Over the holiday season (Dec 27 to 30) the traditional Pan-Am Intercollegiate Championships was held in Columbus, Ohio. A total of 58 teams braved the cold. When the smoke had cleared, Susan Polgar’s Webster ‘A’ emerged as the grand winner (again!) Congrats to everyone! LINK
Some chess from the Pan Am
gm Robson,R – im Ruiz,C (1-0) B90
A nice energetic middlegame after a quiet opening. Both sides play to win but White’s passed pawns in the center prove more important that Black’s attack against the King.
gm Ipatov – gm Baryshpolets (1-0) D11)
Another power middlegame by White. Black provokes a sacrifice on move 19 but soon regrets it. He never manages to coordinate a defence and Ipatov scores the whole point.
gm Durarbayli – Gandhi,S (1-0) B06
Both sides castle Queenside but the unexpected sacrifice on the Kingside nets White a powerful initiative. Eventually Black can not deal with the mounting threats.