Games
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Akopyan, Harutyun"]
[Black "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2285"]
[BlackElo "2493"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O Ngf6 5. d4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. Nc3 cxd4
8. Qxd4 e6 9. Rd1 f6 10. Qa4 Rb8 11. b4 Kf7 12. Nd4 g5 13. f4 gxf4 14. Bxf4 Qc7
15. Qb3 Ne5 16. Nf5 b5 17. Ne3 Bb7 18. Bxe5 dxe5 19. Rd3 Be7 20. Nf5 Qb6+ 21.
Kh1 Rbd8 22. Rg3 Bf8 23. Rf1 h5 24. Rgf3 Ke8 25. Nh4 Bg7 26. Rg3 Rh7 27. a4
bxa4 28. Nxa4 Qd6 29. Nc5 Bc8 30. Qf3 Qc7 31. c4 a5 32. Qb3 Bf8 33. Rxf6 axb4
34. Nd3 Rg7 35. Rxg7 Bxg7 36. Rf3 Bf8 37. Ng6 Bd6 38. h3 Qg7 39. c5 Bc7 40.
Rf8+ Qxf8 41. Nxf8 Kxf8 42. Nxb4 Rd4 43. Qf3+ Kg7 44. Nc6 Rc4 45. Qg3+ Kh8 46.
Ne7 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Bryant, John Daniel"]
[Black "Mousseri, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2493"]
[BlackElo "2229"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
{2-day schedule} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6
7. h3 Bh5 8. O-O Be7 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. c4 Qc6 11. Nc3 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Bxe2 13. Qxe2
Qc8 14. Rfd1 O-O 15. Rac1 b6 16. g4 Rd8 17. Qf3 Ne5 18. Qg3 Nc6 19. Ndb5 Qb7
20. Qf3 Nd7 21. Bf4 Nc5 22. Bd6 Rac8 23. b4 Bxd6 24. Nxd6 Rxd6 25. Rxd6 Nxb4
26. Qxb7 Nxb7 27. Rd7 Na5 28. Rxa7 Nbc6 29. Ra6 Nxc4 30. Nb5 N6e5 31. f4 Nd7
32. Ra4 Rc5 33. Rcxc4 Rxb5 34. Ra8+ Nf8 35. Rcc8 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Liao, Simone"]
[Black "Wang, Philip"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2204"]
[BlackElo "2478"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Qg4 Kf8 8. h4
Qc7 9. Ra2 Nbc6 10. h5 h6 11. Nf3 Qa5 12. Bd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Qa4 14. Bd3 b6 15.
O-O Ba6 16. Bxa6 Qxa6 17. Qf4 Rc8 18. Rfa1 Qa4 19. Bb4 Ke8 20. c3 a5 21. Bd6
Na7 22. Rb2 Nb5 23. Qd2 Nf5 24. Qd3 Nbxd6 25. exd6 Nxd6 26. Rxb6 Nc4 27. Rb7
Qc6 28. Rab1 Rf8 29. Qh7 Nxa3 30. R1b6 Qxc3 31. Rxe6+ fxe6 32. Qxg7 Qc1+ 33.
Ne1 Rc7 34. Rxc7 Qxc7 35. Qxc7 Rf5 36. Qd6 Kf7 37. Qxa3 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "Kretchetov, Alexander"]
[Black "Ruddell, Solomon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "2155"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 c6 7. Nd2 Nd7 8.
Ngf3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 g6 11. c4 dxc4 12. Nxc4 Nb6 13. Na5 Qd7 14. e4 Rad8
15. Qc2 Rfe8 16. Rfe1 Qc8 17. b4 a6 18. g3 Kg7 19. Kg2 Rd7 20. Re3 Qd8 21. Rae1
Bb8 22. Qb3 Nc8 23. Qb2 Nb6 24. Qb3 Nc8 25. Qc2 Nb6 26. a4 Nc8 27. Nb3 Ba7 28.
Nc5 Bxc5 29. bxc5 Qc7 30. Rb1 Ne7 31. Qb2 Rb8 32. Rb3 Nc8 33. e5 fxe5 34. Nxe5
Re7 35. Ng4 f6 36. d5 Rf7 37. Rf3 Qe7 38. Nxf6 Rxf6 39. Re1 Qxe1 40. Qxf6+ Kh6
41. Qf4+ 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open U2200"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1.10"]
[White "Lin, Daniel"]
[Black "Costello, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C09"]
[WhiteElo "2073"]
[BlackElo "1943"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. h4 Kh8 13. h5 gxh5 14. O-O-O Ne8
15. Rxh5 e5 16. Be3 f5 17. Bg5 Rf6 18. Rdh1 h6 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Rxh6+ Bxh6 21.
Rxh6+ 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "1.69"]
[White "Taleghani, Shayesteh"]
[Black "Ivanov, Aleksandr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2283"]
[BlackElo "2100"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bc4 e6 7. N5f3 Nb6 8.
Bb3 h6 9. Nh3 c5 10. O-O c4 {Black wins a piece. The Bishop is trapped.} 11.
Bxc4 Nxc4 12. b3 Nd6 13. Bb2 b6 14. Nf4 Bb7 15. Ne5 Be7 16. Re1 O-O 17. Qe2 Nf5
18. Rad1 Qc7 19. Ned3 Kh8 20. Ne5 Rac8 21. c4 Bb4 22. Rf1 Rce8 23. Rc1 Bd6 24.
Nfd3 Kh7 25. f3 Rd8 26. Qf2 Nd7 27. f4 Nf6 28. Rfd1 Be7 29. Ne1 Ne4 30. Qe2 f6
31. N5f3 Qxf4 32. Nc2 Bd6 33. Rd3 Kh8 34. Nce1 Ng5 35. Rc2 Be4 36. Bc1 Bxd3 37.
Qxd3 {Black is up a Rook.} Nxf3+ 38. Nxf3 Qg4 39. Re2 e5 40. d5 Bc5+ 41. Kh1
Nd4 42. Re4 Qh5 {One more illegible move is on the score sheet, and White
somehow won, although Black has been up by big material for about 30 moves!}
1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Sevillano, Enrico"]
[Black "Hilby, Craig"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2561"]
[BlackElo "2293"]
[Annotator "10/11/13 Craig Hilby"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {My GM opponent,
playing a lower rated person, wanted to get out of theory and not play a
theoretical game.} b5 7. Bb3 d6 {Here, I did not know any specific theory and
just knew the ideas in the Ruy Lopez.} 8. a4 {A common move in the Ruy Lopez,
trying to gain a small plus on the queenside, whether it be the open a-file or
some discoordination between the Black army.} (8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 {would soon
transpose into a line I know, as White will sooner or later play Re1 (so that
Nbd2-f1-g3 is possible).} 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nf1 h6 13. Ng3 Bf8 14.
h3 {Both sides are playing according to plan. White can either play on the
kingside or break open the center with d4. If White does nothing, then Black
will prepare d5.} Nc6 15. d4 (15. a4 Bb7 {And Black has equalized, both sides
have chances.}) 15... cxd4 16. cxd4 exd4 17. Nxd4 Nxd4 18. Qxd4 Bb7 19. Bf4 Rc8
20. Bb3 d5 $1 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. Rxe8 Qxe8 23. Bxd5 Rd8 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Qe3
Qxe3 26. Bxe3 Rd3 {And with his two bishops and much more active pieces, Black
has enough compensation for the pawn.}) 8... b4 {I decide to close up the
queenside and take away the c3 square from the knight. I knew that my
opponent's next move was forced if he wanted to play for an advantage. The
only other move I seriously considered was 8...Bd7 which is also good and has
been played many times before.} (8... Bd7 {Keeping the tension on the
queenside and keeping the bishop on the correct c8-h3 diagonal.} 9. c3 (9. Nc3
b4 (9... Na5 10. Ba2 b4 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 c6 13. Ba2 c5) 10. Nd5 Na5 $1 11.
