BCC GAME 80: CHESS FOR THE THOUGHTFUL PLAYER: NITHIN KAVI 3-0 IN OPEN // FRICKER / O'MALLEY 1-2 U1950 // 17 ELITE PLAYERS

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB

GAME 80: IN 2 SECTIONS

OPEN

Nithin Kavi (No. 1 14&U in MA) is in a happy mood.

He put in a good day's work winning his 3 games in the

80/SD event held at the BCC Saturday, September 26,

taking clear 1st place and the cash prize.

Nithin pushed his rating up +25 to 2141.

Here, Nithin is defending with black vs Carissa Yip 

(No. 2 ranked 14&U in MA) in Round 2.

Carissa Yip was in a good mood, chatting with

Nithin Kavi before their Round 2 game, after 

essaying a solid win vs Eric Feng Round 1.

CRITICAL GAME

NM Eric Godin held the draw against the creative play of

Ross Eldridge who increased his rating for his accomplishment

(+11 to 1929). Eric finished the event with 2/3 to share 2-3rd

place with Professor Jerry Williams who also went 2 for 3,

increasing his rating +20 to1678.  Bravo, Jerry!

Ross Eldridge: holds his own vs NM Eric Godin.

(background): Terrence Fricker and Tom Shneer.

Jason Tang plays Professor Jerry Williams, Round 1.

(background): Harold Dondis vs Brandon Wu.

Jason Tang scored 1.5 points for a +4 to 1989 rating.

Jason is ranked No. 2 for 11&U in MA.

U1950 SECTION

THE GENERAL LEADS BY EXAMPLE

Terrence Fricker out-played young prodigy Niranjan Shankar

in a B33 Sicilian Defense, in Round 2 for a +6 to 1945 rating. 

Fricker scored 2.5/3 and shared 1-2nd place with Tim O'Malley. 

Niranjan scored 1/3 and was good for a +24 to 1520 rating. 

Bravo, Niranjan!

WAKING UP IN THE MORNING: ROUND 1!

Tim O'Malley essayed the "Bird's" Opening (1. f4 . . . ), 

as his 7 yr old opponent, Derek Jin followed with 1. . . . d5;

(ECO A03) Derek missed the strategic significance of his

knight on f6 and lost this game to a ferocious attack against

his king (minus the defense of the Nf6). A good learning

experience for the young lad, on his way to chess mastery.

Tim scored 2.5/3 to share 1-2nd place with Terrence Fricker.

(background): Richard Kahn vs Niranjan Shankar.

EVER IMPROVING

Tom Shneer played a solid game with white and took the full

point from Bernardo Iglesias, the event TD in Round 1. Tom 

up't his rating +11 to 1627. Bravo, Tom!  Both Tom and 

Bernardo were 1/3 on the day.

PARTING SHOT

Natasha Christiansen next to Brandon Wu (ranked

No. 3 11&U in MA) (background): NM Eric Godin.

PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK

BERNARDO IGLESIAS, TD

CHESS ANALYSIS: GM ALEXANDER IVANOV VS NM MIKA BRATTAIN // MARLBORO: MASS OPEN R=4 //

"83rd Massachusetts State Championship 2014"

Round 4

PLAYING THE BLACK PIECES

 NM Mika Brattain (BCC Blitz Chess Champion 2014)

PLAYING THE WHITE PIECES

GM Alexander Ivanov, Massachusetts State

Chess Champion: 1989, 1990, 2002, 2004, 2006, 

2009, 2011, 2012, 2013

THE GAME

In reviewing this game, I always have in mind the psychological dynamics

which prevail in the mind of a seasoned champion like Alexander Ivanov.

The goal of Alexander Ivanov is to win the game. This time his opponent was

the very talented 16 yr old, Mika Brattain. Alex tested this young master in

every possible way: in the opening, middle game and endgame.  For example,
Mika played 6. . . . Bg6!? ECO gives this line in a footnote to B12 Caro Kann
citing the game Matthias Wahls (2555) vs Ian Rogers (2580) Bundesliga, 1996
where Rogers won the game in 30 moves! Moreover, Brattain followed the line
7. . . . Nh6!? though Caro Kann players rarely use this move because of the
response: "Bxh6 gxh6" leaving a rent in Black's pawn formation around Black's
King which might be used as a target for an attack. In the Ivanov - Brattain 2014
game, however, analysis shows that Black can find a way to hold the position.
For example, in Viktor Bologan (2661) vs Alexy Dreev (2697)

