World Junior Under-20 Chess Championship
Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey
Sept. 5-15, 2018
Final Top Standings
1. Grand Master (GM) Parham Maghsoodloo IRI 2649, 9.5/11
2-4. GM Abhimanyu Puranik IND 2524, International Master (IM) Sergei Lobanov RUS 2535, GM Andrey Esipenko RUS 2593, 8.5/11
5-6. GM M. Amin Tabatabaei IRI 2576, GM Bai Jinshi CHN 2556, 8.0/11
7-18. IM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen NOR 2525, GM Aram Hakobyan ARM 2554, IM Bharathakoti Harsha IND 2474, GM Alireza Firouzja IRI 2582, GM Alexander Donchenko GER 2614, GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2573, GM Jorden Van Foreest NED 2624, GM Murali Karthikeyan IND 2605, GM Chithambaram Vr. Aravindh IND 2578, GM Haik M Martirosyan ARM 2597, IM Nodirbek Yakubboev UZB 2521, IM Semyon Lomasov RUS 2545, 7.5/11
Total Participants: 150
Time Control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves then another 30 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1.
During the World Junior Chess Championship the Iranian school of chess showed itself in a good light with the success of its representatives Maghsoodloo, Tabatabaei and Firouzja.
Under proud nation was India. Their highest rated young players like IM Nihal Sarin (2572 at the age of 14), GM Aryan Chopra (2541, 19 yrs. old), IM Arjun Erigaisi (2531, 15 yrs. old) and GM Praggnanandhaa (2519, 13 yrs. old) all stayed at home but their representative, GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2524, 18 yrs. old) still went home with the silver medal.
He was not one of the medalists, but 12 year old Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan made an impact in the tournament. He started by winning his first 4 games and was among the front-runners in the first half. His tactical skills were clearly on display but somewhere in the middle of the event lost three games in a row and dropped out of contention. He still claimed a GM norm though and clearly is a name to keep an eye on.
Sindarov, Javokhir (2484) — Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian (2525) [C55]
World Junior U-20 Open 2018 Gebze (6.2), 10.09.2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6
Daring White to go into the tactical labyrinth of the Two Knights’ Defense with 4.Ng5 d5. Sindarov is a tactical monster but declines the invitation, most probably due to the “fear of a prepared line syndrome.”
4.d3 Be7
And in his turn Christiansen avoids transposing to the main Giuoco Pianissimo main line with 4…Bc5.
5.Nc3
The usual line here is c2–c3, either before or after castling. Putting the knight on c3, however, does have its advantages as well. If you look at the Anand game that I will give to you later you will be struck by its similarities.
5…0–0
Here is a brilliancy from Richard Reti more than a hundred years ago: 5…d6 6.h3 Be6 7.Bb3 0–0 8.0–0 Bxb3 9.axb3 d5 10.Bg5 dxe4 11.dxe4 Nd7 12.Be3 a6 13.Qe2 f6 14.Rad1 Bd6 15.Qc4+ Kh8 16.Nd5 Ne7 17.Nxc7 Bxc7 18.Qe6 Nc6 19.Rxd7 Qc8 20.Rfd1 Ba5 (20…Re8 21.Qf7 Rg8 22.Rxc7; 20…Nd8 21.Qe7) 21.Bc5 Rg8 22.Nh4 Nd8 23.Qg4 1–0 (23) Reti-N.N. Harlem 1919 (23.Qg4 h6 (23…g6 24.Nxg6+ Rxg6 25.Qh5 Rg7 26.Qe8+ Rg8 27.Qe7) 24.Ng6+ Kh7 25.Nf8+ Kh8 26.Qg6 Rxf8 27.Qxg7#)
6.a3 d6 7.0–0 Kh8!?
Once again here you will be struck by how the Anand-So game is in the mind of both players. White’s idea here is Ng5 followed by f2–f4 and rather than weakening his kingside by 7…h6 Christiansen chooses the prophylactic 7…Kh8 and 8…Qe8. However, as the game shows his defensive formation is inadequate and 7…h6 can be considered best.
8.Ng5 Qe8
IM Sagar Shah from the Chessbase website remarks that 8…Bg4!? 9.f3 Bh5 should be considered, but the bishop does look a bit offside on h5.
9.f4 exf4 10.Bxf4 h6
There, see? White will be following with d2–d4, Qd3 and then swing the queen over to the kingside so Black just cannot do without this move. The conclusion is he should have done it on his 7th move.
11.Nf3 Ne5 12.Bxe5?!
Can’t figure out the reason for the exchange. Without his dark-squared bishop then he can’t threaten Bxh6. Anyway, let’s see what White had in mind.
12…dxe5 13.Kh1
Of course not 13.Nxe5? Bc5+ 14.d4 Qxe5 15.dxc5 Ng4 16.g3 Qxc5+ the bishop on c4 falls.
