by Nancy Keller
Aaron Grabinsky--Recent wins against three players rated over 1750 has him moving quickly up the ratings lists.
Because of lack of full teams but everyone wanting to play chess, all players including coaches and tag-alongs were put into a swiss sys competition. Team member wins were added to make the team score. This way the undermanned Marshfield and Myrtle Point teams could have a chance to play and the extra Varsity players from Coquille could also try out their skill. Three high ranking adults/coaches were included as Coquille wanted some tough competition to hone their skills.
Aaron Grabinsky took on Coach Randy Smolensky in the final round. Coach Smolensky for South Umpqua is highly rated at 1877. Aaron at 1631 was considered the underdog but won after identifying the tricky moves that Randy set up and responding by not taking bait. The Coquille Junior Varsity team placed first with final results: Aaron Grabinsky 5 wins, Josiah Perkins 4 wins, Hailey Riley 3 wins, Kaden Johnson 3 wins and Mason Collard 2 wins for a total of 17 points.
Coquille High School Varsity Team placed second with final results: Jessi Ross 3 wins, Sarai Perkins 3 wins, Isaiah Hill 3 wins, Kaitlyn Davidson 2.5 wins and Donavan Taylor-Blower 2 wins for a total of 13.5 points.
South Umpqua High School Varsity Team placed third with final results: Gordon Woodruff 3 wins, Aaron Opp 2.5 wins, Lynzee Maunu 2 wins, Nick Rabern 1 win and Katelyn Anderson 1 win for a total of 9.5 points.
Myrtle Point Junior Varsity Team had only two members with Chace Kulm 2 wins and Ed Sherman 1 win.
Marshfield Varsity Team had Jeremy Dixson 2 wins.
Coquille’s Elementary team of Jordan Henderson (5th grade), Mackenzie Collard (1st grade), Angelina Morones (2nd grade) and TJ Spanberger (3rd grade) managed to win a few games as they played against the junior high and high school players. They accumulated 5 points.
Randy Smolensky (1815) vs Aaron Grabinsky (1673)
(Annotated by Aaron)
1. e4 e6 My pet opening–the French Defense.}
2. d4 d5
3. Be3 dxe4
…a peculiar gambit, probably used for surprise more than anything else.
4. f3 Nf6 I knew that I wasn’t supposed to take, as it would speed up White’s development.
5. c4 b6…planning to reinforce my e-pawn with Bb7.
6. Nc3 Bb7
7. Be2 Be7
8. Nh3 Obviously, white must develop his knight.
8. … Nbd7 Nbd7 was preparing C5 on the next move.
9. O-O c5 I figured that I must strike back at white’s strong center.
10. d5
White just played d5 to earn a passed pawn, but Black correctly perceived that the pawn wasn't going anywhere and would be difficult to protect.
10. … exd5
11. cxd5 exf3 Forced.
12. Bxf3 Ne5
13. Qa4+ Qd7
14. Qxd7+ With Qxd7, white makes his job of defending his d5 pawn considerably harder.
14. … Nfxd7 15. Be2 O-O 16. Rad1 a6 …keeping White’s pieces off b5.
17. Ne4 A good move by white preparing either Ng3-Nf5 and also keeping an eye on d6.
17. … h6
18. Ng3 Rfe8
19. Nf5 Bf8 I like Bf8 as it makes it harder for white to advance to d6 with his pawn.
20. Bc1 Rad8
21. Bf4 Nf6 Preparing more and more pressure on White’s d-pawn.
22. Bxe5 Bxe5 was probably white’s best choice as the knight on e5 was considerably strong.
22. … Rxe5
23. Rd2 Rexd5
24. Rxd5 Bxd5
25. Nxh6+ A nice move by white which wins a pawn by force. Kh7, Ng4 is no better.
25. … gxh6
26. Rxf6 c4 I like this move as it opens the c5 square for my bishop and indirectly protects my pawn on b6 as rxb6??, c5+ wins the rook.
27. Kf1 Rd6 I think that trading rooks is good for black as I have a strong bishop pair.
28. Rxd6 Bxd6
29. g3 b5 …getting my queenside majority rolling!
30. Nf2 He wisely repositions his knight.
30. … b4
31. Ng4 c3 The tempting fork Nf6+ and Nxd5 will be refuted by c2, where my pawn is unstoppable.
32. bxc3 bxc3 Randy wisely rejects the fork.
White just played Bd3. The response Bc4 would have been winning instantly.
34. Ne3 Kg7
35. Ke2 Kf6
36. Bxa6 Bxa2
37. Bd3 Be6
38. Kd1 Ke5
39. Kc2 Kd4
40. Nd1 Bb4
41. Nf2 Ke3
42. Nd1+ Kf3
Black just played Kf3, and both White's kingside pawns will fall. It's all over but the formalities now.
43. Nxc3 Bxc3 44. Kxc3 Kg2
45. Be4+ Kxh2 46. Kd4 Kxg3 47. Ke5 h5 48. Kf6 h4 49. Ke7 h3 50. Kf6 h2 51. Kg5 f5
52. Ba8 f4
53. Bh1 Bh3
54. Kh5 Bg2
0-1
