Alabama Chess

Antics

Two Last Round Games by NM Bill Melvin

4

Varagona-Graveling: Falcon Chess Invitational by Stephen Graveling

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Visiting the CCSCATL by NM Scott Varagona

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Summer Photo Gallery by various contributors

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2018 AL Dual-Rated State Chess Ch. by Doug Strout

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Sarvagna Velidandla at the NGTOC game by Sarvagna Velidandla

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The Time Machine by NM Scott Varagona

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Summer Chess Results from reports by Caesar Lawrence

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The Official Publication of the Alabama Chess

Federation

Summer 2018

NM Bill Melvin, the legendary 8-Time Alabama State

Champion, strikes a pose that deserves an !? mark at

the 2018 Falcon Chess Invitational.

Page 2 Alabama Chess Antics

Our cup runneth over! We have nothing short of a windfall of articles, reports, games, and other content this season. Many thanks to NM Bill Melvin, Stephen Graveling, Doug Strout, Sarvagna Velidandla, and Caesar Lawrence for their valued contributions to this Antics. I would like to update the Alabama chess community on the status of the Antics Preservation Project. Significant progress has been made in gathering and digitizing old Antics magazines; indeed, all the issues currently in my possession have now been preserved as PDF files. Since my last announcement about the project, other Alabama players have stepped forward to help fill in more of the remaining gaps in the ‘90s; if you think you can help too (especially with the ‘70s), please let me know. My long-term goal with the Antics Preservation Project is for PDF files of all known issues of the Antics to be available online for ACF members to view. I am also creating a master Table of Contents for all the Antics to help people search for content by article title, event, or author. In the meantime, if you want to see some of the fruits of this project, please visit “the Time Machine” on page 18 of this Antics... Coming back to the present day: the deadline for submissions for the next Antics is November 15, 2018. Please send pictures, articles, or games (preferably in pgn format) with or without annotations to:

Alabama.Chess.Editor@gmail.com One more note: the Alabama State

Chess Championship, our most momentous tournament of the year, is coming up on August 31-September 2, 2018. The site will

be the Bruno Conference Center at St. Vincent’s in Birmingham, Alabama. The last few state championships have been very competitive, with good turnouts and many strong players (including various masters) vying for top honors; let’s hope this trend continues this year. I, for one, will plan to play and try to defend my title.

Kindest regards, -Scott Varagona

Greetings from the Editor

ACF Membership

Any individual may become a Regular Member upon the payment of annual dues of $15.00. Regular members may enter ACF tournaments and receive special publications or notices from ACF as they are issued. Any chess club seeking to become an Affiliate is required to file the Affiliate Information Form with the Secretary of the ACF and pay annual dues of $35.00. Benefits of becoming an affiliate include the right to bid to host ACF-sanctioned events, such as the Alabama State Championship, and to receive advertising through the ACF for your tournaments.

Varagona - Snow, CBM 2018, Round 4. Black to Play and Draw. (See next page for

the solution.)