Ba2 (11. Nxb4 c5 12. Nd5 Nxb3 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. cxb3 O-O $11) 11... Nxd5 12.
Bxd5 c6 13. Ba2 c5 {I would prefer Black here}) 9... O-O 10. Nbd2 Na5 11. Bc2 (
11. Ba2 c5) 11... c5 {With equal chances}) (8... Bg4 {The pin does not do
anything here} 9. c3 {conveniently guarding the d4 square and getting the c2
square for the bishop.}) (8... Rb8 {Has been played by top players like
Aronian and is not mentioned as bad, but I wonder why. It seems that this move
is too passive as it is just willing to give White the open a-file for free
and admitting to White that he is the one with a solid advantage.} 9. axb5 axb5
10. Nc3 $14) 9. a5 {Taking the a5 square from the knight and getting the a4
square, but creating a weak pawn on a5. White is trying to gain space and take
squares away from my pieces.} (9. Nbd2 Na5 10. Ba2 c5 {White doesn't have any
part of the board where he can claim to have an advantage, and Black should
have an equalized or very close to equalized position.}) 9... O-O 10. Nbd2 (10.
c3 Rb8 {and I will keep the tension between these two pawns, as it will be
infavorable for White to capture on b4 because it would create weak squares on
d4 and b4.}) 10... Rb8 {Here I had a long think about what my plans should be,
and I came up with three. This move is helpful in two of the three plans, and
can therefore be considered a strong non-commital move.} (10... h6 {was the
start of the third plan, which I denied because of its passivity compared to
the other two active plans that I had that were based on the weakened a5 pawn.}
11. h3 Re8 {the plan is designed to prepare Be6, with the preparatory moves h6,
Re8, and Bf8. However, White can claim an advantage after} 12. Nc4 Bf8 13. Ne3
Be6 14. Nd5 $1 Bxd5 15. exd5 Ne7 16. Ba4 Nexd5 17. Bxe8 Qxe8 $14 {There is
compensation, but not quite enough for equality}) 11. Bc4 $6 {Honestly, I
don't understand the point of this move. I have a feeling my opponent thought
that it would prevent my bishop on c8 from moving to e6 or g4, but if I wanted
to I could still go there anyways.} Na7 {This is in my opinion the best plan,
with a plan of playing c5, to shut down the center, and then knight back to c6
where it will be hard to defend the a5 pawn.} (11... Nd7 {was the second plan,
and the idea is to place the knight on c5, where it would prepare Be6 (and
would have attacked the b3 bishop if it were still there) and I would consider
to go f5 afterwards and play on the kingside.} 12. Nb3 {is the main reason I
denied Nd7, as this move just stops Nc5.} (12. h3 Nc5 13. Re1 Be6 14. Bxe6 Nxe6
15. Nf1 f5 {would have been my plan})) (11... Be6 {is probably the move my
opponent was trying to prevent, but this move is still perfectly fine to play.}
12. Bxa6 (12. Bxe6 fxe6 $11) 12... Ra8 13. Bc4 Rxa5 14. Rxa5 Nxa5 15. Bxe6 fxe6
$11 {I knew this line was about equal, but I wanted to play for more}) 12. d4 {
Even though this is probably the best move in the position, I was pretty happy
to see this move during the game because my opponent was opening up the
position even though I am better prepared for it and that meant that my
opponent didn't actually know what he was doing.} exd4 13. Nxd4 c5 {connecting
the pawn chain and kicking the knight back from d4, which will allow my knight
to jump in to c6.} (13... Nxe4 {was not good} 14. Nxe4 d5 15. Bd3 dxe4 16. Bxe4
$14) 14. Ne2 {I am not sure why my opponent decided to play here, maybe he
didn't realize that his pawns were in danger?} (14. N4f3 {was a better choice,
to give the queen access to e2.} Nc6 15. Qe2 Nxa5 (15... Ra8 16. Bd5 Nxd5 17.
exd5 Na7 (17... Nxa5 18. Rxa5 Qxa5 19. Qxe7) 18. Re1 Bf6 19. Nc4 Nb5 $11) 16.
Bxa6 $11 {The position is about equal, although here I would prefer to play
Black}) 14... Nc6 {Going into the game, I was honored to get to play a GM
opponent and thought it would be a good test of my skill and would teach me a
thing or two. At the beginning of the game, I would have been very happy with
a draw as Black against a GM. Around now, I looked at my position and began to
realize," Hey, this guy may be a GM, but he's really not that good, or at
least not better than how I am playing because I've outplayed this guy so far
and it's not even move 15!" Right now I began to change my mindset to go all
out for the win as you should always respect your opponent, but not respect
your opponent so much or so little as to change the way you think or play just
because your opponent is a GM or a 500 rated player.} 15. Nb3 $2 {This move
goes from a slightly worse to very close to losing position. Judging by the
fact that my opponent played his next move immediately, he valued the a5 pawn
more than his c4 bishop, which is completely wrong. White should have just
given up the a5 pawn, and had pressure on a6 and a still playable position.
However now, White loses his light-squared bishop and all control over the
light-squares (which was absolutely essential for him as my pawn chain d6, c5,
and b4 is on dark-squares).} (15. Nf4 Nxa5 16. Bd3 {White says ok, you won a
pawn, but I have great compensation for it in your weak a6 pawn and my much
more active pieces compared to your passive ones. White has light-square
control and will soon play b3 and Bb2 with ideas of either e5 or attacking on
the kingside.} Nc6 17. Nc4 (17. b3 Ne5) 17... Re8 18. b3 Bf8 $1 {Black attacks
the e4 pawn while manouevering the f8 bishop to the long diagonal where it
will oppose White's bishop.} 19. Re1 g6 20. Bb2 Bg7 {However, I prefer Black
here as he is up a pawn.}) 15... Ne5 $1 {picks up the favorable exchange of a
knight for White's strong Ruy Lopez bishop. In general, if Black is able to
trade off White's light-squared bishop in a Ruy Lopez, then Black has either
equalized or is even better. In this case, I am much better because of White's
weak pawns and my strong queenside ones.} 16. Bd5 (16. Bd3 $4 c4 {wins a piece}
) (16. Nd2 {was the only alternative, but it is ugly} Nxe4 (16... Nxc4 17. Nxc4
Nxe4 18. Re1 d5 {is also good for Black}) 17. Bxf7+ (17. Nxe4 Nxc4 18. Nf4 Bb7
19. Nd5 f5 $17) 17... Rxf7 18. Nxe4 d5 $17 {Black completely owns the center,
has the much more active pieces and the bishop pair, and can pick off the a5
pawn with Rb5-Rxa5 if he wants to. Black is winning here.}) 16... Nxd5 17. exd5
(17. Qxd5 $2 {is even worse due to} c4 18. Nd2 (18. Nbd4 Bb7 {traps the queen})
(18. f4 Bb7 19. Qd4 cxb3 20. fxe5 bxc2 21. exd6 Qxd6 $19) 18... Bf6 {with the
threat of Bb7} 19. Nf3 {an unfortunate necessity} (19. Nxc4 Be6) 19... Bb7 20.
