10/18/2014 – Twelve gruelling rounds, and two amazing players are set to take Gold. Alexandra Goryachkina has made it (update), while Wei Yi faces stiff resistance. In our big illustrated report from Pune, India, with five annotated games, we do not forget younger players who have gained massive amounts of rating points: 170 and 197 just in this event. The final round is on Sunday.
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Rounds ten and eleven: Goryachkina and Wei Yi reign supreme
By Sagar Shah
Going into the final leg of the tournament, the long distance runners can be easily distinguished from the sprinters. While many started the tournament with enthusiasm and spirited play, it is only a very select few who have been able to maintain their momentum for eleven rounds. Two such amazing individuals are Aleksandra Goryachkina and Wei Yi. With just two rounds left, these two highly talented individuals are all set to win the yellow metal!
It's obvious that such a pressure filled event will lead to exhaustion…
... but the players have to find some way to fight it!
Aleksandra Goryachkina is now on 9.5/11 and has a 1.5 point lead over her nearest rivals. With five wins on a trot, she looks simply unbeatable. She now requires only one point out of the remaining two rounds to retain the title that she won in 2013. If she does manage that, she will be the first girl after Ketino Kachiani to won the World Junior girls title in consecutive years in (Ketino did it in 1989 and 1990).
Aleksandra Goryachkina (2430) looking for her second world junior title.
By the way did we mention that she has just turned sixteen years of age?
Aleksandra Goryachkina’s appetite for victory is just amazing! In the eleventh round, she had an entire one point lead over the field. Yet she played for five and a half hours and beat Zhai Mo in an ending which was pretty unclear.
Eagle eyes will spot Goryachkina fighting it out with Zhai Mo on the far right.
To play for such long hours requires a lot of stamina and will power.
You must also not miss the ten-move miniature in which Goryachkina beat Sarasadat Khademalsharieh with the black pieces in the tenth round:
[Event "WCh U20 Girls"] [Site "Pune"] [Date "2014.10.16"] [Round "10"] [White "Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat"] [Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2366"] [BlackElo "2430"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 {This move has been becoming popular of late. The idea is to keep the knight on b1, reserving the option of developing it on d2 instead of the usual c3 square. Andreikin has used that with great success and has beaten Kramnik and Topalov with it.} c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Qa5+ 7. Nbd2 (7. Nc3 $6 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ne4 $15) 7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ne4 9. Bh4 $2 {This move shows how important it is to be alert at all times. White now just loses a piece!} (9. Bf4 $1 g5 10. Bc7 $1 Qxc7 11. Nxe4 $14 {was the key idea. And here White can even boast of having an edge.}) 9... g5 $1 {The threat is to simply play g4 and win a piece because Bb4 is coming up next. And this is not the first time a player has lost this way. Already three games have continued in a similar fashion.} 10. Bg3 g4 {Totally depressed with the way, the opening went, Sara decided to call it a day.} 11. -- (11. O-O Nxg3 12. fxg3 gxf3 $19) 0-1
Srija Seshadri is a player from Tamil Nadu, India. She was the silver medal winner in the Asian Youth under-16 category in 2013. Srija had a slow start to the tournament, losing the first round. She recovered after that, but what she achieved in the last three rounds is commendable. With wins against Maria Brunello (2275), Ioana Gelip (2154) and P.V. Nandhidhaa (2174), she has moved into the joint second spot with Ann Chumpitaz. She has also gained 93 Elo points, and faces WGM Aleksandra Goryachkina on board one of the twefth round. Beating the in-form World Junior Champion will not be easy, but it is the only way to keep her chances alive for a gold.
Ann Chumpitaz (2201) from Peru has played this tournament very consistently and is on joint second place with 8.0/11. With just one loss in the tournament, against the top seed, she has already gained 52 Elo points.
Wei Yi vs Karen Gigoryan on top board in round eleven
Prior to round eleven the two Chinese players Wei Yi and Lu Shanglei were leading the field with 8.0/10. Karen Grigoryan seemed the perfect candidate to the former a tough fight. But it was not to be. Karen chose the Petroff Defence which was already not in sync with his style. He went wrong and lost a pawn and soon the game. It meant that the Chinese was in the lead with 9.0/11.
