Tennessee Chess News July 2019, Volume 64, Issue 3 TN Holds First Home School State Chess Championship By: Tiffany Elliott With the growing number of home school chess groups in areas like Spring Hill and Dickson, it was high time to start this thing! Chris Prosser got the idea working with the Spring Hill Home School Chess Club and made it happen as a new TCA-state-sponsored, scholastic event. Going forward, the event is open to bidders (deadline Sept.1) and will be held annually. The event was all unrated this year with hopes of drawing in more new players to the tournament scene but it is undecided whether that will be the typical format in future events. Players in Round 1 The first of its kind tournament was held June 8, 2019 at the Northfield Conference Center open to all chess kids, not just the home school kids. The event brought in a total of 32 scholastic players, 23 of which were home schoolers. The sections were combined for the Home School Championships for High School and Junior High. Then, we had Home School K-6 and K-3 and an all-ages Scholastic section for public and private school competitors. Special thanks to the Spring Hill Home School Chess Club! They helped organize the event and kept everybody well fed throughout the day. We hope new connections were made within the home school chess communities and that this event will grow stronger every year. Long term, we hope to see a national event to send our Home School State Champion to win! Players in Round 1 Congratulations to all our new Champions! The 2019 Home School State Champion is Josh Campbell. The 2019 Home School Junior High State Champion is Harry Campbell. The 2019 Home School Elementary State Champion is Max Campbell and the 2019 Home School Primary State Champion is Jacob Barton. Winner of the Open Scholastic was David Ni. Full Results Below: Home School High School and Junior High Winners Home School Elementary Winners Home School Primary Winners Burnett and Bereolos Co-Champs of the Senior Open By: Don Wade The 2019 Tennessee Senior Open Chess Tournament was held in Crossville on May 17-19, 2019. Once again the event was sponsored by the Tennessee Chess Association, Cumberland County Chess Club, City of Crossville, and Fair Park Senior Center. There was a total of 27 players who competed, playing with a time control of G/120 d5 over 5-rounds. The winner of the competition will go on to represent the state of Tennessee in the upcoming National Senior Tournament of Champions (NSTC) at the 2019 U.S. Open in Orlando, FL. After many hard-fought games had been played by all, there were two players, IM Ronald Burnett and FM Peter Bereolos, that finished tied for 1st place each earning the title of 2019 TN Senior Co-Champion. Because there could only be one winner who would represent Tennessee in the 2019 NSTC, a ten-minute rapid playoff was held to determine who would be this years representative. After an intense struggle between these two strong players (pictured below), it was IM Ronald Burnett who came out the winner. A heartfelt "Thank You" to tournament directors (pictured below) Harry Sabine (Chief TD) and Wil Flynn (Assistant TD), who did a great job directing this event. Good Luck to Ron at Nationals! Full results below: News From Shelby County Chess By: Korey Kormick Shelby County Chess ended the Spring season and moved into Summer with the last of the USCF National Events and the continuation of a Memphis tradition. Several students who play in SCC events earned recognition in their respective sections of the US Chess Elementary Championships held over the Mother’s Day weekend in Nashville. Of particular note, Marcos Condori finished in a tie for 30th place in the K-3 U700 section, Anderson Shefsky took 6th place in the K-3 Unrated section, and Girish Vaddi won 1st place in the K-6 U1400 section with an outstanding 6.5 out of 7.0 points. Congratulations to these and all those who represented West Tennessee. 