had a fun last round game that featured an incredible rook move from my opponent.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.Bc4 I have been wondering about this sharp move for years. b5 Risky. I didn't want to give him an easier game after 9...h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.f4 12.Rhe1 Be7 12...b5 13.Bb3 Be7 14.h4 albeit Black has h5!? 10.Nxc6 10.Bb3 I planned to answer with b4
inviting various tactical lines. 11.Nxc6 11.Nd5 exd5 My intention was 11...Nxe4!? 12.Bxd8 Nxd2 13.Nc7+ Kxd8 14.Nxa8 Nxd4 15.Rxd2 Nxb3+ 16.axb3 Bc6 17.Nb6 Bxg2 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.exd5 Bb5 14.Rhe1+ Be7 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Qxb4 0-0 17.Qf4 Somehow I didn't feel too happy about this, the computers optimism notwithstanding. 11...Bxc6 Not 11...bxc3 12.Qxc3 Qc7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Qxf6 Rg8 15.Nd4± 12.Bxf6 In case of 12.Nd5?! Nxe4 is even stronger now as Ra8 is defended. 12...Qxf6 13.Ba4 Rc8 14.Bxc6+ Rxc6 15.Na4 Be7 is about equal.
10...Bxc6 11.Bd5?! David wanted a sharp game. 11.Bd3 isn't inspiring, as White is down a tempo compared to an old Kasparov line. 11...exd5 12.exd5 Bb7 13.Rhe1+ Kd7! Perhaps he underestimated the strength of this king move. 14.Qd4 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Rxe4 f6 16.Be3 Qc7 14...h6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Qb6 Rb8 17.Re8?!
Shock. I saw 17.Nxb5 Qd8 was nothing for him, but expected 17.a4 b4 18.Qxb4 Be7 19.Qg4+ Kc7 20.Qc4+ Kb6 17...Kxe8 18.Qc7 A beautiful idea, but there's a simple refutation. Rd8 18...Qd8? 19.Re1+ Be7 20.Rxe7+ Qxe7 21.Qxb8+ Qd8 22.Qxb7 Kf8 23.Qxa6∞ 19.Re1+ Be7 20.Qxb7 Kf8-+ 21.Re3 h5 22.Ne4 Qf5 23.Qc7 Qd7 24.Qc3 h4 25.Qd3 Rh5 26.Rf3 Qg4 27.g3 hxg3 28.Rxg3 Qf5 29.Qd4 Qe5 With this win, I joined Shabalov and Juan Carlos Gonzalez for the share of 2nd-4th, and surprisingly beat them on tie-breaks for second place and a 10,000 pesos prize.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Encinas Varela,D1879Yermolinsky,A25100–12018B67Chiahuahua Bionext7

Encinas Varela

David Encinas Varela

During our lively post-mortem, we became friends with David Encinas, who certainly is a way stronger player than his modest rating indicates.

As the final results were counted I was shocked to learn that the tie-breaks saw me finishing second (!), even though I didn't face any titled players aside from Shirov. The 10,000 pesos prize [about USD $515] felt like a lottery win, and promptly spent it all during our last day in Chihuahua.

Shopping spree

Yermo's shopping spree

In the evening, David drove us back across the border. We came through at a different crossing, manned by just one sleepy guard who wore a ski mask. It seems he could barely understand David's Spanish and didn't even bother to open our passports. No signs of the wall being built any time soon.

At the risk of injecting politics into a chess article, I'd like to offer the following. There's no threat of invasion from Mexico. All Mexicans who ever wanted to move to the United States have already done so; and the rest, such as my friend David, are quite happy where they are.

David Encines

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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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