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Scholastic Chess Steve Goldberg
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Grade Nationals, Pan-Am, and World Youth A couple dozen U.S. players and their team coaches traveled to Turkey for the World Youth Chess Championship in November, and in December, we had the end-of-year "Grade Nationals" and the Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship. Tournament summaries and selected games appear below… Everyman Quiz of the Month
We will accept all contest answers for two weeks following the appearance of this column, then randomly select our three winners from this group. In order to meet the two-week deadline, please e-mail your responses to me by January 27, 2010. Send your answers to scholasticchess@chesscafe.com. Good luck! Problem #1
White has just moved Ba5, skewering Black's queen and rook. How does Black respond? Problem #2
It is White to move. What do you suggest? National K-12 Championships, Dallas, Texas The annual "Grade Nationals" took place in mid-December in Dallas, with over 1200 youngsters in attendance. Only three players had perfect 7-0 scores - Joaquin Perkins, Rayan Taghizadeh and IM Marc Arnold.
The winners of each section were as follows:
Interestingly, only the ninth grade section had co-winners. Every other grade had a clear-cut first place finisher. Below we have the seventh round victory that gave James Black the sixth grade championship, with notes by Fritz: Black,James - Shin,Kyle
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Nf6 7.0–0 Be7 8.dxc5 0–0 9.Nb3 Bg4 10.Qd3 Nb4 11.Qc3 Bxf3 12.Qxb4 Be4 13.c3 Qc7?
13...b6!? would keep Black in the game. 14.Qd4 Qb8 15.cxb6 Ng4 with White slightly better. 14.f3+- Bc2 15.Bf4 Qc8 15...Qd8!? 16.Nd4 Rc8 17.Bd6 Bxd6 18.cxd6+-. 16.Rfe1 Qd8 17.Nd4 Rc8?? 18.Rxe7! Qxe7 19.Nxc2 Qxc5+ 20.Qxc5 Rxc5 21.a4 Rd8 21...Ra8 does not help much. 22.Bd6 Rcc8 23.a5+-. 22.Be3 Rcc8 23.Bxa7 Ne8 24.Bb6 Rd6 25.Bd4 Nc7 26.Bd3 Re8 27.Kf2 27.Ne3 seems even better. 27...f6+-. 27...Rh6 28.Be3 Rhe6 29.Bf5 29.a5 keeps an even firmer grip. 29...h6+-. 29...Re5 30.Bd3
White has a decisive advantage. 30.g4 and White can already relax. 30...g6 31.Bd3 Ne6+-. 30...R5e7? 30...R5e6 31.a5 Rd6+-. 31.Bc5 Re6 32.Nd4 Re3 33.Rd1 Na6 34.Ba3 Nb8 35.Be4! Boing! 35...R3xe4 36.fxe4 1–0 Here are the team champions from Grade Nationals:
Pan American Intercollegiate Championship The up-and-coming University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) hosted the 2009 Pan American Intercollegiate Championship December 27-30, at beautiful South Padre Island.
Twenty-eight collegiate teams from North America and the Caribbean competed, with the University of Maryland – Baltimore County (UMBC) "A" team winning outright with a perfect 6-0 team score. A three-way tie for Second-Fourth places occurred among the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) "A" team, the Texas Tech University "A" team, and the UTD "B" team. Next in line was the University of Texas at Brownsville "A" team. As a result, UMBC, UTD, Texas Tech and UTB will meet again in the "Final Four" tournament in April, also to be hosted by UTB. Manning board one for UMBC "A" was GM Leonid Kritz, rated 2654. He finished with five wins and a single draw, to GM Alejandro Ramirez of the UTD "A" team. Here is Kritz's fifth-round win over GM Timor Gareev of the UTB "A" squad, with annotations from Fritz: Kritz,Leonid (2654) - Gareev,Timor (2644)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be2 0–0 10.0–0 b6 11.Be3 Ne5 12.f4 Ng6 13.g3 Bb7 14.Bf3 Qc7 15.Rc1 Rfe8 16.Qe2 Rac8 17.Qf2 Nd7 18.b4 Qb8 19.Na4 d5
