13-year-old scores GM norm in Saint Louis

by ChessBase
6/4/2014 – Saint Louis was recently named the capital of chess in America, and it is living up to its name. Only a couple of weeks after the US Championship two closed tournaments were held simultaneously; one an IM-norm and one a GM-norm section. The GM section was dominated by young kids, and the winner was 13 year old Samuel Sevian from California. Brian Jerauld brings us a full report.
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Sevian, Homa Earn Norms in Saint Louis
By Brian Jerauld

The beautiful Saint Louis Chess Club once again in action

The 2014 Saint Louis Invitational celebrated its design last weekend, handing out norms in each of two sections constructed around FIDE’s specifications for title-seekers. FM Seth Homa earned his second norm toward the International Master title with a 7/9 score in the lower section, while IM Sam Sevian notched his second toward GM with a 6.5/9 in the upper group - though his field proved to be a bit more stacked than anticipated.

A GM norm for 13-year old Sam Sevian, despite some complaints from
his opponents about his behavior during the game, something he will surely grow out of

Amongst other FIDE requirements for norm approval, Sevian needed to play against three players already holding the GM title - a task the organizing Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis addressed by inviting GMs Ben Finegold, Denes Boros and Joshua Friedel.

newly minted American GM Kayden Troff

But showing up to the event with a new glow was now-GM Kayden Troff, who joined the world’s elite just a few days earlier at the 2014 Chicago Open -- though not without a bit of uncertainty. Troff, already FIDE-approved with three GM norms, chased the title right up to its literal watermark in Chicago, earning a live rating of 2499.5 after his eighth-round draw against Yury Shulman. The question of “rounding-up” was enough to hesitate a full celebration, and then his loss in the ninth-round left the tension dangling through the Saint Louis Invitational, which began just two days later.

“Because FIDE rounds up, if I had just dropped out of the tournament, my rating would go to 2500 and everything would be good,” Troff said. “But I was tied for second at the time, and with money on the line, I wasn’t just going to drop out. I played against (eventual winner IM Priyadharshan) Kannappan, who offered me a draw early, but I thought ‘No, I want to win, so I can be over 2500.’ A few moves later, I realized ‘I’m probably a little worse here.’

14-year-old Akshat Chandra continues on his quest

“So I ended up losing the game and was left wondering does 2499.5 count now? We decided we’d celebrate and say it counts, but I guess I still really wanted to finish above 2500 - to doubly make sure.”

GM Troff checked it twice in Saint Louis. His 6/9 performance, second only to Sevian, was good enough to float him back over 2500 regardless, and FIDE soon after confirmed his moment in Chicago by updating his profile with the new title on Tuesday. Ironically, Troff’s loss to Kannappan - which ultimately left his entire week in limbo - was his only loss amongst both tournaments, 18 games over a span of 12 days.

Solid IM John Bartholomew scored a GM norm last year in this event,
but wasn't as successful this time around

“What I’ve figured out through tournaments is winning is good, drawing is OK - but don’t lose,” Troff said. “As far as rating goes, losing will kill you. Some of these openings didn’t go my way; maybe I got to a few points where I would be considered losing. But even though I was tired, I just kept trying to focus on fighting, even when things looked bad.”

Always witty GM Ben Finegold lives in Saint Louis
and often plays these GM norm events

Troff as a bonus GM helped put a shine on Sevian’s norm achievement, after the two played to a draw in the second round in Saint Louis. Sevian took clear first with the norm-necessary 6.5/9 points, and also scored 2.5 points against the other three GMs, winning as black against both Friedel and Boros.

FM Arun Sharma is a math professor at UC Berkeley

“I originally thought that I should do well with white, having them for five rounds - but the opposite happened,” Sevian said. “With white I was not getting the good positions I usually get, while with black I was easily equalizing. My game with Boros seemed like I was really passive at first, but then I got the initiative and started threat after threat. He really couldn’t parry all of them.”

IM Raja Panjwani is taking a year off before finishing his Master's at Princeton and
working on his start-up, Sage academic coaches

Sevian’s undefeated performance leaves him roughly 40 rating points and one norm short of the GM title -- still on pace to become the youngest-ever American GM. The status is currently claimed by Ray Robson at 14 years, 11 months and 6 days -- though the 13-year-old Sevian seems genuinely disinterested in the caption, stating “I think, for now, I’m just focused on getting the GM title.”

