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I arrived at the 2011 Las Vegas Chess Festival in the usual way, a few days early, so I could ... Oh wait, I just remembered the title of this article!
What was I saying? Oh yeah ... chess! The Chess Festival is just that. The event consists of a big tournament (National Open), a chess camp (I was one of the four GM teachers, with over 35 students!), a ten-minute tournament, a five-minute tournament, and lots of lectures and simuls.
The “main event” starts Friday, and there are two rounds per day, ending Sunday night. Sometimes, I play a quick draw or two, as I have found there are other things to do in Las Vegas, which seems to be a problem with a lot of players, although I will say this is a problem I will not have next year. Fun before and after the event is a good thing (I got backed up by Martha Stewart), but during the tournament is a no-no.
Round one started well, as I beat my dad’s friend from back in the day, David Kerman. David lived in Michigan in the 1960s, and still keeps in touch with my dad, although neither play chess very often nowadays. I was much better after the opening, and should have played more incisively as early as move 15, but was able to win without too much fanfare.
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Round two was already difficult. In fact, #1 seed and Dutch GM Loek van Wely played 2500 rated California IM Matikozian, and lost! I was more fortunate, winning an amazing game which should have ended in a draw. I thought my opponent had seen the correct continuation, as he thought over thirty minutes in the critical position, before playing 46.Ke7+! Then he blundered with 47.g7? instead of the instantly drawing 47.Qxa1+! Kxa1 48.g7 Bh7 49.Kd6 and I cannot save my “a” pawn. If I can defend the “a” pawn with my bishop, he simply promotes his pawn on g8, and then takes the “a” pawn. When I showed this “simple” draw to my opponent after the game, he said he simply did not see that line. A fortuitous win (that means lucky… yeah, you know what it means).
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The draw-fest started the next two rounds, as it was 2700 time!
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I drew quickly with GM Gelashvili, then, I drew quickly with GM Atalik, although, that draw has a funny story! I walked into the tournament room, with 2.5-0.5 expecting to play a 2650+, and instead, one of the directors (NTD Chris Bird) walked up to me as I approached the pairings and told me that my pairing was odd. I looked and immediately saw what he meant. I was paired down, to a 2400 player who had 2 points! I was a middle 2.5 playing a middle 2! I was confused, went to the TDs, and after they investigated, they found a glitch in the pairings, and the re-pair of the section had me playing someone rated 2670+!
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Sunday morning was unkind as I was paired with reigning National Open champion and recent Chicago Open winner (both clear first!) GM Timur Gareev. I thought I equalized (so does Houdini) but somehow was outplayed and lost the game. I am still not 100% sure what I did wrong (maybe it was a bad pairing!). I felt a little better a few weeks later, when Gareev crushed van Wely in round 8 of the World Open in less than 25 moves!
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I was paired down in the last round, but my opponent traded all the pieces, and the position was completely drawn very quickly. I played an improvement over an earlier loss to GM Kraai (also in the National Open, albeit a few years back), and instead of losing, got total equality, although it was a bit too equal… back to the drawing board, so to speak.
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I did not win a cash prize in Vegas, but I enjoyed the sights and had fun in the nice Vegas weather. Next year though, I am going to win this thing --- again!
