The Darwinian logic of your typical weekend Swiss tournament dictates that the big sharks — usually with “GM” or “IM” before their name on the wall chart — prey on the smaller fry in the early going and then square off against one another for the big prizes in the money rounds.
That was definitely not the case, however, at the 9th Cherry Blossom Classic, which wrapped up four days of play May 30 at the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott. There were upsets galore of the top players, with even the clear tournament winner, Colombian GM Joshua Ruiz Castillo, suffering a Round 4 upset at the hands of FM Justin Paul on an otherwise unblemished 8-1 scoresheet.
The unexpected results started in the very first round, when second-seeded Icelandic GM Hedinn Steingrimsson, a three-time national champion, fell to young Pennsylvania expert Daniel Girsh, despite a nearly 500-point ratings edge on the scoreboard. And it wasn’t a single egregious mistake that toppled the grandmaster — Black in this Nimzo-Indian takes the fight to his opponent from the beginning, putting White in a brutal bind from which he never escapes.
Black goes down a pawn in the early fight for the center, but the source of White’s subsequent discomfort appears to be 9. Qc2 a5 10. e3?! (either 10. Be3, making Girsh work for the pawn, or 10. g3, developing the kingside, was a better choice), as after 10…Na6 11. Rb1 Naxc5 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Na4! turns out to be an awkward-looking move that is awkward for White to refute. The two Black knights threaten to hop into the c3-square, disrupting White’s development plans.
Black shows definitively that he’s not intimidated with the fine 15. Ne5 Be8! (this bishop must survive as it will be vital in the coming play) 16. Rb3 (see diagram) Naxc5! 17. bxc5 (Ra3 Na4! 18. Bb2 Qd6 19. Nd3 Bb5, and Black is better) Qa5+, and now the White king must scoot as 18. Bd2 Nxd2 19. Qxd2 Qa1+ 20. Qd1 Qxe5 21. Rxb7 Ra1 22. Rb1 Qc3+ 23. Ke2 Ra2+ 24. Qf3 Qf6+ leads to disaster.
Black gets his material investment back on 18. Ke2 Ba4, winning the exchange, but Girsh rightly seeks more out of an overwhelming position: 20. Bb2 Bxb3 21. Qxb3 Rxc5! (grandmasters aren’t used to walking into disasters like this after just 21 moves) 22. g3 (Nxc5?? Qd2+ 23. Kf3 Qxf2+ 24. Kg4 Qf5+ 25. Kh4 Qg5+ 26. Kh3 Nf2 mate) Rac8, with a dominating position; Steingrimsson does well just to stagger into a clearly lost endgame.
Black may have missed quicker routes to victory (27…Rxf2! 28. Nxf2 Nxf2+ 29. Kf3 Nxh1 is one the computer likes), but he never loses his grip on a winning game. After the simplifying 28…Nxf2+ 29. Nxf2 Rxf2 30. Bg2 Rxh1 31. Bxh1, the material deficit is not hopeless, but White has no answer for the advance of Black’s b-pawn down the board: 33. Bd6 b4! 34. e4 (what else? 34. Bxb4 Rc4+ is easily winning as well) b3 35. exd5 b2 36. dxe6 fxe6, and White resigned.
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Indian master Ansh Shah, who studies computer science at Rutgers, did Girsh one (nearly two) better, drawing IM Thomas Bartell in Round 2 and then defeating top-seeded GM Aleksandr Lenderman in Round 3 and Cuban GM Carlos Hevia in the very next round, picking up a cherry tree’s worth of ratings points in the process. Shah’s win over Lenderman was particularly impressive, as he outplays the onetime world Under-16 champion in a queenless, positional middle game battle where the grandmasters are supposed to hold an even greater edge over mere mortals.
In a Queen’s Pawn Game, Lenderman does try to make White sweat to regain the gambited pawn, but things backfire after 16. Nd2 c3 17. bxc3 Nxc3 18. e3 o-o 19. Nc4 Bg4 20. Nxb7!, as White’s two knights and powerful fianchettoed bishop easily outperform their Black counterparts. On 20…Be2?! (e4, 21. Ncd6 Bf3, blocking the killer diagonal, looks better) 21. Rfc1 Ned5 22. Ncxa5, it is White with the extra pawn and the much better-placed pieces.
