The ten GMs who tied for first were Jaan Ehlvest, Joel Benjamin, Igor Novikov, Gregory Serper, George Timoshenko, Alex Yermolinsky, Vladimir Akopian, Boris Gulko, Alexander Shabalov, and Alexander Fishbein. There were 1470 entries, 83 more than last year, and a total of $200,000 in prizes were paid.
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When it turned out that all ten had tied for first instead, they had to be rousted out and brought back for the traditional playoff. At first, only three of the ten could be located and one of them, Akopian, tired from his long struggle against Ivanov, declined to play. Then, another top grandmaster showed up and then another. Finally seven of the ten arrived. After it was determined that the remaining two, Igor Novikov and George Timoshenko, had checked out and left, and after Bill Goichberg had refused to decide the winner on tie-breaks, the remaining seven surprisingly voted to play a round robin, as opposed to a quicker knock-out.
The results of the round robin five-minute event were that Gulko and Serper tied for first with 4 1/2 - 1 1/2, followed by Yermolinsky with 4-2, Benjamin, Shabalov and Ehlvest with 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 and Fishbein last with 1/2 - 5 1/2.
A one-game playoff was held, the rules being that white got six minutes on the clock, black got only five, but black got draw odds.
Serper as black put this provision to good use by trading down into a drawn rook and pawn endgame which gave him the title of 1999 World Open Chess Champion, plus an additional one percent of the prize fund.
Here are games from the play-off. These games will not be available from any other source, because I wrote down these moves myself.
Sam Sloan
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-off Final"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "F"]
[White "Gulko,Boris"]
[Black "Serper,Gregory"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A29"]
[PlyCount "85"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Nxe5 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe5 7. e4 c5 8.
d4 cxd4 9. Qxd4 O-O 10. Kg2 d6 11. Bf4 Bg4 12. Be2 Bxe2 13. Nxe2 Re8 14. Nc3
Qc7 15. b3 Qc6 16. Rad1 Ng6 17. Rhe1 Nxf4+ 18. gxf4 Rad8 19. Kg1 h6 20. Re2 Qc5
21. Qxc5 dxc5 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. e5 Rd3 24. exf6 Rxc3 25. Re8+ Kh7 26. Re7 gxf6
27. Rxb7 Rc1+ 28. Kg2 Rc2+ 29. Kg3 Rxa2 30. Rxf7+ Kg6 31. Rc7 Ra3 32. f5+ Kh5
33. Rxc5 Rxb3+ 34. Kf4 Rb2 35. Rc6 Rf2+ 36. Ke4 Re2+ 37. Kf3 Rxh2 38. Rxf6 Rc2
39. Rf8 Rxc4 40. f6 Kg6 41. f7 Kg7 42. Ra8 Kxf7 43. Rxa7+ {Although the final position is a draw, Black wins because of receiving draw odds.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-off"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Fishbein,Alexander"]
[Black "Gulko,Boris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B43"]
[PlyCount "67"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. Bd3 Qb6 7. Nf3 Bb7 8. a4
b4 9. a5 Qc7 10. Na4 Nc6 11. Be3 Nf6 12. Nb6 Rb8 13. O-O Be7 14. Qe2 Ng4 15. b3
Nxe3 16. Qxe3 O-O 17. e5 f5 18. Nc4 Ba8 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Bf1 Bf8 21. Rd2 Rb5
22. Rad1 Nxa5 23. Nd6 Rc5 24. Bxa6 Bxf3 25. gxf3 Rxc2 26. Bb5 Rxd2 27. Qxd2 Qc5
28. Qe2 Bxd6 29. Rxd6 Qc7 30. Qd3 Nb7 31. Rxd7 Rxd7 32. Qxd7 Qxd7 33. Bxd7 Nc5
34. Bb5 1/2-1/2
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-off"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Benjamin,Joel"]
[Black "Gulko,Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A37"]
[PlyCount "114"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. d3 e5 6. c4 Nge7 7. Nc3 d6 8. a3
O-O 9. Rb1 a5 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bd2 Be6 12. Ne1 d5 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nc2 Rc8 15.
