A Personal Goodbye to Danya: Remembering GM Daniel Naroditsky (1995–2025)

 The news that American Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky passed away yesterday, October 19th, has left the global chess community in stunned silence. At just 29, Danya, as he was affectionately known, was a brilliant competitor, a prodigious talent, and a phenomenal educator whose infectious enthusiasm made chess accessible and captivating for countless people. His passing leaves a profound void.

While the world knew Danya for his incredible achievements—a grandmaster by 18, a U12 World Champion, and a five-time U.S. Championship competitor—my memories of him are more personal, rooted in the Bay Area chess scene. It felt like he was a constant presence at the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club, often immersed in a game, or just as frequently, holding court during one of his insightful lectures. He had a way of breaking down complex ideas into digestible, engaging lessons, making even the most intricate positions seem approachable. His passion for teaching was palpable, and I, like many others, spent countless hours trying to absorb his wisdom from the audience.

I’ve lost more games to Danya in various arenas than I care to count—usually in spectacular fashion—but there is one memory that stands out above all. It was 2014, and he hosted a massive simultaneous exhibition against 50 opponents or so, not in the usual club setting, but outside at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. It was a beautiful day, and the contrast between the calm natural surroundings and the intense chess struggle was striking.

I found myself opposite him, playing the black pieces, and somehow, through pure stubbornness and maybe a little help from the chess gods, I managed to steer our game into an exchange up position where Danya had to go for a defence so that I can't break through him. He put enough counter chances that I had no way to push forward any further without heavy risk of loosing.

As he glided by my board, already well into the final stages of the simul, Danya paused for a second longer than he had for any of the other boards I saw. He gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod and extended his hand. Draw agreed.

Here's the picture from that unforgettable day: That single half-point, earned against the Grandmaster, outside in the sunshine, was a highlight of my amateur career. It wasn't just the result; it was the moment of quiet acknowledgment from a player who always treated the game, and those who played it, with immense respect.

The chess world has lost one of its kindest, most talented, and most eloquent voices. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the Charlotte Chess Center community. Thank you, Danya, for all the inspiration, all the joy, and for that unforgettable half-point. You will be deeply missed.

Let us honor Daniel by remembering his passion for chess and the inspiration he brought to us all.

Chess.com 3|2 Game - AshikUzzaman (1851) vs Vaibanh974 (1902)

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2025.01.24"]

[White "ashikuzzaman"] [WhiteElo "1851"]

[Black "Vaibhav974"] [BlackElo "1902"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Closed-Sicilian-Defense-2...g6-3.f4-Bg7"]

[TimeControl "180+2"]

[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/131441361407?tab=analysis"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. f4 Bg7 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb5 e6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. e5 Ne7 8. Ne4

b6 9. Nd6+ Kf8 10. O-O h6 11. d3 f6 12. Ne4 fxe5 13. fxe5 Kg8 14. Nh4 Kh7 15.

Qg4 Bxe5 16. Rf7+ Bg7 17. Nf6# 1-0

Defeated a Fide Master in Chess.com 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment

I have been playing rapid games in chess.com again for the last few months after some break during the entire pandemic time. I used to play mostly 5 minutes chess or 3 days per move games in chess.com.  But then I thought to try out 1 minute bullet chess and 10 minute rapid chess. Then I my son Ahyan told me to give a try to 3 minutes with 2 seconds increment that game he plays. I tried and am liking it very much. My yesterday's game was a win against a FIDE Master in this format on my favorite Sicilian Dragon opening as black.

[Event "rapid 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment"]

[Site "Chess.com iPhone"]

[Date "2023.02.11"]

[Round "?"]

