Sponsored by the London Chess Center
| US Championships 2000 Seattle Round 1 Report by John Henderson |
SEATTLE DO NICELY
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ch-USA Seattle USA (USA), 25 ix-5 x 2000 cat. XIV (2586)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
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1. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2567 * . . . = . . . . . . . 0.5 2542
2. Gulko, Boris F g USA 2643 . * . = . . . . . . . . 0.5 2533
3. Kaidanov, Gregory S g USA 2624 . . * . . = . . . . . . 0.5 2567
4. Fedorowicz, John P g USA 2533 . = . * . . . . . . . . 0.5 2643
5. Gurevich, Dmitry g USA 2542 = . . . * . . . . . . . 0.5 2567
6. Ivanov, Alexander g USA 2567 . . = . . * . . . . . . 0.5 2624
7. Christiansen, Larry M g USA 2563 . . . . . . * . . . = . 0.5 2647
8. Serper, Grigory g USA 2574 . . . . . . . * . . . = 0.5 2596
9. Shabalov, Alexander g USA 2601 . . . . . . . . * = . . 0.5 2577
10. Benjamin, Joel g USA 2577 . . . . . . . . = * . . 0.5 2601
11. Seirawan, Yasser g USA 2647 . . . . . . = . . . * . 0.5 2563
12. Yermolinsky, Alex g USA 2596 . . . . . . . = . . . * 0.5 2574
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Round 1 (September 25, 2000)
De Firmian, Nick E - Gurevich, Dmitry 1/2 23 B52 Sicilian Defence (Rossolimo Variation)
Gulko, Boris F - Fedorowicz, John P 1/2 26 E61 King's Indian Defence (Deviations from Main Line)
Kaidanov, Gregory S - Ivanov, Alexander 1/2 101 E11 Bogo Indian Defence (Bogoljubov Variation)
Christiansen, Larry M - Seirawan, Yasser 1/2 19 B14 Caro Kann (Panov Attack)
Serper, Grigory - Yermolinsky, Alex 1/2 22 C19 French Defence (Winawer Variation)
Benjamin, Joel - Shabalov, Alexander 1/2 65 C03 French Defence (Tarrasch Variation)
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ch-USA Women Seattle USA (USA), 25 ix-3 x 2000
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
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1. Groberman, Elina USA 2054 * . . . . . . 1 . . 1.0
2. Gorlin, Yelena USA 2110 . * . . . . . . 1 . 1.0
3. Airapetian, SH USA 2072 . . * . . . . . . 1 1.0
4. Khan, Anna wm USA 2257 . . . * . . = . . . 0.5 2224
5. Shahade, Jennifer m USA 2238 . . . . * = . . . . 0.5 2287
6. Baginskaite, Camilla wm USA 2287 . . . . = * . . . . 0.5 2238
7. Epstein, Esther wm USA 2224 . . . = . . * . . . 0.5 2257
8. Frenklakh, Jennie f USA 2133 0 . . . . . . * . . 0.0
9. Burtman, Sharon wm USA 2089 . 0 . . . . . . * . 0.0
10. Sagalchik, Olga USA 2145 . . 0 . . . . . . * 0.0
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Round 1 (September 25, 2000)
Gorlin, Yelena - Burtman, Sharon 1-0 38 B34 Sicilian Defence (Accelerated Dragon/Simagin Variation)
Airapetian, SH - Sagalchik, Olga 1-0 62 B50 Sicilian Defence (Variations with 2...d6)
Khan, Anna - Epstein, Esther 1/2 21 A37 English Opening (Symmetrical Variation)
Baginskaite, Camilla - Shahade, Jennifer 1/2 35 D85 Gruenfeld Defence (Main Line)
Frenklakh, Jennie - Groberman, Elina 0-1 38 C54 Giuoco Piano (Main Line)
SEATTLE, dubbed the Emerald City, is situated in America’s northwest state of Washington, and is famed for giving the world Starbucks Coffee, Boeing, Microsoft, Frasier, grunge music (Nirvana etc) and now...the home of the US Chess Championships for the next ten years!
