CHESS : Lubomir Kavalek
Monday, March 13, 2006; Page C12
The United States Championship finished yesterday in San Diego with rapid playoffs. Anna Zatonskih won the women's title, defeating Rusudan Goletiani, 1 1/2 - 1/2 . Alexander Onischuk became the overall U.S. champion, beating Yuri Shulman, 1 1/2 - 1/2 . Shulman qualified for the final match by a better tiebreaker over Gata Kamsky and Larry Christiansen, all scoring 6 1/2 points in nine games in their preliminary group. Onischuk, the top board of the University of Maryland Baltimore County's powerful team, won his group alone with seven points. Onischuk's victory over Dmitry Schneider in the Noteboom-Abrahams line of the Semi-Slav defense is theoretically important.
Onischuk-Schneider
1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.e3 b5 6.a4 Bb4 7.Bd2 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 cxb5 10.b3 Bb7 11.bxc4 b4 (The Englishman Gerald Abrahams reached this position in 1925, the Dutchman Daniel Noteboom in 1930. They share the credit for this sharp variation.) 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Bd3 Nbd7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Re1!? (Preparing the pawn advance 16.e4, the rook move was hard to find in opening manuals 10 years ago. White tried to accomplish the same with 15.Qc2.) 15...Ne4 (Blocking the pawn advance, but not for long.) 16.Nd2! (The fight for the square e4 continues.) 16...Nxd2 (After 16...f5 17.f3 Nxd2 18.Qxd2, black can't prevent e3-e4 and only weakens his position on the kingside. But 16...Ndc5 is a playable alternative.) 17.Qxd2 Qc7 (After 17...e5 18.f4! establishes white's passers in the center.)
18.c5 Rfb8!? (A novelty. Black ignores the center and supports his own passing pawns. After 18...e5 19.Qc2 h6, white can apply shades of the King's gambit with 20.f4 exf4 21.e4!, creating a powerful center. But 18...f5 seems playable.) 19.Rac1 Qc6?! (The advance 19...a4!? is more to the point: After 20.c6 Bxc6 21.Be4 Ra6 22.Bxh7+ Kf8! black survives.) 20.e4 a4? (Black had to play 20...Nf6 and after 21.Qg5 h6!, but not 21...a4?! because of 22.d5! exd5 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.Bxf6.) 21.Qxb4! Ba6 (It looks dangerous, but Onischuk calculates well.)
22.d5! (A splendid deflection, refuting black's combination. After 22.Qc3 Rxb2 23.Qxb2 Bxd3 black succeeds.) 22...exd5 (After 22...Qxc5 23.Qxc5 Nxc5 24.Bxa6 Nxa6 25.Ba3 Rb3, the weak last rank allows 26.d6!, e.g. 26...Rxa3 27.d7, threatening 28.Rc8+; or 26...Rd8 27.d7 Rd3 28.Be7 winning the exchange.) 23.exd5 Qh6 (The difference is clear after 23...Qxd5 24.Qc3 Rxb2. White wins with a zwischenzug 25.Be4!) 24.Qxa4 (Black's once proud queenside pawns disappeared.) 24...Bb5 (After 24...Nxc5 25.Rxc5 Bxd3 26.Qd4 Bf5 27.d6, the strong d-pawn ties up black's heavy pieces and white should win.) 25.Qg4! (The simple way, but 25.Qxb5 Rxb5 26.Bxb5 also wins.) 25...Nxc5 26.Bxb5 Rxb5 27.Qe2! (The double threat 28.Qe8+! and 28.Qxb5 wins a piece after 27...Rbb8 28.Rxc5.) Black resigned.
Leko's Collapse
The Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian won the elite tournament in Linares, Spain, on Saturday, after Hungary's Peter Leko faltered and lost the last two games. Here is the final clincher.
Leko-Aronian
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.d3 d6 10.a5 (Both players were familiar with this Anti-Marshall variation of the Spanish. The clampdown on the queenside and the control of the light squares used to give white better prospects.) 10...Be6 11.Nbd2 Qc8 12.Nc4 Rb8 13.Bg5 (All this was played before, but now Aronian finds a new way to strike against white's center.)
13...Kh8!? (Black is preparing f7-f5.) 14.h3 (After 14.d4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 exd4 16.Qxd4 Rd8 17.Ne3 c5 18.Qd3 d5, black equalizes.) 14...Ng8 15.c3 bxc3 16.bxc3 f5! 17.Ba4?! (The transaction that follows is in black's favor. Leko should have played 17.exf5 Rxf5 18.Be3, to counter 18...d5?! with 19.Ba4!) 17...fxe4 18.Bxc6 exf3 19.Bxe7 Nxe7 20.Bxf3 Ng6 21.Bg4 Nf4! (Dark clouds are surrounding white's king.) 22.Ra2 (Leko covers the second rank because black can strike there quickly, for example 22.Ne3 Bxg4 23.hxg4 Rb2 24.d4 Nxg2!! 25.Nxg2 Rfxf2 26.Ne3 Qf8 27.Nf5 g6 and black wins. But preventing a direct attack on the kingside makes Leko's pawns on the queenside vulnerable. Aronian finds a decisive queen's maneuver.) 22...Qb7! 23.Bf3 (Black should win after 23.f3 Bd5! [threatening 25...h5] 24.g3 h5! 25.gxf4 hxg4 26.hxg4 Bxf3 27.Rh2+ Kg8 28.Qc2 Rxf4.) 23...Qb3! (Black wins a pawn, and the game is basically over.) 24.Rc2 Nxd3!? (The simple 24...Bxc4 25.dxc4 Qxc4 was also possible.) 25.Qxd3 Qxc4 26.Qxc4 Bxc4 27.Bc6 Rb3 28.g3 g5! (Preventing any counter-play with f2-f4.) 29.Re3 Ra3 30.Be4 Rxa5 (White is two pawns down and can resign.) 31.g4 Bd5 32.f3 Bxe4 33.fxe4 Ra1+ 34.Kg2 Rff1 35.Ree2 Rg1+ 36.Kh2 Rh1+ 37.Kg3 Rag1+ 38.Rg2 Re1 39.Rgf2 Re3+ 40.Kg2 Rexh3 White resigned.
Final standings in Linares: Aronian 8 1/2 points in 14 games, Veselin Topalov and Teimur Radjabov 8 points, Leko 7 1/2 points, Peter Svidler and Vassily Ivanchuk 6 1/2 points, Etienne Bacrot 6 points, Francisco Vallejo Pons 5 points.
Solution to today's two-mover by K. Gavrilov (White: Kd1,Qc1,Rd6,Ne3,Nh3; Black: Kh5,P:e7): 1.Qc7! exd6 (or 1...e5 or 1...e6) 2.Qh7 mate; or 1...Kh4 2.Rh6 mate.
