In the Doeberl Major of 2009, I see some familiar junior names who did quite well (see below on giant-killer feats) but no junior managed to seriously challenge for the title. Perhaps this may be due to the fact those who could, preferred to play in the Premier section. [Disclaimer: I am not familiar with all the names of juniors and therefore may omit discussing some of them. My apologies.]
The highest placed junior (that I recognised) is ACT junior, Allen Setiabudi (ACF 1673) who achieved 4.5/7 and a joint 9-18th placing. Next was a trio of juniors on 4/7 and joint 19th-27th placing: Nicholas Deen-Cowell (ACF 1408) from Sydney, NSW, Queensland’s Sebastian Jule (ACF 1714) and South Australia’s Zachary Searle (ACF 1705). A quadruplet of juniors did well to score 50% (3.5/7): Issac Ng (ACF 1626) from Victoria, Sally Yu (ACF 1661) from Victoria, Kevin Tan (ACF 1575) from Sydney, and Thomas Feng (ACF 1472) from Victoria. Other juniors who played (in order of placing) were Jerry Xu, Kinto Wan, Sophie Eustace, Anton Smirnov, Luthien Russell, and Tamzin Oliver.
Continuing the theme from my report on the 2009 Doeberl Premier, juniors created upsets a plenty but of course there were no GMs and/or IMs available for any giant-killing feats. Still plenty of 1900s and 1800s adults for the “killing”! (Games in replayable mode after summary.)
Giant-slayer #1: Upsets #1 and #2
In Rounds 5 and6, after two unsuccessful attempts (Rds 1 and 4), Allen Setiabudi managed two back-to-back black (!) wins against higher rated players, Colin Savige (ACF 1999) and Vasil Tulevski (ACF 1793) respectively. Allen capped these fine rounds with a final-round draw against former ACT junior (and giant-slayer himself at the Queenstown Classic 2009), Sherab Guo-Yuthok (ACF 1880).
Giant-slayer #2: Upsets #3, #4 and #5
Nicholas Deen-Cowell (15 years of age) is a junior who has really improved in the last 6 months. He started well (despite losing the first round (with black) to fellow junior, Zachary Searle) by defeating two players rated at least 200 points above him: with white against Ross Kingsley (ACF 1633) and black against Mike Canfell (ACF 1681). Nicholas was on a roll and no stopping him. Next he defeated Queensland junior Sebastian Jule with black pieces, and drew the last two games, David Messina (ACF 1777) and Amiel Rozario (ACF 1741) (aka The ClosetGM). Nicholas must be happy with himself, punching well above his weight.
Giant-slayer #3: Upset #6
Sally Yu, 2009 Australian Girls Champion who is only 14 years old, with the white pieces, defeated Kerry Stead (ACF 1973) in Rd 1.
Giant-slayer #4: Upset #7
In Rd 4, 16 year old Sydney junior, Kevin Tan (ACF 1575) with white pieces, defeated Michael Babic (ACF 1699).
Giant-slayer #5: Upsets #8 and #9
Sydney junior, Jerry Xu (ACF 1489) defeated Amiel Rozario (ACF 1741) with white in Rd 1 and Mike Canfell (ACF 1681) with black in Rd 5.
Giant-slayer #6: Upset #10
In Rd 2, Sydney junior Kinto Wan (ACF 1402), with black pieces, defeated Tionko Efrain (ACF 1802).
Giant-slayer #6: Upsets #10 and #11
Fifteen year old South Australian junior, Sophie Eustace (ACF 1419) with white, defeated Ross Kingsley (ACF 1633) in Rd 4 and with black, defeated Clive Lane (ACF 1621) in Rd 5.
Giant-slayer #6: Upset #12
Anton Smirnov (ACF 1495) (7 years old) defeated, with white, Sydney former junior Adrian Kong (ACF 1808).
Giant-slayer #6: Upset #13
Luthien Russell (ACF 1652) (15 years old and recently moved to Victoria from the ACT) with the black pieces defeated Colin Savige (ACF 1999) in Rd 3.
Giant-slayer #6: Upset #14
Youngest of the ACT Oliver siblings and at 17 years of age, Tamzin Oliver (ACF 1473) defeated with white, Milan Grcic (ACF 1769) in Rd 2.
Commendable mention
Eleven year old Issac Ng (ACF 1626)’s streak of 5 draws (consecutively in the first three rounds and in Rds 5 and 6), 1 win and only one loss: Rd 1 draw (with black) with Edsil Dilia (ACF 1916), Rd 2 draw (with white) with Colin Savige (ACF 1999), Rd 3 draw (with black) with Mehmedalija Dizdarevic (ACF 1972), Rd 5 draw (with black) with Milan Grcic (ACF 1769), and Rd 6 draw (with white) with Peter Abbott (ACF 1786).
Zachary Searle (14 years old) drew with Michael Dunn (ACF 1855) in the last round.
Kevin Tan’s draws with black pieces in Rd 5 with WFM Sue Maroroa (ACF 1745) and in Rd 7 with Anthony Pickering (ACF 1739).
Jerry Xu’s Round 4 draw (with white) with Clive Lane (ACF 1621).
Kinto Wan (ACF 1402)’s draw (with white) with Michael Babic (ACF 1699) in Rd 1 and draw (with white) with Roger Mccart (ACF 1600) in Rd 7.
Sophie Eustace (ACF 1419)’s draw in Rd 3 (with black) with Calvin Bennett (1606) and draw (with black) in Rd 7 with Adrian Kong (ACF 1808).
Anton Smirnov (ACF 1495)’s draws with black in Rd 1 with Milan Grcic (ACF 1769) and Rd 3 with Edsil Dilia (ACF 1916), and draw with white in Rd 4 with Peter Abbott (ACF 1786).
Tamzin Oliver (ACF 1473)’s Rd 1 draw (with black) with Anthony Pickering (ACF 1739) and Rd 4’s draw (with white) with WFM Sue Maroroa (ACF 1745).
Junior Head-to-Head contests
Round 1
Already mentioned was Nicholas Deen-Cowell’s Rd 1 defeat by Zachary Searle.
Sebastian Jule with black pieces defeated South Australian Sophie Eustace (ACF 1419).
Round 3
Zachary Searle with white pieces defeated Jerry Xu (ACF 1489).
Round 4
Already mentioned was Nicholas Deen-Cowell’s defeat of Sebastian Jule.
Round 6
Sebastian Jule with white pieces defeated Kinto Wan (ACF 1402).
Zachary Searle with black pieces defeated Sophie Eustace (ACF 1419).
Sally Yu drew with Tamzin Oliver (ACF 1473).
Thomas Feng (ACF 1472) defeated Luthien Russell (ACF 1652).
Round 7
Sebastian Jule with black pieces defeated Jerry Xu (ACF 1489).
Sally Yu defeated Anton Smirnov (ACF 1495).
Games:
Savige - Setiabudi was a King’s Indian with a very neat mating net and a Queen sacrifice. Nice!
Tulevski - Setiabudi was a Benko Gambit and again Black showed some deep calculation to create a forced mate involving 7 moves ahead (from move 27…Bxh1). White got greedy on move 27 Rxb1. Fritz 11 suggests 27 Nd5 to maintain equality.
Deen-Cowell – Kingsley was a Sicilian (Bb5 anti-Sicilian) and Black made a thematic Rxc4 rook sacrifice on move 26 (with no compensation?). In the end, it was blunder at move 34 Rg7+ when 34…Ke8 or 34…Kf8 will mean Black survives a little longer albeit in very difficult circumstances but not 34…Kf6 which was mate in one! I wonder whether it was sheer blindness or time trouble.
Canfell - Deen-Cowell was a Sicilian Najdorf(!) where there was this miscalculation by White (even though two dangerous passed central pawns ahead) beginning at move 23. Final result: Black ended up with Queen ahead and then it was a simple matter of mopping up the pawns. It shouldn’t have worked and White was definitely winning but he got greedy with 28 Qxa6 when 28 Bf3 would have maintained advantage (per Fritz 11). 28 Qxa6 allows the Black’s Queen check pushing King to a1 creating a pin by Black’s rook on a8 and all was lost.