“There have been a bunch of players who made GM around 13 or 14 years old, which is outstanding in itself,” said Sam’s father, Armen. “But many of those guys, even some who made it very early, didn’t progress as much after that. So we could shoot for it and live in the clouds, but we could just as easily have a flat year with nothing happening. It’s not the most important thing -- though, definitely, it helps.”

Homa has also moved tantalizingly close to his own new title after winning the Invitational’s IM section a full point ahead of the rest of the field. His second norm achievement comes as a reward for a grueling month of training.

Seth Homa dominated the IM Section

“It’s been almost two games a day for the past two weeks, and I thought I’d be exhausted - but actually I feel pretty good right now,” said the 26-year-old from Lansing, Mich. “In some ways, I’m already adjusted to this: I watched the U.S. Championships every day for about five hours, and then I was preparing lessons for my students and also working on my own chess every day. I was already putting in 10-12 hours a day a couple weeks before Chicago and Saint Louis, and I think that all helped me with fatigue at the end.”

IM Kannappan Priyadarshan couldn't repeat his GM norm performance from Chicago

Homa had struggled in the last two installments of the Saint Louis Invitational, but played with convincing strength this year, highlighted by better results against IM players. He scored 3.0/4 points against the tournament’s IM-title standard, including wins in the final two rounds over IMs Ronald Burnett and Levan Bregadze.

“I feel really good about that -- the last couple of events, I have done poorly against IM players, including Columbus where I got crushed by two of them. In this event, those fights felt good. They felt really good.”

