Round 1 1st February 2002

Welcome to ~*OW!*~ Bermuda!

Bermuda. The country that gave, uh, to be honest, there are very few things people associate with Bermuda. Bermuda Shorts, the Bermuda Triangle, and that’s it. Even one of the flight attendants on my flight from New York was under the impression that Bermuda was “Somewhere near Puerto Rico.” Quite wrong. Bermuda’s only about 650 miles from New York City, a short little hour and a half flight from the mainland, to this very beautiful paradise. The gulf stream keeps things warm around here, so I was able to trade the cold rain of New York and Seattle for the pink sandy beaches of Bermuda, having fun and drinking my now favorite drink: The Rum Swizzle. More on that drink in a later report, if my hands aren’t occupied with swizzles in the coming days. Having been here for one day already, I realize why Bermuda is not very well known to those in the outside world- who would want to leave here? It’s a great place for unwinding and having fun.

To chessplayers, this island is home to the Bermuda open, traditionally around the first week of February. Being as it is the time that most of the northern hemisphere is getting snowy and cold, it’s a great excuse to get to the warm beaches and play some chess. Many players stick around after having played in the two international round robins which just completed (more on them in another report, of course.) The makeup of this event is generally strong young talented players mixed in with the fun loving Bermuda residents, and then mix in a group of regulars from the United States, and you have a perfectly interesting weekend event.

Due to the very small size of the island, and the nature of the roads available (winding one lane roads,) cars are not rentable by visitors to the island. If you want to get around Bermuda, you need to take a taxi, bus, bike or walk. There is however, another option, for those so inclined. Mopeds can be rented at many rental shops throughout the island. For a small fee you can get around the island.

But be careful! Moped accidents happen all the time. IA Carol Jarecki is not only functioning as chief arbiter, but she’s also working as the resident nurse for the event. Injuries are popular at this event due to the fun physical things to do here, and this year was no exception. Sadly she had to tend to IA Stewart Reuben earlier this week when he suffered a mild heart attack. Stewart is still in hospital resting comfortably, and all wishes are for a speedy recovery for him.

Today’s accident victim is the young German IM Florian Handke. Florian was happily buzzing along the narrow roads of Bermuda when somehow his foot got tangled up against the ground, badly spraining his ankle. One quick call to Carol and she headed upstairs to his hotel room, bandaged the ankle, and helped him get to his game. Despite playing while resting on two chairs (picture below), he easily won his game and limped off. I can personally attest the dangers of the mopeds, having sprained and bruised my wrist earlier today on my rented moped. Rather embarrassingly for me, I wasn’t even riding it when the mishap occurred, merely wheeling it out of its parked position.

Florian Handke and ankle.

Round 1 tends to be a rather straightforward affair. This tournament is the only chance for the local Bermudians to play against outside competition, and most of the local club players turn out in force to match their wits against the international players in attendance. However, they tend to be several hundred points lower rated than their opponents, which produces some poor results. In fact, on Boards 2 through 32, the higher rated player won every game without fail. The only exception to this was on Board 1, where the only clash between players with FIDE ratings occurred. Canadian Champion Alexandre Lesiege somehow can’t find his way through Dale Sharp’s Nimzo Indian.

GM Alexandre Lesiege (2577) - Dale Sharp (2062)
2002 Bermuda International Open (1), Southampton, February 1, 2002

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 The Rubinstein variation of the Nimzo-Indian. One of the most popular choices against this hypermodern opening, and the most frequent plan of White players against this opening. 4...c5 5.Nge2 Considered the "Anti-Huebner Variation" by some. [5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 followed by 8. ... e5 is the vaunted Huebner variation, named after the German GM and Doctor Robert Huebner, who shot very high in the world ranks in 1970 when he came in equal second in the famous Palma de Mallorca Interzonal, won by Fischer with 18.5/23. Huebner was joined by Larsen and Geller on 15/23. The text move is designed to avoid this setup by Black.] 5...0-0 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Nxc3 d5?! I just flat out don't like this move. The c5 pawn is in desperate need of a defender, which was traded off just one move ago. Usually such an idea is ok, but here, it's just a lemon. [White can defend his c-pawn by playing 7...d6 ; or 7...b6 ; or just get rid of it permanently and play 7...cxd4 8.exd4 d5 Of course, the drawback to this is that the path is open for White's bishop on c1 to get into the game.] 8.dxc5! dxc4 [8...Qc7 9.b4 dxc4 10.Nb5 Qc6 11.Nd4 Qc7 12.Qc2 a5 13.Bb2 axb4 14.axb4 Rxa1+ 15.Bxa1+/- Bates - Rabinowitz, Toronto 1957] 9.Bxc4 [Why not simply 9.Qxd8 Rxd8 10.Bxc4 ? White's going to follow up with b4 here, and I don't see a rational way to get this pawn back.] 9...Qc7 10.Qd6 [10.b4 seems like the normal move in such a position, but perhaps Lesiege was afraid of some line like 10...b6 11.Nb5 Qe5 12.Qd4 Qg5 13.0-0 Bb7 where it's possible that Black is trying to make a mess of things.] 10...Qxd6 11.cxd6 Rd8 The problem now is that the pawn is a little looser on d6 than it was on the c5 square. 12.Bd2 [The interesting try 12.Nb5 backfires quite badly, actually, after the clever 12...a6! 13.Nc7 Ra7 where White is embarassed to look for some kind of way out for his knight.] 12...Nc6 13.0-0-0 Rxd6

