San Francisco International, 1986

Ramayrat defeats Frias

     We lost some players back in '86. Dr. Albrecht Buschke, chess book dealer, died in New York City. Gedeon Barcza died at the age of 74 in Budapest. Ludmila Rudenko, Women's World Champion in 1949-53 and Challenger in 1956 passed away. Heinrich Fraenke, also known as Assiac, the chess author died in London. Borislav Milic, a Grandmaster, died in Yugoslavia in May at the age of 60. 

     Then on August 27, 1986, GM Georgy Agzamov finished playing in a tournament in Sevastopol and decided to go swimming. He took shortcut and fell off a cliff and became trapped. 

     People heard him yelling for help, but he was too far down the steep cliff and a rescue crew had to be called. By the time they reached him he had died. He was only 31 years old. He was Uzbekistan's first GM and at one time he was ranked number 8 in the world. 

     Finally, on December 30, 1986, WIM Venka Asenova died in Bulgaria. She was made an Honorary WGM in 1986. 

     Besides Agzamov becoming Uzbekistan's first GM, there were other firsts that year. Susan Polgar became the first woman to qualify for the men's World Championship. 

     In 1986, Jeff Sarwer (born May 14, 1978) won the first boys world under-10 World Youth Championship in Puerto Rico. You can read an interview with with him by Jennifer Shahade HERE. 

     Also, in 1986, his sister, Julia, won the first girls world under-10 World Youth Championship. After that, I don't now what happened to her. 

     The same year donations from a local player named Nathan Sills and the American Chess Foundation along with Miz Brown's Country Kitchen Restaurant donating the playing site, a small international tournament in San Francisco was made possible. 

     IM Cris Ramayrat (born May 17, 1958) of the Philippines captured first place with an undefeated score and earned the princely sum of $1,000, or over $2,400 in today's dollars. For their 2nd and 3rd place finish Whitehead and Winslow earned a little money and their second of the required three IM norms. 

     Jay Whitehead (October 12, 1961 - October 4, 2011), who was awarded his IM title in 1986, passed away from cancer only a few days before his 50th birthday.

     Sometime before 1984 Whitehead had joined the Hare Krishna sect. Besides being an excellent chess talent, he was also an excellent backgammon player. At some point before his 30th birthday Whitehead gave up tournament play, but for the last 20 years of his life he was devoted to historical research on chess and collected games from prior to 1867 which were recorded in a database as part of his project on the Definitive Work on Chess History in Progress. 

     Elliot Winslow (born May 16, 1982) gained his IM title in 1986 and today is active and plays on Chess.com 

 

Final standings: 

1) Chris Ramayrat 7.0-2.0 

2) Jay Whitehead 6.5-2.5 

3) Elliot Winslow 6.0-3.0 

4) Victor Frias 5.0-4.0 

5-6) Peter Biyiasis and Paul Whitehead 4.0-5.0 

7-9) David Strauss, Avinash Awate and Richard Lobo 3.5-5.5 

10) Guillermo Rey 2.0-7.0 

 

     In the following game Ramayrat showed sharp, adventurous play in his defeat of the Chilean IM Victor Frias.

