Knight Times Nov 2009

Knight Times November 2009

www.chesskids.com.au

Message from the GuruWhat an exciting month! All very international and ground breaking...

Firstly Chess Kids Superstar, Bobby Cheng has become Australia's first ever World Chess Champion (Ok, Purdy was a Correspondence World Champion - but I'm talking about over the board chess). We're proud of Bobby and it's great to see that his hard work and dedication has given him the reward that he deserves!

At the opposite end of the spectrum - Chess Kids has started its first international branch in Auckland. Next year we'll be providing opportunities for all Kiwi kids to learn and play chess! In anticipation of more to follow we've invited the Kiwi National Schools Champions to participate in our National Interschool Finals - should be a good to see how the standard

compares and a great social experience.

We look forward to sending some Australian teams 'across the ditch' to bring home some trophies from NZ next year!

DavidCordover,Managing Director,Chess Group of Companies

Knight TimesChess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862

Chess Kids Contacts:www.chesskids.com.au

Coaching: [email protected]: [email protected]:[email protected]: [email protected]

1300-424-377

bobby chengwinsWorld 12/Under championship

Australia’s Bobby Cheng has become the first Australian in over 50 years to win a world chess title when he finished in first place in the World Youth 12/Under Championships in Turkey.

FINAL LEADING SCORES:World Youth 12/Under 2009

Rank Seed Name Rtg FED Pts1 4 Cheng Bobby 2202 AUS 9

2-4 22 FM Duda Jan-Krzysztof 2079 POL 8!27 Wang Richard 2044 CAN 8!35 Paravyan David 2021 RUS 8!

5-10 5 CM Antipov Mikhail Al 2200 RUS 81 Vaibhav Suri 2344 IND 8

52 Dastan Batuhan 1959 TUR 814 Ghosh Diptayan 2124 IND 812 FM Gagare Shardul 2138 IND 8

3 FM Girish A Koushik 2246 IND 811-17 32 Pamatmat Jarod M 2029 USA 7!

36 Shafarostov Artem 2012 RUS 7!8 Artemenko Oleg 2157 UZB 7!7 Steinberg Nitzan 2165 ISR 7!

10 Zenzera Alexey 2142 RUS 7!17 Codenotti Marco 2119 ITA 7!25 Wagner Dennis 2056 GER 7!

18-29 18 FM Tran Tuan Minh 2105 VIE 739 Vavulin Maksim 2002 RUS 720 CM Sanal Vahap 2093 TUR 724 FM Shen Arthur 2057 USA 719 Mousavi Seyed Khalil 2099 IRI 737 Bellahcene Bilel 2010 FRA 746 Khamidov Komil 1979 POL 715 Lampert Jonas 2124 GER 713 FM Lamard Guillaume 2138 FRA 733 Avetisian Tigran 2027 UKR 755 Bayramov Elkhan Khayyat Oglu 1935 AZE 761 Kumsiashvili Nikoloz 1923 GEO 7

Bobby scored 9/11 in a field of 142 players and defeated the tournament’s top seed with the black pieces in the final round to snatch the title. Here is the game.

Vaibhav Suri (India) 2344Bobby Cheng (Australia) 2202World Youth 12U 2009Nov 23, 2009C05 - French/Tarrasch Variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 a5 9.Bd3 a4The stage is now set. Black will attack on the Queenside and try to occupy c4 with a N and White will attack on the kingside and try to get in f5.

10.a3 Nb6 11.Ne2 Na5 12.O-O g6 13.Qc2?This leaves the Q open to attack on the c file. White should have been brave and played 13.f5 gxf5 14.Bg5 Be7 to open lines for his pieces before Black has completed his development. He’s a pawn down but Black’s dark squares are weak after the black B’s are exchanged.13...Nb3 14.Rb1 Bd7 15.g4 Rc8 16.Nc3 Nc4 17.f5

17...Nxd4!?



Black must act quickly to blunt the attack before White breaks through ... but is it sound?18.Nxd4 Bc5 19.fxg6?Here White could have played 19.Qf2! which looks bad as it potentially pins the Q against the K, but it gives White tactics along the f file. For instance 19...Qb6 20.Be3! Nxe3 21.fxe6 Bxe6 22.Bb5+ Kf8 23.Nxa4 is better for White.19... Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 hxg6 21.Bxg6 Nxe5 22.Bh5 Now Black is clearly on top. White’s pieces are uncoordinated and his K is very open.22...Bc6 23.Qe2 Bxc3 24.bxc3White could have tried 24.Bxf7+ Nxf7 25.Qxe6+ Qe7 26.Qxc8+ Nd8 27.Qf5 but Black is still clearly better.24...d4+ 25.Kg1 Qd5 26.cxd4

26...Rxh5! 27.gxh5 Nd3!! 0-1White’s only defence is 28.Qf3 Qxf3 29.Rxf3 Bxf3 when he is a piece down without compensation.

