Cover Story
day until after the round-robin ended, which was a day of reckoning for all those who did not qualify by finishing in the top two of their group. Like last year, Chris- tiansen started fast (2-0) but faltered late and failed to qualify. In round two, Kamsky got a mark in the
win column with his most dynamic game. “Varuzhan (Akobian) is really a fighting player, so when you go and play him you’re going to be in for a wild ride,” Kamsky said, addding he was looking forward to “swashbuckling” chess. “I spoke with Emil (Sutovsky) and told him I wanted to sacrifice some stuff today.” To which his second replied, “Don’t do that!” Kamsky did, and he won both the game and the best game prize.
French Defense, Classical System (C11) GM Gata Kamsky (2808) GM Varuzhan Akobian (2688) U.S. Championship (2), 04.16.2011 Notes by Akobian
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Qb6 8. Qd2!?
This is a rare move with a poor repu-
tation, but Kamsky shows that White can create a strong initiative. Before the game I was focusing on the main line 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 and here Black has two options: 9. ... cxd4 and 9. ... c4. Both lines lead to complicated positions.
8. ... Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3
r+l+kvl-tr zpp+n+pzpp -+n+p+-+ +-zppzP-+- -+-zP-zP-+ wq-sN-vLN+- P+PwQ-+PzP +R+-mKL+R
After 9. ... Qa3 10. Bb5 This came as a surprise since I was only
familiar with the move 10. Nb5, and after 10. ... Qxa2 Black has an excellent posi- tion. I then realized that Gata prepared this move before the game.
10. ... Qa5?! This move loses some valuable time; I
should have played 10. ... c4 11. f5 (11. Bxc4? dxc4 12. Nb5 c3! and Black is win- ning) 11. ... Bb4 12. Rxb4 Qxb4 13. Ng5 Ndb8 14. 0-0 a6 15. Nxf7 Kxf7 16. fxe6+ Ke8 17. Nxd5 Qxd2 18. Bxd2 axb5 19.
18 Chess Life — July 2011 Ray Robson
Nc7+ Kd8 20. Nxa8 Bxe6 21. Bg5+ Ne7 22. d5 h6 23. Bxe7+ Kxe7 24. dxe6 Na6 25. Nb6 Kxe6 and Black is slightly better, but during the game it is very difficult to calculate this far ahead and find all the correct Black defensive moves.
11. 0-0 c4 12. f5 Nb6 13. Qe1?! This is a slight inaccuracy; White
should have played 13. f6 g6 14. Qe1. Even though Black is up a pawn, White has a lot of space and it is much easier to play White’s position.
Alexander Ivanov
13. ... exf5! 14. a4 Be6 I didn’t like 14. ... Bb4 in view of 15.
Qg3 Bxc3 16. Qxg7 Rf8 17. Ng5 Bd2 18. Bxd2 Qxd2 19. Nxh7 Qxd4+ 20. Kh1 Qc5 21. a5 Nd7 22. Rxf5 Nd4 23. e6 Nxf5 24. exd7+ Bxd7 25. Qe5+ Qe7 26. Bxd7+ Kd8 27. Qa1 Nd6 28. a6 b6 29. Nxf8 Qxf8 30. Bc6 Rc8 31. Bxd5 Kc7 32. Re1 and White is clearly better.
15. Bd2 Bb4 16. Rxb4 Qxb4 (see diagram next page)
uschess.org
Gata Kamsky
Robert Hess
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