Page 3 Summer 2018

1 FM BRADLEY J DENTON 2335 26 JEFFREY BYRD JR 1900

2 SCOTT VARAGONA 2253 27 ROBERT LUBIN 1883

3 MATTHEW PUCKETT 2232 28 TYLER C RHODES 1860

4 BILL MELVIN 2221 29 ZACHARY SNOW II 1836

5 STEPHEN ADAMS 2198 30 JOSHUA N WAKEFIELD 1819

6 ARDEN Q MARKIN 2172 31 TYLER W FREEMAN 1815

7 STEPHEN GRAVELING 2153 32 CHARLES H ANTHONY 1813

8 ANDY REEDER 2140 33 RHODES PEELE 1812

9 JOSEPH JURJEVICH 2088 34 MICHAEL B GUTHRIE 1811

10 JOSHUA T MCCLELLAN 2085 35 FARUK E ERGIN 1810

11 JONATHAN RASBERRY 2071 36 JEFF STORY 1803

12 TEJAS V THORAT 2055 37 RAY DOWNS 1802

13 JEREMIAH F DONAHUE 2000 38 TIM BOND 1800

14 CHARLES L MEIDINGER 2000 39 THOMAS H LAWRY 1800

15 GEORGE RUSYNIAK 1998 40 LUIS J MORENILLA 1794

16 MILES MELVIN 1979 41 CAESAR W LAWRENCE 1794

17 OM BADHE 1976 42 VIKHRAM BALAGEE 1747

18 AARON DECORD 1964 43 SARVAGNA VELIDANDLA 1745

19 CHRISTOPHER J TREES 1952 44 DAVID HAYES 1744

20 JEFF TOBIN 1946 45 KENNETH SLOAN 1735

21 ROGER D JOHNSON 1928 46 PATRICK T DOWD 1727

22 WILLIAM D FOX 1922 47 JOSHUA H LIN 1726

23 MARK L LIATTI 1915 48 CHRISTIAN E FRIEDMAN 1719

24 KIRK D PETTY 1900 49 WILLIE J SANDIFER 1718

25 TERRENCE W EDINBURGH 1900 50 ALADDIN LATEEF 1716

Alabama Chess Leaderboard Top 50 Ratings (retrieved from uschess.org on 8/17/18)

Puzzle Solution: 1...h1=Q!! 2.Qxh1 stalemate. (Oops. Ouch. Drat.) -Ed

Page 4 Alabama Chess Antics

I recently had a chance to play a pair of last round games to determine the tournament winner in consecutive weekends. It has been a long while since I have been able to write a sentence such as the previous one! In the first game, I am basically in a win-at-all-costs scenario. I was very happy to dig deep at the key moment and find the right move to win.

NM Bill Melvin – Kyle Sharpe (2200) (1898) 2018 Rea Hayes Open (Round 4), 6-2-18 This was played in the last round of the Rea Hayes Open in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I had given up a draw to Peter Bereolos in the previous round (in a rook and pawn ending which I thought I should have won). Scott Varagona was now playing Bereolos on board one. They drew quickly, so I needed a win to join Scott to co-win the tournament. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Stuart Rachels once told me that 3. Bb5 is the only move for those serious about chess. I do not disagree with that assessment. The Ruy Lopez is very deep strategically. Nowadays, the top GMs are having problems with the Berlin Defense (3. ... Nf6 after 3. Bb5) and many of them are playing 3. Bc4 (without an early d2-d4) or 2. Bc4 (to try and get a similar position while avoiding Petroff’s Defense (2. Nf3 Nf6)). The Ponziani is not a serious try for an advantage. I

occasionally get an easy win against unprepared opponents. I do plan to replace it, but still have not decided what to play. By the way, Stuart played the Ponziani for a brief time.

3...d5 Black has many paths to equality. I would suggest 3. ... Nf6 over 3. ... d5 for anyone who has not prepared. The lines are less sharp. 4.Qa4 This is the first time for me to play 4. Qa4. I have played 4. Bb5 in all of my previous games. I believe white loses by force in one of the sharp lines in that variation! 4...dxe4 5.Nxe5 Qd5?! 6.Bb5?! This transposes to a 4.Bb5 line which I have played many times. However, this is a mistake. White should play 4. Nxc6! bxc6, 5. Bc4 with a clear advantage (better pawn structure and development without ceding the bishop pair). 6...Nge7 7.f4 This is the main line and the first time I have played it. In the 1980s, I beat Chuck Schulien

Two Last Round Games By NM Bill Melvin

Page 5 Summer 2018

when he was rated over 2500 with: 7.d4 exd3 8.Bf4 Qxg2 9.Rf1. The computer tells me that white is worse here, but it is a chaotic position. After beating Schulien I could not bring myself to play the main lines even though I was aware of them. After a few decades of bad results, I finally decided to try the main line. 7...exf3 8.Nxf3 Be6 The computer considers black to be slightly better after 8. ... a6 and white to be slightly better after the move played. It is objectively an even position. Both sides have active pieces, so it remains sharp. 9.0–0 a6 10.Na3 Surprisingly, this natural move had only been played once in my huge database. We are in the streets now.

10...0–0–0 11.Bc4 Qd6? 11. ... Qd7 was necessary. The problem is that white wants to play 12. Ng5 attacking the weak point f7. Black has time to move both rooks, but not both rooks and the queen. 12.Ng5?! White needed to play 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Ng5. Now, black can save himself with 12. ... Nd5! 12...Ne5?!