I’m sure that all Australian chess players will want to congratulate Bobby on his fantastic result and will follow his subsequent progress with great interest.

A full report, including the results of other Australian players, will be published on the Chess Kids website shortly.



Reading a Chess Game

There are a few things to learn when you first read through moves of a chess game. Here is a brief explanation.

1. The Moves are Numbered A number shows the move-number during the game. Eg. 42.Bc3 was the 42nd move. If there are “…” before the move that indicates Black’s move. 2. Which Piece or Pawn? If a pawn is moved there is no letter given, just the name of the DESTINATION SQUARE. Eg. 1.e4 means Pawn moves to e4. If a stronger piece moves then the Capital Letter indicates which piece (Eg. N=knight, K=king). Just the DESTINATION square of the piece is given.

3. More information It is possible to get more information than just the moves of the game; symbols have meanings:

X = Capture + = Check ++ or # = Checkmate 1-0 = White wins 0-1 = Black wins ! = Good Move ? = Bad Move ?! Or !? = Uncertain/Unclear

Now you can play through the moves of the games in this magazine - see how you go!

Vic Youth Championships

The Victorian Youth Championships were contested over the weekend on 24th-25th October and resulted in a convincing win for Karl Zelesco who scored a perfect 7 points from 7 games.

Karl has played in 12 rated events since June 2009 and has displayed great improvement over that period.

Our thanks to McKinnon Secondary College for supply the venue and to David Cordover for directing the tournament.

Here is a typical game from the championships. Black does an enterprising exchange sacrifice and gets a better position but blunders a piece. White promptly blunders it back and enters a losing Q ending. Black mistakenly exchanges Queens and should probably lose the pawn ending but White forgets to take a passed pawn and ends up losing.

Victorian Youth Championships 2009Sasha Parsons 1101David Cannon 1112Sicilian Defence

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8. O-



Karl Zelesco, 2009 VictorianYouth Chess Champion.

O Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qf3 Ne5 11. Qe2 Rc8 12. f4 Ned7 13. Nf3

13...Rxc3! 14. bxc3 Nxe4 15. Qd3 Nec5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. Qd4 Bf6 18. Qb4 Qd7 19. Rfd1 Rc8 20. Rd2 d5 21. Nd4 Ne4 22. Rd3 Be7 23. Qb2 Qc7 24. Nb5 Qb6+ 25. Rd4 Bc5 26. Rb1 Nxc3 27.Qxc3 Bxd4+ 28. Qxd4 Qc6 29. Qd3 Qc5+ 30. Kf1 a6 31. Nd4 Qa5 32. Rxb7 Qxa2 33.Qb3 Qa1+ 34. Ke2 Qxd4 35. Rb8 Qc5 36. Qb7 Rxb8 37. Qxb8+ Qf8 38. Qb7 a5 39. Qb5 Qd8 40. Kd3 g6 41. Kd4 Qc7 42. g3 Qc4+?? 43. Qxc4 dxc4 44. Kxc4 Kg7 45. Kb5 Kf6 46. c4 Ke7 47. Kb6 a4 48. c5 Kd7?? 49. Kb7 a3 50. c6+ Kd6 51. c7 a2 52. c8=Q a1=Q 53. Qd8+ Kc5 54. Qe7+ Kd5 55. Qd7+ Ke4 56. Qc6+ Kf5 57. Qc2+ Kf6 58. Qc7 Qh1+ 59. Kb8 Qb1+ 60. Ka8 Qa2+ 61. Kb7 Qd5+ 62. Kc8 e5 63. Qb6+ Qe6+ 64. Kc7 Qxb6+ 65. Kxb6 exf4 66. Kc5 fxg3 67. hxg3 Kg5 68. Kd4 Kg4 69. Ke5 f5 70. Kf6 g5 71.Ke5 f4 72. gxf4 gxf4 73. Ke4 f3 74. Ke3 Kg3 0-1

The following game was probably the most exciting game of the tournament with Black sacrificing for an attack and still getting a quick checkmate even after queens were exchanged.

Victorian Youth Championships 2009Jonathon Tissa 1049Karl Zelesco 1155C58 - Two Knights/Classical Variation1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bxc6+ Nxc6 10.Qxc6+ Bd7 11.Qc3 hxg5 12.Qxe5+ Qe7 13.d4 Qxe5+ 14.dxe5 Ng4 15.h3 Nxe5 16.O-O f6 17.Re1 Kf7

18.Bxg5 Bxh3 19.Re2 Bg4 20.f3 Bc5+ 21.Kf1?? Rh1#



The top 4 players with their trophies:Issac Zhao, David Cannon, Karl Zelesco & Sasha Parsons.

Victorian Junior Masters 2009

The first junior master titles were awarded at the Junior Masters Knock-Out event held at the Victorian State Library on 4th October.The format copied the AFL Finals Series; with the top 4 seeds having a double-chance and others being eliminated in each round. There was also a special prize for the best player in each age-group after a single-game playoff.

IM James Morris went home with $150 cash for winning the event; FM Bobby Cheng with $100 cash and 7 players with their new Junior Master Title!

Many thanks have to go to the State Library for the excellent venue, IM West, IM Jamiesion, Gorka, Meerbach, Yotov and others for their coaching, to Chess Kids for sponsoring the event and making it free for all the players and to Jan from the Library who showed people through the Anderson Collection and some of the rare chess books the Library owns.

Full ResultsIM James Morris (1st prize $150)FM Bobby Cheng (R/up $100)JM Isaac Ng (U12 winner)JM Michael Chan (preliminary finalist)JM Sasha Parsons (U10 winner)JM David Cannon (U8 winner)JM Isaac Zhao (semi-finalist)JM Ege Girgin and JM Joshua Devarajh (eliminated in Game 1)

Bobby Cheng 1447James Morris 1588Vic Junior Masters 2009A44 - Old Benoni Defence1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 3.c4 d6 4.e4 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bd3 Bg5 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.h4 Bxd2+ 9.Bxd2 O-O 10.Qc2 f5 11.O-O-O a6 12.h5 b5 13.Nh4 bxc4 14.Qxc4 Nd7 15.exf5 Nb6 16.Qg4 Rf6 17.f4 Nbxd5? (17...Ndxb5) 18.Bc4 Kh7 19.fxe5 dxe5 20.Bc3 Bb7 21.Bxe5

21...Qb6 22.Bxf6? (22.Rh3!) Nxf6 23.Qg3 Bd5 24.Bxd5 Nexd5 25.Rhe1 Rb8 26.Rd2 c4 27.Qf2? (27.Re6) c3 28.Rc2 Qa5 29.bxc3? (29.Qg3) Nxc3 30.Rb2 Rc8 31.Qf1 Nxa2+ 32.Kb1 Nc3+ 33.Kc2 Na4+ 34.Kb1 Nxb2 35.Kxb2 Qc3+ 36.Ka2 Rb8 37.Re2 Qa5# 0-1.



The big screen at the Junior Masters.

Primary andJunior SecondaryIntershool Finals

One hall, 18 arbiters, 481 players, 200 parents & teachers, 2 snakes and 1 slightly annoyed lizard. That was the Victorian State Finals of the Chess Kids Primary and Junior Secondary Interschool Competitions.

This year’s Interschool Finals, held at Monash University, was the largest chess tournament ever held in Victoria. Players from 82 schools competed over 9 rounds in two divisions to earn a spot in the National Finals at the end of November.

The leading standings are listed at the end of this article with full results on the Chess Kids website.

Individually, Jeffrey Jiang from Brighton Grammar scored 8.5/9 to win the Junior Secondary and Michael Chan and Alan

Yu from Mount View both scored 8.5/9 to tie for first in the Primary Division.

Congratulations to all the teams which made the State Finals and especially those teams that will go on to represent Victoria in the Nationals. Thanks also to the Chief Arbiter, David Cordover, whose organisational abilities made this huge event run so smoothly.



The reptile display at the Finals attracted a lot of interest.



Brighton Grammar - Alex Gruen, Joshua Ng, Jeffrey Jiang & Isaac Ng.

Mount View Primary - Michael Chan, Alan Yu, Cameron Foo, Zachary Loh & Kevin Fan.

TheWinners!

Jeffrey Jiang - First Place.

Profile of Luke Bailey, one of the most active players at Chess Kids.

Luke Bailey rating 974

Age: 11 years of age.

School: Patterson Lakes Primary

Learnt to play chess: At age 8 or 9.

Tell us about Patterson Lakes Primary:Our coach is Mr.Christian Bennett. He’s a volunteer and he buys most of the stuff for us out of his own money and he’s a really good chess coach. Our club is open every Tuesday and Wednesday, but now it will be 4 days a week because we are training for the National Finals.

