UNAMA'KI OPENCAPE BRETON
CHESS TOURNAMENT
UNAMA'KI OPEN
The Unama'ki (Cape Breton) Chess Tournament was be played at the Waycobah First
Nation June 26, 28, 1998. Despite the bad weather on the mainland, the weather was
fine in Cape Breton for Camping. Let is a scenic view of the Bra D'Or from the campgrounds
of Whycogmaugh Provincial Park.
Alvah Mayo mayo@north.nsis.com reported on the Unama'ki Open:
Thanks to Aaron, Jim et al for the kind words. Although I'm sure Gilbert was disappointed with the stagnant turnout, there were plenty of strong players which is more important to me personally. I was the number one seed this year, and I got to play the 2nd-6th seeds so there were no easy games.
There were some interesting stories taking place within the context of the tournament as well. As some of you know by now, I am currently trying to get my CFC rating over 2150 so as to meet the new strict entry requirements for the Open section at the North Bay International Open. I added 16 points with this win to take me up to 2124, leaving me 26 points to go.
PEI's Aaron Cooper started the event at 1990, and was looking to gain enough points to break 2000 and become a Candidate Master. He didn't manage to do so at this event but he did come closer, gaining 4 or 5 rating points with his 3.5/5 score.
Steve Saunders played the white side of a King's Indian Saemisch
against Gilbert Bernard. I looked at the game and thought Gilbert was
going to get crushed very quickly, but I looked again later on and
thought Gilbert made it to the ending in good shape. I stopped by the
game an hour later and saw Steve delivering the knockout blows to a
cramped Gilbert. See the PGN file 98unamak.pgn.Justin Gulati had the white pieces against Charles Macdonald, one of the three new CFC members taking part in the tournament. Justin won a piece, provoked his opponent into pushing his g pawn, and then forced mate with a piece sac on h7.
Thanks to a miscommunication between one of the players and the organizer, Aaron Cooper got a forfeit win over Aubrey Clarke which was later changed to a full point bye.
I was given the black pieces for my game with Jim Hayward. I was pleased with my opening and thought I had a nice advantage. On move 19 I had two choices of how to sacrifice a pawn. I rejected the first and was calculating the second, when I impulsively played the first idea anyway! I still had compensation for a pawn with my active pieces, but could no longer claim an advantage. Jim returned the favour by making a dubious queen move on move 25, and I finished him off with a tactical shot.
[Event "Unama'ki Open"] [Site "Wycogomaugh"] [Date "1998.06.26"] [White "Hayward, Jim"] [Black "Mayo, Alvah"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.Be3 d6 5.c3 Qb6 6.Qc2 Nf6 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.Be2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 (I was suprised by this move. The move c3 led me to believe he would retake on d4 with the pawn. On the plus side, this move does gain time against my queen) 9...Qd8 10.O-O Nc6 11.f3 Bd7 12.Rfd1 Rc8 13.Nxc6 bxc6 (I choose this recapture with a pawn instead of a piece because in the Open Sicilian, which we have more or less transposed to here, the square d5 is of vital importance to white. With a pawn on c6, white will not be able to use the d5 square for his pieces) 14.Nc4 Qc7 15.Bf4 Nh5 16.Bg5 f6 17.Be3 f5 18.Bd4 e5!? (an interesting move which commits black to a pawn sacrifice next move. After Bf2 Rf6 exf5 gxf5 Qxf5, then Nf4 with the threat of Rg6 looks better for black. I played the other pawn sacrifice, which isn't as good) 19.Bf2 d5 20.exd5 cxd5 21.Rxd5 Be6 22.Rc5 Qe7 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 (I chose this recapture since the R really has no immediate prospects on the kingside with no open files. On c8 this rook puts pressure on the loose white knight on c4) 24.Ne3 Qg5 25.Qa4? (this move is probably played with the intention of Qh4, trading queens, but black will not allow this) 25...Nf4 26.Bf1?? (the final error. Although black's pieces are very well placed, I couldn't see an immediate knockout before, now it is there) 26...Nh3+ White resigns
Steve Saunders and Gerard Leblanc drew their game. I never got a
chance to look at it, so maybe Steve will commentate on that one.There's a game score in the PGN file for this tournament. Gerald played an responded with a delayed Alapin variation against my Sicilian Defence. As white had a space advantage, I closed down the center to play on the wings. I got some nice posts for my knights but the closed center would allow my bishops to participate in the effort. So we agreed to a draw by repetition. - Steve Saunders
Aaron Cooper again got paired with Aubrey Clarke, this time for real. Aaron played the black side of a Gurgenizde system and reached an ending where he couldn't see a way to break down white's fortress, so he offered a draw.