20.exd5 Weaker is 20.Nxb6 Nxb6 21.Bxb6 dxe4 with Black slightly better. 20...Bxb4 21.Nc2 Bc5 21...Be7 22.dxe6 (not as good is 22.Bxb6 Nxb6 23.Qxb6 Rxc4 with Black better) 22...fxe6 23.Bg4=. 22.Bxc5 Less advisable is 22.Nxb6 Bxb6 23.Bxb6 Rxc4 24.dxe6 fxe6=. 22...Nxc5 23.Nxb6 Nd3 24.Qd4 Nxc1 25.Nxc8 Inferior is 25.Rxc1 Rcd8 with Black slightly better. 25...Qxc8
25...e5 26.Qa7 Qxc8 27.Rxc1 exf4 28.d6 with White slightly better. 26.Rxc1+/- Ne7 27.Ne3 27.Re1 Nf5 28.Qa7 Qxc4 29.dxe6 fxe6 30.Bxb7 Qxc2 31.Qxa6 Qd2+/-. 27...Nxd5 28.Rb1 Nc3 29.Bxb7 Less advisable is 29.Rxb7 Qxb7 30.Qxg7+ Kxg7 31.Bxb7 and Black is better. 29...Ne2+ 30.Kf2 Nxd4 31.Bxc8 Rxc8 32.Rb6 h5 33.Ke1 a5 34.Kd2 Rd8 35.Kc3 Ne2+ 36.Kc2 h4 37.c5 hxg3 38.hxg3 Kf8 39.c6
39...Rd6?? Better is 39...Rc8, the only rescuing move. 40.Kd3 Nxg3 with White slightly better. 40.c7+- Nd4+ 41.Kc3 1-0 41…Nb5+ 42.Kc4 Nxc7 43.Rxd6+-. World Youth Chess Championship The U.S. squad of twenty-four players and five coaches traveled to Antalya, Turkey for the 2009 World Youth Chess Championship in November. Two players earned silver medals for their efforts – Tanuj Vasudeva (Under 8 Open) and Samritha Palakollu (Under 8 Girls), although congratulations go out to all of the competitors for their hard work during the grueling competition.
Tanuj captured his medal with an aggressive kingside attack in the final round, stripping his opponent's king of all his protection: Vasudeva,Tanuj - Amier,H.B.M. Zuhri
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Qe2 0–0 9.Bg5 c5 10.dxc5 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 11.c3 Qxc5 12.0–0–0 h6+/-. 11...Qxc5= 12.0–0–0 Bd7 13.Ne5 Rfc8 14.Bc3 Be8 15.Bd4 Qa5 16.Kb1 b5 17.g4
Better is 17.Ng4 b4 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Qf3+/-. 17...h6?? 17...Nd5 would allow Black to play on. 18.Qe4 g6 with White slightly better. 18.h4 Better is 18.g5!? hxg5 19.h4+-. 18...Nd5 19.Qe4 Nf6 20.Qf3 Bd6 21.Qh3 Better is 21.Rhe1 Nd5 22.g5+-. 21...Nd7?? 21...Nd5 would be a reprieve. 22.g5 Nb4 with White slightly better. 22.Nxd7+- Bxd7 23.g5 h5 24.Qf3?? Gives the opponent counterplay. Better is 24.g6 and White has triumphed. 24...Be8 25.Be4+-. 24...e5+/- 25.Qxh5 exd4??
25...Be6 was necessary. 26.Qh7+ Kf8 with White slightly better. 26.Qh7++- Kf8 27.Rhe1 Be6 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Rxe6+ Taking the pawn will bring White grief: 29.Qxg7?? Qxa2+ 30.Kc1 Bf4+ 31.Re3 Qa1+ –+ (31...dxe3?! 32.Qf6+ Kf8 33.Qh8+ Ke7 34.Qf6+ Ke8 35.Bxb5+ Kf8 36.Qh8+ Ke7 37.Qf6+ Kf8 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qf6+ Kf8=; 31...Bxe3+ 32.fxe3–+). 29...Kxe6 30.Qxg7 Be5 31.Bf5+ Kxf5 31...Kd6 what else? 32.Qxf7 Re8 33.Qg6+ Kc7+-. 32.Qxf7+ Kg4 32...Ke4 33.c3 Rxc3 34.Re1+ Re3 35.f3+ Kd3 36.Qb3+ Qc3 37.Rd1+ Ke2 38.bxc3 Rxc3=. 33.Rg1+ Kh3 34.Qf3+ 1–0 Not everyone can win a medal, but everyone on the team deserves to be mentioned. Here is the team that represented the U.S. at the 2009 World Youth Chess Championship: Coaches
Players
Answers to Last Month’s Quiz Problem #1
This one is a little tricky. It's White to move. Hint: remember that White's pawn at g3 is pinned. Answer: 1.Qg5+ Bxg5 2.hxg5+ Kh5 (the g3-pawn is pinned, so 3.g4# is not possible) 3.Rh8! (threatening …Rxh7#) 3…Qxh8 (now the g3-pawn is unpinned) 4.g4#. From Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan. Problem #2
This one may be a little easier. It is White to move. Answer: 1.Qb7#. That's all there is to it! From 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate, by Fred Reinfeld. © 2009 Steve Goldberg. All Rights Reserved. Comment on this month's column via our Contact Page! Pertinent responses will be posted below daily. |
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