Viktorjia Ni didn't make the national Olympic team by just a hair

Final Standings GM Section

Final Standings IM Section

Replay GM Section Games

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,173,50054%2421---
1.d4952,12655%2434---
1.Nf3283,50356%2440---
1.c4183,15556%2442---
1.g319,79656%2427---
1.b314,44254%2427---
1.f45,92148%2377---
1.Nc33,85150%2384---
1.b41,77148%2379---
1.a31,23454%2405---
1.e31,07549%2409---
1.d396150%2378---
1.g466846%2360---
1.h446554%2381---
1.c343651%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411660%2462---
1.f39947%2428---
1.Nh39267%2511---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.a3 d6 6.Rb1 e6 7.e4 Nge7 8.Nge2 b6 9.b4 Bb7 10.d3 Qd7 11.h4 h6 12.Be3 Nd4 13.Qd2 Ndf5 14.Bf4 e5 15.Be3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 h5 17.bxc5 dxc5 18.0-0 0-0 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Bh6 21.Nc3 Nc8 22.d6 Rb8 23.Ne4 Qd8 24.Rf6 Bg7 25.Rbf1 b5 26.cxb5 Bxf6 27.Nxf6+ Kg7 28.d7 Ne7 29.Bc6 Rb6 30.Ne8+ Kg8 31.Nf6+ Kg7 32.Ne8+ Kg8 33.Nf6+ Kg7 34.Qg2 Nf5 35.Nxh5+ Kh6 36.Qe4 f6 37.Rxf5 gxf5 38.Qxf5 Qe7 39.g4 Rbb8 40.Be4 Rg8 41.Nxf6 Qf7 42.Nxg8+ Qxg8 43.Qf6+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gorovets,A2446Panjwani,R24441–02014A36CCSCSL Inv GM 20141.1
Boros,D2474Friedel,J25050–12014A15CCSCSL Inv GM 20141.2
Bartholomew,J2461Finegold,B25030–12014A09CCSCSL Inv GM 20141.3
Priyadharshan,K2420Troff,K2484½–½2014B90CCSCSL Inv GM 20141.4
Sevian,S2446Chandra,A24401–02014B84CCSCSL Inv GM 20141.5
Panjwani,R2444Chandra,A2440½–½2014D45CCSCSL Inv GM 20142.1
Troff,K2484Sevian,S2446½–½2014D45CCSCSL Inv GM 20142.2
Finegold,B2503Priyadharshan,K24200–12014D00CCSCSL Inv GM 20142.3
Friedel,J2505Bartholomew,J2461½–½2014A07CCSCSL Inv GM 20142.4
Gorovets,A2446Boros,D2474½–½2014A21CCSCSL Inv GM 20142.5
Boros,D2474Panjwani,R2444½–½2014B30CCSCSL Inv GM 20143.1
Bartholomew,J2461Gorovets,A2446½–½2014A40CCSCSL Inv GM 20143.2
Priyadharshan,K2420Friedel,J2505½–½2014D04CCSCSL Inv GM 20143.3
Sevian,S2446Finegold,B2503½–½2014C41CCSCSL Inv GM 20143.4
Chandra,A2440Troff,K2484½–½2014D85CCSCSL Inv GM 20143.5
Friedel,J2505Sevian,S24460–12014A07CCSCSL Inv GM 20144.1
Finegold,B2503Chandra,A2440½–½2014A46CCSCSL Inv GM 20144.2
Panjwani,R2444Troff,K2484½–½2014A15CCSCSL Inv GM 20144.3
Gorovets,A2446Priyadharshan,K2420½–½2014A33CCSCSL Inv GM 20144.4
Boros,D2474Bartholomew,J24611–02014C50CCSCSL Inv GM 20144.5
Priyadharshan,K2420Boros,D2474½–½2014E14CCSCSL Inv GM 20145.1
Bartholomew,J2461Panjwani,R2444½–½2014E32CCSCSL Inv GM 20145.2
Sevian,S2446Gorovets,A24460–12014C79CCSCSL Inv GM 20145.3
Chandra,A2440Friedel,J25051–02014E11CCSCSL Inv GM 20145.4
Troff,K2484Finegold,B25031–02014D11CCSCSL Inv GM 20145.5
Panjwani,R2444Finegold,B25030–12014A15CCSCSL Inv GM 20146.1
Friedel,J2505Troff,K2484½–½2014B52CCSCSL Inv GM 20146.2
Gorovets,A2446Chandra,A24401–02014A34CCSCSL Inv GM 20146.3
Boros,D2474Sevian,S24460–12014C50CCSCSL Inv GM 20146.4
Bartholomew,J2461Priyadharshan,K24201–02014D25CCSCSL Inv GM 20146.5
Finegold,B2503Friedel,J2505½–½2014C48CCSCSL Inv GM 20147.1
Sevian,S2446Bartholomew,J24611–02014C92CCSCSL Inv GM 20147.2
Priyadharshan,K2420Panjwani,R24441–02014C60CCSCSL Inv GM 20147.3
Troff,K2484Gorovets,A24461–02014E91CCSCSL Inv GM 20147.4
Chandra,A2440Boros,D24740–12014E15CCSCSL Inv GM 20147.5
Boros,D2474Troff,K2484½–½2014D87CCSCSL Inv GM 20148.1
Gorovets,A2446Finegold,B2503½–½2014A07CCSCSL Inv GM 20148.2
Panjwani,R2444Friedel,J25051–02014A37CCSCSL Inv GM 20148.3
Priyadharshan,K2420Sevian,S24460–12014C88CCSCSL Inv GM 20148.4
Bartholomew,J2461Chandra,A2440½–½2014E32CCSCSL Inv GM 20148.5
Chandra,A2440Priyadharshan,K24201–02014D43CCSCSL Inv GM 20149.1
Sevian,S2446Panjwani,R2444½–½2014A04CCSCSL Inv GM 20149.2
Troff,K2484Bartholomew,J24611–02014D12CCSCSL Inv GM 20149.3
Friedel,J2505Gorovets,A2446½–½2014D31CCSCSL Inv GM 20149.4
Finegold,B2503Boros,D2474½–½2014CCSCSL Inv GM 20149.5

