Great start to the first round of the tournament! Challenging games for all. Scroll down to see a selection of games and commentary.
Standings after round one
Select Games from Round 1
Damian Bias vs. Jacob Kim
A relatively balanced game at first that White got the better of and steadily increased the pressure. Both played a good opening (London met with Indian Defense), but the middle game was a bit reckless with the first blunders and missed opportunities. White was the one first at risk with 16. Rxb7?? which allowed 16…h5! This would have trapped the g4 knight and turned the game over to Black significantly. But neither Black nor White was not focused on the kingside at the moment. 16. h4 was the only way to give the knight an out. Instead Black seemed desperate to simplify after the second error 17…Rb8? Ultimately White obliged the precarious piece trades Black designed despite having some effective counterplay options. Black was right to head to the endgame as play improved for both, but White was confident enough to convert thanks to some significant pawn advantages. One final attempt to stalemate didn’t pan out and White won by resignation.
Joseph Burns vs. Stephane Derveaux
A tough game lost by a mistake. Black missed a chance to get ahead early with move 6 in this Rossolimo Sicilian. 6…Nxc3! would have removed the defender for the b5 bishop while winning a tempo on the queen while disrupting White’s plans significantly. A relatively hard to see idea so early on when the focus is more on position but 6…Nc7? turned out to be too passive. Funny enough, White did something similar on the very next move pulling the bishop back instead of trading in a similar fashion. The beginning of the end came with 13…f6?? Black was hyper focused on the e5 pawn and wanted it out of there but this allowed 14. Qh5+! Addressing e5 became a self fulfilling prophecy and all of Black’s worst fears were realized when that pawn made its way to the f file and promoted.
Tom Nassisi vs. Kareem Khan
This was a wild game with lots of back and forth favoring Black until Black allowed a winning attack. 17…N37?? to block the rook check was ill advised pinning the only material advantage and giving White time to create the rook battery. Castling was also shortsighted as it disregarded the king as an effective defender of the knight so Kd7 was actually preferable. The endgame started evenly but White managed to shoulder Black’s king and convert for the win.
Billy Zifchak vs. Peter Graham
This was was lost soon after the opening for White. White tried to increase offensive pressure on the d4 square with too few attackers instead of neutralizing Black’s attackers, for example 8. h3?! where 8. Qa4! pinning the knight would have been much better as b5 was not possible impeded by the bishop. Black’s pawns tied things up on the dark squares and White was too distracted by the queenside pressure and fell too far behind to capitalize on the opportunities they had tried to create in the center. One such tactic that was hard to see: After 19. Bd5 Rab8 White had the simple 20. e5! After the obligatory-or face a discovered check-20…dxe5 there was 21. Bxf2! luring the king but also winning a pawn, cracking open the center, and preparing to take the knight while delivering check with Rxd7+! But Black expertly used rooks, pawns, and tempo to keep White on their heels.