Nicholas Deen-Cowell surely must have offered a sacrifice or two at the altar of Cassia for the goddess to be smiling on him in these two games. Similarly, the goddess showed her favour in his third win (Benko Gambit Declined) when Sebastian Jule played 28 Bxe5 allowing 28…Rxf2 and the Black rook cannot be taken. Lo and behold, White took with Queen, 29 Qxf2 allowing 29…Bxe5 and a mating net. All is not lost as yet as Fritz 11 suggests 30 Qe3 but inexplicably White played 30 Rd7.
Moral: Pray ye to the Goddess Caissa regularly with your sacrifices of tactical training and hard work that ye supplications of mating nets may be heard.
Enjoy these three games with yet more games and the Doeberl Minor report to come, and a tale of revenge spread over the two major tournaments. Happy reading! (and come back for more!!!)
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Doeberl Cup 2009 Premier
This is my belated report on the Doeberl Cup 2009 Premier section. I have to begin with a disclaimer: I did not attend the tournament and thus has no first hand knowledge or information about the events. I am only compiling information available on the net combined with my own evaluation assisted by my trusty Fritz who has now been upgraded to Fritz 11 (benefit of my overseas trip in April) but without the benefit of the videos of GM Ian Rogers commentary and analysis since I only have limited download at home.
Upon my return to Australia and even before the dust has settled from dropping off my luggage in the house, it was straight to the laptop to logon and check the results. I have to say I wish I was there since Australian juniors demonstrated they could produce very interesting results including upsets over GMs and IMs. Kudos to the organisers since there GMs and IMs aplenty (7 GM's, 13 IM's, 3 WGM's, 2 WIM's, 6 FM's and 1 WFM) for the juniors to rehearse their David vs Goliath script and read for a part in the ongoing road show that is Chess.
I have decided to produce a different type of report. The usual round by round round-up (he! he! he!) loses its allure when you are doing a retrospective. So, out with the old script and in with the new ……
Juniors who won starring roles in the David versus Goliath road show ……
In Rd 1, we had ACT junior, Andrew Brown (Elo 2085), defeating Iranian GM Shojaat Ghane (Elo 2415) with the white pieces. This is the same Andrew Brown who wreaked havoc at the 2009 Queenstown Classic and garnered an IM norm for his efforts.
In Rd 6, a second ACT junior, Junta Ikeda (Elo 2261) defeated Indian IM Chowdhury Saptarshi Roy (Elo 2469) with white (and a very lucky win, I must say but a win nonetheless).
Juniors who won understudy parts in the David versus Goliath road show ……
A third ACT junior, Yi Yuan (Elo 2010) managed a draw against Indian WIM Kruttika Nadig (Elo 2361) in Rd 1 with white, then proceeded to defeat fellow ACT Gareth Oliver (Elo 2187) in Rd 3 with white, defeat Singaporean FM Fernandez Daniel Howard (Elo 2171) in Rd 7 with black, defeat Victorian Domagoj Dragicevic (Elo 2251) (IM norm at 2009 Queenstown Classic) in Rd 8 with white, and drew with FM Geoffrey Saw (Elo 2279) in Rd 9 with black.
Victorian junior Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) drew with Indian IM K Rathnakaran (Elo 2427) in Rd 2 with black, drew with IM Toth Andras (Elo 2399) in Rd 7 with black, and drew with WIM Caoili Arianne (Elo 2172) in Rd 8 with white.
Second Victorian junior Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) drew with IM Guy West (Elo 2343) with black in Rd 8.
In Rd 5, Queensland junior FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) drew with IM Leonid Sandler (Elo 2332) with black and defeated FM Geoffrey Saw (Elo 2279) in Rd 6 with white.
Third Victorian junior (and Dusan’s brother) Svetozar Stojic (Elo 1989) drew with IM Leonid Sandler (Elo 2332) with black in Rd 1 and defeated Jason Hu (Elo 2196) in Rd 6 with white.
Juniors who won walk-on minor roles in the David versus Goliath road show ……
Victorian junior Justin Tan (Elo 1885) created a minor upset in Rd 4 defeating David Hacche (Elo 2176) with white, defeated Blair Mandla (Elo 2156) with white in Rd 6, then went on to split points with Indian Mokal Amrutha (Elo 2155) in Rd 8 with white.
Another Victorian junior, Eugene Schon (Elo 2186) defeated Endre Ambrus (Elo 2375) with black.
In Rd 2, ACT junior Emma Guo (Elo 1845) with black pieces drew with Alek Safarian (Elo 2061), defeated Simon Quick (Elo 2197) with white in Rd 5, and drew with Jason Hu (Elo 2196) in Rd 8 with white.
Sam Grigg (Elo 1927) drew with Mokal Amrutha (Elo 2155) in Rd 2 with white and with Alek Safarian (Elo 2061) in Rd 4 with black.
Head-to-head Battle of Australian juniors ……
In Rd 1, Junta Ikeda (Elo 2261) defeated Samuel Dalton (Elo 1932) with black.
In Rd 2, Victorian junior Justin Tan (Elo 1885) drew with FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) with black.
In Rd 3, Junta Ikeda (Elo 2261) defeated 12 year old Victorian junior Bobby Cheng (Elo 2103) with black; Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) lost to Andrew Brown (Elo 2085) with black; FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) defeated Emma Guo (Elo 1845) with black.
In Rd 4, FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) defeated Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) with white; Bobby Cheng (Elo 2103) defeated Samuel Dalton (Elo 1932) with black.
In Rd 5, Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) defeated Andrew Brown (Elo 2085) with black; Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) lost to Bobby Cheng (Elo 2103) with black.
In Rd 6, Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) defeated ACT junior Emma Guo (Elo 1845) with white.
In Rd 8, FM James Morris (Elo 2114) defeated South Australian junior, Zulfic Fedja (Elo 1971) with black.
In Rd 9, Justin Tan (Elo 1885) defeated Eugene Schon (Elo 2186) with black.
The best performing junior was Junta Ikeda, with 5/9 and in 23rd place (having played one GM and 3 IMs).
Four other juniors were on same points, 5/9:
Yi Yuan (30th placing and ahead of GM Shojaat Ghane (Elo 2415)) having played one GM, one WIM, and one FM;
FM James Morris (Elo 2114) (33rd) having played one GM, 2 IMs, and one FM;
Justin Tan (34th) having played one WGM, one IM, and one FM; and
Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) (35th) having played one GM, 2 IMs, and one WIM.
The only other junior who managed 50% or better was Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) (45th) with 4.5/9. Andrew Brown, after his giant-killing exploit in the first round, didn’t seem to be able to replicate the form or success and ended up with a disappointing 2/9.
Games
Round 1, Brown-Ghane
Brown missed 18 Qxc5 +- (18. Qxc5 fxe4
19. Ng5 b6 20. Qc1 Rxd5 21. Nxe4 Rf5 22. Qxc6 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Qe2 24. Nf6+ Kh8
25. Rc1 Rd8 26. Nd7 Rg8 27. Qc3+)and instead allowed equality to be restored by move 19...Bb6. However, 25...Be3 was a mistake and did not defend against 26 Qe7 +-. After 26...Rf8, where should White move the rook? e1 or d1? Fritz 11 suggests 27 Rd1 as better than 27 Re1 (27. Rd1 Bb6 28. Ne5 Qe3 29. Nxf7 Rxf7 30. Rd8+ Bxd8
31. Qxe3 Rxf6 32. h4 Bc7 33. g3 Rf7 34. Kg2 Bb6 35. Qe8+ Rf8 36. Qe6+ Kg7 37.
Qe7+ Rf7 38. Qg5+). Again 29 Qd6 is better (29. Qd6 Qxf6 30. Qxf8+ Kxf8 31. Nd7+ Kg7 32. Nxf6 Bxf6 33. Rd1 c5 34. Rd5 Bd4
