Here is our selection of games from the 27th Space Coast Open. The game board provided below this introduction can be used to view all the available games (38 games and game excerpts). To see the available games, click on the down arrow (triangle) in the white box above the board window.
Included in the games we present the 3 games by the Brilliancy Prize winners, selected by Brilliancy Prize Judge IM Javad Maharramzade.
First Prize: $200 to Shama Yisrael (White vs. Krienke). White stuttered somewhat in the middlegame (20.Rac1, 21.Ra1), but then found an amazing sequence of moves to unleash a devastating attack on the Black King: 25.Bh7+!, 26.Qf5!, and the absolutely stunning 27.Ng5!! The attack was concluded in style with a nice finishing touch 30.Ne6! There are two versions of this game in the games selection. One contains a short introduction and the full game score. The other is an excerpt with in-depth commentary and analysis by NM Theo Slade.
Second Prize: $100 to Timur Gareyev (White vs. Chakrabarti). The eventual champion demonstrates how to play the KID from the White side with the seemingly innocuous variation of 9.Bd2. After some patient exemplary maneuvering, all White pieces ultimately arrived at optimal positions, after which the winning attack was started on the Kingside with a brilliant sacrifice of the Bishop 28.Bh5!.
Third Prize: $50 to Oscar Williams (Black vs. Holloway), paying tribute to the fighters of the lower sections. Black masterfully uses the weakness of the e4 pawn and the open file to infiltrate White's ranks. The final attack starts with an energetic 33...Nd3! using the overloaded state of the White Queen and is finished with a nice discovery 36...Nxe4!
Special thanks to IM Maharramzade for once again serving as our Brilliancy Prize Judge.