7th Karpov Cup, Poikovsky, Russia, R=7 2006, Dreev went on to win the game
in 36 moves! OK, but would Mika have found such a strong retort to "Bxh6 . . . " ?
 As far as the opening goes, in the Ivanov - Brattain game, things seem to be
"equal" through move 31. [In Alexi Fedorov (2599) vs Vasily Korchmar (2214) 
St. Petersburg (ChigorinMemorial, R=2) 2010, which essayed similar moves,
to Ivanov - Brattain, 2014,  the position seemed to be equal after move 40
but Vasily could not find the "key" to holding the position (perhaps he was

in time-pressure) and was forced to resign by move 48. In Christopher Lutz (2590)
 vs Rustem Dautov (2595) Germany (Bundesliga R=9) 1998 the text also followed
a similar sequence of moves. Chris was equal through move 34, but made some
inaccurate moves, yet through move 38 was just a bit worse; after the dust settled,
Rustem was only a bit better after the 43rd move. Move 44 was a dubious move which
might have brought serious problem for White. Yet, by move 50, Chris was hanging on.
 From move 51, Rustem steadily squeezed out a winning position and by move 65,
White was lost. {The problem is, we don't know if time-pressure was the cause of
 this disintegration of Lutz' position!} And this is my point:  these lines which follow
 Ivanov-Brattain create great challenges in the endgame and Alex Ivanov was right to
complicate things, testing Mika at every turn, hoping for a mistake, especially in
time-pressure. Yet, Brattain was up to the task and as Ivanov's position weakened,
Mika was given a forced win, with zugzwang playing a major role.  Hard to make a
mistake in this kind of position. So Mika passed the test and won this game and the
State Championship to boot. Finally, in Joseph Gallagher (2545) vs Philipp 
Schlosser (2560) Germany (Bundesliga) 1997, also essaying similar themes to
those in Brattain's Caro Kann, the game stopped at move 37 with the players agreeing
to a draw, White being a bit better on the board. Was there fight left in the position: (?)
Well, the position looked equal on the board but if time-pressure was hovering over the
players, mistakes might have been made in hast. This is the nature of chess: both
an intellectual (problem-solving) activity and a sport (making the right move on
the fly.)  Time is the element which takes equal games and gives the win to one
or the other player if there is an inclination to fight to the death!]

 Did Ivanov miss [32.b5 Qd3 33.Qf4 etc.?] But the "advantage" seems quite

minimal. And if Ivanov is playing the game as a battle, rather than a 

problem-solving competition, constantly testing his young opponent, offering up 

many chances for Black to go wrong, then sometimes being a bit "worse" is a good 

strategy to seduce your opponent into making bad moves (like riding the wave in surfing, 

you have to be so very balanced as not to fall into the turbulent swirl and perish!)

This is chess as psychological warfare. This chess game is not just an objective 

evaluation of the position, but a battle of nerves and mind under pressure. After all, 

knight-pawn and king endgames are very tricky.  The movement of those 

hippity-hops are hard to visualize, especially distracted by the fear of losing on time! 

It seems that by move 44 Brattain was holding his own. In this case, was Ivanov 

ready to share the point? He might have played [44.Na5 Nf4; 45.Nb3 . . .] to head 

for a solid equalizing line. My question is: was Ivanov ready to make peace? Or did

he need to fight on, hoping for a slip up on the part of his young opponent? Or was

Alex in one of his characteristic time-pressure situations, where he himself had

to calculate as accurately as might be expected under the pressure of losing

the game on time-forfeit?

 It seems that by move move 52, Ivanov was in trouble on the board. I don't

know what the "times" were for each player, but objectively, Brattain had an
easier position to play.  Alex might have played [52. Na5 . . . etc.] and last 71
moves or as he played: 52.Ne5 . . . etc. by 57. Nh1? his position was lost.
He might have tried 57. Ke2 and last to move 82 (rather than 64) hoping for a
"final" slip-up on the part of Brattain (which never came) but again
I am not sure what the time-pressure issue was on each clock. Regardless,
objectively, Mika played this game very well, both chessically and sportingly!
He played competitively against a seasoned veteran and deserves all the
accolades that he received for winning this game and the 83rd Mass Open,
becoming the Massachusetts State Champion 2014.  Bravo, Mika!
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK

Chess: more than theory!
It takes time to play out a "gem" like Ivanov-Brattain, R=4, 2014.
TOMORROW! 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th
BCC GAME

3(SS) Rounds of serious contemplation and

psychological warfare!