35. Rd7 b5 36. g4 a5 37. Kg2 Kg6 38. Rb7 f5 39. gxf5+ Kxf5 40. Rxb5).
Round 6, Ikeda-C S Roy
1...b6 is the Owen's Defence and French GM Christian Bauer has written a book on it. Black's unusual move order is aimed at avoiding White's more attacking openings with f2-f4 and/or Be3, Qd2, and Black is aiming for a Hippopotamus. Look at Black's structure after 9...0-0: the Hippo hides in the water with only the snout visible above water. Here Junta went for 3 Bd3 and according to GM Bauer, this is a more positional choice and he reckons "this system contains more venom than one initiated by 3 Nc3, as Black finds it significantly harder to obtain counterplay." GM Bauer also reckons 6 Qe2 is the best to defend the e4-pawn. Fritz doesn't like White's 23. Re3 and 24. Qe2 which Fritz reckons led to Black sustaining an advantage. White's 38 Kg2 was not the best; Fritz reckons 38 hxg6 or 38 Nxb3 was better. But the IM on the verge of winning blundered badly with 42...hxg6?? (42...a1=Q would have won (43. gxf7+ Kf8 44. Rb1 Qaa4 45. Rc3 Bxe5 46. Qxh7 Qxd4 47. Re3 Qxf7 48. Qxf7+ Kxf7 49. Nf3
Qg4+ 50. Kf1 Qc4+ 51. Kg1)). But 42...hxg6?? 43. Qh8+ Bxh8 44. Rxh8+ Kg7 45. R1h7#. The moral of the story: Fight till the end!
Round 4, Lane-Schon and according to The ClosetGM, Lane sprung an opening trap. See if you can spot it.
If I am not wrong, White's 8 a4 (c3 is the main line) was to provoke Black's 8...b4. That left c4 square undefended for White's Queen to occupy which Her Majesty duly did so, 9 Qc4. Now Black has to defend f7-pawn. But 9...Qd7 certainly fails to do that. Fritz 11 suggests 9... d5 10. Qxc6+ Bd7 11. Qb7 Bc5 12. Nxe5 Ra7 13.
Nc6 Rxb7 14. Nxd8 Kxd8 15. exd5 Re8 16. Bc4 Re5 17. Bxa6 Rb8 18. c4 bxc3 19. Nxc3. So the Worrall Attack for White in the Ruy Lopez (6. Qe2) proves to have quite a sting.
Let us look next at Nakauchi-Wallis and according to The ClosetGM, Wallis blundered out of opening.
Wallis weakens his position with 11...Kd7 whilst Fritz 11 reckons 11... e5 12. Qd3 Bxb513. Qxb5+ Qd7 14. Qxd7+ Kxd7 15. Bb5+ Kxd6 16. Nf3 Kc7 17. Bd2 Kb6 18. Bc4 Nh619. Rc1 Rc8 20. a4 Bc5 21. a5+ Kc6 or 11... Qf6 12.Qc5 Qd8 13. Bg5 Nf6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qd4 Kd7 16. Rd1 Bd5 17. Nc3 Bxd6 18. Nxd5exd5 19. Qxd5 Re8+ 20. Be2 Kc7 equalises. Then 12...a6 again allows White much more active attack, ie Nc7; Fritz 11 suggests 12...Qb6 13. Qc4 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nf6 15. Be3 Qc6 16. Qb3 Ne5 17. Rc1 Qxf3 18. Rg1 Qd519. Rc7+ Kd8 20. Bg2 Qxb3 21. axb3. After 13. Nc7, where would move the rook? No, Fritz reckons 13...Rb8 is better (13... Rb8 14. Bg5 Nf6 15. O-O-O h6 16. Bd2 Bxd6 17. Bb4 Bxf3 18. Qxd6+ Kc8 19.Nxe6 Qxd6 20. Rxd6 fxe6). Similarly, after 14. Bg5, Fritz thinks 14... Nf6 15.Rd1 h6 16. Bh4 Bd5 17. Qa4+ Kxd6 18. Bg3+ Ke7 19. Nxd5+ exd5 20. Bd3 Qd7 21.Qb3 Nh5 22. Bxg6 Nxg3 23. hxg3 fxg6 is better. After 16...Ne5, it looks like White missed a better move: 17. Qa4+ b5 18. Qxa6 Rb8 19. Bxb5+ Rxb5 20. Qxb5+ Nc6 21.Qc4 Bxd6 22. Nb5 Qa5+ 23. Ke2 Nge7 24. Rxd6+ Ke8 25. Bd2 Qb6 26. Rxe6 Kf8 27.Rg1. [The ClosetGM comments on 18 Bxd6? (In his time trouble, Wallis chooses the wrong path. More resistant might have been 18... Rxd8 19. Bh3 Bxd6 20. Nxe6 Rb8 21. Nxg7+ Kc6 but of course, it's still a hard life - Closet GM.)] Fritz suggests something similar: 18... Rxd8 19. Bh3 Bxd6 20. Nxe6 Rb8 21. Rg1 Kc6 22. Rxg7 Nf6 23. Kf1 h5 24. f4 e4 25. Rc1+ Kb626. Rf7 Ng4 27. Bxg4 hxg4 28. Kg2.
Upon my return to Australia and even before the dust has settled from dropping off my luggage in the house, it was straight to the laptop to logon and check the results. I have to say I wish I was there since Australian juniors demonstrated they could produce very interesting results including upsets over GMs and IMs. Kudos to the organisers since there GMs and IMs aplenty (7 GM's, 13 IM's, 3 WGM's, 2 WIM's, 6 FM's and 1 WFM) for the juniors to rehearse their David vs Goliath script and read for a part in the ongoing road show that is Chess.
I have decided to produce a different type of report. The usual round by round round-up (he! he! he!) loses its allure when you are doing a retrospective. So, out with the old script and in with the new ……
Juniors who won starring roles in the David versus Goliath road show ……
In Rd 1, we had ACT junior, Andrew Brown (Elo 2085), defeating Iranian GM Shojaat Ghane (Elo 2415) with the white pieces. This is the same Andrew Brown who wreaked havoc at the 2009 Queenstown Classic and garnered an IM norm for his efforts.
In Rd 6, a second ACT junior, Junta Ikeda (Elo 2261) defeated Indian IM Chowdhury Saptarshi Roy (Elo 2469) with white (and a very lucky win, I must say but a win nonetheless).
Juniors who won understudy parts in the David versus Goliath road show ……
A third ACT junior, Yi Yuan (Elo 2010) managed a draw against Indian WIM Kruttika Nadig (Elo 2361) in Rd 1 with white, then proceeded to defeat fellow ACT Gareth Oliver (Elo 2187) in Rd 3 with white, defeat Singaporean FM Fernandez Daniel Howard (Elo 2171) in Rd 7 with black, defeat Victorian Domagoj Dragicevic (Elo 2251) (IM norm at 2009 Queenstown Classic) in Rd 8 with white, and drew with FM Geoffrey Saw (Elo 2279) in Rd 9 with black.
Victorian junior Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) drew with Indian IM K Rathnakaran (Elo 2427) in Rd 2 with black, drew with IM Toth Andras (Elo 2399) in Rd 7 with black, and drew with WIM Caoili Arianne (Elo 2172) in Rd 8 with white.
Second Victorian junior Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) drew with IM Guy West (Elo 2343) with black in Rd 8.
In Rd 5, Queensland junior FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) drew with IM Leonid Sandler (Elo 2332) with black and defeated FM Geoffrey Saw (Elo 2279) in Rd 6 with white.
Third Victorian junior (and Dusan’s brother) Svetozar Stojic (Elo 1989) drew with IM Leonid Sandler (Elo 2332) with black in Rd 1 and defeated Jason Hu (Elo 2196) in Rd 6 with white.
Juniors who won walk-on minor roles in the David versus Goliath road show ……
Victorian junior Justin Tan (Elo 1885) created a minor upset in Rd 4 defeating David Hacche (Elo 2176) with white, defeated Blair Mandla (Elo 2156) with white in Rd 6, then went on to split points with Indian Mokal Amrutha (Elo 2155) in Rd 8 with white.
Another Victorian junior, Eugene Schon (Elo 2186) defeated Endre Ambrus (Elo 2375) with black.
