Fun Games from North American Open

Check out Chess Life Online for the official recap of North American Open in Las Vegas at the end of December. Georgian GM Giorgi Kacheishvili took clear first place in his second major tournament in a row after a spectacular sacrificial game against Armenian-American GM Varuzhan Akobian in the penultimate round.

As usual, my main focus has been on Northern California players. Fortunately, I found a spectacular sample of games to post on this blog. The games include two draws against Grandmasters and an incredible pair of victories against the colorful IM Emory Tate (see photo at right). To view these games online, just click on this link for a webpage automatically generated by Chessbase.

• S Zierk 1/2 V Akobian: Steven holds a pawn down endgame vs a strong GM.
  
• E Tate 0-1 R Agarwal: The legendary IM Tate has no answer to Philidor gambit.
• Y Liou 1-0 J Irrzary: Yian goes king hunting after a strange Alekhine opening.
• M Nita 0-1 M Aigner: This expert quickly bows to the power of the Dutch defense.
• R Hess 0-1 S Shankland: IM Shankland smokes his main junior rival IM Hess.
• S Shankland 1/2 J Ehlvest: For an encoure, a solid draw against a veteran GM.
• S Zierk 1-0 E Tate: The local juniors sure gave IM Tate the one-two punch!
• R Agarwal 1-0 K Mackinnon: NM Agarwal shows off the power of gambits.
• M Aigner 1-0 D Haessel: The Trompowsky takes down a FM in a quick win.