Trio, Trio, I Want A Trio And I Want One Now!

Three players stand atop of the standings with three points each after three rounds. (And if you don't know what the title is in reference to, check out this YouTube video.)

The Yermonator, GM Alex Yermolinsky, is one of 3 people still with a perfect score after beating GM Julio Becerra in a theoretical line of the King's Indian Defense. Becerra decided to trade his queen for a rook and a knight but his pieces ended up uncoordinated, especially his knight on a6 that was out of the play, which left Yermolinsky's queen and two knights dominating the board, mopping up the full point when Becerra faced further material losses.

On board 1 GM Nikola Mitkov played a good game against GM Varuzhan Akobain. Mitkov, having the black pieces, played a temporary pawn sacrifice that left Akobian's king side pieces undeveloped.

Black to play
Akobian - Mitkov, Chicago Open, Round 3

Mitkov's 18... Qe7 was a simple but sophisticated maneuver that left white's rook on h1 permanently out of play since the threat of a discovered check forced 19. Kg1. Mitkov's pieces were left unchallenged on the queen side and by the time Akobian got developed, it was too late.

The final member of our coveted trio is GM Atanas Kolev. Kolev put a dint in Josh Friedel's "quest" while slowly squeezing him to death using a combination of a pawn on d6 and a bishop on e7. Friedel's rook was totally tied down which left him to tell me after the game "I kept wishing my pawn on b7 would disappear so my rook could get into the play."

A little (half a point to be exact) further down the standings are GMs Tigran Petrosian (no, not the World Champion), current US Champion, Yury Shulman and former US Champion and 7 times Chicago Open winner, Alex Shabalov. They are joined by UTD IM, Jacek Stopa, who actually is suffering from a horrendous cold as evidenced by his very red and raw nose. Stopa and Petrosian played out a draw in round 3 while Shulman once again showed his endgame finesse against IM Mark Ginsburg. Shabalov overcame GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj after apparently working his way through a complicated minefield of tactics better than the Mongolian.

Trying to work out the pairings in my head, I'm guessing that Yermolinsky and Kolev will play each other on board 1, while Mitkov will have the pleasure of being "dropped" down to meet Petrosian on two. Of course, nothing is ever as plain and simple as it looks on the surface, and I have definitely known to be wrong every now and again.

Elsewhere in the tournament, GM Hikaru Nakamura bounced back with a comfortable victory over Glenn Bady, who had been having a good tournament up until this round. Glenn had drawn in the first round with GM Alonso Zapata and then had a crushing victory over FM Andrew Karklins. (You can find all of Glenn's games in the pgn database.) However, to make his success a sin he was paired against an undoubtedly determined Nakamura after his loss in the previous round.

Nakamura (black) reached the following position.

Black to play
Bady - Nakamura, Chicago Open, Round 3

27... Qd2! (not the only move that wins but definitely the prettiest!) The game continued 28. Rc1 Qxc1+! 0-1.

Tomorrow see the 2-day schedule play the first 4 rounds at G/45, while the main group plays round 4 at 12:00 pm CST. The 2-day people will then merge with the main field for the final 3 rounds, starting with round 5 at 7:00 pm CST.

For those who are interested, standings are now being updated once each round is paired and a new database containing 53 games from the first three rounds is available for download. I'm also hoping to start the photograph gallery real soon!

Chris Bird