[White "TheMagician"]

[Black "ashikuzzaman"]

[Result "0-1"]

[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]

[White "Elo 2090"]

[Black "Elo 1913"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 a6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Bb7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. Kb1 Rc8 11. g4 Nb6 12. b3 b4 13. Nce2 e5 14. Nf5 gxf5 15. gxf5 d5 16. Ng3 d4 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Qxb4 Be7 20. Qd2 Qd6 21. Nh5 Qa3 22. f6 Bb4 23. Ng7+ Kd7 24. Bh3+ Kc7 25. c3 Bxc3 26. Rc1 Kb8 27. Qf2 Rc5 28. Rc2 Rb5 29. Rhc1 Na4 30. Bf1 Rxb3+ 31. axb3 Qxb3+ 32. Rb2 Nxb2 33. Rxc3 dxc3 34. Qc2 Qb4 35. Nf5 Rd8 36. Ne3 Rd2 37. Qxd2 cxd2 38. Kc2 Qd4 39. Nd1 Nxd1 40. Kxd1 Qa1+ 41. Kxd2 Qxf1 42. Kc3 Qb5 43. h4 a5 44. Kd2 a4 45. Ke3 a3 46. Kf2 a2 47. Kg3 a1=Q 48. Kg4 Qg1+  {0-1}

2021 US Amateur Team West Championship

I have been playing the 2021 US Amateur Team West ONLINE - National Championship as part of the team Winners 2021. This is a 2-days tournament in the format of g60+10 seconds increment. OUr average team rating is 1899.5, so we are in the 1800+ section. Here is the team - 

• NM Sriram Krishnakumar (2192)
• Jaisuraj Kaleeswaran (2086)
• Ashik Uzzaman (1940)
• Jaidev Kaleeswaran (1380)

Today was first 3 rounds and tomorrow will be the final 3 rounds.

Game 1: Team Winners 2021 vs Tonight We're Gonna Checkmate Like It's 1989

White: Ashik Uzzaman (1940) / chess.com rating 1799

Black: NM Christopher Chabris (2226) / chess.com rating 2326

Date: 30th January 2021

Result: Drawn (1/2 - 1/2)

I missed a completely winning rook endgame with 2 pawns up by making a last-minute blunder although I had plenty of time in my clock while my opponent had few seconds only. The blunder was move#44; instead of g4 I needed to play h6.

Game 2: Team Winners 2021 vs Chess Cookies

White: Lisa Sun (1708) / chess.com rating 1426

Black: Ashik Uzzaman (1940) / chess.com rating 1810

Date: 30th January 2021

Result: Black won (0 - 1)

Game 3: Team Winners 2021 vs CHECKMATE ASAP - XCELL CHESS CLU

White: Ashik Uzzaman (1940) / chess.com rating 1838

Black: Sricharan Pullela (1889) / chess.com rating 2020

Date: 30th January 2021

Result: White won (1 - 0)

I particularly liked my middle game combination of sacrificing a rook that my opponent couldn't afford to take. Check out move#20.

Update from Day 2, I lost the 4th round but won the 5th round. 

Game 4: Team Winners 2021 vs CHECKMATE ASAP - Queen Rules

White: Felix Liu (1922) / chess.com rating 2096

Black: Ashik Uzzaman (1940) / chess.com rating 1839

Date: 31st January 2021

Result: White won (1 - 0)

Game 5: Team Winners 2021 vs Pawn-Z-Scheme

White: Ashik Uzzaman (1940) / chess.com rating 1838

Black: Mateo Hansen (1687) / chess.com rating 1615

Date: 31st January 2021

Result: White won (1 - 0)

Game 6: Team Winners 2021 vs Riveting Rooks

White: Kristian Clemens (1997) / chess.com rating 1831

Black: Ashik Uzzaman (1940) / chess.com rating 1838

Date: 31st January 2021

Result: Black won (0 - 1)

Drew with GM Enamul Hossain (Razib) in 2nd Round of 14th Philadelphia Open

Today after a long time Ahyan and I played in an online tournament other than San Francisco Mechanics Institute's Tuesday Night Marathon that we play often. We played the 14th Philadelphia Open where I was in the Open section and Ahyan was in the Under 1800 section. Ahyan scored 3.5 out of 5 but I didn't do well. However, in the second round, I secured a surprise draw with GM Enamul Hossain (Razib). I lost a pawn early in the middlegame and was destined to lose. But I put up a very prolonged defense and somehow it worked. I think Razib would win it if he had a bit more time left in the clock. After the game Razib sent me a message "well played!" - so nice of him. Here is the game.

Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Book and The Movie

 I finished reading the book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Fred Waitzkin last weekend. I also watched the movie with the same name based on this book written and directed by Steven Zaillian. While the book was first published in 1988, the movie was released in 1993 in the United Kingdom with the name Innocent Moves. A chess father's view of his chess prodigy son came nicely in this. Along with that also came out how impactful Bobby Fischer was in the world of chess and in particular American chess.

As I and my son Ahyan Zaman have been playing chess tournaments together for many years, I could see Fred in me and Josh in Ahyan, albeit to a lesser extent. I know when we made the choice not to focus too much on just chess for Ahyan, as he is also in piano, drama and other activities. Both the book and the movie is good although I would place the book a little better despite that movie was nominated for Best Cinematography in the 66th Academy Awards.

My Review of The Queen's Gambit, the Book and the Netflix Miniseries

This week I finished listening to the audiobook The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis as well as watching the Netflix miniseries of the same name directed by Scott Frank. I liked both of them so much as these are centered around Chess, my childhood passion. The book was published in 1983 while the 7-episode miniseries was released by Netflix just 3 weeks back.

The plot is set in the mid-1950s around a child prodigy Beth Harmon, a Kentucky girl whose parents were killed in a car crash when she was eight. She was placed into an orphanage where she starts learning chess from the janitor Mr. Shaibel. She gets habituated with tranquilizers there. After a few years, Beth gets adopted by Mr. & Mrs. Wheatley moving with them leaving the orphanage, her best friend Jolene and her first chess coach. But in her new place, she gets the freedom to start playing chess tournaments. She starts rising in the ranks of chess players, becomes the US champion and finally defeats the current world champion Borgov in the prestigious Moscow International in 1968. Throughout her journey, she meets obstacles, gets addicted to alcohol and tranquilizers, learns the lessons of humility, makes friends like Beltik, Benny, Jacob and more.

This is a very good book on chess and the best film or tv series production ever related to chess. My earlier best favorite was Pawn Sacrifice starring Tobey Maguire on the Fischer-Spassky 1972 World Championship match. Also The Queen of Katwe was good. I plan to watch Searching for Bobby Fischer next. Renowned US chess coach Bruce Pandolfini and ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov were the chess consultants for the miniseries. This resulted in technical accuracy. For example, many of the positions were real games from famous chess masters like Capablanca, Reshevsky, Kasparov, Anand, Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Topalov, Tal, Reti, Bogoljubov.

Beth acted very well in the movie. I liked how the chess pieces were frequently projected upside down in the ceiling of the room. I liked it when Benny apologized to Beth the next day after defeating her many times in speed chess. I liked the humility of Luchenko after getting defeated by Beth in Moscow. I liked Benny and the teams' adjournment analysis over the phone for the final encounter against Borgov.

I strongly recommend watching the miniseries and if you read often, then also read the book.

Marqeta Talent Show: Simultaneous Chess

My office has arranged for a virtual fun event called Marqeta Talent Show where people can demonstrate their different talents in a festive manner. I thought of hosting a simultaneous chess show with some of my fellow players of Marqeta Chess Club. When someone joins Marqeta, they need to say what is their superpower, usually something funny or some passion that they cherish. When I joined Marqeta, I claimed my superpower as the ability to play chess in 10 boards in parallel with 10 opponents, making each move in less than 10 seconds and win all the 10 games! Of course, I am not that good, specially if 1 or 2 of the opponents are seasoned players then I have no chance. But then, a superpower is supposed to be flashy or funny. So I gave it a try. Our SVP Brian Keilly was hosting the All Hands and told me he wants to test my superpower. Well, it's not easy to arrange a simul like this and we decided we will figure out a way later. I remember every once in a while Brian would ask me - "Hey Ashik are you scared, you haven't given the test yet!" 😅So finally I thought this is the time when I can give it a try. 

5 of my colleagues were interested to participate in that talent show. Very nice of them, thank you! Last afternoon we ended up playing as a group and here are the highlights from that session. I was at risk of losing in the game against Charles but managed to win all the games. 

Game#1: Padma Muthuramalingam vs Ashik Uzzaman

Game#2: Artem Sholomytskyy vs Ashik Uzzaman

Game#3: Chandrasekaran Subramaniam vs Ashik Uzzaman

Game#4: Subrat Parida vs Ashik Uzzaman

Game#5: Ashik Uzzaman vs Charles Simms

My 2nd Round Win Against WGM Carla Heredia in TNM Round 2

 I won a very hard-fought equal game against WGM Carla Heredia in the second round of Tuesday Night Marathon organized by Mechanics Chess Institute today.