Qd1 Bxe4 $19) 17... Rb5 $1 {targeting both the a5 and d5 pawns. Now, c4 and
Rxd5 is a threat. Notice how all of White's pieces are inactive and how a lot
of Black's pieces are.} 18. Nf4 $5 {A pretty clever move, daring me to be
ambitious.} (18. f4 Nc4 {and I will just capture on a5 with my knight and be a
pawn up.}) 18... c4 $2 {When my opponent played Nf4, the first move that
immediately came to me was just c4 to pick up the a5 pawn. After a minute of
thought, I came up with the very interesting 18...g5!?. After analyzing 18...
g5 for maybe about 10 minutes and declining it, I checked 18...c4 for any
blunders, and then played it. I did not really take much time to understand
the position if I did not play a forcing move. Actually, White can't really do
anything useful if I just play simple moves to improve my position and save
pawn-snatching for later.} (18... Re8 $1 {White can't really do anything and
my position is winning here as all of White's pieces suck.} 19. Re1 Bg4 20. f3
Bf5) (18... g5 $6 {I correctly refrained from playing this move, which is
over-ambitious, but went on to play a worse move, 18...c4?. This is
interesting because the knight on f4 doesn't really have many squares, as if
it goes back to e2 then Black's g5 was a good move, it can't go to h5 because
of Bg4, and if it goes to d3 White has to have seen what happens after 19...c4}
19. Nd3 c4 (19... Bg4 {is the best move in the position} 20. f3 Bf5 21. Nbxc5
Rxc5 22. Nxc5 dxc5 $17) 20. Nd4 (20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. d6 Qxd6 22. Qxd6 Bxd6 23.
Nd2 Be6 $17) 20... cxd3 (20... Rxd5 21. Nxb4 Rc5 22. Ra3 {And White is doing
fine}) 21. Nxb5 axb5 22. cxd3 Bf5 23. a6 Bxd3 24. Re1 {This is not what Black
wants when looking at the position from move 18, even though he is still
slightly better in this complicated position.}) 19. Nd4 Rxa5 {Now I am up a
pawn, but I missed White's response to this.} 20. Rxa5 Qxa5 {It seems that
Black has a clear advantage, but....} 21. Nc6 $1 {If I don't take the knight,
then it will take the pawn on b4. If I do take the knight, then White will
have gained the d5 square and some strong compensation.} (21. Re1 {Playing
normally is basically admitting resignation.} Bg4 22. f3 Bd7 {and Black will
certainly win here.}) 21... Nxc6 $6 (21... Qc7 {was better} 22. Nxb4 Re8 $15 {
and Black has lost a lot of the advantage, but is still better here with a
solid advantage.}) 22. dxc6 Qc5 23. Qd5 $2 {In my opinion, this is the losing
move. This basically transitions into an endgame that is much better for Black
and very hard for White to defend, even if it isn't losing with best play.} (
23. Qf3 $1 Be6 {to try to prepare d5} 24. Be3 {playing with tempo} Qf5 25. Ra1
{and White has very good compensation}) (23. Nd5 {of course also needs to be
considered, but Black will be better after} Bh4 $1 (23... Bd8 $2 {is less clear
} 24. Qf3 Be6 25. Rd1 Kh8 26. Nf4 d5 27. Nxd5 Qxc6 28. Nxb4 Qxf3 29. gxf3 {and
although Black is better, White has great chances at survival.}) 24. Bf4 (24.
g3 Be6 $1 25. Nc7 Bd8 $19) 24... Qxc6 25. g3 Bd8 26. Nxb4 Qb5 27. Bxd6 Re8 {
and although material is equal, Black is much better because of the very weak
long diagonal and the major discoordination between the White pieces.} 28. Qd5
{is the only move, or else Black will be winning after Bb7} Bb7 29. Qxb5 axb5 {
Black has great winning chances in this endgame as Black has targets and if
you look closely at the position, White has no way to attack any of Black's
pawns.}) 23... Be6 $1 {I guess I just outcalculated my opponent when I played
21...Nxc6 as he didn't see my 27th move.} 24. Qxc5 (24. Qe4 {is another way to
transition into an endgame, but it is still much worse for White} d5 (24... Qe5
{is also possible} 25. Qxe5 dxe5 26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Re1 Rc8 28. Rxe5 Rxc6 $15)
25. Nxe6 dxe4 26. Nxc5 Bxc5 $15) 24... dxc5 {I will soon snatch up the c6 pawn
and be a pawn up. Also, my king will be able to advance to the center a lot
quicker than White's, as White will eventually take Nxe6 and I will take back
fxe6, opening the f7 square for my king.} 25. Re1 (25. Nxe6 fxe6 26. Re1 Rc8 {
just transposes to the game continuation}) 25... Rc8 26. Nxe6 {White doesn't
really have any other options, as this is all forced.} fxe6 27. Rxe6 Kf7 $1 {
I am assuming that this is what my opponent missed when he played 23.Qd5. The
rook can no longer defend the c6 pawn and Black will be up a pawn.} 28. Re4 {
the best square for the rook, to put pressure on the c4 pawn and to try to win
the pawn back and possibly hold the ending.} Rxc6 29. Kf1 {A necessity, as the
pawn on c4 was untouchable.} (29. Rxc4 $4 {loses immediately to} Rd6 $1 {and
White can't defend against both threats of back rank mate and winning the
bishop on c1.} (29... a5 {was my original plan when I played 23...Be6 and
Black is still much better (and probably practically winning), but of course
Rd6 is a tactic that wins a piece} 30. Kf1 a4 $17 {Black's idea would be
simple: Ra6, a3, a2, a1=Q}) 30. Rf4+ Bf6 31. g4 Rd1+ 32. Kg2 Rxc1 33. g5 Rxc2
34. gxf6 gxf6 35. b3 c4 $19) 29... c3 $1 {My idea is not to be greedy and to
hold on to the pawn, but to sacrifice my pawn which was going to die anyways
for a very strong passed pawn of my own that eventually decided the game.} (
29... Rd6 {is not as strong} 30. Be3 Rd1+ 31. Ke2 Rb1 32. Rxc4 Rxb2 33. Bxc5
Bxc5 34. Rxc5 $15) 30. bxc3 (30. Rf4+ Bf6 31. bxc3 a5 $17) 30... a5 $1 {
Remember, chess is a game of squares, not material. Quality, not quantity!
Here, Black's doubled c-pawn is useless anyways and my b4 pawn is really
strong in helping my a-pawn advance without being stopped by the rook. Black
is winning} (30... bxc3 $2 {would give away all of my advantage. This is being
too materialistic, and now my rook and bishop become passive defending my weak
pawns.}) 31. Bd2 {This is the best try, to attempt to put pressure on my pawns
and stop my a-pawn from advancing by attacking the b4 pawn.} (31. cxb4 cxb4 32.