[Event "San Francisco International"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Chris Ramayrat"] [Black "Victor Frias"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A58"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "48"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.03.28"] {Benko Gambit} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 6. Nc3 g6 { Now white generally plays 7.Nf3, 7.e4 or less often 7.g3.Ramayrat's 7.f4 enjoyed a brief flurry of popularity in 1974-1975 and then virtually disappeared, but he had come prepared with a new way to supercharge it.} 7. f4 d6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. e4 Bxf1 10. Rxf1 O-O 11. e5 {Previously, white had always sought to get his K into safety by castling artificially with 11.Kb2 and 12. Kg1. Instead, Ramayrat attacks at once with this double-edged move.} dxe5 12. fxe5 {The only way that Frias can avoid getting the worst of it is if he can demonstrate that the white center is overextended. It's possible, but not the way he tried to do it.} Ng4 (12... Nfd7 {this invites white to make a sharp reply} 13. e6 {but it's the safest way for black to equalize.} fxe6 {and equality is assured.} 14. dxe6 (14. Ng5 {This is more complicated, but it also results in equal chances.} Rxf1+ $1 15. Kxf1 Qf8+ 16. Kg1 Bd4+ 17. Kh1 exd5 18. Nxd5 {Threatens to win with Nc7.} Nc6 {And now ...Qf5 would win.} 19. Be3) 14... Nb6 15. Qxd8 Rxd8 16. Ng5 $1 Nc6 {...Nd5 is the strong threat.} 17. Nf7 $1 Rd4 18. Nh6+ $1) (12... Nfd7 {[%cal Rd7e5]} 13. e6 Ne5 {[%mdl 8192] This was suggested, but it's a very poor suggestion!} (13... fxe6 {and Black is okay.} 14. dxe6 Nb6) 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bh6 {and black either loses the exchange after 15...f6 or even worse, after} Bg7 16. exf7+ Rxf7 17. Rxf7 Kxf7 18. Qf3+ Kg8 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. O-O-O {black is left with a very poor game.}) 13. Qe2 $16 Qc7 {[%cal Rg4e5]} 14. d6 {[%cal Bd5d6,Bd6e7][%mdl 32]} (14. Bf4 { This looks inviting, but it's wrong because after} Nd7 15. O-O-O (15. d6 { [%mdl 8192] This move is simply awful!} exd6 16. e6 (16. exd6 {16.e6 -2.40} Bxc3+ 17. bxc3 Qa5 {and black has a winning attack.}) 16... Rfe8 17. Ng5 f5 18. h3 Nge5 {and black is much better.}) 15... Ngxe5 {black has equalized.}) 14... Qb7 {Under the circumstances this is the best move.} (14... exd6 15. Qe4 Nxh2 16. Nxh2 Nc6 17. Nd5 Qa5+ 18. Bd2 Qb5 19. Ng4 Nxe5 20. Ngf6+ Kh8 21. Rh1 Bxf6 22. Nxf6 Kg7 23. Bg5 Rh8 24. O-O-O Ra6 25. Rxd6 Rxd6 26. Qxe5 {Black resigned. Garcia Palermo,C (2550)-Herndl,H (2345) Vienna 1986}) 15. h3 Nh6 16. dxe7 Re8 ( 16... Qxe7 17. g4 {Better was 17.Qe4} Nc6 18. Bf4 Nb4 19. Kf2 Kh8 20. a3 Nc6 { White is better and went on to win. Schlemermeyer,W-Geisler,R Germany 1987}) 17. Bg5 Nf5 18. Qb5 Qc8 (18... Qxb5 {18...Qc8 2.95 is even worse.} 19. Nxb5 Na6 20. O-O-O Bh6 21. Bxh6 Nxh6 22. Rd7 {and with threats like Ng5 and Nd6 white has a won game.}) 19. Ne4 Nc6 {This position is quite complicated.} 20. g4 (20. Nxc5 {and the fortunes change after} h6 21. Bf6 Bxf6 22. exf6 {Black is winning. For example...} Ncxe7 23. fxe7 Rxe7+ 24. Kf2 Rb8 25. Qc4 Rxb2+ 26. Kg1 Rxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Ne3+) (20. Nd6 {This allows black to equalize.} Nxd6 21. exd6 Qe6+ 22. Kf2 Qxd6 23. Rac1 Nd4 24. Nxd4 Qxd4+) (20. Rc1 {This is even better than the move Ramayrat played.} Ra5 21. Qc4 Ncxe7 22. Bd2 Ra6 23. Nfg5 Rf8 24. Nxf7 {and now if} Rxf7 25. Ng5 {Both Rs are attacked.} h6 26. Nxf7 Qe6 27. Qxe6 Rxe6 28. g4 Nd4 (28... Kxf7 29. gxf5 Rxe5+ 30. Kd1 Nxf5 31. Bc3 {with a winning position.}) 29. Rxc5) 20... Nfxe7 21. Nd6 {This allows black to equalize.} (21. Nxc5 {This hasty move loses.} Ra5 22. Qc4 Nxe5 23. Nxe5 Nd5 24. Rc1 Rxe5+ 25. Kf2 Rxg5 26. b4 Qc7 27. bxa5 Qh2+ 28. Ke1 Re5+ {and wins}) (21. Bf6 {keeps a slight advantage after} Rd8 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Qxc5) 21... Qb8 22. Qc4 {White could also keep the chances equal by trading Qs, but the text move, which should result in no more than equality, also baits trap.} (22. Qxc5 { This is unplayable because after} Ra5 23. Qf2 Bxe5 24. Nxe8 Bg3 {White loses his Q.}) 22... Nxe5 23. Nxe5 {A truly amazing position! White is a piece up, so how does black establish material equality?} Qxd6 {[%mdl 8192] Not with this!} (23... Bxe5 {Not with this!} 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 25. Bf6+ Bxf6 26. Qxf6+ Kg8 27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Nf7+ Kg8 29. Ng5+ Kh8 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Qf7+ Kh8 32. Qxh7#) ( 23... Qxb2 {The answer is that black does not concern himself with regaining the piece, but counterattacks.} 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 25. Bf6 Nf5 26. Bxg7+ (26. Rxf5 Qxa1+ 27. Kf2 Qxa2+ 28. Kg3 Qxf7 29. Nexf7+ Kg8 30. Nxe8 Rxe8 31. Nd6 Re6 32. Rxc5 Bxf6 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. Rc7+ Be7 35. Kf3 Rxd6 36. Rxe7+ {drawn}) 26... Nxg7 27. Qf8+ Rxf8 28. Nef7+ Rxf7 29. Nxf7+ Kg8 30. Nh6+ Kh8 31. Nf7+ {etc.}) 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 {Black resigned.} (24... Kh8 {White wins gobs of material.} 25. Qxe8+ Rxe8 26. Nf7+ Kg8 27. Nxd6 Rb8 28. Bxe7) 1-0