[imagefield_assist|fid=9256|preset=fullsize|lightbox=true|title=William Tong, left, faced Resident GM Ben Finegold in round one of the Saint Louis Open.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=700|height=464]I played in the Bill Wright Saint Louis Open this weekend. The tournament was not as strong as last year, but, to make up for it, the CCSCSL was also running the Saint Louis Invitational, which has two qualifying spots for the 2011 U.S. Championship.
I started well, winning my first four, but could not hold onto first place, as I lost to GM Mesgen Amanov in the last round.
Let's take a look at the games:
ROUND 1
My first game was against Will.I.am "Billy" Tong. William played the opening in suspicious fashion (5.Nf3? instead of 5.Nb5) and blundered a couple of pawns early (10.a3?), missing 11...Qa5. My technique was not very good. I should have played 20...Ba6 instead of 20...h3? But, I was able to hang on and win.
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ROUND 2
My second game was against CCSCSL Board Member Jim Voelker. I have played Jim several times since I moved to Saint Louis and we always have tough games. This was no exception, as Jim held firm (That's what ...), and only at the very end was I able to eek out a victory. 44...Rg8? was the beginning of the end, once I found 45.Rf4!
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ROUND 3
The last game to finish Saturday night (I guess it is all right for fighting) was against my nemesis, Ron Luther. I faced Ron once in 2010, and he hung mate in one in a bad position. This game, however, was amazing, and I was barely able to convert my advantage. Ron played the opening in enterprising fashion, and was soon worse. I eventually sacrificed a pawn, and was able to win two pawns as compensation (!) and had a difficult ending to convert. Just when all seemed well, I missed the crushing 56..Nf6! (Rybka says +34!) and Ron may have held the draw if he played 67.Qc4+ (He said he missed 68.Qc8+, thinking I would be winning after 67...Kh3). The finish was quite pretty, and we both had less than 5 minutes in the second sudden death time control when the game concluded.
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ROUND 4
The four highest-rated players were 3-0, although, the highest-rated player, Goran Vojinovic actually drew my son, Spencer Finegold, in round 1. It was quite the upset, as Spencer had won 26 USCF rated games in a row, and many were shocked that a mere IM could hold the streaking Spencer. Spencer was so distraught at only drawing Goran, that he could not win a game all weekend. Goran, however, took advantage of the re-entry option, and was standing at 3-0 in no time at all. Goran drew a long ending with GM Mesgen Amanov, and I won a nice game against 2350 rated Timur Aliyev. Timur overlooked the nice 28.Qa5! and went down quickly thereafter.
I was now all alone at 4-0, and was to have black in the final round against the only other GM.
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ROUND 5
Tragedy! I was slightly worse in an Exchange Slav against Mesgen, then, finally, when I equalized, I made several errors in mild time trouble and lost horribly. I decided to set a little trap on move 29, with Nb5? I was hoping for 30.Nxe6? Rc8!! winning. But, as soon as I played 29...Nb5, I realized 30.Qa4! is quite annoying. I found the best move 30..a6, but then played several bad moves. I can keep near equality with 31..g5, but instead played the losing 31..Qc8?
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Congrats to GM Amanov for a fine victory. I was able to tie for 2nd, with Aliyev (who beat IM Vojinovic in the last round), and two experts, who won their last games, as we all scored 4-1. The Saint Louis Invitational has many fine games, and lots of decisive results. Thus far, GM Gregory Kaidanov is in clear first with 3.5-1.5. Michael Brooks is having a fantastic tournament with an undefeated 3-2 score! I recommend all my local blog readers come watch the last few rounds, Monday and Tuesday at the CCSCSL!