Re2 a4 {and the a-pawn will win}) 31... Bf6 {improving my bishop and setting
up a deadly tactical threat...} (31... a4 $4 32. cxb4 {of course is not what
Black wants}) 32. Rc4 {In time pressure, White missed the point of my last
move because he underestimated the power of my passed a-pawn.} (32. g4 {was
the best try, to disrupt my bishop.} a4 33. g5 {However, Black still wins after
} Rd6 $1 34. Ke2 (34. gxf6 Rxd2 35. fxg7 a3 36. Re7+ Kg8 37. Ra7 Rxc2 $19)
34... bxc3 35. Be3 Bd4 {The point of Rd6, to protect the d4 square}) 32... a4
$1 {and just like that, the pawn on a6 that used to be doing nothing becomes a
killer passed pawn that will win a piece} 33. cxb4 (33. Bc1 Bxc3 {and White
can resign.}) 33... a3 34. b5 (34. bxc5 a2 35. Ra4 a1=Q+ 36. Rxa1 Bxa1 37. Be3
Bc3 38. Ke2 Bb4 {is absolutely hopeless for White}) 34... a2 $2 {This does not
throw away the win, but there was a much better way of winning the piece. I
had time to think and should have found this move instead of playing a2
immediately.} (34... Rd6 $1 35. Ra4 Rxd2 36. Rxa3 Rxc2 {The difference between
this line and the game continuation is that I get the c2 pawn for free in this
line, and the game is easily decided.}) 35. Ra4 Rd6 36. Rxa2 (36. Bc3 {was
another way to lose a piece, but it really doesn't matter.} Bxc3 37. Rxa2 Ke6
$19) 36... Rxd2 $19 {And from here on, the result is never in doubt although
Black does have to show some technique and not be careless.} 37. b6 Rd1+ 38.
Ke2 Rb1 {The rook is best behind the passed pawn, where it has more scope.} 39.
Ra7+ Ke6 {going for the b-pawn.} (39... Kg6 $2 {there is no need for king
safety anymore, it is the endgame!}) 40. Rb7 {other options just lost the
b-pawn immediately} (40. Ra6 Kd5 {and the rook is funny looking on a6, where
it does absolutely nothing}) (40. b7 Bd4 41. Kd3 Kd5 42. c4+ Kc6 {and I win
the b7 pawn} 43. g3 Rxb7 $19) 40... Kd6 {Time control has been reached, and I
could relax a little knowing I wasn't going to flag} 41. Rb8 $1 {I have to
give credit to my opponent for playing on and finding the best tries in doing
so. This is a great attempt to try to get the c-pawn for the b-pawn.} Rb5 $1 {
The most accurate! Never relax too soon! The point is to just defend my c5
pawn and to defend my rook against the skewer after Kc6 Rc8+ Kxb6 Rb8+} (41...
Kc6 42. Rc8+ Kb7 (42... Kxb6 $4 43. Rb8+ Kc6 44. Rxb1 $18) 43. Rxc5 Kxb6 44.
Rc4 {and White is one step closer towards a draw, though this should still be
winning.}) (41... Rb4 {was one move I considered, to now threaten Kc6 and Kxb6
after Rc8+ as now the rook is defended on b4 instead of hanging on b1. However,
White can try} 42. b7 {and Black can't move the king to the c-file without
having to give up the c-pawn for the b-pawn, with} Kc7 43. Rc8+ Kxb7 44. Rxc5)
42. g4 {White is relentless in trying to create counterplay} Kc6 {and the
b-pawn is mine, so White goes to the other side of the board to try and create
counterplay.} 43. Rg8 h6 (43... Rxb6 44. g5 Bxg5 (44... Bd4 45. Rh8 {and White
wins the h7 pawn}) 45. Rxg7 h6 46. Rg6+ Kb5 47. Rg7 Rd6 {is also just easily
winning.}) 44. h4 (44. f4 {I thought was a better try to keep a passed pawn on
the edge of the board.} Rxb6 45. g5 hxg5 46. fxg5 Bd4 47. h4 {but of course,
Black is easily winning after} Kd5 48. h5 Ke4) 44... Rxb6 {Snatching up a pawn}
45. g5 hxg5 46. hxg5 {White wants to trade off as many pawns as possible.} Bd4
(46... Bxg5 47. Rxg7 Bf6 {is still easily winning for Black, but I just wanted
to keep as many pawns on the board as possible just to make sure there was no
chance of the win slipping away.}) 47. f4 {Trying to create something on the
kingside.} Kd5 48. f5 Rb7 {just making sure my g7 pawn is super solidly
defended and that White will never have anything to do on the kingside.} (48...
Ke4 {I thought would run into} 49. f6 (49. Rf8 Kf4 50. f6 gxf6 51. gxf6 (51. g6
f5) 51... Rxf6 $19) 49... gxf6 50. g6 f5 51. g7 {winning back the piece and
retaining drawing chances, but of course Black can go} Re6 {and stop the rook
from escaping from g8 and win the pawn next move with Re7 or Bxg7 if the rook
moves away}) 49. Kf3 Kc4 {my plan is simple: Keep the kingside solid and make
sure nothing bad happens there and just take on c2 and advance my c-pawn.} 50.
Rh8 Kc3 51. Rh2 (51. Rh7 Kxc2 52. f6 {looks scary, but actually White has no
progress after this and everything is stuck. Bringing the king in is too slow
also.} c4 53. Ke4 Bb2 54. Kd5 (54. Kf5 Rb5+ 55. Kg6 gxf6 56. gxf6 Rb6 57. Rf7
Rxf6+ 58. Rxf6 Bxf6 59. Kxf6 c3) 54... Kb3 55. Rh3+ c3 56. g6 gxf6 57. Rh7 Rb5+
58. Ke6 c2 59. g7 c1=Q 60. g8=Q Qc4+) 51... Rb2 {No need to worry about the
kingside, everything is solid and protected there. I can just win the c2 pawn
with my rook.} 52. f6 {This was probably played just to try to scare me and
make me nervous as my opponent slammed this move on the board, but I knew that
f6 did nothing as I was confident I hadn't overlooked anything and was not
scared for one second.} gxf6 53. g6 f5 {protecting the g7 square with my
bishop.} 54. Kf4 (54. Rh7 Rb6 (54... Rxc2 {also works} 55. g7 Rf2+ 56. Kg3 Rf1
57. Rh3 Rg1+ 58. Kf4+ Kc4 59. Kxf5 Rxg7 $19) 55. g7 Rg6 56. Rh5 Rxg7 57. Rxf5
Kxc2 $19) (54. Rh4 $5 {I thought would have been a pretty clever idea and trap,
as maybe 1 in 100 or maybe even more people might play} Rxc2 $4 {and it would
be a draw after} (54... Kxc2 {However, is what I was planning as the g-pawn is
stopped after} 55. Rxd4 cxd4 56. g7 Rb8) 55. Rxd4 $1 Kxd4 (55... cxd4 56. g7 {
and actually it is White with the winning chances!}) (55... Ra2 56. Rd5 c4 57.
Rxf5 Ra8 58. g7 Rg8 59. Rg5 Kb2 60. Kf4 c3 61. Rg6 c2 62. Rb6+ Kc1 63. Rg6 Kd2
64. Rd6+ $11) 56. g7 Rc3+ 57. Kf2 (57. Kf4 $4 Rc1 58. g8=Q Rf1+) 57... Rc2+ 58.
Kf3 Rc3+ 59. Kf2 (59. Kg2 $4 f4 60. g8=Q Rg3+) 59... Rc2+ $11) 54... Rxc2 55.