13.Bxe6+ fxe6 14.d4 h6

This was my longest think of the tournament. I spent probably around 20 minutes. I felt that white should have a decisive advantage, but it took me a while to find the right move. 15. Nf7 simply traded material. 15. dxe5 Qc5+ 16. Kh1 hxg5 wasn’t convincing. 15. Bf4 hxg5 16. Bxe5 Qc6 yields white only a slight pawn structure advantage. 15. Ne4 Qc6 answers both the threat to the queen and the knight. Finally I found the move that forces the knight to abandon f7 and results in the win of an Exchange. 15.Nc4! Qc6? 16.Qxc6 N7xc6 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Nxe6 After all of the exchanges, white now cedes the battle for f7 and crashes through on the undefended e6 square. Now black loses a full piece and a pawn.

Page 6 Alabama Chess Antics

18...Rd6 19.Nxf8 Nd3 20.b3! Nxc1 21.Raxc1 c6 22.Rce1 Kd8 23.Ne6+ Kd7 24.Nxg7 Rg6 25.Rf7+ 1–0 In this second game, a draw was a satisfactory result. While a quiet result was eventually achieved, the game was my most exciting one of the weekend. I enjoyed the camaraderie of my first Falcon Invitational the most. While everyone was extremely competitive, a spirit of friendliness was in the air. Three of my four games had post-mortems afterwards. I sometimes go several tournaments without having a single post-mortem. Hearing your opponent’s thoughts about the game (before checking with the computer) is very useful for improving. Stephen Graveling – NM Bill Melvin

(2126) (2200) 2018 Falcon Invitational (Rd 4), 6-9-18 Stephen and I both had 3 points out of 3. A draw to share the tournament

seemed likely. Then I fell into an opening trap and the fight was on! 1.c4 e5 After years of playing mainly the Symmetrical English, I decided to add a more unbalanced variation to my repertoire. 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 Much has been written on playing reverse openings. When white plays a black system, usually the extra move has little meaning since black systems are usually intended to equalize. Playing a white opening (as I am doing here with the white side of an open Sicilian) seems crazy, since the Sicilian is a fine attacking opening and giving the Sicilian player an extra move sounds dangerous. However, I was hoping for free development and knew not to attempt to play too aggressively. An imbalanced even position was my goal. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0–0 Be7?! 7.d4

Stephen played this move quickly and confidently. I had the instant feeling that I had fallen into an opening trap. He confirmed after the game that I needed to

Page 7 Summer 2018

play 6. ... Nb6. Curiously, 6. ... Be7 is the second most common database move and many top players have played it before. 7...exd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Nf6 10.Qa4+ c6 11.Rd1 Most players who open 1. c4 play non-sharp lines that do not seriously try for an opening advantage. I am impressed by the sharp lines that Stephen plays. He also got a nice opening advantage against my son Miles in this tournament with 1. c4. 11...Qb6 As Stephen mentioned during our post mortem, Matt Puckett fell into the same variation at the 2017 Halloween Classic in Huntsville. While I was at that tournament, I obviously did not pay a lot of attention to their game. I remember Matt mentioned having to play very precisely in order to draw. He opted for 11. ... Bd7 which does look safer to me. 12.Be3 Qxb2?

Black is now much worse. I had to play 12. ... Bc5 and accept a slight disadvantage. 13.Bxc6+ Kf8 When I played 12. ... Qxb2 I thought that white could not play this line since both a

bishop and rook were now hanging. I overlooked white’s next move that rescues the rook with gain of time. 14.Bd4 Qb4 15.Bxf6? White throws away his advantage. The bishop pair easily compensates for the pawn structure weakness. White should play 15.Qxb4 Bxb4 16.Bf3: Black will struggle to complete his development. This is a decisive positional advantage for white. 15...gxf6 16.Qxb4 Bxb4 17.Bf3 Rb8 18.Nd2 b6 19.Ne4 Kg7 20.Rac1 Be6

Both sides have made natural developing moves and the computer now slightly prefers black. I was just happy to complete my development. The attack on the queenside is rather natural. 21.Rc7 a5 22.a4 Rhc8!? My best chance to play for a win was 22. ... Bb3. I was concerned about 23. Rdd7, but the passive move 23. ... Rhf8 gives black a much easier to play position. 23.Ra7 Rd8 24.Rc1 Rbc8?! Black should play 24. ... Rd7. Black needs to attack a4 while it is still weak. 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.g4!

