Samirin wins Liberty Bell Open easily
By Kristianus Liem
JAKARTA (JP): The 1997 Liberty Bell Open, the 29th meet in the Philadelphia series, saw GM Ilya Smirin win easily.
The young Israeli, formerly of Minsk, Belorussia, won his first four games, including victories over GM Arthur Bisguier and NM Emory Tate, then drew with IM Jonathan Yedidia and beat GM Alexander Ivanov before finally drawing quickly with White against GM Nick deFirmian.
Smirin's score of 6 Match Points from seven rounds was good for US$1,828 in prizes. DeFirmian, who had drawn earlier IM John Donaldson and NM Gregory Shahade, was second with 5.5 MP and US$914 in his pocket.
The tournament was tough. The open section featured six GMs (four current or former FIDE 2600s) and four IMs. Top seed Alexander Ivanov, with a brand-new FIDE 2600, fought hard as usual but lost to Smirin and Yedidia.
Though Ivanov managed to beat GM Sergey Kudrin and IM Larry Kaufman, he was out of the prizes before the final round. Yedidia survived a scare from IM Ed Formanek and then tore away, beating Ivanov and drawing with Smirin before losing to deFirmian in round six and getting knocked out of the battle for first place.
In the Open, 352 players competed for US$18,000 in prizes. Below is the good endgame from Smirin over Ivanov.
White: GM Ilya Smirin
Black: GM Alexander Ivanov
English Opening
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 f5 6.0-0 Nf6 7.d3 0- 0 8.Bg5
A common plan in English Opening these days. White parts with the Bishop but bluntens Black's aggressive intentions on the kingside by getting rid of one potential attacker. Another motivation behind Bg5xf6 is the greater influence on the light squares, d5 in particular.
8...h6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Nd2 Kh7 11.Rb1 a5 12.a3 Ne7 13.b4 axb4 14.axb4 e4 15.Qc2 exd3 16.Qxd3 d6 17.b5 c6 18.Rb3 Be6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Rfb1 Rc8 21.e4
Here 21.Nf3 should be considered, with equal game after 21...Bf7 (21...d5 22.cxd5 Nxd5 23.Rb7+ Rf7 24.Nxd5 Bxd5 25.Ng5+ Bxg5 26.Bxd5) 22.Rb7 Ra8 23.Nd4 Ra3 24.Nb3.
21...Bg7 22.Rb7 Rf7 23.exf5 Nxf5
Black's position looks okay here, but Alexander was already under time pressure. In 1996 Ivanov had played extremely well, as reflected by his new FIDE rating of 2600 (the fourth best in United States), and at least some of this gain came from better time management. Here, he falls back on bad habits which cost him the game.
24.h4 Rxb7 25.Rxb7 Rc7 26.Rxc7 Qxc7 27.Ne2 Be5 28.Nf3 Kg7
Black's position is not so easy, one of the examples is 28...Qf7 29.h5 c5 (if 29...gxh5 30.Ned4 Bxd4 31.Nxd4 c5 32.Nxe6 Qxe6 33.Be4 Kg6 34.Kg2 Kf6 35.Bxf5 Qxf5 36.Qxd6+ White has a winning position) 30.hxg6+ Qxg6 31.Nxe5 dxe5 32.Nc3 Kg7 33.Na4 Qf7 34.Bh3 threatening 35.Nxc5, with the better position for White.
29.Qe4 Bf7 30.h5!
A good move. White demolishes the Knight's protector.
30...Ne7 31.Qg4 g5 32.Ned4 Qb6
Here 32...Bf6 is worth looking at 33.Ne6+ Bxe6 34.Qxe6 d5 35.cxd5 cxd5 Black gets a pass pawn.
33.Ne6+ Kf6?
See diagram. In a flash or wink the text was good, but 33...Bxe6 was necessary 34.Qxe6 Bf6 35.Qxd6 Qb1+ 36.Kh2 Qf5 although White was still a little better after 37.Nd4 Qxf2 38.Nxc6 Nxc6 39.Qxc6 Qe2 40.Qb7+ Kf8 41.Qf3.
34.Nexg5!!
A winning move! 34.Nxe5 is no comparison 34...dxe5 (34...Kxe5? 35.Nf8 Qb1+ 36.Kh2 thretening 37.Nd7 and win) 35.Qf3+ Nf5 and White position is only slightly better.
34...Qb1+
Of course 34...hxg5?? is definitely not advisable because 35.Qxg5+! and the logical end is 35...Ke6 36.Bh3+ Nf5 37.Bxf5# checkmate!
35.Kh2 hxg5 36.Qxg5+ Ke6 37.Bh3+!
An unpleasant check. White also winning after 37.Nxe5 dxe5 (37...Qf5 38.Bh3 Qxh3+ 39.Kxh3 dxe5 40.f3 c5 41.Kg4 Ng8 42.Qf5+) 38.Bh3+ Nf5 39.h6 Qc2 40.Qxf5+ Qxf5 41.h7 Qxh3+.
37...Nf5 38.Nh4 Bxg3+
The only move. Black must return some of the goodies he has collected.
39.Qxg3!
Puts the icing on the cake. Black resigned here because he would loose one more piece. 1-0.