2012 U.S. Championships News

IM Daniel Naroditsky is in clear first with just two rounds to go at the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship.

By Brian Jerauld

SAINT LOUIS (June 22, 2013) -- Though three players emerge in the endgame of the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship – IM Daniel Naroditsky, FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti and FM Samuel Sevian – their lines to get here couldn’t have been any different.

Naroditsky entered as the tournament’s highest-rated player and has played like it. The California 17-year-old has written books on positional chess and complex endgames, but at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis his openings have been varied and sound, making him equally hard to prepare for as he is to play against.

As the last player standing without a loss, his approach to the tournament has been systematic. Drawing with the top-four players and manufacturing full points out of the lower half of the rankings, he has mixed solid play with just a little bit of luck – just enough to squeak out of a quasi-uncomfortable position or two to earn a draw. His 5.0/7 puts him in clear first entering the weekend, with his final two rounds against FM Yian Liou (3.0) and Robert Perez (4.0).

Harmon-Vellotti, on the other hand, has been the magician of the week. Excuse Boise, Idaho, for making the 14-year-old seemingly come from nowhere (Idaho’s next-strongest player is an Expert) but he made quite an introduction for himself when he knocked off IM Kayden Troff in the first round in Saint Louis.

Since then his play toward this tournament endgame has been flashy and dramatic, once pulling a rabbit out of a hat in a losing position against IM Victor Shen (4.0) in round 5 – and then bringing a dead rabbit back to life in a completely lost position against WFM Sarah Chiang (0.5) in round 6. The magic ran out in Friday’s round 7, however, when an otherwise struggling Liou knocked down Harmon-Vellotti with a taste of his own medicine: sacrificing three pawns and beating him from behind.

Harmon-Vellotti sits a half-point behind Naroditsky, with his final two matchups against Perez – who may find trouble taking down both Naroditsky and Harmon-Vellotti to help his own fortunes, but could certainly become the tournament spoiler with just a draw – and FM Jeffrey Xiong (3.0).

And here comes 12-year-old FM Samuel Sevian, the current U-12 World Champion out of California. Sevian, who once held the record as both the youngest Expert and the youngest National Master in U.S. history (both records were recently broken by Awonder Liang), became the youngest-ever competitor in the U.S. Championship last May – where he lost just two games, one of them to Troff.

Sevian sat in clear eighth place after three rounds this week in Saint Louis, mustering up only two draws against Perez, Liou and Xiong – who have otherwise been donating points to the tournament front runners. He appeared to be headed for the proverbial bump in the road.

Instead, Sevian has been chewing up the top talent with unbelievable calculation and accuracy in a furious comeuppance. He first served a loss to Harmon-Vellotti, clear leader at the time in round 4, and then drew with Naroditsky, who was leading in round 5. And after a convincing win over FM Atulya Shetty (2.5), Sevian’s triumph against Troff on Friday – which swapped the two from second-to-third in the standings – was a strategically rich beauty.

Sevian’s 3.5 points from the last four rounds ties him with Harmon-Vellotti in second place, a half-point behind Naroditsky. In today’s round 8 matchup, he takes white against a calm-and-collected veteran of the U.S. Junior Closed, IM Victor Shen (4.0), who has given fits to every opponent in a solid tournament thus far. Chiang is on Sevian’s plate in Sunday’s final round of the ten-player round robin.

Of course, the ridiculously tight field of this year’s Junior Closed has been serving up shockers in its entirety, and the final weekend’s endgame should follow the same path. Troff, Shen and Perez are tied for third with 4.0, all within range of Naroditsky and each with matchups that promise to ruin somebody’s day.

In Friday’s round 7, Naroditsky earned his point from Chiang in straightforward fashion and Shen again battled through time pressure for a win over Shetty, while a draw with Xiong has Perez continuing to slip pace after leading through five rounds.

Sevian might have taken the word ‘rematch’ a little too seriously. After losing as white to Troff last May in the U.S. championship, Sevian decided to try, try again on Friday by proceeding right down the same line as before – 11 moves – until Sevian altered them into a seemingly improved line at 12. Rad1.

“I don’t think he prepared against it,” Sevian said with a smile. “It was a surprise. Usually people don’t repeat what they play.”

From there, Troff’s response of b4 shifted a white knight to the rim, where he quickly set up his bishop and queen to feast on the immobile piece. But it would ultimately prove bait, as the knight’s sacrifice kicked off a magnificent attack by Sevian, who swung his pieces to the kingside for a sudden and gripping attack on Troff’s monarch, becoming exposed and limited to one tight corner by 17. … Kh8.