Page 8 Alabama Chess Antics

Stephen outplays me the rest of the game. This move was very strong as the knight is headed to exploit the weakened kingside pawn structure and the black f-pawns are becoming fixed. I now needed to find 26. ... h5 in order to neutralize white’s pressure. 26...Rb8? This is the worst move I have played in a while. I don’t like the spirit of it or anything. My thought was that I could safeguard b6 and pick off the a4 pawn at my leisure. I needed a more active square for my rook. I quickly realized this during the game. 27.Ng3 Bb3 28.Bc6 White has a clear edge now. My queenside pawns are paralyzed. Black will now have to defend the kingside weaknesses that Stephen has masterfully revealed. 28...Rc8 29.Bb5 Rc1+ 30.Kg2 Ra1?! Determined to attack a4 at all costs. Black’s position keeps getting worse and worse. I was actually hoping to play Rxa4 and let the bishops escort the a-pawn home. I have completely misevaluated this position. 31.Nf5+ Kg8

My king runs into difficulties on g6 with some combination of Kg3, h2-h4-h5, and Bd3. I think my move surprised Stephen, but it has to be my best chance. I was now content with a draw. 32.Ra8+ Bf8 Draw agreed (½–½). As Stephen pointed out after the game, white has perpetual check after Nh6-f5 and Ne7-f5. What we did not realize was how much better White is in the final position. The idea is to run a pawn to h6 which black is helpless to defend against. Something like: 33.f3 Bxa4 34.Bxa4 Rxa4 35.h4 would be winning for white. The queenside pawns look dangerous, but the white rook is positioned well and white will soon have an extra piece, mate black, or force through a queen. Play might continue: 35...b5 36.h5 h6 White checkmates black if allowed to play h5-h6. 37.Nxh6+ Kg7 38.Nf5+ Kg8 39.h6 b4 40.Rxf8+ Kxf8 41.h7 Ke8 42.h8Q+. ■

Page 9 Summer 2018

NM S. Varagona - Stephen Graveling (2270) (2126)

Falcon Chess Invitational (Round 2) Montevallo, AL; 6-9-18

1.d4 f5 The Dutch! After suffering in several Slav Defense games against Dr. Varagona, I decided to opt for something more dynamic. 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 This indicates a Classical or Stonewall structure, rather than the Leningrad. 4.e3 Against the Dutch White has three main approaches: (1) An early kingside fianchetto, aimed at prohibiting Black’s queenside development (note Black’s LSB is “bad” unless fianchettoed); (2) Anti-Dutch lines, where White breaks principles to seek to punish Black, e.g., 2. Bg5, 2. e4, etc.; and (3) principled or

“normal” development, which is what 4. e3 seems to be. 4...b6 When not prohibited, fianchettoing the LSB is usually good. 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.f3 Now White is playing more of an Anti-Dutch line, trying to grab the center with e3-e4. When I first saw this I was intimidated by it, but thankfully this game wasn’t my first time looking at this line: after observing what my opponent had played against someone else’s Dutch Defense (the Leningrad variation), I suspected Dr. Varagona might employ this line and had done some preparation. 6...c5 Black needs counterplay. Already the position was very complex and both sides have chances, which is exactly what I had hoped for.

The 2018 Falcon Chess Invitational Participants (Left to Right): Jonathan Rasberry, Caesar Lawrence, Tejas Thorat, Arden Markin,

Stephen Graveling, Roger Johnson, Christopher Trees, Aaron DeCord, Scott Varagona, Kirk Petty, Om Badhe, Bill Melvin, Isaac Snow,

Miles Melvin. (Photo credit: Jessica Snow.)

Varagona-Graveling: Falcon Chess Invitational By Stephen Graveling

Page 10 Alabama Chess Antics

7.dxc5?! Perhaps White can eventually use the half open d-file, but in general, releasing the tension so early and ceding control of e5 isn’t optimal. 7...Bxc5 My first out-of-book move. 8.a3 0–0 9.Nge2 Nc6 10.Nf4 Rc8 11.Bd2 Qe7 Although Black’s advantage in development is clear, I wasn’t quite sure how to make use of it, so I decided to connect rooks and make White think twice about castling. 11...g5 is probably what the position calls for, but it seemed risky to me during the game. 12.Be2 Ne5 On c6 the knight isn’t doing much, so I decided to put a little pressure on the c4 pawn. I had seen a ...Ne5 move in Murtas, K vs. Vallejo Pons (Moscow 2015) which featured a similar opening and I thought it couldn’t be too bad here, even if the position is different. Interestingly, Tarrasch also played ...Ne5 in a somewhat similar opening vs. Schlechter way back in 1898!

