Second-seeded Nakamura first won the title in 2004, when he was just 16. This year, he finished with seven points out of nine games without a loss. He played confident and assured over the 10 days of tense competition, according to a media release from the tournament’s organizers. “I was very happy with my play throughout and relieved to have won the title again,” said Nakamura moments after being confirmed champion. “This is a title that means so much to me and the U.S. chess community — and I have to thank the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis for putting on such a memorable championship. Winning the second title feels better to me than the first.”
Game of the week. Our annotator, GM Lubosh Kavalek, calls this week’s partie as the “battle of generations.” At 62, he says, “Boris Gulko might have looked out of place at the U.S. championship in St. Louis. But so did his opponent, 14-year-old International Master Ray Robson. When the two players met, it was a wonderful clash of generations. Gulko, an experienced grandmaster and former Soviet and U.S. champion, tried to outfox the youngster in a complicated line of the Richter-Rauzer Sicilian. But Robson was ready, sacrificing his bishop and turning the game into an important theoretical debate. He mastered it with maturity, outplaying the veteran with astonishing tactics. He won material and brought the game home with excellent technical play.”
White: IM Ray Robson (2542)
Black: GM Boris Gulko (2631)
Sicilian Defense
U.S. Championship, St. Louis 2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.f4 h6 10.h4!? (A sharp bishop sacrifice, fitting Robson’s aggressive style. It takes courage and knowledge to play it because the bishop could be languishing on g5 for several moves. White bets that opening of the h-file can lead to a dangerous attack, but things are not as simple as they seem.) 10…Nxd4 (Accepting the sacrifice immediately with 10…hxg5 leads to white’s advantage after 11.hxg5 Ng4 12.Qe2 e5 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.exf5 Bxg5 15.Qxg4 Bxf4+ 16.Kb1 Qg5 17.Qxg5 Bxg5 18.Ne4.) 11.Qxd4 Qa5 (Gulko avoids extensive analysis after 11…hxg5 12.hxg5 Ng4 13.Be2 e5 14.Qg1 exf4 15.Bxg4. Black has two possibilities here. The game Dvoirys-Feher, Budapest 1991, finished beautifully after 15…Bxg5 16.Bxc8 Rxc8 17.Rd3 Re8? [Black may hold the position with 17…Bh6!?] 18.Kb1 Rc5 19.g3! fxg3 20.Rxg3 Re6 21.Rh5 Bf6 22.Nd5 b6 23.Rgh3 g6 24.Qg5!! and black resigned because he gets mated after 24…Bxf6 25.Rh8+ Kg7 26.R1h7 mate. Garry Kasparov chose 15…Bxg4 against Vishy Anand in a rapid tournament in Paris in 1995. The game continued 16.Qh2 f5 17.Qh7+ Kf7, but now instead of 18.Rh6, white could play 18.exf5!?, although after 18…Bxg5 19.Ne4 f3+ 20.Kb1 fxg2 21.Qg6+ Kg8 22.Nxg5 Bxf5 23.Qh5 gxh1Q 24.Rxh1 Qxg5 25.Qxg5 Rac8 black should be able to draw.) 12.Kb1 (Robson knows the theory well. The king move, leaving the diagonal c1-h6, gives black the most problems.) 12…e5 (It is more dangerous to accept the bishop now because the black queen is far away from the kingside. The main reason is clear after 12…hxg5 13.hxg5 Ng4 14.Be2 e5, when white can accelerate the attack by injecting a powerful knight leap 15.Nd5!, threatening 16.Nxe7 mate. After the logical defense 15…Qd8 [After 15…Bd8? 