In Rd 2, ACT junior Emma Guo (Elo 1845) with black pieces drew with Alek Safarian (Elo 2061), defeated Simon Quick (Elo 2197) with white in Rd 5, and drew with Jason Hu (Elo 2196) in Rd 8 with white.
Sam Grigg (Elo 1927) drew with Mokal Amrutha (Elo 2155) in Rd 2 with white and with Alek Safarian (Elo 2061) in Rd 4 with black.
Head-to-head Battle of Australian juniors ……
In Rd 1, Junta Ikeda (Elo 2261) defeated Samuel Dalton (Elo 1932) with black.
In Rd 2, Victorian junior Justin Tan (Elo 1885) drew with FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) with black.
In Rd 3, Junta Ikeda (Elo 2261) defeated 12 year old Victorian junior Bobby Cheng (Elo 2103) with black; Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) lost to Andrew Brown (Elo 2085) with black; FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) defeated Emma Guo (Elo 1845) with black.
In Rd 4, FM Gene Nakauchi (Elo 2076) defeated Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) with white; Bobby Cheng (Elo 2103) defeated Samuel Dalton (Elo 1932) with black.
In Rd 5, Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) defeated Andrew Brown (Elo 2085) with black; Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) lost to Bobby Cheng (Elo 2103) with black.
In Rd 6, Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) defeated ACT junior Emma Guo (Elo 1845) with white.
In Rd 8, FM James Morris (Elo 2114) defeated South Australian junior, Zulfic Fedja (Elo 1971) with black.
In Rd 9, Justin Tan (Elo 1885) defeated Eugene Schon (Elo 2186) with black.
The best performing junior was Junta Ikeda, with 5/9 and in 23rd place (having played one GM and 3 IMs).
Four other juniors were on same points, 5/9:
Yi Yuan (30th placing and ahead of GM Shojaat Ghane (Elo 2415)) having played one GM, one WIM, and one FM;
FM James Morris (Elo 2114) (33rd) having played one GM, 2 IMs, and one FM;
Justin Tan (34th) having played one WGM, one IM, and one FM; and
Christopher Wallis (Elo 2250) (35th) having played one GM, 2 IMs, and one WIM.
The only other junior who managed 50% or better was Dusan Stojic (Elo 2229) (45th) with 4.5/9. Andrew Brown, after his giant-killing exploit in the first round, didn’t seem to be able to replicate the form or success and ended up with a disappointing 2/9.
Games
Round 1, Brown-Ghane
Brown missed 18 Qxc5 +- (18. Qxc5 fxe4
19. Ng5 b6 20. Qc1 Rxd5 21. Nxe4 Rf5 22. Qxc6 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Qe2 24. Nf6+ Kh8
25. Rc1 Rd8 26. Nd7 Rg8 27. Qc3+)and instead allowed equality to be restored by move 19...Bb6. However, 25...Be3 was a mistake and did not defend against 26 Qe7 +-. After 26...Rf8, where should White move the rook? e1 or d1? Fritz 11 suggests 27 Rd1 as better than 27 Re1 (27. Rd1 Bb6 28. Ne5 Qe3 29. Nxf7 Rxf7 30. Rd8+ Bxd8
31. Qxe3 Rxf6 32. h4 Bc7 33. g3 Rf7 34. Kg2 Bb6 35. Qe8+ Rf8 36. Qe6+ Kg7 37.
Qe7+ Rf7 38. Qg5+). Again 29 Qd6 is better (29. Qd6 Qxf6 30. Qxf8+ Kxf8 31. Nd7+ Kg7 32. Nxf6 Bxf6 33. Rd1 c5 34. Rd5 Bd4
35. Rd7 b5 36. g4 a5 37. Kg2 Kg6 38. Rb7 f5 39. gxf5+ Kxf5 40. Rxb5).
Round 6, Ikeda-C S Roy
1...b6 is the Owen's Defence and French GM Christian Bauer has written a book on it. Black's unusual move order is aimed at avoiding White's more attacking openings with f2-f4 and/or Be3, Qd2, and Black is aiming for a Hippopotamus. Look at Black's structure after 9...0-0: the Hippo hides in the water with only the snout visible above water. Here Junta went for 3 Bd3 and according to GM Bauer, this is a more positional choice and he reckons "this system contains more venom than one initiated by 3 Nc3, as Black finds it significantly harder to obtain counterplay." GM Bauer also reckons 6 Qe2 is the best to defend the e4-pawn. Fritz doesn't like White's 23. Re3 and 24. Qe2 which Fritz reckons led to Black sustaining an advantage. White's 38 Kg2 was not the best; Fritz reckons 38 hxg6 or 38 Nxb3 was better. But the IM on the verge of winning blundered badly with 42...hxg6?? (42...a1=Q would have won (43. gxf7+ Kf8 44. Rb1 Qaa4 45. Rc3 Bxe5 46. Qxh7 Qxd4 47. Re3 Qxf7 48. Qxf7+ Kxf7 49. Nf3
Qg4+ 50. Kf1 Qc4+ 51. Kg1)). But 42...hxg6?? 43. Qh8+ Bxh8 44. Rxh8+ Kg7 45. R1h7#. The moral of the story: Fight till the end!
Round 4, Lane-Schon and according to The ClosetGM, Lane sprung an opening trap. See if you can spot it.
If I am not wrong, White's 8 a4 (c3 is the main line) was to provoke Black's 8...b4. That left c4 square undefended for White's Queen to occupy which Her Majesty duly did so, 9 Qc4. Now Black has to defend f7-pawn. But 9...Qd7 certainly fails to do that. Fritz 11 suggests 9... d5 10. Qxc6+ Bd7 11. Qb7 Bc5 12. Nxe5 Ra7 13.
Nc6 Rxb7 14. Nxd8 Kxd8 15. exd5 Re8 16. Bc4 Re5 17. Bxa6 Rb8 18. c4 bxc3 19. Nxc3. So the Worrall Attack for White in the Ruy Lopez (6. Qe2) proves to have quite a sting.
Let us look next at Nakauchi-Wallis and according to The ClosetGM, Wallis blundered out of opening.
Wallis weakens his position with 11...Kd7 whilst Fritz 11 reckons 11... e5 12. Qd3 Bxb513. Qxb5+ Qd7 14. Qxd7+ Kxd7 15. Bb5+ Kxd6 16. Nf3 Kc7 17. Bd2 Kb6 18. Bc4 Nh619. Rc1 Rc8 20. a4 Bc5 21. a5+ Kc6 or 11... Qf6 12.Qc5 Qd8 13. Bg5 Nf6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qd4 Kd7 16. Rd1 Bd5 17. Nc3 Bxd6 18. Nxd5exd5 19. Qxd5 Re8+ 20. Be2 Kc7 equalises. Then 12...a6 again allows White much more active attack, ie Nc7; Fritz 11 suggests 12...Qb6 13. Qc4 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nf6 15. Be3 Qc6 16. Qb3 Ne5 17. Rc1 Qxf3 18. Rg1 Qd519. Rc7+ Kd8 20. Bg2 Qxb3 21. axb3. After 13. Nc7, where would move the rook? No, Fritz reckons 13...Rb8 is better (13... Rb8 14. Bg5 Nf6 15. O-O-O h6 16. Bd2 Bxd6 17. Bb4 Bxf3 18. Qxd6+ Kc8 19.Nxe6 Qxd6 20. Rxd6 fxe6). Similarly, after 14. Bg5, Fritz thinks 14... Nf6 15.Rd1 h6 16. Bh4 Bd5 17. Qa4+ Kxd6 18. Bg3+ Ke7 19. Nxd5+ exd5 20. Bd3 Qd7 21.Qb3 Nh5 22. Bxg6 Nxg3 23. hxg3 fxg6 is better. After 16...Ne5, it looks like White missed a better move: 17. Qa4+ b5 18. Qxa6 Rb8 19. Bxb5+ Rxb5 20. Qxb5+ Nc6 21.Qc4 Bxd6 22. Nb5 Qa5+ 23. Ke2 Nge7 24. Rxd6+ Ke8 25. Bd2 Qb6 26. Rxe6 Kf8 27.Rg1. [The ClosetGM comments on 18 Bxd6? (In his time trouble, Wallis chooses the wrong path. More resistant might have been 18... Rxd8 19. Bh3 Bxd6 20. Nxe6 Rb8 21. Nxg7+ Kc6 but of course, it's still a hard life - Closet GM.)] Fritz suggests something similar: 18... Rxd8 19. Bh3 Bxd6 20. Nxe6 Rb8 21. Rg1 Kc6 22. Rxg7 Nf6 23. Kf1 h5 24. f4 e4 25. Rc1+ Kb626. Rf7 Ng4 27. Bxg4 hxg4 28. Kg2.