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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.b3 e6 5.Bb2 Be7 6.c4 bxc4 7.bxc4 Na6 8.0-0 Rb8 9.Bc3 0-0 10.d3 d6 11.e4 Nc5 12.Ne1 Nfd7 13.Nd2 f5 14.exf5 exf5 15.d4 Ne4 16.Nxe4 fxe4 17.Qc2 d5 18.f3 Nb6 19.fxe4 Nxc4 20.Qe2 Rxf1+ 21.Bxf1 Nd6 22.e5 Ne4 23.Ba5 Qf8 24.Rb1 Bc5 25.Nc2 Bb6 26.Bxb6 cxb6 27.Rb3 Ba6 28.Qxa6 Qf2+ 29.Kh1 Rf8 30.Ne3 Nd2 31.Qe2 Nxb3 32.axb3 Qf3+ 33.Kg1 a5 34.Qxf3 Rxf3 35.Nxd5 Rxb3 36.Bc4 Rb1+ 37.Kf2 Kf8 38.e6 Rb2+ 39.Ke3 b5 40.e7+ Kf7 41.Bxb5 Rxb5 42.e8Q+ Kxe8 43.Nc7+ Kd7 44.Nxb5 Kc6 45.Nc3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ni,V2206Vibbert,S23161–02014A05CCSCSL Inv IM 20141.1
Homa,S2331Young,A2335½–½2014E70CCSCSL Inv IM 20141.2
Eckert,D2255Bregadze,L2428½–½2014A15CCSCSL Inv IM 20141.3
Ross,D2291Burnett,R2344½–½2014B06CCSCSL Inv IM 20141.4
Sharma,A2383Aripov,I22311–02014D44CCSCSL Inv IM 20141.5
Vibbert,S2316Aripov,I22311–02014A04CCSCSL Inv IM 20142.1
Burnett,R2344Sharma,A23831–02014A10CCSCSL Inv IM 20142.2
Bregadze,L2428Ross,D2291½–½2014A13CCSCSL Inv IM 20142.3
Young,A2335Eckert,D2255½–½2014C46CCSCSL Inv IM 20142.4
Ni,V2206Homa,S23310–12014A04CCSCSL Inv IM 20142.5
Homa,S2331Vibbert,S2316½–½2014B47CCSCSL Inv IM 20143.1
Eckert,D2255Ni,V2206½–½2014A39CCSCSL Inv IM 20143.2
Ross,D2291Young,A2335½–½2014A01CCSCSL Inv IM 20143.3
Sharma,A2383Bregadze,L24280–12014A65CCSCSL Inv IM 20143.4
Aripov,I2231Burnett,R2344½–½2014D15CCSCSL Inv IM 20143.5
Young,A2335Sharma,A2383½–½2014D73CCSCSL Inv IM 20144.1
Bregadze,L2428Aripov,I2231½–½2014C00CCSCSL Inv IM 20144.2
Vibbert,S2316Burnett,R23440–12014B06CCSCSL Inv IM 20144.3
Ni,V2206Ross,D2291½–½2014D34CCSCSL Inv IM 20144.4
Homa,S2331Eckert,D22551–02014A46CCSCSL Inv IM 20144.5
Eckert,D2255Vibbert,S23161–02014A39CCSCSL Inv IM 20145.1
Ross,D2291Homa,S2331½–½2014E60CCSCSL Inv IM 20145.2
Sharma,A2383Ni,V22061–02014E67CCSCSL Inv IM 20145.3
Aripov,I2231Young,A2335½–½2014B00CCSCSL Inv IM 20145.4
Burnett,R2344Bregadze,L2428½–½2014B52CCSCSL Inv IM 20145.5
Vibbert,S2316Bregadze,L24280–12014A18CCSCSL Inv IM 20146.1
Young,A2335Burnett,R23440–12014A15CCSCSL Inv IM 20146.2
Ni,V2206Aripov,I22310–12014A43CCSCSL Inv IM 20146.3
Homa,S2331Sharma,A23831–02014D77CCSCSL Inv IM 20146.4
Eckert,D2255Ross,D2291½–½2014A10CCSCSL Inv IM 20146.5
Ross,D2291Vibbert,S2316½–½2014A36CCSCSL Inv IM 20147.1
Sharma,A2383Eckert,D22551–02014E11CCSCSL Inv IM 20147.2
Aripov,I2231Homa,S2331½–½2014E34CCSCSL Inv IM 20147.3
Burnett,R2344Ni,V22061–02014A54CCSCSL Inv IM 20147.4
Bregadze,L2428Young,A2335½–½2014B20CCSCSL Inv IM 20147.5
Ni,V2206Bregadze,L2428½–½2014B23CCSCSL Inv IM 20148.1
Vibbert,S2316Young,A2335½–½2014B23CCSCSL Inv IM 20148.2
Homa,S2331Burnett,R23441–02014E45CCSCSL Inv IM 20148.3
Eckert,D2255Aripov,I22310–12014A37CCSCSL Inv IM 20148.4
Ross,D2291Sharma,A23831–02014E10CCSCSL Inv IM 20148.5
Sharma,A2383Vibbert,S2316½–½2014D17CCSCSL Inv IM 20149.1
Aripov,I2231Ross,D2291½–½2014A90CCSCSL Inv IM 20149.2
Burnett,R2344Eckert,D2255½–½2014A15CCSCSL Inv IM 20149.3
Bregadze,L2428Homa,S23310–12014B22CCSCSL Inv IM 20149.4
Young,A2335Ni,V2206½–½2014D20CCSCSL Inv IM 20149.5

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