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Alabama's scholastic chess players settle in for their first round game at the recent Vulcan Open, in Birmingham. Alabama has many talented young players who are beginning to make their mark in national chess. (Photo: Namrata Agarwalla)

Summer chess activities in Alabama are in full swing. Tournaments and chess camps throughout the state are going strong. Several of our young chess players will be traveling to play in national events representing Alabama.

In the meantime, here is a roundup of the latest Alabama tournaments, top prize winners and final standings.

Falcon Chess Invitational

The recent Falcon invitational was played at the University of Montevallo and was the first of its kind in Alabama. Eight of the state's top, active chess players competed for training and for practice games. The tournament featured the current Alabama state champion Scott Varagona and former state champion Stephen Adams.

Former state champion Stephen Adams has the white pieces against Sujing Wu at the Falcon Invitational. Held at the University of Montevallo, the tournament was good practice for Alabama's top, active young players. (Photo: Scott Varagona)

Anyone of these tournament participants is capable of becoming an International Master. That is why coaching, training and practice tournament like this one are vitally important in the development of their skills.

"The goal of the tournament was to give Alabama's most promising young players a chance to gain experience in an especially fierce competition," Varagona said. "What was inspiring to me was the incredible fighting spirit of all the participants and their willingness to play in an event with no cash prizes; they all just want to play chess and improve."

Varagona, who is an assistant professor of math at the University of Montevallo, took the initiative to organize, and the University of Montevallo's Game Studies and Design Program, sponsored the event. Caesar Lawrence was tournament director.

Final Standings: 1st Place - Jonathan Rasberry, Birmingham; 2nd Place - Stephen Graveling, Odenville, Scott Varagona, Calera and Stephen Adams, Birmingham.

Birmingham Vulcan Open

Premiere Section: 1st Place - Matthew Puckett, 2nd Place - Stephen Adams; Expert - Jonathan Rasberry, Arden Markin and Stephen Graveling; Class A - Sijing Wu; Class B - Doug Strout Reserve Section: 1st Place - Esther Graveling; 2nd Place (shared) - Aaron DeCord, Joel Friedman, Christian Friedman, Jenson Wilhelm, Zachary Snow II; U1300 - Constance Wang; U1000 - Kristian Jordan, Adam Thomas; Rook winners: 1st - Pulak Agarwalla; 2nd - Krishin Yerabolu; 3rd - Raghavan Madabushi Novice winners: 1st - Hayden Harding; 2nd - Sreekrishna Chintareddy; 3rd - Dylan Palmier

The 6th Annual Huntsville Challenge

Premiere Section: 1st Place - Jonathan Rasberry; 2nd Place - Matthew Puckett, Joshua McClellan; Class A - Kirk Petty; Class B - Ken Sloan Reserve Section: 1st - Andrew Schatz; 2nd - Constance Wang; U1300 - Victor Lundy; U1000 - Kristian Jordan; Knight Section: 1st - Ethan Xu; 2nd - Tyler Wessling; 3rd - Claire Mitchell and Abhishek Emani; Pawn Section: 1st - Pulak Agarwalla; 2nd - Alex Povorozniuc; 3rd Place - Jason Park; Novice Section: 1st - Jaylen Frazier; 2nd - Allen Frazier; 3rd - Isabelle Park



8th Annual Summer Scholastic Sun Valley Elementary School

Rook K-12 Section: 1st - Constance Wang; 2nd - Dustin Chumley; 3rd - Jhordyn Porter; Novice K-12 (not rated): 1st - Gavin Cook ; 2nd - Jaylen Frazier; 3rd - Allen Frazier; Primary K-5 (not rated): 1st - Jesse Alexander; 2nd - Garrett Cook; 3rd - Myles Richardson

Team winners: Novice Section: 1st Team - Montevallo Middle School, Coach/Coordinator: Telura Hamilton; 2nd Team - Sun Valley Elementary School, Coach: Bradley Fournier; Primary Section: 1st Team - Sun Valley Elementary School, Coach: Bradley Fournier; 2nd - Hoover Home School Group, Coach: Caesar Lawrence

Tournament director and chess coach Caesar Lawrence checks on chess clocks, chess pairings and making sure the players are where they are supposed to be. Tournament directing is an intense job but Lawrence is a pro at it! (Photo: Namrata Agarwalla)