Ne3 Nxe3 16. Bxe3 b6 17. Qa4 Nd4 18. Bxd4 exd4 19. Ne4 Qe7 20. Nd2 Rb8 21. Qb5
Bd7 22. Qb3+ Kh8 23. Rfe1 a4 24. Qc2 Rfc8 25. e3 dxe3 26. Rxe3 Qf8 27. Rbe1 f5
28. Nc4 b5 29. Ne5 Be8 30. f4 Rd8 31. h4 Rd4 32. Bf3 Rbd8 33. R1e2 c4 34. dxc4
bxc4 35. Kh2 Bb5 36. Qc3 Rd3 37. Qa5 Rxe3 38. Rxe3 Rb8 39. Qc7 Rc8 40. Qb7 Rb8
41. Qd5 Be8 42. Re2 Rc8 43. Qe6 Rb8 44. Bd5 Rd8 45. Bxc4 Bf6 46. h5 Kg7 47. Rc2
Rd6 48. Qc8 Rd8 49. Qb7+ Kh8 50. Bf1 gxh5 51. Rc7 Qh6 52. Re7 Bxe5 53. Rxe5 h4
54. Qe7 hxg3+ 55. Kxg3 Qg6+ 56. Kf2 Qb6+ 57. Qc5 Qxb2+ {White won on time} 1-0
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-off"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gulko,Boris"]
[Black "Shabalov,Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A10"]
[PlyCount "76"]
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 f5 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. e4 O-O
9. Re1 c5 10. exf5 gxf5 11. d4 Ne4 12. Be3 Na6 13. Rc1 Rc8 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15.
Qd2 cxd4 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Nc5 19. f3 a6 20. b4 Nb7 21. Nb3
Rf7 22. c5 bxc5 23. bxc5 Qc7 24. Qd4 Qc6 25. Rc4 a5 26. Rec1 Qb5 27. Qe3 Nd8
28. Nd4 Qb2+ 29. R4c2 Qb4 30. a3 Qb7 31. c6 dxc6 32. Nxe6 Qe7 33. Qg5+ Qxg5 34.
Nxg5 Rd7 35. Re1 Nf7 36. Nxf7 Kxf7 37. Re5 Kf6 38. Rxa5 Rd6 {White won on time} 1-0
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-Off"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ehlvest,Jaan"]
[Black "Gulko,Boris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A32"]
[PlyCount "88"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qb6 7. e3 Bc5 8.
Nb3 Qc6 9. f3 Be7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. e4 d6 12. Rc1 a6 13. Be3 Nbd7 14. Nd4 Qc7 15.
Bg2 b6 16. O-O Bb7 17. Bf2 Rfe8 18. Re1 Rab8 19. b3 Bf8 20. f4 g6 21. Qe2 e5
22. fxe5 Nxe5 23. h3 Bh6 24. Rc2 Rbc8 25. a4 Qd8 26. Qd1 Nfd7 27. Kh2 Nc5 28.
Rce2 Bg7 29. Nd5 h5 30. Be3 Ne6 31. Nf5 Bxd5 32. Nxg7 Bxc4 33. Nxe8 Bxe2 34.
Qxe2 Qxe8 35. Bxb6 Qc6 36. a5 Qb7 37. Rd1 Rc6 38. b4 Qc8 39. Rd2 h4 40. gxh4
Nf4 41. Qf2 Ne6 42. h5 gxh5 43. Qf5 Rc2 44. Rxd6 Qc3 {Black won on time} 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-Off"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fishbein,Alexander"]
[Black "Ehlvest,Jaan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[PlyCount "66"]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h3 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nh6 6. g4 f6 7. Be3 Nf7 8. Qd2 O-O