Lenderman manages to collect the pesky outside a-pawn, but White’s positional dominance yields more material loot on 34. Kg2 g6 (on 34…Rd6 35. Rh8 Rd7, White has 36. Rxc6! Nxc6 37. Bb5 Ra1 38. Bxc6, keeping his edge) 35. Rb6 Ba8 36. Bc4+, forcing 36…Rxc4 37. Rxf6+ Kxf6 38. Rxc4 as any king move drops a knight or a rook. In the final position, after 42. Ne2 gxh4 43. gxh4, Shah will win the h-pawn and go up the exchange and a pawn; Black gave up.
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The just-announced 2022 class of Samford Fellows is one of the most promising to date, a very good sign for the future of American chess.
The Samford Fellowship Committee, which awards the grants to promising young talents for training, travel and tournament opportunities, oversees the richest and most generous program of its kind, having passed out nearly $2 million since the program’s inception in 1987. Samford awards have boosted the careers of such current American stars as GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So and Sam Shankland, all now in the top 25 on the global ratings charts.
This year’s impressive class includes junior GMs Hans Niemann of New York, Abhimanyu Mishra of Englishtown, N.J. and Christopher Yoo of Dublin, Calif., along with IMs Carissa Yip of Andover, Mass., the current U.S. women’s champion, and 12-year-old FM Alice Lee of North Oaks, Minn., who had a sensational run at the most recent women’s U.S. title tourney.
Awardees are eligible to receive up to $84,000 in total support over the term of their fellowship.
Steingrimsson-Girsh, 9th Cherry Blossom Classic, Dulles, Va., May 2022
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Nf3 c5 8. dxc5 Ne4 9. Qc2 a5 10. e3 Na6 11. Rb1 Naxc5 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Na4 14. c5 Bd7 15. Ne5 Be8 16. Rb3 Naxc5 17. bxc5 Qa5+ 18. Ke2 Ba4 19. Nd3 Rfc8 20. Bb2 Bxb3 21. Qxb3 Rxc5 22. g3 Rac8 23. Qd1 Rc2+ 24. Kf3 Rd2 25. Qa1 Qxa1 26. Bxa1 Rcc2 27. Kg4 Rd1 28. Bd4 Nxf2+ 29. Nxf2 Rxf2 30. Bg2 Rxh1 31. Bxh1 b5 32. Bc5 Rc2 33. Bd6 b4 34. e4 b3 35. exd5 b2 36. dxe6 fxe6 White resigns.
Shah-Lenderman, 9th Cherry Blossom Classic, Dulles, Va., May 2022
1. d4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. c4 dxc4 4. Bg2 c5 5. Qa4+ Qd7 6. Qxd7+ Nxd7 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Nd2 Nb6 9. Ngf3 f6 10. O-O e5 11. a4 a5 12. Ne4 Bb4 13. Be3 Nd5 14. Bc5 Bxc5 15. Nxc5 Nge7 16. Nd2 c3 17. bxc3 Nxc3 18. e3 O-O 19. Nc4 Bg4 20. Nxb7 Be2 21. Rfc1 Ned5 22. Ncxa5 Bd3 23. Nc6 e4 24. Ne7+ Nxe7 25. Rxc3 f5 26. Nc5 Be2 27. Ne6 Rf6 28. Nf4 Ba6 29. Rc7 Kf8 30. h4 Bb5 31. Bf1 Rxa4 32. Rb1 Bc6 33. Rb8+ Kf7 34. Kg2 g6 35. Rb6 Ba8 36. Bc4+ Rxc4 37. Rxf6+ Kxf6 38. Rxc4 Bc6 39. Rb4 Ke5 40. Rb8 h6 41. Rh8 g5 42. Ne2 gxh4 43. gxh4 Black 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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