World Junior Ch: Maurizzi sole leader, Niemann loses to Woodward

Woodward sets the tone

Junior events are often full of surprises. Naturally, many up-and-coming players have inconsistent results at times, but if they manage to show their potential even a couple of times per event, they are surely capable of upsetting higher-rated players.

At the World Junior Championship in Mexico City, it was 13-year-old Andy Woodward who made headlines by beating top seed Hans Niemann in round 3. An IM from the United States, Woodward played brilliantly in the double-edged struggle against his compatriot, and was praised by well-known trainer Jacob Aagaard on X:

I have long been impressed with his homework submissions and can see the work he does with his personal trainer as well in this great game.

Anti-London System

On this DVD GM Yannick Pelletier offers Black a repertoire against the London System that you can employ no matter which opening (Systems with d5, systems with g6, Queen's Indian, Queen's Gambit, Benoni, Benko, Dutch) you usually play against 1.d4 followed by 2.c4. Thematic games explain and illustrate the theory and ideas of the repertoire Pelletier proposes.

After his remarkable win, Woodward was paired up against fourth seed Marc’Andria Maurizzi in round 4. Maurizzi, a 16-year-old GM from Bastia (France), beat his younger opponent with the black pieces to take the lead in the standings as the only player with a perfect score after four rounds of play.

A total of 12 players stand a half point behind Maurizzi. The lowest-rated player in this pack is Indian-born Shreyas Royal, who now represents England and recently met UK Primer Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street.

Third seed Arseniy Nesterov (FIDE) will play black against sole leader Marc’Andria Maurizzi in the fifth round | Photo: David Llada

Niemann 0 - 1 Woodward

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Niemann, Hans Moke2667

0–1

Woodward, Andy2480

FIDE World Junior Open-ch 2023 Mexico City23.09.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Gunther]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 e5 5.Nxe5 0-0 6.Nf3 Re8 7.d3 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bd2 Bg4 10.Be2 Nb4 11.Be3 Bxf3 12.gxf3 N8c6 13.h4 Nd4 14.Rc1 Qd6 15.a3 Na6 16.f4 Rad8 17.b4 17.h5!± 17...c5 18.e5 Qe7 19.b5 Nc7 20.Qa4 Qe6

White had a small advantage earlier in the game (see move 17), but it has now evaporated. 21.Bd1? And now it is Black who is better. Niemann fails to identify the the vulnerability of his own position. Better was 21.Qxa7 and after Nxe2 22.Nxe2 Qd5 23.Rg1 Ne6= White's position should be more difficult to handle but the evaluation is close to equal. 21...Qf5! 22.Qc4 22.Qxa7 Nce6 23.Qxb7 Nxf4-+ 22...Bh6! White's central formation cannot be held. 23.Ne4 Bxf4 24.Nf6+ Kg7 25.Nxe8+ Rxe8 26.Qxc5 Ncxb5 27.0-0 Rxe5 28.Bxd4 Nxd4 29.Qxd4 Bxc1

Everything works! 30.Re1 Bf4 31.Re4 Qf6 32.h5 Rg5+ 33.Kf1 Be5 34.Qxa7 b6 35.Qa8 gxh5 36.Re3 Bh2 37.Re8 Rg1+ 38.Ke2 Kh6 39.Bc2 Qc3 40.Rc8 Re1+ 41.Kf3 Qf6+ 42.Kg2 Rg1+ Mate in three moves. 0–1

Master Class Vol.8 - Magnus Carlsen 2nd Edition

Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.

Hans Niemann during the opening ceremony | Photo: David Llada

Standings after round 4

...150 players

All available games

Mkrtchyan still perfect in the women’s section

There have been fewer surprises in the women’s event, as all seven players currently on 3½+ scores belong to the top-10 in the starting rank.

Third seed Mariam Mkrtchyan from Armenia tops the standings as the only player with a 4/4 score. After beating fifth seed Sofiia Hryzlova (Switzerland) in round 4, the leader will have the tough task of facing rating favourite Carissa Yip (United States) in Sunday’s fifth round.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.

Yip and Mkrtchyan are two of the three 2300+ rated players who made it to Mexico City. Argentinian WGM Candela Francisco also belongs to this group and is tied for second place with Yip and five more players on 3½/4. Francisco, aged 17, will face 13-year-old Chinese prodigy Lu Miaoyi in round 5.

Mariam Mkrtchyan | Photo: David Llada

Candela Francisco | Photo: David Llada

Svitlana Demchenko | Photo: David Llada

Standings after round 4

...85 players

All available games

***