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Yesterday I played in the Don Carrelli Memorial tournament in Westfield. I began by defeating Errol Singh (USCF 1904) and drawing NM Sameer Mujumdar. Then I defeated NM Mark Kernighan (USCF 2206) after he repeatedly refused draw offers. The last game was against Merric Hu, who is a master these days.
The game was reminiscent of Graif - Zilbermintz, Westfield 2014. It was another Philidor Counter Gambit, del Rio Attack. The combat lasted 42 moves.
Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit
Merric Hu (USCF 2212) - Lev Zilbermintz (USCF 2045), Westfield NJ 9/15/2019
Merric Hu (USCF 2212) - Lev Zilbermintz (USCF 2045), Westfield NJ 9/15/2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5! 7.Nf7 Qf6 8.Qe2
The database gives three games with this line. They are James Mason - Otis Field, Jr., New York 1868, 0-1/27; Pessi-Popescu, Bucharest 1995, 1-0/47; and Kocsis - Aladics, 33rd Harkany Tenkes Cup, Hungary 2009, draw/10.
8...Nc6
Mason - Field, New York 1868, continued 8...Bxe6 9.Nxh8 Nc6 10.c3 O-O-O 11.Be3 d4 12.cxd4 Nb4 13.Qd2 Bxd4 14.Qxb4 Bxb2 15.Be2 Nh6 16.Qa4 Bc3+ 17.Kf1 Ng4 18.Qxa7 Nxe3+ 19.Qxe3 Bxa1 20.Qa7 Bd4 21.Qa8+ Kd7 22.Bb5+ Ke7 23.Qa3+ c5 24.f3 Bg4 25.Nd2 exf3 26.Nxf3 Bxf3 27.gxf3 Qh4, 0-1.
Pessi - Popescu, Bucharest 1995 saw 8...a6? 9.Nxh8 Bxe6 10.c3 Nc6 11.Be3 d4? 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qxc5 dxe3 14.Qxe3 O-O-O, 1-0/47.
9.Nxh8
Kocsis - Aladics, Hungary 2009 continued 9.c3 Bxe6 10.Nxh8 O-O-O, drawn.
9...Bxe6 10.c3 O-O-O 11.Nd2 Ne5! 12.Nb3 Nd3+ 13.Kd2 Bxf2 14.Kc2
Here I thought long over my next move. The problem is that so many candidate moves are playable. What attracted my attention was 14...Ne1+ 15.Kb1, but then how to continue the attack? After spending 12 minutes on the analyses, I came up with the solution.
14...Ne1+ 15.Kb1 e3!
This prevents the bishop on c1 from coming out. Now White's forces are divided in two.
16.a4 d4!
The game is over at this point, since 17.Nxd4 Rxd4! 18.cxd4 Qf5+ wins for Black.
17.Qb5 c6! 18.Qb4 Qf5+ 19.Ka2 Nc2!!
Annihilation! White pieces never really got into the game.
20.Bd3 Nxb4+, White resigns.
After winning the game, I thought that I might have qualified for the Under 2200 prize. Next thing I knew, NM Roman Malyshev was congratulating me on winning the tournament altogether!! This was a total surprise for me, as there were at least 10 masters in the tournament. These included Boris Privman, Yefim Treger, Sameer Mujumdar, Sam Barsky, Mauricio Camejo, just to name a few.
Winning this tournament with clear first place, 3.5/4 points, had to be my biggest success in years. I won the first place prize of $225.