My game with Justin Gulati turned out to be a real bloodbath. I played the London vs Justin's Gurgenizde system, and got the half open h file in exchange for Justin getting the B pair. After I played an overambitious queenside pawn push, Justin castled kingside.
I castled queenside, and then played a move that allows two great replies by black. Justin chose the flashier yet second best shot, which led to an attack capped by a nice rook sacrifice.
I managed to get an ending up a piece and down four pawns, which I have played before. However, the game abruptly ended when on the last move of time control, Justin dropped his queen trying to avoid an exchange.
[Event "Unama'ki Open"] [Site "Whycogomaugh"] [Date "1998.06.27"] [White "Mayo, Alvah"] [Black "Gulati, Justin"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c6 4.Bd3 d5 5.exd5 cxd5 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.c3 Nf6 8.Nbd2 Nh5 9.Bg3 (This move gives me the open file and leads to a more unbalanced position than Be3) 9...Nxg3 10.hxg3 Qc7 11.Qc2 Bd7 12.a4?! (this move is dubious. I wanted to provoke Justin into castling into the attack on the kingside, but a3 would have done the job just as well and been a lot less committal. Also, it would prevent a later Nb4 by black) 12...O-O 13.O-O-O Rac8 14.Ng5? (this is a blunder; Kb1 would be more prudent) 14...Nxd4 (this wins a pawn of course, but even better would be Nb4! since after Qb1 Nxd3+ Qxd3 Bf5 and white cannot guard both d4 and a5 with the queen) 15.Qb1 Qa5 16.Rde1 Rxc3+ 17.bxc3 Qxc3+ 18.Bc2 Bxa4 19.Re3 Qc6 (Justin pointed out after the game that Qxe3 is also possible here) 20.Nb3 Nxb3 21.Rxb3 Rc8 22.Kd1 Qc4 23.Nf3 Bxb3 24.Qxb3 Qc5 25.Ne1 b6 26.Nd3 Qd4 27.Rh4 Qa1+ 28.Ke2 Rc3 29.Qb1 Qa4?? (time pressure blunder, as Justin had maybe 30 seconds left to make two moves. If instead Qxb1, then an interesting endgame will be in the offing) 30.Rxa4 Black resigns
Aaron Cooper has the white pieces against Gerard Leblanc. The
opening looks better for black but soon Aaron found nice squares for his
pieces on the kingside. Gerard, not feeling well, offered a draw by
repetition, and Aaron accepts.Justin has the white pieces against Aubrey Clarke in a Closed Sicilian setup. I couldn't make heads or tails of this game as there were about twenty pieces and pawns swarming the kingside. Eventually Justin found the right breakthrough to win.
Meanwhile, I had the black pieces against Steve Saunders. He opened with his usual 1.d4, and I switched openings from my usual King's Indian to a Benoni. Steve played the sharpest line as white, with an early f4 and Bb5+, and I had the usual pressure on the white center. I managed to activate my queenside pawn majority, and Steve launched a kingside attack in response. When the smoke cleared after time control, I was up two pawns in a winning position.
[Event "Unama'ki Open"] [Site "Whycogomaugh"] [Date "1998.06.27"] [White "Saunders, Steve"] [Black "Mayo, Alvah"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 9.a4 a6 10.Bd3 O-O 11.Nf3 Re8 12.O-O Nf6 13.h3 Nbd7 14.Kh1 b6 15.Qc2 Bb7 16.Qf2 Qc7 17.Bd2 c4 18.Bc2 Nc5 19.Rae1 Qd7 20.Qh4 b5 21.axb5 axb5 22.e5 Nxd5 23.Ng5 h6 24.Nge4 Nxe4 25.Nxe4 dxe5 26.fxe5 Rxe5 27.Nc5 Qc6 28.Nxb7 Qxb7 29.Bc3 Nxc3 30.bxc3 Rae8 31.Rxe5 Rxe5 32.Ra1 Re2 White Resigns
Photo left Gilbert Bernard right plays Gerald Leblanc. Avery Clark behind watches while
Jim Hayward, standing, contemplates a move.
Gerard Leblanc had the white pieces against Gilbert Bernard in a back and forth game. The opening transposed from a Scandinavian to a Blackmar-Diemer gambit, and Gilbert managed to hang onto his extra pawn for a long time.