Tuscaloosa - Black Warrior Chess Challenge

Premiere Section: 1st Place - Scott Varagona; 2nd Place - Jonathan Rasberry; 3rd Place - Roger Johnson Reserve Section: 1st & 2nd - Jack Lyons and Isaac Snow; 3rd - Hudson Markin and Aaron DeCord; Adult Winners: 1st - John Lewis; 2nd - Carlton McHargh; 3rd Allen Parker, Will Gaylean, Christopher Weeks

Scholastic K-12: 1st & 2nd - Tony Zhang and Travis Cruise; 3rd - Toby Guo; K-6: 1st - Sai Korrapati; 2nd - Nikhita Chintareddy; 3rd - Raj Patel; K-3: 1st - Parker Liu; 2nd - Rahavan Madabushi; 3rd - Calvin Kim, Zoe Markin and Caroline Wang; Scholastic "Not Rated" Section: K-12: 1st - Grayson Fulmer; K-6: 1st - Luke Pinion; K-3: 1st & 2nd - Dylan Palmier, Akhil Batchu

Tony Edmondson Chess Classic in Headland

Premiere winners: 1st - Rex Blalock; 2nd - Sijing Wu; U1800 - Michael Guthrie; Reserve winners: 1st - Jerome Flowers; 2nd - Wendell Whitaker; U1200 - Robert Donald

Coming Tournaments: July 9, Second Annual Clarence Kalenian Classic, Dothan. Directed by Caesar Lawrence; July 23, Alabama Dual-Rated Championship, Montgomery. Directed by Doug Strout. Alabama Chess Federation calendar will have details on registration, prizes, and times for the rounds.

Madison City Chess League has scheduled a series of events over the summer. For more information check their events calendar.

Chess tournament Rook Section winners from the recent Vulcan tournament. Several of these players are adding to their ever growing collection of trophies! (Photo: Namrata Agarwalla)

Alabama youths play vigorous game

I am impressed by the technique and determination of Alabama's young players. They give no quarter in their games regardless of the strength of their opponents!

Arden Markin was justifiably proud of his game against Rochelle Wu, from the recent Vulcan Open, in Birmingham. Both players are making steady progress towards full chess mastery.

While Rochelle was off form in this game, Arden displayed his attacking ability in full splendor. "I sacrificed the same rook twice," Markin said.

Arden, from Tuscaloosa, will represent Alabama at the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions. Rochelle Wu, 10-year-old from Hoover, will represent the state at the US National Girls Invitation. Rochelle is one of the nation's top players in her age group. Both tournaments will be held later this summer in Indianapolis.

The Grand Prix Attack can be a fearsome weapon against the Sicilian Defense. Recent practice favors 3...g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 e6 intending to gain time with ...Nge7 and ...d5, and play Na5 to exchange White's light square bishop, as a safe way to meet White's aggressive line.

It wasn't too late for 8...e6 although 9.e5!? Ne8 10.Bb5 Bd7 11.Ne4 Qc7 12.Qh4 gives a typical position that a Grand Prix player will like. 8...Bg4?! did not slow down White's attack.

Markin played masterfully with his 'sweeper' 16.e5! vacating the e4 square for the knight to join in the decisive attack.

Arden Markin - Rochelle Wu, Vulcan Open, Birmingham

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. O-O Nf6 7. d3 O-O 8. Qe1 Bg4?! 9. Qh4 Bxf3 10. Rxf3 Nd4 11. Rh3 h5?! 12. f5 Kh8? 13. Bg5! e6 14. g4 Kh7 15. Rf1 Qe7 16. e5! dxe5 17. Ne4 Ne2+ 18. Kh1 Nf4 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Bxf6 Qd7 21. Rxf4! exf5 22. Rxf5! gxf5 23. Qxh5+ Kg8 24. Qh8 mate

It's payback time

Aside from being a beautiful game played with impeccable precision and notable piece sacrifices, there was much interest in this game's outcome.

An incident involving these same two players from the 2015 US Championship stirred up interest as to what would happen this year.

22-year-old Grandmaster Wesley So was awarded the 2016 Samford Fellowship. The Samford Chess Fellowship was created by the estate of the late Frank P. Samford, Jr. of Birmingham. So came in second place in the 2016 US Chess Championship and is ranked number ten in the world.

Now for the story. So was forfeited last year early in his game against Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian by the tournament director. Akobian had complained that So's writing self-help messages on his scoresheet was distracting. Akobian had every right to lodge his complaint and So already had been warned about not scribbling notes during the game.

