US Chess Federation: Coaches' Reports from the World Youth Event

Coaches' Reports from the World Youth Event

All Photos by Eric Schiller, provided courtesy of Cardoza Publishing. Copyright 1998 by Eric Schiller, all rights reserved.
1998 FIDE Youth Photo Album by Eric Schiller! Nicole Niemi

Start here for fullsize pictures!

Coach's Report: Round 5

A good day, all things considered. Hikaru, Eugene, Elina, Ashley, Matthew, Vinay all won. Laura played well but wasn�t able to hold off the Russian challenge. Yelena and Andrei outplayed their opponents, but slipped in time pressure. Cindy also played well, but one pawn more was not enough for a win. Patrick drew, which was good enough. Nicole started well, but a tactical oversight proved costly.

The rest day clearly helped get our team back on track after a disastrous round 4 and we are in comfortable positions in most of the groups. The young players are getting a lot of training, and only our two coaches seem near exhaustion, working with 6 players each day. Today our preparation found us coaching two sides of the same position. I was promoting the White side for our youngest players, while John argued for Black on behalf of one of the older ones. Fortunately John and I wound up agreeing that the key position is unclear. Actually, the kids achieved a big advantage on each board!

Coach's Report: Round 8

A rest day at last! We can really use it, to catch up on the elections and of course all the football games. Yes, there is chess, and it is becoming clear that age is a factor. The old folks are stumbling, but the kids race along. With three rounds to go, here is how things stand:

G-10: Laura continues to amaze, racking up 6.5 from 8. We completely revamped her openings and she has taken to the new plans like a fish to water, but she is no fish. Her play has been stellar, and she is in 3rd place!

B-10: Matthew really, really hoped he could score 5 from 11. He can relax now, as he grabbed his 5th point with three to play and still is in the medal hunt. His solid style has stymied almost everyone, and he is gaining confidence each round.

G-12: Nicole lost again, but played her best game to date, positionally sound and tactically correct until a late oversight. Only 1.5 points so far, but if she plays the rest of the games well she can pick up a few points.

B-12: Hikaru can take some solace from the Jet's last minute win, but a loss to a tough Vietnamese player leaves him mired at 3.5. He is sure to be hungry for revenge next year.

G-14: Yelena is streaking, up to 5.5 now with real chances in the final rounds. Cindy has suffered from a bit of bad luck and is even at 4-4.

B-14: As expected this is one of our best groups. Draws today kept Vinay and Patrick in the medal race at 6 and 5.5 respectively.

G-16: A good day for Elina who crushed her opponent, raising her score to 4.5.

B-16: Andrei plays as well as Detroit Lions here, fumbling pieces and pawns when not showing flashes of brilliance. Just 3.5, but we hope he'll finish strong.

G-18: Ashley stopped losing as she switched openings and at 3.5 can pull even tomorrow.

B-18. Eugene is still struggling with draw-itis and an even score. Perhaps the day off will serve to refresh him.

It is hard to identify the Americans. So many players here wear USA logos and slogans. We think we should have uniforms next year, saying We are Americans (...and you aren't). Of course the fine print may have to say Made in Russia, or whatever :-)

It is clear that our lack of coordinated national training hurts our chances. Most teams have players and coaches assigned in the spring, and work toward the event over a long period of time. Some have uniforms, and have more than our ratio of one coach for six players. There has been much discussion here about how we can improve the situation for the future. Much of the opening preparation has taken place on site, but you can only do so much in a day.

The kids are all working very hard, with lengthy post-mortems and morning sessions. All are well behaved and there are no slackers. All the parents are helpful and friendly, and there are absolutely no conflicts among the players or within the team. It is interesting to compare the American diet of lots of weekend swiss tournaments with major chess powers, where there are fewer, but higher quality tournaments, and a greater proportion of training to casual play.

Some of the delegations have approached us about matches between their countries and the USA, and we will investigate these possibilities on our return. Eric

Coach's Report: Round 9

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain...

but also drizzles in Oropesa.

Grey clouds gave way to a rainy day and some ugly chess, but the American medal hopes were not completely washed out. The unlikely hero was once again Laura Ross, who prevailed in a wild game against Purtseladze from Georgia. Laura has an astounding 7.5 out of 9, and is just a half point behind the leader, a Russian girl she has yet to play. She has won four straight, and hopefully will continue her success in the final two rounds.

Matthew had a heartbreaking loss, after completely outplaying his Ukrainian opponent as Black. An attempt to launch a mating attack led to a difficult double rook endgame, which could have been salvaged but was technically too hard for a ten year old. At 5-4 he still is doing very well.

Nicole was down a ton of material but somehow managed to save the game, though her opponent broke down into tears afterwards. Nicole hopes to increase her point count from 2 in the final rounds.

Of Hikaru, all we can report is it just ain't his tournament. Another loss left him at a disappointing 3.5. Perhaps he'll do better next year, when the tournament returns to Oropesa. So far he's kept his chin up and has tried to stay upbeat.

Cindy lost, remaining at 4 (some of our reports yesterday indicated only 3.5, sorry). She has had some promising positions but has to find the resolute paths to victory.

Yelena also lost, but at 5.5 has realistic chances for an excellent result.

Patrick had a fine game, but only emerged with a half point. Still, at 6-3 he is having a pretty good tournament. Vinay also has 6, a result of stubbornly declining draws he should have accepted and then uncharacteristically hanging a rook against a tough Russian opponent.

Elina has overcome her mid-tournament slip and is back at 5.5 after taking out a Norwegian over-achiever. Andrei joined her at that score by clobbering his Welsh opponent in the opening, and taking the pont in under an hour.

Eugene could have beat him to the punch, but took his time and earned the point only after a lengthy battle. He now has 5. At last report, Ashley was still playing in an important contest which could lead to a published FIDE rating if she wins or possibly if she draws.

If our team plays well over the next two days we'll have the best result in ages. Laura has cleared the 7 point mark already and Matthew, Patrick, Vinay, Yelena, Elina and Eugene can make it with good finishes.

No time for photo editing now, I'll try to send more tomorrow. But preparation time is at a premium. As the children head off to bed, we are just getting started on preparation for tomorrow.

Eric