BCC GAME 80: THE FACTS

Good chess takes time!

Take the time; and play out your ideas!

See you tomorrow!

BCC HOSTS HARRY LYMAN MEMORIAL // 39 PLAY // BRATTAIN / ABDI SHARE 1ST // ANTON BARASH 1ST U1950 // JUNIORS IMPRESS // 7 MASTERS PLAY //

HARRY LYMAN MEMORIAL

IN 2 SECTIONS

OPEN

CRITICAL GAME

NM Farzad Abdi, white vs NM Mika Brattain, Round 2: draw!

MASSACHUSETTS STATE CHESS CHAMPION

NM Mika Brattain scored 3.5 points to share

1-2nd place with NM Farzad Abdi.

Mika was +4 to 2443 rating for his result.
(Mika is ranked No. 1 for 18&U in MA
and No. 1 for 21&U and No. 11 overall.)

NM Farzad Abdi scored 3.5 points to share

1-2nd place with Mika Brattain. Farzad was

+18 to 2274 rating for his efforts.
Farzad is ranked No. 28 overall in MA.

FM Chris Chase scored 3 points to share

3-5th place with Sage and Kavi. Chris 

was +4 to 2396 rating.  Chris is ranked 

No. 13 overall in MA.

NM Professor Timothy Sage, Physics Department, 

Northeastern University, scored 3 points to share

3-5th place and up't his rating +8 to 2227.

Professor Sage is ranked No. 34 in MA overall.

Top 14&U in MA, 13 yr old Nithin Kavi scored 3 points 

to share 3-5th place in the Open Section with Chase 

and Sage. Nithin increased his rating +16 to 2116 and

remains 10th on the MACA U21 ranking.

IM David Vigorito, winner of the Lyman Memorial in 2008 and

2009 plays black vs Ryan Sowa in Round 1.

Long-time BCC player, living in Rhode Island,  (ranked No. 8 in RI overall)

NM Ben Goldberg faces off with IM David Vigorito in Round 2.

(David is ranked No. 6 in MA overall.)

NM Chris Williams vs Brandon Wu, (No. 6 in MA U14), Round 1.

(background): NM Farzad Abdi, black vs Conway Xu (No. 7 in MA U14);

Natasha Christiansen, black vs NM Ben Goldberg

U1950

CLASSICAL TRAINING PAYS OFF

13 yr old Anton Barash (No. 29 in MA 14&U) thinks deeply 

into the position and applies his chess tactics to extract

the maximum from the position. Here, in the

Lyman Memorial, Anton was poised and focused to

face 4 opponents and win 4 games to take clear

1st place in the U1950 section and be the only player

to score a perfect 4-0. Anton pushed his rating up

+51 to 1851.

Anton Barash, black vs Paul Becotte, Round 1.

(background): William Ravn vs Greg Ardini;

Boshen Li, black vs Alan Sikarov.

Anton Barash vs Niranjan Shankar (No. 19 in MA 11&U), Round 2.
Niranjan scored 2 points for a +83 to 1496 rating. (background):
Greg Ardini vs long-time BCC player Bob Sullivan.
GESTURES OF APPRECIATION

Anton Barash plays Imran Hendley in Round 3. Imran finished
the tournament with 3 points to share 2-4th place with Terrence
Fricker, and Mike Griffin (background): Bob Sullivan vs
Richard Kahn; Will Ravn vs Alan Sikarov.

Will Ravn had the advantage of the white pieces vs Anton
Barash, but did not find a way to stop the young lad.
Will finished with 2.5 points out of 4 to share 5-8th place with
Tom Shneer, Richard Kahn and Alan Sikarov. (background):
Imran Hendley vs Niranjan Shankar.

Bob Sullivan vs Tom Shneer. Tom finished the event with 2.5
points for a piece of 5-8th and a rating boost of +76 to 1616.
Way'ta go Tom! (background): David Zhou vs Imran Hendley;
Mike Griffin vs Alon Trogan.
SURPRISE: BATTLE OF ORANGES

91 +1 yrs young Harold Dondis (ranked No. 1 for 90+ in MA) (right) 
on the move vs his pensive 8 yr old opponent David Zhou 
(ranked No. 4 in MA 8&U). The game was drawn. (background): Richard 
Kahn vs Sammi Pan; Alan Sikarov vs Anthony DiNosse, Round 2.

