Today’s games give one fresh hope for the future of chess, with some marvelously creative and daring ideas from two young players who we hope will be giving us such pleasure for years to come. We wrote here last week of Maryland master Bijan Tahmassebi’s fine performance finishing in a seven-way tie for first at the recent U.S. National High School Championships in Memphis.
What we hadn’t seen at the time was the Winston Churchill High School senior’s superb upset win over top-seeded IM Arthur Guo from the event, in which Black and his bishops punish an ill-advised pawn grab with a series of really nice tactical strikes. We pick up the action after 14. Bxg7?! Rg8 15. Bd4 axb4 16. Bg2 Nf4! 17. Bf1 (a shame-faced retreat, but Black looks fine after 17. gxf4 Rxg2 18. Kf1 Rg6 19. Rg1 Rxa3 20. Rxa3 bxa3 21. Qxb7 Qc8 22. Qxc8+ Bxc8 23. Rxg6 hxg6) Bc6! (not retreating but advancing!) 18. axb5 (gxf4? Bxf3 19. Qxf3 [exf3 Qxd4 20. Rd1 Qxf4] Qxd4 20. Rd1 Qb6 21. a4 b3!, with 22…Bb4+ on tap) 18. Nd3+!!, a clear sign Black is not intimidated by his higher-rated opponent; losing now is 19. Qxd3? Rxa1+ 20. Bxa1 Qxd3 21. exd3 Bxf3 22. Rg1 Bxb4+ 23. Bc3 Bxc3 mate.
Guo still has his extra pawn but his position is under siege, and Tahmassebi pours it on with 22. Bc3 Rxb4! (the combinations keep coming; White’s kingside is a sorry spectacle, especially considering he was preparing to fianchetto his bishop and castle kingside as early as Move 5) 23. Qc2 (Bxb4?? Qa1+ 24. Kd2 Bg5+ 25. Kc2 Bd1 mate) Ra4 24. h4 (White has to stop the check on g5, as 24. Bg2 Ra1+ 25. Bxa1 Qxa1+ 26. Kd2 Bg5 is mate again) Ra2 25. Qb3 Ra3!? (Qa3!, leaving White no good moves, might have ended things quicker) 25. Qb5+ Bc6 27. Qe5. Give young Guo credit here, too, fashioning a semblance of an attack from a horrible position.
White’s doggedness nearly pays off on 27…f6? (a hiccup in a really nicely conducted attack; it looks scary, but the computer says 27…Qa4!, with the threat of 28…Rxc3! 29. Qxc3 Bb4, keeps the win in hand; e.g. 28, Qb8+ Bd8 29. Bf6 Qb4+ 30. Ke2 Ra2+ 31. Ke3 Qd2+ 32. Kd4 Ra4+ 33. Ke5 Qa5+ 34. Kd6 Qd5 mate) 28. Qxf6 Kf8 (Rxc3 allows a perpetual after 29. Qg8+ Bf8 30. Qe6+, as 30… Kd8? 31. Qxf6+ Kc7 32. Qxc3 is better for White), and now 29. Bd2!, eyeing the check on h6, appears to save the game for White in lines such as 29…Qd8 30. Bh6+ Ke8 31. Qg8+ Kd7 32. Bh3+ Kc7 33. Qxd8+ Kxd8 34. Kd2, with a likely draw.
Instead, Black takes over once again after 29. Bxf6? Ra1+!? (good enough, though 29…Bb4+ 30. Ke2 Ra2+ 31. Ke3 Bd2+ 32. Kd4 Qa7+ 33. Ke5 Qc5+ leads directly to mate) 30. Bxa1? (and here 30. Ke2! Qa2+ 31. Qxa2 Rxa2+ 32. Ke3 Bxf6 allows White some slight drawing hopes) Qxa1+ 31. Ke2 Qb2+ 32. Ke3 Qc1+ 33. Ke2 Qb2+ 34. Ke3 Bc5+ (Black’s bishops, so potent throughout the struggle, rightfully are in on the kill) 35. Kf4 Qd4+ 36. Kg5 Be7+, and White resigns as 37. Kf5 (Kh5 Be8+ 38. Kh6 Qg7 mate) Bd7 pins and wins the queen.
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Young U.S. stars also made a nice showing at the recent Kvika Reykjavik Open in the Iceland capital, with New Jersey GM Abhimanyu Mishra and California IM Christopher Yoo taking the top two junior prizes in the event. GM Hans Niemann, embarked on an extensive international tour after winning the World Open and coming in second at the U.S. Open last year, tied for sixth in Iceland with 6½ points, but the 18-year-old from San Francisco played one of the wildest battles of the year to date against two-time Asian women’s champion, Indonesian IM Irene Sukandar.