Where do you rank in the school?In the school chess championship I finished second.

Who is the best player: Ege Girgin (Junior Master).

You play lots of tournaments?Yes, I’ve played in 10 events in 2009.

What do like about playing chess?It’s just a good mind game. It keeps you active in your mind.

How many chess books do you have?I have about 8 books.

What is your favourite one? “The 50 chess tips”.

What do you do to study chess apart from coaching at school?

I have a look at your articles and tips on the Chess Kids website.(A very good answer!)

Are you good academically or at sport?Academically, yes.

You don’t play any sports?I used to, but not anymore.

Where do you feel you are strongest or weakest & where would you like to improve?I’d like to be better at openings and endgames.

Do you have a favourite player?I like David Smerdon and Malcolm Pyke. I play through their games quite a bit.

Thanks for the interview Luke.



PLAYER OF THE MONTH With IM Robert Jamieson

Chess Kids Ratings

Here are the latest Ratings Lists.

Check the Chess Kids website for more details and be sure to check/update your own player details. We still have a few duplicate players or players who need to update to their new school.



Top Secondary

Top Primary

Junior Masters

Book Review

Sharpen Your Tactics1125 Brilliant Sacrifices, Combinations and Studies.

by GM Anatoly Lein & Boris Archangelsky$41.95

Reviewed by IM Robert Jamieson

I love books on tactics. Most chess players are into problem solving and like nothing more than testing their wits against a tricky chess problem.

This book has 1125 of them .... and they are hard! This book is not for beginners.

The author, GM Anatoly Lein, is a strong grandmaster who grew up in the Soviet Union but migrated to the USA. He has visited Australia at least once (in 1979) and won the Queensland International Tournament that year.

The other day I was taken to task for some of my puzzles being “too hard” for the average chess kid to solve. This may be true, but I don’t see the point in publishing puzzles which virtually everyone can solve. There is no great achievement in that and very little learning for the student.

I think that students should be tested intellectually with ideas/problems that they have not seen before. If they can’t find the solution and have to look up the answer then I think that’s a positive. They have learnt something new and hopefully seen beautiful or surprising finish to solve the problem.

Here is an example that appealed to me in the book. It’s Black to play. Can you find a winning combination for him?

Black to Play

Most chess games are decided by tactics, so if you want to improve your rating rapidly then studying tactics is the best way to do it.

This book would be a good companion during the summer holidays or on your next long flight overseas.



Answer:1...Qxg5! 2.Qxg5 Nxe2+ 3. Kh1 Nxf2+ 4.Rxf2 Rd1+ 5.Rf1 Rxf1#

Logical ThinkingWould you rather be White or Black in the following position?

Black to Play

Here is an example of how we use logical thinking to find the correct move.

Evaluate the position.White is ahead by the exchange and a pawn but all Black’s pieces are active and aggressively placed. Can Black improve his position or break through?We look at all checks and captures but everything seems to be covered.

OK. So we say “what would we like to do?” Answer 1...Qxf2 mate would be good but White’s Queen protects the N. Can we displace the Q from this protection? 1...Rb2 2.Qxb2 doesn’t help. 1...Bxc4+ 2.Rxc4 doesn’t help. Come to think of it, the R is tied down to protecting c4 just as the Q is tied down to protecting f2.So ......???1...Rb3!! threatening 2...Rxb3 and White has no adequate defence!If 2.Qxb3 Qxf2#If 2.Rxb3 Bxc4+ 3.Re2 Qxf2#If 2.Re2 Bxc4 3.Rxc4 Rxf3 4.Ke1 Qg1+ 5.Kd2 Bf4+ 0-1If 2.Nd3 Qh1+ 3.Ke2 Rxc3 4.Qxc3 Qg2+ 5.Kd1 Qxf3+ 6.Kc2 Bxe1 7.Qxe1 Bxc4 and Black is winning.

So we found a way to break through and recover our lost material by simply correctly evaluating the position.

When in doubt, THINK!If you are going to think,THINK LOGICALLYTHINK SYSTEMATICALLY andUSE YOUR IMAGINATION.

Then you are on your way to becoming a good chess player.



PRACTICAL ADVICE ..... From IM Robert Jamieson

451 North Rd, Ormond www.chessworld.com.au Ph. 1300 424 377

Chess Worldfor all your chess requisites.

Knight Times Nov 2009

Documents

Transcript of Knight Times Nov 2009