Nevada Chess, Inc.

FIDE Master Elliott Liu played five rounds of consistently strong chess to win the open section of the Presidents’ Day Open with a perfect 5-0 score. The Presidents’ Day Open was a five round swiss system tournament played at the Las Vegas Chess Center at the Learning Village on Fremont Street during the Presidents’ Day weekend on February 14-16. The tournament had four sections with a total of 69 competitors and a total prize fund of $2,000. Patrick Lacey lost to Liu but defeated all other opponents to finish in clear second place in the open section with a 4-1 record. Professional chess teacher Virgilio Reyes finished in clear third place in the open section with 3.5 points. Chad Badgett won the under 1900 section with 4.5 points. Eric Leung and Anthony McCarthy tied for second place in the under 1900 section with 3.5 points each.

Edgar Khachatryan entered the under 1400 section as an unrated player with absolutely no experience in US Chess Federation sanctioned tournaments. But that didn’t stop him from playing excellent chess and winning the under 1400 section with 4.5 points. Yosef Debesai, Diego Santiago, Daniel Bohnett, and Stephen McGrew shared second through fifth place honors in the under 1400 section with 3-2 scores. Like Edgar Khachatryan, the appropriately named Knight Fevella-Postes also started the tournament as an unrated player with no US Chess Federation sanctioned chess tournament experience. And just like Khachatryan, he won the scholastic section with four wins and a draw. Amber Haskins and Arturo Simon tied for second and third place in the scholastic section with 4 points each.

This tournament was the first in a series of three southern Nevada qualifying tournaments for the 2014 Nevada State Chess Championship. Liu’s perfect 5-0 score makes him the favorite to be the top qualifier from southern Nevada. But qualification is based upon a player’s top two scores from the three qualifying tournaments. So Liu will need one more strong result to qualify. The next southern Nevada qualifying tournament is scheduled for the final weekend of April. For more information about upcoming state championship qualifying tournaments in southern Nevada, please visit the Las Vegas Chess Center website.

Juan and Sabrina Jauregui organized the tournament, and Tom Brownscombe and Juan Jauregui served as the tournament directors. To see a complete crosstable for the tournament, including results and rating changes for all players, please visit the member services area of the United States Chess Federation website.

Attention scholastic chess players! The 2014 Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship will be held Saturday, March 22 at the Las Vegas Day School. For more information, click here. If you would like to register for the tournament online, please visit our registration page.

tandem simul

Jonathan Zavala v Timur Gareev

Tom Brownscombe and Timur Gareev

Tom Brownscombe and Jaan Ehlvest

On Friday, December 6th, 2013 not just one, but two grandmasters came to visit the Las Vegas Chess Center at the corner of Fremont Street and 8th Street in downtown Las Vegas. GM Timur Gareev is number 3 on the most recent list of top USA players with a USCF rating of 2769 and 102 in the world with a current FIDE rating of 2650. GM Jaan Ehlvest is number 16 on the most recent list of USA players with a USCF rating of 2627 and 297 in the world with a current FIDE rating of 2577. And both of these players demonstrated their abilities at the Las Vegas Chess Center on Friday night.
The evening began with a presentation by Timur on how to play the white pieces against the dragon variation of the Sicilian defense. Then the two grandmasters teamed up against 20 club members in a tandem simultaneous chess exhibition. Many chess aficionados have seen a simultaneous chess exhibition, in which a strong player plays against many opponents simultaneously. But a tandem simultaneous exhibition is even more impressive. The two grandmasters moved from board to board, taking turns making moves without ever speaking to each other. This is much more difficult than a normal simultaneous exhibition, because the two grandmasters had to manage to play a coherent game of chess on every board without ever communicating with each other in any way (other than making the best moves they could on the chess boards). The grandmasters’ task was made even more difficult by the strength of the field, which included three masters. So it was hardly a surprise that one of the masters managed to achieve a victory.
J. Ehlvest/T. Gareev – FM Brownscombe,Tom (2226) [B82]
tandem simul, 06.12.2013
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.f4 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.0–0 a6 [Active play with 9…Nxd4 10.Bxd4 e5 is the right way.] 10.Kh1 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 e5 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Be3 [White misses an opportunity to gain an advantage with 14.Qg3 Bd6 15.Be3±] 14…Be6= 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Rad8 17.Rad1 [17.c4 e4 18.Bxe4 Qxc4=] 17…Rxd5 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Rxd5 Nxd5 20.Qxd5 Qxc2 21.Qxb7 Qe2 22.Qe4+ [My engine says that 22.Rg1 is the move that holds this position together, but it is not easy to find such a counterintuitive move when playing a simul.] 22…Kg8 23.Qf3 Qxb2 24.Qg3 f5 25.Bc1 Qb5 26.Rd1 Rd8 27.Rxd8+ Bxd8 28.Qb3+ Qxb3 29.axb3 Kf7 30.Kg1 Bb6+ 31.Kf1 Ke6 32.Ke2 Bd4 33.h3 f4 34.Ba3 e4 35.Bf8 Kf5 36.Bd6 g5 37.Bb4 g4 38.hxg4+ Kxg4 39.Bd6 f3+ 40.Kf1? [40.gxf3+ is the only way to keep fighting.] 40…e3 41.gxf3+ Kxf3 0–1

The big surprise of the night occurred in Rhomer Johnson’s game. Rhomer holds a current USCF rating of just 1113. He has not even played against a master level opponent in USCF rated tournament competition in over 20 years. And in the opening and early middlegame, he appeared to be completely outclassed by his grandmaster opponents. Rhomer traded off his good bishop. Then he lost a center pawn. Then his opponents gained space and generated play on the queenside and in the center. But Rhomer didn’t give up. Despite having an objectively lost position, he kept on fighting. Rhomer played for a kingside attack and generated threats against black’s castled king. And those threats led to a blunder by one of the grandmasters, followed by resignation.
Johnson,Rhomer (1113) – J. Ehlvest/T. Gareev [A46]
tandem simul, 06.12.2013
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 d5 5.Bb5+ Bd7 6.Qa4 Nc6 7.Ne5 Nxe5 8.dxe5 a6 9.Bxd7+ Nxd7 10.0–0 b5 11.Qc2 [11. Qf4 Qc7 does not hold the e-pawn] 11…Nxe5 12.b3 Bd6 13.Nd2 0–0 14.Qd1 c4 15.Bb2 Nd3 16.Qc2 f5 17.f4? The weak pawn on e3 will quickly become a serious problem. 17…Rc8 18.b4 Qb6 19.Rf3 Bxb4 [19…Bxf4 would be crushing.] 20.cxb4 Nxb2 21.Qc3 [21.Qxb2 c3 is objectively better, but black is still winning.] 21…Na4 22.Qe5 Rfe8 23.Rg3 Rc7 24.Nf3 Rd7 25.Nd4 [Black has an easy win with 25…Qc7, but…] 25…Qd6?? 26.Rxg7+ Now black must choose between losing the queen with 26…Rxg7 27.Qxd6, losing a rook to 26…Kh8 27.Rxd7+, getting mated after 26…Kf8 27.Qf6+, or resigning. 1–0

Congratulations Rhomer Johnson, bane of the grandmasters.

Thirty-eight chess players came to the Venetian®|The Palazzo® Congress Center on Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th to compete in the Second Las Vegas Mind Sports Open Chess Tournament. This tournament was part of the second Las Vegas Mind Sports Festival. The Festival included competitions in chess, scrabble, go, the trading card game Magic the Gathering, and other strategy games. Grandmasters Timur Gareev and Jaan Ehlvest were the pre-tournament favorites in the open section of the chess tournament, and they demonstrated their skills by drawing against each other and defeating all others to tie for first place in the open section with 4.5 out of a possible 5 points. Timur won the first place medal on tie-breaks, but the two grandmasters shared the first and second place prize money equally. FM Nachum Salman, NM Ronald Gross, Glenn Bidari, Virgilio Reyes, Juan Jauregui, Daniel Dease, William Wijaya, and Jonathan Zavala all tied for third through tenth place in the open section with 3 points each. They split the remaining prize money equally. But young Jonathan Zavala earned the third place medal due to his excellent tie-break score, even though he was the lowest rated player in this massive tie. Here are two of the key games, with notes by GM Gareev:

GM Gareev, Timur (2739)- GM Ehlvest, Jaan (2624) [D61]
MSI 2013, 07.12.2013
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 h6 8.Bh4 c5 9.Rd1 Qa5 [9…cxd4 10.Rxd4] 10.Nd2 [10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Bxe7 Nxe7 12.Be2 cxd4 13.Rxd4 Nc6 14.Rd1 Nf6 15.0–0 Bd7 16.Rd6 Rfd8 17.Rfd1 Be8] 10…cxd4 11.Nb3 Qc7 [11…Qb6 12.Rxd4] 12.Rxd4 a6 13.Bg3 Qc6 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Rc4 Qb6 16.Be2 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Nf6 18.0–0 [18.Qd4 Qxd4 19.Nxd4 Bd7 20.Rc7] 18…Bd7 19.Qd4 Qxd4 20.Nxd4 Rac8 21.Rfc1 Rxc4 22.Rxc4 Rc8 23.Rxc8+ Bxc8 24.Bf3 Nd5 25.Bxd5 exd5 26.Be5 Bd7 27.Ne2 f6 28.Bc3 Bd6 29.f3 h5 30.h4 ½–½

Zavala, Jonathan (1830)– GM Gareev, Timur (2739) [C63]
MSI 2013, 08.12.2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.0–0 d6 8.Nc3 [8.Qe2! a5 9.Rd1 Ba6 10.c4 Qc8 11.Nc3 Be7 12.Nh4 Qg4] 8…Be7 9.h3 a5 10.Be3 0–0 11.Re1 Qe8 12.Nd2 Qg6 13.Kh1 d5 [13…Be6!] 14.exd5 [14.Nf3 Qh5 (14…Bd6 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Nxd5 Bb7 17.Nxf6+ Rxf6 18.Nh4 Qf7 19.Qg4 Rf8) 15.exd5 Bg4 16.Kg1 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxf3 18.gxf3 Nxd5³] 14…cxd5 15.Bf4 Bb7 [15…d4 16.Nb5 Nh5 17.Bxe5 Rxf2; 15…Ng4 16.hxg4 Bxg4 17.Nf3 d4 18.Nd5 Qh5+ 19.Bh2 Bd6] 16.Rxe5 d4 17.Rg5 Qf7 [17…Qh6 18.Ne2 Bd6] 18.Ne2 Nd5 19.Re5 Nxf4 20.Nxf4 Qxf4 21.Rxe7 Qg5 [21…Qh4] 0–1

Daniel Quinones won the under 1800 section with 4.5 points, and Michelangelo Barozzi took clear second place with 4 points. Jason Cruz and Eric Leung tied for third place in the under 1800 section with 3 points each, with Jason Cruz winning the third place medal on tie-break points. Matthew Kursar won the under 1400 section with 4.5 points, and David Sletten, Jr. took clear second place with 4 points. Kevin Yarwood and Richard Zhou tied for third place in the under 1800 section with 2.5 points each, with Richard Zhou winning the third place medal on tie-break points.

The next Las Vegas Mind Sports Festival will be held on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus on the weekend of January 25th and 26th. The chess tournament was organized and directed by Juan Jauregui and Tom Brownscombe on behalf of the Las Vegas Chess Center in cooperation with Mind Sports International. To see the full tournament results, please visit http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201312088982.0. For more information about the Las Vegas Chess Center, please visit http://www.vegaschessclub.com. For more information about Mind Sports International, please visit http://www.mindsportsacademy.com.

There will be a meeting of the Nevada Chess Board of Directors on Sunday, December 8th in the Galileo Ballroom, located on the 2nd Level of The Venetian®| The Palazzo® Congress Center, immediately after the conclusion of the Mind Sports International Chess Tournament (approximately 6PM). This will be an open meeting. Anybody who wishes to express their opinion(s) about Nevada chess is welcome to attend. The main item on the agenda will be planning for the 2014 Nevada Scholastic Chess Championship.

Have you ever tried to play an entire game of chess blindfolded? Have you ever tried to remember an entire chess game move by move just from the notation, without ever looking at a chess board? With some practice, most experienced tournament players can manage this. What about two games? With practice, most strong tournament players can manage to keep track of two blindfold games without looking at a chess board. But what about 14 games? Keeping track of 14 different games of chess simultaneously while blindfolded is an amazing feat that most ordinary players can only dream of. But for GM Timur Gareev, it’s just another practice session.

On Sunday, September 29, GM Timur Gareev visited the Las Vegas Chess Center and gave a 14 board blindfold simultaneous chess exhibition. A comfortable seat was created in the middle of the room using bean bag chairs, and tables were put in a circle around that seat. After a brief introduction and explanation of the rules, Timur literally put on a blindfold and started to play 14 games simultaneously. The club members announced their moves verbally and made the moves on the chess boards that were in front of them. But Timur could not see any of those chess boards. He had to keep track of all 14 of the positions in his head. When Timur was ready to make his move he announced it verbally, and his assistant made the move on a physical chess board. Timur played like this for more than seven hours without ever looking at a chess board. Timur won ten games, drew two, and lost two.

John Trivett and Jonathan Mikolic achieved draws against the grandmaster. With an over the board rating of just 1591, Jonathan Mikolic was one of the lowest rated players participating in the exhibition. But he played very solid chess. Timur probed Jonathan’s position, but Mikolic gave no ground. Eventually Mikolic forced a queen trade, and a few moves later Timur offered a draw in a completely equal minor piece ending.