Ashik and Ahyan's Round 5 and 6 Games in Mechanics Chess Institute TNM A...

Last Tuesday Ahyan and I played the 5th and 6th round of Tuesday Night Marathon online over chess.com arranged by Mechanics Chess Institute. The games are live analyzed by FIDE Master Paul Whitehead and Abel Talamantez. After a nice win by Ahyan at 5th round he was jointly in second position with 4 out of 5 in the open section which is phenomenal at his age and rating. Ahyan and I joined the commentary by invitation from TD Judit Sztaray after the 6th round for a short time. Here are some excerpts from our games and the commentaries. The TNM newsletter for this round may be found here - https://www.milibrary.org/chess-newsletters/931

Round 6:

Jonah Busch (Kondsaga) (1711) - Ahyan Zaman (ahyanzaman) (1496) [E11]
Live Chess Chess.com, 18.08.2020
[de Firmian,Nick]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 [4.Bd2] 4...d5 Old-style. [4...0-0 keeps options: 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d5 (6...d6!? rather asks the N/d2, what are you doing there...) 7.e5 Nfd7 8.Bd3 c5 9.h4!? was a fun line until it was clarified that 9...g6! was the way to defend. (The "fun" happens after 9...cxd4?? 10.Bxh7+!) ; Or there's 4...b6 "committing" to the Queen's Indian.] 5.a3 [5.Qa4+] 5...Bxd2+?! This is probably White's "as good as it gets" against the Bogo-Indian. Two bishops, Black's unsolved bad LSB. [5...Be7 is almost always played.] 6.Nxd2!? [6.Bxd2 is 7 or 8 times as common -- but the text move scores better. And it makes sense, to contest e4 (guarding c4 is almost incidental).] 6...0-0 7.g3?!

[7.e3 is more common by a lot, if more sensible, first played at least as early as 1931! 7...b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.b3 c5 11.Bb2 1-0 (29) Zamikhovsky,A-Rosenkrantz,K Moscow 1931] 7...dxc4!? Looks good, since White can't take back (... Qd5...). [But 7...Nc6! 8.e3 e5 highlights the problem. Black busts open the center and puts White on the spot. 9.Bg2 exd4 10.cxd5 dxe3 11.fxe3 Nxd5] 8.Bg2 Qxd4 9.0-0 Rd8 [9...Nc6! 10.Qc2 (10.Bxc6?! bxc6 when White will miss his king bishop even more than Black was.) 10...Na5 gets annoying.] 10.e3 [10.Qc2 wins back one pawn with sufficient compensation for the other (Black's queen gets kicked around more than she'd like).] 10...Qd3 Clear plus Black now. 11.Qa4 c3 [11...Bd7!? 12.Qxc4 Bc6 Who's your bad bishop now?] 12.bxc3 Qxc3?! [12...Bd7 here also] 13.Rb1 c6 [13...Nd5] 14.Ne4 [14.Bb2! Some queen-kicking coming.] 14...Nxe4 15.Bxe4 f5 [Not a lot of humans find 15...Re8! thinking about dulling the long diagonal with ...e5 at some point.] 16.Bb2 Qc5 17.Bc2 Rd2?! Black needed to be thinking development, defense. [17...Nd7 18.Rfd1 Re8] 18.Rfc1 [18.Bb3! thwarts.] 18...Rd7

Black's position would be pathetic if he didn't have two pawns to show for it; but maybe that's not enough. 19.Bb3 Qe7 20.Qf4 threatens f5 [20.Qc4!] 20...Qf7 21.Qe5?! [21.e4! fxe4 22.Qxe4 Rd8 23.Re1 Is this a Bogo-Indian -- or a Danish Gambit!?] 21...Re7 22.Rd1 Nd7 Black might consolidate now! 23.Qc3 Nf8 24.Rd6 Rd7?! Black needs a plan. [How about 24...b6! intending ...Bb7 whether or not White takes on c6.] 25.Rbd1 Rxd6 26.Rxd6 Bd7 27.Qd4 Rd8?! 28.h4 [28.Qxa7! Qe7+/= 29.Qd4?! (29.Qc5; 29.Rd2) 29...c5!= 30.Qxc5? Ba4!] 28...Qe7 29.h5 c5 3:20 remaining

