USCF National Events / USAT Playoff
On board one, FM Schmakel had GM Sevillano on the ropes in a complicated position from the Botvinnik Variation.
On the ropes FM Sam Schmakel (2394) GM Enrico Sevillano (2539) U.S. Amateur Team playoff semifinal
On board four, Ibrahim-Mangalam
reached a queenless middlegame via the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation. Despite being many hundred points lower than his opponent, White held his own and even won the game when the team situa -
FINALS: EAST 1—WEST 3
Board 1: Enrico Sevillano (W)/Michael Lee (E) 1-0 Board 2: Andrew Ng (E)/Ricardo De Guzman (W) 0-1 Board 3: Ronald Cusi (W)/Jason Altschuler (E) 1-0 Board 4: Darek Johnson (E)/Shafieen Ibrahim (W) 1-0
tion induced Black to play for a win. The final match was a rematch from
AFTER 26. ... Nb6 Here a move like 27. Nc3 or 27. Nc5
puts White close to converting his advan - tage. However, he began to lose the thread with 27. Bc3?! and after 27. ... Qf5 28. Qxf5? exf5 29. Rd4 fxe4 30. Rd8+ Kb7 31. Bb4 Bxb4 32. Rxh8 Bxa3! 33. g4 Bxb2 34. g5 Bxf6 he had to resign.
On board two, De Guzman managed to
defeat Rosen in a rook, knight, and pawn versus rook and bishop endgame. Auger- Cusi on board three reached the following critical position:
Mission critical Michael Auger (2234) FM Ronald Cusi (2296) U.S. Amateur Team playoff semifinal
the previous year, but Team West seemed to dominate this match from start to finish. GM Sevillano set the pace with a quick win on board one. Black delayed castling with 10. ... a6 and 11. ... b6 and soon found his king stuck in the center and his position in shambles.
Sicilian Defense (B22) GM Enrico Sevillano (2539) FM Michael Lee (2445) U.S. Amateur Team playoff final
1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 Qd8 7. Nc3 e6 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. 0-0 Be7 10. Qe2 a6 11. Rd1 b6 12. Bg5 Nb4 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Be4 Nd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Bd3 b5 17. Nh4 Be6 18. Bf5 Qd6 19. Re1 Kd7 20. a4 b4 21. g3 Rhg8 22. Qh5 Rg5 23. Qxh7 Rc8 24. f4 Qxf4
AFTER 16. ... dxe4
17. Na4! Qxb4 18. Nb6! which led to the win of a decisive amount of material after 18. ... Qxb3 19. Nxb3 Rb8 20. Bf4 Be6 21. Nd4 Nc5 22. Bxb8.
25. Rxe6 fxe6 26. Bxe6+ Kxe6 27. Re1+ Qe4 28. Rxe4+ dxe4 29. Qxe4+ Kf7 30. Nf5 Rc7 31. h4 Rg6 32. d5, Black resigned.
AFTER 18. ... Rac8 Here White could continue 19. b3 with
a relatively safe position and dreams of reaching a ‘Fischer endgame’ (see Kopec’s article in the March Chess Life). Instead he chose the bold and aggressive 19. Rae1!? which engines find acceptable, but after 19. ... Qxb2 20. Re7 Qd4 21. Rfe1 Nd5 22. Rd7 Rcd8 23. Rb7 Qc3 24. Re4 Qxa3 Black netted a second pawn for which White was unable to prove compensation.
The match was all but decided by Cusi’s
win over Altschuler on board three. The game began as a quiet English Opening that became a tactical flurry when Black played boldly in the center.
In the following position, Cusi found a brilliant move:
Knight on the rim shot FM Ronald Cusi (2296) Jason Altschuler (2277) U.S. Amateur Team playoff final
Down 2-0, Princeton’s sole win was achieved by Johnson on board four, who sacrificed a piece to leave Black’s king mortally exposed. However, the result of the match was never really in doubt, as on board two, IM De Guzman was better the en tire game as black and once again dis played his impeccable endgame tech - nique with a win over Ng. The West region accomplished the
impressive feat of repeating as amateur team champions! The players on the team were all coaches and students at the NorCal House of Chess (
www.norcalhouse
ofchess.com), where group and individual classes service most of the top young players in the region! Special thanks also go to both Interna-
tional Arbiter Carol Jarecki for coor di nat ing and directing the match and Bill Scott (billscotty) of the Internet Chess Club for providing free month subscriptions for the players to practice.
www.uschess.org 37
A USCF Publication $5.95
Last month’s cover subjects: From left to right, back: GM Enrico Sevillano, Ted Castro, IM Ricardo De Guzman. Front, left to right: FM Ron Cusi, Shafieen Ibrahim.
PLAY IN THE U.S. OPEN IN ORLANDO! ee TLA on pages 53/54.
.S. OPEN IN ORLANDO! See TLA on pages 53/54. MAY 2014
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