The Harvard Open was the first major tournament that I organized (not
counting a few scholastics when I was in high school in Los Angeles), and I
was delighted at the turnout, especially since it was such a nice day
outside! Lehman Hall proved to be an excellent playing site, in close
proximity to Harvard Square (including Au Bon Pain, "the largest unofficial
chess club in Boston"!)
In the 26-player Open section, GM Alexander Ivanov, SM Igor Foigel and NM
Larry Tapper shared first-place honors with scores of 3.5-0.5. This was no
mean feat, as half of the players in this section were masters or better!
Ivanov and Foigel won their first three games and then drew in the last
round, while Tapper gave up a draw in round 1 to expert Chris von Krogh and
won his last three games, including an upset of FM John Curdo, to reach the
winner's circle. Tying for fourth place at 3-1 were FM Charles Hertan, SM
William Kelleher and NM David Vigorito. Mark Shmulevich won the U2200 prize
with 2.5-1.5, while NM Nathan Resika, Mikhail Langer (who upset Hertan in
round 1), Edward Epp, David Parker, and Chris von Krogh shared the U2300
money with 2 points apiece.
Adil Aytac was the winner of the U2100 section, scoring 3.5-0.5 There was a
three-way tie for second place between Stephen Jenkins, Frank Sisto and
Steve Fairbairn at 3-1 each. Fairbairn was the U1950 winner as well.
The surprise winner of the U1800 section was Tim Walsh (1587!), who upset
top-ranked Matt Bruce in the last round to finish with a perfect 4-0,
compiling a performance rating of 2100 along the way! Finishing at 3-1 were
Paul Sciaraffa, William Gallagher and John Fields (the U1650 winner).
In the U1500 section, young Andrey Shlyakhter won all four of his games to
finish in first place. Finishing second with 3-1 were Robert Dunn and
Ellwood Wink, while another young lion, Michael Preshman, won U1350 honors
with three points as well.
The event was ably directed by the indefatigable George
Mirajanian. George, thanks for a great job! Thanks also to
Christopher Chabris, a perennial source of good advice.
I'll see you next year at the 23rd Harvard Open!
Eighty-five players showed up on a beautiful Saturday morning,
May 7, for the 22nd incarnation of the Harvard Open.
Abram Ryzakhovsky (2145)-David Vigorito (2377), Rd.1
English (A10)
1. c4 g6 2. g3 Bg7 3. Bg2 d6 4. Nc3 e5 5. d3 Nc6 6. Bd2 Nf6 7.
Nc3 O-O 8. Qc1 Re8 9. Bh6 Bh8 10. h4 Bf5 11. e4 Bg4 12. Nh2 Nd4 13.
f3 Be6 14. Qd2 c6 15. O-O-O b5 16. f4 ef 17. gf Qa5 18. f5 b4 19.
Ne2 Ne4 20. de Nb3 21. ab Qa1 22. Kc2 Qb2 23. Kd3 Qb3 24. Nc3 Bc4
25. Ke3 bc 26. Qd6 c2 27. Rd3 Qb6 28. Kf3 Rad8 29. fg hg 30. Be3
Rb6 31. Rd6 Qb3 32. h5 Be5 33. Rd7 Bh2 34. hg fg 35. Kf2 Bg3 36.
Kg3 Qe3 [0-1]
John Velasquez (2200)-Nathan Resika (2207), Rd.1
Scotch (C45)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 ed 4. Nd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nf6
7. a4 a6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 10. a5 Ba7 11. Ra4 g5 12. Bg3 d6 13.
h4 Rg8 14. Be2 Bd7 15. Nd5 Nd5 16. ed Ne5 17. Rb4 O-O-O 18. Kd2 c5
19. dc Nc6 20. Rc4 f5 21. Qf1 f4 22. Bh2 d5 23. Rc3 d4 24. Rc4 Be6
25. Rc6 bc 26. Ba6 Kb8 27. hg hg 28. g3 Bb3 29. cb Qb4 30. Kc2 d3
31. Bd3 Rd5 32. gf gf 33. Bc4 Rd2 34. Kb1 Rf8 35. Qe1 Qd6 36. Qc1
Bf2 37. Rc1 Qd4 38. Qc3 Qc3 39. bc Be3 40. Bg1 Rh8 41. Be3 fe 42.
