The Southern California Chess Federation conducted its 25-player Candidates tournament last weekend at Chess Palace in Garden Grove. Only those who had excelled in local events during the last year were invited. At stake were four spots in the SCCF's state championship.
Ankit Gupta won his first three games and took first place with a score of 31/2-1/2. Next at 3-1 were, in tiebreak order, Michael Casella, Konstantin Kavutskiy, IM Tim Taylor, Tianyi He, Vadim Kudryavtsev and Cheston Gunawan.
Gupta, Casella, Kavutskiy and Taylor will join four players seeded by rating (Joel Banawa, IM Cyrus Lakdawala, Philip Xiao Wang and this writer) in the round robin state championship, scheduled for two weekends in August.
The SCCF has posted the moves of all Candidates games at scchess.com.
International news
The world's top-ranked grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, won four consecutive games to take the lead in the Kings tournament in Medias, Romania. The double round robin pits Romanian star Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu against five elite grandmasters. With three rounds remaining, Carlsen led with 51/2-1 1/2, a point ahead of Boris Gelfand of Israel.
Local news
The Pacific Southwest Open, the oldest of the major local tournaments, celebrates its 50th edition next weekend at the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. The six-round main event begins Saturday and continues through July 5, with two games each day. Entrants may opt for a two-day schedule, beginning Sunday.
Organizer John Hillery plans two side events. The PSW Scholastics, for students in grades K-12, will be held Sunday. The PSW Hexes (three 90-minute games within a six-player section) are scheduled for July 5. For more information and online entries, see westernchess.com.
Philip Xiao Wang convincingly won the championship of the Los Angeles Chess Club, scoring 6-0 last weekend in the 33-player tournament.
Karl Tolentino scored 5-1 to lead the under-1800 section. For more about the club, call Mick Bighamian at (310) 575-5710.
Today's games
GM Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)-GM Boris Gelfand (Israel), Medias, Romania 2010: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 Gelfand's specialty, the Petroff Defense. 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0-0 Be7 8 Re1 Some prefer 8 c4 Nf6 9 Nc3. Bg4 9 c4 Nf6 10 Nc3 Offering a pawn. Less aggressive is 10 cxd5. Bxf3 11 Qxf3 Nxd4 12 Qd1 Ne6 This position has been known since a drawn 1985 Kasparov vs. Karpov game that continued 13 cxd5 Nxd5 14 Bb5+ c6 15 Nxd5 cxb5 16 Qb3 0-0. 13 Bf5 c6 Reasonable, as White recovers the pawn favorably after either 13…d4 14 Ne2 or 13…dxc4 14 Qa4+ c6 15 Bxe6 fxe6 16 Qxc4. 14 cxd5 Nxd5 15 Qg4 Nxc3 16 bxc3 Not 16 Bxe6?! fxe6 17 Qxg7?? because 17…Ne2+! 18 Kh1 Bf6 costs White a piece. 0-0 Inviting the harmless 17 Bxe6?! fxe6 18 Qxe6+ Rf7 19 Be3 Qd3. 17 Rb1 Qc7 Worth a thought is 17…Bc5 18 Rxb7 Qf6. 18 Bh6 Bd6?? This error will be severely punished. It's doubtful if White can maintain any advantage after 18…Bf6! 19 Qh3 Rfe8 20 Bxh7+ Kf8. 19 Qh3! Surprise! White's real target is h7, and Black has no good defense. Rfe8 20 Bxg7! Bxh2+ 21 Kf1! The King does not belong on the h-file after 21 Kh1?! Kxg7 22 Qxh7+ Kf6 23 Bxe6 Rh8. Kxg7 22 Qxh7+ Kf6 White refutes 22…Kf8 by 23 Rxb7! Qxb7 24 Bxe6. 23 Bxe6 Bf4 Toughest. Instead, 23…Rxe6 24 Qh6+ gives Black the choice of losing his Queen (to 24…Ke7 25 Rxe6+ fxe6 26 Rxb7! Qxb7 27 Qh7+) or allowing checkmate (by 24…Kf5 25 Rxe6 fxe6 26 g4+! Kxg4 27 Qg6+ Kh4 28 Rb4+ Bf4 29 f3). 24 Qf5+ Kg7 25 Rb4! Rxe6 26 Rxe6 fxe6 27 Qg4+ Kh8 28 Rxf4 Threatening the unprotected King by 29 Qh3+ Qh7 30 Rh4. Qh7 29 Qxe6 Qh1+ Black has no chance in the endgames reached by 29…Qb1+ 30 Qe1 and 29…Qd3+ 30 Qe2. 30 Ke2 Qh5+ 31 g4 Qb5+ 32 Kf3 Even easier is 32 c4 Qb2+ 33 Kf3. Qd3+ 33 Kg2 Qd5+ 34 Qxd5 cxd5 35 Rf7 b5 36 Rd7 a6 37 f4 One of several winning methods. Rc8 38 f5, Black Resigns. After 38…Rxc3 39 f6 Kg8 40 g5 Rc6 41 Kf3 d4 42 Kg4 d3 43 Kf5, White's pawns are unstoppable.