9. O-O-O dxe4 10. Nxe4 Be6 11. Nc3 Nd7 12. Bd3 b5 13. d5 Bxd5 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15.
Bxb5 e6 16. h4 Nde5 17. Nd4 Qc8 18. Qc3 Nc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Nb5 f5 21. Qa5 a6
22. Nc3 Ne5 23. Qc5 Nxg4 24. Qxc8 Raxc8 25. Rd6 f4 26. Bb6 Rfe8 27. Ne4 f3 28.
Bd4 e5 29. Bc3 Rf8 30. h5 Rf4 31. Ng5 Bh6 32. Ne6 Rd4+ 33. Kb1 Rxd6 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999 Play-Off"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Benjamin,Joel"]
[Black "Ehlvest,Jaan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D61"]
[PlyCount "58"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 h6 8. Bh4
c5 9. Rd1 Qa5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 12. Be2 Nd5 13. O-O Nxc3 14. bxc3 b6
15. Nd2 Ba6 16. Nc4 Bxc4 17. Bxc4 b5 18. Be2 Nf6 19. Rb1 a6 20. Bf3 Rac8 21.
Qb3 cxd4 22. cxd4 Rc3 23. Qb4 Qxb4 24. Rxb4 Rfc8 25. Rb2 Kf8 26. Rfb1 Ke7 27.
Kf1 Kd6 28. Bd1 Ne4 29. Bb3 a5 {and Black won on time} 0-1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------I played in the Open Section of the World Open and one of my games was against Alexander Fishbein, one of the ten grandmasters who tied for first. (Fishbein defeated Tony Miles in the last round). I played poorly in this event and scored 3-6. Most of my opponents were masters rated higher than me. In spite of my poor play, at least five of my games were published in the tournament bulletins, perhaps because of the short and violent nature of my games (and also no doubt due to the fact that I have a clear handwriting, easy to read). Here is my game against Grandmaster Fishbein and my other games from the 1999 World Open.
Sam Sloan
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Sloan,Sam"]
[Black "Fishbein,Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2105"]
[BlackElo "2590"]
[PlyCount "88"]
1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. h3 e5 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. g5 Nd5 7. Nxe4 Nf4 8. Bf3
Ne6 9. d3 Na6 10. Be3 Bb4+ 11. c3 Be7 12. h4 Nac5 13. d4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 exd4 15.
cxd4 Qa5+ 16. Bd2 Bb4 17. Nf3 O-O 18. a3 Bxd2+ 19. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 20. Kxd2 Nc7 21.
Rac1 {White should have continued the attack with h5, according to Fishbein} Be6
22. Rhd1 Rad8 23. Ke2 Rfe8 24. Kd3 Bg4 25. Re1 Nb5 26. Re3
{White should have played 26. a4, according to Fishbein} Bxf3 27. Bxf3 Rxd4+
28. Kc2 Kf8 29. h5 Rf4 30. Rxe8+ Kxe8 31. Re1+ Kd8 32. Rd1+ Kc7 33.
Be2 Rxf2 34. Kd3 Rf5 35. g6 hxg6 36. hxg6 fxg6 37. Rh1 Nd6 38. Rh7 Rd5+ 39. Kc2
Nf5 40. Kb1 Rd7 41. Bc4 Kd6 42. Rh8 Ke7 43. Ra8 a6 44. Rg8 g5 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Brody,Jonathan"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1485"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[PlyCount "64"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. d4 fxe4 4. Nxe5 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nc4 d5 7. Ne3 c6 8. Be2
Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Nb1 Bc7 11. c4 Qd6 12. g3 Bh3 13. Re1 Rf7 14. Nc3 a6 15.
cxd5 cxd5 16. Bf1 Bxf1 17. Rxf1 Nc6 18. a3 Bb6 19. Nc2 Raf8 20. Be3 h5 21. Qe2
Qe6 22. Kg2 Ng4 23. h3 Nxe3+ 24. Nxe3 Nxd4 25. Qxh5 Nb3 26. Ncxd5 Nxa1 27. Rxa1
Rxf2+ 28. Kh1 Bxe3 29. Nxe3 R2f3 30. Re1 Rxg3 31. Ng4 e3 32. Re2 Qc4 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nur,Nawrose Farha"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2210"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[PlyCount "55"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. Bg5 Nf6 6. Qd2 d6 7. Nd5 fxe4 8.