g5 Rhh2 43. Re1 Kc7 44. Ba6 Rb2 45. Ka1 Ra2 46. Kb1 Rhb2 47. Kc1 e2
[0-1]
Igor Foigel (2499)-Yakov Burtov (2173), Rd.1
Sicilian Rossolimo (B31)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O
7. e5 Ng4 8. Bc6 dc 9. d3 f6 10. Bf4 Ne5 11. Ne5 fe 12. Be5 Be5 13.
Re5 Qd4 14. Re3 Bg4 15. Qd2 Rf7 16. Re4 Qd7 17. Rae1 Bf5 18. Re5 c4
19. d4 Rd8 20. d5 e6 21. d6 Qd6 22. Qe2 Qd2 23. Rd1 Qg5 24. Rd8 Qd8
25. h3 Qd4 26. Re3 h5 27. b3 cb 28. cb Rd7 29. Qb2 b5 30. b4 Kf7
31. a4 Qc4 32. ab cb 33. Qa3 Bd3 34. Qa6 Re7 35. Rf3 Bf5 36. Nb5
Kg7 37. Qd6 Rf7 38. Qe5 Kg8 39. Nd6 Qc1 40. Kh2 Rg7 41. Rc3 Qg5 42.
Rc8 Kh7 43. Nf7 [1-0]
Mark Shmulevich (2194)-Libardo Rueda, Rd.1
Sicilian Lowenthal (B32)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cd 4. Nd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7.
Be2 Be6 8. O-O a6 9. N5c3 Rc8 10. b3 h6 11. Bg4 Nd4 12. Be6 Ne6 13.
Nd5 Bg5 14. Ba3 Nc5 15. Nbc3 Nf6 16. Nf6 Qf6 17. Qd5 Rc6 18. Rad1
OoO 19. Bc5 dc 20. Qd7 Rb8 21. Rd5 g6 22. Rfd1 Kg7 23. R5d3 Qe7 24.
g3 Qd7 25. Rd7 Kf8 26. h4 Be7 27. Nd5 Bd8 28. Ne3 Bf6 29. Ng4 h5
30. Nf6 Rf6 31. R7d5 Rc6 32. Re5 Rc8 33. Re8 Ke8 34. Rd5 Kc7 e5. f4
Ke6 36. Kf2 b6 37. Ke3 b5 38. f5 gf 39. Rf5 bc 40. bc Rf6 41. Rc5
[1-0]
David Vigorito (2377)-Mikhail Langer (2182), Rd.2
Benoni (A65)
1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 ed 5. cd d6 6. e4 g6 7. f3
Bg7 8. Bg5 O-O 9. Qd2 b6 10. a4 Na6 11. Nge2 Nb4 12. Ng3 Re8 13.
Be2 Ba6 14. Ba6 Na6 15. O-O Qd7 16. Qf4 Qe7 17. Nb5 Rad8 18. Na7
Qa7 19. Bf6 Bf6 20. Qf6 Nb4 21. Qc3 Qa6 22. Rfd1 Rd7 23. h4 h5 24.
f4 Qc8 25. f5 Qd8 26. f6 Re5 27. Rf1 Kh7 28. b3 Ra7 29. Qd2 Qc8 30.
Rf4 Qe8 31. Raf1 b5 32. Rf5 ef 33. Qg5 Qf8 34. Nf5 Rf5 35. Qf5 Kh6
36. Rf3 Qg8 37. Qf4 Kh7 38. Rg3 Ra8 39. Qf5+ Kh6 40. Rg5 Qg6 41.
Rg6 fg 42. Qf4 Kh7 43. Qd6 [1-0]
Daniel Woods (2130)-Chris van Krogh (2119), Rd.2
Caro-Kann Exchange (B13)
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. ed cd 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. h3 e5 7. de
Ne5 8. Nf3 Nd3 9. Qd3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Be6 12. O-O Qc7 13.
