Nobody is safe on top of the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship. After a third round that saw two perfect-score frontrunners fall with the white pieces, Monday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis was more of the same for the leader.
The standings remain tight, with seven of the ten players still within one point of each other, entering round 5. California 17-year-old IM Daniel Naroditsky now sits atop the leaderboard on the proverbial hot seat and, with two wins and two draws in four rounds, is the last player in the field without a loss. Four players sit in a tie for second place, a half-point behind Naroditsky with 2.5 points.
Not 20 moves into Naroditsky’s game versus FM Atulya Shetty, things looked to be headed into a dead draw, which would have created a six-way tie for first place. Shetty gave fight with the French defense, producing an isolated queen’s pawn. It was one Naroditsky was up to the task of blockading, but unfortunately it was black’s only slight weakness.
But Shetty missed 19. … Bxd4 20. Bxd4 f6, which would have ushered in an opposite-colored bishop endgame and left white with no prospects. Naroditsky capitalized, with a powerful 24. Qg3 to set up the winning Re5 on the next move. Shetty blundered his major pieces to a knight fork soon after, and Naroditsky closed the game with some great back-rank tactical work.
“I just misevaluated the position,” Shetty said of his drawing chances. “I thought he would be able to keep pushing for awhile, with me suffering. I guess it was an easier draw than I thought it would be.”
Harmon-Vellotti had been nothing short of impressive through the first three rounds, including a win over IM Kayden Troff and a draw with Naroditsky, the field’s two highest-rated players. But his fourth-round match on Monday versus Sevian was a quick reminder that there would be no getting comfortable in this field.
Boise, Idaho’s 14-year-old pride looked solid through the earlygoings of a Ruy Lopez, prompting Grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold to comment on Harmon-Vellotti’s polished openings thus far in the tournament. But the middlegame held a different story.
If 16. c4 was confusing, then 18. Nfg5 was downright wrong. The former move, in a position that looked primed for white to push b4, greased the wheels for Sevian to come on the attack, and the latter simply sent a minor piece into the barbs of the enemy camp for no compensation.
“It was just one of those games where everything I calculated just didn’t work,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “I thought b4 didn’t work, because I was losing material – but I’m not. Then c4 was supposed to start this crazy kingside attack, where I thought I could get d4 and have something – but I don’t. Then Nb6, [Sevian] had several refutations – but I didn’t see any of them.”
Troff converted a solid endgame into a full point in his match versus FM Yian Liou. The Utah IM and reigning U-14 World Champion, who turned 15 while playing in his first U.S. Championship in May, came out clean against the Queen’s Gambit-Declined Slav defense and found himself with an early advantage. Liou’s 17. … b6 was suspect, especially without his king castled, and Troff created the first weakness in his opponent’s army with an isolated c-pawn.
But he fell a bit flat on his choice of attack, opting for 19. Bb5 which was met by Ra7, and Troff voluntarily traded minor pieces and queens to speed toward the endgame. But Liou missed 23. Bf6, which would have brought the devastating 24. … Bd4+ and paved the way for an easy draw. Instead, Troff cleaned up in an excellent rook-and-pawn endgame. Liou’s choice of 23. a5 was the one he wanted back.
“It wasn’t miscalculating as much as it was just misevaluating how much of an easy draw [Bf6] was,” Liou said. “I just thought a5 led to an easier draw.”
With a draw in round 3, her first points on the board, WFM Sarah Chiang looked to be warming up and cruising to a convincing win versus Robert Perez on Monday. She came with the Classical Nimzo-Indian, including c5 and Na6, to disrupt Perez’ middle and stack his c-pawns. After 20 moves, Chiang was looking strong and coming heavy with attack, while Perez played with under 15 minutes on his clock and another 20 moves needed before time control.
Chiang’s attack, however, seemed just a tempo late, as Perez had just enough defense set up to avoid an otherwise lethal 24. Rg4. As it was, the move did little more than trap her own rook. Still, Chiang hung solid all the way through 34. gxf3, a position which Perez had all but conceded to time troubles.
“After [34. Gxf3], I thought I was dead, because she was so far up on time. That position was really annoying to defend low on time,” Perez said. “After that, I didn’t know. I couldn’t figure out what to do. My pieces were passive, and her pieces were active.”
