IM Kirill Kuderinov. Photo Betsy Dynako
The Chicago Class was held at a familiar location for the Continental Chess Association, the Double Tree in Oak Brook, IL. Unfortunately, another group booked the usually used spacious ballroom. This meant tournament play was stretched out over numerous rooms in the basement of the hotel.
The playing rooms were cramped and warm but it didn’t seem to adversely effect the competitive spirit of 308 players that came to show off their chess prowess in nine class sections. IM Kirill Kuderinov and GM Alexander Yermolinsky tied for first in the Masters section, with Kuderinov taking the title on tiebreak. In the other sections, two players emerged with perfect scores. Shimin Cao finished with 5/5 in the Class B section and Shaw Hertel dominated the under 700 section by scoring 6/6.
Those taking the escalator down to the playing area were greeted with an unusual site: expertly painted portraits of famous chess players. The oil paintings are the work of 69-year-old National Master Arnulfo Benesa. Benesa is a fixture in Illinois chess and is known nationally as the 2000 U.S. Senior Open Champion. Due to a recent health scare Benesa has not been seen as often lately so it was good see him and his artistic side at this event.
Arnulfo Benesa with two of his paintings
21-year-old IM Kirill Kuderinov of Kazakhstan became the talk of the tournament when he won his first four games! (Correction: Kuderinov won his first three games.) Kuderinov has been living in Illinois for two months and has been playing chess all across the USA with friend IM Mesgan Amanov of Turkmenistan. Kudreinov had a pivotal win over GM Dmitry Gurevich in round three, analyzed here by expert Lawrence Cohen:
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O
This move gives Black the opportunity to capture on d4, but Black goes for the main line.
7... Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Ne8
Both players retreat a knight in preparation of the standard f-pawn moves in the King's Indian Defense.
10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. c5 h5 14. Rc1 Rf6
All of the previous moves are something the average player has likely seen before in a KID. This Rook move looks to be an aggressive attempt to successfully push home the Kingside attack. In true classic fashion you are going to have one side attack on the Kingside and the other side attack on the Queenside. These kind of tactics make for exciting chess--and headaches.
15. Nb5 a6 16. Na7?!
A cute move, as if Rxa7 then cxd6 will win material. However, it would have been simpler (but maybe too slow) to just reposition the Knight to c4 via a3.
16...Bd7 17. c6 bxc6 18. Nxc6 Nxc6 19. dxc6 Bc8 20. Bc4+ Kh7 21. Nd3 Rh6 22.Nc5
Another cute move by the GM, but where is the Knight going next? The imminent attack on the Kingside is looming, so is there may not be time for this move.
22...g4 23. Qd5 Rg6 24. Qg8+ Kh6 25. Bf7 Qg5!
This move drives home the attack. It looks like there may be nothing to stop the attack Black has coming. White's Kingside is going to crack open now.
26. Bxe8 gxf3
This move was coming no matter what. That may be why White did not play Bxg6. Black would and does have a number of options. After Bxg6, Nf6 Qb3 gxf3 g3 Qxg6 and Black still has a strong attack.
27. g3 Bh3 28. Nd7 Be6
29. Qxe6 Rxe6 30. Bf7 Re7 31. Bc4 h4 32. Rc3 hxg3 33. hxg3 Kg6 34. Rxf3 Rh8 35. Kg2 Qg4 36. Bg1 Rh3 37. Bh2 Re8 38. Rxf4 exf4 39. Rxf4 Rxh2+ 40. Kxh2 Rh8+ 41. Kg2 Qh3+ 0-1
Here is another of his wins, against another young talented master, Gabriel Battaglini (2351 FIDE, b. 1986) from France.
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Gabriel Battaglini
Kuderinov finished the tournament with 4/6 holding on to first place with draws in the last two rounds, against his main rival GM Alexander Yermolinsky and FM Christopher Nienart (2251). However, Yermolinsky did not want to be out done by the young Kazakhstan native. Yermolinsky pushed on to win his last round game against Kevin Wasiluk to cement a tie for first place in the Masters Section.
Alex Yermolinsky in his last round game
In the following game played in round three, Yermolinsky derails Christopher Nienhart's offbeat choice against the Alekhine.
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Despite Yermolinsky's valiant efforts, Kuderinov still topped out on tiebreak, and took the 1st Chicago Class title plus a bonus 100$. For complete crosstables and prize payouts, check out the standings page on chesstour.com.
Look for Chris Bird's report on the Continental Open later this week.