3rd World School Championships - Round 8

By That Went Hum?

Friday, May the 4 th be with you! It is the day of the Penultimate round. The coaches (let me remind you, I know I mentioned them in the Round 5 but Colin failed to spot it - they are, alphabetically on first names: Adam Hunt, Neil McDonald, Thomas Rendle) have really been earning their all-you-can-eat-buffet. It is non-stop from breakfast when the first Player will sidle up to them and ask the innocent 'Any one sitting there?' - effectively the poisoned pawn that if taken by the coach, means they get grilled on tactics over breakfast. Perhaps with the exception of Neil who has developed a particularly vicious counter tactic as you would expect of a GM: 'Is a fellow countryman a compatriot or a co-patriate? You repatriate people after al...' Thereafter, and excepting the first 60-90 minutes of the matches when they can be fairly sure that they are safe from Players, it is non-stop until after the draw comes out (tonight at 10:30pm for example) at which point the real research begins!

The Players have been earning their pizzas, chicken nuggets and Spag Bol too. Watching them tonight, there were four long games, looking at the positions in delicately-balanced end games where one wrong move can mean curtains, you wonder how they can do it especially when it is 4 hours and counting! And then the analysis of the game afterwards: every move is taken apart, assessed and put back together before the same is done for the next move. It can be cruel, and the coaches have the sensitive job of lifting the players for the next round as well as improving them by suggesting stronger moves, or tactics to watch out for.

And then… how do they spend their 'down time'? You guessed it:

The rest of us meantime act as tourists or paparazzi:

Now the Chess bit:

A tough day for England. First out is Patrick, but he has lost. There is then a long gap before Lateefah secures a tremendous win to put herself in with a real chance of a top 3 placing. Saravanan and Joseph finished simultaneously: Joseph agreeing a draw with his highly rated Indian opponent, but Saravanan lost to his even more highly rated Indian opponent. A while later before Ed appears: having fought valiantly he succumbed in the end. At this stage, it is not looking good for England, and there was more to come …

There was quite a while before the next little run of results. Callum wins with an aggressive attack that his opponent just cannot hold off. Jessica - well, need I say it - got a draw!!! She had a slight advantage throughout but in the end it proved insufficient to secure a win. Then came Samuel: he played a very nice game and achieved a clear advantage but made a slight error to lose a pawn - but in fact his position had been so good that he was still able to draw comfortably.

That left 4 at the boards: Daniel and David were next out, both having lost. Charlie eventually converted his material advantage (rook vs 3 pawns) to win. Last at the boards (again) was George - unfortunately, he again played very well indeed but did not get the result the quality of his play deserved.

Overall then the tough draw converted to a low total score of 4½ points for England. Just one round to go and we'd like to see a total score from that last round approaching Callum's queens. However, and irrespective of what we'd like, each player has their own target and with our current top placed 6 players on each of boards 3, 4 (two), 5, 6 and 7 in their sections there is still all to play for on the last day.

The results of Round 8 are as follows:

The Players’ results to date as at the end of Round 8:

The England “teams” and their overall scores at the end of Round 8:

Two highlights from Round 8:

Kilpatrick, Callum - Shvydkin, Pavel
World Schools Chess Championships, U15B, Kallithea, Greece, 04.05.2007
[Annotated by Adam Hunt]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 a6 7.Na3 d6 8.Bg5 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 0–0 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 Bb7!? the main line is [14...a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 where white plays h4 at some stage, or chooses a quieter option of castling kingside 16...Kh8] 15.Bc4 Callum responds very sensibly 15...Na5 16.Ba2 Bc6 17.Ra3 Bb5 18.h4 Bh6 [18...Bxh4?? 19.Qh5 and black loses a piece] 19.Nce3 Bxe3 20.Nxe3 Rb8?!N This move makes little sense to me as white is eventually going to go b4 anyway, solving the problem of his b2 pawn and gaining a tempo on theknight 21.Nf5 [21.b4! is more accurate] 21...Nb7 [21...Nc4 22.Bxc4 Bxc4 23.b4 (23.Nxd6 Rxb2 24.Nxc4 Qxd1+ 25.Kxd1 Rb1+ and white loses the exchange) 23...Rb7! and black is still in the game] 22.b4 Kh8 23.Qg4 g6 24.Nh6 Kg7? [24...f5!? sharpening the game is probably neccessary 25.exf5 Qf6 26.Qg5 gxf5] 25.h5 d5 26.Bxd5 Nd6 27.hxg6 fxg6 28.Qg3 Rf4 29.Ng4 Nxe4 30.Rxh7+!