But her 37. Kg7, instead of Kh7 which would have drawn, brought Perez’ shocker of 38. Ne6+, bringing mate in several ways if 38. … fxe6. Chiang lost her queen to a fork with her king at move 40. Nf8.
The draw between Xiong and Shen also featured a Ruy Lopez, but one Xiong fell out of line of rather early. The result saw an early attack on his white-squared bishop and struggling to find initiative in the early going. He stumbled through an awkward advance through the center that momentarily left his king exposed, but he was able to eventually close the board and create a pawn fortress, where he weathered the storm through the endgame.
Shen found slightly more play with the black pieces throughout the middle game, but trading the knights at move 29 all but sealed the draw.
To watch live grandmaster commentary with GM Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold, tune into www.uschesschamps.com/live.
Four rounds have passed at the Red October building in Moscow. Hikaru Nakamura is the first sole leader of the event. He got his third straight victory today over Fabiano Caruana to consolidate his position at the top of the standings. The rest of the games in the fourth round finished in draws. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Boris Gelfand share second place half a point behind the American. The Russian representatives are not having a very good run at this event.
The only decisive game of the round saw Nakamura use the black pieces to put down Fabiano Caruana in 39 moves. Precisely these two young players have been showing steady progress in the last couple of years. The Italian is now fourth on the live ratings list, while Nakamura is right behind him on the fifth spot. Coincidentally, both of them played in the last two legs of the Grand Prix, drawing in both occasions.
The game was a Najdorf where white’s play did not give him any advantage out of the opening. In a dynamically balanced position, Caruana started to look for some edge on the kingside, however, his knight remained out of play on a5. Nakamura concentrated his forces on the side that had more action going and ended up creating enough mating threats with his heavy pieces to push the Italian towards resignation.
Both players have been showing great fighting spirit; both had four decisive results until now. Let us not forget that Caruana defeated favorite Magnus Carlsen in the third round.
Another interesting Sicilian was seen in the game that faced veterans Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand. The players must have taken a lot of time reviewing their preparation for their World Championship match, and the Israeli proved yet again that he had a very reliable repertoire to neutralize his rival with black.
A very positional struggle took place over the board. Gelfand was not afraid to put his light squared bishop on the not-very-attractive e8 square in order to equalize the position. The world champion tried to create some pressure in a very slightly superior rook endgame, but soon enough it was clear that there were not enough resources to create something threatening. The players signed the peace treaty right after passing the time control.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov showed very deep preparation with black in his game against Sergey Karjakin. He used the rarely seen Pirc Defense and sacrificed two pawns for activity. At some point, it seemed like the young Russian was going to get enough chances to look for a win in a rook endgame with a far away passed pawn, but the Azerbaijani defended stubbornly and got his half point on move 42.
Russians Alexander Morozevich and Vladimir Kramnik played very creatively in a Berlin Defense. The ex-world champion got an inferior position but managed to get enough counterplay to save the draw. Dmitry Andreikin and Magnus Carlsen also split the point after closing the position completely in 34 moves.
The leader Nakamura will play with white against Andreikin tomorrow, while the very expected duel between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand takes place in the next board.
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
Standings after 4 rounds:
1 Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2784 3 2 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 2753 2½ 3 Gelfand, Boris ISR 2755 2½ 4 Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2774 2 5 Andreikin, Dmitry RUS 2713 2 6 Anand, Viswanathan IND 2786 2 7 Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2864 2 8 Karjakin, Sergey RUS 2782 1½ 9 Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2760 1½ 10 Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2803 1
FIDE Zone 3.4 Championships 2013 were held from 7th to 16th June in the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan.
A total of 35 players from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan competed in Open and Women’s section.
Grandmaster Anton Filippov from Uzbekistan won the Open section with 7,0/9 points. Local player Mikhail Markov finished second with 6,5 points and earned an IM norm.
Filippov and Markov are qualified for the World Chess Cup which will take place in August in Tromso, Norway.
WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva from Kazakhstan convincingly won the Women’s section with 8,5/9 points to qualify for the next Women’s World Chess Championship.
Kasparov's Greatest Hits by GM Damian Lemos Posted on June 17,2013 By William in Strategy & Game Review, Chess Openings, All Articles w/ Videos, Classic Games (Pre 2010). The King's Indian Defense is one of the most popular and dangerous chess openings of all time. Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov employed the King's Indian Defense at the highest levels of chess, achieving remarkable success with the black pieces by using this aggressive opening system against 1. d4. In this chess video excerpt from the 3+ hour chess DVD ¨Kasparov's Greatest Hits¨, Grandmaster Damian Lemos analyzes one of Kasparov's most[...]