However, Gilbert made some subtle errors and was soon in a R+B+2P vs R+B+P ending, down a pawn and facing connected passed pawns on the queenside. With Gerard on the verge of promoting, he hallucinated a mating sequence that dropped a piece instead. Gerard was forced to take the perpetual check draw.
Steve Saunders had the black pieces against Aubrey Clarke and some kind of open Sicilian was played. The first time I looked at this game Aubrey was down a pawn with a bad position. The second time I looked he was down a piece, and resignation soon followed. See the PGN file 98unamak.pgn.
On top board I had the white pieces against Aaron Cooper. I had a
full point lead going into the round with 3/3, and was already thinking
about the 2188 rating I would get from a clean sweep if I could win my
last two games. Alas it was not to be.
Photo right Aaron Cooper (left) takes on Alvah Mayo (right) in Round 4.
[Event "Unama'ki Open"]
[Site "Whycogomaugh"]
[Date "1998.06.28"]
[White "Mayo, Alvah"]
[Black "Cooper, Aaron"]
[Result "0-1"]
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 Nc6 4.Be3 d6 5.Nc3 e5 (the whole purpose of this
opening by black is to trick white into playing d5, closing the center
and giving black an excellent game. In this case, black can transpose to
a favourable version of the King's Indian, where he can play f5 before
playing Nf6, saving time. However, the flaw with this opening is that if
white does NOT push d5, black is behind in development, space, and
cannot find an active plan) 6.Nge2 exd4 7.Nxd4 Nge7 8.Be2 f5 9.f3 (also
possible here is Nxc6) 9...fxe4 10.fxe4 O-O 11.Rf1 Rxf1+ 12.Kxf1 Qf8+
13.Kg1 Qf6 14.Nc2 Be6 15.Qd2?! (although this move is adequate, Nd5!
gives white an almost winning advantage. The queen and c7 pawn are
threatened and the only way to save both is to take the knight. However,
if Nxd5 then cxd5 wins a piece; if Bxd5, then cxd5 Ne5 gives white all
the play) 15...Rf8 16.Rf1 Qe5 17.Rxf8+ Kxf8 18.Nd5?! (an interesting
move. I was displeased that my queenside was under awkward pressure by
the B+Q battery, so I chose this pawn sacrifice. In hindsight, it looks
bad for white if black takes the b2 pawn) 18...Qxe4?! 19.Nxc7 Bxc4
20.Bf3 Qd3 21.Qf2 Kg8 22.b3 Bf7 23.Ne1 (a GM would be very reluctant to
put a piece of his in a self pin like this, but I felt that it was
logical. At this point I need to push a kingside pawn to give an escape
square anyway so Qb1 will just force me to make a good move. Also, black
can gain nothing from the pin) 23...Qb1 24.g4 d5 (played after 8 minutes
thought, probably to avoid the threat of Nb5. Black now has 3 minutes to
make 6 moves in a complex position) 25.Nb5 d4 26.Bf4 Nd5 27.Bg3 d3
28.Kg2 a6 29.Na3 Qc1 30.Nc4 b5 (making time control with 10 seconds to
spare) 31.Nxd3 Qc3 32.Ncb2 Bd4 33.Qe2 Ncb4 34.Be1?? (a colossal blunder
which costs me the game. I saw that Be1 Nxd3 should be met by Nxd3 and
not by Bxc3 which loses to Nf4+!, but I completely missed the queen sac
idea) 34...Nxd3 35.Nxd3 Qxd3!! 36.Qxd3 Nf4+ 37.Kf1 Nxd3 38.Bd2 Kf8
39.Bb7 Nc5 40.Bb4 a5! (he won't even let me pick up a measly pawn! Oh
the humanity!) 41.Bxc5 Bxc5 42.Be4 a4 43.Bc2 axb3 44.axb3 Ke7 45.Bd3 b4
46.Bc2 Bd5 47.Ke2 Kf6 48.h4 Ke5 49.h5 gxh5 50.gxh5 Be4 51.Bd1 Kf4 52.Kd2
Bf3 53.Bc2 h6 54.Bg6 Kg5 55.Kd3 Bxh5 56.Kc4 Bxg6 57.Kxc5 Bc2 58.Kxb4 Kf4
59.Kc3 Bxb3 60.Kxb3 h5 White resigns
Aaron Cooper had the white pieces against Justin Gulati. The early middlegame looked cramped for Justin, but he did have the bishop pair. A brief tactical flurry beginning with black's Bxf3 led to an ending of B+B vs B+N with equal pawns. I thought Justin might be able to grind out a win, but after playing a few more moves a draw was agreed.
