Downers Grove Chess Club hosted its 7^th tournament this past Saturday April 9^th. 40 players turned out for the occasion including 6 masters! The winner was Indiana FIDE Master Dennis Monokroussos with a perfect 4-0 score (defeating FM Aleksandar Stamnov in the final round) to take home the first place prize of $275. 2^nd and 3^rd was a tie between IM Florin Felecan and FM Albert Chow who drew each other in the final round during an immense time scramble for 3.5-.5 – each took home $138.

The tournament’s turnout was so great that the prizes were increased from 3 book prizes to 10 book prizes! Two of the winners of the upset prizes came in round one, Hao Hansen (1497) defeated DGCC member Daniel Dugovic (1984) and Sritej Vontikommu (1434) took home a win over Wisconsin player Phil Shields (1929). While the third upset prize was taken down by Luo Chengliang (1951) for his victory against FIDE Master Aung Thant Zin (2322)! Their game:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. O-O a5 10. a4 O-O 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Rc8N 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Nb4 15. c4 Nd7 16. Rf1 Bf6 17. Rb1 Re8 18. Bd4 Qe7 19. Re1 Bxd4+ 20. Nxd4 Qe3+ 21. Kh1 Nf6 22. Bf1 Qf2 23. Nb5 Rxe1 24. Qxe1 Qb6 25. Qe7 Re8 26. Qxd6 Qe3 27. Qg3

After 27... Qd2? (Better was 27... Qxg3 28. hxg3 Ne4 29. Kh2) Luo played the beautiful 28. Nd6! Re3 29. Qf4 Nd3 30. Ne4 Nxf4 (if 30... Rxe4 31. Qxd2) (if 30... Nxe4 31. Qb8#) 31. Nxd2 g5?! 32. b4 axb4 33. Rxb4 Re1 34. Rb1

34… Re7? +- (34... Rxb1 and maybe Black has some chances to hold this ending 35. Nxb1 Kf8 36. g3 Ng6 37. Nc3 Ke7 38. c5 though White is clearly better.) 35. g3 Ng6 36. d6 Re6 37. c5 Nd7 38. Bc4 Re5 39. Rxb7 Nxc5 40. Rxf7 Kh8 41. d7 Ne6? 42. Bxe6 resigns 1-0

Round3 saw IM Florin Felecan face off against fellow Chicago Blaze teammate NM Trevor Magness. A wild game ensued! Annotations by IM Florin Felecan:

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 Trevor and I had our share of gambits together and this time is no different 5. Na3 (Main move in this position is 5. Qa4+ but I decided to go with a more "colorful" idea that might be a better fit for a G/60) 5... Bxa3 6. bxa3 b5!? Trevor does not show much fear of the Catalan bishop 7. Rb1 a6 8. a4 c6?! (Keeping the extra pawn,  but 8... Bb7 has been known to be a safer alternative) 9. Ba3 Nd5 This game is particularly interesting as Black is keen on placing his pieces on light squares only 10. O-O Nd7 11. e4 N5b6 12. Bd6!? Nf6 13. e5 Nfd5 14. a5 (14. Nd4 Bd7 15. a5 Nc8 seemed okay for Black) 14... Na4 15. Nd4 Qd7?! (15... Bd7 16. Qg4 g6 keeping the black queen on the d8-h4 diagonal should keep Black out of trouble on the dark squares and keep the game level.) 16. Qg4 g6 17. Qh4 Bb7 (17... h6!?) 18. Bxd5! The right time to exchange on d5 in order to dominate on the dark squares and keep Black from freeing with c6-c5 18... cxd5 19. f4! ± Qd8 20. Qh6 Qd7 (20... Qxa5 21. f5!± exf5? 22. Rxf5 gxf5 23. Qf6 +-) 21. f5! This pawn break is the only way to exploit Black's weaknesses on the dark squares and his uncastled king 21... gxf5 (21... exf5 22. Rxf5 gxf5 23. Qf6 Rg8 24. e6 transposes back to the game.) 22. Qf6 Rg8 The LONG awaited moment: ALL Black's pieces are on light squares. 23. Rxf5! (23. Nxf5 is weaker and will allow Black to defend successfully) 23... exf5 At this time, both of us were down to a few minutes so any imprecise play could have had disastrous consequences. 24. e6! +- fxe6 (24... Qxd6 25. Qxf7+ (25.exf7+ Kd7 26. Qxf5+) 25... Kd8 26. Qxg8+ Kc7 27. Qf7+ Kd8 (27... Kb8 28. e7) 28. Nxf5 Qc5+ 29. Kf1) 25. Re1 Despite being down a rook, White is winning. 25... Qxd6 26. Rxe6+ Qxe6 27. Qxe6+ Kf8 28. Qf6+ Ke8 29. Nxf5 Kd7 30. Qd6+ resigns 1-0 in light of: Kc8 (30... Ke8 31. Qe7#) 31. Ne7#

