Youth stars radiate success
CHESS: A KNIGHT’S TOUR
Not many decades ago, it was considered remarkable for U.S. youths to enter nonscholastic “adult” competitions. Those were the domains of grown-ups, many of whom would complain about having to play a kid. I still possess a nearly halfpage newspaper picture published in 1987 of then-8year-old Michael Bern. He was swigging from a large bottle of Gatorade while considering his next move against a 65-year-old man.
Near the same time period, 5-year-old A.J. Steigman made news by kneeling upright in his chair to play adults. Otherwise, he could not reach across the board to make his moves. Five years later, he became the youngest Expert in the U.S.
Nowadays, it is commonplace for young players to compete at all levels with their elders. They can be found routinely in local to national competitions. Witness the recently completed U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. Of the 12 players qualifying to compete for the crown, five were young teens or below: Women’s International Chess Federation Master Agata Bykovtsev, 16; WIM Ashritha Eswaran, 15; WIM Jennifer Yu, 14; WIM Akshita Gorti, 13; and, National Master Carissa Yip, 12.
Two of them even managed to play spoiler, upsetting the favorites. Pre-teen Yip wore down the defending champion Irina Krush in a 57-move battle. Eswaran showed great skill in the last round by defeating Tatev Abrahamyan, the tournament leader, relegating her to second place. Look how Eswaran strategically gained superiority and ended things tactically: [Eswaran-Abrahamyan] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Nbd7 9.a4 b6 10.Nd2 Bb7 11.Nc4 Qc7 12.Ne3 0–0 13.0–0 Rfe8 14.Bc4 Rac8 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.Qd3 Ra8 17.Rfd1 Red8 18.Bd5 Rac8 19.Ra3 Rd7 20.Rb3 Bd8 21.Bc4 Ra8 22.Ncd5 Nxd5 23.Bxd5 Bxd5 24.Qxd5 Rc8 25.Rc3 Qb8 26.Rxc8 Qxc8 27.Nc4 h6 28.Nxe5 Rc7 29.Qxd6 Bf6 30.c3 Bxe5 31.Qxe5 Rd7 32.Rd5 b5 33.Qf5 1–0
In the overall Closed U.S. Championship, two teens were invited: International Master Akshat Chandra, 16, and Grandmaster Jeffery Xiong, 15. As in the Women’s tournament, the youths played upsetting chess. Chandra held the defending four-time Champion Hikaru Nakamura to a draw and Xiong KO’d five-time Champion Gata Kamsky. Enjoy his sharp win with this column.
Game of the week
Xiong, Jeffery-Kamsky, Gata USA Championship St. Louis
1.e4 Nf6(A) 2.e5(B) Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7(C) 8.Rc1 0–0 9.b3 Bf5 10.d5(D) e5 11.dxe6 Bxe6 12.Nge2 d5(E) 13.c5(F) Nc6(G) 14.Nd4(H) Bxd4 15.Bxd4 Re8(I) 16.cxb6!? Qh4 17.Ne2 axb6 18.Qd2 Bf5 19.Kd1?!(J) Rxe2 20.Bxe2 Nxd4(K) 21.f3 Qf2 22.Re1(L) Be6 23.Rc3 Nc6 24.Bf1 Qh4 25.Bb5 Nd4 26.Bf1 Nf5 27.Rd3 d4 28.g3 Qf6 29.Ke2 Bd7 30.a4 b5 31.a5 Bc6 32.Kf2 Ne3 33.Be2 Rd8 34.Kg1(M) Kg7 35.Bd1 Bxf3?(N) 36.Bxf3 Qxf3 37.Rexe3 dxe3 38.Qb2+ 1–0(O)
A) Many-time U.S. Champion Kamsky plays the somewhat suspect Alekhine’s Defense. Overconfidence perhaps? B) The Knight teased, “Chase me!” Xiong complies. C) After enticing the white pawns forward, Black intends to target them. D) White’s pawn chain secures space superiority. E) Trying to rid himself of the isolated d-pawn. F) Instead, White establishes a potential passed pawn. G) Cute and tricky. H) 14.cxb6 d4 and Black is fine. I) A piece sacrifice that gives his opponent coordination problems, but missing 15...Qh4 16.cxb6 Nxd4 17.g3 Qf6 with advantage to Black. J) Safer is 19.Rd1. K) Now down only a Rook for Knight, Black has lots of pressure. L) For equality, White could play the straightforward 22.Rf1 Qxe2+ 23.Qxe2 Nxe2 24.Kxe2 Rxa2+ 25.Ke3 Rxg2 26.Rf2 d4+ 27.Ke2 d3+ 28.Ke3 Rxf2 29.Kxf2 d2 30.Rd1 Bc2 31.Rxd2 Bxb3. M) Somewhat safe at last. N) Apparently, finally breaking through, Kamsky miscalculates. His young foe ends things quickly. O) Disdaining the finishing ...Kh6 39.Rxd8 e2 40.Qc1+ g5 41.Re8 b4 42.Re3 Qg4 43.Qb2.