WHO’S ON FIRST?

Round 9 (October 4, 2000)

Seirawan, Yasser       -  Fedorowicz, John P     1-0   45  E70  King's Indian Defence 
Gurevich, Dmitry       -  Benjamin, Joel         1/2   41  E11  Bogo Indian Defence 
Kaidanov, Gregory S    -  De Firmian, Nick E     1/2   47  A63  Benoni Defence
Ivanov, Alexander      -  Christiansen, Larry M  1/2   39  C09  French Tarrasch Variation
Serper, Grigory        -  Shabalov, Alexander    0-1   47  E70  King's Indian Defence 
Yermolinsky, Alex      -  Gulko, Boris F         1-0   35  E17  Queen's Indian Defence 

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ch-USA Seattle USA (USA), 25 ix-7 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. Seirawan, Yasser        g USA 2647  * 0 . 1 0 1 = = . 1 = 1  5.5  2654 
 2. De Firmian, Nick E      g USA 2567  1 * = = = = = . = = = .  5.0  2632 
 3. Benjamin, Joel          g USA 2577  . = * = = = 1 1 0 . = =  5.0  2629 
 4. Gurevich, Dmitry        g USA 2542  0 = = * 1 = . = . = = 1  5.0  2630 
 5. Shabalov, Alexander     g USA 2601  1 = = 0 * . 0 = = . 1 1  5.0  2629 
 6. Kaidanov, Gregory S     g USA 2624  0 = = = . * = = 1 = . 1  5.0  2624 
 7. Christiansen, Larry M   g USA 2563  = = 0 . 1 = * = = = = .  4.5  2592 
 8. Ivanov, Alexander       g USA 2567  = . 0 = = = = * = = . =  4.0  2548 
 9. Gulko, Boris F          g USA 2643  . = 1 . = 0 = = * = = 0  4.0  2535 
10. Fedorowicz, John P      g USA 2533  0 = . = . = = = = * 1 0  4.0  2548 
11. Serper, Grigory         g USA 2574  = = = = 0 . = . = 0 * =  3.5  2505 
12. Yermolinsky, Alex       g USA 2596  0 . = 0 0 0 . = 1 1 = *  3.5  2509 
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NO, NO, not another take on America’s favourite sport with the legendary Abbott & Costello (“I’m a b-a-a-a-a-ad boy!”) baseball skit from their 1945 film, The Naughty Nineties – for that you can go to http://members.aol.com/acqtrly/who.html

Unlike poor old Lou, we at least know who’s on first: None other than Mr Personality himself, Yasser Seirawan! Once again he’s regained the sole lead in the Seattle Chess Foundation sponsored and organised US Championships as a ninth round victory, over New Yorker John “the Fed” Fedorowicz, gives him a crucial half-point lead over a chasing pack of five.

The win not only puts Seirawan in line for the $10,000 first prize and his fourth national title, but also virtually guarantees the US No.2 a lucrative place in the 2001 Fide World Championships as the national championships in the US doubles as a zonal tournament.

However, with a total prize fund of $60,000 on offer, not only will the chasing pack of five – de Firmian, Gurevich, Kaidanov, Shabalov and Benjamin - be fighting their hardest to try and catch the leader in the final two rounds, they’ll also have to battle it out for the remaining four US zonal places as there are only five places on offer to the USA.

The zonals are based on the 21 zones which governing body Fide has neatly packaged the chess world into for administrative purposes. Of its 158 members just five have their own zone that’s decided by their national championships: the USA, Canada, China, the Ukraine and Russia.

Benjamin with his Mets hat on

Incidentally, back on the baseball for a moment, the night before this game, Yasser and myself discovered the poor old Fed wandering the streets of Seattle in a obvious state of shock, mumbling to himself in true Rocky Bilboa fashion: “The Yankees lost. The darn Yankees lost.” A result for the Oakland A’s, by the way, that you can almost here Mig at KasparovChess still cheering at. Meanwhile, across the other end of New York, Joel Benjamin couldn’t believe it when I told him that his team, the Mets, had also lost. I guess it might not be a New Yorker’s year. However, for Seattle…

Seirawan-Fedorowicz

Seirawan,Y (2703) - Fedorowicz,J (2629) [E70]

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 g6 3 e4 d6 4 d4 Bg7 5 Bd3 a6 6 h3 c5 [Not a common antidote to Yaz's set-up, but the Fed specialises in most lines of the King's Indian that take on a Benoni-like structure.] 7 d5 b5 8 Nf3 [White can also opt for a Benko Gambit Accepted with 8 cxb5 0–0 9 bxa6 Bxa6 10 Bxa6, but the text is more in keeping with Seirawan's python-squeezing positional style.] 8 ..0–0 9 0–0 bxc4 10 Bxc4 Nfd7?!

[10 ..Nbd7 is more universally popular here in order to facilitate a further centre breakdown with ..e6: 10 ..Nbd7 11 Qe2 Nb6 12 Bd3 e6 13 dxe6 Bxe6 14 Rd1 Qc7 15 Bf4 Nfd7 16 Bxa6 Rxa6 17 Qxa6 Bc4 18 Qa5 Ra8 19 Bxd6 Qb7 20 Qxa8+ Qxa8 21 e5 Nd5 22 a4 Nf4 23 a5 Nxe5 24 Bxe5 Bxe5 25 a6 Bxa6 26 Rxa6 Qxa6 27 Nxe5 Qb7 28 Nf3 Qxb2 29 Ne4 c4 30 Nfg5 h6 31 h4 hxg5 32 hxg5 Nd3 0–1 Danschczyk,C-Wenzel,R/Germany 1996/EXT 99] 11 Bf4! Nb6 12 Bd3 N8d7 13 Re1 c4 14 Bf1 Nc5 [This is the nub of the Fed's idea with 10 ..Nfd7; but it does have one major drawback - the weak pawn on c5!] 15 Nd2 [Slightly inaccurate; he should have continued with 15 Rc1 Rb8 16 Qd2 as 16 ..Bb7 17 Bh6!, and the exchange of the dark-squared bishop leaves white with a good position.] 15 ..Rb8 16 Rc1 [I suppose Yaz could simply take the c-pawn, but this is what he likes doing best of all: building up slowly but surely and getting ready for the "big squeeze".] 16 ..a5 17 b3 cxb3 18 Nxb3 Nxb3 19 axb3 Bb7? [A bad move. Black should have tried 19 ..Bd7 with the idea of trying to exchange the a- and b-pawn for the draw.] 20 Be3 [Just look how harmonious Seirawan's pieces are as he aims them at the weak queenside.] 20 ..Nd7 [20 ..f5!? was perhaps Black's only, and best try now.] 21 Nb5!

[Aiming for Na7-c6 with a big advantage.] 21 ..Ra8 22 Re2 Ba6 23 Rec2 [Yaz is simply lethal from such positions. He's now going to make the Fed "suffer" as he squeezes him to death.] 23 ..Bxb5 24 Bxb5 Nc5 [Suggest something else? Rather than waiting for White to burst through on the queenside and win the a5-pawn, the Fed decides that his only chance of a draw was to sac a pawn and aim for an opposite coloured bishop ending. But this was about as slim as Ally McBeal on a diet.] 25 Bxc5 dxc5 26 Rxc5 Qd6 27 R1c4 h5 28 h4 Ra7 29 g3 Rb8 30 Kg2 Rab7 31 Qd3 Kh7 32 Ba4 Rb4 33 f4!

[Restricting the scope of Black's bishop, and looking to lock it away with a future e5.] 33 ..Rxc4 34 Rxc4 Qa3 35 Qc2 Rd8 36 Rc7 Qb4 37 Rc4 Qe1 [37 ..Qa3? 38 e5! Rxd5 39 Bc6 winning the queen to 40 Ra4.] 38 Qf2 Qa1 39 Qd2 Rb8 40 e5 Rd8 41 Rc7 Qb1 42 Kh2 Qe4 43 Bc6 Bf8 44 d6 Qb1 45 Bd5 1–0

Serper and Shabalov

Serper,G (2612) - Shabalov,A (2662) [E70]

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nge2 [A Serper speciality.] 5 ..0–0 6 Ng3 a6?! [Kasparov doesn't trust Black set-ups in this line based on ..a6. Instead, better is 6 ..e5 the mainline.] 7 Be2 c5 8 d5 h5 9 a4 e5 10 Bg5 Qe8 11 Qd2 Nh7 12 Bh6 Nd7? [Black had to do something like: 12 ..Bxh6 13 Qxh6 Qe7 14 h4!; 12 ..h4 13 Nf1 Bxh6 14 Qxh6 Qe7 15 g3] 13 Bxh5!

13. ...gxh5 14 Nf5 Bf6 15 Qe2 Nb6 16 Nxd6 [White's simply just winning here and has to be kicking himself for not finishing Shabalov off.] 16 ..Qd8 17 Nxc8 Nxc8 18 Bxf8 Qxf8 19 Qxh5 Nd6 20 b3 Qg7 21 0–0 Bg5 22 Rad1 Nf6 23 Qe2 Qg6 24 Rfe1 [24 f3! not so much protecting e4 but looking to attack c5 with moves like Qf2, a5 and Na4. White's problem is that he never manages to break open the position to the benefit of his rooks.] 24 ..Kg7 25 g3 Rh8 26 Rd3 Bf4 27 Qf3 Rh5 28 Qg2 [It's all a bit awkward for White.] 28 ..Bh6 29 Kf1 Rg5 30 Qf3 Ng4 31 Kg2 Nf5 32 h3?

[Too timid. 32 h4! was the only way to continue: 32 h4! Nge3+ (32 ..Nxh4+ 33 gxh4 Rh5 34 Kh3; 32 ..Rh5 33 Kh3! Nxh4 34 gxh4 Nf6 35 Qg3 Bg5 36 Rg1! Bxh4 37 Qxg6+ fxg6 38 Kg2) 33 Kg1 Nc2 (33 ..Rg4 34 exf5; 33 ..Nd4 34 Rxd4 exd4 35 hxg5 Bxg5 36 Na2 Nc2 37 Rd1) 34 hxg5 Nxe1 35 Qxf5 Nxd3 36 Qxg6+ Kxg6 37 gxh6 and White is winning.] 32 ..Nge3+ 33 Kh2 Nd4 34 Qxe3 Rh5! 35 f4 Qg4! 36 h4 [It's too late now.]