An impressive performance from Unrated Alex Ding who turned in a 3-1 result with a win over NM Trevor Magness in Round4 (a win over expert Jeff Dixon in Round2) and a 2286 provisional rating! (His only loss came at the hands of FM Albert Chow in round3). His friend Benjamin Stern was not surprised at Alex’s performance stating, “he plays on ICC all the time!”

Alex Ding - FM Albert Chow Round3

28. Nd2? (White can probably try 28. c4 Rc8=+) 28... Rxb5 29. Nxe4 Nxe5 30. Bxe5 Rxe5 31. Re1?-+ (31. Rg4) 31... bxc3 32. bxc3 Bxg5+ White forfeits on time 0-1

Alex Ding gave some annotations to his game with NM Trevor Magness. Trevor had to play his last ten or so moves entirely off delay as he was down to literally ONE second!

 

NM Trevor Magness-Alex Ding Round 4

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. d3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Bc2 c5 13. Nf1 d5? 14. exd5 Qxd5 15. g4 Bg6 16. Nxe5 Bd6 17. Bf4 Rfe8 18. Ne3 Qe6 19. d4 cxd4 20. cxd4 Bxc2 21. Qxc2 (Alex said he expected Trevor to try 21. Nxc2 Bxe5 22. dxe5 Nd5 +=) 21... Nd5 22. Bh2 (Alex expected 22. Nxd5 Qxd5) 22... f6 23. Nf3 Bxh2+ 24. Kxh2 Qd6+ 25. Kh1 Rac8 26. Qd2 Nxe3 27. Rxe3 Nc4 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8 29. Qc3 Re2 30. b3? -+ Rxf2 31. Rg1 Qf4 32. Rg2 Rxf3  33. Qb4 Rf1+ 34. Rg1 Qg3? (Alex was very harsh on himself for missing mate with34... Qf3+) 35. Rxf1 Ne3 36. Qd2 Nxf1 37. Qe2 Ne3 38. d5 Qxh3+ 39. Kg1 Qxg4+ 0-1 Alex felt Trevor was close to winning at some point in the middlegame.

We are also blessed with annotations from Expert Jeff Dixon about his loss to Alex Ding in Round2 (Alex Ding-Jeff Dixon Round2):

