Almost perfect: Alex Lenderman just misses a shutout in U.S. Open chess win

He lost his perfect chess game in — almost literally — the bottom of the ninth, but GM Alex Lenderman still emerged with the victory in the just-concluded 121st U.S. Open, held this year in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

With a perfect 8-0 score, the New York GM agreed to a draw against GM Benjamin Gledura in Sunday’s ninth and final round to clinch first place in the premier section, just missing the chance to become the first player ever to run the table at the country’s most prestigious open event.

Second was newly crowned U.S. junior champ GM Hans Niemann at 8-1, his only loss being at the hands of Lenderman in a critical Round 7 game. It was Lenderman’s third U.S. Open solo crown, and he shared top honors in 2009 as well.

Perfection isn’t easy, and the new champ had some challenges along the way. New York master Joseph Zeltsan had Lenderman on his back foot for much of their Round 5 game, only to fall victim to some grandmasterly technique and grit in the end.

Lenderman’s 4…b6 is a popular way of dealing with the French “problem” bishop on c8, but after 12. Nh4 0-0-0, Zeltsan’s kingside pressure is clearly developing faster than Black’s queenside counterplay. After 22. Nf4 Rhe8 23. Ng6 Qb4 24. Qxb4!? (not bad but not best; even better would be 24. Qb3!, inviting a queen trade that would dislodge the knight on c4 and keep White’s edge in lines such as 24…a4 25. Qxb4 Nxb4 26. Rf7 Rg8 27. b3 axb3 28. axb3 Na5 29. Ba3) axb4 25. Rf7 Ra8!?, Lenderman tries a risky pawn sacrifice just to avoid passive defense for the rest of the game.

With his kingside collapsing, Black must generate an attack to hold the position. Critical was the sequence 35. Ke3 Rxc2 36. Nxe6?! (the knight was attacking and defending beautifully from the f4-square; stronger was just 36. Rg6 c5 37. dxc5 bxc5 38. Rxh6, and the g- and h-pawns look especially ominous) Rf1 37. Rd2 Rc3+ 38. Rd3 Rc2 39. Nf4? (Rf7!, relying on the fork on d8, was the tricky way to challenge Black’s mobilizing rooks; e.g. 39…Rg1 [Rxf7 40. Nd8+ is winning] 40. Kf4 Rf2+ 41. Rf3 Rxf3+ 42. Kxf3 Nxd4+ 43. Kf2! Rxg4 44. Nxc7 Kc6 45. e6, and White keeps his edge) Re1+ 40. Kf3 Nc3, and suddenly Black’s pieces are coordinating beautifully behind the White lines.

Black’s 43…Ne4! wins the exchange, and Lenderman grinds his way to a winning position after 49. e6 Rxd3 50. e7 Rxg3 51. e8=Q Rxd4: The rooks are coordinated, the Black king is nicely sheltered from the White queen and, critically, the White h-pawn cannot be saved.

Zeltsan fights to the end but resigns on 67. Qh7+ Ka6 68. Qd3+ Rcb5, as now the White b-pawn is lost and the rooks can escort the pawns down the board.

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Streaks are hard. That’s one conclusion of the always interesting Dutch GM Jan Timman’s new “The Unstoppable American: Bobby Fischer’s Road to Reykjavik” (253 pp., $29.95), just out from publisher New In Chess.

Fischer, with a will to win perhaps unmatched in the history of the game, fashioned some of the most improbable win streaks ever, including the only 11-0 perfecto in the 1963-64 U.S. national championship.

Timman’s book comes out on the 40th anniversary of another incredible skein of Fischer wins: the 19 straight victories (and one forfeit) over elite grandmasters, including the still-hard-to-fathom 6-0 bagels in the Candidates matches against Russian GM Mark Taimanov and Danish star GM Bent Larsen in 1970-71. That some of the world’s best players could not even eke out a single draw (with White half the time!) is a testament both to Fischer’s skill and his intimidating presence at the chessboard.

But the mythology aside, Fischer — like Lenderman — was put to the test multiple times during the streak, saving bad positions, grinding out improbable endgame wins, benefiting when his pressed opponents made elementary mistakes just when a draw was in sight.

Take, for instance, the tough Game 1 of Fischer’s wipeout of Larsen, one in which both players had — and missed — chances, but where somehow Bobby managed to pull it out in the end.

In another French, Larsen as Black adopts a line GM Edmar Mednis used to deal Fischer one of his few defeats at a national title tournament. Timman calls White’s 13. Ba3! a very promising center-opening sacrifice, with the threat of 14. Bd6 forcing Larsen to accept: 13…fxe5 14. dxe5 Ncxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qd4!? (Bh5+ first may have been stronger, in lines like 16…g6 [Ng6 17. Qxd5] 17. Qd4 gxh4 18. Rxe5 0-0-0 19. Rxh5) Ng6 17. Bh5 Kf7!?, hitting on an improbable but tough-to-crack defensive setup with the king “sheltered” on g6.