Friday, May 22, 2009
That Nakamua-Friedel Two Knights Defence Game ......
Further to my blog on the US Chess Championship and the final round encounter between GM Nakamura and GM Friedel featuring the Two Knights Defence, which Nakamura won, commentary on it has picked up. Here is blogger Michael Goeller's annotations: http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/games/java/2009/nakamura-friedel-us09.htm.
It looks like 8 Bd3 is a very old move resurrected by Dutch GM Stellwagen. Be very quick if you wish to employ this surprise opening weapon because Goeller predicts this will become mainline soon, very soon.
Michael Goeller blogs at The Kenilworthian which is a website rich in resources. Do check it out especially if you are interested in openings.
It looks like 8 Bd3 is a very old move resurrected by Dutch GM Stellwagen. Be very quick if you wish to employ this surprise opening weapon because Goeller predicts this will become mainline soon, very soon.
Michael Goeller blogs at The Kenilworthian which is a website rich in resources. Do check it out especially if you are interested in openings.
AusJCL and International Selections_Pt II_Commonwealth Chess Championships
Commonwealth Chess Championships
[Note: Please read this blog about this event. Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Boys U-8
Mithran Chellappah,Mishael
Basit,Mohammad Abdullah
Boys U-10
Gu,Sean
Gray,Callum
Wallmueller,Peter
Guo,Jamie-Lee
Boys U-12
Tan,Justin
Koh,Cedric
Boys U-14
Matheson,Laurence
Tan,Justin
Feng,Thomas
Boys U-16
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Tang,Jason
Lai,Gene
Boys U-18
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Lai,Gene
Boys U-20
Stojic,Dusan
Grigg, Samuel
Guo-Yuthok,Sherab
Tan,Justin
Lai,Gene
Girls U-12
Mithran,Mirakla
Koh,Clarise
Pretorius,Jana
Girls U-14
Guo,Emma
Simmonds,Leteisha
Kanagarajah,Abbie
Girls U-18
Oliver,Tamzin
Girls U-20
Anton,Sarah
Reid,Vaness Helen
Rozenblat,Vanja
[Note: Please read this blog about this event. Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Boys U-8
Mithran Chellappah,Mishael
Basit,Mohammad Abdullah
Boys U-10
Gu,Sean
Gray,Callum
Wallmueller,Peter
Guo,Jamie-Lee
Boys U-12
Tan,Justin
Koh,Cedric
Boys U-14
Matheson,Laurence
Tan,Justin
Feng,Thomas
Boys U-16
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Tang,Jason
Lai,Gene
Boys U-18
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Lai,Gene
Boys U-20
Stojic,Dusan
Grigg, Samuel
Guo-Yuthok,Sherab
Tan,Justin
Lai,Gene
Girls U-12
Mithran,Mirakla
Koh,Clarise
Pretorius,Jana
Girls U-14
Guo,Emma
Simmonds,Leteisha
Kanagarajah,Abbie
Girls U-18
Oliver,Tamzin
Girls U-20
Anton,Sarah
Reid,Vaness Helen
Rozenblat,Vanja
AusJCL and International Selections_Pt II_World Youth Chess Championships
World Youth Chess Championships
[Note: Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Boys U-8
Smirnov,Anton
Hong,Jasper
Mithran Chellappah,Mishael
Boys U-10
Gu,Sean
Gray,Callum
Wallmueller,Peter
Guo,Jamie-Lee
Boys U-12
Cheng,Bobby
Tan,Justin
Liu,Yi
Koh,Cedric
Boys U-14
Yuan,Yi
Tan,Justin
Boys U-16
Schon,Eugene
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Tang,Jason
Lai,Gene
Boys U-18
Schon,Eugene
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Lai,Gene
Girls U-12
Mithran,Mirakla
Koh,Clarise
Pretorius,Jana
Girls U-14
Guo,Emma
Kanagarajah,Abbie
Simmonds,Leteisha
Girls U-16
Webb Liddle,Miranda
Girls U-18
Oliver,Tamzin
Chibnall,Alana
[Note: Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Boys U-8
Smirnov,Anton
Hong,Jasper
Mithran Chellappah,Mishael
Boys U-10
Gu,Sean
Gray,Callum
Wallmueller,Peter
Guo,Jamie-Lee
Boys U-12
Cheng,Bobby
Tan,Justin
Liu,Yi
Koh,Cedric
Boys U-14
Yuan,Yi
Tan,Justin
Boys U-16
Schon,Eugene
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Tang,Jason
Lai,Gene
Boys U-18
Schon,Eugene
Tan,Justin
Grigg, Samuel
Lai,Gene
Girls U-12
Mithran,Mirakla
Koh,Clarise
Pretorius,Jana
Girls U-14
Guo,Emma
Kanagarajah,Abbie
Simmonds,Leteisha
Girls U-16
Webb Liddle,Miranda
Girls U-18
Oliver,Tamzin
Chibnall,Alana
AusJCL and International Selections_Pt II_World Junior Chess Championships
World Junior Chess Championships
[Note: Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Open U-20
Stojic,Dusan
Grigg, Samuel
Guo-Yuthok,Sherab
Girls U-20
Guo, Emma
Anton,Sarah
Reid,Vaness Helen
Rozenblat,Vanja
[Note: Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Open U-20
Stojic,Dusan
Grigg, Samuel
Guo-Yuthok,Sherab
Girls U-20
Guo, Emma
Anton,Sarah
Reid,Vaness Helen
Rozenblat,Vanja
AusJCL and International Selections_Pt II_Asian Junior Chess Championships
Good news!!! The AUSJCL selections for International events have been released (thanks to an anonymous poster on this blog). I will re-post here to save you trawling through the archives (and broken into parts to reflect different events for ease of reading):
[Note: Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Asian Junior Chess Championships 2009
[Note: I am not sure which tournament this is because on Asian Chess website there is only the Asian Junior and Girls U-20 Chess Championships to be held at Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1st to 8th July, 2009. Perhaps some parents will know.]
Open U-20
Guo-Yuthok,Sherab
Girls U-20
Guo, Emma
Anton,Sarah
Reid,Vaness Helen
Rozenblat,Vanja
Girls U-14
Guo,Emma
Kanagarajah,Abbie
Girls U-12
Mithran,Mirakla
Koh,Clarise
Boys U-18
Lai,Gene
Boys U-16
Tang,Jason
Lai,Gene
Boys U-14
Matheson,Laurence
Boys U-12
Koh,Cedric
Boys U-10
Gu,Sean
Wallmueller,Peter
Guo,Jamie-Lee
Boys U-8
Mithran Chellappah,Mishael
Basit,Mohammad Abdullah
[Note: Top selected players will receive free accommodation but all players listed below have been selected.]
Asian Junior Chess Championships 2009
[Note: I am not sure which tournament this is because on Asian Chess website there is only the Asian Junior and Girls U-20 Chess Championships to be held at Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1st to 8th July, 2009. Perhaps some parents will know.]
Open U-20
Guo-Yuthok,Sherab
Girls U-20
Guo, Emma
Anton,Sarah
Reid,Vaness Helen
Rozenblat,Vanja
Girls U-14
Guo,Emma
Kanagarajah,Abbie
Girls U-12
Mithran,Mirakla
Koh,Clarise
Boys U-18
Lai,Gene
Boys U-16
Tang,Jason
Lai,Gene
Boys U-14
Matheson,Laurence
Boys U-12
Koh,Cedric
Boys U-10
Gu,Sean
Wallmueller,Peter
Guo,Jamie-Lee
Boys U-8
Mithran Chellappah,Mishael
Basit,Mohammad Abdullah
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Commonwealth Chess Championship 2009
In a previous blog on the International Junior events and Australian selections, I mentioned the Commonwealth Chess Championship 2009 to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia. Sorry folks (and sorry for not blogging earlier) BUT IT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. There is an official announcement on Fide's webpage: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/3991-commonwealth-chess-championship-2009.