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 [Editor's note: Dixon has credited his renewed interest in this opening to the game Chow-Parmet IL Open Round1 2010 1/2-1/2] d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nh3 this system was advocated by the first World Champion Steinitz 9... Bc5 10. d3 g5 11. Nc3 g4 12. Ng1 Be6N Remarkably, this is apparently a novelty! (12... Nb7 having been played before followed by 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Qb6 15. Qd2!? Qxb2 16. Rb1 Qa3 17. h3 gxh3 18. Nxh3 Rg8 19. Bf3 Na5 20. Nf2 Rg6 21. Nb5 Qxa2 22. O-O Kd8 23. Qb4 Nb7 24. Ra1 Qe6 25. Nxa7 Nd5 26. Nxc6+ Qxc6 27. Qf8+ Kc7 28. Qxf7+ Bd7 29. Bxd5 Rxa1 30. Bxc6 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 {1-0 Vysochin,S (2554)-Taborov,B (2450)/Kiev 2003) 13. h3! (if now 13. Be3 the same position could be reached with Be6 already in and Black to move, which seems to be an improvement for Black. I also considered here Bxe3 14. fxe3 Qb6 15. Qc1 but rejected this idea as too passive, allowing Black to ramp up the pressure for instance by Rb8 (or 15... Nd5)) 13... g3!? 14. fxg3! (I was criticizing myself after the game for playing fxg3 instead of 14. Be3?! gxf2+ 15. Kxf2 (15. Bxf2 Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Qb6+) 15... Bxe3+ 16. Kxe3 Qb6+ both look good for Black) 14... Qd4! 15. Qd2! O-O-O!? (it turns out that my suggestion of 15... Qf2+ 16. Kd1 Qxg2? 17. Bf3! Qxg3! losses a piece to 18. Nce2! +- due to the attack of the hanging Knight on a5) 16. Bf3 Rhg8 (16... Kb8 or 16... Qd6!? 17. a3 Qc7 and if 18. b4 Nc4 is interesting) 17. Nge2! Qf2+ 18. Kd1 Nc4 19. Qe1 Ne3+ 20. Bxe3 Qxe3 (20... Bxe3? 21. Qxf2+-) 21. Qd2 (21. Bxc6!? is a computer suggestion. I was trying to think more about defending my king and consolidating than grabbing even more pawns, but on the other hand c6 isn't just another pawn, but also a unit controlling d5, shortening my bishop's diagonal, and shielding the black king, so this deserves some attention.) 21... Qf2 22. Ne4 (22. Bxc6!?) 22... Nxe4 23. Bxe4 Kb7?! (23... f5 24. Bxc6 Rd6 25. b4!? (or 25. Ba4 came into consideration)) 24. b4 Be3 25. Qe1! eliminating the queens is necessary (25. Qc3? Bd5! and Black's compensation is growing.) 25... f5 26. Qxf2 Bxf2 27. Bxf5! now White mops up 27... Bxf5 28. Rf1 Bxd3? (28... Bd4 29. Nxd4 Bxd3 is a better version of this) 29. cxd3 Rxd3+? (29... Bxg3 30. Rf7+!  (my originally intended "tricky" move 30. Rf3? {would have lost the advantage to the accurate e4! 31. Rxg3 Rxg3 32. Nxg3 Rxd3+ 33. Ke2 Rxg3 34. Kf2 Ra3! 35. Re1 Rxa2+ 36. Kg3=)) 30. Kc2 Rgd8 31. Rxf2 Rd2+ 32. Kb3 Kb6 33. Rc1 e4 34. Rc3 R8d3 35. Rxd3 exd3 36. Rf3?? (the simple 36. Kc3 Rxe2 37. Rxe2 dxe2 38. Kd2 +- would have ended matters) 36... dxe2 37. Re3 Rd3+ 38. Rxd3 e1=Q notation stops here, though I fought on until I flagged. I am not too concerned about reconstructing the remaining moves, as the assessment here is plenty clear and the winning technique for Black was fairly trivial, my opponent being more than equal to the task. 0-1

The most aesthetically pleasing position I witnessed during my TDing spectating moments came from the game DGCC William Whited 1689 – Awonder Liang 1977 Round3

The beautiful move by Wisconsin Wunderkind 31... Qe5+ received resignation as Kh1 allows Nf2 mate.

And what tournament report would be complete without… annotations from the victor! FM Dennis Monokroussos has kindly provided his games from the tournament with some annotations.