30...Kf8 [30...Kxh7 31.Qh2+ Kg7 32.Qh6#] 31.Qxf4+ exf4 32.Rh8+ Kg7 33.Rxd8 Rxd8 34.Bxe4 Re8 35.f3 1-0

Messam-Sparks, Lateefah (1824) - Chan Wei-Yi, Victoria (1891)
World Schools Chess Championship, U15G, Kallithea, Greece 2007
[Annotated by Thomas Rendle]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 This is a more positional approach than the more common 3.d4, and has been played at the top level by players such as Michael Adams. 3...e6 4.d3 Nc6 5.c3 [5.0–0!? was also worthy of consideration.] 5...Nf6 6.Bb3 Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1! This move facilitates the standard plan of Nb1–d2-f1 where the knight has the choice of both e3 and g3, where it can assist future kingside play. 8...b5! Black wisely seeks active play on the queenside. 9.Nbd2 b4 10.Nf1 Ba6 11.Ng3 Rc8 12.Bc2! The bishop has its eye on h7 should the b1–h7 diagonal become open after d4 and e5.

12...d5 13.e5 Nd7 14.d4 bxc3! Opening up lines for Black's pieces on the queenside. 15.bxc3 cxd4 16.cxd4 Nb4 17.Bb1 Qc7 18.Ba3!? Pinning the Black knight to the bishop on e7, which, as we will soon discover, is a key defender to the kingside. [18.Bg5!?² leads to interesting play] 18...Qa5 19.Re3 Another aggressive move, typical of Lateefah's play in this tournament. 19...Nb6 20.Rb3 Thus far both players have played an excellent game, but here Black makes her first real mistake, and it is not one that goes unpunished. 20...Nc6? [20...h6 21.Qe1 Nc6 With roughly level chances.] 21.Bxe7 The bishop has been removed and immediately its precence is missed. 21...Nxe7 22.Bxh7+! Lateefah's second 'Greek Gift' sacrifice is no less devastating as her first. Although Black doesn't accept the piece this time the result is the same. 22...Kh8 [22...Kxh7 This leads to a forced mate in 10(!) moves. 23.Ng5+ Kg8 (23...Kg6 24.Qh5#) 24.Qh5 Rfe8 25.Qxf7+ Kh8 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Nxe6+ Kf7 29.Qxg7+ Kxe6 30.Qf6+ Kd7 31.Qd6# A nice variation - see position!]

23.Ng5 g6 24.Qg4 Qxa2!? A good practical try, the queen cannot be taken. 25.Rbb1 [25.Rxa2?? Rc1+ with mate to follow] 25...Qc2 26.Qh3 Kg7 27.Nh5+ Easily winning, although a bystander who wishes to remain anonymous (P.T.) said he thought Bg8 would lead to a forced mate. [27.Bg8! Rxg8 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qxf7#] 27...Kh8 28.Bxg6 A crushing win. 1-0

A couple of nice games from earlier rounds:

Thilaganathan, Jessica - Govindasamy, Seshni
World Schools Chess Championship, U15G, Kallithea, Greece, 2007
[Annotated by Neil McDonald]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 Nbd7 [The power of the queen on b3 combined with the two bishops and the d4/e4/f3 white pawn centre was demonstrated in the following game played by one of Jessica's chess heroes: 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nh4 Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.g4 Bg6 12.Nxg6 hxg6 13.Qb3 Qe7 14.g5 Nd5 15.e4 Nb6 16.Na2 Ba5 17.Be2 e5 18.Qc2 N6d7 19.dxe5 Qxe5 20.Kh1 Re8 21.Bc4 Nb6 22.Bd3 Na6 23.Bxa6 bxa6 24.Rd1 c5 25.Be3 Rac8 26.Nc3 Nc4 27.Bc1 Rb8 28.Nd5 Nxb2 29.Bf4 Qe6 30.Rdb1 Qh3 31.Bxb8 Rxb8 32.Rxb2 1-0 Karpov,A-Portisch,L/Ljubljana 1975.] 7.Bxc4 e6 8.0-0 Bb4 9.Qb3 Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nb6 11.Be2 [The philistines in the crowd [a.k.a. Neil McDonald and Tom Rendle] were baying for 11.Ba3 stopping Black from castling, but the cultured Jessica preferred to build up slowly in the centre in the style of Karpov in the above game.] 11...Qc7 12.Ne5 Nbd7 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.f3 Still no Ba3. Jessica expands in the centre and shuts the bishop on f5 out of the game. Then she intends to ram the pawn on b7 with a5-a6, creating targets on the under defended black queenside. 14...0-0 15.e4 Bg6 16.Bg5 A slight blemish in White's strategy as it makes Black play a good move. [Better was the direct 16.a5 increasing the pressure on the b-file.] 16...Ne8 17.a5 Nd6 [Black should seize the chance for counterplay with 17...f5 18.Bc4 Bf7 though White keeps a huge advantage.] 18.Bf4 Nb5 19.a6! Rfe8 [19...b6!] 20.Rfb1 [20.axb7!] 20...bxa6 [Black's last chance to avoid the worst with 20...b6 when despite the extra pawn it would be difficult for White to win the endgame after 21.Bxb5 cxb5 22.Qxb5 Qxb5 23.Rxb5 Rec8 24.Ra3 f5!?] 21.Rxa6 Nd6 22.Qa3 Nc8 23.Rb8! A surprising way for White to break down the resistance along the a-file. 23...Rxb8 24.Bxb8 Re7 25.Qc5! Now one of the weak black queenside pawns will drop off. 25...Qb7 26.Rxc6 Re8 [Or 26...Qxb8 27.Rxc8+] 27.Bf4 h6 28.Bb5 Rf8 29.Rc7 Qb8 30.Rxf7 Crunch! The black queen is hanging to the bishop on f4. 30...Nd6 Black could have spared herself the unnecessary moves that follow. 31.Bxd6 Qc8 32.Rxf8+ Qxf8 33.Bxf8 Bf7 34.Qe7 a5 35.Be8 Bxe8 36.Qxg7# A superb positional display from 'die kleine Karpov'. 1-0

Stevens, Patrick - Dikeos, George
World Schools Chess Championship, U13, Kallithea, Greece, 2007
[Annotated by Thomas Rendle]

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 A useful move, preventing both ..Bg4 and ..Ng4, although the immediate 5.Be3 was also worth considering. 5...0-0 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.Bh6!? Patrick sensibly decides to swap off Black's strongest minor piece, the Bishop on g7. This leaves the Black king more open to attack. [8.0-0-0 is a safer alternative.] 8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.f3 [10.Bxg7!? Kxg7 11.f3 doesn't give Black the option of 10..Bxh6] 10...Bd7 [10...Bxh6 11.Qxh6 Ne6 give Black a better chance of equalising.] 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.Bc4 [12.0-0-0!?] 12...Rc8 13.Bb3 Nxb3 14.Nxb3 a6 15.g4 b5 16.h4 Qc7 17.0-0-0

With both sides having castled on opposite sides the game becomes a race to attack the opponent's king, a race that Patrick decisively wins! 17...a5?! [17...b4! starts the attack as quickly as possible 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.exd5 Although White's chances are still clearly preferable.] 18.h5 [18.e5 also looks strong, e.g. 18...dxe5 19.g5 Bf5 20.gxf6+ exf6±] 18...b4 19.Nd5 Nxd5 20.exd5 e6 [20...Rh8 was a better try, but 21.Nd4 Qc4 22.Kb1 a4 23.Rhe1 Rce8 24.Re4 is winning anyway.] 21.hxg6 fxg6? [21...hxg6 22.Qh6+ Kf6 23.Na1! defends against the mate threat on c2, whilst keeping a strong attack against the vulnerable Black king.] 22.Qh6+ Kf6 23.g5+ Ke7 [23...Kf5 leads to an immediate mate after 24.Qh3+ Kxg5 25.Qh4+ Kf5 26.Nd4+ Ke5 27.Qg5+ Rf5 28.Nc6+! Bxc6 29.Rhe1#] 24.Qxh7+ Kd8 25.Qxg6 Patrick takes another pawn and defends c2 against mate. 25...e5 26.Rd2! overprotecting c2 26...Bf5 27.Qh6 Rf7 28.g6 Bxc2 29.gxf7 Bxb3+ 30.Kb1 Bc2+ 31.Ka1 it was still possible to go wrong here as if [31.Kc1?? Bd3+ 32.Kd1 Qc1#] 31...Bg6 32.f8Q+ Be8 Patrick remarked after the game "It is not often I have a choice of which Queen to move to a square!" 33.Qhf6+ with mate next move. A well-controlled attack. 1-0

The draw for Round 9:

Encouraging message received from Real Cereal [sic] Mums much appreciated!

And now, brand new, an introductory feature:

******** Great Chess Moments from History ********

And finally, Kids Korner!

You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas. (Stanley Kubrick)

GUESS WHO: (roll over the photos to reveal the 'grown up')

Facts For the Memory

Star Trek

Kirk and Spock have played chess (3-D chess) three times on STAR TREK. Kirk won every game. When Spock played 3-D chess against the computer and won, he was convinced that the ships computers had been tampered with.