16.Qd3 Nf2 17.Qg3 Nxh1 18.Rxh1 f5 19.g6 black resigned in the 2000 correspondence game Capoccia-Reed because the mating threats can’t be parried.] 16.Qg1 exf4 17.Bxg4 Bxg5 18.Bxc8 Rxc8 white has the luxury to continue the attack either with 19.g3, for example 19…f3 20.Qf1 Qd7 21.Qxf3 Qe6 22.Qh5 Bh6 23.g4! and white was winning in the game Beliavsky-Tseshkovsky, Frunze 1981; or, as suggested by some computer programs, with 19.Rh3 Re8 20.Qh2 Bh6 21.Rxh6! gxh6 22.Qxh6 Re6 23.Qxf4 Rc4 24.Rh1! Rg6 25.Qh2 Kf8 26.Qh8+ Rg8 27.Qh6+ Ke8 28.Qf4, threatening 29.Nf6+, white wins. (Of course, it is always interesting to find out what two computers can do. The game between Fritz and Hiarcs, Debrecen 1999, took it to another level. After 12…hxg5 13.hxg5 Ng4 14.Be2 it continued 14…f5 15.exf5 Qxf5 16.Rdf1 Kf7 17.Rh4 Nf6 18.Qd1 Qa5 19.f5! Ke8 20.gxf6 gxf6 [After 20…Bxf6 21.fxe6! Bxe6 22.Qxd6 Kf7 23.Rxf6+ gxf6 24.Bc4! white’s attack wins] 21.fxe6! and now after the sensible 21…Bxe6 white would have finished the game brilliantly with 22.Bb5+ Kd8 23.Qe2 Bd7 24.Re1 Re8 25.Qxe7+!! Rxe7 26.Rh8+ Be8 27.Rhxe8+ Rxe8 28.Rxe8+ Kc7 29.Nd5 mate. Instead of 21…Bxe6, black played 21…Kd8 and after 22.Bg4 Re8 23.Nd5 Qc5 24.Rh7 f5 25.Nxe7 resigned.) 13.Qd2 Nxe4 (Gulko decides to take the dangerous white queen off the board.) 14.Nxe4 Qxd2 15.Rxd2 hxg5 16.hxg5! (Keeping the h-file open seems stronger than playing 16.fxg5.) 16…exf4 17.Rf2 Bf5 (A novelty, but not very fortunate one since it does not cover the diagonal a2-g8. In the game Volokitin-Miroshnichenko, played in Germany in 2005, black tried 17…Be6 and after 18.Rxf4 f5 19.gxf6 Bxf6 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Rxf6 gxf6 22.Bb5 Kg7 23.Rd1 Rd8 24.Be2 f5 25.Bf3 white had a small edge, which he converted to victory in 60 moves. Another defense 17…d5 gives white an edge after 18.Rxf4! f5 [after 18…dxe4 19.Rfh4 f5 20.Bc4+ wins] 19.gxf6 Bxf6 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Rfh4 Kf7 22.Rh8 b6 23.Rd8 winning the d-pawn.) 18.Rxf4 Bxe4 (It seems that black is escaping, but Robson has a different idea.) 19.Rfh4!! (An astonishing “zwischenzug” that probably escaped Gulko’s attention. It forces black to open the diagonal a2-g8, allowing white all kinds of tactical tricks. After 19.Rxe4 Bxg5 white’s attack dies out.) 19…f5 20.Rxe4! (Winning the exchange.) 20…Bxg5 (After 20…fxe4 21.Bc4+ Rf7 22.g6 Raf8 23.gxf7+ Rxf7 24.Re1 white wins.) 21.Bc4+ Rf7 22.Rd4 Rd8 (Removing all kingside pawns with 22…Be7 23.Rf1 g6 24.g4 Rc8 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.gxf5 gxf5 27.Rxf5+ would only prolong the game.) 23.Rh5! Bf6 24.Bxf7+ Kxf7 25.Rxf5 (White reached a technically won endgame with an exchange up and the youngster knows what to do.) 25…Re8 (After 25…Ke6 comes 26.Rdf4.) 26.Rd1 Re2 27.g4 Ke6 28.Rf4 Kd7 29.a4 a5 30.Rd3 b6 31.Rb3 Kc6 (Even after 31…Be5 32.Rc4 d5 33.Rd3 Kd6 34.g5 Rg2 35.Rc8! black can’t survive.) 32.Rc4+ Kb7 33.Rd3 Be5 34.Rf3 Bf6 35.Rf5 Rg2 36.Ka2 Rg1 37.c3 Rg3 38.Kb1 Rg1+ 39.Kc2 Rg2+ 40.Kd3 Ka6 (After 40…Rxb2 41.g5 b5 42.Rxb5+ Rxb5 43.axb5 Bxg5 44.Rc6 wins.) 41.b4! axb4 42.cxb4 Ra2 43.g5 Be5 44.b5+ (After 44…Kb7 45.Rf7+ Kb8 46.Rh4 Ra3+ 47.Kd2 Rc3 48.Rh8+ Rc8 49.Rxc8+ Kxc8 50.Kd3 white wins.) Black resigned.
Puzzler.
White — Qc2, Nd3, pawn on d5, Bd6, Re7, Kh3
Black — Bb2, Qc3, Re4, Nf3, Kh8, pawns on d7, f4
White to play and mate in two.
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