Rh3+ Kb2 56. Kxf5 {and the g-pawn is easily stopped by my rook and bishop, and
I will just push my c-pawn.} Rf2+ 57. Ke4 (57. Kg5 c4 58. Rh7 c3 59. g7 Bxg7
60. Rxg7 Rg2+ 61. Kf6 Rxg7 62. Kxg7 c2) 57... Rg2 58. Kf5 c4 {advancing my
c-pawn while the g-pawn is firmly blockaded.} 59. Rh4 Kc3 60. Ke4 Bg7 (60...
Rxg6 61. Rh3+ Kb2 62. Kxd4 Rg4+ 63. Ke3 c3 64. Kd3 c2 65. Rh2 Rg3+ {is also
winning, but why bother?}) 61. Kf5 (61. Kd5 {I became terrified for a second
as I saw this move, until I saw that the c4 pawn is still safe after} Rg5+ 62.
Ke4 Rxg6 63. Kd5 Rg5+ 64. Kc6 Kb3) 61... Kb3 62. Rh7 Bd4 63. Rh4 Bb2 64. Rh7 c3
{and the c-pawn will soon promote, and g7 does nothing after c2} 65. Rb7+ {One
last check, and White throws in the towel.} Ka2 {Some lessons from this game
include: 1. Never play your game based on who your opponent is (except for
specific opening preparation) and always respect your opponent, but not show
too much respect. The printed letters of GM next to my opponent's name on the
pairing sheet means nothing when it comes to game time. It does not give my
opponent any additional advantage on the board and my opponent can't move the
pieces any differently than I can. It is just a psychological advantage, and
if I can overcome that before the game, then I am sure to play well. 2. a4 is
a very common and thematic move in the Ruy Lopez to try to gain some small
plus on the queenside, and usually Black should either keep the tension by
moving the c8 bishop or by playing b4 and claiming some space for his own. Rb8
is usually not such a great idea because it just gives White the a-file and
some considerable advantage without a fight after axb5.3. In the Ruy Lopez
after a4 and b4, White will very commonly go a5 to claim that square for his
own and to get access to the a4 square for either his rook or bishop. If this
happens, the fight on the queenside will revolve around the activity that
White has gained from the space gaining move a5 versus the weakness of the
pawn on a5. In this game, White didn't play very alertly and Black soon won
the small queenside battle in proving that the pawn on a5 was more of a
weakness than a strength. 4. Always take time to know all the possible plans
that you have and take time to evaluate which one(s) are the best. If the
moves in two different plans are somewhat similar, then always play
noncommital moves first! (10... Rb8!) 5. In general, if Black is able to trade
off White's light-squared bishop in a Ruy Lopez, then Black has either
equalized or is even better. White was playing much too materialistically with
15.Nb3? when in reality he should have been much more concerned about keeping
his Spanish bishop alive. 6. There are some positions where you have to play
urgent moves, whether they are tactical or positional moves, and there are
other positions where you are better and your opponent can't really do
anything useful to untangle himself and has nowhere to start sensible
counterplay. In the position after 18.Nf4, I should have realized that White
doesn't have any useful things that he can do and isn't threatening anything,
and I should have just played calmly with 18... Re8! and just improve my
position without forcing anything. If you will always be able to take a pawn
off, you don't need to do it right away! You can improve your position to the
maximum and restrain your opponent as much as possible before doing anything
commital. 7. In positions where White has a pawn on d5, knight jumps on e6 and
c6 are very common to create an annoying pawn on either e6 or c6 for a few
moves and then put a strong piece on d5 while Black is trying to deal with the
pawn. Being a Benoni player, I should have had the Nc6 idea engraved in my
head because of the idea of going Na5-c6 in the Benoni after Black goes b5.
Also, it is very common in the King's Indian to go Ne6 to get the
light-squared attacking bishop and the d5 square. In the game, I missed the
Nc6 idea because on move 18 I played 18...c4 only after denying g5 and I
didn't really put much analysis into 18...c4 afterwards, as in the first few
minutes of thinking I put g5 as my first option and c4 as my backup move for a
safe advantage. 8. Whenever you are trading a pair of pieces or transitioning
from an opening to a middlegame or a middlegame to an endgame, make sure the
trade or transition is in your favor or at least gives you what you are
looking for. 23...Be6 trading queens was definetly in my favor as it gave me a
clear and close to winning advantage in the endgame. 9. Chess is a game of who
controls the most squares on a board, not who has the most material! Usually,
when you are up material you control more squares than your opponent because
you have more soldiers in your army that control more scope, but that is not
always the case! One good example of this is a beautiful knight on d5 in a
closed position versus a passive rook on the back rank. Also, when material is
equal or when one side doesn't have a massive material deficit, the game is
usually decided by who has the BETTER pieces, not who has MORE VALUABLE pieces
according to material "points" (pawn=1, knight=3, etc). One famous example is
that two pawns on the sixth are better than a rook. The rook is clearly worth
5 points and two pawns are worth 2 points, but it is the quality of the strong
pawns that makes the pawns the stronger pieces. In this game, 30...a5! was a
great move to show that I was not playing material, but rather playing squares
to keep my strong pawn on b4 which denied the White rook access to attack my
powerful a-pawn, and to show that I was playing quality over quantity with
three strong queenside pawns including one monster passer versus two weak
pawns over three scattered immobile pawns over one pawn. 10. If you have one
specific advantage, look for a way to exploit that advantage with any tactics.
In the endgame, my big advantage was my passed a-pawn, and I was able to make
use of it with the winning tactic starting with 32...a4! 11. In an unforced
position, always take at least 10 seconds to think if you are not in major
time trouble. 34... Rd6! basically ended the game immediately instead of 34...
a2 which gave White slightly more drawing chances. 12. In endgames where you
are up a piece for some pawns, the endgame is almost always winning if you can
keep 1 or 2 pawns on the board that are safe from trades.} 0-1
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Liao, Simone"]
[Black "Kretchetov, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2204"]
[BlackElo "2413"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. exd5 cxd5 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. h3 Bxf3 8.
Qxf3 e6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Re1 Nge7 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 12. Qd3 Nf5 13. Be3 O-O 14. Na4
Qa5 15. Nc5 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Rfe8 17. c3 e5 18. Nd3 exd4 19. Qxe8+ Rxe8 20. Rxe8+
Bf8 21. Ne5 dxc3 22. bxc3 Kg7 23. Rb1 Qxc3 24. Rb7 Qc1+ 25. Kh2 Qf4+ 26. Kg1
Qc1+ 27. Kh2 Qf4+ 28. Kg1 {...Qc1 will be the third time.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Khachiyan, Melikset"]
[Black "Kudryavtsev, Vadim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E62"]
[WhiteElo "2609"]
[BlackElo "2218"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Qc7 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O e6 13. Qe2 c5 14. Rh4 Be7
15. dxc5 Rc8 16. Rc4 b5 17. Rc3 Qb7 18. b4 a5 19. Nd4 Qd5 20. c6 Nb6 21. Nxb5
axb4 22. Rb3 Qxc6 23. Bxb4 Bxb4 1/2-1/2
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "2.8"]
[White "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Black "Wang, Philip"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2493"]
[BlackElo "2478"]
[Annotator "lstevens"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
{In the first round of the LA Open, I was upset by Simone Liao in a great game.