The game has become critical. [29...h6!] 30.Qe5? 6:26 remaining [30.Qxc5! Ba4? (30...h6!= has to, has to be played!) 31.Rxd8! Qxc5 32.Bxe6+ Kh8 33.h6! and White mates.] 30...Re8?? Ahyan took a good minute on this move, but it missed the danger: that Alpha pawn is zeroing in on Black's king and must be stopped! [30...h6!-/+] 31.h6! winning! 31...Qf6 [31...Ng6 when 32.Rxe6!! (32.Qxc5 is about as good, and wins prosaically) 32...Nxe5 33.Rxe7+ Kf8 34.Rxg7!+- puts some flash into it.] 32.hxg7 Qxe5 33.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 34.Bxe5 With the extra bishop (and a powerful one at that on e5) White just wins the endgame. 34...Ke7 35.Rd2 Rc8 36.Bf6+ Ke8 37.f3 c4 38.Bc2 c3 39.Rd3 [39.Rh2] 39...Bb5 40.Rxc3 Rxc3 41.Bxc3 Kd7 42.e4 fxe4 43.Bxe4 Kd6 44.Bxb7 Kc5 45.Bb4+ Kc4 46.Kf2 Kd3 47.Be4+ Kc4 48.Bxh7 Kd5 49.Be4+ Ke5 50.Ke3 Bc4 51.f4+ Kf6 52.g4 Kg7 53.Kd4 Bb5 54.Ke5 Bd7 55.Bc5 Kf7 56.Bxa7 Kg7 57.Bd4 Kf7 58.Bc2 Bc8 59.a4 Bd7 60.a5 Bc8 61.Bd3 Bb7 62.a6 Ba8 63.a7 Bd5 64.Be4 Ba8 65.Bxa8 Kg6 66.Be4+ Kf7 67.a8Q Ke7 68.Qa7+ Kf8 69.Kxe6 Ke8 70.Qe7# Kondsaga won by checkmate 1-0

 

The Best Chess Players Over Time (Estimated By Accuracy)

Twice Transpiring Virtuosity

Can Everyone Become Talented? - Story of the Polgar Sisters (animated)

Became 2019 US National Class Champion In Under 2000 Section

I became undefeated champion today in 19th US National Class Chess Championship organized by BayAreaChess. I played in A section (Under 2000) in 2 days format while Ahyan played in B section . (Under 1800). I won first 4 rounds and drew the final round to be champion. Ahyan didn’t get a good tournament this time as he is trying to settle in this relatively new B section. So far all my games were hard earned slow endgame wins, three times being a pawn down with slight or no compensation. I should receive $1008 first prize along with the champions trophy. 

You may find the final standings here. Also I have recorded below all the 5 games I played in this tournament.

Rohan Rajaram (1794) vs. Ashik Uzzaman (1947) 1/2-1/2

Hyatt Regency, Burlingame, California: US National Class Championship: 2019.09.29

In the final round I needed a draw while my opponent Rajaram needed to defeat me to be champion. He thought he got me in the bag after his 42. Kd2. I am going to soon loose my c2 or g6 pawn with a good chance for him to win. But my reply 42... g5! threw him out. I virtually sealed the draw there by ruining his pawn structure despite going a pawn down. I remember Tournament Director Tom (who was watching the game) asked me later, where did that g5 come from? Moves like g5 is not intuitive and easy to miss, so I was very happy when I found it!

Zodiac Sign

My Zodiac Sign is Libra, I feel I am a Libra.

Vote for Me in CalChess Board of Directors Election 2019

CalChess will be holding its annual general meeting in connection with the State Championship.

Besides general agenda items, elections will take place for 4 seats: 2 of them will be re-election, and 2 will be filling vacant positions.

We are calling all players or parents who are passionate about chess and the future of chess in Northern California. We need fresh, new and enthusiastic board members, who are ready to volunteer their time in order to improve the chess scene, bring new ideas to the table, and help execute them!

