The Dallas Destiny have stormed out to a massive 7-1 record, and one of the reasons why has been GM Holt’s strong play on the top board. In this week’s winner, he introduced a seeming novelty into an interesting line and won an entertaining game enroute to helping Dallas clinch a playoff spot.
1st Place: GM Conrad Holt (DAL) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0
In a position which had generally resulted in a repetition draw, GM Holt boldly plunged forward with the new move 20. g4!, eventually getting the best of the complications
IM Salvijus Bercys (1st Place, 3 Points): Long time ago I thought Holt was just a robot who knew every single line in every opening he played. Last couple of years at UTD proved me wrong, but he still knew enough to scare opponents. If there’s one line to avoid, this is it. White rolled pretty convincingly with the attack that followed - 20. g4 proved to be far too strong to handle. The mating threats caused by weak dark squares seemed too strong to handle…I am not sure how Black can solve them to be honest. Impressive positional attack by White!
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (1st Place, 3 Points): At first glance a very interesting game but one that I suspect began for GM Holt at least on move 20 (and perhaps even later) with 20. g4N. Looking in the database Holt has over a dozen games in this line and IM Schroer followed one of these games (Holt-Milman, 2011 which ended in a fantastic checkmate…go see!) up until move 16 where he deviated with 16… Qg6. Was Black naively hoping for a three-fold repetition? Actually five out of the six times this position was reached the combatants did just that! Although 20. g4 was formally a novelty, I saw it had been suggested in some notes by GM Krasenkow as “definitely worth trying” and bestowed with a “with compensation” mark. Honestly the move looks completely crushing! However some 2700s have passed it up so there’s that. 26. f3! was a silent killer, setting up the crafty Rg4-Rh4. Black tried to conjure up some counter attack but when your opponent manages to fianchetto a White Bishop on g7 there’s only so much you can do.
FM Alex Barnett (1st Place, 3 Points): Yeah that’s right. I voted a d4 game the winner. That just goes to show how sad the nominations were this week. But yeah this game was cool… particularly when they were repeating positions Be2 Bd3 etc. then White said oh nah enough of this crap, and how about I just go 20. g4 and run Black over and win GOTW instead. Solid choice imo. That’s what happened… g4 boooooooooom! then Black was so hurt he didn’t know what to do so he just crawled into a fetal position and took the beatings from White taking all his pieces. Black decided he had had enough of the carnage after he was down two Rooks and a piece….and couldn’t stop mate. At least Black in this game had the decency to resign instead of playing on until mate like Black in the King’s Gambit game.
Chess.com (1st Place, 3 Points): 42% of vote
IM Victor Shen (2nd Place, 2 Points): Conrad Holt really knows this Qc2 Nimzo line. Looks like he was simply well prepared and paralyzed Black straight from the opening.
Total score of Holt vs Schroer: 14 Points
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2nd Place: GM Zviad Izoria (MAN) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0
Having dictated the flow of the game to get into a very favorable position, GM Izoria crashed through with the nice tactic 23. Nxa5!, soon coming out on top
IM Victor Shen (1st Place, 3 Points): A nice positional crunch by Izoria over one of the league’s top players. In recent years, the Najdorf has been popular, the Dragon has been popular, but I guess theory hasn’t been so kind to mixing the two - I think White got a clear advantage from the opening and simply rolled from there. He made it look easy, but don’t forget, his opponent is a very strong GM.
IM Salvijus Bercys (2nd Place, 2 Points): The problem with Dragondorf is that it delays multiple ideas while trying to combine their benefits. Izoria had a perfect answer with his game plan. To be fair, I think I saw long time ago b5 played before Nbd7 to protect a weakness on c6. After 9. a4! Black had no choice but to go into an inferior structure set up which proved to be too much of an edge.
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2nd Place, 2 Points): GM Gelashvilli’s offbeat Sicilian Dragondorf yielded him a nightmare scenario where White played normal logical moves to achieve a completely suffocating positional press. The pressure mounted until Black missed the tactic 23. Nxa5! after which GM Izoria mopped up for his third consecutive GM scalp.
FM Alex Barnett (2nd Place, 2 Points): The Dragondorf! Shabalov and the ”Shvili” crew wreck people with this opening (myself included) so it felt good to see it go down. White found a cool way to play against it …. a4, Nxa4, c4, and b4 and then chill on the Q-side, and Black doesn’t have any play. I’m def going to try this method out next time one of the Shvilis or Shabalov tries to rock this opening vs me again. This game was a solid crush, and Black was never in it. c5 at the right moment…Nb6-d5 Rb7 etc. etc. Bf4 Black obv hated his life this whole game. Completely one sided ownage.
Chess.com (3rd Place, 1 Point): 25% of vote
Total score of Izoria vs Gelashvili: 10 Points
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3rd Place: IM David Pruess (SF) vs WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia (ARZ) 1-0
In his pet opening, surprisingly turned into an ending, IM Pruess began his grind with the simple 15. Rhe1!, winning a Pawn and then cleaning up without difficulty.
Chess.com (2nd Place, 2 Points): 33% of vote
IM Salvijus Bercys (3rd Place, 1 Point): Not entirely sure why this game was selected. White played well the entire game, but Black had a pretty awful opening. Initial White edge + pretty bad opening for Black = pretty comfortable edge for the rest of the game that is easy to convert.
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (3rd Place, 1 Points): IM Pruess essays the romantic King’s Gambit, attains an overwhelming position by move 15, and spends the majority of the game waiting for his opponent’s resignation.
IM Victor Shen (3rd Place, 1 Point): White essayed the King’s Gambit, offering up a Pawn. Black, not to be outdone, declined and sacrificed a Pawn herself, regaining it shortly after. Then Black, already in a bad position, lost a Pawn in the endgame, and we were treated to an instructive lesson on how to win with an extra Rook. The coup de grace, 52. Qg7# was a bolt from the blue, probably a rather rude awakening for Black who had likely only analyzed 52. Kc5, which is dubious because it moves the King away from the center.
FM Alex Barnett (3rd Place, 1 Point): God the games suck this week … either Greg needs to get better at picking games, or all of the games played this week were just zzzzzz. Anyway ..the King’s Gambit chills. Meh White barely even won … White doubled Black’s Pawns and then won in an ending. Yippeee! zzzz also yeah ummm Black played on until mate? not cool….. on behalf of chess players everywhere, just resign.
Total score of Pruess vs Belakovskaia: 6 Points
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