It looks like the Championship will be folded into the 6th Singapore International Chess Festival to be held in Singapore from 9th to 15th December 2009. Please reset your calendars!
I understand that Ignatius Leong, President of the Commonwealth Chess Association, will be attending the coming Zonal in Queensland. Perhaps someone attending can quiz him on this etc. I would appreciate any info from anyone who manages to do so.
Re AusJCL selections, well ...... I don't have any more "fresher" news ...... But I do know that the draft selections have been forwarded to AusJCL President two weeks ago. Hmmmmmmm!! 2 weeks may be a bit long to hang on to the info ...... Perhaps with the cancellation of the Commonwealth Championship, there was no urgency ??? Or perhaps not!
It looks like the Championship will be folded into the 6th Singapore International Chess Festival to be held in Singapore from 9th to 15th December 2009. Please reset your calendars!
I understand that Ignatius Leong, President of the Commonwealth Chess Association, will be attending the coming Zonal in Queensland. Perhaps someone attending can quiz him on this etc. I would appreciate any info from anyone who manages to do so.
Re AusJCL selections, well ...... I don't have any more "fresher" news ...... But I do know that the draft selections have been forwarded to AusJCL President two weeks ago. Hmmmmmmm!! 2 weeks may be a bit long to hang on to the info ...... Perhaps with the cancellation of the Commonwealth Championship, there was no urgency ??? Or perhaps not!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Playing against your coach needing only to draw!
The US Championship has concluded and it was dramatic finish, nailbiting to the end. Congrats to GM Hikaru Nakamura for winning it the second time (the first time as a 16 year old!!). GM-elect Robert Hess needed to win against GM Varuzhan Akobian (2008 Doeberl Cup winner) to go into playoffs with Nakamura but failed, only managing a draw. Still to come joint second with GM Alexander Onischuk in the US Championship with a performance rating of 2789 obviously isn't too shabby at all for an 17 year old.
Speaking of Onischuk, I previously blogged that one of his students (I assume he has a few) is the talented 14 year old IM Ray Robson. Well, guess who was Onischuk last round opponent? Yep! (As Robin used to say, Jumping Jehosophat!!) yesssireeee! Ray Robson himself. Now, to set the scene: Onischuk needs to win to possibly tie for first if Nakamura draws. Ray needs to draw to get his first GM norm. No mercies shown, straight into battle but in the end, the teacher emerged victorious after 67 gruelling moves! Onischuk gets second and went home with USD12,500 whilst student, Ray Robson misses out on GM norm and goes home with USD2,833. Talk about being a tough teacher, eh?
Now, what would you have done as a coach? Nooooo, I am not suggesting throwing the game away just to get your student that GM norm. Now, I am not really strong enough to judge but according to Peter Doggers at Chessvibes, Onishuk-Robson game was "an almost equal ending in a Semi-Slav". Hmmmmmmmmmmm!
Back to Nakamura-Friedel (Rd 9), juniors should have a look at the game since Friedel played the Two Knights Defence. According to GM Nick de Firmian (editor of the Modern Chess Openings (MCO)) commenting on ICC.Chess.FM.GOTD, Nakamura played an intersting 8th move, retreating his light-squared bishop to d3 (8 Bd3) instead of the usual e2. It seems this is the latest trend.
Chesspubber, Micawber comments:
Here is the game for your to enjoy:
And here is the game, Onischuk-Robson:
Speaking of Onischuk, I previously blogged that one of his students (I assume he has a few) is the talented 14 year old IM Ray Robson. Well, guess who was Onischuk last round opponent? Yep! (As Robin used to say, Jumping Jehosophat!!) yesssireeee! Ray Robson himself. Now, to set the scene: Onischuk needs to win to possibly tie for first if Nakamura draws. Ray needs to draw to get his first GM norm. No mercies shown, straight into battle but in the end, the teacher emerged victorious after 67 gruelling moves! Onischuk gets second and went home with USD12,500 whilst student, Ray Robson misses out on GM norm and goes home with USD2,833. Talk about being a tough teacher, eh?
Now, what would you have done as a coach? Nooooo, I am not suggesting throwing the game away just to get your student that GM norm. Now, I am not really strong enough to judge but according to Peter Doggers at Chessvibes, Onishuk-Robson game was "an almost equal ending in a Semi-Slav". Hmmmmmmmmmmm!
Back to Nakamura-Friedel (Rd 9), juniors should have a look at the game since Friedel played the Two Knights Defence. According to GM Nick de Firmian (editor of the Modern Chess Openings (MCO)) commenting on ICC.Chess.FM.GOTD, Nakamura played an intersting 8th move, retreating his light-squared bishop to d3 (8 Bd3) instead of the usual e2. It seems this is the latest trend.
Chesspubber, Micawber comments:
RE Nakamura - Friedel
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3
And now:
8...Nd5! (Castaldi-Keres, Stockholm, 1937) 9.Nf3,Bd6 10.0-0,Nf4!=
8...Ng4!? 9.Ne4,f5 10.Be2,h5 11.h3, fxe 12.hxg4,Bc5 unclear (Stellwagen-l'Ami, Maastricht, 2008)
I regard both 8...Nd5! and 8...Ng4 stronger than 8....Be7.
By the way 8...Be7 was used by Karjakin (black) against Morozowich in 2008. This game ended in a draw. Needless to say Karjakin's handling of the position was more carefull than Friedel's.
Here is the game for your to enjoy:
And here is the game, Onischuk-Robson:
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Another International junior tournament (by invitation only)
There is the 7th World's Youth Stars chess tournament presently happening in the city of Kirishi near St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia (8th-25th May). It is also called the Somov’s Memorial in the memory of Vanya Somov (20 February 1990-31 July 2002). Vanya Somov was a part of GM Alexander Khalifman's 1999 world champion-winning team in Las Vegas.
Besides the usual line-up of Russian juniors (GM Alexander Shimanov Elo 2519, Vladimir Belous Elo 2414, FM Andrey Stukopin Elo 2380, FM Daniil Dubov Elo 2372, FM Ivan Bukavshin Elo 2365, FM Vladimir Fedoseev Elo 2318, Alexander Ganichev Elo 2154), there are IM Alexander Ipatov (Spain but formerly Ukraine) (Elo 2486), IM Srinat Narayanan (India and 2005 World U12 champion) (Elo 2381), FM Yi-Ren Daniel Chan (Singapore)(Elo 2375), FM Daniel Naroditsky (USA and 2007 World U12 champion) (Elo 2335) and FM Vladislav Kovalev (Belarus) (Elo 2320).
After 5 rounds, GM Shimanov is leading with 3.5/5 followed by FM Dubov, IM Narayanan, Belous and FM Bukavshin on 3/5. Results are here. Games replayer here.
Besides the usual line-up of Russian juniors (GM Alexander Shimanov Elo 2519, Vladimir Belous Elo 2414, FM Andrey Stukopin Elo 2380, FM Daniil Dubov Elo 2372, FM Ivan Bukavshin Elo 2365, FM Vladimir Fedoseev Elo 2318, Alexander Ganichev Elo 2154), there are IM Alexander Ipatov (Spain but formerly Ukraine) (Elo 2486), IM Srinat Narayanan (India and 2005 World U12 champion) (Elo 2381), FM Yi-Ren Daniel Chan (Singapore)(Elo 2375), FM Daniel Naroditsky (USA and 2007 World U12 champion) (Elo 2335) and FM Vladislav Kovalev (Belarus) (Elo 2320).
After 5 rounds, GM Shimanov is leading with 3.5/5 followed by FM Dubov, IM Narayanan, Belous and FM Bukavshin on 3/5. Results are here. Games replayer here.