Read the bylaws here: http://www.calchess.org/governance/calchess_bylaws.pdf

Northern California State Affiliate - CalChess

General meeting & Elections for the Board of Directors

Date: Saturday, August 30th, 2019

Meeting time: 6PM

Location: Ballroom K in the Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, CA 95054

You may read the announcement here.

If you are current member of CalChess and over 14 years of old, you are eligible for giving a vote. You have to make sure your membership didn't expire before August 30th 2018. You can check the membership list below. To give the vote you have to be physically present in that location that day.

http://calchess.org/membership_list/membership_list.txt

If you are interested to run for the election yourself as one of the candidates, you will need to send an email to Dr. Judit Sztaray, Secretary of CalChess: judit@calchess.org. You should go through the updated CalChess ByLaws. And of course you have to ask the voters to vote for you.

I will be running for one of the 4 positions. I am a long time bay area resident, a chess parent and a USCF Candidate Master. If elected as a board member for CalChess, I will work along with other members to improve the presence of CalChess across Northern California both offline and online. This will include timely communication of CalChess activities via e-newsletter, facebook page, LinkedIn and twitter feed for CalChess. I will also work to attract Corporate Sponsorship from various Sillicon Valley software companies.

• Improving the CalChess Web Site
• Write article in CalChess Journal
• Chess Event Coverage
• Improve CalChess Social Web Presence
• Attracting Corporate World Into Chess

Last year I lost the election by couple of votes but hope to make it this time with your support.  Please vote for me in this CalChess Board of Directors Election 2019 as well as tell your friends to vote in my favor.

19th Addison Memorial Chess Tournament at Mechanics Chess Club

I and Ahyan played 19th Addison Memorial Chess Tournament at Mechanics Chess Club, San Francisco this weekend in 2-days schedule. I scored 3.5 our of 5 in under 2000 section while Ahyan socred 3 out 5 in Under 1800 section. Like our last week's Las Vegas National Open tournament, it didn't go well for either of us. But there are some interesting moments of chess that I would like to share with you.

After my 3rd round game, Paul invited me and my opponent to analyze our game live at twitch tv where top 10 boards in each round were being broadcasted.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/442840230

You may find my commentary at 1 hour 25 minutes portion of the above broadcast and Ahyan's at 3 hours 7 minutes. Other than twitch the games were also broadcasted in chess24.com and followchess.

Ahyan Became Jointly Champion In Best of The West Under 1800

Ahyan and I played the 2 days format of Best of the West chess tournament organized by Bay Area Chess over the memorial day weekend. Ahyan played one section up at Under 1800 instead of Under 1600. I played in Under 2000 section. Ahyan won 5 games and lost 1 while I lost first 2 games and won the rest 4 games. As a result Ahyan will be wining some $800 or so while I will probably just a bit for jointly being 3rd with a bunch of others. Here are some of our games from the tournament.

The full standings may be found here.

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201905279402.3-15035222

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201905279402.2-13178575

Tournament: Best of the West
Site: Santa Clara Marriott
SectionL Under 1800
Date: 27th May 2019
Round: 6
Board: 147
White: Ahyan Zaman (1568)
Black: Andrew Ng (1756)
Result: 1-0






Tournament: Best of the West
Site: Santa Clara Marriott
SectionL Under 2000
Date: 26th May 2019
Round: 4
White: Ashik Uzzaman (1950)
Black: Alvin Han (1664)
Result: 1-0


Tournament: Best of the West
Site: Santa Clara Marriott
SectionL Under 2000
Date: 27th May 2019
Round: 6
White: Ashik Uzzaman (1950)
Black: Chelsea Zhou (1727)
Result: 1-0



Here is a quiz from my 4th game where I checkmated my opponent with White to move. Can you find it?

