Los Angeles Times , CA
May 10 2009

Levon Aronian wins Grand Prix event

By Jack Peters, International Master
May 10, 2009

Position No. 6054: Black to play and win. From the game Tatjana
Molchanova – Natalia Zhukova, Sochi 2009.

Solution to Position No. 6053: White wins with 1 hxg5 Qxg4 2 Qe5+ Kh7
3 gxh6 Kxh6 4 Rd4! f6 5 Qe3+ Qg5 6 Qe7.

Levon Aronian of Armenia defeated Peter Leko of Hungary in a
last-round battle of the leaders to take first prize in the fourth
Grand Prix tournament in Nalchik, Russia. Aronian won a tense game
after an unpromising start. Later Leko complimented him on his "strong
nerves."

Aronian finished with 8 1/2 – 4 1/2 , a point ahead of Leko and
Vladimir Akopian of Armenia. Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Etienne
Bacrot of France achieved the only other plus scores, 7-6. Former
U.S. champion Gata Kamsky scored 6-7 to tie for eighth place in the
field of 14 elite grandmasters.

Nalchik was Aronian’s second Grand Prix tournament, and he has won
both to join the leaders in the overall standings. His rivals have
already played in three or four tournaments. If the World Chess
Federation completes the full cycle of six tournaments, the points
leader will earn a bonus of 75,000 euros (about $100,000). The fifth
Grand Prix is scheduled for August in Armenia.

The 2009 U.S. Championship concludes May 17. See uschess.org for
latest reports.

Local news

The 11th and possibly last Los Angeles County Open in Monterey Park
attracted 53 players last weekend. This writer won with a score of
5-0. Takashi Iwamoto was second at 4 1/2 – 1/2 , followed by experts
Michael W. Brown, Konstantin Kavutskiy and Show Kitagami and Class B
winners William Kiplinger and Babken Krbashian, all with 4-1. Jeffrey
Ding led scholastic entrants with 3-2. Randy Hough directed for the
Southern California Chess Federation.

International Master Tim Taylor has returned from Ohio and will resume
his Wednesday evening lectures at the Los Angeles Chess Club. Call
Mick Bighamian at (310) 795-5710 for more information.

Tyrone de los Santos, Ben Cheng, Daniel Dudley and Curtis Strain led
their sections in the Exposition Park Chess Club’s tournament last
Sunday. The club meets every Sunday at 1 p.m. in the public library,
3900 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. For photos and much more, see
chess.expoparkla.com.

Scholastic news

The AAA Chess Club’s Spring Scholastic will be held Saturday in First
Lutheran Church, 1300 E. Colorado Blvd., Glendale. The top 10
finishers in each section (grades K-3, K-7 and K-12) will earn
trophies. Call Harut Keshishian at (323) 578-0514 or see
aaachessclub.com.

Chess for Success International will conduct a three-section
scholastic tournament Saturday at John Thomas Dye School, 11414 Chalon
Road, Los Angeles. For details, call Ivona Jezierska at (310)
740-0063.

The new Beverly Hills Chess Club plans its first event, a scholastic
tournament with rated and nonrated sections, next Sunday in La Cienega
Park, 8400 Gregory Way, Beverly Hills. See bhchessclub.com for
information.

Today’s games

GM Levon Aronian (Armenia)-GM Peter Leko (Hungary), Nalchik 2009: 1 d4
This game decided first place. Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 Rubinstein’s
system against the Nimzo-Indian Defense. 0-0 5 Bd3 d5 6 Nf3 c5 7 0-0
dxc4 8 Bxc4 Nbd7 One of several ways to saddle White with an isolated
d-pawn. 9 Qe2 b6 10 Rd1 Preparing d4-d5. cxd4 11 exd4 The only
ambitious move. Bxc3 Safer than 11 . . . Bb7, which permits
unfathomable complications beginning 12 d5 Bxc3 13 dxe6. 12 bxc3 Bb7
13 Bb3 Usually White prefers 13 Bd3. Qc7 14 c4 Rfe8 15 Bb2 White has a
small advantage. His Bishops support the "hanging pawns" at c4 and
d4. Qf4 16 Qe3 Qf5 17 Ne1?! Correct is 17 Ne5, keeping the edge if
Black simplifies by 17 . . . Nxe5 18 dxe5 Ng4 19 Qg3. b5! 18 c5 Nd5
Blockade! 19 Qg3 Nf4 20 Rd2 Nf6 21 f3 N6h5 22 Qf2 Bd5 Black has taken
the initiative, making Aronian’s dream of a tournament-clinching win
seem far-fetched. 23 Bc2 Qg5 24 Kh1 Bc4 25 g3 Ng6?! Black starts to
drift. Simply 25 . . . Nd5 retains equality. 26 Ng2 Bd5 27 Ne3 Nf6 28
h4 Qh5 29 Nxd5 Nxd5? Leaving the Queen stranded at h5. There is little
danger after 29 . . . Qxd5. 30 Re1 Red8 31 Rde2 Rab8 32 Bc1! Targeting
the Queen. The first threat is 33 Bg5 f6 34 g4. h6 33 Kg2 Nc3 34 Re5!
Nxe5 35 Rxe5 f5 36 Bb3 Nd5 37 Rxe6 White’s passed pawns and his
reawakened Bishops are too strong for Black’s Rook and Knight. Kh8 38
Qe1 Next Qe1-e5 will dislodge the blockading Knight. Nf6 39 Qe5 Re8 40
c6 Rbc8 Black can set a trap with 40 . . . a6 41 d5 Rxe6 42 Qxb8+ Re8
43 c7 Kh7, hoping for 44 c8Q?? Re2+ 45 Kg1 Qxf3. But White wins with
44 Bd1. 41 Qxb5 Qg6 42 h5 Or simply 42 Bf4. Qxh5 43 Bf4 a6 44 Qxa6 Nh7
45 c7 Ng5 46 Rxe8+ As 46 . . . Rxe8 47 Bxg5 hxg5 48 c8Q ends Black’s
counterattack. Qxe8 47 d5 Ra8 48 Qc4 Kh7 49 d6 Qe1 50 Qf1 Prudent,
although 50 d7 Nh3!? won’t save Black if White finds 51 Qd4! Nxf4+ 52
gxf4 Ra6 53 Bg8+ Kh8 54 Bf7. Qe8 51 Qd3 Qd7 52 Qc4 Qe8 53 Bxg5 hxg5 54
Qg8+, Black Resigns.