Game Annotations, USA Supernationals
There is a nice article on the USA SuperNationals IV 2009 (combined juniors championships held every 4 years) at Chesscafe, in the section on Scholastic Chess including a report by the father of the K-3 winner, 8 year-old Cameron Wheeler. I include excerpts where I feel the father's experience is very similar to mine.
But, really my main point, following on from my previous post about IM Ray Robson [who by the way defeated another GM in Rd5 of the US Championships!!!] and game annotations, Cameron annotated his win in the last round:
There is a further report on the K-6 championship won by 11 year old Daniel Gurevich (pre-tournament USCF rating of 2075). His story is also very interesting, obviously a gifted child, who is homeschooled (in English and Russian) due to lack of appropriate schools in his area, very self-motivated (decide to participate in adult chess events because of the prize money which he saved towards a grand piano!), large self-taught (working by himself through Mark Dvoretsky's School of Excellence series of chess books in Russian). Here is his final round game with his own annotations:
[In describing how Cameraon got into chess and the aftermath] Of course, we realized that he had some special ability and that is when I went out and bought my first (of many) chess books. For a brief period I was able to stay one chapter ahead of him in the book, but my superior book knowledge was quickly dwarfed by his superior board vision. I still work with him daily as a coach/cheerleader, but we both recognize that there isn’t much point in me playing him.[This sounds like my experience with my own son!!!]
[On coaching. the solution is for a few families to pool their resources and hire a coach for an intensive] The upshot of all this is that I act as Cameron’s coach. I gather resources and recommendations from as many sources as I can and come up with plans for what Cameron should be doing, but Cameron is the one who does all of the heavy lifting. One of the traits that separates him from his peers is that he is very self-motivated and driven. My wife and I are constantly checking in to make sure that Cameron is pulling us and not that we are pushing him.Read on in the ChessCafe article to find out how Cameron had to defeat one of his closest chess buddy in the last round to take first place.
But, really my main point, following on from my previous post about IM Ray Robson [who by the way defeated another GM in Rd5 of the US Championships!!!] and game annotations, Cameron annotated his win in the last round:
Wheeler,Cameron - Panchanatham,VigneshCome on Aussie juniors, if an 8 year old can do it, surely you can too!
SuperNationals IV Nashville (7), 05.04.2009
Closed Sicilian [B24]
This was my seventh round game against my good friend Vignesh Panchanatham, also from Cupertino. Whoever won this game would be the national champion.
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Nge7 5.f4 g6 6.d3 Bg7 7.Be3 b6
I want to develop my knight, castle, and build up a kingside attack, but my position is already worse.
8.Nge2 d5 9.Bf2 d4 10.Nb1Now he is cramping my position.
10...Bb7 11.0–0 Qc7 12.Nd2 0–0–0
I wasn’t expecting him to castle long, but I’m okay with it.
13.Nf3 e5 14.Qd2 h6 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.c3
I was trying to open up a file to his king, but better was a4 or b4.
17...f5??
Now I can open the c-file and win a pawn.
18.cxd4 Bxd4 19.Bxd4 cxd4 20.Rac1
Pin to win!
20...Bc6 21.exf5 gxf5 22.Bxc6 Nxc6
23.Rxf5??
Doh! Grabbing pawns. I missed Rxc6 followed by Rc1.
23...Qd7
Fortunately, he missed Kb7.
24.Rf6 Rde8 25.Rcxc6+ Kb7 26.Rxh6 Rhf8 27.Rcf6
Trying to get him to simplify the position.
27...Qg4
But he wants to keep it complicated. I missed Rh7+.
28.Qf4 Qg7 29.Rxf8 Rxf8 30.Qe4+ Ka6 31.Rh7 Qf6 32.Qf4 Qd8
Now I can pick up another pawn.
33.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 34.Nxd4
The queens are off the board, and black has no attacking chances.
34...Rd8??
Vignesh missed a tactic, letting me win a pawn and simplify the position further.
35.Rxa7+ Kxa7 36.Nc6+ Kb7 37.Nxd8+ Kc7 38.Ne6+ Kd7 39.Nf4 b5 40.d4 b4 41.d5 Kd6 42.h4 1–0
There is a further report on the K-6 championship won by 11 year old Daniel Gurevich (pre-tournament USCF rating of 2075). His story is also very interesting, obviously a gifted child, who is homeschooled (in English and Russian) due to lack of appropriate schools in his area, very self-motivated (decide to participate in adult chess events because of the prize money which he saved towards a grand piano!), large self-taught (working by himself through Mark Dvoretsky's School of Excellence series of chess books in Russian). Here is his final round game with his own annotations:
Daniel Gurevich (2075) - Sarah Chiang (1950)
SuperNationals IV (7), 05.04.2009
Caro-Kann Defense [B13]This was my last round game against Sarah Chiang. We both had 5½ points, and we both needed to win. The game was an interesting Caro-Kann, but the game was really over by move fifteen.
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3
The Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann.
5...g6 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.Nf3 Nh6?!
The start of a dubious plan. 7...Nf6!? was better.
8.0–0 f6 9.Re1 Nf7 10.c4!
Now my position is better. The game opens up, and the bishop on g7 becomes awkward, and the e6-square is weak.
10...Bg4?
This is not the best move. Now I gain a few tempos and Black cannot finish developing. Better is 10...dxc4!? 11.Bxc4 0–0 12.h3 My position is still better, but at least Black has castled.
11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Nc3 Qd8 13.d5+/–
My position is much better and Black can barely castle.
13...Nce5 14.Bb5+ Nd7
If 14...Bd7!?, then 15.Nd4 0–0 16.Bxd7 Qxd7 17.Ne6+/– and White’s position is crushing.
15.Qa4?!
I could have played better. I should have conserved my energy and played 15.d6! immediately: 15.d6! e5 16.Nxe5!! and White is completely winning.
15...Bxf3 16.gxf3 f5 17.d6 e5 18.Nd5 0–0 19.Bxd7 exf4 20.Nc7 Ne5 21.Qb3+ Kh8 22.Nxa8 Qxd7 23.Nc7 Qxd6 24.Ne6
24…Qc6??
Black still had minuscule chances to survive, but after this blunder, the game is over.
25.Rxe5 Bxe5 26.Nxf8 g5 27.Qf7 Bg7 28.Ne6 1–0
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Chess videoclip of IM Ray Robson and Game annotations
I was looking at the US Championship website and viewing some the videos produced by ChessLife and ICC.FM and there was this video clip of Rd 2 (see below). In Rd 2, IM Ray Robson defeated GM Boris Gulko. He was interviewed and there is a bit of that in the videoclip at the beginning, explaining part of his game etc.
This brings me to a pet gripe of mine. Why is it that Australian Juniors are so reluctant to annotate their games and share their analysis? Why are some of them so secretive about their repertoire that they refuse to share? (I did ask some older juniors during the Australian Open early this year to annotate their games for this website but to date I have yet to hear from them. Of course to be fair, they do not know me and therefore are a bit wary. But I did provide the website address which they can check out ...) I believe this ties in with the issue of chess and its popularity and its promotion. The best promoters of chess are the juniors who are articulate, who demonstrate the serious side to chess as well as the fun that can be had in playing chess. They can demonstrate the legitimacy of chess dreams (ie, the GM dream!). With what is called Web 2.0, these can be disseminated far and wide and used to popularise the game. But no... The most popular chess blogs in Australia are the ClosetGM (30-something) and the Chessexpress (another 30-something). The only active junior blog is by an Victorian junior here.
In addition, annotating one's game is universally recommended as one of the important pathways to future improvements as a chessplayer and future success. Why aren't Australian juniors doing it?
If you watch the videoclip below and observe Ray Robson (only 14 years old) and you can begin to dream of what can be done in Australia with the teenage juniors.
This brings me to a pet gripe of mine. Why is it that Australian Juniors are so reluctant to annotate their games and share their analysis? Why are some of them so secretive about their repertoire that they refuse to share? (I did ask some older juniors during the Australian Open early this year to annotate their games for this website but to date I have yet to hear from them. Of course to be fair, they do not know me and therefore are a bit wary. But I did provide the website address which they can check out ...) I believe this ties in with the issue of chess and its popularity and its promotion. The best promoters of chess are the juniors who are articulate, who demonstrate the serious side to chess as well as the fun that can be had in playing chess. They can demonstrate the legitimacy of chess dreams (ie, the GM dream!). With what is called Web 2.0, these can be disseminated far and wide and used to popularise the game. But no... The most popular chess blogs in Australia are the ClosetGM (30-something) and the Chessexpress (another 30-something). The only active junior blog is by an Victorian junior here.