My Loss against Ivanov in 2nd round of TNM anallyzed by IM Elioot Winslow in TNM Newsletter

(14) Uzzaman,Ashik (1931) - Ivanov,Aleksander (2171) [B23]
Mechanics' Spring TNM: 2000+ San Francisco (2.14), 26.03.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.0-0 [6.Bc4; 6.Bd3] 6...Nxb5 [6...a6; 6...e6] 7.Nxb5 d5 [7...d6] 8.exd5 a6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.d4 Nxd5 11.dxc5 Nxc3 12.Qxd8+ Kxd8 13.bxc3 Bxc3 [13...Kc7!? 14.Nd4 Rd8 15.Be3 Bf5] 14.Rb1 Kc7 [14...f6!?] 15.Rb3 Bf6 16.Bd2

I would like to ask both players if they knew what a theoretical rabbit-hole they went into with this line! There are over 60 games here! 16...a5 [16...Be6 has been most often played: 17.Ba5+ (17.Rb6!? a5) 17...Kc6 But this might well not be the best! (17...Kb8!! is Stockfish's adamant (and unplayed!) preference, with a slight plus! 18.Rd1!! b5!!) 18.Rb6+ Kxc5 19.Nd2 Bxa2! according to Stockfish the only 0.00 move (19...Bd5; 19...Bd4+ 20.Kh1 Bxa2 21.c3!N +-) ; 16...Bf5 17.Ba5+ Kc8 18.Rb6 Rd8 19.c6 bxc6 20.Rxc6+ Kd7 21.Rxf6 exf6 22.Rd1+ Ke8 23.Bxd8 Rxd8 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Nd4 saw White grind to the edge of a win and then miss; ½-½ (78) Keller,C (2200)-Leon Hoyos,M (2521) Metz 2010] 17.a4? Lets Black out. [17.Rfb1 Ra7 18.Rb5 (18.c6! (Stockfish 10) 18...Kxc6! 19.Be3 Ra6 remains tense but Black is no worse) 18...Bd7! 19.Rb6 (19.Bxa5+ Kc8 20.c6 (20.Bb6?! Rxa2 21.Ra5 Rxa5 22.Bxa5 Bf5 (22...Bc6=/+) 23.Ne5 Bxc2 24.Rc1 Be4 25.Rd1 Bxe5 26.fxe5 Bf5 27.Bb6 h5 28.Kf2 Be4 29.g3 e6 30.Rd6 Bc6 31.h4 Rf8 32.Ke3 Bd7 33.Rd1 Bc6 34.Rd6 f6 35.Rxe6 fxe5 36.Rxg6 Kd7 37.Rg5 Rf3+ 38.Ke2 e4 39.Rxh5 Bb5+ 40.Kd1 e3 41.Re5 e2+ 42.Kd2 Rd3+ 43.Kc2 Rxg3 44.Ba5 Kc6 45.Bd2 Bd3+ 46.Kc3 Kb5 47.Be1 Rh3 48.Kd4 Bg6 49.c6+ Kxc6 50.Re6+ Kd7 51.Rxg6 Rh1 52.Rg7+ Kc6 53.Rg6+ Kd7 54.Rg7+ Kc6 55.Rg6+ Kd7 1/2-1/2 (55) Lazar,A (2129)-Danner,G (2401) Pula 2012) 20...Bxc6 21.Rc5 e6 22.Bc3 Bxc3 23.Rxc3=/+) ] 17...Be6-/+ 18.Rb6 Rhd8 19.Rfb1 Bd5 20.f5 slightly suicidal [20.Be3 Rd7 (20...Bc6) ] 20...gxf5 21.Bf4+ Kc8 [21...Kd7] 22.Ne5 Bxe5 23.Bxe5 Bc6

Quite an amazing situation, that Black is as won as he is here. 24.Bc3 [24.Rf1] 24...Rd5 25.Re1 Kd7 [25...Rxc5!] 26.Re5 Rxe5 27.Bxe5 Ke6 28.Bf4 Rd8 29.Rb3 Rd4 30.Bc7 Rxa4 31.Rh3 Ra1+ 32.Kf2 a4 33.Rh6+ f6 34.Rxh7 a3 35.Rh8 a2 36.Ra8 Bd5 37.h4 Rc1 38.h5 a1Q 0-1

Became Joint Runner Up in 19th Max Wilkerson Memorial at Mechanics

I became jointly runner up in the 19th Max Wilkerson Memorial at Mechanics Chess Institute scoring 3.5 out of 5. In the 3rd round I drew again NM Eric despite being a pawn up. The game is given below. I went on to win again a candidate master in 4th round but lost the final round, missing the chance to be sole champion.