We can’t do justice to all the complications here, which features a ferocious battle for the initiative right from the start. We will just observe that it is not every day that 22 moves into a Closed Sicilian — after 16. c4 Qc6!? (dxc3 17. Nxc3 Qd7 18. 0-0 Ne7 leads to a far more conventional — and boring — game) 17. f4! Bh6 (e4? 18. dxe4 fxe4 19. Nxd4) 18. Rf1 Nf6 19. Qb2 Rb8 20. Ba7 Rb7 21. fxe5 Ng5 (down two pawns, Black’s only hope is to keep attacking) 22. Bxd4 Nxh2 — we get a position with eight passed pawns, five for White and three for Black.
Sukandar defends with skill (24. Rf2! slows the Black attack, though 25. Qa3!, instead of the game’s 25. c5, looks close to winning, with the nasty threat of 26. Qc5), but Niemann keeps generating chances even with two connected White pawns a move away from queening: 29. Qb4 Ree8! 30. b7 Qh4?! (with a sneaky pin on the White bishop and threatening 31…Nxf2 32. Kxf2 [Bxf2 Qxb4] f4) 31. c7??, and the most natural move of the board throws the game away. Winning here appears to be the disruptive 31. Qd6! Nxf2 (Qd8 32. c7 Qxd6 33. exd6, and the pawns can’t be stopped) 32. Bxf2 Bg7 33. Rb1 Rb8 (Bxa2 34. b8=Q Bxb1 35. Qxb1 Bxe5 36. Qb3+) 34. Qxe6+ and wins.
Instead, Black’s desperado attack carries the day on 31…Nxf2 (see diagram) 32. Kxf2? (a second mistake seals White’s fate; mandatory was 32. Rd1!, stopping the fork on d3 and leading to another unclear mess on the board after 32…Nxd1 33. Kxd1 f4 34. Bc5 Rf7 35. b8=Q Rc8! 36. Q8b6 Qh3 37. Ne4 Rfxc7) f4!, and the attack crashes through: 33. Rg1 (the White king won’t survive the journey after 33. Ke1 fxg3 34. Kd1 Qh1+ 35. Bg1 [Kc2 Qc6+ 36. Kb2 Qxc7] Qg2! 36. b8=Q Rf1+ 37. Kc2 Qxe2+ 38. Kc3 Bd2+ 39. Kd4 Rf4+) fxg3+ 34. Ke1 (Kg2 Qh2 mate) g2+ 35. K1 Qg4 36. b8=Q (finally getting new queen, but the coronation comes too late) Rf1+ 37. Qe1 (Kc2 Qxe2+ 38. Kc3 Qd2 mate) Qxe2+!, and White resigned facing 38. Kxe2 Bg4 mate. A game that does great credit to both competitors, and one that is far more fun to play over than it was to play.
Guo-Tahmassebi, National High School Championships, Memphis, April 2022
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Be7 9. Bb2 Nb6 10. Qb3 Bd7 11. Nc3 Nbd5 12. a3 a5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Bxg7 Rg8 15. Bd4 axb4 16. Bg2 Nf4 17. Bf1 Bc6 18. axb4 Nd3+ 19. exd3 Bxf3 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Rg1 Rg4 22. Bc3 Rxb4 23. Qc2 Ra4 24. h4 Ra2 25. Qb3 Ra3 26. Qb5+ Bc6 27. Qe5 f6 28. Qxe6 Kf8 29. Bxf6 Ra1+ 30. Bxa1 Qxa1+ 31. Ke2 Qb2+ 32. Ke3 Qc1+ 33. Ke2 Qb2+ 34. Ke3 Bc5+ 35. Kf4 Qd4+ 36. Kg5 Be7+ White resigns.
Sukandar-Niemann, Kvika Reykjavik Open, Reykjavik, Iceland, April 2022
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. Be3 Rb8 7. Nge2 d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bxc5 d4 10. Ne4 f5 11. N4g3 Qd5 12. b4 Qxg2 13. Qd2 Qd5 14. Bxa7 Ra8 15. Bc5 e5 16. c4 Qc6 17. f4 Bh6 18. Rf1 Nf6 19. Qb2 Rb8 20. Ba7 Rb7 21. fxe5 Ng4 22. Bxd4 Nxh2 23. b5 Qg2 24. Rf2 Qh3 25. c5 Ng4 26. c6 Re7 27. b6 O-O 28. Qb3+ Be6 29. Qb4 Ree8 30. b7 Qh4 31. c7 Nxf2 32. Kxf2 f4 33. Rg1 fxg3+ 34. Ke1 g2+ 35. Kd1 Qg4 36. b8=Q Rf1+ 37. Qe1 Qxe2+ White resigns/
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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