World Junior Rd 1: Tough start for the top seeds

Dvorkovich's arrival in Delhi

"You can predict everything, but you cannot predict the Delhi traffic", these were the words of Bharat Singh Chauhan at the inauguration ceremony of the World Juniors 2019. Why did he say so? Well, because FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who was scheduled to arrive for the opening ceremony at 2.30 p.m., was delayed by nearly an hour. But when Dvorkovich arrived at the venue, you could see the spring in his step and the intensity to get things done faster. The players were waiting for him, the round had to start at 3 p.m. and he didn't want to keep them waiting any more.

The FIDE President always means business | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Speaking to gathering, Dvorkovich said, "If zero tolerance rule would be applied to chess politicians, I would have been suspended already!" Dvorkovich's speech was crisp and short and dealt with how FIDE is trying its best to be as transparent as possible and to change the face of the chess world.

World under-18 champion Praggnanandhaa lights the traditional lamp, which is usually done in India for an auspicious beginning | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Dvorkovich's one-hour visit to the venue summarized in this video along with interview by Tania Sachdev

D V Sundar, the current Vice-President of FIDE in his speech summarized Dvorkovich's principles. Says Sundar,

During the elections, I was in the opposing team of Arkady Dvorkovich. We lost to a very desirable candidate. A few minutes after the defeat Dvorkovich came to me and said, I do not know if you are going to fight for the Vice President's spot, but I would like to have you as an honorary Vice President. At that point I realized that he was not a politician but a statesman.

Later Dvorkovich confirmed this by saying, "It doesn't matter to me whether someone gave me a vote or not. The most important thing is to work together for the development of chess."

Open section

The open section of the World Junior has 94 entries. 78 of them are titled players with 15 GMs and 31 IMs. The top seed of the tournament is GM Amin Tabatabaei and there are 18 players above the rating of 2500. While Iranian GM Tabatabaei is the favourite, he will be provided stiff resistance from Aravindh Chithambaram and Karthikeyan Murali, second and third seeds of the event.

Top seed Amin Tabatabaei had a tough first round opponent in CM Aronyak Ghosh | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Aronyak was the World Youth under-16 Bronze medalist. The game ended in a draw.

There was a point in the game where Tabatabaei could have taken his chances, but he was unable to do so. It was quite a difficult resource to foresee

26...♜c1 was a natural move by Aronyak and Tabatabaei took the rook on c1. Instead, White had a powerful move here. Can you find it?

The right move in the above position was 27.e5! With the subtle point that 27...♜xf1 is met with 28.e6! and Black is in trouble.

Karthikeyan Murali had good winning chances against Al Muthaiah, but was unable to convert the same | Photo: Niklesh Jain

The Art of the Positional Exchange Sacrifice

The positional exchange sacrifice is one of the most powerful and fascinating strategic weapons in chess. On this DVD Sergey Tiviakov explains why the positional exchange sacrifice is such a strong weapon and how to use it.

Karthikeyan took on b5 with his knight and sacrificed an exchange. Instead, the better way to continue would have been to play 18...♞e6! A powerful move when after 19.♗xa5 ♛xa5 the knight on b5 is trapped!

The top Armenian representative Shant Sargsyan won his game with ease against the World Youth under-16 Silver medallist Stefan Pogosyans | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Attacking the King — for Experts

Ever since the beginning of chess, the assault on the king has had its own special magic; masterly attacking games, crowned by sacrifices and unforgettable combinations, have never ceased to attract and thrill the audience. On this DVD in FritzTrainer video format, Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows us that particularly the World Champions were outstanding attackers from who we can learn a lot. From Steinitz, Lasker and Capablanca to Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov, one exemplary attacking game is presented reflecting the individual playing attitude of each of these chess legends.

21...♜e6 is a nice move. Here it was important for White to play 22.g3 and ♜fe8, then get his knight to e5. Instead, White took on f8 here. It turned out to be a mistake. Why?

After 22.♘xf8, Shant Sargsyan took on h2 with 22...♝xh2+ 23.♔xh2 and this was followed up by ♜h6+ White now threw in the towel with 24.♕h3 but instead if he had gone 24.♔g1 then after 24...♞f4 25.♕f3, the very pretty mate starts with 25...♛xg2+! 26.♕xg2 ♞e2#

Now that's one pretty mate!

Shant Sargsyan speaks to ChessBase India after his round one victory

Winning against the Grünfeld

The Grünfeld is a highly dynamic opening in which Black's position often seems to hang together by a single thread; and yet, this apparently precarious equilibrium appears to be enough to make it entirely viable — up to the highest level.

The biggest upset of the day in the open section was definitely Sankalp Gupta getting the better of Daniel Albornoz (2581) | Photo: Niklesh Jain

After winning the World Youth under-18 Gold, Praggnanandhaa will have his eyes on winning World under-20 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Praggnanandhaa started off with a win.

Aram Hakobyan as in his element today as he won a very complex game against Eugene Floryan | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

White is a piece up and also the rook on a8 is hanging. However, there is quite some stress related to the mate down the h-file. How did White solve his problems?

The problem with 15.♕xa8 is that after fxg5, White has to agree to a draw as 15...g3 is coming up. Aram, who looks like he is in great form, continued with 15.d4! opening up the centre after 15...fxg5 he played 16.d5! and now it is White who would reach faster to the black king because the d-file has also opened up!

Aram explains his win

Here are a couple of interesting games that took place in round one that have been annotated by WIM Angela Frank Jain.

Girls section

It is perhaps for the first time in the history of chess that the number of participants in World Junior girls is equal to the participants in World Junior open section! Both have 94 players. The top seed of the tournament is the strong Chinese player Zhu Jiner (2507). Zhu is rated above 2500, but she hasn't applied for her WGM or IM titles. She is still a WIM. Zhu Jiner will face stiff resistance from players like Stavroula Tsolakidou, Nurgyul Salimova, Polina Shuvalova and local girl R. Vaishali. 

The Accelerated Dragon by Nigel Davies

The Accelerated Dragon is much more than just a dynamic yet solid means of countering 1.e4. By knowing how to counter the Maroczy Bind Black can counter both the English and Reti Openings and even develop the basis of a defence against 1.d4.

Whilst having been used extensively by superstars such as Bent Larsen and Tigran Petrosian, Davies argues that the Accelerated Dragon is an even more effective proposition for club players. As he explains on this DVD, many White players are under the mistaken impression that the positions are like a regular Sicilian Dragon. And if this is the case they can find himself being demolished right out of the opening.

Zhu Jiner was held to a draw in round one by Tanishka Kotia of India | Photo: Niklesh Jain

In fact the top seed was lucky to have escaped with a draw. At one point she was losing the game.

White's last move 32.♖gg2 was a mistake. Black can now win the game with 32...♜g3! and it is all over. Instead, Tanishka fumbled a bit and played 32...♛d8 which allowed Zhu Jiner to escape with a draw.

Polina Shuvalova was put under some grave pressure by her opponent Tumurbaatar Nomindalai in round one itself | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Here White should have taken on h5 with her queen and after 20...♛xh7 21.♕xh4 White is better. Instead, White went 20.♘g5 in the above position and after 20...♝xg5 21.♕xh5 ♛h7 22.♕xg5 ♛e4+ the game ended in a draw soon

Video Gallery

Highlights of Round 1

Interview with AICF President and the founder of Ramco Systems Venketrama Raja

Very few people have supported chess in a sustained and consistent manner like Ramco Systems has. When Vishy Anand was making his way to the top of the chess world, Ramco Systems came forward and supported him for nearly a decade. Now Praggnanandhaa, the next big hope of Indian chess is also supported by the same organization and its founder Venketrama Raja. Why does Ramco support chess in such a big way when the general perception is that there is not enough return for the sponsors? In this video Venketrama Raja, the founder, mentor and innovator in chief of Ramco Systems tells us the reason.

WIM Angela Frank Jain with IM Tania Sachdev | Photo: Niklesh Jain

A big thanks to Angela Frank Jain for annotating the games of round one. She will also annotate some of the games in the next rounds as well.

All games

Open

Girls

Links

• Official site
• Full Results (Chess-Results)