So what am I doing in this picturesque American city soaking up the rays? Well, picture the scene a few short months ago as the phone rings in my house one very wet and cold Edinburgh evening...
Yasser Seirawan (for it is he): John, if we provide you with a round trip ticket to Seattle and hotel accommodation for the US Championships, would you be able to come?
Me: (through muffled cries of yippee and already packing my suitcase) I’ll really need to check my diary and get back to you on that one, Yaz. (A nanosecond later) Well, ok, but if I’m going to do a proper job I’ll need to arrive at least a week earlier for research purposes!
Thanks to the formation of the Seattle Chess Foundation (the brainchild of Seirawan), which, in the short space of just three months, salvaged one of the worlds most historic and important national championships.
Despite having, on paper at least, a healthy looking membership of around 90,000, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) has been beset in recent years with internal political bickering and squabbles that have left them financially up shit creek without the proverbial paddle. Sam Sloan for President, that’s what I say. But I think that Gore and Bush may have something to say on that!
Such was their plight that, after the loss of a major sponsor, the USCF announced that they would have to cancel the 2000 US Championships – unthinkable for such a rich country whose historical championship dates back to 1845.
Erik Anderson and Yvette Seirawan
However, thanks to some notable Seattleites (no, not the kind that float around the globe gathering information), help was soon at hand as the newly formed Seattle Chess Foundation - Yasser Seirawan, his wife, Yvette, venture capitalist Erik Anderson and former Microsoft executive Scott Oki and a few others - stepped in at the last minute to not only rescue the 2000 championships but also secure its future for the next ten years as they hope to turn Seattle into a chess Mecca.
Defending Champion Boris Gulko and Erik Anderson
Dubbed a “Celebration of the Mind”, the Foundation has brought together 22 of the US’s strongest male and female players – headed by defending champion Boris Gulko – to do battle in Seattle for a record prize fund of $100,000. The 2000 Championships with its record-breaking $100,000 prize fund, officially got underway after Seattle Chess Foundation President Erik Anderson, to the delightful strains of the Odeon String Quartet, opened the tournament with a glitzy reception and drawing of lots ceremony held at the Pacific Science Centre in Seattle.
Men's Championships
Inexplicably, this is the first US Championships to be held in the city in the 155-year history of the tournament; and indeed the first major chess event to be held in Seattle since 1990 – Karpov’s semifinal Candidate Match win over Hjartson. Twelve of the best US chess players are vying for the overall title and $60,000 prize fund, including, in rating order, 1 Boris Gulko 2748, 2 Yasser Seirawan 2703, 3 Gregory Kaidanov 2695, 4 Alex Yermolinsky 2683, 5 Nick de Firmian 2668, 6 Joel Benjamin 2650, 7 Larry Christiansen 2662, 8 Alexander Shabalov 2672, 9 Gregory Serper 2647, 10 Dmitry Gurevich 2650, 11 Alexander Ivanov 2634, 12 John Fedorowicz 2620.
Women's Championships
In addition, concurrently, ten of the United States’ best woman players will compete for the US Women’s title and prize fund of $40,000. The line-up includes: 1 Camilla Baginskaite 2406, 2 Anna Hahn 2271, 3 Jennifer Shahade 2262, 4 Esther Epstein 2237, 5 Olga Sagalchik 2207, 6 Elina Groberman 2171, 7 Jennifer Frenklakh 2170, 8 Yelena Gorlin 2117, 9 Chouchanik Airapetian 2098, 10 Sharon Burtman 2057
And indeed after all six games in the opening round of the overall championship turned out to be relatively uninspiring draws, we had to look to the women’s tournament for all the excitement in the first round.
Baginskaite,C (2287) - Shahade,J (2238) [D85]
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Be3 c5 8 Nf3 Qa5 9 Qd2 Nc6 10 Rb1 [10 Rc1 exploiting the opening of the c-file is best.] 10 ..0–0 11 Rb5?! cxd4!
