Webster University defines excellence with fifth straight college chess championship

Which is better — the College Chess Final Four or its pretentious basketball rival?

Consider: The college chess version of “March Madness” actually ends in March, having just been played over the weekend at the famed Marshall Chess Club in Manhattan. There are no TV timeouts in the chess Final Four, no endless video reviews by the refs to fix a clock problem or adjudicate an out-of-bounds call. College chess coaches tend not to rant and rave at their student-athletes if they happen to make a mistake during the game. And, best of all, as long as you ride on the Webster University Gorloks in your office pool, your bracket will never be busted come tournament time.

The private St. Louis school captured its fifth President’s Cup Sunday, fueled by a powerhouse all-grandmaster lineup anchored by Vietnam GM Le Quang Liem and young U.S. star Ray Robson. Texas Tech and St. Louis finished in a tie for second, with the University of Texas-Dallas fourth.

Texas Tech first board Ukraine GM Andrey Baryshpolets helped his team to an important match point with a powerful win over UTD’s GM Denis Kadric, taking the fight to Black’s unusual plan in a Modern Defense. I don’t know if 5. g3 Nh6!? 6. Bg5 f6!? (0-0 7. e4 c5 8. Be2 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 is simpler and very playable for Black) is a Kadric pet line, but White immediately accepts the challenge to attack with 7. Bxh6 Bxh6 8. h4 e5 9. h5, opening lines against Black’s dodgy kingside setup.

The breakthrough isn’t long in coming: 13. Qc2 Nc5 (moving away from the kingside defense, but White is also better on 13…Nf8 14. hxg6 hxg6 15. Nd2 c6 16. 0-0-0 Qe7 17. Nde4) 14. hxg6 hxg6 15. Rd1 Qe7 16. Nh4 f5 (trying to block White’s attacking lanes, as 16…Qf7 also runs into 17. Nxg6! Qxg6 18. Qxg6+ Kxg6 19. Bh5+ Kg7 20. Bxe8 Bg4 21. Rd5, and White wins material) 17. Nd5 Qf7 (see diagram); with the g6-square weak, the c7-square needing attention, and the h- and d-files under White’s control, it’s no surprise that a combination is in the air.

Baryshpolets strikes with 18. Nxg6! Qxg6 19. Bh5 Qc6 20. b4! (the most forceful line, though 20. Bxe8 Qxe8 21. Nxc7 Qc6 22. Rxh6 is also strong) Rh8 21. bxc5 Bg5 22. f4 Bf6 23. g4 exf4 (fxg4?? 24. Qg6+ Kf8 25. Qf7 mate) 24. g5!, taking advantage of the fact that the Black bishop dare not abandon the long diagonal — 24…Bxg5 25. Qc3+ Kg8 26. Ne7+! Bxe7 27. Rg1+ Kf8 28. Qg7 mate.

The finale: 24…Be5 25. exf4 Qxc5 (Bxf4 26. Qc3+ Kh7 27. Bf7+, with mate to follow on the h-file) 26. Qe2 Bd4 27. Rxd4!, and a battered Black calls it quits, not needing to play out 27…Qxd4 28. Qe7+ Kg8 29. Qf7 mate.

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Breaking news: The international chess federation FIDE said in a brief notice Monday that longtime President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had resigned, and the board will be meeting next month to discuss a replacement. But the polarizing FIDE president then categorically denied the report as — wait for it — “fake news.” Stay tuned.

Baryshpolets-Kadric, Chess Final Four, Marshall Chess Club, New York, March 2017

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. g3 Nh6 6. Bg5 f6 7. Bxh6 Bxh6 8. h4 e5 9. h5 Kf7 10. e3 Kg7 11. Be2 Re8 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Qc2 Nc5 14. hxg6 hxg6 15. Rd1 Qe7 16. Nh4 f5 17. Nd5 Qf7 18. Nxg6 Qxg6 19. Bh5 Qc6 20. b4 Rh8 21. bxc5 Bg5 22. f4 Bf6 23. g4 exf4 24. g5 Be5 25. exf4 Qxc5 26. Qe2 Bd4 27. Rxd4 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.