Sevian, Nyzhnyk share top honors at revived St. Louis chess tournament series

In a welcome return after two years of shutdowns and two weeks of depressing headlines, the St. Louis Chess Club revived its much-missed invitational Classic Chess series this month, with American GM Sam Sevian and Ukrainian GM Illya Nyzhnyk sharing top honors in the 10-player St. Louis Spring Classic A Tournament.

Sevian claimed bragging rights by winning a two-game playoff, but both of the winners went undefeated in the regular tournament with 6-3 scores. Nyzhnyk, a one-time prodigy who at 25 is Ukraine’s sixth-highest rated grandmaster, gave a neat illustration of the positional power of space and mobility in his Round 4 win over Polish GM Kamil Dragun out of an English Opening. The outlines of the fight take shape after 19. Nf3 Ng6 20. c6 — White has obtained a monster center which will be useless unless he can somehow advance the d5-pawn.

But even immobilized, the pawn center gives White a major spatial edge, allowing him to reposition and redeploy his army far faster than Dragun can respond: 22. Qd1 Qc8?! (this queen rerouting fails to impress; tougher was 22…Rdd8 23. Nd2 Qxd1 24. Rxd1 Nde7 25. Nc4 f5, with better chances to hold) 23. Nd2 Qa6 24. Qb3 Rdd8 25. Nc4 Kh8 26. a4, and all White’s pieces are moving forward while Black’s are mostly marking time.

White pried opens and occupies the a-file, and even after Black gets the perfect blockading piece to the d6-square, he can’t hold White back: 33. Ra7 Nd6 34. g4! Rf7 35. Kh1 Nxf5 (Ne8 36. Qb3 Rf8 37. Rd1 does nothing to ease the bind for Black) 36. gxf5 Rg8 (allowing the key pawn break, but on 36…Rd6 37. Qxd6! cxd6 38. Rxf7 Qe8 39. c7 Qa4 40. c8=Q Qxe4+ 41. Kg1 Qg4+ 42. Kf2, the White king will eventually find shelter from the checks on the queenside) 37. d6 — Nyzhnyk’s slow but steady pressure finally pays off.

As so often happens, a positional breakthrough leads to a tactical opportunity. White cleans up nicely after 37…g6 (Qd8 38. Rfa1 Rgf8 39. d7 Rg8 40. Qa4 Rff8 41. Qa3 Kh8 42. Rb7 and Black’s position collapses) 38. Qc4 Rfg7 (Rgf8 39. Qe6 gxf5 40. Qxc8 Rxc8 41. d7 Rd8 42. Rxf5 and the Black c-pawn is the next to fall) 39. fxg6+ Kxg6 (Kh8 [39…Rxg6 40. Rxc7+] 40. Rxc7 Rxc7 41. dxc7 Qxc7 42. Rxf6) 40. Rxc7 Rxc7 41. Rg1+ Kh7 (or 41…Kh5 42. Rxg8 Rxc6 43. Qf7+ Kh4 44. Qxf6+ Kh5 45. Qg6+ and mate next) 42. Qxg8+! Qxg8 43. Rxg8 Rxc6 44. d7, and Black resigned ahead of 44…Rd6 45. d8=Q and wins.

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Hungarian GM Richard Rapport defeated GM Dmitry Andreikin over the weekend in the two-game classical final in Belgrade to win the second of three legs of the FIDE Grand Prix series to decide the final slots in the upcoming Candidates tournament to determine a challenger to Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen. It is the biggest win of the 25-year-old Rapport’s career and puts him in an excellent position to snag one of the final two slots.

American GM Hikaru Nakamura won the first leg of the series in Berlin last month. The third and final qualifying tournament, also scheduled for Berlin, starts March 21. The Candidates tournament is set for Madrid starting June 16.

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A bit lost in all the news — chess and otherwise — of the past few weeks was the death of the fine Serbian GM Borislav Ivkov last month at the age of 88.

Often overshadowed by rival and longtime Yugoslav No. 1 Svetozar Gligoric, Ivkov compiled a fine record over the decades. He won the first official world junior championship in 1951 and was one of the best non-Soviet players of the 1950s and 1960s. His record included wins in a number of top tournaments, 12 Olympiad appearances for Yugoslavia, and victories at the board over five world champions, including two wins over a young Bobby Fischer.