A well-known trick that favours Black. 12 Rxa5 [12 cxd4 Qxd2+ 13 Kxd2 b6 14 d5 Na5 15 Bd3 (15 Rb1 f5! 16 Bd3 fxe4 17 Bxe4 Nc4+ 18 Ke2 Nd6 19 Bd3 Bb7!) 15 ..Ba6 16 Rb4 Bxd3 17 Kxd3 Rac8 with easy equality.] 12 ..dxe3 13 fxe3? [Making the worst out of a bad job. White really has to continue by taking on e3 with the queen. 13 Qxe3! Nxa5 14 h4!? (14 Nd4 Bd7 15 e5 Rfc8 16 f4 e6 17 Be2 Rc7 18 0–0 Rac8 19 Qd2 Bf8 20 Rf3 Nc4 21 Bxc4 Rxc4 22 h3 b5 23 Kh2 a6 24 Rd3 Bc6 25 Nxc6 R4xc6 26 Qe3 h5 27 g4 hxg4 28 hxg4 Bh6 29 Qg3 Rc4 30 Rf3 Ra4 31 f5 exf5 32 gxf5 Rcc4 33 Qf2 Rh4+ 34 Kg2 gxf5 35 Rg3+ Kh8 36 Qxf5 Rxa2+ 37 Kg1 Ra1+ 38 Kg2 Ra2+ 39 Kg1 Ra1+ 40 Kg2 ½–½ Dautov,R-Alterman,B/Bad Homburg 1997/CBM 60 (40)) A) 14 ..h5 15 Ng5 b6 16 e5! With nasty threats of e6; B) 14 ..Be6!, perhaps best, 15 Ng5 (15 Nd4 Bxa2 16 h5 e5 17 Nb5 b6 18 Nc7 Rac8 19 h6 Bf6 with no problems) 15 ..Bxa2 and, as Adorjan would say, “Black’s ok!”; C) 14 ..Bg4!? 15 Nd4 Rac8 16 h5 Rfd8 17 f3 Bd7 18 hxg6 hxg6 19 e5 Rc5 20 f4 Rdc8 21 Kd2 Rc4 22 Kc2 Ra4 23 Kb2 Nc4+ 24 Bxc4 Raxc4 25 Rd1 Ba4 26 Nb3 Bc6 27 g3 e6 28 Rd4 Rxd4 29 Nxd4 Bd5 30 Nb5 Bf8 31 Nd6 Rc6 32 Qxa7 Ra6 33 Qb8 Rxa2+ 34 Kb1 Rh2 35 Qc7 Rh5 36 c4 Bf3 37 Kb2 Rh2+ 38 Kc3 Rh7 39 Kd4 Bg2 40 Qc8 Rh1 41 Qd7 Rd1+ 42 Kc5 Bxd6+ 43 exd6 Bc6 44 Qe7 Kg7 45 g4 Rd3 46 g5 Kg8 47 Qd8+ Kg7 48 Kb6 1–0 Khenkin,I-Sutovskij,E/Polanica Zdroj 1999/CBM 73] 13 ..Nxa5 14 c4 b6 15 Be2 Be6 16 Kf2 Rac8 17 Rc1 Bxc4 [Better was 17 ..Nxc4! 18 Qb4 a5 19 Qxe7 Nd2 20 Rxc8 Nxe4+ 21 Kf1 Rxc8 with excellent winning chances.] 18 Nd4 Rc5 19 Qb4 Rfc8 20 Nb3 Nxb3 21 Rxc4 Rxc4 22 Bxc4 Nc5 23 Kf3 Be5 24 h3 Kg7 25 g4 h6 26 h4 Bf6 27 h5 Nd7 28 Bb3 Ne5+ 29 Kg3 Rc1 30 hxg6 Rg1+ 31 Kh3 Nf3 [Black misses her moment. Taking on g6 with the king leads to a decisive advantage. 31 ..Kxg6! 32 Qa4 (32 Kh2 Nf3+ 33 Kh3 Be5!) 32 ..Nxg4 33 Qe8 Ne5 34 Qg8+ Bg7 35 Qb8 (35 Bd5 e6 36 Bb7) 35 ..e6 36 Qxa7 Nf3 is winning for Black as there's no defence to Be5 and Rg3 mate.] 32 Qc4 Ng5+ 33 Kh2 Nf3+ 34 Kh3 Ng5+ 35 Kh2 Nf3+ ½–½
Larry Christiansen and Yasser Seirawan
Christiansen,L (2563) - Seirawan,Y (2647) [B14]
