Keep a column going for 30 years and you start to establish a few traditions along the way. Such as: When the temperature rises, the games should get shorter.

There’s plenty of August news out there to cover — the 123rd running of the U.S. Open has just gotten underway in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while the FIDE World Cup knockout tournament, with slots in the men’s and women’s candidates tournament up for grabs, also is just getting started in Baku, Azerbaijan, with former world champ Magnus Carlsen and U.S. GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So all among the favorites.

But when the mercury outside reaches board-melting levels, as has been the case for much of our readership for the past month or so, we like to ditch the deep-dive analysis of long games in favor of a cool dip into a number of miniatures. And despite all the talk that modern players, blessed with massive opening databases and AI-backed engines, know every opening variation up to the 22nd move, it’s remarkable how even some very strong players still can get themselves into deep trouble just minutes after the clocks have started.

Our first two examples come from last month’s U.S. junior and senior championships, showing how a momentary lack of vigilance can lead to disaster. California junior IM Josiah Stearman, his kingside already looking a little iffy, practically waved the red flag in front of Texas IM Justin Wang in their Caro-Kann with 10. h4 h5? (either 10…f5 or 10…Be6 keeps it a game), inviting the devastating 11. Bxg6! fxg6 12. Qxg6+ Kh8 13. Qxh5+ Kg8 14. Bh6, and White gets three pawns for the piece and a raging attack. By 21. Rhh3 Rg7 22. Rhg3, Black is about to lose his queen and get mated, without his queenside pieces having made a move; Stearman gave up.

Veteran U.S. GM Alex Shabalov has been the author of some fine combinations over the years, but his tactical radar failed him in an unexpectedly quick loss to GM Gregory Kaidanov from the U.S. senior event. Black sacrifices a pawn for pressure in a wide-open position, and Shabalov may have thought things were headed for a gentleman’s draw after 19. Qb3 Nd3 20. Re2?! (Rg4 is better here) Nf4 21. Re4 Nd3 22. Re2? Rc8!, and already threats like 23…Na5 and 22… Nd4 are in the air.

Already in scramble mode, White misses yet another trick up Black’s sleeve: 23. Nf1? (the craven 23. Qd1 looks best here) Rxf3! 24. gxf3 Nxc1, and Black will win a piece for a pawn after 25. Rxc1 Qg4+; Shabalov resigned.

The perils of pawn-grubbing were amply illustrated in Russian GM Artyom Timofeev’s short, sharp win over compatriot GM Aleksey Grebnev from the recent Russian national championship tournament. Black takes the bait with 8. 0-0-0 Bxf2?! 9. Ngf3 Be3 10. exd5 exd5 11. Bb6 Be6 12. Rhe1, and when his opponent fails to react, Timofeev’s fully developed pieces zero in for the kill: 12…d4? 13. Rxe3! dxe3 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. Qh6! Qc7 16. Qg7!, and if Grebnev tries to save his rook, it’s curtains on 16…Rf8 16. Nxf6+ Ke7 17. Qg5! with a devastating discovered check on tap.

Another ill-advised pawn grab does in another top player when veteran Polish star GM Michal Krasenkow snaps up an “undefended” d-pawn just nine moves into a pretty tame Grunfeld Defense line. The punishment from Greek GM Stelios Halkias is quick: 9. Qxh6 Nxd4? 10. 0-0-0! (winning by castling never gets old, plus White should definitely avoid the more pedestrian 10. Rd1?? Nc2 mate), and now on 10…c5 11. e3, the pinned knight is lost. Krasenkow called it quits.

And sometimes a miniature can actually reveal a new tactical pattern, or at least one you don’t see every day. In a game from a recent open tournament in Croatia, after 11. Qa4 Rb8, White no doubt saw his next move as a twofer, defending the threatened b-pawn and pinning the Black knight on e7 to boot. Instead, this happened: 12. Qa3?? Bc1!!, pinning the b-pawn from behind and threatening the devastating 13…Bxb2. White must lose massive material and resign on the spot.

Finally, today’s diagrammed position, taken from a recent open tournament in Valencia, Spain, cutely demonstrates what may be called the “butterfly effect” in chess — how a little flutter on one side of the board can create havoc on the other. Black, having just played 18…e5xf4 already has some annoying pressure on the opposing king, but it takes just an unlikely little nudge for White’s game to collapse.

There followed 19. gxf4? (White is still very much in it after 19. Nxf4 Nxf4 20. gxf4 Re8 21. e3; White’s knight on d5 is now carrying out critical defensive responsibilities, so Black proceeds to divert it) Nc7!! and the sidelined knight offers itself up on c7 to allow the Black kingside attack to break through. White sportingly resigned here, since it’s all bleak after 20. Nxc7 Nxf4 21. Bg3 Nxe2+ 22. Kf2 Qxg3+ 23. Kxe2 Bxc7, with a two-pawn edge and an overwhelming positional advantage, or 20. Ne3 Nxf4 21. Kh2 Re8 (threatening 22…Rxe3!) 22. Rg1 Nxe2, again with a dominating position and raging attack.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Wang-Stearman, U.S. Junior Championship, St. Louis, July 2023

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qc2 Re8+ 9. Ne2 g6 10. h4 h5 11. Bxg6 fxg6 12. Qxg6+ Kh8 13. Qxh5+ Kg8 14. Bh6 Bf8 15. Qg6+ Kh8 16. Bxf8 Rxf8 17. O-O-O Qc7 18. Qh6+ Kg8 19. Rd3 Rf7 20. Re3 Qd7 21. Rhh3 Rg7 22. Rhg3 Black resigns.

Shabalov-Kaidanov, U.S. Senior Championship, St. Louis, July 2023

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. a4 Na5 8. Ba2 c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. h3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. d4 exd4 13. cxd4 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Nbd2 Bb4 17. Rxe6 Nf4 18. Re4 Kh8 19. Qb3 Nd3 20. Re2 Nf4 21. Re4 Nd3 22. Re2 Rc8 23. Nf1 Rxf3 24. gxf3 Nxc1 White resigns

Timofeev-Grebnev, 76th Russian Higher League Championship, Novokuznetsk, Russia, June 2023

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. dxc5 e6 6. e4 Bxc5 7. Qh5 Nc6 8. O-O-O Bxf2 9. Ngf3 Be3 10. exd5 exd5 11. Bb5 Be6 12. Rhe1 d4 13. Rxe3 dxe3 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. Qh6 Qc7 16. Qg7 Black resigns.

Halkias-Krasenkow, Korchnoi Memorial 2023, Guenszburg, Germany, June 2023

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 Nb6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Qc1 Nc6 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6 Nxd4 10. O-O-O Black resigns.

Gelle-Mammadova, 6th Solta Open, Grohote, Croatia, July 2023

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 cxd4 4. exd4 Nc6 5. c3 Bf5 6. Nf3 e6 7. Qb3 Bd6 8. Qxb7 Bxf4 9. Qxc6+ Kf8 10. Ba6 Ne7 11. Qa4 Rb8 12. Qa3 Bc1 White resigns.

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

• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.