2019 Mid-South Chess Campers w Coach Michael Robertson The 2019 Mid-South Chess Camp held its eighteenth annual edition on the campus of Memphis University School from June 9-15th. Grandmasters Alex Stripunsky and Joel Benjamin headlined a full week of chess classes for over 120 students, including local players and those from all corners of the country. Events included a 60-player simul against the coaches, two camper-exclusive chess tournaments, and the ever-popular game night – where coaches, counselors, and campers try their competitive nature at any card or board game that isn’t chess, but where inevitably chess games break out anyway. IM-elect Alex (Sasha) Velikanov and chess camper enjoying bowling, one of the group night activities GM Alex Stripunsky Simul GM Joel Benjamin with medalist GM Alex Stripunsky with camper at host, Homewood Suites in Germantown Looking forward, the 2019 US Amateur South Championship will be right back in Memphis, July 27-28th. Only open to those below the Master class (under 2200 rating), it’s a call to arms for all non- professional and class players to take up the challenge to claim the mantle of Regional Champion. Online registration available at www.shelbycountychess.com What a Game! By: Alex King I decided to play in the Carolinas Classic in Charlotte, NC (a 10-hour drive from my home in Memphis) in order to play some FIDE-rated games without having to commit to a long 9-rounder like my last FIDE event, the Philadelphia International in July 2018. Before the tournament, my friend (and former Tennessee High School State Champion) Matan Prilleltensky prophesied that I would finish either in first place with one draw or second place with one loss. 1. d4 e6 My opponent, GM Elshan Moradiabadi (2548) playing black in this critical fourth-round matchup was the top seed in the tournament and the only Grandmaster in North Carolina. Both of us had won our first three games against Expert-rated juniors. 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Ne2 Nge7 After 5. Ne2 Nge7 I hadn't done much specific preparation for this game, and was already in unfamiliar territory, while my opponent was playing quickly and confidently. 6. Nbc3 g6 7. d5 Ne5 8. Bc2 Bg7 ( 8... Nxc4 runs into the fork 9. Qd4 ) 9. b3 O-O 10. f4 Ng4 11. h3 Nh6 ( 11... Nxd5 12. exd5 Bxc3+ 13. Nxc3 Qh4+ leading to an unclear attack. ) 12. Be3 f5 13. e5 White's central space advantage is impressive, but Black hopes to undermine it with one or more pawn breaks. 13... b5 14. a3 ( 14. Nxb5 exd5 and now 15. c5 is strong for White. ) 14... exd5 15. cxd5 a5 ( 15... d6 when Black has good counterplay. ) 16. b4 Kh8 ( 16... axb4 17. axb4 Rxa1 18. Qxa1 Nxd5 then he runs into the uncomfortable pin 19. Bb3 ) After 16. b4 Kh8 Diagram. 17. Rc1 axb4 18. axb4 Ra3 19. Bc5 d6 20. exd6 cxd6 ( 20... Bxc3+ 21. Nxc3 Rxc3 because of 22. Bd4+ ) 21. Bd4 Here I felt that I had consolidated my position while maintaining a space advantage. Also I had pulled even on the clock after being significantly behind earlier in the game. 21... Qd7 ( 21... Nxd5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 would lose a piece to 23. Bxg7+ Kxg7 24. Qxd5 ) 22. Bxg7+ Kxg7 23. O-O Nhg8 24. Ra1 Rxa1 25. Qxa1 Nf6 26. Rd1 Rc8 ( 26... Nexd5 due to 27. Nxd5 Bxd5 28. Rxd5 ) After 26. Rd1 Rc8 Diagram. 27. Bb3 Qc7 28. Qa7 Ra8 29. Qe3 Re8 30. Qd4 ( 30. Nd4 and if 30... Nexd5 31. Qxe8 Nxe8 32. Ne6+ ) 30... Qd7 31. Rd3 Ng8 32. Re3 As we were approaching time pressure, I decided to simplify matters by trading rooks. 32... Rxe3 33. Qxe3 Ne7 34. Qd3 Ba6 Too passive. ( 34... Qe8 since 35. Qxb5 would allow 35... Qxb5 36. Nxb5 Bxd5 37. Bxd5 Nfxd5 38. Nxd6 Nxb4 ) 35. Nd4 Kf7 36. Kh2 h6 37. Qe3 Ne8 38. Ne6 Nf6 39. Qb6 After 39. Qb6 Now Black's b5- and d6-pawns are both targets. 39... Qc8 40. Nc7 Ne8 41. N3xb5 Bxb5 42. Nxb5 Qc1 White has won a pawn at the cost of allowing Black some activity. 43. Nxd6+ Kf8 44. Nxe8 Qxf4+ 45. Kh1 Qc1+ 46. Qg1 Here we both had about five minutes left (plus a 30- second bonus per move) and Black faces a critical decision. 46... Qc3 After 46. Qg1 Qc3 Trying to keep things complicated and retain chances to trick me somehow. ( 46...Qxg1+ 47. Kxg1 Kxe8 White cannot lose but would have to play accurately in order to win: 48. d6 Nc6 49. Ba4 Kd7 50. Kf2 ( 50. Bxc6+ Kxc6 51. Kf2 Kxd6 52. Ke3 g5 53. Kd4 h5 54. b5 h4 holding a draw by one tempo: 55. b6 Kc6 56. Ke5 g4 57. Kxf5 gxh3 58. gxh3 Kxb6 59. Kg4 Kc6 60. Kxh4 Kd6 61. Kg5 Ke7 62. Kg6 Kf8 ) 50... Kxd6 51. Bxc6 Kxc6 52. Ke3 g5 53. Kd4 Kd6 54. g3 h5 55. h4 gxh4 56. gxh4 Kc6 57. Ke5 Kb5 58. Kxf5 Kxb4 59. Kg5 Kc5 60. Kxh5 Kd6 61. Kg6 Ke7 62. Kg7 winning by one tempo. ) 47. Ba4 White keeps his extra piece. From here I managed to avoid any counterplay. 47... Qxb4 48. Qd1 ( 48. Qa1 threatening Qg7# ) 48... Qe4 ( 48... Nxd5 49. Qxd5 Qxa4 50. Nd6 is also clearly winning.