The St. Louis Chess Club is constantly holding what I call developmental tournaments, providing avenues for young US players to develop their skills and to attain much-coveted International Master and Grandmaster titles. The club’s latest attempt is the recently concluded 2018 St. Louis Norm Congress. It was held in two sections, the IM and GM groups. Sadly, it would seem that no IM or GM norms were earned, but the players all gained badly needed experience.
Today’s game is between the young Ukrainian player Pavlo Vorontsov, 20, a member of the Texas Tech chess team, and veteran GM Mark Paragua from Manila, who now lives in New York City, where he plays and coaches.
In the game, Vorontsov, thinking he had trapped Black’s knight, greatly underestimated the danger to his exposed king. He paid the consequences when Paragua found several interesting ways to open lines against the king, all leading to an attractive mate. It should be mentioned that Vorontsov bounced back from this game to win the tournament and $2,000.
2018 Saint Louis Norm Congress, GM Section
Pavlo Vorontsov (2548) — Mark Paragua (2521)
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 This leads into a kind of Grunfeld hybrid. 5.Qb3 Nb6 6.d4 Bg7 7.Bf4 0–0 8.e3 Be6 9.Qa3 Nc6 10.Bb5 Nd5 11.Bxc6!? Seems to be the first new move. Both 11.Bg3 and 11.Nxd5 have been played before. 11...Nxf4 12.Be4? Really?! Really?! This has to be considered a mistake rather than dubious, as after Black's next, White never seems to recover. I’m sure the idea is that the knight is now trapped on g2 but he really misjudges how exposed his king becomes. 12.exf4 was necessary bxc6 13.0–0 Bxd4 (13...Qd6 14.Ne5 Rfb8 15.Qxd6 exd6 16.Nxc6 Rxb2 17.Rab1 Rb6 18.Rxb6 axb6 19.Nb5 Rxa2 20.Nxc7 Bd7 21.d5 Rc2 22.Rb1 Bxc6 23.dxc6 Rxc6 24.Nd5 Rc2 25.Ne3 Rb2 26.Rd1 b5 and Black is better) 14.Rfd1 c5 15.Nb5 Bd5 16.Nfxd4 cxd4 17.Rxd4 and White is somewhat better. 12...Nxg2+ 13.Kd2?! The machines prefer Ke2 or Kd1 as somewhat safer squares 13...f5!? 14.Bxb7 f4! More open lines 15.Rhg1 Grabbing material doesn’t help, for example, 15.Bxa8 fxe3+ 16.fxe3 Qxa8 17.Qa6 Bg4 18.Ne5 Rf2+ 19.Kd3 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Qd8+ 21.Kc4 Rxb2 22.Kc5 Nxe3 23.Rac1 e6 24.Rhf1 Rb6 25.Qa5 Nxf1 26.Rxf1 Qd2 and Black is winning easily 15…fxe3+ All that really matters for Black are open lines against White's king. Now the f-file is open for his rook. 16.fxe3 Rb8 17.Qxa7 or 17.Be4 Rxf3 18.Bxf3 Nxe3! 19.Kxe3 Qxd4+ 20.Ke2 Bc4+ 21.Ke1 Qxg1+ 22.Kd2 Qf2+ 23.Kc1 (23.Ne2 Rd8+ 24.Kc2 Bxe2 25.Rc1 Rd2+ 26.Kb1 Rxb2+ 27.Qxb2 Bd3+ 28.Rc2 Qe1+ 29.Bd1 Qxd1+ 30.Qc1 Bxc2#) 23...Bh6+ 24.Kd1 (24.Kb1 Bd3#) 24...Qd2# 17...c5 18.Qa6 18.Rxg2 Qd7 19.Qa6 Rxb7 20.Na4 Rxf3 21.Nxc5 Rxb2+ 22.Kc1 Rxg2 23.Nxd7 Bd5 18...Bc8! 19.Bxc8 Rxf3 20.Be6+ Or20.Nd1 Nxe3 21.Ke2 Rf6 22.Be6+ Kh8 23.Nxe3 Rxb2+ 24.Ke1 Qxd4 20...Kh8 21.Rxg2?! 21.Bb3 Nxe3 22.Qa4 c4 23.Nb5 Qd5 24.Rae1 Rxb5 25.Kc1 cxb3 21...Rxb2+ 22.Kd3? Missing Black’s next. 22.Ke1 was necessary when after 22…Rxg2 23.Qc8 Qxc8 24.Bxc8 cxd4 25.exd4 Bxd4 26.Ne2 Re3 27.Ba6 Bxa1 Black is winning easily 22...Qxd4!#; 0–1
Chris Chase can be reached at BostonGlobeChessNotes @gmail.com.