Matthew Hollaway- FM Dennis Monokroussos Round1 reached this position:

Black is clearly better, thanks primarily to the bishop pair, but it's nothing serious yet. However, after 20. Qe2?? Now it's over. Rxe3! 21. fxe3 Rxe3 22. Qf2 Rxg3 23. hxg3 (23. Qxa7 Rxg2+ 24. Kh1 Qxh2#) 23... Bxf2+ (23... Qxg3 is also playable, but as it doesn't win further material I preferred my move, winning the c-pawn rather than a double g-pawn. 24. Bh3) 24. Kxf2 Qxc4 25. b3 Qc5+ 26. Ke2 Bb5+ 27. Bd3 Qc2+ 28. Ke3 Bxd3 29. Rxd3 Qxg2 30. Rf3 Qxa2 Black has too many extra pawns for white to achieve a third-rank fortress. 31. Kd4 g6 32. Rc3 c6 33. Rf6? this loses a rook (or allows a forced mate) to some nice geometry. Qd2+ 34. Rd3 (34. Kc4 Qd5#) 34... Qb4+ 35. Ke3 Qe1+ resigns 0-1 in light of 36. Kd4 (36. Kf4 Qe5+) (36. Kf3 Qf1+) 36... Qe5+ 37. Kc4 Qc5#

 

Expert Isaac Braswell - FM Dennis Monokroussos Round 3

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. d3 :35 Incredibly for a player of Braswell's strength, this took him by surprise and completely unprepared, and he spent 26 minutes deciding what to do. fxe4 5. dxe4 Nf6 6. O-O Bc5 7. Nc3 d6 8. Bg5 O-O 9. Nd5 Kh8 10. Nh4 :24 Nd4 :54 11. Bc4 b5 12. Bd3 :7 c6 This is an older line, and White is doing alright after either capture on f6. it turned out that Braswell was spooked by Black's attacking possibilities there (wrongly!), and after using almost all his remaining time went after my dark-squared bishop (the piece he most feared). 13. b4? :2 Almost a novelty. cxd5N :50 14. bxc5 Ne6 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Nf5 :1 Nxc5 17. Bxb5 Nxe4 18. Ne3 d4 19. Nd5 47 seconds Qg5 20. Bc6? Bh3+- It's all over now: White will suffer heavy material losses. 21. g3 Rac8 22. f4 exf4 23. Rxf4 Nxg3 :44; White more or less simultaneously resigned and lost on time. 0-1

FM Dennis Monokroussos - FM Aleksandar Stamnov Round 4

58. Qe5 After many adventures and in growing time trouble, we reached this position. I had been better for a long time, at times with a winning advantage according to the silicon oracle, but time trouble (or the threat thereof) and Black's activity had kept things challenging. Here Black could stay in the game by trading queens or by playing 58... Qf3, but instead he had a blackout. 58... Rf7?? [Editor's note, this blunder should make the amateurs feel better for even masters can have such blackouts at the board!]

Dennis Monokroussos post tournament comment was, "I'd like to thank Daniel Parmet for running the tournament, for his hospitality (thanks to Dan Dugovic as well), and for two bits of good fortune with the pairings. First: In round 2, I was initially scheduled to play an unrated player, Alex Ding. This was an odd pairing. Daniel redid the 2nd round pairings due to another error and this oddity. I was given Greg Bungo instead as an opponent. As Alex's initial estimate of his strength was around 1800 while Mr. Bungo's established rating was 2015, this seemed like a bit of bad luck. By the tournament's end, however, it was another story. Alex went 3-1, losing only a tough game to Albert Chow while beating Trevor Magness in the last round. In the process, he achieved a provisional rating of 2286!

The second piece of good pairing luck was that I didn't have to play IM Florin Felecan. It would have been a more interesting tournament for me had I played him, but there's at least a reasonable chance the tournament might not have ended as successfully!" Dennis blogs at http://www.thechessmind.net/

Participant Jim Froelich had some very positive remarks about the event, “it was well run, and a great venue, and also a pretty strong field!” Dan Sajkowski concurred, “you guys did a great job! The turnout was tremendous and with lots of strong players. Thanks for putting in the effort.” Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Some participants were already asking when the next event would be! Stay tuned to Downers Grove Chess Club Website: (http://sites.google.com/site/downersgrovechess/) for the news on our next event.

Photo credit to DGCC President Brian Smith and TD Daniel Parmet. I would like to personally thank each person who contributed analysis on their games for this article (IM Florin Felecan, FM Dennis Monokroussos, Alex Ding and Expert Jeff Dixon). Thanks to all the participants, I hope to see you again next time!