Here it looks like White is winning an exchange, but after 23 .. Rxg2+ he'll need to be careful to avoid getting mated.  Lines like 23 .. Rxg2+ 24 Kxg2 Rg7+ 25 Kh1 Qxf3+!! 26 Rxf3 Bxf3# are in the air.  After 23 .. Rxg2+ 24 Kxg2 Rg7+ 25 Kh3 Qe4! things are also ugly, as White is virtually obligated to move his light squared bishop and give up his Queen to avoid mate.   After a nearly 30 minute (!) think he went for 23 .. Rxg2+ 24 Kxg2 Rg7+ 25 Kf2 Qxf3+ 26 Ke1 Qxe3+ 27 Kd1 when White stays up an exchange, although the position is still difficult.  Black then blundered a rook after 27 .. Rg2 28 Qc3 Bf3+? 29 Rxf3 Rg1+ 30 Rf1 when he should have instead taken the c5-pawn.

Also in the 2nd round the second seed Travis Keys (1900) playing the Black pieces dispatched Walker in a game where White was racing his queenside pawns, but his King was left vulnerable and fell to a mating net.

In the third round the two highest rated players Keys and Stewart met,with Keys having the White pieces.  Keys missed winning around move 15, and then later tried an aggressive-looking move that had a tactical flaw.


After 24. g4 followed 24 .. Qxf3! 25 gxh5 Bd5 and White can barely stay alive.  Keys avoided checkmate by 26 Be4 Bxe4 27 Qb3+, by the damage was done.

Also in the 3rd round, three players  improved from 1-1 to 2-1.  Clay Polk won a second straight game by beating Chris Cruz.  Paul Green beat McGlotha after a loss and a bye in the previous two rounds.  John Walker beat Samuel Parker in a game where Walker was up two pawns early that were later lost, and featured a rook and pawn endgame that Parker could have drawn.

In the last round Stewart and Walker were paired, giving Stewart a chance to avenge his last round loss to Walker at the April Scramble IV tournament in April.  Walker was hoping to beat Stewart and tie for first, just has he had at that same tournament.


Here White had played 17 .. Na6, redeploying his Knight as part of a g8-f6-d7-b8-a6 maneuver!  Stewart spotted a tactical flaw with this move, and followed up with 18 Nxd5!!  While the a8-h1 diagonal looks vulnerable here, Black can't actually exploit it with 18 .. Bc6 19 Nxc6 Qxc6 20 Bg2 exd5?? because of 21 Bxd5+, winning the Queen.  Black instead had to play 20 .. Qe8 and after 21 Nxe7+ Qxe7 22 Be3 White has a large edge.  White went on to win in 47 moves.

The other action that was part of the last round included competition for the 2nd and U1400 prizes.  Clay Polk and Paul Green were both 2-1 and in great shape for the U1400 prize.  Paul Green got paired against his younger brother Robert and won quickly to finish 3-1. Polk on the other hand was handed 600+ rating disadvantage against Travis Keys (also 2-1 and eyeing 2nd place).  On paper it looked like Polk should enjoy the experience against a stronger opponent, since he seemed unlikely to enjoy the prize money.  Polk surprised everyone though and managed to survive a nice attack where perhaps Keys missed a win and went 3-1.  Polk and Paul Green ended up splitting a combined 2nd/U1400 prize.

The Mississippi Open was definitely a fighting tournament!  Douglas Stewart moved his rating up to 1988, the closest he has ever  been to an elusive Expert title.  John Michael Walker had his bumps, but kept his B title intact.  The biggest story of the tournament were the two scholastic players finishing 2nd.  Clay Polk, who will be starting at Mississippi State as a freshman in the fall, gained 65 rating points and crossed into the 1300 territory.  The way he's playing C-class can't be very far away.  Paul Green definitely had his most successfull adult tournament, and moved up 111 rating points from 628 to 739.

Many thanks to Clay Polk and his mother for helping find a site that was free to the MCA.  That allowed the MCA to return over 75% of the entry fees as prizes.