Rfe1 a6 14. a4 h6 15. a5 Rac8 16. Bb6 Qd7 17. Ne5 Qb5 18. Qb5 ab
19. a6 ba 20. Ra6 b4 21. Ng6 fg 22. Re6 bc 23. bc Bc5 24. Bc5 Rc5
25. Re7 Rc3 26. Raa7 Rc1 27. Kh2 Nh5 28. f3 Rc2 29. Nf1 Kh7 30. Ng3
Rg8 31. Nh5 gh 32. h4 Rc4 33. Kg3 Kg6 34. Rf7 Rd4 35. f4 Kh7 36.
Rad7 Rd3 37. Kf2 Rd2 38. Kf1 Rc8 39. Rg7 Kh8 40. Kg1 Rc4 41. Rge7
Rc1 42. Kh2 Rc4 43. Rh7 Kg8 44. Rh6 R8c2 45. Rg6 Kf8 46. f5 Rc4 47.
Kh3 Rf4 48. Ra6 Re4 49. Ra8 Re8 50. R8e7 Re3 51. g3 Re1 52. Rd8 Re8
53. Re8 Ke8 54. Rh7 d4 55. Rh5 d3 56. Rh8 Kd7 57. Rh7 Ke8 58. Ra7
Rd1 59. Kg4 d2 60. Ra2 Kf7 61. Kg5 Rg1 62. Rd2 Rg3 63. Kf4 Rg1 64.
Rd7 Kf6 65. Rd6 Kf7 66. Rd3 Kf6 67. Rf3 Rg2 68. Rf1 Rg8 69. Rd1 Rg2
70. Ra6 Kf7 71. h5 Rg1 72. Rg6 Rf1 73. Kg5 Rg1 74. Kh6 Rf1 75. Rg5
Kf6 76. Rg8 Kf7 77. Rg7 Kf6 78. Rg5 Rf2 79. Rg6 Kf7 80. Kg5 Rg2 81.
Kf4 Rf2 82. Kg4 Rf1 83. Kg5 Rg1 84. Kh6 Rf1 25. Ra6 Rf5 26. Ra7 Kg8
27. Kg6 Rf8 28. h6 [«-«]
Larry Tapper (2316)-Stephen Smith (2005), Rd.2
Alekhine (B02)
1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 Nf6 3. e5 Nfd7 4. f4 Nc6 5. d4 Nb6 6. Nce2 Bg4
7. h3 Bf5 8. Ng3 Qd7 9. Nf5 Qf5 10. Bd3 Qd7 11. c3 g6 12. a4 Na5
13. b4 Nc6 14. a5 Nc8 15. a6 ba 16. Ra6 Rb8 17. Nf3 Bg7 18. Nd2 Rb6
19. Nb3 O-O 20. Nc5 Qe8 21. Qe2 e6 22. Ba3 Kh8 23. O-O Nd8 24. Ra5
Nc6 25. Ra4 Rg8 26. Rfa1 N6e7 27. Ba6 Nd6 28. ed cd 29. b5 dc 30.
Bc5 Qb8 31. Be7 Qf4 32. Rf1 Qc7 33. Rf7 Re8 34. Qf2 Qc3 35. Bf8 Qc1
36. Kh2 Bh6 37. Qf6 Kg8 38. Rg7 Kh8 39. Rg6 Bg7 40. Qg7# [1-0]
Igor Foigel (2499)-William Paschall (2362), Rd.3
Closed Sicilian (B50)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Bg4 6. h3 Bf3
7. Bf3 g6 8. O-O Bg7 9. d3 O-O 10. Bg2 Rb8 11. f4 Nd7 12. g4 b5 13.
e5 Nd4 14. Ne4 de 15. f5 b4 16. c3 Nb5 17. g5 gf 18. Rf5 Nd6 19.
Nd6 ed 20. Qh5 Nb6 21. Be3 bc 22. bc d5 23. Bxc5 Qc8 24. Bf8 Qf5
25. Rf1 Qg6 26. Qxg6 hxg6 27. Bc5 Rd8 28. c4 dc 29. dc Bf8 30. Bf8
Kf8 31. c5 Nc8 32. Rb1 Ke7 33. h4 Rd7 34. Bh3 Rc7 35. Rb8 Kd8 36.