Bxf6 gxf6 9. dxe4 O-O 10. Bc4 Kh8 11. Qh6 Na5 12. Nh4 Nxc4 13. Ng6+ Kg8 14.
Nde7+ Kf7 15. Qxh7+ Ke8 16. Qg7 Be6 17. Qxf8+ Kd7 18. Qxf6 Nxb2 19. O-O c6 20.
Rab1 Qb6 21. Nf8+ Rxf8 22. Qxf8 d5 23. exd5 cxd5 24. Nc8 Qb4 25. Qf6 Bd4 26.
Rfd1 Qc5 27. Rxd4 Qxd4 28. Qe7+ 1-0
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.03"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sloan,Sam"]
[Black "Pohl,Klaus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2105"]
[BlackElo "2200"]
[PlyCount "54"]
1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Nc6 3. h3 e5 4. c4 Be6 5. cxd5 Bxd5 6. Nf3 e4 7. Nh2 e3 8. Nf3
exf2+ 9. Kxf2 Bc5+ 10. e3 Nf6 11. Nc3 Ne4+ 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Qa4 Qe7 14. d4 Bd6
15. Rd1 O-O 16. d5 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Qh4+ 18. Ke2 Ne5 19. Bg2 f5 20. e4 fxg4 21.
Be3 gxh3 22. Rh1 Qg4+ 23. Kd2 Qxg2+ 24. Kc3 Qe2 25. Qd4 Rf3 26. Rae1 Qb5 27.
Rhg1 Qc5+ 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Ruppert,Tim"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "1440"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[PlyCount "106"]
1. d4 e5 2. d5 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 Bc5 5. a3 d6 6. b4 Bb6 7. Na4 O-O 8. Bb2 Ng4
9. Nxb6 axb6 10. h3 Qh4 11. g3 Qh6 12. Qd2 f4 13. e4 fxg3 14. f3 Nf2 15. Qxh6
gxh6 16. Bg2 Nxh1 17. Bxh1 Na6 18. Bg2 h5 19. Ne2 h4 20. Kd2 Bd7 21. Nc3 Be8
22. Ke3 Bh5 23. Ne2 Rf6 24. Rf1 Raf8 25. f4 Bxe2 26. Kxe2 Rxf4 27. Rxf4 Rxf4
28. Bf3 Kf7 29. Bc1 Rf6 30. Bg5 g2 31. Be3 Kg7 32. Bxg2 Rg6 33. Bf3 Rg3 34. Bg4
c5 35. b5 Nc7 36. c4 Ne8 37. Bg5 Rxa3 38. Kd2 Nf6 39. Bxf6+ Kxf6 40. Kc2 Kg5
41. Bf5 Kf4 42. Kb2 Re3 43. Kc2 Rxe4 44. Bxe4 Kxe4 45. Kc3 Ke3 46. Kb3 Kd2 47.
Kb2 e4 48. Kb3 e3 49. Kb2 e2 50. Kb3 e1=Q 51. Kb2 Qe5+ 52. Kb1 Kc3 53. Ka2 Kc2
0-1
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.04"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Sloan,Sam"]
[Black "Basescu,Neil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2105"]
[BlackElo "2235"]
[PlyCount "60"]
1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. c4 dxc4 4. Qa4+ c6 5. Qxc4 Be6 6. Qc3 Nd7 7. h3 Ne7 8. d3
Nd5 9. Qc2 Bc5 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Nf3 f6 12. a3 Qe7 13. b4 Bb6 14. Na4 Bc7 15. Nc5
Nxc5 16. bxc5 Ba5+ 17. Bd2 Bxd2+ 18. Nxd2 Nf4 19. Bf3 Rad8 20. Rb1 Rd7 21. Ne4
Bd5 22. a4 Ne6 23. Rc1 Nd4 24. Qc3 Nxf3+ 25. exf3 f5 26. gxf5 Rxf5 27. Ng3 Rxf3
28. O-O Qg5 29. Kh2 Rdf7 30. Rc2 Rxg3 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.04"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Weber,Joseph"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C33"]
[WhiteElo "2260"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[PlyCount "69"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 d5 4. Bxd5 c6 5. Bb3 Qh4+ 6. Kf1 Bd6 7. Nf3 Qe7 8.
