[imagefield_assist|fid=9381|preset=fullsize|lightbox=true|title=Jialin Ding, right, plays Tatev Abrahamyan in a bounty Blitz tournament before the start of last year's U.S. Women's Championship. Jialin recently became a master and is rapidly improving.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=680|height=491]
Another weekend Open tournament ends in tragedy --- for most! Sunday is always a tough day, but wait, I am getting ahead of myself ...
The Continental Chess Association (CCA) runs tournaments all throughout the country, and their annual event in Saint Louis (well, Clayton actually) was held March 18-20 at the Crowne Plaza in Clayton (obviously). The tournament was quite well attended, about 185 players, although I guess a bit less than expected, as far as the prizes were concerned.
There were several sections, and the Finegolds both played in the Open, as did CCSCSL employee Bill Thompson. We all started well, as Bill beat a player 300 points higher rated in round 1! Spencer drew Kevin Cao, and I won against Barry Manthe in, of all openings, a Finegold Defense!
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Round 2 also went well for the above three. “Billy T” took a half-point bye to help his kids at the local Gateway tournament. Spencer won against a 2100+, and I did the same. My game was a bit odd, as I gradually outplayed my opponent, and in a completely winning position, I played the awful 22.Qa6?? I guess the move is better than Rybka indicates, as it led my opponent to resign! Better than resignation was 22…Rxc1+ 23.Rxc1 Nxf4!! and black is about equal.
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The most interesting game of round 2 was certainly young Jialin Ding’s win over GM Sergey Kudrin! Jialin recently made master, and has improved immensely since I moved to Saint Louis.
Round 3 was entertaining, as Spencer and “Billy T” matched up in a game that lasted more than 5 hours! Spencer was able to win, and stand at an amazing 2.5-0.5. Not to be outdone, I outplayed young Adarsh (Stan Marsh?) Jayakumar, whom my avid readers will remember I beat last year in the 2010 Chicago Open in a drawish opposite bishop endgame. This time things were quite tricky, and white allowed a rook penetration (it makes the Lambada look like Church!) that was decisive. The game ended in a nice king hunt.
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Unfortunately, this is the part of the article where I write about the last day, the dreaded Sunday rounds. I was white against IM Angelo Young, and was slightly better throughout, but, in the end, I could see nothing better than a repetition (always repeat). This was my first draw since the Spice Cup in November. Spencer drew easily with black against FM Andrew Karklins, to stand at 3-1. Spencer has lost only three games this year, and he has played over 40.
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I had a nice pairing in the last round, black against Ding. Normally on board 1 of an open tournament, I am playing a 2400-2650 in the last round, so playing someone south of 2200 was nice. Unfortunately (for me!) Jialin continued his good play, and I was never better, settling for a draw, when my exchange sacrifice, followed by my overlooking 33.f4! did not pan out as I expected. My position was not as bad as I had thought when I offered the draw, but, I am still glad he accepted! A fantastic tournament for Jialin, who gained over 50 rating points!
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Spencer, on board six, had a completely winning position against a 2200, but faltered in the ending, and eventually lost. Spencer lamented the fact that was likely his only chance to ever tie for first in an Open tournament with GMs and IMs. I think he will have more chances in the coming years. On board two, I thought Young had a nice position against FM Conrad Holt, but Conrad held the draw. On board 3 Kudrin was losing (white white!) but he was able to come back and win. On board four IM Ron Burnett was worse throughout, but eventually was able to set up a checkmate in a long endgame. His opponent said he was tired from playing two six hour games Saturday! Karklins also tied for first with 4-1 by making quick work of CCSCSL regular Joe Garnier. Joe won a funny game in round 4, whereupon his rook and pawn overpowered his opponent’s queen (with a lot of help from his opponent!).
The tournament was quite nice from my perspective, being so close to home, but maybe I can do better next year, especially on Sunday! A shout out to Dushyanth and Danielle for hanging out this weekend, visiting Saint Louis all the way from Chicago.
The following players tied for first in the Open Section:
GM Kudrin, GM Finegold, IM Young (winner on tiebreak!), IM Burnett, FM Holt, FM Karklins, and Ding each scoring 4-1.
The USCF rated report can be found at: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201103207431.0
