Young Masters in the Making

A Series devoted to the nurture and celebration of the bright young Chess talent on Michigan's horizon.

We begin this series with one of the bright young lights in Michigan Chess. Manis Davidovich, or Manny, as he likes to be called. He has gotten to the point in his young life where his chess game is becoming mature and consistent. He attributes that to becoming comfortable in his style, and probably more importantly -- not taking lesser ranked opponents lightly. He can remember a time, and not that long ago, when he would often lose to lesser-ranked opponents way too often for his tastes. He got a handle on this problem by being more cautious in his approach to a game, making sure that an attack was warranted before committing his resources to an attack. Does that make him a big Tigran Petrosian fan? Not hardly! While having an amazing sense of the history of chess, being able to produce obscure quotes from noted giants throughout the recorded history of Chess that any young player would be encouraged to emulate, he has definite thoughts about chess style and what works best for him. A list of his favorites would place Tal, Matulovic & Velimerovic very high. He definitely gravitates toward tacticians and admires the attacking game. When asked what advice he would have for young people coming up in chess, he responds "If you say that there are four main sections of a chess game: 1.Openings 2.Positional Game 3.Tactical Game 4.End Game -- I would cut these in half and recommend that young players concentrate on openings and the tactical game. To learn the intricacies of positional chess can take years to master. If you keep as your goal the objective of checkmating the opponent's King you will probably never reach the endgame in most instances. I prefer an opening where I sacrifice material or some positional advantages for a clear initiative. That allows me to dictate the tempo along with chances versus the opposing King." I'm sure that most experts would agree that it's best for kids to learn tactics before positional chess -- it's also probably a lot more fun for the kids! The style seems to be working for Manny; he recently breezed through the U.S. Amateur North Championship with a perfect 5-0 record!

Manny didn't grow up in a house where chess was played all the time. He didn't have a host of relatives active in Michigan chess. Oh, he learned the moves at age 5. But, he never really thought about playing chess in any serious way until he was about 12 and someone suggested he go to the Oak Park chess club, which was close to his childhood home. When he walked into that chess club for the first time he noticed something that he'd never seen before. He saw chess clocks and tournament chess sets. It didn't take long at all for the slight tinge of intimidation to turn into excitement that he would soon be using this equipment. If he had a dog named "Toto" he may have remarked "I have a feeling we're not at school playing chess with those cheap sets you get at the dime store anymore, Toto!" Well, Manny got his brains beat out at the club for the next couple of years, where the players who ranged in strength up to about 1500-1600 were much more experienced than him. Then, he began to study chess at age 15, and entered his first chess tournament when he was 15 yrs. & 7 mos. old. It was July 31, 1998 & he won his section 3-0! His first provisional rating from that tournament was 1565. His rating hovered in the class B to class C area til he had a spurt of more than 400 pts. over a 1 yr. period between June, 00 & June, 01. He then went through another stagnant period where the adjustments were made that were discussed previously. His rating improved an official 117 pts. between Oct. 02 & Apr. 03! The hard work seems to be paying off. He is now officially rated at 2117, and hasn't yet reached his 21^st birthday.

Since graduating from high school a couple of years ago, he has been living his dream. He works at chess full-time! His next tournament is this coming weekend -- the Chicago Open, where some big-time prize money is on the line. He is employed at Ed Mandell's All the King's Men chess store in Warren, where he is available for private lessons for children and adults.

Below we present two games from his recent win at the U.S. Amateur North Championship in Detroit. In the first game he had the White pieces against Hassan Sobh, in round 1. This is a beautiful little gem that features an attack that appears almost from nowhere. The notes are mine, with the blessing of the winner. Enjoy!

(7) Manis Davidovich (2117) - Hassan Sobh (1829) [B00]
US Amateur North (1), 17.05.2003
[MLJ]
1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.0–0 Nf6 7.h3 Bh5 8.Bf4 Bd6 9.Nc3 Qa5 10.Be3 0–0 11.Nd2 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 Nd5 13.Nce4 Nxe3 14.fxe3 Be7 15.c4 b6 16.a3 Qa6 17.b4 Qb7 18.Ng3 Nb8 19.Nh5 Nd7 20.e4 c5 21.e5! cxd4 22.Qg4 g6 23.Nf6+ Kg7 24.Qh4 Rh8? It was after this move that Fritz really soured on Black's game. Perhaps, deserting the f7 sq. was the fatal flaw. 25.Nh5+ Kf8? Fritz believes Black to be lost at this point, but suggests that more resistance could be offered by: [25...gxh5 26.Qxe7 Rhf8 27.Rf4 Rae8 28.Qg5++-] 26.Qf4 Ke8 27.Qxf7+ Kd8 28.Ng7 Nxe5 29.Qxe6 Nc6 30.b5 Na5 31.Rf7 Rf8 32.Rxf8+ Bxf8 33.Qe8+ Kc7 34.Qf7+ Kd6 35.Ne8+ Rxe8 36.Qxe8 Qe7 37.Qb8+ Kc5 38.Rc1! After this quiet move the noose draws very tight around the Black K's neck -- shhh! the K hasn't noticed! 38...Bh6?? Fritz gives: [38...d3 39.Qf4 Bh6 (39...g5 40.Ne4+ Kd4 41.Nxg5+ Kc5 42.Ne4+ Kd4 43.Nf2+ Kc5 44.Nxd3#) 40.Qxh6 And Black is down a R with no compensation.] 39.Qc7+!! Black Resigns. He can do nothing to avoid mate. For after: 39...Qxc7 Wht. plays 40.Ne4#, while against:[39...Nc6 White has his choice of 40.Nb3# or simply 40.Qxc6#. The amazing part about this game to me is that Davidovich decides on move 21 that armed with little more than his Q & N he should be able to prevail against the Black K and all his defensive forces. Then after move 36 when most players would be happy to gain an enemy R for the hard-working pesky little N our 2003 Amateur Champion was just getting started! When it seemed the Blk K had weathered the storm and was going into the end-game down the exchange Wht. discovered a fine mating net to end the contest.] 1–0

Aaron Kahn (1934) - Manis Davidovich (2117) [A13]
US Amateur North (4), 18.05.2003
[M. Davidovich]