13.Qb3 Rfd8 Maybe ...d5 is in the air? 14.Na4 Bd6 Maybe giving up the bishop pair and playing d5 would have been best. After the move, Black’s position is a little awkward temporarily, but it’s still pent up with dynamic energy. 15.h4 This prevents ...g5, but doesn’t really solve White’s big problem, namely, how to finish developing. 15...Nf7 Putting another piece between my king and White’s queen while freeing the e-pawn, which I planned to advance. Note that 15...Ba6 (to target c4) would lose a piece to 16. c5! 16.Bb4 In every game White has an opinion on what’s going on, Black has an opinion on what’s going on, and then there’s what’s really going on. I was somewhat concerned about White playing c4-c5, but simply counting would have shown that was not a real threat. 16...Bxb4+ 17.axb4? I, and presumably my opponent, thought this was the correct recapture, opening the a-file. But the computer strongly disagrees.

Page 11 Summer 2018

17...e5? Grabbing the center, but not enough of it! With 17...d5! Black could free his position, control d5, and still play ...e5 later. Note that after 17. Qxb4 Qxb4 18. axb4, Black couldn’t play ...d5 because e6 would hang. 18.Nd5 Nxd5 Because the position will likely close, 18...Bxd5 was also a possibility. 19.cxd5 e4 I wanted to prevent e3-e4 and gain some space myself, but was really uncertain what my plan should be. 20.f4 The position has become closed, which I thought favored White due to the open a-file. 20...Nd6 21.Nc3 Uh-oh! My a-pawn seems like it’s in trouble. 21...Ra8 22.Nb5 Although I had foreseen this, I didn’t know of a good defense. My only plan had been to console myself by noting that White’s extra pawn would be doubled.

22...Kh8 Thankfully for me, taking on a7 is tricky for White: 23. Rxa7 Rxa7 24. Nxa7 Ra8 is losing for White, while after 23. Nxa7 Nc8 (Black could also just leave the knight pinned to the rook) 24. Nxc8 Rxa1+ 25. Kf2 Rxc8 26. Rxa1 Black has 26...Qxh4+. 23.Nc3 Rdc8 Although the position remained balanced, upon seeing White’s knight retreat, my morale improved. 24.h5 h6 25.Kf2 Rc7!? To double rooks if possible was my plan, but the computer indicates that 25...Qf7, to keep pressure on the d-pawn, was the better plan. 26.Rag1 Both players had about 15 minutes on the clock, but White’s plan is all too clear. I knew I needed counterplay. 26...a5 The computer recommends I move my c7 rook back to c8. Sometimes its inhuman criticisms just pain me so. 27.bxa5

Page 12 Alabama Chess Antics

Ouch! White plans Qb6, so it seems my queenside play backfired. However, just the fact that play is happening on the queenside gives Black some hope. If White had played 27. g4, I’m not sure if Black would have any real threats. 27...bxa5 28.Qb6 Ne8 The dust has cleared and Black seems to be holding. Thankfully 29. Nb5 Qb4 works out. In fact, Qb4 is currently a threat. 29.g4 White shifts back to the kingside. It certainly looks menacing. 29...fxg4 30.Rxg4 Qb4 It was such a relief to make this move and finally grab some of the initiative. 31.Qg6? White goes all in, but Black’s e8 knight is a superb defender. White could have held things together with 31. Rg6. 31...Qxb2 This wins a pawn, but probably more importantly, pins White’s bishop. 32.Nxe4 The knight seeks to join the fray. If White can just play Ng5 or f5 and f6, he might achieve something. 32...Bxd5

At least a trade will be forced, which I knew would increase my chances greatly. 33.Rhg1 Rc2 Both players had about 5 minutes left so I was extremely nervous, but thought I must be winning here. 34.Ng3 Bc4 The pressure on the pin forces White into full defense and allows Black to trade pieces off. This will calm the position and allow the a-pawn to march. 35.Re1 Bxe2 36.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 37.Nxe2 a4 38.Kf3 a3 39.Nd4 a2 40.Qf7