A Chess Clinic with IM Andrew Martin Posted on June 14,2013 By OnlineChessLessons.NET Contributor in Strategy & Game Review, All Articles w/ Videos, Beginner's Corner. IM Andrew Martin is a world-renown chess trainer that focuses on improvement for beginner and intermediate players. In the below chess video excerpt from the chess DVD A Chess Clinic IM Andrew Martin is analyzing an interesting encounter between one of his students (a club level player) and an opponent rated over 400 points higher. It is fascinating to hear IM Martin's advice on facing higher-rated players and how he advises his students to not o[...]
Black Shockers - The French Fort Knox by IM Andrew Martin Posted on June 12,2013 By OnlineChessLessons.NET Contributor in Strategy & Game Review, Chess Openings, All Articles w/ Videos. The Fort Knox Variation of the French Defense is an extremely solid sideline that has remained under-appreciated until recent years. In the below chess video excerpt from the chess DVD ¨Black Shockers Vol. 2 - French Fort Knox - Old Benoni¨ IM Andrew Martin explains that the Fort Knox Variation of the French Defense is a very sturdy response against 1. e4 and that black will almost certainly be able to achieve a playable equality from the opening[...]
Kramnik Crushes Kasparov - Insane King's Indian Defense Posted on June 10,2013 By William in Strategy & Game Review, Chess Openings, All Articles w/ Videos, Classic Games (Pre 2010). Vladimir Kramnik is one of the only chess players that has consistently achieved good results against Garry Kasparov. In this classic chess video footage from the 1994 Moscow Intel Grand Prix, Kramnik puts an absolute beating on Kasparov in one of the craziest chess games ever. Kasparov responds to Kramnik's 1. d4 with his favorite opening weapon with black - the King's Indian Defense! The opening is complicated and it appears that Kasparov has o[...]
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Slovakian IM Stefan Mazur convincingly won the 2013 Pula Open after finishing the competition with 8,0/9 points in the field of 244 players.
Norwegian IM Frode Urkedal and Serbian GM Sinisa Drazic shared the second place half a point behind the winner.
The 27th International Open Tournament Pula was organized by the Chess Club Pula on 8-15th June, 2013, at the Park Plaza Histria in Pula, Croatia.
The 9-round Swiss open offered 11,000 EUR in prizes. Top prizes were EUR 1400, 1000, 700, 600, 500 etc.
Final standings:
1. IM Mazur Stefan SVK 2387 – 8 2. IM Urkedal Frode NOR 2470 – 7.5 3. GM Drazic Sinisa SRB 2463 – 7.5 4. GM Okhotnik Vladimir FRA 2399 – 7 5. GM Bosiocic Marin CRO 2556 – 7 6. FM Aabling-Thomsen Jakob DEN 2343 – 7 7. IM Zufic Miroslav CRO 2441 – 7 8. GM Yrjola Jouni FIN 2366 – 7 9. Pezelj Sinisa SRB 2172 – 6.5 10. FM De Filomeno Simone ITA 2365 – 6.5 11. GM Sulava Nenad CRO 2484 – 6.5 12. IM Jelen Igor SLO 2376 – 6.5 13. IM Lizak Peter HUN 2420 – 6.5 14. GM Zelcic Robert CRO 2537 – 6.5 15. FM Schnider Gert AUT 2360 – 6.5 16. IM Ledger Andrew J ENG 2389 – 6.5 17. GM Jovanic Ognjen CRO 2532 – 6.5 18. GM Romero Holmes Alfonso ESP 2522 – 6.5 19. Nelson Jonathan P ENG 2227 – 6.5 20. IM Molnar Bela HUN 2320 – 6.5 21. GM Tratar Marko SLO 2508 – 6 22. FM Medak Bojan CRO 2399 – 6 23. FM Karner Christoph AUT 2321 – 6 24. Kahleys Kevin GER 2191 – 6 25. Sevo Igor CRO 2206 – 6 26. FM Zvan Ziga SLO 2288 – 6 27. FM Plenca Julijan CRO 2351 – 6 28. GM Fercec Nenad CRO 2499 – 6 29. Blagojevic Marijan CRO 2133 – 6