(The game was later featured by GM Khachiyan in a video on chess.com: http://
www.chess.com/video/player/melik-suggests-handling-the-french---part-3.) So
going into the second round, I expected an easy pairing, white against a much
lower rated opponent. Imagine my surprise when I saw I was playing black
against Yankovsky! Despite the bad luck, I pulled myself together. The result
was one of the best games of my career.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6
5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a4 $5 {I was relieved to see an obscure sideline because I just
started playing the French and knew very little theory. Soon we're both in
unknown territory.} Bd7 7. Bd3 cxd4 8. a5 Nxa5 9. b4 Nc4 10. Bxc4 dxc4 11. Nxd4
{[DIAGRAM]. A dynamic and original position has arisen. Without knowing
anything about the opening, I should develop my pieces and put my knight on d5.
} Ne7 12. O-O Nd5 13. Qg4 a6 14. Re1 Rc8 15. Bd2 {DIAGRAM: I was trying to
figure out how to develop my dark squared bishop and came upon the remarkable
idea of pushing my kingside pawns. White's problem is his queen has to keep in
contact with the d4 knight (or threaten g7) or else Black has Nxb4.} h5 $1 16.
Qh4 (16. Qe4 Bc6 $1 {Threatening a discovery and after} 17. Nxc6 Qxc6 {Black
is a clear pawn up with good pieces.}) 16... Be7 17. Qg3 g5 $1 {The key move
and perhaps the winning move in the sense that it changes the character of the
game. The pawn is immune and I roll through the kingside.} 18. Na3 ({After} 18.
Bxg5 {I calculated a forced variation where Black has a nearly winning endgame.
} h4 $1 19. Qg4 Rg8 20. Nf3 Bxg5 21. Nxg5 Qd8 22. f4 Nxf4 23. Qxf4 Qxg5 24.
Qxg5 Rxg5) 18... g4 $1 (18... Nxb4 $2 19. Reb1 $1 Qa7 20. Nab5 {is totally
unclear.}) 19. Nac2 Rg8 20. f4 h4 21. Qf2 g3 22. Qe2 (22. hxg3 Rxg3 $1 {I must
recapture with the rook, as it's important to keep the g-file open and target
the g2 pawn.}) 22... h3 $1 {[DIAGRAM]. Prying open the the kingside. From the
last diagram, I've made 6 of 8 pawn moves and my pawns have gone from h7 and
g7 to h3 and g3!} 23. gxh3 Bc6 24. hxg3 Rxg3+ 25. Kh2 Nxc3 26. Bxc3 Rxc3 {
[DIAGRAM]. The fireworks have stopped (for now) and I've emerged with a
winning position: two bishops vs. two knights, pawn up, a strong rook on c3
and white has no queenside. But the position is still messy and both of us are
in time trouble. Over the next 10 moves, we both make inaccuracies but I
retain the advantage for the most part.} 27. Rad1 Bd5 28. Ne3 Rd8 29. Rg1 Qxb4
30. f5 Qa3 31. Ndc2 Qc5 $1 {Centralizing the queen and preparing Be4 to
capture the e5 pawn with check.} 32. Rg8+ Bf8 {4} 33. Nd4 Be4 34. Ng4 $5 ({
Both of us missed the computer line} 34. Nxe6 $1 {leading to perpetual check}
Qxe5+ 35. Kg1 Rxd1+ 36. Qxd1 fxe6 37. Rxf8+ Kxf8 38. Qd8+) 34... Rxd4 35. Nf6+
Ke7 36. Qxe4 $1 {[DIAGRAM]. Both of us had about a minute left, and this move
nearly knocked me out of my chair! It didn't take long to realize that I get
mated after both Rxe4 and Rxd1. I thought I was lost until I found the only
resource that that wins the game . . .} Rc2+ $1 {Forcing the king to a square
where taking the rook or queen will be check} (36... Rxe4 37. Rd7#) (36... Rxd1
37. Qxb7+ Kd8 38. Qb8+ Ke7 (38... Qc8 39. Rxf8+) 39. Qe8#) 37. Qxc2 (37. Kh1
Rxd1+) (37. Kg3 Qa3+ $1 {followed by capturing the Queen with check.}) 37...
Qxe5+ 38. Rg3 Kxf6 {[DIAGRAM] Here White lost on time but the position is
already lost since Black has three connected passers on the queenside. A
tremendous fight and one of the best games I've ever played!} ({For example,
the game could finish this way:} 38... Kxf6 39. Rxd4 Qxd4 40. Qc3 Qxc3 41. Rxc3
b5) 0-1
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "3.6"]
[White "Kretchetov, Alexander"]
[Black "Akopyan, Harutyun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "2285"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. c3 d6 6. Bd3 e5 7. Ne2 Nc6 8. O-O
Qd8 9. f4 Be7 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Nf3 Bf6 12. b3 exf4 13. Nxf4 Bg5 14. Nh5 Kh8 15.
Qe2 g6 16. Nxg5 Qxg5 17. Nf4 Bd7 18. Rae1 Rae8 19. Qf2 h5 20. Nd5 Bh3 21. Nxc7
Rc8 22. Nb5 f5 23. exf5 Bxf5 24. Qe2 Rcd8 25. Bxf5 Rxf5 26. Rxf5 Qxf5 27. Rf1
Qd7 28. Rf6 Re8 29. Qf3 Kg7 30. Nxd6 Re1+ 31. Kf2 Re7 32. Qf4 Nd8 33. Qg5 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "3.10"]
[White "Kudryavtsev, Vadim"]
[Black "Remlinger, Larry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B17"]
[WhiteElo "2218"]
[BlackElo "2389"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nc3 c6 7. O-O Qa5 8. e4 e5
9. dxe5 dxe5 10. a3 Be6 11. b4 Qc7 12. Qe2 a5 13. Rb1 h6 14. Be3 Nbd7 15. Rfc1
axb4 16. axb4 Ng4 17. Bd2 f5 18. Nh4 fxe4 19. Nxe4 Bf5 20. Rf1 Ra2 21. Nxf5
gxf5 22. Nc3 Ra3 23. Rbc1 Ngf6 24. Bh3 f4 25. gxf4 exf4 26. Qe6+ Kh8 27. Rfe1
Nb6 28. Bg2 Qd7 29. Bxf4 Qxe6 30. Rxe6 Nxc4 31. Ne2 Nb2 32. Bd6 Re8 33. Nf4 Nd3
34. Rd1 Nb2 35. Rde1 Rxe6 36. Nxe6 Nc4 37. Bc5 Nd7 38. Nxg7 Nxc5 39. Nf5 Nd3
40. Re8+ Kh7 41. Be4 Nf4 42. h4 Nd2 43. Ne3+ Kg7 44. Bg2 Nxg2 1/2-1/2
[Event "Los Angeles Open U1600"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "3.68"]
[White "Xia, Brandon"]
[Black "Dahl, Steven"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B77"]
[WhiteElo "1555"]
[BlackElo "1534"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. d4 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. c4 O-O 7. b3 d6 8. Nc3 a6
9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. Qc2 c5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Nd1 Rc8 13. Ne3 Rc7 14. Rad1 Qa8 15.