Something's starting to go horribly wrong for the reigning Canadian Champion. He just starts drifting, perhaps waiting for Black to mess up, but it doesn't happen, and he runs dangerously close to getting the worst of things. Perhaps he was counting on the Bishop pair and the poor standing of the Bishop on c8 as things to give him an advantage. Usually 500 Elo points allows the stronger player to just outplay his opponent from here. It doesn't happen. 14.Kb1 e5 Attempting to solve the problem of his undeveloped Bishop on c8. 15.f3 Be6 16.Bxe6 Rxe6 17.e4 Rd8 18.Bg5 Red6 19.Nd5 Kf8! And now what? White's advantage seems to be gone, since the optically appealing variation 20.Bxf6 gxf6 Leaves Black with just as good a d4 square for the knight as White's d5 square is for his knight. 20.Rc1 R8d7 21.Ne3 Ne8 22.Bh4 f6 23.Be1 Nc7 24.Nc4 Rd4 25.Na5 Nxa5 26.Bxa5 Ne6 27.Rhf1

It's hard to imagine Lesiege accepting the draw with Black here. This knight has a lot of nice outposts, the rooks are very nice on the d-file, and while White has no entry points in the position. An unfortunate game for Lesiege. 1/2-1/2

Here's the shortest game of the round. This should be good vision training for some of you. Don't use a board here!

Paul Herzman (Unr) - GM Bojan Vuckovic (2455)
2002 Bermuda International Open (1), Southampton, February 1, 2002

Cheater! I saw you look for that chessboard. Visualize this game!

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 The Grand Prix variation of the Sicilian Defense. This opening got its name due to its popularity among players in Britian who played in the Grand Prix series of events there. It took a while for Black players to find the right antidote to the somewhat primitive yet powerful plan of Nf3-Bc4-0-0-Qe1-Ng5-Qh4-f5 followed by checkmate. 3...g6 Attempting to get a super-strong grip on the central d4 square. White's plan is to claim that g6 fatally weakens the kingside. 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 A standard move, the main line of theory in this position. So far, so theory for Mr. Herzman. Things go downhill rapidly from here. 6.Nxd4 Not the most common move, but an acceptable one. [Also common is 6.Bd3 and; 6.0-0] 6...cxd4 7.Nb1?! Now this is a pretty dubious move, simply undeveloping the knight on c3. [7.Ne2 is theoretical, logical, and simply the best move in the position.] 7...e6 Now Mr. Herzman plays a very logical move to solidify his pawn chain, and plan to re-route the knight from b1 to d2 to f3. A good plan, but it has a drawback. 8.d3?? And now? 8...Qa5+ Oops. Hasta la vista Bishop. White resigned. 0-1

Round 1 Leading Standings:


GM  Larry Christiansen    USA    2571   1
GM  Pawel Blehm           POL    2535   1
GM  Heikki Kallio         FIN    2522   1
IM  Emanuel Berg          SWE    2500   1
GM  Marcin Kaminski       POL    2497   1
IM  Sipke Ernst           NED    2459   1
GM  Bojan Vuckovic        YUG    2455   1
IM  Greg Shahade          USA    2454   1
IM  Eugene Perelshteyn    USA    2452   1
IM  Florian Handle        GER    2450   1
IM  Tomi Nyback           FIN    2448   1
GM  Dennis De Vreugt      NED    2446   1
IM  Hikaru Nakamura       USA    2430   1
GM  Andrew Soltis         USA    2409   1
    Pascal Charbonneau    CAN    2386   1
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz      GER    2383   1
    Johan Alvarez         VEN    2379   1
GM  Arthur Bisguier       USA    2310   1
FM  Mikhail Belorusov     USA    2299   1
FM  Michael Shahade       USA    2287   1
FM  Joel Salman           USA    2241   1
    Denis Strenzwilk      USA    2227   1
FM  Sunil Weeramantry     SRI    2213   1
    Tony Simpson          BER    2205   1
    Roger Patterson       USA    2173   1
    Andrei Moffat         CAN    2158   1
    Asuka Nakamura        USA    2139   1
    John Fernandez        USA    2079   1
    Nick Faulks           BER    2069   1
    Jerry Simon           USA    ----   1
    Gary McGowan          USA    ----   1

You can reach John Fernandez via e-mail at jfernandez@jfern.com

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.