GM Peter Leko (Hungary)-GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Nalchik
2009: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6The Petroff Defense, a drawing weapon for elite
GMs. Kasimdzhanov had already used it to draw Akopian and Kamsky. 3
Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0-0 Be7 The old main line,
before 7 . . . Bg4 became popular. 8 Nc3 Less investigated than 8 c4
and 8 Re1. Nxc3 Black could trade Bishops by 8 . . . Bf5 9 Re1 Nxc3 10
bxc3 Bxd3 11 Qxd3. 9 bxc3 Bg4 10 Re1 0-0 11 Bf4 The position looks
harmless, but Black will not achieve equality until he catches up in
development. Bd6 After 11 . . . Qd7 12 h3, both 12 . . . Bf5 13 Bxf5
Qxf5 14 Bxc7 and 12 . . . Bh5? 13 Ne5! Nxe5 14 Bxh7+! favor White. 12
Bxd6 Bxf3 Forced, as 12 . . . Qxd6? drops a pawn to 13 Bxh7+ Kxh7 14
Ng5+. If 14 . . . Kg6 15 Qxg4 f5, White preserves the pawn by 16 Qh4
Rh8 17 Re6+ Qxe6 18 Qxh8. 13 Qxf3 Qxd6 14 Re3! Rae8 15 Rae1 Taking
control of the e-file. Black cannot contest it by 15 . . . Qd7? or 15
. . . Qd8? because 16 Rxe8 Rxe8 17 Rxe8+ Qxe8 18 Qxd5 Qe1+ 19 Bf1
Qxc3 20 Qd7! g6 21 Qxc7 Qxd4 22 Qxb7 emerges with a useful extra
pawn. Rxe3 16 Rxe3 g6 17 h4! Inviting Black to gain a pawn by 17
. . . Qa3 18 Bf1 Qxa2 19 h5 Qxc2 20 Qxd5. White threatens 21 Qd7, and
Black’s King is not safe. For example, 20 . . . Nd8 21 hxg6 hxg6 22
Qe5 c6 would lose to 23 Rh3 f6 24 Qe7 Nf7 25 Qxf6. Black would have to
retreat his Queen to f5 on move 20 or 22. Nb8 18 h5 Nd7 19 g4 Nf6 Not
19 . . . gxh5?, as 20 g5! sets up 21 Qxh5. 20 h6! Thwarting 20
. . . Re8?? by 21 Qxf6 Qxf6 22 Rxe8 mate. Kh8 21 Re5 c6 22 c4 Ng8?
Under pressure, Black errs. With 22 . . . Nd7! 23 Re1 dxc4 24 Bxc4
Qxd4, he would reach a defensible endgame by 25 Bxf7 Qf6 or cleverly
draw by 25 Rd1!? Qf6! 26 Qa3 Qg5! 27 Rxd7 Qxg4+. 23 Qe3 dxc4 24 Bxc4
g5!? Passive defense offers little hope. After 24 . . . Nf6 25 Qf4 Nd7
26 Re4 Qxf4 27 Rxf4 Kg8 28 Re4, White’s Rook will clean up on the
seventh rank. 25 Rxg5 Nxh6 26 Qe4 Eyeing h7. f6?! Black’s last chance
is 25 . . . f5 26 gxf5 Qf6, although 27 Qe5! Qxe5 28 dxe5 Nxf5 29 Bd3
should win for White anyway. 27 Rh5 f5 Useless is 27 . . . Kg7 28 Bd3
Rh8, as 29 g5 fxg5 30 Rxg5+ Kf8 31 Bc4 exposes Black’s King. 28 gxf5
Nxf5 Seeing 29 Rxf5?? Qg6+. 29 Be6! Qxd4 Now White could fall for 30
Bxf5?! Qd1+ and still win, but Leko finds the quickest finish. 30
Rxh7+!, Black Resigns.