Ng5 g6 16. Nf3 Rfc8 17. Qb1 Ncd7 18. Qa1 b5 19. Rc1 bxc4 20. Nxc4 e5 21. Rfd1
Ne4 22. Bh3 f5 23. Ba3 Rc6 24. Ncxe5 Nxe5 25. Nxe5 Bf6 26. Nxc6 Bxa1 27. Ne7+
Kf7 28. Nxc8 Bxc8 29. Rxa1 d5 30. Rac1 Ke6 31. Rc7 Bd7 32. f3 Nf6 33. Bg2 Qb8
34. Rdc1 Qb6+ 35. Kf1 Ne8 36. R7c3 Nf6 37. Bc5 Qb5 38. Re3+ Kf7 39. Re7+ Kg8
40. Bd4 Ne8 41. Rc5 Qb4 42. Bf2 Nf6 43. f4 d4 44. Ree5 Ng4 45. Red5 Nf6 46. Rc4
Qa3 47. Rcxd4 Qxa2 48. Rxd7 Nxd7 49. Rxd7 Qxb3 50. Bd5+ 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Muhsen, Abdulla"]
[Black "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2267"]
[BlackElo "2493"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "182"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 Bf5 5. O-O e6 6. Nfd2 Be7 7. c4 O-O 8. Nc3
Nbd7 9. Re1 Qb6 10. c5 Qd8 11. f4 b6 12. cxb6 Qxb6 13. Nb3 c5 14. dxc5 Bxc5+
15. e3 Be7 16. h3 h6 17. Kh2 Bh7 18. g4 Rfd8 19. Qe2 Nc5 20. Nxc5 Qxc5 21. Bd2
Rab8 22. b3 Qb6 23. Na4 Qb7 24. Ba5 Rdc8 25. Rac1 Ba3 26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 27. Bc3
Ne4 28. Bxe4 Bxe4 29. Kg3 Bd6 30. h4 e5 31. fxe5 Rxc3 32. exd6 Rc2 33. Qf1 Rg2+
34. Qxg2 Bxg2 35. Nc5 Qb8 36. Kxg2 Qxd6 37. Nd3 Qg6 38. Nf2 Qc2 39. Rd1 Qxa2
40. Rd3 Kf8 41. h5 Ke7 42. Kf3 Qb1 43. Kg2 Qb2 44. Kf3 Qf6+ 45. Kg2 Qe5 46. b4
f5 47. gxf5 Qxf5 48. Ra3 Qxh5 49. Rxa7+ Kf8 50. Ra3 Qg6+ 51. Kf3 h5 52. Ra8+
Kf7 53. Rh8 Qf5+ 54. Kg2 g6 55. Ra8 Qg5+ 56. Kf3 Qf6+ 57. Kg2 Qb6 58. Ra5 Ke6
59. Kf3 Qxb4 60. Ra6+ Kf5 61. Ra7 g5 62. Rd7 Qb3 63. Rxd5+ Kg6 64. Rd6+ Kf7 65.
Ne4 Qb5 66. Rd4 Qf1+ 67. Kg3 Qg1+ 68. Kf3 g4+ 69. Kf4 Ke7 70. Rd5 h4 71. Rg5 g3
72. Nxg3 hxg3 73. Rxg3 Qf2+ 74. Rf3 Qh4+ 75. Ke5 Qh5+ 76. Ke4 Ke6 77. Rf4 Qd1
78. Rf2 Qg4+ 79. Kd3 Qd1+ 80. Rd2 Qf3 81. Rb2 Qf1+ 82. Re2 Ke5 83. e4 Qd1+ (
83... Qf3+ 84. Kd2 Kd4 85. Ke1 Kd3 86. Ra2 Qh1+ $19) 84. Ke3 Qd4+ 85. Kf3 Qd3+
86. Kf2 Kf4 87. e5 Qg3+ 88. Kf1 Kf3 89. e6 Qh3+ 90. Ke1 Qh4+ 91. Kd1 Qd4+ {
Black eventually won.} 0-1
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Taylor, Timothy"]
[Black "Sheng, Joshua"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2398"]
[BlackElo "2209"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 b5 7. a3 Bb7 8. f4
d6 9. O-O Nf6 10. Bf3 Nbd7 11. Qe2 Rc8 12. Be3 Be7 13. Rad1 Qb8 14. Bf2 O-O 15.
e5 Bxf3 16. Nxf3 Ne8 17. Rfe1 d5 18. f5 Bxa3 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. bxa3 Nc7 21. f6
g6 22. Qe3 Rfd8 23. Qh6 Ne6 24. Ng5 Ndf8 25. Nxe6 Nxe6 26. Rd3 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "4.10"]
[White "Ivanov, Aleksandr"]
[Black "Kudryavtsev, Vadim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2100"]
[BlackElo "2218"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "189"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 b5 6. Bg2 d6 7. e4 Nbd7 8. Ne2
g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Nd2 O-O 11. h3 Re8 12. Re1 Ne5 13. Qc2 c4 14. Rf1 a6 15. a4
Rb8 16. axb5 axb5 17. b3 Bd7 18. bxc4 bxc4 19. Ba3 Bb5 20. Nd4 Ba6 21. Rfb1 Qc7
22. f4 Ned7 23. Nc6 Rxb1+ 24. Rxb1 c3 25. e5 dxe5 26. Qxc3 Kh8 27. d6 Qc8 28.
fxe5 Rxe5 29. Qxe5 Nxe5 30. Rb8 Nxc6 31. Rxc8+ Bxc8 32. Bxc6 Bd7 33. Bf3 Kg8
34. Kg2 Kf8 35. Nc4 Ke8 36. g4 Bb5 37. Nb6 Kd8 38. Bb4 Ne8 39. Bd5 Bd4 40. Nc4
Bxc4 41. Bxc4 Be5 42. Ba5+ Kc8 43. Ba6+ Kd7 44. Bb5+ Kxd6 45. Bxe8 f5 46. g5
Ke7 47. Bb5 Bf4 48. Bb4+ Kf7 49. Bc4+ Ke8 50. h4 h6 51. gxh6 Bxh6 52. Kf3 Bf8
53. Bd2 Bd6 54. Bg5 Kf8 55. Bf6 Be7 56. Bg5 Bc5 57. Bh6+ Ke8 58. Bg7 Be7 59.
Kg3 Bd6+ 60. Kh3 Be7 61. Bh6 Bf8 62. Bg5 Bd6 63. Kg2 Kf8 64. Kf3 Kg7 65. Ke3
Be5 66. Bd5 Bc3 67. Kd3 Be5 68. Kc4 Bb2 69. Bf3 Be5 70. Kd5 Bc3 71. Ke6 Bd4 72.
Bd1 Bc3 73. Ke7 Bb4+ 74. Ke8 Bd6 75. Bb3 Bc5 76. Bf7 Bb4 77. Be3 Be1 78. Bg5
Bb4 79. Bf4 Be1 80. Bg5 Bb4 81. Bc4 Bc5 82. Bf4 Bf2 83. Be5+ Kh6 84. Bf6 Be3
85. Bf7 Bc5 86. Bd5 Be3 87. Bf7 Bc5 88. Bg5+ Kg7 89. Bb3 Bd4 90. Kd7 Bc5 91.
Ke6 Bd4 92. Ba4 Bc3 93. Be8 Bd4 94. Bf4 Bf6 95. Bg5 1/2-1/2
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "4.11"]
[White "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Black "Asaria, Danial"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2493"]
[BlackElo "2029"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 e5 8.
Bg5 a6 9. Na3 b5 10. Nd5 Be7 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. c3 Be6 13. Nxf6+ gxf6 14. Nc2 f5
15. exf5 Bxf5 16. a4 Rb8 17. Ne3 Be6 18. axb5 axb5 19. g3 Na5 20. b4 Nc4 21.
