It was a senior moment — in a good way — for the U.S. as American squads took home a gold, silver and bronze medal at last week’s 2024 FIDE World Senior Team Championships, held in Krakow, Poland.
The American women’s Team USA squad captured a silver in the 50+ team competition and a bronze in the tournament for teams aged 65 and older. Most impressive was the gold medal captured by the U.S. men’s team in the 50+ event, who bounced back from an upset mid-tourney loss to Italy to capture their second straight gold medal in the event.
The gold was also a triumph for the American melting pot, as the winning U.S. men’s team consisted entirely of emigres to the United States in the great chess diaspora sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, including a Jaan (Ehlvest), a Melikset (Khachiyan), an Igor (Novikov), a Latvian Alex (Shabalov) and a Russian Alex (Yermolinsky).
In a bit of a July 4 bummer, the winning U.S. team was paired against a second American entry, USA Too, on Independence Day, a tight 2½-1½ affair decided by Novikov’s fine win over expert Mikhail Koganov in a Rossolimo/Moscow Sicilian.
White’s 4. 0-0 a6 5. Bd3!? is an awkward but trendy way to handle the bishop these days, but as Koganov will eventually end up fianchettoing the bishop on g2, it amounts here to a serious loss of time. Black, by contrast, plays with economical efficiency, closing the center, developing his pieces, and then getting in a well-time central break before White is ready to respond: 14. g3 d5! 15. Ncd2 Rad8 16. Qe2 Nb8! — a very nice re-deployment of a piece that will play a critical role in the coming queenside push.
Black’s wing attack flows like water downhill after 18. Rac1 b5! 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ba1?! (White’s already back-pedaling furiously, but something more active such as 20. c4 was called for) d4 21. Bb2 Nb4, and Novikov is already poised to transform his python-like positional clamp on the game into a win.
The floodgates open on 24. Ba3? (hastening the end, though “normal” moves like 24. h3 or 24. Ra1 allow Black to ramp up the pressure at his leisure) Na2 25. Ra1 Nc3 26. Qd2 Ra8 27. Rec1 Ra6!? (the only minor blemish on a near-flawless performance; the engines spot a cute way here to end the fight with a knockout: 27…Bh6!! 28. Qxh6 Ne2+ 29. Kh1 Ng4!, winning the queen because of the threat of 30…Nxf2 mate) 28. Bb2 Na2, and now 29. Rbc1 c3 just loses a piece.
It’s over anyway on 29. c3 Nxc1 30. Rxc1 Ra2 31. cxd4 Qb6 32. Qc3 (Rb1 Nxe4! 33. dxe4 Bxe4 also wins easily) Rxb2, and White, down a full rook, calls it quits.
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We wrote last week about American super-GM Fabiano Caruana’s transformation into a world-class rapid player, and he showed that in spades by capturing the third event in this year’s Grand Chess Tour, the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Tournament in Croatia. Caruana, whose play at faster time controls was once considered a weakness of his game, simply dominated a world-class field in the rapid part of the event and now ranks second in the world behind only former champ GM Magnus Carlsen on the rapid ratings chart.
In the combined 36-game rapid/blitz competition, Caruana’s 27-9 score was a remarkable 4 1/2 points clear of a trio of pursuers, U.S. GM Wesley So, French star GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and France’s GM Alireza Firouzja.
Caruana’s decisive rapid win over GM Levon Aronian was typical of his impressive play. He surprises his American rival in the opening with an unfashionable 4. f3 Saemisch Nimzo-Indian line, and with 10. Kf2!? (unconventional, but the king will be perfectly safe here without impeding White’s development) 0-0 (Qxc5+?! 11. Qd4 Qxd4+ 12. cxd4 realigns White’s pawns and leaves him with the bishop pair) 11. Be3 Nca6 12. a4 Nxc5 13. Qd6 reaches a position Caruana said later he had studied intensively for prior matches.