13…Nd7 14.Nd5 Bd8
Christiansen did not play 14…Bd6 because he wanted to keep an eye on h4. Indeed, after 15.Nh4 then Qh5 then Nd5–e3–f5 it looks very scary for him.
15.Qe1 c6 16.Ne3 Nf6 17.Qg3 Bc7 18.Nh4 Be6? <D>
POSITION AFTER 18…BE6
In the words of IM Sagar Shah Black lost his sense of danger. After the game Sindarov told him that he had worked out 18…Nh5! 19.Qf3 Nf4 20.g3 Ne6 21.Qh5 as the best play on both sides. White is better but Black is still alive.
19.Rxf6!
The attack is winning.
19…gxf6 20.Nhf5 Rg8 21.Qh4 Rg6 22.Nxh6 Kg7 23.Nhf5+ Kg8
[23…Bxf5 24.Nxf5+ Kg8 25.Rf1 — followed by 26.Rf3 — and 27.Rh3]
24.Rf1! Bxc4 25.Nxc4
He didn’t even have to stop and recapture the bishop. After 25.Rf3! Qd8 (Black has to make way for his king to e8. If he tries to save the bishop then 25…Be6 26.Rh3 mate cannot be prevented) 26.Rh3 Kf8 27.Qh8+ Rg8 28.Ng4! Be6 29.Qh6+ Ke8 30. Nxf6+ Qxf6 31. Qxf6 Bxf5 32.Rh8! there is a terrible rout.
25…Qe6 26.Rf3 Rd8 27.Nce3! Bb6 28.Rh3 Kf8 29.Rg3! Kg8
[29…Rxg3 30.hxg3 Ke8 31.Ng7+]
30.Ng4 Rd6 31.Nxd6 Qxd6 32.Nh6+ 1–0
[32.Nh6+ Kf8 33.Nf5 threatens the queen as well as Qh8+ followed by mate.]
Now, about the Ng5 followed by f2-f4 maneuver. Let’s talk about its creator.
GM Grzegorz Gajewski is currently recognized as one of the most creative thinkers in the realm of opening theory. Who hasn’t seen this game and its shock 10…d5 and 11…e4 counter-attack:
Kuznetsov, Viktor (2448) — Gajewski, Grzegorz (2556) [C96]
Pardubice Czech op (3), 22.07.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5 11.exd5 e4 12.Ng5 Nxd5 13.Nxe4 f5 14.Ng3 f4 15.Ne4 f3 16.d4 fxg2 17.Ng3 Qd6 18.Be4 Bb7 19.Nf5 Rxf5 20.Bxf5 Rf8 21.Re6 Rxf5 22.Rxd6 Bxd6 23.a4 Bg3 24.f3 [24.fxg3 Rf1+ 25.Qxf1 gxf1Q+ 26.Kxf1 Nb3] 24…Bf4 25.axb5 Bxc1 26.Rxa5 Nf4 27.Qe1 Bxf3 28.bxa6 Nxh3+ 29.Kh2 Bf4+ 30.Kxh3 g1N+ 31.Qxg1 Rxa5 0–1
Gajewski worked as Anand’s second a few years back and showed Anand a new idea. Here is the game where the former world champion unveiled it to the world. Unfortunately, it was against Wesley So.
Anand, Viswanathan (2791) — So, Wesley (2788) [C77]
Gashimov Memorial Shamkir (5), 21.04.2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 Nb8 10.Ng5!?
This is the big idea.
10…Nc6 11.Ba2
The light-squared bishop is important in this line and white has to preserve it. If he plays 11.f4?! right away Black can counter with 11…Nd4 12.Ba2 Bg4 13.Qd2 h6 White’s pieces are pushed back and Black is already better.
11…Nd4 12.Ne2 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 h6 14.f4! hxg5 15.fxg5 Ng4 16.g6 Bg5 17.h3! Bxc1 18.Raxc1 Nh6 19.Qh5
[19.Rxf7! Rxf7 20.gxf7+ Kf8 21.Qh5 followed by Rf1 and Qg6 is a stronger continuation]
19…Be6 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.g4 c6 22.Rxf8+
[22.g5!]
22…Qxf8 23.Rf1 Qe7 24.g5 Rf8 25.gxh6 Rxf1+ 26.Kxf1 Qf8+ 27.Ke2 gxh6 28.Qg4 Qf6 29.h4 d5 30.h5 d4 31.b4!
White has a winning endgame.
31…Kg7 32.Qf3 Qe7 33.Kd1 Kg8 34.Qf2 Kg7 35.c3 dxc3 36.Kc2 Qc7 37.Qc5 Kg8 38.Qe3 a5 39.Qh3 axb4 40.Qxe6+ Kf8 41.axb4 Qa7 42.Kxc3 Qa3+ 43.Kc2 Qa4+ 44.Qb3 Qa7 45.d4 1–0
This is a nice theme that we should all remember.
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net