Grandmaster Wesley So playing at the recent US Chess Championship in St. Louis where he took second place. Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana came in first and is the US champ, but So played the most spectacular game of the tournament. (Photo: Spectrum Studios, uschesschamps)

This year a dramatically different result was scored. So wiped Akobian off the board! So is a gentle, soft spoken man but there is no doubt he took great joy in this revenge.

The Rubinstein Variation in the French Defense, initiated with 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7, has its good days and has its bad days. Hannes Langrock in his excellent, recent book 'French Defense: The Solid Rubinstein Variation' (Russell Enterprises: 2014. 208 Pages. Paperback) makes the case for the resourcefulness of this ultra-conservative defense.

Former world champion Garry Kasparov's 7. c3 keeps White's options open by bolstering the d- pawn, strengthening the center and keeps Qa4 and O-O-O as options. Kasparov, following an idea from the legendary third world chess champion Jose Raul Capablanca, played an early Ne5 in similar structures.

More precise is protecting c5 with 8...Qc7, followed by Bd6 and O-O, as advocated by Langrock.

Black's anxious 13...Rd8?! leaves f7 weak and is the source of Black's future troubles. Energetic counterplay with 13...b5 was called for. Black is very much in the game after 14. Be4 Rb8 15. Ne5 Bb7 16. Bxb7 Rxb7. When there is opposite side castling, the pawns are an important instrument for breaching or weakening the opponent's castled position. Rapid advances of pawns often play an important role.

With the energetic 14.Ne5!?, So envisioned a kingside pawn storm and a potential Nxf7 sacrifice. Akobian's 15...Bc6 was counting on his own attack if 16.f4?! Rxd4! 17.Nxc6 bc6 18.cxd4 Rb8 with definite chances in this double edged position.

Akobian pushed the position to the razor's edge with his provocative 16...Bd5 and 17...Bxg2. But awaiting him was a spectacular attack that he underestimated.

So's beautiful knight sacrifice 20.Nxf7!! roots out the Black king who will never have a moment of peace. 20.Qd2 would also keep the pressure on Black's position, for example: 20...Kf8 (dealing with the threat of Qxh6) 21.Rxg7!! Kxg7 22.Rg1+ Kf8 23. Qxh6+ Ke8 24. Qh8+ Bf8 25.Qxf6 Qc7 26. Bc7. Just the same, So's majestic piece sacrifice was followed up with the complimentary 21.Rxg7+!

After 22.Qxe6 Akobian should have tried 22...Re8, although White had 23.Qf5 (re-routing the bishop with 23.c5 Qd8 24.Bc2 is strong)...Kf8 24.Bxf6 Bd7 25.Bxe7+ Kxe7 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Bg6! and Black's king is in a precarious position. Other tries all win for White: 22...Rxd3 23.Qxe7+ Kg8 24.Rg1+ and 22...Kf8 23.Bxf6 Rd7 24.Rg1.

After 24.Bh7+! Akobian resigned as 24...Kh8 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Bxf6+ Qxf6 27.Qxf6+ Kxh7 28.Qxd8 wins.

Wesley So - Varuzhan Akobian, US Championship 2016, St. Louis

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 c5 8. Be3 cxd4?! 9. Bxd4 Be7 10. Bd3 O-O 11. Qc2 h6 12. O-O-O Qa5 13. Kb1 Rd8?! 14. Ne5!? Bd7 15. Qe2 Bc6 16. Rhe1 Bd5 17. c4! Bxg2 18. Bc3 Qb6 19. Rg1 Bc6 20. Nxf7!! Kxf7 21. Rxg7+! Kxg7 22. Qxe6 Qxf2?? 23. Qxe7+ Kg8 24. Bh7+! 1-0

Chess Challenge - Winning Moves

Solution to last al.com puzzle: The rooks walk the Black king down the chess board! 1.Ra4+ Kg5 2.Rc5+ Kf6 3.Ra6+ Ke7 (3...Kf7 4.Rc7+ and Ra8 mate) 4.Rc7+ Kd8 5.Rh7 (attacking the Black queen and now if 5...Qxh7 6.Ra8+ Kc7 7.Ra7+ wins the queen) ...Qg2 6.Ra8+ Qxa8 7. Rh8+ White wins the queen. A classic puzzle of trapping the queen with two rooks.

Your Move!

White to play and win. Grandmaster Nicholas Rossolimo, who played in several US Championships, had White in this exhibition game. This chaotic position is unusual in that White's king is on the third rank in a middlegame. Rossolimo found a way to end the game with an astounding series of destructive moves.