The tactically rich middlegame saw Troff desperately defending the a1-h8 diagonal, with Sevian in constant threat of mate to usher further weakness in black’s position. His 24. Be6 was ripe with tactic, earning him at least the exchange, as was the follow-up 25. Qf5, which threatened mate and ensured Troff’s rook would be taken with no exchange at all. Sevian reoffered an exchange sacrifice at 28. Rxf6, unhinging another five-move combination to earn it right back. With a three-pawn advantage in the endgame, Sevian could afford to sacrifice one at 39. f5 in order to simplify and rapidly hurl the match into endgame.

Harmon-Vellotti had pulled out so many victories while down significant material in this tournament that Liou decided to see what he was made of on the other side of the coin: ahead with material. As white, Liou ambushed Harmon-Vellotti’s French defense in a game that got combative early with 7. Ng5 – a defended square.

While it did thoroughly destroy the black kingside and Harmon-Vellotti’s options for castling, the fight saw consecutive sacrifices of white’s e-, b- and f-pawns. But with each precious tempo Harmon-Vellotti spent in collecting Liou’s front line, black slowly fell behind in development and let white dominate several important lanes – all centered around a king that lay helpless in the center.

With a three-pawn advantage, Harmon-Vellotti looked to close the game down early with 18. Qg5, threatening mate and offering the queens off the board. But Liou attacked black’s open weaknesses, first recollecting a pawn with 18. … Qxh7+, followed by a quick swing of white’s minor pieces to trap the black queen. 23. Bf5 brought a just reward from excellent tactical work.

Watch live commentary with GMs Ben Finegold and Yasser Seirawan today at 1 p.m. CT at www.uschesschamps.com/live.

Robert Perez has overcome a slow start, winning hsi last three games to pull into a tie for first place after five rounds at the U.S. Junior Closed Championship.

SAINT LOUIS (June 18, 2013) -- Still, no one can find distance in the standings at the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship.

Today marks the players’ rest day after Tuesday’s round 5 pushed the nine-game round-robin tournament past its halfway point. But despite a finish line that now looms, seven of ten players still sit within a point of each other, now with three tied atop the standings at 3.5/5 points.

Standings after Round 5: 

California IM Daniel Naroditsky, the field’s highest-rated player, was the sole leader entering Tuesday and has yet to lose a game this week at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. But his fifth-round draw against FM Sam Sevian slowed the pace, and wins from both FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti and FM Robert Perez brought them both up to speed. Harmon-Vellotti’s come-from-behind shocker over IM Victor Shen made it two wins and a draw against the field’s three top-seeded IMs; and Perez has shrugged off a slow start to the tournament to notch three straight victories, including Tuesday’s turnaround matchup versus FM Yian Liou.

After an outstanding opening that found Shen up two pawns, including one passed on the sixth rank, he did everything he could to let his solid position slip away against Harmon-Vellotti – and he eventually got his wish. The game transposed to a Queen’s Indian, with Shen grabbing a solid foothold in the center and prepping his bishops for dominance. But Harmon-Vellotti’s 12. … Qf6 was very suspicious, begging for Shen’s 13. Bc3 response. The move showed Shen’s position clearly winning, with an advantage in development, a better dominance of space and several tactical opportunities brewing. He quickly converted it to a material advantage.

But after wrecking the black queenside, Shen found trouble re-coordinating his pieces and was never able to find traction behind his three passed pawns, including two connected. Meanwhile, Harmon-Vellotti slowly pieced together a harmonious defense and let Shen sink into time pressure.

“That was going into a winning endgame [for Shen], so I just tried to make it as complicated as possible,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “And then he blundered in time trouble.”

Indeed, with under five minutes on his clock and eight more moves until time control, Shen offered up 32. Rxb5 with tactical eyes. But Harmon-Vellotti defied the play with 32. … Rbxb6, ultimately releasing nearly all of white’s pressure and gathering the d6 passer. Even still with winning chances, Shen struggled to find any continuance, and Harmon-Vellotti wreaked havoc on the white king with his remaining knight and rook. The move 57. … h5 kicked off a race to queen – one that Shen actually won, but left him positionally inferior.

“[Shen] was winning all the way down to [53.]Kg1,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “I think if he had gone Ke1, he would have won.”

Perez performed his own climb out of a dark position thanks to an outstanding endgame and some fantastic work with his king. The game progressed through an unusual line of the Sicilian, but one Liou was up to the task of pressing. For more than 20 moves, he kept Perez on the defensive and looked primed to push solid queenside space into an advantage.

But his 23. Ncd5 ignited a massive swap-out of material, ultimately leaving Perez with a bad bishop and Liou in control of the outpost – though limited in attacking ideas.  

“He was still better, but compared to what the position was before, I was able to get rid of a lot of pieces and centralize my king,” Perez said. “Yeah, my d6 was weak, but bad bishops defend good pawns.”

That d6 pawn was more than “good” – it was the winner – as it was able to work its way over to the e-file and eventually down to its queening square. And it would not have been possible without the major play of Perez’s king, who helped open up some lanes against Liou’s kingside pawns and then escorted his passer to safety.

After 37. Rdxe5 dxe5 38. Bxf8 won white a pivotal pawn advantage, 42. c5 allowed entry to the black monarch, who became a monster on the d-file. And after pushing the white king backward, Perez was able to swing around to the other side of the advancing e-pawn, finding safety from Liou’s remaining rook behind white’s own pawn.

The secret of IM Kayden Troff’s fondness for the Grunfeld defense is out, as FM Atulya Shetty was the second player in a row to attack Troff with Anti-Grunfeld designs. But Troff showed little concern, looking solid through the opening including an excellent Nf6-Nd5-Nb4 transfer of his knight before castling his king. The series attacked the white queen and earned Troff the bishop pair, but it was not a reward held for long. Shetty was able to push back, eventually swapping out the light-squared bishop with 17. Nxe6, while taking control of the center and stacking pawns on Troff’s e-file in the process.

From there, however, the game became a complicated mess, beginning with Shetty offering his e-pawn as a sacrifice – with apparent intentions of opening the file – though he struggled to find much compensation. Trying to bail himself out of the position, Shetty offered up his other center pawn, setting up a confusing conglomerate that even Troff – eventually with a two-pawn advantage – found trouble navigating.

“After he played d4, trading the d-pawn for the e-pawn, I thought I was solid by being a pawn up,” Troff said. “But my pieces were really awkward, and the position was tough. It ended up becoming complicated.”

In the end, the frustration of opposite-colored bishops fizzled into the expected draw. Shetty was able to recollect a pawn with 43. Qxh7 and harass Troff’s king, which never did find time to castle.

Sevian came at Naroditsky with the Ruy Lopez and met the Breyer, in a game that moved quickly through theory for more than 15 moves. Sevian’s 16. d5 intended to close the center, while Naroditsky’s response of Rc8 showed intentions of opening it, and both sides battled over their central intentions. Sevian grabbed the first material advantage with 22. Qxd6, but at the cost of being pushed into some awkward defense with Naroditsky controlling several key lanes.

The position was headed swiftly toward an endgame featuring Sevian’s two knights versus Naroditsky’s two bishops, though white’s cavalry sat rather passive on the kingside wing. It prompted Naroditsky to push the envelope, acknowledging that he “didn’t want to let the knights get to good squares.” He traded off rooks with 29. … Rxc1, and then put Sevian on the spot with 32. … Qc3. Naroditsky offered a draw several minutes after the move, and Sevian accepted after ten minutes of thought.

“There were three concrete lines that I saw, but I could not get the advantage,” Sevian said. “One line where I was worse, another where I was equal, and another that forced a draw. I was up a pawn and consolidated, so I wanted to keep that extra pawn and play for the win, but his two bishops were going to be very strong at the end.”

FM Jeffrey Xiong is starting to roll after two losses to open the tournament. He drew both his third- and fourth-round matches to Shen and Sevian, and then notched his first full-point win over WFM Sarah Chiang in round 5 as black. The game began in a Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian line, but Chiang looked to fall out of prep early, first moving 6. Ng3 and then following it with the unnecessary a3. The folly converted directly to the loss of her c4 pawn, which Xiong collected on move 13.

Chiang all-but abandoned her queenside, instead loading her pieces around Xiong’s temporarily exposed king for an assault. But Xiong foresaw too strong of an advantage with his pawn majority, opting to give back his pawn advantage with 27. … e5, which traded the queens off the board and ultimately left Chiang far removed from Xiong’s connected passers on the queen wing.

It was not an easy close for Xiong, as Chiang kept the black pieces occupied with her own passed pawn on the f-file and not able to help usher the a and b pawns in for promotion. Black eventually found its way through.

“I thought I was okay, but she found some really nice resources in the endgame that made the win really tough,” Xiong said. “After [43. …] Rf5, she played [44.] Nb3, but if she had played Nd3, I think she would still have been in it. It would have been a long fight.”

Play resumes tomorrow, Thursday, June 19, at 1 p.m. local time. Follow live commentary with Grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold at www.uschesschamps.com/live.

Pairings for Round 6: