Unmatched pair wins in Vegas

Former U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura and IM David Pruess tied for first place two weeks ago in the North American Open in Las Vegas. Each scored an undefeated 6-1 in the upset-filled 94-player Open section, which featured 13 grandmasters.

The winners are an unlikely duo. Nakamura, a veteran grandmaster and only 20 years old, confirmed his status as favorite with victories over GM Dashzegve Sharavdorj and GM Alexander Shabalov in his last two games. He also won this tournament a year ago.

Pruess’ success was unexpected. His 2457 rating, 16th in the field, left him a full class below the “serious” contenders. Yet he upset GMs Yury Shulman, Gildardo Garcia (Colombia) and Varuzhan Akobian. Bravo!

Next at 5 1/2 -1 1/2 were Alexandre Kretchetov, GM Julio Becerra and Shabalov. Kretchetov knocked off state champion IM Enrico Sevillano and GM Ildar Ibragimov. Our local star, Akobian, led the group at 5-2, a good result that included two wins against GMs.

The tournament attracted 591 players, 80 more than the previous year. The Continental Chess Assn. paid more than $100,000 in prize money.

Frank Berry, organizer of the U.S. Championship, will run a qualifying tournament to determine seven of the 24 players in the 2008 U.S. Championship. Any American player may participate in the qualifier, a seven-round tournament scheduled for March 28-30 in Tulsa, Okla. The top seven finishers will earn berths in the U.S. Championship, which begins May 21 in Tulsa.

The great Corus tournament continues daily in the Netherlands. Follow the games by visiting www.coruschess.com.

Local news

The 15th Western Class Championships take place next weekend at the Renaissance Hotel, 30100 Agoura Road in Agoura Hills. The Continental Chess Assn., organizer of most of the largest tournaments in the country, has guaranteed a prize fund of $16,000 spread over multiple sections. Entrants may begin play Friday evening, Saturday morning or Sunday morning. Most sections conclude Jan. 21, but some finish Sunday. For details and online entries, see www.chesstour.com.

Hanley’s Chess Academy, 7390 Center Ave. in Huntington Beach, ran its first tournament last weekend, a 43-player scholastic event. David Yang, Shelley Anthopoulos, Max Duvall, Craig Hilby and Alison Chou led their sections. Joe Hanley plans another scholastic tournament on Jan. 27 and an adult tournament Feb. 2-3. More information is posted at www.hanleychessacademy.org.

Today’s games

GM Varuzhan Akobian (U.S.A.)-GM Nikola Mitkov (Macedonia), North American Open, Las Vegas 2007: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 Capablanca and Kasparov championed this system against the Nimzo-Indian Defense. 0-0 5 e4!? Formerly considered premature, but now a common alternative to 5 a3. d5 6 e5 Ne4 7 Bd3 The older 7 a3 Bxc3+ 8 bxc3 c5 seems fine for Black. c5 8 cxd5 exd5 9 Ne2 cxd4 Several games have tested 9 … Nc6 10 0-0 cxd4 11 Nxd5 Qxd5 12 Bxe4, which favors White slightly. 10 Nxd4 Qc7?! An optimistic attempt at refutation. Simply 10 … Nd7 11 Bf4 Ndc5 equalizes. 11 0-0 Bxc3 If 11 … Nxc3, Black would welcome 12 bxc3 Qxc3, trading Queens. But 12 Bxh7+ Kh8 13 Bd3 keeps the Queens on, as 13 … Ba5 14 bxc3 Qxc3? fails, to 15 Qe2. 12 bxc3 Qxe5 Perhaps 12 … Qxc3 13 Bxe4 Qxd4 14 Bxh7+ Kh8 15 Bb2 Qc4 hangs on. 13 Re1 White has excellent compensation for the pawn. Black must waste more time with his Queen. Qh5 A poor spot for the Queen. However, neither 13 … Qd6 14 a4 nor 13 … Qc7 14 Ba3 Rd8 15 c4 is attractive for Black. 14 Ba3 Re8 Leading to trouble on the e-file, but 14 … Rd8 15 f3 Nf6 16 Be7 Re8 17 Bxf6 is worse. 15 c4! Bd7 If 15 … Nc6 16 Nxc6 bxc6 17 cxd5 cxd5 18 f3 Nf6 19 Rxe8+ Nxe8, White avoids 20 Qc6? Qe5! and ends resistance with 20 Qc5. 16 cxd5 Nf6 Not 16 … Qxd5 17 Bxe4 Qxd4 because of 18 Bxb7. 17 Rxe8+ Nxe8 White dispatches 17 … Bxe8 18 Nf5 Nbd7 efficiently with 19 Be2! Ng4 20 h3 or 19 Be2! Qg5 20 Bc1. 18 Nf5? Maintaining a strong position, but 18 Qc5! wins at once. Na6 19 Re1 Nac7? Giving White a second opportunity for checkmate. The tougher 19 … Bxf5 20 Bxf5 Nf6 21 d6 would not save Black anyway. 20 Qc5!, Black Resigns. To stop mate, Black must yield a piece by 20 … Nf6 21 Ne7+ Kh8 22 Qxc7.

GM Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine)-GM Evgeny Alekseev (Russia), World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk 2007: 1 e4 This was the 25-minute tiebreaker that advanced Karjakin into the semifinal. c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e5 7 Nb3 Be7 8 f3 The English Attack against the Najdorf Sicilian. Be6 9 Qd2 Nbd7 10 g4 0-0 11 0-0-0 Qc7 Some prefer 11 … b5 12 g5 b4. 12 Kb1 b5 13 g5 Nh5 A fascinating position that has endured years of analysis and grandmaster games without revealing all its mysteries. 14 f4 Another common line begins 14 Nd5 Bxd5 15 exd5 Nb6. exf4 15 Bxf4 Nxf4 16 Qxf4 Rac8 17 Nd4 Nb6 More natural appears 17 … Ne5, but Grischuk obtained a strong attack with 18 h4 Rfe8 19 h5 b4 20 Nd5 Bxd5 21 exd5 Bf8 22 Bh3 Rb8 23 g6!. 18 Bd3 Qc5 19 Nf5 New. Two recent games were drawn quickly by 19 Nd5 Nxd5 20 exd5 Bxd5 21 Nf5 Rce8 22 Nxe7+ Rxe7 23 Bxh7+ Kxh7 24 Qf5+ g6 25 Qxd5 Re2. Rce8 In a fast game, it is difficult to react to a sharp novelty. Probably 19 … Rfe8 improves. 20 Nxe7+ Rxe7 21 e5! Too slow is 21 Qh4 Qe5! 22 Nd5 Rb7, when Black will counterattack with 23 … Na4. d5 Safer than 21 … Qxe5 22 Qh4 g6 23 Rhe1 Qh8 24 Ne4. The plausible 21 … dxe5 22 Qh4 f5 would lose to 23 gxf6 gxf6 24 Ne4 Qc6 25 Nxf6+ Rxf6 26 Rhg1+! (not 26 Qxf6?? because 26 … Bxa2+ wins the Queen) Kf7 27 Qxh7+ Ke8 28 Qh8+ Rf8 29 Bg6+. 22 h4 Nc4 23 h5 d4? Losing. Necessary is 23 … Qe3! 24 Qh4 Rb7, so Black can meet 25 h6 g6 26 Rhe1 Qc5 27 Qf4 by 27 … Qb4, threatening mate and a discovery on White’s Queen. 24 h6! g6 White refutes 24 … Qxe5 by 25 Bxh7+! Kxh7 26 hxg7+ Kxg7 27 Qh4 Rc8 28 Qh6+ Kg8 29 Qf6!, mating. Trickier is 27 … Bf5, but 28 Qh6+ Kg8 29 Nd5! Bxc2+ 30 Kc1! f6 31 g6 Bxg6 32 Nxe7+ Qxe7 33 Qxg6+ Qg7 34 Qe4 will cost Black his Queen. 25 Nd5! The interference theme, a rarity in tournaments. Karjakin avoids 25 Bxc4 Bxc4 26 Qf6?? Qxe5 but renews the threat to invade at f6. Qxd5 Only the hopeless 25…f5 26 Nxe7+ delays the end. 26 Bxc4 Qxc4 27 Qf6, Black Resigns. It’s mate after 27 … Qxa2+ 28 Kc1 Qa1+ 29 Kd2 Qa5+ 30 Ke2 Bg4+ 31 Kf2.