Bill Orton Wins Arkansas Open

The Arkansas Open, held at Day's Inn in Fayetteville this year, was won by Bill Orton with 4 1/2 out of 5. There were over thirty players there, from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee. The tournament was ably directed by Les Kline, Fayetteville Chess Club president, using SwissSys software.

Bill Orton was the highest rated player, and held board one throughout the tournament. In round one he faced Tyler Madison, who always plays Bill a tough game.

Madison,Tyler - Orton,Bill
Arkansas Open (1) 2012-03-11
(B20 Sicilian D)
1 e4 c5 2 Bc4 e6 3 Nf3 a6 4 a4 Nc6 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 d4 cxd4 7 Nxd4 Nxd4 8 Qxd4 Ne7 9 Be3 Nc6 10 Qb6 Qxb6 11 Bxb6 Bb4 12 O-O d6 13 Ne2 Ke7 14 c3 Ba5 15 Bxa5 Nxa5 16 Ba2 Bd7 17 b4? Nc6 18 f4 Rac8 19 b5 Na5 20 bxa6 bxa6 21 Rfb1 Rb8 22 Rb4 Nc6 23 Rb3 Rxb3 24 Bxb3 Rb8 25 Bc4 a5 26 Bb5 Nd8 27 Nd4 Nb7 28 Bxd7 Kxd7 29 Rb1 Kc8 30 Nb5 Ra8 31 c4 Ra6 32 Rd1 Kd7 33 e5 Rc6 34 Rd4 Ke7 35 Kf2 dxe5 36 fxe5 Nc5 37 Na7 Rc7 38 Nb5 Rd7 39 Rxd7+ Kxd7 40 Ke3 Nxa4 41 Kd4 Kc6 42 Na7+ Kb7 43 Nb5 Kb6 44 Na3 Nc5 45 Nb5 Nd7 46 Nc3 f6 47 Na4+ Kc6 48 exf6 gxf6 49 g4 e5+ 50 Ke3 Nb6 51 Nb2 a4 52 Ke4 a3 53 Nd3 Nxc4 54 Kf5 Kd5 55 g5 fxg5 56 Kxg5 Ke4 0-1

In the fourth round Bill won a nice positional game, suffocating Alex Wolf's Pirc Defense.

Orton,Bill - Wolf,Alex
Arkansas Open (4) 2012-03-12
(B06 Robatsch (Modern) D)
1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Bd3 g6 4 c3 Bg7 5 f4 c5 6 dxc5 dxc5 7 e5 Nd5 8 Be4 e6 9 Nf3 Nc6 10 c4 Nde7 11 Qxd8+ Kxd8 12 Be3 b6 13 Nc3 a6 14 Ng5 Ke8 15 Bf3 Bb7 16 Na4 Nc8 17 O-O-O Rb8 18 Rd2 Ke7 19 Nxb6 Nxb6 20 Bxc5+ Ke8 21 Bxb6 Nb4 22 Bxb7 Rxb7 23 c5 Nxa2+ 24 Kb1 Nb4 25 Ne4 Ke7 26 Nd6 Rbb8 27 Bc7 Ra8 28 Nc4 Nd5 29 Bd6+ Ke8 30 g3 Bf8 31 Re1 Bxd6 32 exd6 Kd7 33 Rxd5 exd5 34 Nb6+ Kc6 35 Nxa8 Rxa8 36 Re7 Rf8 37 Rc7+ 1-0

Fayettville's rising young stars Alex Wolf and Srikar Chikkala did well, Alex defeating Lance Umbarger in the last round.

Wolf,Alex - Umbarger,Lance
Arkansas Open (5) 2012-03-12
(B73 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical)
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 Be2 O-O 8 O-O d6 (8 ... d5 9 exd5 Nb4 10 d6 Qxd6) 9 h3 (9 Nb3) 9 ... Bd7 10 Nb3 a5 11 a3 a4 12 Nd2 Na5 13 Nc4 Nxc4 14 Bxc4 b5 15 Be2 Rb8 16 Bd4 b4 17 Nd5 e5? 18 Nxf6+ Qxf6 19 Be3 Bc6 20 f3 Rfd8 21 Bc4 bxa3 22 bxa3 Bb5 23 Bxb5 Rxb5 24 Qd3 Rbb8 25 c4 Rb3 26 Qe2 Rdb8 27 Rfd1 Bf8 28 Rd5 Qe6 29 Bd2 Rb1+ 30 Rxb1 Rxb1+ 31 Kh2 Qc8 32 Bg5 h5 33 Bf6 Qe6 34 Bg5 f6 35 Bd2 g5 36 Bb4 f5 37 Qc2 Rb3 38 exf5 Qf6 39 c5 g4 40 fxg4 hxg4 41 Qc4 g3+ 42 Kg1 Kg7 43 Qg4+ Kh6 44 Bd2+ Kh7 45 Kf1 e4 46 Qg6+ Qxg6 47 fxg6+ Kxg6 48 c6 Rb6 49 c7 Rc6 50 Ba5 Kf6 51 Rb5 Ke7 52 Rb8 Rc1+ 53 Ke2 Rc2+ 54 Kd1 Rxg2 55 c8=Q Bh6 56 Rb7+ Kf6 57 Bc3+ 1-0