Home Page 
Chess Life Online 2008 October Sam and Simone Annotate Wins from Vietnam
Chess Life Online 2008 October Sam and Simone Annotate Wins from Vietnam | Sam and Simone Annotate Wins from Vietnam |
|
|
| October 21, 2008 | |
Simone Liao (left) and Margaret Hua are representing America in the Girls Under 10 at the World Youth. Simone annotates below, while Margaret was featured in a story about the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, which will host the 2009 U.S. Championship.
Our 28-player U.S. delegation scored 20/28 in round two of the World Youth held in Vung Tau, Vietnam from October 20-31. We have 13 perfect scores including Simone Liao in the Girls Under 10 and Sam Shankland in the Boys Under 18. Sam and Simone have both treated CLO readers to annotated games: 2481 Annotations by "Shanky" 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.Be2 Bg5 14.0–0 0–0 15.Qd3 f5 16.Bf3 
Position after 16.Bf3
16...Kh8? This concedes the light squares. Alternatives are 16...f4 as in a similar game Kamsky-Ivanchuk or 16...g6 maintaining the tension. 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Be4 Bxe4 19.Qxe4 b3?! The alternative is getting squeezed to death, but this looks suicidal 20.axb3 Rxb3 21.Rxa6 Nb8 22.Ra2 Nd7 23.Na1! Nc5 24.Qc2 Rd3 25.b4 Rd2 26.Qb1 Ne4 27.Nb3 Qe8 28.Nxd2 Nxd2 29.Rxd2 Bxd2 30.Qd3 Bg5 31.f3?! 31.Qe4 keeping the position solid. White will play g3 and Kg2. 31...Qa4 32.Kh1 h6 33.b5 Rb8 34.Qc3 Qa2 35.Nb4 Qe2 36.Qd3?? 
Position after 36.Qd3
Ed.Note- At CLO, we've seen worst moves, so to some, the double question mark will seem a slight exagerration. 36...Qxd3 37.Nxd3 d5! Now we reach a grueling ending that should be drawn with best play 38.Nxe5 dxc4 39.Nxc4 Rxb5 40.Nd6 Rd5 41.Ne4 Kh7 42.g3 Be7 43.Rb1 Rd7 44.Kg2 Rc7 44...h5 followed by g6 is a better setup. 45.Rb2 Ra7 46.h4 Bf6 47.Rc2 Bd4 48.Kh3 Re7 49.h5 Be5 50.Rc8 Now an eventual Ng6 will always hang over Black's head, and defense is more difficult. White should be winning 50...Bc7 51.Kg4 Be5 52.Nd2 Rd7 53.Ne4 Re7 54.Ra8 Bd4 55.Nd6 Rd7 56.Nf5 Bf6 57.f4 Rb7 58.Nd6 Rd7 59.Ne4 Bd4 60.Rc8 Rb7 61.Nd2 Rd7 62.Nf3 Bf6 63.Ne5 
Position after 63.Ne5
Now White will get a passed pawn 63...Bxe5 64.fxe5 g6 65.hxg6+ Kxg6 66.Rc6+ Kg7 67.Kf5 Rd1 68.Rc7+ Kf8 69.Ke6 Rd3 70.g4 Rf3 71.Rc8+ Kg7 72.Rc4 Ra3 73.Kd7 Ra7+ 74.Rc7 Ra8 75.Ke7 Kg6 76.e6 Kg7 
Position after 76...Kg7
This position is drawn without the pawns on h6 and g4, but now it is a win, but by a completely different method 77.Rb7! Kg6 78.Rd7! Kg7 79.Rd6! There was a similar trick in a game between Aronian and Carlsen, in which a much younger Magnus played Ra7+?? Ke8 and had to resign in view of Kf6 e7+ or Ra8+ Rd8 79...Kg6 would be the drawing move, but... 80.Rd8! Ra7+ 81.Kf8! Rh7! best defense 81...Kf6 82.e7 Rxe7 83.Rd6+ Re6 84.Rxe6+ Kxe6 85.Kg7+- 82.Ke8 Kg5 83.Rd4 
Position after 83.Rd4
83...Rh8+? 83...Kf6 84.Rd6 (84.Re4?? Re7+ 85.Kf8 Rh7!) with a draw. 84...Kg5 85.e7 Kxg4 86.Kf8 Rxe7 87.Kxe7 h5 88.Kf6 h4 89.Rd4+ Kg3 90.Kg5 h3 91.Rd3+ Kg2 92.Kg4 h2 93.Rd2+ Kg1 94.Kg3 h1N+ 95.Kf3 winning by one tempo. 84.Kd7 1–0 
Sam Shankland started the World Youth with two tough endings. Photo Elizabeth Vicary from August 08 U.S. Chess School
2482 
Position after 44...Qg2
Another long ending, this time with queens. I'm gonna spare everyone the analysis here because I'm just too tired and I would need hours to do it justice. 0–1 2483 Annotations by Simone Liao 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc4 A mistake. Better is Bg5. 7...Nxe3 8.fxe3 e6 9.0–0 Be7 10.Qh5 0–0 11.Rad1 Qc7 12.Bd3 h6 13.Rf3 Nd7 14.Rg3 Bg5 15.Rf1 15.h4 Nf6 Black is improving here. 15...Nf6 16.Qe2 e5 
Position after 16...e5
A mistake on Black's side. It weakens d5 and f5. 17.Nf3 17.Rxf6 A line worth thinking about 17...Bxf6 (17...gxf6 18.h4) 18.Nd5. – Ed.Note, it seems that White has nothing special after Qd8 here so Nf3 looks better. 17...Bg4 18.Rxg4 Nxg4 19.Nxg5 Nxh2 20.Kxh2 hxg5 21.Qh5 Better is Rf5. That way I can still play Bc4 21...f6 22.Nd5 Qf7 23.Qg4 Rac8 24.Rf3 Rc5 25.Kg1 Not a good idea 25...b5 26.Qf5 a5 27.a3 Rcc8 28.c3 Rc5 
Position after 28...Rc5
29.Bb1! Continuing the a3-c3 plan.... to get the move Ba2 played 29...g6 30.Nxf6+ Kg7 31.Qxg5 Qe6 32.Nh5+ Kg8 33.Qh6 Rf7 34.Rxf7 Ed.Note- Rg3 wins faster 34...Qxf7 35.Ba2 d5 36.Bxd5 Rxd5 37.exd5 gxh5 38.Qg5+ Qg7 
Position after 38...Qg7
TRADE!!! is the surest way to win. 39.Qxh5 Qg3 40.Qh3 Qg7 41.d6 Qf8 42.Qe6+ Qf7 Once again....TRADE!!! 43.Qxe5 Qd7 44.Qc5 Kf8 45.e4 Qe6 46.d7+ Qe7 47.d8Q+ Kf7 48.Qcxe7+ Kg6 49.Qg8+ Kh5 50.Qeh7# 1–0 The coaches this year are Michael Khordarkovsky (head of delegation), Aviv Friedman, Armen Ambartsoumian and GMs John Fedorowicz, Sam Palatnik and Dmitry Gurevich. GM Joel Benjamin, who normally coaches at the World Youth, did not attend because he is a new father. His son Aidan James, was born on October 10 at 8:07 PM, six pounds five ounces. Congrats! Keep up to date on the World Youth on the official website and track our delegation on chessresults.com. Also look for an in-depth article by one of the coaches, GM John Fedorowicz, in the January issue of Chess Life Magazine. |