I got the black pieces vs Gerard Leblanc. You won't find the
opening we played in any opening book that's for sure. I had a bishop
misplaced in order to prevent white from castling where he wanted, and
the early middlegame was more like a game of chicken to see who would
give in first. Gerard ended up blinking first and castling queenside.
With a solid advantage, I blunder two pieces for a rook in the mistaken belief that I am getting queen for two pieces. After that, I fling my queenside pawns up the board, and manage to break through. Just when things look bleak, Gerard plays a slow move in a very sharp position and I hit him with a nice shot to win.
[Event "Unama'ki Open"] [Site "Whycogomaugh"] [Date "1998.06.28"] [White "Leblanc, Gerard"] [Black "Mayo, Alvah"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d3 (avoiding the Dragon, one of my specialties) 3...Nc6 4.Nbd2 g6 5.g3 Bg4 6.Bg2 Qd7 7.h3 Be6 8.a4 (also possible is Ng5, but neither Gerard nor I care much for this move for white. Such a move wastes time, and puts the d5 square off limits to white. For those who love bishops, they can play this line with Qc8 rather than Qd7 in order to preserve the light squared bishop) 8...h6 9.Nc4 Nf6 10.b3 Bg7 11.Bb2 O-O 12.Qe2 Rfe8 13.O-O-O Qc7 14.d4?! (opening the position when his king position is weak is not advisable) 14...cxd4 15.Nxd4 Bxc4 16.Qxc4 Rac8 17.Nxc6 bxc6 18.f4 Qb8 19.Rhe1 d5 20.Qc3 e6 (now black has a very strong center which cannot be broken down by white; this gives black a sizable advantage) 21.Kb1 Re7(also possible is Qb6 to prevent white's next) 22.Qa5 Rb7 23.Be5 Qa8 24.g4 Bf8? (I thought that Bb4, if allowed, wins the queen. However, the queen can run to a6, so the queen is safe) 25.Bxf6 Bb4 26.Qa6 Bxe1 27.Rxe1 c5 28.exd5 Rb6 29.Qe2 exd5 30.Qe7 (an attractive though incorrect try here is Bxd5 Qxd5 Qe8+ where Rxe8 Rxe8+ gets mated, but Bxd5 Qxd5 Qe8+ Kh7! draws) 30...c4 31.Re3 Qc6 32.Bc3 cxb3 33.Qe5 bxc2+ 34.Kc1 (now black has run out of immediate tactical shots and has only two options...Rb1+ and f6. Since Rb1+ should lose easily, then defending with f6 must be played) 34...f6 35.Bxd5+ Kh8 (forced, since any king move to the seventh allows a queen check which loses the black queen for nothing) 36.Qe4 (white chooses to save his queen. The ending after Bxc6 fxe5 is winning for white, but after the game Gerard explained to me that with about 30 minutes left he didn't want to risk choosing an ending where there are still some problems to solve) 36...Qc5 37.g5?? (completely overlooking black's threat, which is easy to do considering the square in question is covered twice) 37...Qa3+ 38.Kxc2 Rb2+!! (forced mate in two) White resigns Unama'ki Open Crosstable Name Rating Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Total 1 CM Alvah Mayo 2108 +6 +4 +2 -3 +5 4 2 CM Steve Saunders 2039 +7 =5 -1 +8 +6 3 1/2 3 Aaron Cooper 1990 +0 =8 =5 +3 =4 3 1/2 4 CM Justin Gulati 1965 +10 -1 +8 +6 =3 3 1/2 5 Gerard Leblanc 1953 +11 =2 =3 =7 -1 2 1/2 6 Jim Hayward 1808 -1 +12 +10 -4 -2 2 7 Gilbert Bernard 1758 +9 -2 +12 =5 +10 3 1/2 8 Aubrey Clarke 1636 +9 =3 -4 -2 +11 2 1/2 9 John Maclean 1425 -7 -8 =0 =11 +12 2 10 Charlie Macdonald UNR -4 +11 -6 +12 -7 2 11 Ed McCarty UNR -5 -10 +0 =9 -8 1 1/2 12 Greta Osmond UNR +0 -6 -7 -10 -9 1
See all these games plus more from the 1998 Unama'ki Open in the PGN (Portable Game Notation) file 98unamak.pgn.
Also see the report on the 1997 Unama'ki Open.
Photo: Tournament Organizer Gilbert Bernard presents the winner of the
1997 Unama'ki Open, Damir Miletic with the Cape Breton Cup.