Ivkov finished in the middle of the pack at the great 1961 Alekhine Memorial Tournament in Bled, in a field that included Tal, Petrosian, Keres, Geller, Najdorf and Fischer. Despite the middling result, Ivkov did pull off one of the best games of the event, against Hungarian great GM Lajos Portisch. A Winawer French produces one of the opening’s trademark clotted positions, with neither king comfortable and both sides hanging by a thread.

But Ivkov demonstrates White has the better of the fight on 16. Bd3 Qd6 (White also has the edge on 16…Nbc6 17. Re1 Qg7 18. Nxe6+ Bxe6 19. Qxe6 Qg6 20. Qxg6 Rxg6 21. g3 dxc3 22. Rb1) 17. Re1 e5 18. a4!, preparing to add another attacker with Bc1-a3.

Even a queen trade can’t patch over Black’s defensive deficiencies in the brilliant finale: 24. Bxf5+ Kd8? (a defensive lapse in the tangled position; Black can at least fight on after 24…Nxf5 25. Rxe8+ Nd8 26. Rf8 Ne7 [Nd6? 27. Ke2 b6 28. Ne6 Kd7 29. Nxd8 Rxd8 30. Rxd8+ Kxd8 31. Bf4 Ne4 32. Bg3, imprisoning the rook] 27. cxd4 Rxh2 28. Bg5 Nec6 29. Kd2) 25. Nxb7+ Kc7 26. Bf4+! Ne5 (Kxb7 27. Rb1+ Ka6 28. Bd3+ Ka5 29. Bc7+ Kxa4 30. Ra1 mate) 27. Rxe5! Nxf5 (see diagram; also losing was 27…Kxb7 28. Rb1+ Ka6 29. Re6+ Nc6 30. Bd3+ Ka5 31. Bc7+ Kxa4 32. Ra1 mate) 28. Re7+ Kc6 (Kc8 29. Rc7+ Kb8 30. Nc5 Rg1+ 31. Kd2 Rxa1 32. Na6 mate) 29. Rc7+ Kb6 30. Rb1+ Ka6 31. Rc6+!, and the rook gives itself up for a pleasing geometrical finale. Portisch resigned as 31…Bxc6 32. Nc5+ Ka5 33. Bc7 is mate.

Nyzhnyk-Dragun, St. Louis Spring Classic A, St. Louis, March 2022

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. g3 Bxc3 4. bxc3 d6 5. Bg2 Ne7 6. Nf3 Nbc6 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Rb8 9. Nh4 Be6 10. f4 Qd7 11. e4 exf4 12. Bxf4 Bh3 13. Bxh3 Qxh3 14. c5 Rbd8 15. d4 Qd7 16. d5 Ne5 17. Bxe5 dxe5 18. Qb3 b6 19. Nf3 Ng6 20. c6 Qg4 21. Rae1 Rd6 22. Qd1 Qc8 23. Nd2 Qa6 24. Qb3 Rdd8 25. Nc4 Kh8 26. a4 f6 27. Qb4 Qc8 28. a5 h6 29. axb6 axb6 30. Ne3 Kh7 31. Nf5 Nh8 32. Ra1 Nf7 33. Ra7 Nd6 34. g4 Rf7 35. Kh1 Nxf5 36. gxf5 Rg8 37. d6 g6 38. Qc4 Rfg7 39. fxg6+ Kxg6 40. Rxc7 Rxc7 41. Rg1+ Kh7 42. Qxg8+ Qxg8 43. Rxg8 Rxc6 44. d7 Black resigns.

Ivkov-Portisch, Alekhina Memorial Tournament, Bled, Yugoslavia, September 1961

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7 7. Qg4 f5 8. Qg3 Ne7 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qxh7 cxd4 11. Kd1 Bd7 12. Qh5+ Kd8 13. Ne2 Ba4 14. Nf4 Qxe5 15. Qf7 Bd7 16. Bd3 Qd6 17. Re1 e5 18. a4 Be8 19. Qe6 Qxe6 20. Nxe6+ Kd7 21. Nc5+ Kc8 22. Rxe5 Nbc6 23. Re2 Rxg2 24. Bxf5+ Kd8 25. Nxb7+ Kc7 26. Bf4+ Ne5 27. Rxe5 Nxf5 28. Re7+ Kc6 29. Rc7+ Kb6 30. Rb1+ Ka6 31. Rc6+ Black resigns.

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