Nxc4 bxc4 22. Bg2 d5 23. O-O d4 24. Qh5 Qc7 25. Rfe1 dxc3 26. Rxe5 Qd7 27. Bh3
Kf8 28. Qh6+ Ke7 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. Qg7+ Kd8 31. Qxh8+ Kc7 32. Rc5+ Kb7 33. Qe5
c2 34. Rb5+ Kc6 35. Qc5# 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open U2200"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "4.17"]
[White "Lin, Daniel"]
[Black "Korba, Nicky"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B34"]
[WhiteElo "2073"]
[BlackElo "2178"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "139"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. O-O Nge7 8.
Nbd2 O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Nb3 Bd6 11. Bd3 f6 12. Nbd4 Bg4 13. Qc2 g6 14. h3
Bxf3 15. Nxf3 Rc8 16. Be3 Bb8 17. Rad1 Qc7 18. g3 Ne5 19. Be2 Nf5 20. Bf4 Rfd8
21. Qb3 Qc6 22. Nxe5 Bxe5 23. Bxe5 fxe5 24. Bf3 Ne7 25. Bg2 Kg7 26. Rde1 Qc7
27. c4 dxc4 28. Qxb7 Qxb7 29. Bxb7 Rb8 30. Ba6 Nc6 31. Bxc4 Rxb2 32. Re2 Rdb8
33. Rxb2 Rxb2 34. f4 e4 35. Re1 Nd4 36. Kh1 Rc2 37. Bb3 $4 Rd2 38. Bc4 Nf5 $4 (
38... Nf3 39. Re2 e3 $1 $19) 39. g4 Nd6 40. Bb3 Rf2 41. Rd1 e3 42. Kg1 Rxf4 43.
Re1 Re4 44. Kg2 Kf6 45. Kf3 Kg5 46. Rxe3 Rxe3+ 47. Kxe3 Kh4 48. Kf4 Kxh3 49. g5
Kh4 50. Bg8 Kh5 51. Bxh7 Nf7 52. Bg8 Nxg5 53. Bc4 Kh4 54. Bf1 Nf7 55. Be2 g5+
56. Kf5 Nd6+ 57. Ke5 Nc8 58. Kd5 Nb6+ 59. Kc5 g4 60. Bxg4 Kxg4 61. Kb5 Kf4 62.
Ka6 Nc8 63. Kb7 Ke4 64. Kxc8 Kd4 65. Kb7 Kc4 66. Kxa7 Kb4 67. a4 Ka5 68. Ka8
Kxa4 69. Ka7 Kb4 70. Kb6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Los Angeles Open U2200"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "4.22"]
[White "Anderson, Craig"]
[Black "Hernandez, Matthew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A60"]
[WhiteElo "2109"]
[BlackElo "1905"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3
Qc7 9. O-O-O b5 10. e5 Bb7 11. Qh3 dxe5 12. Nxe6 Qc8 13. fxe5 Ne4 14. Nxe4 Bxe4
15. Bd3 Bxd3 16. Rxd3 Ra7 17. Rhd1 h6 18. Nxf8 Rxf8 19. e6 Nf6 20. Bxf6 gxf6
21. e7 Kxe7 22. Qe3+ Qe6 23. Qxa7+ Qd7 24. Qxd7# 1-0
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sevillano, Enrico"]
[Black "Taylor, Timothy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B84"]
[WhiteElo "2561"]
[BlackElo "2398"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. Nc3 Ne7 8.
Qf3 O-O 9. Bg5 d6 10. O-O Be6 11. Bb3 Qd7 12. Bf6 Nc8 13. Rfe1 Bxf6 14. Qxf6
Qe7 15. Qf4 Nb6 16. Nd5 cxd5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Rab8 19. b3 Rfe8 20. Bc6
Red8 21. Rad1 Rb6 22. Bf3 Kg7 23. Rd4 c6 24. c4 c5 25. Rd3 Qf6 26. Qd2 h5 27.
Rde3 Rd7 28. Be4 Rb8 29. Rf3 Qd4 30. Qxd4+ cxd4 31. Rd3 d5 32. cxd5 Bxd5 33.
Rxd4 Be6 34. Rxd7 Bxd7 35. Bd5 Re8 36. Rxe8 Bxe8 37. f4 Kf8 38. Kf2 Ke7 39. Ke3
Kd6 40. Kd4 h4 41. b4 f6 42. Bc4 Bc6 43. g3 hxg3 44. hxg3 g5 45. b5 Bb7 46. a4
gxf4 47. gxf4 Bc8 48. Bd5 Bd7 49. Be4 Be8 50. Kc4 Bd7 51. a5 Kc7 52. Kc5 Bh3
53. b6+ axb6+ 54. axb6+ Kb8 55. Kd6 f5 56. Bd5 Bf1 57. Ke5 Bd3 58. Be6 Kb7 59.
Bxf5 Be2 60. Be4+ Kxb6 61. f5 Kc7 62. f6 Kd8 63. Bc6 Bh5 64. Ke6 Be8 65. Bb7
Bh5 66. Bf3 Bxf3 67. f7 Bd5+ 68. Kxd5 Ke7 1/2-1/2
[Event "Los Angeles Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Kudryavtsev, Vadim"]
[Black "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2218"]
[BlackElo "2493"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. Nf3 f5 6. g3 Bb7 7. Bg2 g6 8. Nc3
Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rc1 Nc6 11. e3 Ne7 12. Ne1 Bxg2 13. Nxg2 c6 14. Nf4 d6 15.
b3 Qd7 16. h4 Kh8 17. Qf3 Ng8 18. c5 bxc5 19. dxc5 d5 20. b4 Bxc3 21. Rxc3 Rfb8
22. Rb3 Nf6 23. h5 g5 24. Ne2 Ne4 25. Rd1 a5 26. Nd4 axb4 27. Nxf5 Nxc5 28.
Nxh6 Kh7 29. Ng4 Qe6 30. Rb2 f5 31. Nh2 Na4 32. Rc2 Nc3 33. Rd4 Rxa2 34. Rxa2
Nxa2 35. g4 b3 36. gxf5 Qf7 37. Qg3 Rb7 38. Nf3 Qxf5 39. Nxg5+ Qxg5 40. Qxg5
Rg7 41. Qxg7+ Kxg7 42. Rd2 c5 0-1
[Event "Los Angeles Open U2200"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2013.10.13"]
[Round "5.23"]
[White "Hernandez, Matthew"]
[Black "Sam, Gabriel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[WhiteElo "1905"]
[BlackElo "1945"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.11"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Be2 d5 8.
Bb5 Bd7 9. exd5 Nb4 10. Bc4 Rc8 11. Bb3 Qa5 12. Qd2 O-O 13. a3 Na6 14. O-O Nc5
15. Rfe1 Rfd8 16. Ba2 Qa6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bxh6 e6 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. b4 Na4 21.
b5 Qa5 22. dxe6 Bxe6 23. Bxe6 Qxc3 24. Nf5+ gxf5 25. Qg5+ Kh8 26. Qh4+ Kg7 27.
Qg5+ Kh8 28. Bxf5 Qd4 29. Bxc8 Rxc8 30. Rad1 Nh7 31. Rxd4 Nxg5 32. Rxa4 a6 33.
bxa6 bxa6 34. Rxa6 Rxc2 35. h4 Ne6 36. Rexe6 fxe6 37. Rxe6 1-0