2012 U.S. Championships News

Written and analyzed by GM Mackenzie Molner. Photos taken by Austin Fuller.

Luke Harmon-Vellotti vs. Akshat Chandra (Game of the Day)

Two of the highest rated players, and potential favorites in the tournament, were tasked to face-off right off the bat during the first round matches. The game began in a slightly offbeat line of the Grunfeld Defense that is a pet line of Harmon-Vellotti. I know personally that he has plenty of experience with this line, because he beat me with it last year! Harmon-Vellotti has even played this tactic before in the 2014  U.S. Junior Closed, in the match against Jeffery Xiong.

This particular line from White is often played to avoid a lot of the sharp, complex, and lengthy variations of the Grunfeld, with the option for White to play a simplified endgame. Harmon-Vellotti prefers to keep the game in very combative territory by sacrificing a pawn with his move 6. Bh4. 6. Bf4 would be the more dull alternative, which usually leads to a peaceful endgame. White’s pawn sacrifice leaves him a nice pawn center and more active pieces, but the strength of the extra pawn shouldn’t be underestimated in the long-term.

Black is the first one to err, with the move 11… Bb7. On the surface, this looks like a standard developing move. It protects the rook on a8 while developing, however, the bishop’s placement isn’t improved much on b7. It has no new active possibilities. 11… Nd7 would be a better way to combine Black’s intentions of protecting the a8-rook while also developing. Black on the next turn will play Nb6, placing the knight on a great square, from which it still has chances to improve, with possible jumps into a4 or d5. On b6 it also keeps an eye on the rook on a8. Black will be able to develop the light-squared bishop to a more active square, like e6 or f5, achieving very harmonious development.. White’s best way to try to take advantage of this was the move 12. Qb1. It threatens the immediate Bxc4, which would instantly regain the pawn due to the pin on the b7-bishop, as well as looking to play Qb4, preventing Black from castling.

The game tensely continued until move 19, when it was White who went wrong. White played 19. Rfb1 which seems to improve White’s last piece left out of play. It turns out that it’s still not active enough, allowing the strong response, 19… e4 which is exactly what Chandra plays in the game. Chandra earned a strong initiative which he never let go of. Despite Black castling as late as move 26(!) it was White’s King who faced major troubles. Chandra played a series of strong attacking moves beginning with 27… Bg3, trading off White’s only kingside defender, allowing Black’s pieces to quickly circle the White King. Black’s 31st move fxg4, signaled the end for white, with Black now introducing two new attackers on White’s King, the f8-rook and the g4-pawn, which would play an important role in creating a mating net. With the attacking count to 3 pieces versus no defensive pieces, there was little that White could do.

In a very difficult position, Velotti made his final mistake with 34. Qh6. Although there was no sufficient defensive solution, Qg1 instead would force Black to demonstrate accuracy before winning the game. Chandra brought the last piece into the attack with 35...Rbf7! White resigned due to Black’s unstoppable threats of Qxg1 or Rf5. An impressive and hard-fought struggle from both players led to a great way to kick off the championship!

IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti v. IM Akshat Chandra, Round 1 // Annotation by GM Mackenzie Molner

Yian Liou vs. Arthur Shen

Perhaps the most surprising game of the round. Liou played the opening in very convincing and aggressive style with a nice novelty 12...c3, improving over games played by players even as strong as Topalov! Black’s response 12…b5 is a completely standard move in the Najdorf but left Black’s position overextended on the queenside. White played the middlegame very precisely. By ruthlessly undermining Black’s queenside pawn structure, he achieved a decisive advantage that he exploited smoothly.

Ruifeng Li vs. Michael Bodek

Li starts out the game with quick and confident moves on the White side of the Dragon, that seem to indicate that he was in his preparation deep into the opening. He could have made the most of this preparation with the move 17. Rb5! This would have held White’s extra pawn, along with a healthy advantage. Instead he played 17. Bd4 which passed the initiative over to Black. Bodek brilliantly seized his chance with a temporary piece sacrifice earning a significant endgame advantage. Bodek held onto a large advantage until 32… f5?. Although Black was still better, Li defended stubbornly and made the draw on move 47.

Jeffrey Xiong vs. Mika Brittain

Xiong comes into the game as the highest rated player in the tournament and, after winning the Chicago Open, must be the favorite to win the event. After achieving a pleasant opening advantage, Xiong faced stiff resistance in the middlegame and the position quickly went from pleasant for White to dead equal. The game was soon drawn, with the players shaking hands on move 32.

Awonder Liang vs. Curran (Ray) Han

Liang came into the game with a sizable rating advantage. The game started out as a Samisch King’s Indian which has an aggressive reputation for White. Despite the aggressive nature of the variation, the queens were traded off by move 11. The position was approximately equal but Liang slowly outplayed his opponent in a positional fashion that shows a level of maturity not normally seen from players of his age. Can put up sturdy resistance but Liang kept up the pressure until he won on move 44.

By Brian Jerauld

All eyes on the 1993 World Championship rematch of Kasparov v. Short, both playing in Saint Louis for the first time // Austin Fuller photo

Those pursed lips. The extended chin. That familiar furrowed brow.

All of this recognizable before the clocks had even started.