Page 13 Summer 2018

With Qf8+ looming on the horizon I suddenly felt the win might slip away. 40...Qa3 I thought I was safe, but then noticed that 41. Nc2 would threaten my queen and guard a1, making the win much harder (since I assumed White would have a perpetual if allowed to check on f8). But all this was too defensive. After 40...a1=Q 41. Qf8+ Kh7 42. Qf5+ Black has Kg8! and after 43. Qd5+ Kh8 White is out of checks. 41.Nf5 Yes! No more 41. Nc2. 41...a1Q 42.Nxh6

Only a move away from checkmate, but Black will strike first. Interestingly, I accidentally recorded this as Nxh6+. Thankfully I didn’t actually think it was a check! 42...Qf1+ 43.Kg3 Qe1+ 44.Kh2 Qa2+ With very little time, I decided to

play it safe with a queen trade. 45.Rg2 Qh4+ Here I saw checkmate, though. 46.Kg1 Qb1# 0–1

Editor’s note: I would like to congratulate Bill Melvin and Stephen Graveling for their exemplary performances in an extremely tough and competitive field. I would also like to thank Dr. Mary Beth Armstrong, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Montevallo, for generously sponsoring this event. Finally, thanks to Caesar Lawrence for both directing and playing this year, and all the other participants whose participation made this tournament a success. ■

The 2018 Falcon Chess Invitational Co-Champions:

NM Bill Melvin and Stephen Graveling. (Photo by

Antics Editor.)

Page 14 Alabama Chess Antics

Early in June, I finally got the chance to go visit the new Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta. This club has hosted many nice chess events and camps for players in the Atlanta area, and has (in my opinion) already helped enhance the chess activity and culture not just in Georgia, but in the whole Southeast. The club—which is run by GM Ben Finegold and his wife Karen—can be found in a cozy little shopping center in Roswell, Georgia. I showed up there to play in a small 1-day rated tournament, the “June G/45 Fracas.” When I first arrived, I really liked the aesthetic of the club’s façade, especially the brilliant logo design. A “chess selfie” was in order:

Shortly afterwards, I met GM Finegold for the first time and discovered he is every bit as gregarious in person as he is when doing chess commentary online. In fact, when I was helping him set up the life-size outdoor chess set in front of the club, I was trying so hard to follow everything he said that I started

setting up the board incorrectly! “Are you sure you’re a 2200?” he asked. Ha! Well, I guess that meant I was duty-bound to win the tournament, and redeem myself… As luck would have it, the tournament was brimming with a bunch of underrated kids who were in town for the Castle Chess Camp at Emory University. So much for me having an easy tournament. After much toil and trouble, I finally won the competition thanks to three nice wins and one extremely sketchy draw. As both the top seed and the only Alabama player there, I cannot tell you how relieved I was that I represented my state well. (Coincidentally, Ben Finegold said that his wife Karen is actually from Dothan. Small world, eh?)

A. Yang - S. Varagona (Black to play.) Black is crashing through, but how to stop White from doing the same? 33...Rd2+ 34.Kc1 f5! (That’s how!) 35.Ra4 Qc5 36.Qxc3 Rg2 0–1. All in all, my experience at the CCSCATL was fantastic and I encourage all Alabama players to go and visit. ■

Visiting the CCSCATL By NM Scott Varagona

Page 15 Summer 2018

Summer Photo Gallery By various contributors

Prizewinners from the 2018 Alabama Quick Chess

Championship, Premiere Section. Left to Right: Co-

Champion Scott Varagona, Champion Isaac Snow, U1800

Class Prize winner Arden Markin. (Photo credit: Jessica

Snow.)

Tied for first in the 2018 Alabama Blitz Chess

Championship: Champion Stephen Adams (Left), Co-

Champion Scott Varagona (Right).

Left: the view before the first round of the 2018 Clarence Kalenian Classic in Dothan, AL. Right: Dothan’s Dan Williams wins

the Reserve Section of the Clarence Kalenian Classic and adds a new trophy to his collection. (Photos by Antics Editor.) ■