In addition, annotating one's game is universally recommended as one of the important pathways to future improvements as a chessplayer and future success. Why aren't Australian juniors doing it?
If you watch the videoclip below and observe Ray Robson (only 14 years old) and you can begin to dream of what can be done in Australia with the teenage juniors.
Ray Robson at the US Championship 2009
Some of you may remember this post I made in March: http://australian-junior-youth-chess.blogspot.com/2009/03/juniors-from-other-countries.html
Well, one of the juniors, IM Ray Robson (14 y o), is presently playing in the US Championship and looking for his first GM norm. The website is fantastic: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009. The venue is even more fantastic. The sponsor is also fantastic, Rex Sinquefield, a multi-millionaire who is bankrolling the Chess Club And Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The make-up of the field for the Championship is a good formula, mixing the top 12 GMs in USA with some up and coming players as wells as local players. There is even a prize for the perfect score (9/9). However, by R3, it was clear that the US$64,000 prize money was safe.
After 4 rounds, Ray Robson is doing all right (2/4), having beaten 2 GMs. One of them is GM Boris Gulko, who was a very strong player in the 1970s (in USSR) and 1980s (in USA). One of his claim to fame is that he is one of the few GMs in the world who can boast of a positive record against GM Garry Kasparov. However, as his record in this year's Championship demonstrates, he may be a bit past his prime in his 60s, having lost his first three games.
You can follow the games live at website or head to TWIC: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html (you need to install the Silverlight add-on). Not too sure of the time zones, but I think you can catch the games from 6 am AEST onwards (some games continue to AEST 10 am onwards).
Well, one of the juniors, IM Ray Robson (14 y o), is presently playing in the US Championship and looking for his first GM norm. The website is fantastic: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009. The venue is even more fantastic. The sponsor is also fantastic, Rex Sinquefield, a multi-millionaire who is bankrolling the Chess Club And Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The make-up of the field for the Championship is a good formula, mixing the top 12 GMs in USA with some up and coming players as wells as local players. There is even a prize for the perfect score (9/9). However, by R3, it was clear that the US$64,000 prize money was safe.
After 4 rounds, Ray Robson is doing all right (2/4), having beaten 2 GMs. One of them is GM Boris Gulko, who was a very strong player in the 1970s (in USSR) and 1980s (in USA). One of his claim to fame is that he is one of the few GMs in the world who can boast of a positive record against GM Garry Kasparov. However, as his record in this year's Championship demonstrates, he may be a bit past his prime in his 60s, having lost his first three games.
You can follow the games live at website or head to TWIC: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html (you need to install the Silverlight add-on). Not too sure of the time zones, but I think you can catch the games from 6 am AEST onwards (some games continue to AEST 10 am onwards).
AusJCL and International Selections
One of the more eagerly awaited piece of information in Australian junior chess at the very present moement is the selection of juniors for international events. (see blog here.) On Aus ChessChat, some parents have indicated concern at the delay. The first international event (that I know of and which has not been cancelled) is the Asian Youth Age Championships (U8-U18) (June 10-19) in Vietnam. This is followed by Commonwealth Championships (U8-U20) (July 19-27) in Ipoh, Malaysia. Rightly parents are worried about travel arrangements, accommodation etc.
My sources reveal that there is some change of personnel occurring within AusJCL which have serious repercussions on its efficacy and hence the delay in releasing the selections. The remaining committee is coping the best they can. All I can say is be patient and not take out your frustration and anger at the remaining committee. Remember that they are all volunteers and all have a day job to feed the kids, pay the mortgage etc. (Some of you may know the reason for the change but it should not be repeated since it is a private story.)
This is the perfect opportunity for someone to step up and volunteer for junior chess on a national level. Any volunteers, please contact the Prez of AusJCL, Dr Charles Zworestine at charlesz@ozemail.com.au.
Expect the selections to be released earliest end of this week. On the bright side, the delay may mean you are able to pick up some bargain in air fares and/or accommodation. :)
PS, For those intending to participate in the Commonwealth Championship, please note that it is going to be held in Ipoh, a town north of the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. (Yes, you will need a transfer from the KLIA (south of KL)to Ipoh (north of KL).) It is a nice picturesque town but it is no KL (with its shopping etc). On the plus side, it is the home to the famous soup noodles (Ipoh Hor Fun) and its Hainanese chicken rice is good as well. Ask the locals for the best places to eat.
My sources reveal that there is some change of personnel occurring within AusJCL which have serious repercussions on its efficacy and hence the delay in releasing the selections. The remaining committee is coping the best they can. All I can say is be patient and not take out your frustration and anger at the remaining committee. Remember that they are all volunteers and all have a day job to feed the kids, pay the mortgage etc. (Some of you may know the reason for the change but it should not be repeated since it is a private story.)
This is the perfect opportunity for someone to step up and volunteer for junior chess on a national level. Any volunteers, please contact the Prez of AusJCL, Dr Charles Zworestine at charlesz@ozemail.com.au.
Expect the selections to be released earliest end of this week. On the bright side, the delay may mean you are able to pick up some bargain in air fares and/or accommodation. :)
PS, For those intending to participate in the Commonwealth Championship, please note that it is going to be held in Ipoh, a town north of the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. (Yes, you will need a transfer from the KLIA (south of KL)to Ipoh (north of KL).) It is a nice picturesque town but it is no KL (with its shopping etc). On the plus side, it is the home to the famous soup noodles (Ipoh Hor Fun) and its Hainanese chicken rice is good as well. Ask the locals for the best places to eat.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Australian Juniors 2009 U12 game mentioned in annotations
I am still trying to find time to trawl through the results of the Doeberl and the SIO but to whet your appetite, here is a little something about junior chess.
International Master Gary Lane is a well known chess player, coach and writer in Australia and overseas, particularly via his column on ChessCafe, Opening Lanes. In the latest column (May 2009), in the midst of analysing a game, Oscar Quinones-Marco Pacheco Lima 2000, in reply to a reader's question on the Two Knight's Defence, IM Lane mentioned a game played in the Australian Junior 2009 in Adelaide: "Incidentally, I saw the following game being played at the Australian championships, which would be a decent recommendation for White, but admittedly it was in the under twelves. The game J.Bowditch-K.Nakauchi, Adelaide 2009, continued 7 Nc3 Nd4 8 Nd5? a typical mistake at junior level 8...Nxd5 9 Nxd4 (of course 9 Bxe7 allows 9...Nxe7 leaving Black a piece up) 9...Bxg5 10 Bxd5 exd4 after all the exchanges Black has emerged a piece up and went on to win the game."
Hmmmmm, U12 games have instructive value ...... Would this be one of the games with the youngest players to be used in analysis, I wonder?
Here is the game in full:
International Master Gary Lane is a well known chess player, coach and writer in Australia and overseas, particularly via his column on ChessCafe, Opening Lanes. In the latest column (May 2009), in the midst of analysing a game, Oscar Quinones-Marco Pacheco Lima 2000, in reply to a reader's question on the Two Knight's Defence, IM Lane mentioned a game played in the Australian Junior 2009 in Adelaide: "Incidentally, I saw the following game being played at the Australian championships, which would be a decent recommendation for White, but admittedly it was in the under twelves. The game J.Bowditch-K.Nakauchi, Adelaide 2009, continued 7 Nc3 Nd4 8 Nd5? a typical mistake at junior level 8...Nxd5 9 Nxd4 (of course 9 Bxe7 allows 9...Nxe7 leaving Black a piece up) 9...Bxg5 10 Bxd5 exd4 after all the exchanges Black has emerged a piece up and went on to win the game."
Hmmmmm, U12 games have instructive value ...... Would this be one of the games with the youngest players to be used in analysis, I wonder?
Here is the game in full:
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