Channeling a champ at his own chess tournament

The great Cuban world champion Jose Raul Capablanca had a trademark touch that propelled some of his greatest victories — the petite combinaison, the little tactical flourish designed not to mate a king or win a queen but to secure the tiniest of positional advantages such as control of a vital square or the trade of a bad bishop for a good knight.

Rising American star GM Hans Moke Niemann appeared to be channeling Capablanca in the Cuban great’s own memorial tournament, lapping a quality field by two points at the 55th Capablanca Memorial in Havana last month with an undefeated 7½-2½ result. Past winners of the storied annual event include such luminaries as Bent Larsen, Miguel Najdorf and Vassily Ivanchuk, while a young Bobby Fischer, playing by telex from New York, scored a memorable second-place finish behind former world champ Vasily Smyslov in the 1965 tournament.

Niemann did the tournament’s namesake especially proud in a fine win over Cuban star GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez, in a Jobava London System in which subtle positional touches by Black naturally flow into a winning tactical finale. After an unconventional opening, White twice backs off on a chance to mix things up with 13. Nxg6!? Rg8 (fxg6 14. Bxg6+ Kf8 15. Nf5 with strong compensation), and again five moves later with 18. Nxg6!? (instead of the game’s tame 18. Ne2) fxg6 19. Bxg6+ Ke7 20. Nxh5 Bh6 21. g4 Qg8, with a complicated, doubled-edged fight in store.

Instead after 22. g4 a5 (White has a beautifully posted central knight to balance off Black’s two bishops in a largely blocked position, but Niemann proceeds to show that Black’s pressure on the queenside far outweighs White’s kingside assets) 23. Qe3, Black finds the very Capablanca-like 23…Bc6! (exploiting the temporary pin on the White knight to re-deploy the bishop to a better diagonal) 24. Kd2 Bd7 25. Ke2 b4, grabbing the high ground in the coming battle for the board’s one open file.

A queen trade doesn’t solve White’s problems after 29. Nb5?! (a4 Bf8 30. Qg1 looks tougher) Qxe3+ 30. Kxe3 Bc5+ 31. Kd2 Rdf8!!, a wonderfully subtle and counter-intuitive move — the Black king needs a pathway away from the coming battle, while Niemann knows he can still muster his forces for the final attack against White’s passive set-up. Yet another nice touch is 35. Ke3 Bb6!, masking the b-file and avoiding simplifying trades as Black doubles rooks on the file.

All is right with Black’s world after 41. Re2 Kc7! (having gotten out of the way on e7, the Black monarch returns to a strong post to prevent any knight tricks and cover key squares on the b-file) 42. Rd2 Bc6 43. Re2 (see diagram — as with so many great Capablanca games, positional precision naturally gives rise to tactical opportunity; 43. Rf2 may have held out longer, but White’s passive game probably could not be saved in the long run) R8b3! 44. Bxb3 (44. Kd2 Bxd4 45. cxd4 Rxf3) Bxd4+ 45. cxd4 (or 45. Kxd4 Rxe2 46. Ra2 Rxa2 47. Bxa2 Bxa4 and wins) Rxb3+ 46. Kf2 Rd3, winning the d-pawn and creating a pair of monster central passed pawns.

Black’s king and bishop prevent any counterplay on the b-file and the end comes quickly: 49. Ke3 (Rc2 Rc4 50. Rbc1 d4) Rxa4 50. Rb3 d4+ 51. Kd3 Bd5 52. Rb8 Ra2! (threatening instant mate on d2) 53. Kxd4 c2, and White resigns as 54. Rc1 hangs the unfortunate fellow rook on b8.

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Class told as GM Fabiano Caruana and WGM Irina Krush took the honors at the inaugural American Cup 2022 knockout tournament at the St. Louis Chess Club last month. In the unique format, the two winners dominated the Champions bracket and then dismissed the Elimination bracket winners in the two-game classical finals.

Young FM Alice Lee was a sensation in the tournament, upsetting a string of higher-rated and more experienced women stars. But Krush, who won every match in St. Louis without even needing a playoff in St. Louis, proved too tough, including in the Cup-clinching game last week.

As with the first game, a positional misjudgment by Black (14. b4 g5? shuts down all hopes for a quick kingside break, leaving Krush free to operate on the other wing) is punished methodically by White here, whose relentless queenside push gets fabulous long-range support from her fianchettoed bishop.

Lee’s entire game comes down to trying to save the b7-pawn, but White keeps finding ways to up the pressure: 25. Nxc4 Nce7 26. Qb6! Nc8 (on 26…Ra6, White keeps a grip on things with 27. Qxa6! bxa6 28. Rxb8+ Kg7 29. Rb6 Qa7 30. Nd6 h5 31. Rab1) 27. Qf6 Qe8 28. a5 Kh7 (Ra6 could now be met by 29. c6 Na7 30. Nd6 Qe7 31. Qxe7 Nxe7 32. c7 Rf8 33. Rxb7 Rxd6 34. Rxa7 Rc8 35. a6 Rd7 37. Rb7 Rdxc7 37. Rxc7 Rxc7 38. a7) 29. a6 Nf8 30. axb7, and Black’s game collapses.

Lee plays on a bit for cheapo opportunities, but is down four pawns and a piece after 37. Ra8 Nf4 38. Qe4+ Neg6 39. gxf4 and resigned.

Quesada Perez-Niemann, 55th Capablanca Memorial, Havana, April 2022

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. h4 c6 6. Qd2 b5 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Nf3 Bb7 9. Ne5 a6 10. Ne2 c5 11. Ng3 h5 12. f3 c4 13. Be2 Nf8 14. c3 Ne6 15. Bd1 Nxf4 16. exf4 Nd7 17. Bc2 e6 18. Ne2 Bh6 19. 0-0-0 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Qb6 21. Nd4 0-0-0 22. g4 a5 23. Qe3 Bc6 24. Kd2 Bd7 25. Ke2 b4 26. a3 bxa3 27. bxa3 Bf8 28. Rb1 Qa7 29. Nb5 Qxe3+ 30. Kxe3 Bc5+ 31. Kd2 Rdf8 32. g5 Kd8 33. a4 Ke7 34. Nd4 Rb8 35. Ke3 Bb6 36. Rhd1 Rb7 37. Ke2 Rhb8 38. Ra1 Bc5 39. Rd2 Kd8 40. Ke2 Rb2 41. Re2 Kc7 42. Rd2 Bc6 43. Re2 R8b3 44. Bxb3 Bxd4+ 45. cxd4 Rxb3+ 46. Kf2 Rd3 47. Rb2 Rxd4 48. Rab1 c3 49. Ke3 Rxa4 50. Rb3 d4+ 51. Kd3 Bd5 52. Rb8 Ra2 53. Kxd4 c2 White resigns.

Krush-Lee, American Cup 2022 Finals, St. Louis, April 2022

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 a6 4. b3 d4 5. e3 c5 6. exd4 cxd4 7. Bg2 Nc6 8. O-O Bc5 9. d3 h6 10. Ba3 Bxa3 11. Nxa3 Nge7 12. Nc2 Qd6 13. Qd2 e5 14. b4 g5 15. a4 Ng6 16. c5 Qc7 17. Na3 Be6 18. Qb2 O-O 19. Nd2 a5 20. Nb5 Qd7 21. bxa5 Rxa5 22. Nd6 Rb8 23. Rfb1 Ra7 24. N2c4 Bxc4 25. Nxc4 Nce7 26. Qb6 Nc8 27. Qf6 Qe8 28. a5 Kh7 29. a6 Nf8 30. axb7 Rxa1 31. Rxa1 Ne7 32. Nd6 Qd7 33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qf6+ Kg8 35. Qxe5 Nfg6 36. Qxd4 Kh7 37. Ra8 Nf4 38. Qe4+ Neg6 39. gxf4 Black resigns.

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