Page 16 Alabama Chess Antics

On July 21, thirty-eight players competed in the 2018 Alabama Dual-Rated State Chess Championship. The tournament was hosted by Evangel Chess Club at Evangel Church in Montgomery, and the tournament was directed by Doug Strout. The 2018 Championship was the seventh straight Dual Champs hosted by Evangel, and the 38 players marked the second-highest attendance for a Dual Champs at Evangel (39 players in 2015). The time control was Game/45 + 10-second increment per move. The tournament was four rounds, and no player in any section finished with a perfect 4.0/4. Tyler Freeman is Alabama’s 2018 Dual-Rated State Champion as the winner of the Open section. (Personal note: I played Tyler twice at tournaments he hosted in Starkville while at MSU, so

in hindsight, once Tyler moved to Alabama, I guess I should have seen this coming.) Ethan Smith is the U1800 State Champion, and Sam Baskarraj is the U1200 State Champion. Thanks to all the players for supporting the 2018 Dual Champs, and congratulations to all the winners: OPEN CHAMPION: Tyler Freeman 2nd place/U2000: Christopher Trees, Joe Jurjevich, Aaron Decord U1800 CHAMPION: Ethan Smith 2nd place/U1500: Chad Wilbanks, Joel Friedman, Andrew Morris, Aladdin Lateef, Jay-El Shepherd, and Nathaniel Tillman U1200 CHAMPION: Sam Baskarraj 2nd place/U1000: Michael Connally and

Hari Sivakumaran.

2018 Alabama Dual-Rated State Chess Championship By Doug Strout

Left to right: Dual-Rated Open Champion Tyler Freeman; U1800 Champion Ethan Smith; U1200 Champion Sam Baskarraj. ■

Page 17 Summer 2018

Editor’s Note: the Alabama Chess community is very proud of Sarvagna Velidandla for representing Alabama at the National Girls Tournament of Champions in Wisconsin this Summer. Having played against Sarvagna myself, I believe she holds great promise and will continue to improve as a chess player. Here is the story of the game below, as reported by Sarvagna’s parent, Uma: Sarvagna received a $100 gift certificate award in the 2018 National Girls Tournament of Champions as her game was chosen as the best game among all the players’ games. They asked all the NGTOC representatives to submit their games for the brilliant game award. GM Awonder Liang from Wisconsin selected the best game of all the games and gave Sarvagna the award. Sarvagna drew her game with Veronica Zilajeva in the 2018 Susan Polgar invitational chess tournament which was held just before the NGTOC chess tournament. Veronica is now 2018 NGTOC champion of champions. We are very thankful to coach Balagee Govindan who initially taught Sarvagna how to play chess and took his valuable time to teach her. We are also thankful to the ACF president, ACF committee members, Editors, coaches, tournament directors and everyone who is promoting chess in Alabama.

Sarvagna Velidandla - Nigina Aripova (1755) (1748)

National Girls Tournament of Champions (Round 4), 7-30-18

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0–0 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Qc2 b6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.0–0 Nh5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Rac1 Nhf6 14.Rfe1 Rfe8 15.Nb5 Rec8 16.Nd2

c5 17.dxc5 Rxc5 18.Qb1 a6 19.Nd4 Ne4 20.N2b3 Rcc8 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Rxc8+ Rxc8 23.Rc1 Rxc1+ 24.Qxc1 Ne5 25.Nf5 Qb4 26.h3 Nd3 27.Qc7 Qe1+ 28.Kh2 Qxf2

29.Ne7+ Kh7 30.Qd8 h5 31.Qg8+ Kh6 32.Qh8+ Kg5 33.Qxg7+ Kh4 34.Nf5+ 1–0. ■

Sarvagna Velidandla at the NGTOC Game by Sarvagna Velidandla

Page 18 Alabama Chess Antics

Thanks to the contributions of readers like you to the Antics Preservation Project, we can now introduce a new feature of the Antics: the Time Machine! We will look back in the Antics magazines from decades ago—40, 30, 20, and 10 years ago, to be exact—and reminisce about what was going on in Alabama chess at that time. Expect to see lots of tournament results, photos, and “before they were famous” stories. Ready for a blast from the past?...

The Time Machine By Scott Varagona

40 years ago, in 1978… • Steve Hudson (1875) won the

Vulcan Open, Friedrich Bittner (2079) won the Queen of Hearts Open section, and Brian Wiggin (1782) won the Queen of Hearts Amateur section (ahead of Emory Tate, who was rated only 1519 at the time!).

• Robert Jurjevich (1991) won the A l a b a m a S t a t e C h e s s Championship; Brent “Great American” Inman (1377) placed second in the Amateur Section.

• Blount High School won the State High School Team Championship. Bottom left: Brent Inman was quite young, but he was already known as the

“Great American.” Bottom right: Joe Jurjevich vs. Ben Sides. All photos from

November 1978 Antics.