1 d4 c6 2 e4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Bb4 7 cxd5 Nxd5 8 Bd2 0–0 9 Bd3 Nc6 10 Qe2 Nf6 11 0–0
The thoughts of the two players at this moment we're interesting. Christiansen: "Nobody's ever taken on d4 against me". Seirawan: "Why can't I take on d4?" Sure enough... 11 ..Nxd4!? [11 ..Be7 12 Ne4 Bd7 13 Rad1 Qb6 14 Nxf6+ Bxf6 15 Bg5 Nb4 16 Bxf6 gxf6 17 Bb1 Kh8 18 Qd2 Rg8 19 Qh6 f5 20 Ne5 Be8 21 a3 Nc6 22 d5 Nxe5 23 Qf6+ Rg7 24 Qxe5 Rd8 25 Rfe1 exd5 26 Rd3 f6 27 Qd4 Qxd4 28 Rxd4 Bg6 ½–½ Chytilek,R-Kalod,R/Moravia-chT 9697 1997/EXT 98 (28)] 12 Nxd4 Qxd4 13 Rfd1 Qg4 14 Qxg4 [White can always opt to keep the queens on, but in the end careful play showed secure the draw.. 14 f3 Bc5+ 15 Kh1 Qh5 16 Bf4 Nd5 17 Nxd5 exd5 18 Rac1 b6 19 Bb5 Bb7 20 a3 Qg6 21 Qe5 a5 22 Re1 f6 23 Qc7 Rf7 24 Bd7 Kh8 25 Qxb7 Rd8 26 Qxd5 Rfxd7 27 Qc6 Qf7 28 h3 Kg8 ½–½ Flasik,R-Orsagova,E/SVK 1997/EXT 99 (28)] 14 ..Nxg4 15 Be2 Nf6 16 Bf3 Bxc3! Anything else is too risky for Black as White has got superb piece play for the pawn. Seirawan rightly gives the pawn back for an easy draw. 17 Bxc3 Nd5! 18 Bxd5 exd5 19 Rxd5 Be6 ½–½
Joel Benjamin vs Alex Shabalov
Benjamin,J (2577) - Shabalov,A (2601)
46 Be1! g6 [46 ..Kxe5 47 Bc3+ Kd5 48 Bxg7 and after g4, White easily draws with his own passed h-pawn.] 47 Bc3 Kf4 48 Bd4! Stopping the king getting to the queenside via e3 - white has set up a blockade. Or has he? 48 ..Bc6! [If 48 ..Bd3 white will just pass with Kh3-h2 as the b-pawn is stopped in its tracks after advancing to b3.] 49 Kg1 Bxf3! Black's best practical chance to win the ending. He gets three pawns and White will now have to defend very, very accurately to hold the draw. 50 gxf3 Kxf3 51 Kh2 b5 52 Bc3 Ke3 [52 ..Kg4 53 Be1 g5 54 hxg5 Kxg5 55 Kg3 f6 56 exf6 Kxf6 57 Kh4 Kg6 58 Bc3 Kh6 59 Bb4 e5 60 Bd6 e4 61 Bf4+ Kg6 62 Bd2 and the bishop and king easily hold the pawns.] 53 Kg3 Ke4 54 Kf2 Kf4 [54 ..b4 55 Bxb4 Kxe5 56 Kf3 f6 is much the same as the game.] 55 Kg2 b4 56 Bxb4 Kxe5 57 Kf3 Kf5 58 Bd2 f6 59 Bc1 e5 60 Be3 g5 61 hxg5 fxg5 62 Kg3 g4 [62 ..h4+ 63 Kh3 g4+ 64 Kxh4 Ke4 65 Bf2 Kf3 66 Bg1 e4 67 Bc5 g3 68 Kh3=] 63 Bc5 Ke4 64 Bb6 Kd3 65 Kh4 ½–½