The play is ferociously complex, and White misses a real shot with 21. Bd6! Qd8 22. Bf3 with a fierce attack. Black sacrifices in turn with 22. Qd4 Kg6! 23. Rxe5 Qxe5 (Rxe5?? 24. Bd6 wins on the spot) 24. Qxd7 Rad8 25. Qxb7 Qe3+ 26. Kf1 Rd2, and suddenly it is Fischer who is facing a mate-in-one threat.

White’s 28. Bc5! (just barely) defends and — as happened so often during the amazing streak — Fischer proved just a bit better at crunch time: 32. Bxc6 (see diagram) Qxc3?! (a deeply debated move to this day; Timman argues that Black has to save his a-pawn, holding the position in lines such as 32…a5 33. Bd4 Kh6 34. Rf1 Qxc2 35. h4 f4 36. Be5 Kh5 37. Bxg7 Qd3 28. Bg2 Qg3, with counterplay) 33. Rg1+ Kf6 34. Bxa7 (Black’s best now is the active 34…Ke6! 35. Bb6 Kd6 36. Bb7 Qxc2 37. a5 Qb3 38. Rxg7 Qd1+ 39. Rg1 Qb3, and it’s hard for White to make progress) g5? (finally cracking) 35. Bb6!, and now the White a-pawn has a clear path to the queening square.

After 40. Rb3 c3 41. Bb6, Larsen gave up, as hopeless is 41…Qe5 (c2 42. Re1+) 42. a7 c2 43. Rc1 Qf4 44. Rxc2 Qf1+ 45. Bg1.

Zeltsan-Lenderman, 121st U.S. Open, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, August 2021

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 b6 5. h4 Qd7 6. h5 h6 7. Qg4 Bf8 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Nf3 Ba6 10. O-O-O Bxf1 11. Rhxf1 Nbc6 12. Nh4 O-O-O 13. Qh3 Na5 14. g4 Nec6 15. Kb1 Bb4 16. Bc1 Nc4 17. f4 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 Qe7 19. Ng2 Kb7 20. f5 a5 21. fxe6 fxe6 22. Nf4 Rhe8 23. Ng6 Qb4 24. Qxb4 axb4 25. Rf7 Ra8 26. Rxg7 Ra5 27. Rd3 Rea8 28. a3 bxa3 29. b3 Nb2 30. Bxb2 axb2 31. Kxb2 Ra2+ 32. Kc3 Na7 33. Nf4 Nb5+ 34. Kd2 Rf8 35. Ke3 Rxc2 36. Nxe6 Rf1 37. Rd2 Rc3+ 38. Rd3 Rc2 39. Nf4 Re1+ 40. Kf3 Nc3 41. g5 hxg5 42. Rxg5 Rf1+ 43. Kg4 Ne4 44. Rg6 Nf2+ 45. Kg5 Nxd3 46. Nxd3 Rg2+ 47. Kh6 Rd2 48. Rg3 Rfd1 49. e6 Rxd3 50. e7 Rxg3 51. e8=Q Rxd4 52. Qe5 Rgg4 53. Kh7 Rd2 54. Qf5 Rh4 55. Kg6 Rd1 56. Qf3 Rd2 57. Qf5 Rdd4 58. Kg5 Rh1 59. Qe5 Rdh4 60. Qxd5+ Ka7 61. Qc6 Rxh5+ 62. Kg4 R1h4+ 63. Kg3 Rc5 64. Qf6 Rb4 65. Qa1+ Kb7 66. Qh1+ c6 67. Qh7+ Ka6 68. Qd3+ Rcb5 69. Kf2 Rxb3 70. Qc4 Ra3 71. Ke1 c5 White resigns.

Fischer-Larsen, Game 1, Candidates Semifinal Match, Denver, July 1971

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. a4 Nbc6 8. Nf3 Bd7 9. Bd3 Qc7 10. O-O c4 11. Be2 f6 12. Re1 Ng6 13. Ba3 fxe5 14. dxe5 Ncxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qd4 Ng6 17. Bh5 Kf7 18. f4 Rhe8 19. f5 exf5 20. Qxd5+ Kf6 21. Bf3 Ne5 22. Qd4 Kg6 23. Rxe5 Qxe5 24. Qxd7 Rad8 25. Qxb7 Qe3+ 26. Kf1 Rd2 27. Qc6+ Re6 28. Bc5 Rf2+ 29. Kg1 Rxg2+ 30. Kxg2 Qd2+ 31. Kh1 Rxc6 32. Bxc6 Qxc3 33. Rg1+ Kf6 34. Bxa7 g5 35. Bb6 Qxc2 36. a5 Qb2 37. Bd8+ Ke6 38. a6 Qa3 39. Bb7 Qc5 40. Rb1 c3 41. Bb6 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.