After 10 long years of retirement, the 13th World Champion of Chess, Garry Kasparov, returned to his old black-and-white stomping grounds Saturday afternoon -- reappearing with a style so familiar, one could question if he had left the game only yesterday. At the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, Kasparov took sides for only the fourth time since 2005, re-emerging for the Battle of the Legends match against his famous foe-turned-friend counterpart, famed English Grandmaster Nigel Short.

Dueling through one Rapid game of chess followed by four Blitz contests, Kasparov fell right back into his animated groove of play -- tossing cursory glances into the air, then feverishly pressing his face through his hands -- and to the fans’ delight, returning to his memorable aggression on the board. Kasparov took a 3.5-1.5 lead over Short in the two-day, ten-game Battle of the Legends match, first settling with a wonderfully fought draw in the Rapid control, then smashing through with victories in three of the four Blitz.

“It’s easy for me to play the sharp game, where I see the straight lines,” Kasparov said. “But when you’re out of practice, it is extremely difficult to play a slow maneuvering game. Nigel was right dragging me into positions where the lack of practice helps -- and you could see that in game three.”

Kasparov returns to form during the fast-paced Blitz play, earning a 3.5-1.5 lead halfway through the inuagural Battle of the Legends // Austin Fuller photo

That third game, the second Blitz contest of the afternoon, revealed perhaps the only sign of rust given from Kasparov’s retirement: forgetting about his old, ticking friend. Intensely focused on seeing through a balanced position, Kasparov seemingly ignored his dwindling clock -- later revealing he felt “disconnected” from it -- and let his final seconds run out to provide Short his only win of the day. Kasparov rebounded with two victories to close the afternoon, however, including the day’s only win with the white pieces in Game 5.

“To be honest, I’ve never played with a delay in my life -- never, in any sort of important game,” Short said of the 5-minute, 3-second delay Blitz time control. “I haven’t quite got the hang of that. Also, I tried a little bit to exploit Garry’s lack of practice, put a little bit of clock pressure on him. It was a conscious idea, but I missed a lot of things. I was disappointed.”

For his part, Short defended wonderfully in the match’s opening Rapid round. In a Bogo-Indian, Short’s early 4...c5 slowed Kasparov for a moment of recall, finally deciding on 5. a3 to earn the bishop pair but a delay in development. He worked his way through, however, with the nifty 10. Nb5.

And by 19. Qg3 and 20. f4, the legendary Kasparov was once again on the attack. Short tried to add complications, centralizing with 20...Nd4 and attacking the white rook with 21...Bc4, but Kasparov ignored the attack, accepting the exchange while continuing to peck away at Black’s castle. Short’s clock fell below 7 minutes before finding 23...Kh8 and, worse, his opponent had found a familiar stance: Intently and aggressively leaning across the board.

Kasparov settles into a familiar stance, returning to his old black-and-white stomping grounds for just the fourth time since 2005 // Austin Fuller photo

England’s former child prodigy held his own down the stretch, however, finding all the right moves in a sharp position that required them. He removed white’s menacing white knight by returning the exchange with 24...Rxd5, then confidently played 26...fxe5 to challenge Kasparov’s dangerously forcing back-rank threat. White fully destroyed black’s castle protection, forcing the black king to cower in the corner, but the bishop pair could not help the queen break through black’s last line of defense. With 41. Qd8+, Kasparov entered into threefold repetition.

GM Garry Kasparov v. GM Nigel Short, Rapid Round 1 // Annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez

Despite applause from the surrounding fans, Kasparov leapt from the board and looked exasperated to not have found the full point.

“People always ask me if I still play,” he said. “I ask them ‘What do you mean by play?’ For me, playing chess is being fully engaged. You find yourself at a chess set, watched by a lot of people not just here in Saint Louis, but worldwide - there is some pressure.”

He looked comfortably fine when he returned to his seat for Saturday’s first Blitz game, delivering a fine attacking victory with the Black pieces out of a symmetrical English. After castling, Short found himself up a pawn but in an extremely unhappy position - worse after giving up his best piece, the white squared bishop with 17. Bxc6. Kasparov revealed his not-subtle intentions with 20...f5 and by 30...Be5, white was ready to collapse under the pressure.

GM Garry Kasparov v. GM Nigel Short, Blitz Round 1 // Annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez

The final Blitz game of Saturday left the afternoon with a thrilling cap, seeing Short make a last-second error in a queening race and an otherwise book draw. Kasparov as white found himself with a precarious looking position out of the opening, offering a queen trade with 13. Qxf4 that left him with the bishop pair but also a horribly ugly pawn structure.

A pawn exchange on d4 let the lethal bishop pair loose, and Kasparov’s emphasized 24. Rd6 ushered in a nifty exchange on c6 to hurtle toward endgame. Short soon found himself up a pawn, but his lack of control on the position made it seem he was down a full piece -- realized with 44...Nxe7, sacrificing the knight to eliminate white’s impending queening threat

At this point, Kasparov was below 15 seconds on his clock, while Short enjoyed a full minute -- though it was the Englishman who folded in time pressure.

GM Garry Kasparov v. GM Nigel Short, Blitz Round 4 // Annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez

Sunday afternoon will bring the exciting conclusion to Battle of the Legends: Kasparov vs. Short, with one more Rapid game and four additional Blitz games to begin at 2:00 p.m. CDT. The games can be viewed live on www.uschesschamps.com, with commentary from Grandmasters Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramirez set to begin 10 minutes before the first move.