36 ..Bxf4! 37 gxf4 [37 Qg1 Rxh4+ 38 Kg2 Bd2! 39 Ree3 Bxe3 40 Rxe3 Rh6 and Black's in control after ..Rf6.] 37 ..Rxh4+ 38 Qh3 Rxh3+ 39 Rxh3 Nf3+ 40 Rxf3 Qxf3 41 Nd1 exf4 42 Kg1 Qxb3 43 e5 Kf8 44 d6 Ke8 45 a5 Qg3+ 46 Kf1 f3 47 Ne3 f2 0–1

One player who was in with a chance of first this week – but unfortunately not in this tournament! – was the Yerminator, Alex Yermolinsky. By his own standards he’s having a bad tournament but has started to rally in the second week with two wins, the latest against defending champion Boris Gulko.

Yermolinksy

His pioneering Gambit book, The Road to Chess Improvement, which tackles the practical problems of playing by showing how the author progressed to grandmaster and USA champion by eliminating weaknesses in his approach to the game, was shortlisted for the British Chess Federation’s Book of the Year Award. It’s a perfect compliment to last year’s award winner from Gambit (keep up the good work, boys!), John Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, and looked a good shoo-in for the 2000 title. While Watson’s tome discusses the theory of the game, Yermolinsky tackles the nitty-gritty: the practical problems all players face in putting the theory into practice!

Matthew Sadler

Rather surprisingly, he lost out in the award to Matthew Sadler’s excellent opening book Queen’s Gambit Declined. Though an outstanding book in every way, which we’ve come to expect from the retired Mr Sadler (“Hello, Hewlett Packard Helpline. What’s your problem?”), I just can’t believe that an opening book (no matter how good) can win the award.

However, the question has to be asked: Does it pass the Yermolinsky test of how good a book is? Rather than allow the title to be decided by a group of judges who can hardly play the game let alone judge the books, Alex believes that you should take a poll of chess players and, if it makes it to their toilet as essential reading matter, then it’s a winner. I suppose the one thing going for this system is that the winning author could be said to be flushed with success!

It’s all enough to drive a grandmaster to alcohol. Now there’s a sure-fire winner: Drink Like A Grandmaster! (Hopefully you don’t get the Jim Plaskett version!)

We now pause once again at this moment in true American style for a word from our sponsors, Chess & Bridge Ltd: “All of these books [apart from the aforementioned one!] are available in our store. Contact us at chesscentre@easynet.co.uk for further information.” And now back to the program...

Yermolinsky-Gulko

Yermolinsky,A (2672) - Gulko,B (2752) [E17]

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Be7 6 Nc3 Ne4 7 Bd2 0–0 8 d5 f5 9 Qc2 Nd6 [9 ..exd5 is a solid alternative: 10 Nxd5 Nc6 11 0–0 a5 12 Rad1 Bf6 13 Be3 Kh8 14 Nxf6 Rxf6 15 Ng5 Nb4 16 Qb1 Qe8 17 a3 Na6 18 Nxe4 Bxe4 19 Bxe4 fxe4 20 Rd4 Re6 21 Rfd1 d6 22 b4 axb4 23 axb4 Nxb4 24 Qxb4 c5 25 Qxb6 cxd4 26 Rxd4 d5 ½–½ Horvath,J-Atalik,S/Elekes mem 1991/EXP] 10 Bf4 [10 b3 Bf6 11 Rd1 Qe7 12 0–0 Na6 13 Ne1 c6 14 dxe6 dxe6 15 e4!?] 10 ..Na6 11 0–0!? [An interesting sacrifice. Both 11 Nd2 and 11 Rd1 have been seen here before. Yermolinsky goes all out for the attack.] 11 ..Nxc4 12 dxe6 Nb4 13 Qc1 d5?! [13 ..dxe6 14 Nb5 Nd6 15 Nxc7 Rc8 16 Qd2 Qxc7 17 Qxb4 Nc4 18 Qc3=] 14 b3 Na5 15 Ne5 Rf6 16 Qb1 d4 17 Bxb7 Nxb7 18 Rd1 c5 19 e3 Rxe6 [19 ..Nd5! 20 Nxd5 Qxd5=] 20 Qxf5

[White now has a decisive advantage.] 20 ..Rf6 21 Qg4 Nd6 22 exd4 cxd4 23 Rxd4 Nc2 24 Nc6! Qf8 25 Nxe7+ Qxe7 26 Nd5 Qf7 27 Nxf6+ Qxf6 28 Rxd6 Qxa1+ 29 Rd1 Qf6 30 Qd7 Rf8 31 Qd3!

[The knight has no squares.] 31 ..Rc8 32 Qd5+ Kh8 33 Be5 Qg6 34 Qd8+ Qe8 35 Qd7! [Ultimately there's no defence to a Bxg7 winning.] 1–0