Page 19 Summer 2018

30 years ago, in 1988… • The Vigor High School Wolves won the Alabama High School Team Chess

Championship.

• Mark Walton (2109) won the Alabama State Championship, with Charles Meidinger (2231) and Mark Chiminiello (2093) tied for second.

• A.J. Goldsby (2257) won the 1988 Queen of Hearts Open Section; meanwhile, the young unrated boy who finished last in the Reserve Section—Andrew Whatley—has a bright future ahead…

20 years ago, in 1998…

• Bill Melvin (2240), who was also the ACF president at the time, won one of his many state championship titles; Thomas Elmes (1498) and Josh Wakefield (1445) tied for first in the Reserve section.

• Andy Reeder (2161) and Gerald Larson (2033) tied for first in the Space City Open.

• Andrew Whatley (2288) won first place in the top section of the “Heart of Dixie tour.”

10 years ago, in 2008…

• Alex Weiner (1845) represented Alabama at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions.

• Scott Varagona (2140) won the Queen of Hearts, won the Alabama State Chess Championship trophy on tiebreaks, and called Will Stevenson (2033) his “nemesis.”

• The three other state co-champions were Alex Weiner (1923), Brent Inman (2133), and Joseph Jurjevich (2139). ■

TD Rich Bellezza awards the

champion’s trophy to NM Bill Melvin.

Photo from Nov. 98-Jan. 99 Antics.

Sources: Nov. ‘78, May ‘88, Aug. ‘88, Dec. ‘88, Nov. ‘98-Jan. ‘99, and Spring & Fall ‘08 Antics. Some rating information from uschess.org.

Page 20 Alabama Chess Antics

This page lists various Alabama summer tournaments’ top performers who were not recognized elsewhere in this issue.

2018 Vulcan Open

Premiere Champion: Arden Markin (2163), 3.5 points Reserve Champion: Tyler Freeman (1570), 3.5 points

K-12 (rated) Champion: Noah Parker (unrated), 4 points K-12 (unrated) Champion: Armaan Daryanani, 5 points

2018 Alabama Quick Chess Championship

Reserve Co-Champions: Mohak Agarwalla (1585 Quick) and Tyler Freeman (1493 Quick), 4.0 points

Rook Champion: Sedani S. Nagodawithana (901 Quick), 4.0 points

2018 Clarence Kalenian Classic

Premiere Champion: Scott Varagona (2254), 4.0 points

2018 Chris Bond Memorial

Premiere Champion: Joseph Jurjevich (2070), 3.5 points Reserve Champion: Rafael Perez (Unrated), 4.0 points. ■

Summer Chess Results From reports by Caesar Lawrence

Email:

Alabama.Chess.Editor

@gmail.com

Upcoming Tournaments See www.alabamachess.org for details on these and other events.

August 25 Evangel Senior Championship Montgomery, AL

Aug. 31-Sept. 2 Alabama State Chess Championship Birmingham, AL

September 1-2 Central AL Scholastic Tournaments Birmingham, AL

September 15 North Alabama Championship Owens Cross Roads, AL

November 3 Chess in a Cave: Cathedral Caverns Woodville, AL State Park

ALABAMA

CHESS

ANTICS

Alabama Chess Federation

www.alabamachess.org

Please contact president@alabamachess.org

if you are interested in helping with the Alabama Chess Federation.

To submit articles, pictures and games to the Antics, email the Antics editor at

Alabama.Chess.Editor@gmail.com

Games in .pgn format are

strongly preferred.

The Alabama Chess Federation (ACF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and the United States Chess Federation affiliate for the state of Alabama. Our goal is to promote chess in this area for the benefit of all Alabama players. Toward that end, we provide advertising and other assistance for rated tournaments, as well as support for scholastic chess programs around the state.

All chess diagrams in this issue were produced using Fritz, a program by ChessBase.

President: Neil Dietsch

Vice President: David Hayes

Secretary: Paul Mulqueen

Treasurer: Paul Nager

Education VP: Neil Dietsch

Scholastic VP: Balagee Govindan

Public Relations: Michael Ciamarra

Antics Editor: Scott Varagona

Webmaster: David Hayes

Web Content Mgr.: Neil Dietsch

Member Admin.: Jonathan Rasberry

Tourn. Reports: Caesar Lawrence

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