[Event "Pune IND"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.17"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Grigoryan, Karen H"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2591"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 {A very weird choice by Karen. He is an aggressive and active player. The Petroff doesn't really suit his style.} 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nc3 $5 {Not as popular as the main line but good enough to be tried by players like Anand, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Kamsky, Naiditsch etc.} (8. c4 {is of course the main line.}) 8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bg4 10. Rb1 Rb8 {White's play in this position is quite easy. He puts his rook on e1, the bishop on f4 and then tries to double on the e-file with Re3.} 11. h3 Bh5 12. Bf5 O-O 13. Qd3 Bg6 (13... g6 {was bad because of} 14. g4 $1 gxf5 15. gxh5 $16 {and the black king looks weaker than the white one.}) 14. Re1 Re8 15. Bf4 Bd6 $2 {A horrible mistake.} (15... Bxf5 16. Qxf5 g6 17. Qg4 Bd6 18. Rxe8+ Qxe8 19. Bxd6 cxd6 $11 {gives Black a fine position. The position resembles what happened in the game, but the queen on g4 cannot do much harm to Black.}) 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. Bxg6 hxg6 19. Qb5 $1 {Maybe Karen had planned to defend with Qe6 here but later must have realised that it loses to Qxc6!} Qd7 ( 19... Qe6 20. Qxc6 bxc6 21. Rxb8+ Kh7 22. Ng5+ $18) 20. Qxd5 $16 {White is just a pawn up and went on to confidently convert his position.} Ne7 21. Qe4 d5 22. Qf4 Nc6 23. Re1 f6 24. Qg3 Kf7 25. Qf4 Re8 26. Rxe8 Kxe8 27. h4 b5 28. Nd2 Nd8 29. Nb3 Qe6 30. Nc5 Qe7 31. Qf3 Ne6 32. Qxd5 Nxc5 33. dxc5 Qe1+ 34. Kh2 Qxf2 35. Qe4+ Kf7 36. Qd4 Qf5 37. c6 Qc8 38. Qxa7+ Ke6 39. Qb7 Qd8 40. c7 Qd6+ 41. Kh3 1-0
Things got better for Wei Yi when his compatriot Lu Shanglei drew his game. Wei Yi, thus leads the Open section alone. But Lu Shanglei is on his heels with 8.5/11. He beat the top seed GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2661) in round ten – it was really an unusual tactic which spelled doom for the Russian player.
[Event "World Junior Open 2014"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.16"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Lu, Shanglei"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C26"] [WhiteElo "2533"] [BlackElo "2661"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Bc5 8. d3 O-O 9. h3 Re8 {Black has absolutely no problem in this position. He looks well developed and has good control in the center.} 10. Re1 h6 11. Be3 {The players are following the game Areschenko-Kramnik. Kramnik preserved the c5 bishop with Bf8. It was quite logical. But Fedoseev plonks his knight on d4.} Nd4 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 (12... exd4 13. Rxe8+ Qxe8 14. Ne2 Qd8 $11 {was a very comfortable position for Black to play}) 13. Qd2 c6 14. Re2 {According to Lu Shanglei in the post game analysis, White has a small edge because the e5 pawn is weak. It is suprising because Black looks very comfortable in this position. } Qb6 $6 {This move looks active but it just misplaces the queen. Lu Shanglei takes full advantage of it.} (14... Bf5 $1 {was the right way to play} 15. Rae1 Qd6 {White cannot increase his pressure on e5 and hence would take on d4.} 16. Nxd4 Qxd4 $11 {And this is the right way for Black to maintain the balance in the position.}) 15. Rae1 Bf5 16. Na4 $1 Qb5 $2 (16... Qc7 17. c3 {and the e5 pawn falls.}) (16... Qa6 {was Lu Shanglei's suggestion but after} 17. b3 b5 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Rxe8+ Rxe8 20. Rxe8+ Nxe8 21. Nc5 Qxa2 22. Bxc6 $16 {White has a good position}) 17. b3 Rad8 {The move looked very normal and was also praised in the commentary as bringing each and every piece into the battle.} 18. c4 $1 {The black queen lacks a good square.} Qa6 19. Nxd4 exd4 (19... Rxd4 {was the lesser evil but White is better here too.} 20. Rxe5 Rxe5 21. Rxe5 Rxd3 22. Qe2 $18 {[%cal Ga4c5]}) 20. Re5 $3 {The move that Fedoseev must have missed. It is a finishing stroke because Ra5 traps the queen.} b5 {This is as good as resignation but there was nothing better.} 21. cxb5 Qc8 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Rxe8+ Nxe8 24. bxc6 $18 {The speed at which Fedoseev got into a losing position was is very surprising. But there were improvements in the preceding moves, it seemed as if he played the game too casually.} Bxh3 25. Bxh3 Qxh3 26. Qa5 Qe6 27. Qxa7 Qxc6 28. Qxd4 Nf6 29. Nc5 Qc8 30. a4 Qh3 31. Ne4 Nd7 32. a5 Qf5 33. a6 Ne5 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. a7 Nf3+ 36. Kg2 Ne5 37. Nf6+ 1-0
Here is one more game to learn from:
[Event "World Junior Open 2014"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.17"] [Round "11.10"] [White "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Black "Csonka, Balazs"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2495"] [BlackElo "2412"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bd3 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 c6 10. Qf3 Ne8 11. b3 d5 12. Bb2 Bd6 13. Ree1 Qg5 14. Ne2 Qxd2 15. Ng3 Qg5 16. h3 Nf6 {Black has won a pawn and looks quite better here. Though White has some compensation, it should not be enough.} 17. Rad1 Be6 18. c4 Rfe8 19. Bb1 Rad8 20. Bc1 Qh4 21. Be3 Nd7 22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. Qxf5 g6 24. Qc2 d4 25. Bc1 (25. Rxd4 Qxd4 26. Bxd4 Rxe1#) 25... Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Nc5 27. b4 d3 28. Qb2 Ne4 $19 {It is all but over in this position. Murali Karthikeyan could have just resigned the game. But he fought on.} 29. Be3 Bf4 $1 {Removing the bishop so that the pawn could advance to d2.} 30. Bd4 d2 31. Rd1 Qe7 {Not the best but still completely fine. Black is in control.} (31... Qh5 $1 {was the finishing move.} 32. Bc2 Qe2 $1 {Qe1 is a threat now.} 33. Rf1 Nxf2 $1 34. Bxf2 d1=Q 35. Rxd1 Rxd1+ $19) 32. Kf1 b6 (32... Re8 $1 $19 {With the idea of Ng3 and Qe1 cannot be prevented.}) 33. Bh8 {Hoping against hope that Black doesn't see the one move mate trick (Qg7#)!} Bh6 $6 (33... f6 34. Bxe4 Qxe4 35. Qxf6 Rd7 $1 $19 {[%cal Gd7e7,Ge4e1] There is absolutely nothing that White can do. It's just a lost position.}) 34. Qe5 {Now things are looking better for White. He is still worse but there is no finishing stroke here. As is the case with a turning of tide, Black commits a complete suicide.} Qd7 35. Bxe4 Re8 36. Rxd2 Qc8 $2 (36... Rxe5 37. Rxd7 Rxe4 38. f3 Re8 39. Bc3 $16) 37. Qf6 $18 {What a complete turn of events. White is the one who is a piece up and Black has absolutely no compensation.} 1-0
Matej Blazeka from Croatia has a very curious situation: he came to play the World Junior...
... but has ended up playing in a kind of Indian National Junior Championship!
Supreetha Potluri (1738) is doing something unbelievable: she has
scored 6.5/11 and is gaining a massive 197 Elo points from this event!
R. Praggnanandhaa (1946) started off as the 129th seed in the open section and is
currently gaining a whopping 170 points from the World Junior.
Bart von Meijenfeldt (2354) from Netherlands has the longest (and nicest) hair in the boys section…
... with William Fisher (2313) from USA just one place behind!
It was a great pleasure to meet Dr Andrzej Filipowicz at the tournament venue. He is not only an International Master but also an International Arbiter along with being an honorary member of FIDE. He is the chief arbiter of the Anand-Carlsen match that is to be held in Sochi in November 2014. Not only were his stories captivating and mesmerizing, he also had pearls of wisdom for upcoming players. And when it comes from a man who has played against the likes of Tal, Botvinnik and Smyslov you must heed his words carefully. When asked what is best way to become a world class GM, he replied: "Trying to win all the games in an event at the beginning of one's career!"
Group photo time. From left to right Niranjan Godbole, WGM Swati Ghate, Sagar Shah, Ravindra Dongre, GM Vidit Gujrathi, Prithviraj Chavan, Dilip Pagay, GM Abhijit Kunte, IM and FT Prathamesh Mokal, WGM Soumya Swaminathan. Prithviraj Chavan is a big name in India. He was the 22nd Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra and it was thanks to him that the Government contributed five million Rupees for the organization of this tournament.
Professor R. Anantharaman, a very respected and knowledgeable
person in Indian chess circles, is the chief arbiter of this event.
All India Chess Federation Treasurer Ravindra Dongre with Rakesh Rao who is famous
for having conducted the largest number interviews with Vishwanathan Anand
After the 10th round the lobby of Grand Hyatt witnessed two talented youngsters, GM Vladislav Kovalev and GM Vladimir Fedoseev, take on each other on the giant chess board. The game ended in a draw, but what was wonderful to see was the intensity and concentration with which they were playing this friendly game.
The last two rounds remain to be played at the World Junior 2014. While Goryachkina looks all set to take Gold in the Girls section, things are not so clear in the Open section. Wei Yi has a strong challenge in the form of Vladimir Fedoseev in round 12. It's going to be an exciting end at the 53rd World Junior Chess Championships.
All pictures by Amruta Mokal
Results and standings
Before we could publish this report the twelfth round of the World Junior Championship had been completed. In the following we bring you the results of the top pairings and the tournament standings after twelve rounds. Our next report will come after the final round thirteen.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
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In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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