d4 f6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Qd3 Nd7 11. Bd2 O-O-O 12. a4 Nh6 13. a5 Rhe8 14. a6 b5 15.
h3 Bh5 16. Nxb5 cxb5 17. Qxb5 Nb6 18. Qxh5 Qxe4 19. Re1 Qc6 20. Kf2 Rxe1 21.
Rxe1 Nc4 22. Bxc4 Qxc4 23. Ba5 Bc7 24. Bxc7 Qxc2+ 25. Re2 Qxc7 26. Qb5 Nf7 27.
Qf5+ Kb8 28. Rc2 Qd6 29. Rc5 Ng5 30. h4 g6 31. Qc2 Qxa6 32. hxg5 fxg5 33. Ne5
Re8 34. Ra5 Rc8 35. Qb3+ { 35. ... Qb7 36. Rb5 Rc2+ 37. Ke1 } 1-0
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Sloan,Sam"]
[Black "Whitney,Jeremy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2105"]
[BlackElo "1745"]
[PlyCount "98"]
1. g4 h5 2. g5 e5 3. d3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e4 d4 6. Nce2 Be7 7. h4 Bg4 8. Bh3 Qd7
9. f3 Bxh3 10. Nxh3 Na6 11. f4 f6 12. f5 O-O-O 13. Ng3 Bb4+ 14. Kf2 fxg5 15.
hxg5 h4 16. Nf1 Ne7 17. Qf3 Rdf8 18. Ke2 Nxf5 19. exf5 Rxf5 20. Qg4 Rhf8 21.
Qxh4 Qd5 22. Qe4 Qc5 23. c4 dxc3 24. Ne3 Rf3 25. a3 cxb2 26. Rb1 bxc1=Q 27.
Rhxc1 Qd4 28. axb4 Rxh3 29. Ng4 Qxe4+ 30. dxe4 Rf4 31. Nf2 Rh2 32. Rf1 Rxe4+
33. Kf3 Rxb4 34. Rxb4 Nxb4 35. Ke4 a5 36. Ng4 Rh4 37. Rg1 a4 38. Kxe5 Nd3+ 39.
Ke6 a3 40. g6 a2 41. Ne3 Re4+ 42. Kf7 Ne5+ 43. Kxg7 Rxe3 44. Kf6 Nxg6 45. Ra1
Ra3 46. Kxg6 b5 47. Kf5 b4 48. Ke4 b3 49. Kd4 b2 0-1
[Event "World Open 1999"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1999.07.05"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Stephano,Philip"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1695"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[PlyCount "68"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5 Qf6 4. Nc4 fxe4 5. Nc3 Qf7 6. Ne3 c6 7. d3 exd3 8.
Bxd3 d5 9. Ne2 Nf6 10. c4 Bd6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Nf5 Bxf5 13. Bxf5 O-O 14. O-O
Nc6 15. Ng3 Rae8 16. Be3 Be5 17. Bc5 Ne7 18. Qd3 g6 19. Bh3 b6 20. Bd4 Nc6 21.
Ne2 Ne4 22. f4 Bd6 23. f5 Nb4 24. Qd1 Qc7 25. Ng3 Bxg3 26. hxg3 Nxg3 27. Rc1
Qf7 28. Rf2 gxf5 29. Bxf5 Nxf5 30. Rc7 Qxc7 31. Rxf5 Rxf5 32. Qg4+ Kf8 33.
Qxf5+ Qf7 34. Qg5 Re1+ 0-1