Aronian can’t solve the complications over the board and White breaks on top after 13…b6? (Nxa4 is supposed to be the move, but Black better be ready for the tricky tactics to come; after 14. Nh3 Nc6 15. Be2 Rd8 16. Qg3! Bd7 Rhb1, White has very good positional pressure and the initiative for the lost pawn) 14. Bb5 Ba6? (see diagram; 14…Bb7 15. Ne2 a6 at least forces White to find 16. Qg3!, when 16…axb5 loses to 17. Bh6 g6 18. axb5 Qxb5 19. Rxa8 Bxa8 20. Bxf8 Kxf8 21. Qxb8+) 15. Ne2!, developing a piece while defending the rook on a1.
Caruana deftly cashes in on 15…Bxb5 16. Bxc5! bxc5 (forced as White was threatening mate in one on f8) 17. Qxc5, pinning the bishop on b5 and ensuring White will emerge a pawn to the good after 17…Nd7 18. axb5! Nxc5 19. Rxa5.
Aronian tries to rustle up some pressure on the White king, but double-rook endings prove easy to play when you are a pawn up and can put both rooks quickly on the seventh rank.
After 29. Rdd7 (with the familiar threat of 30. Rxg7+ Kh8 31. Rxh7+ Kg8 32. Rag7 mate) Rg5 30. b6 (with both Black rooks otherwise occupied, the b-pawn can advance virtually unhindered) h6 31. b7 Kh7 (no better was 31…Rh5+ 32. Kg4 Rg5+ 33. Kh4 Rxg2 34. Ra8 Rxh2+ 35. Kg4 Rg2+ 36. Kh3 Rb2 37. Rxf8+ Kxf8 38. Rd8+ Ke7 39. b8=Q) 32. g4! is a nice little touch to underscore Black’s helplessness.
Aronian resigned, not needing to play out lines like 32…fxg3 33. hxg3 Rxf3 (Rb5 34. Rxg7+! Kxg7 38. b8=Q+) 34. b8=Q Rfcg3+ 35. Qxg3 and wins.
Aronian, who finished a creditable sixth in the combined rapid/blitz event, was a last-minute replacement for Carlsen, who had to withdraw following the untimely death of his mother. Sigrid Oen, a chemical engineer and a strong presence in her son’s life and remarkable career, passed away earlier this month at the age of 61.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Koganov-Novikov, FIDE World Senior Team Championships, Krakow, Poland, July 2024
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. b3 g6 7. Bb2 Bg7 8. Re1 e5 9. Bf1 O-O 10. a4 b6 11. Na3 Bb7 12. d3 Qc7 13. Nc4 Rfe8 14. g3 d5 15. Ncd2 Rad8 16. Qe2 Nb8 17. Bg2 Nc6 18. Rac1 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ba1 d4 21. Bb2 Nb4 22. Nf1 c4 23. bxc4 bxc4 24. Ba3 Na2 25. Ra1 Nc3 26. Qd2 Ra8 27. Rec1 Ra6 28. Bb2 Na2 29. c3 Nxc1 30. Rxc1 Ra2 31. cxd4 Qb6 32. Qc3 Rxb2 White resigns.
Caruana-Aronian, GCT SuperUnited Rapid Tournament, Zagreb, Croatia, July 2024
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 Qa5 9. e4 Nc7 10. Kf2 O-O 11. Be3 Nca6 12. a4 Nxc5 13. Qd6 b6 14. Bb5 Ba6 15. Ne2 Bxb5 16. Bxc5 bxc5 17. Qxc5 Nd7 18. axb5 Nxc5 19. Rxa5 Nd3+ 20. Kg3 f5 21. exf5 exf5 22. Nf4 Nxf4 23. Kxf4 Rac8 24. Rxa7 Rc4+ 25. Kg3 f4+ 26. Kg4 Rxc3 27. Rd1 Rc2 28. Kh3 Rc5 29. Rdd7 Rg5 30. b6 h6 31. b7 Kh7 32. g4 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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