Five tie for 2019 Des Moines Open Title

The 2019 Des Moines Open was held July 16-17 at the Holiday Inn in Des Moines, Iowa. The five round Swiss System tournament produced numerous possible out-comes after four rounds with thirteen in contention for a tie for first! The event was an Iowa Qualifier as well as a US Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix tournament. Thirty-nine participants competed in this year’s event. Chess players from eleven states competed in this year: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

NM Tim McEntee topped the field player with a USCF rating of (2201) flowed by Valerie Kosokin (2198), and Troy Cavanah (2059), Anish Lodh (2039), and Dan Vasto (2012).

The pain index (upsets) was as follows:

Individual Upsets. 2019 Des Moines Open:

CHARLE CUNNINGHAM (1384) 418.0 TROY CURFMAN (1802)

JEROME W TICHACEK (1477) 367.0 JAMES S ELLIS (1844)

MICHAEL VOLZ (1706) 306.0 DANIEL VASTO (2012)

DAVID SAYLER (1756) 283.0 ANISH LODH (2039)

GAURI MENON (1854) 205.0 TROY CAVANAH (2059)

Cumulative Upsets. 2019 Des Moines Open:

CHARLE CUNNINGHAM (1384) 642.5

MICHAEL VOLZ (1706) 375.0

DAVID SAYLER (1756) 371.0

JEROME W TICHACEK (1477) 367.0

MRITHUUL M PRASAD (1545) 293.0

Pairings for Round 5. 2019 Des Moines Open

White Black

TIM R MC ENTEE (2200 3.0) GREGORY PETERSON (1935 3.0)

ANJANEYA RAO (1901 3.0) VALERIY KOSOKIN (2198 3.0)

TROY CAVANAH (2059 3.0) GAURI MENON (1854 3.0)

TROY CURFMAN (1802 3.0) PATRICK MCCARTNEY (1996 3.0)

STEVEN J CUSUMANO (1906 3.0) CUB ROLLIN- NOBLE (1952 3.0)

UDDHAV AJA KANBUR (1862 2.5) WILLIAM JO POLZIN (1897 2.5)

ZVONKO JURIC (1921 2.0) MICHAEL VOLZ (1706 2.5)

By reviewing the pairings above, you’ll see that thirteen players are in contention for a piece of first place and there is a possibility of a twelve-player tie for first! One third, thirteen players of the thirty-nine players who registered had a chance of tying of first place after 4 rounds. Do the calculation! If the top five boards draw and there is a win on board 6, and Michael Volz wins on board 7, twelve players finish with 3.5 points.

All seven matches on the top seven boards in round 5 produced a winner and the result was a five-player tie for first: McEntee, Kosokin, Menon, McCartney, and Noble.

Annotated games.

(689) Michael Volz (1706) - Cub Noble (1956) [B12]

Des Moines Open Des Moines (2), 14.07.2019

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.h4 h5 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Bg5 Qc7 8.Ne2 Bg4 [Trying to undermine d4. Bg4 removes one of the defenders.]

9.Qd3 Ne7 10.Bxe7 Bxe7 11.Ng5 c5 [Undermining d4 and e5.]

12.c3 Rc8 13.Rc1 [I didn't think he could play this move, so when he did, I was wondering if I missed something.]

13...cxd4 14.cxd4 Qxc1+! 15.Nxc1 Rxc1+?! [Evidentially there was a better continuation. 15...Bb4+ 16.Qc3 Rxc3 17.bxc3 Bxc3#]

16.Kd2 Rd1+ 17.Ke3 [Simplify the position first.]

17...Bxg5+ 18.hxg5 Rxd3+ [Picking up a piece.]

0–1

Analysis by Patrick McCartney. Please check out the analysis of his games in the Des Moines Open

http://charlottechesscenter.blogspot.com/2019/07/game-analysis-des-moines-open-round-2.html?m=1