9 yr old Sammi Pan (No. 40 in MA 11&U and No. 5 for females; 
No. 5 in MA 9&U and No. 1 9&U females)  plays Round 2.

13 yr old Alan Sikarov (No. 30 in MA 14&U), new face at the BCC
plays in the U1950 Section.
RECREATION AT THE BCC

Pre-tournament activities: study group.
Alan Sikarov, Alon Trogan (No. 26 in MA 14&U) and Anton Barash.
SECOND STUDY GROUP

Chess promotes learning: Jason Tang, Michael Yu, 
Brandon Wu and Eric Feng check out the position
in a lightening fast structural analysis.
POST-MORTEN: ADVANTAGE I-PHONE

Lunchtime: NM Farzad Abdi discusses the position with
NM Chris Williams, holding an i-phone with a 3400 rating
chess program. (background): David Zhou, Boshen Li, Niranjan
Shankar, Imran Hendley and Mr. Shankar, Niranjan's dad,
in the Skittles Room of the Boylston Chess Club.
PHYSICS, GENETICS AND CHESS

Future scientist, 11 yr old Michael Yu, describes
the behavior of the electron clouds surrounding
an atom of uranium 235. [Or is it the chemical
structure of the microtubules of of the
cytoskeleton in cellular cytoplasm?]
THE SCIENCE OF CHESS

11 yr old Michael Yu (No. 16 in MA 14&U), with the
black pieces had a winning position on the board
by move 30 vs Nithin Kavi, in Round 1. In
post-mortem analysis of this game, it was
clear that Michael will keep in mind, Bobby
Fischer's adage: passed pawns must be
pushed, next time he has connected passers
running down the a and b files!
And of course, we all know: in chess,
timing is everything. Michael had threats on
both sides of the board each of which was lethal
to white's position. No worries, Michael is a
fast learner!
OPEN SECTION

Veteran MACA player Scott Didham tries his hand
at playing the King's Indian Defense vs MA Chess
Champion Mika Brattain in Round 1.

12 yr old Eric Feng, (No. 11 in MA 14&U) plays white vs
Mike Griffin in Round 1. Eric was 1.5 for 3 and a +18 to
1863 rating for the day's performance.

Carissa Yip (No. 1 11 yr old in MA) observes the positions in the Open
Section: NM Farzad Abdi vs Jesse Nicholas; NM Ben Goldberg vs Scott
Didham, Jason Tang vs NM Professor Sage; and Nithin Kavi vs Nathan
Smolensky in Round 3 action.
ENDGAME TIME

Ed Astrachan vs 11 yr old Brandon Wu (No. 6 in MA 14&U): draw!

U1950 SECTION ACTION

No. 1 7 yr old in MA and No.3 U8, Derek Jin plays
Paul Becotte in Round 4. Derek won this game
for 2 points overall. Paul had 1 point out of 4.

16 yr old Tom Shneer (No. 61 in MA 18&U) engages David Ferreira
in Round 2.
DETERMINATION IS PART OF THE MIX

One must never underestimate the will to win as part
of the ingredients for collecting the full point in a
tournament chess game. Here Veteran Mike Griffin's
facial expression suggests that Mike is trying to squeeze
water out of a rock. Well, Mike squeezed 3 out of 4
watery points in this tournament. Bravo, Mike!
EYES ON THE FUTURE

10 yr old Niranjan Shankar digs deeply into
the position. He is learning to calculate to
bring about tactical advantage. He will become
a chess master before his 18th birthday.

 THOUGHTFUL MAN

Veteran chess player Victor Oppenheimer, member, Harvard
Chess Club, who knew and admired Harry Lyman, came over
to the BCC just to hand over his entry-fee as a donation to the
Club.  Thank you for remembering the Harry Lyman legacy!
PARTING SHOT

NM Ben Goldberg plays black vs IM David Vigorito,
under the watchful eye of the portrait of Harry Lyman.
Harry was a man to be emulated. He would have 
enjoyed being a part of this tournament, played in his
honor, if only because of the enthusiasm of the players.
BERNARDO IGLESIAS TD

PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK