Generation Chess International Tournament
Round Eight


Four draws this round… fatigue could be a factor. With his draw against Simutowe, Perelshteyn clinched clear 1st in the inaugural Generation Chess International tournament. The victory is doubly sweet since the Ukrainian émigré has already earned the GM norm. The other major story is Krush quest for the GM norm. She drew with Paschall (who is still looking for his first win) and sets the stage for the showdown with Muhammad. Krush will certainly play for the win… she'll have the black pieces and Muhammad will certainly meet the challenge!

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Akobian-Muhammad, 1-0. Another King's Indian. In this line, white opted not to play e4 which gives black less of a target, but also yields more of the center. Akobian played the same Bg5  setup against Perelshteyn, but black had delayed castling in that game and struck immediately with 4…h6. Muhammad played 7…c5!? which is an interesting idea. Black counters in a way to soften the long a1-h8 diagonal for the bishop at g7 trying to take advantage of the absence of white's dark-squared bishop. Muhammad had to take the slower approach for queenside play with 8…a6 9. a4 Qa5. Akobian then hatched an instructive plan (from moves 15-22) of placing his king in a safe position and doubling his rooks on the g-file. After stifling Muhammad's queenside play, Akobian initiated a kingside assault featuring a pawn sack with 24. f5 g5 25. f6! Akobian's attack flowed very nicely and he built a dominating position. Muhammad's pieces became overworked and the game ended with the shot, 43.Nxd6! which wins a piece.

Krush-Paschall, ˝-˝. After 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. a3, the game was heading toward Queen's Indian and then turned sharply into a Dutch after 3…f5!? 4. g3 Bb7. After 5. d5!? Paschall met the challenge with a thrust of his on after 5…Nf6 6. Bg2 b5!? This QID/Dutch/Benko was "hypermodern" play at its finest! Paschall developed nice play and appeared to wrest the advantage from Krush with his juggernaut knights on e4 and g4. He then traded both of these knights for a rook and a pawn. This would normally be a questionable plan, but his strategy was based on the Benko-like pressure on the a- and b-files.  The game went into an interesting R vs. N+B endgame with Paschall pressuring Krush's uncoordinated pieces. Spectators at the Internet Chess Club had already resigned this to a draw, but Paschall set one last trap. After 58… Rd8, if white plays 59.Bc6 then black plays 59…d4! hoping for 60.exd4?? (60.Ne2) 60… Rxd4+ 61. Kc2 (61.Ke2 Rc4) 61…Rg4 winning. Despite time pressure, Krush played 59.Bb5 and Paschall could not break through. The game was drawn.

Christiansen-Yudasin, ˝-˝. This game was a textbook case of minor piece play from both sides. Minor pieces literally flew around the board for the better part of the game sinces queens were traded early. Although many felt that Yudasin had the better winning chances in the end, they agreed to a 3-fold repetition on move 48. Since Christiansen initiated the repetition, he could prove that breaking it would give him a worse position.

Simutowe-Perelshteyn, ˝-˝. Another King's Indian which really had none of the tension that you would expect. The pawns were locked early and while Simutowe had a slight spatial advantage, he didn't see a way to press for a win. Thus, he allowed a perpetual check  and with the draw, Perelshteyn clinched clear 1st.

Ehlvest-Bluvshtein, 1-0.
This game was actually played a few days before the 8th round due to scheduling conflicts. This game featured another Tarrasch Defense with a lot of maneuvering and heavy piece play. Ehlvest carried a slight advantage into the endgame highlighted by his superior pawn structure. While it was probable that Bluvshtein could have held the draw with relative ease, Ehlvest played aggressively and fixed Bluvshtein's pawns.  What happened next may have been a sign of time pressure as Bluvshtein blundered at time control with 40…f6?? after which Ehlvest retorted quickly with 41.Bxg6! fxg5 42.Rc1!winning on the spot. Tough loss for the young IM.

IM Eugene Perelshteyn. Photo by Jerry Bibuld.

IM Eugene Perelshteyn
1st place & GM norm
(Photo by Jerry Bibuld)

Cross Table
Round Eight Games (playable and downloadable)

All Games (PGN download)

Standings: Perelshteyn, ; Christiansen, Krush, 5;  Ehlvest,  Yudasin, ; Simutowe, 4; Akobian, Bluvshtein, ; Muhammad, 2; Paschall, .

Drum Reports

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