Rc8 Rc8 37. Bc8 Kc8 38. Kf2 a5 39. Ke3 Kd7 40. Ke4 Kc6 41. Ke5
[1-0]
GM Alexander Ivanov (2668)-David Vigorito (2377), Rd.3
Sicilian Najdorf (B91)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cd 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7.
Nde2 Be7 8. a4 Nbd7 9. Bg2 b6 10. Nd5 Nd5 11. Qd5 Rb8 12. Nc3 O-O
13. O-O Nf6 14. Qd3 h6 15. Nd1 Qc7 16. Ne3 Rd8 18. Rfc1 a5 19. c4
Bb7 20. f3 Nd7 21. Nd5 Nc5 22. Qc2 Bd5 23. cd Qd7 24. Bf1 Rdc8 25.
Qd1 Be7 26. h4 Rc7 27. Kh2 Qe8 28. Rcb1 Bd8 29. b4 ab 30. Rb4 Ra7
31. Bb5 Qe7 32. Bc6 Rc8 33. Ra2 Qf6 34. Be1 Kh7 35. Rg2 Re7 36. Bc3
Qg6 37. f4 Ne4 38. f5 Qf5 39. Qd3 Ng3 [1-0, time]
Nathan Resika (2207)-Larry Tapper (2316), Rd.3
Scandinavian (B01)
1. e4 d5 2. ed Nf6 3. d4 Nd5 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nc3 e5 6. d5 Bb4 7.
Nf3 c6 8. Bd2 O-O 9. Be2 Re8 10. O-O Bg4 11. b3 cd 12. Nd5 Nd5 13.
cd Bc5 14. Bc3 Nd7 15. Qd2 Bf3 16. Bf3 e4 17. Be3 e3 18. Qb2 ef 19.
Kh1 Qh4 [0-1]
Igor Foigel (2499)-GM Alexander Ivanov (2668), Rd.4
Queen's Indian (E15)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Bd2 7.
Qd2 c6 8. Nc3 d5 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Bg2 Nfd7 11. Nd7 Nd7 12. cd cd 13.
O-O Qe7 14. Rac1 [«-«]
Larry Tapper (2316)-FM John Curdo (2385), Rd.4
Irregular (A00):
1. g3 f5 2. f4 Nf6 3. Bg2 d6 4. d3 e5 5. Nc3 Be7 6. e4 Nc6 7.
Nge2 O-O 8. O-O fe 9. de ef 10. gf Bg4 11. Be3 Qe8 12. Qd3 Bd7 13.
Kh1 Kh8 14. Rad1 a6 15. a3 Be6 16. Bf3 Ng4 17. Bg1 h6 18. Qd2 Rc8
19. Nd4 Nd4 20. Bd4 Nf6 21. Rg1 Rd8 22. Qg2 Rg8 23. f5 Bf7 24. Ne2
d5 25. e5 Ne4 26. e6 Bh5 27. Bh5 Qh5 28. Nf4 Qf5 29. Ng6 Kh7 30.
Ne7 Ng3 31. Qg3 [1-0]
Frank Sisto (2007)-Andrew Anisimov (1925), Rd.4
QP/Irregular (D02)
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 Bg4 4. Bg2 Nbd7 5. O-O Bf3 6. Bf3 g6
7. c4 c6 8. cd cd 9. Nc3 e6 10. Bf4 a6 11. Qd2 Bg7 12. Bd6 Bf8 13.
Bf8 Nf8 14. e4 b5 15. a3 de 16. Ne4 Ne4 17. Be4 Rb8 18. Rad1 Nd7
19. d5 e5 20. Qh6 Nf6 21. Bg2 Qd6 22. h3 Rd8 23. Rfe1 Nd7 24. f4 f6
25. fe Ne5 26. Qg7 Qf8 27. Re5 fe 28. Qe5 Kd7 29. Qe6 Kc7 30. Rc1
Kb8 31. Qb6 [1-0]