Trivett appeared to be gaining an advantage in his game. But Timur sacrificed a rook for a knight, a pawn, and active play. Timur was able to use his well placed king and knight to force trades that lead to an equal endgame. In a dead drawn position, Timur offered a draw and Trivett accepted.

Daniel Dease and FM Tom Brownscombe managed to defeat the grandmaster. Here are their games:

Dease,Daniel (1791) – GM Gareev,Timur (2769) [B57]
blindfold simul, 29.09.2013

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Qb6 7.Nb3 g6 8.0–0 Bg7 9.Be3 Qc7 10.Qd2 0–0 11.Be2 Ne5 12.Bh6 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Qxc4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Rfe1 b6 16.Rad1 Bb7 17.Qd4 Rac8 18.e5 Qxd4 19.Rxd4 dxe5 20.Rxe5 e6 21.f3 Rc7 22.Re2 Rfc8 23.Rdd2 a6 24.Nd1 a5 25.c3 Ba6 26.Re1 Nd5 27.Ne3 Nf4 28.Nc1 Bb7 29.c4 b5 30.c5 Rxc5 31.Nb3 Rh5 32.Nxa5 Bd5 33.Rd4 g5 34.a3 Rh4 35.Rd2 Rh5 36.Nf1 Rh6 37.g3? Nh3+ 38.Kg2 g4 39.Rxd5 exd5 40.Ne3 gxf3+ 41.Kxf3 Re6 42.Rd1 Ng5+ 43.Kf2 Rf6+ 44.Ke2 Rh6? After more than six hours of blindfold play, Timur overlooks a knight fork. 45.Nf5+ Kg6 46.Nxh6 [46.Ne7+ Kf6 47.Nxc8 would win more material. But after 47…Rxh2+ Black would have more counter play.] 46…Kxh6 47.Rxd5 Rc2+ 48.Rd2 Rxd2+ 49.Kxd2 Nf3+ 50.Ke2 Nxh2 51.Nb7 Kg6 52.b4 Kf6 53.Nd6 Ke5 54.Nxb5 Kd5 55.Nc3+ Kc4 56.Nd1 Kb3 57.Ne3 Excellent technique by Dan! The black knight is trapped. 57.b5 Ng4 would be less clear. 1–0

FM Brownscombe,Tom (2226) – GM Gareev,Timur (2769) [E83]
blindfold simul, 29.09.2013

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.f3 0–0 7.Qd2 a6 8.0–0–0 Rb8 9.g4 e5 10.Nge2 b5 11.d5 Na5 12.Ng3 Bd7 13.c5 b4 14.Nb1 [14.c6 or 14.g5 would be better.] 14…Ba4! I underestimated this move. 15.Bxa6 Bb3 16.Qd3 Bxa2 17.Nd2 Ra8 18.c6 Qb8 19.h4 Nxd5 This sacrifice is a good idea, but 19…Bxd5 20.exd5 Nxd5 would be more accurate. 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.h5 Bxf3? This is the losing move. Timur gets a lot of pawns and some strong play for his sacrificed pieces, but it isn’t enough. In a normal tournament game, Timur would probably have found a better move. But when playing 14 games simultaneously against a field of opponents that includes master and expert level players, even a strong grandmaster sometimes has trouble keeping track of all of the tactics. 22.Nxf3 d5 23.Qb5 Qxb5 24.Bxb5 d4 25.Bg5 Rfb8 26.Bd3 Rb6 27.Kd2 Nb3+ 28.Kc2 Nc5 29.Ne4 Nxd3 30.Kxd3 Rxc6 Timur could try to regain some of his material with 30…f5, but after 31.gxf5 gxf5 32.Rhg1 White’s active pieces would create unbearable pressure against Black’s exposed king. 31.h6 1–0 White is driving back the few remaining black pieces and taking control of the game. Timur wisely resigns this hopeless game in order to focus his attention upon the other games still in progress.

Timur gave this exhibition as part of a series of blindfold exhibitions in various cities. George Koltanowski currently holds the record for playing the largest blindfold simultaneous chess exhibition, but Timur hopes to set a new world record before the end of this year.

I would like to thank PostNet for sponsoring this exhibition. Please show your appreciation of PostNet’s sponsorship by using them for all your printing needs. Juan Juaregui organized the exhibition, and Marck Cobb assisted GM Gareev by making most of his moves on the physical chess boards.