2012 U.S. Championships News
The World team completely dominated the Match of the Millennials with a 30.5-17.5 score. Not only did the U.S. team not win any matches, but they lost every single match in the U14 section. The American team was higher rated in the U17 section, but the World team proved to be better prepared and had a stronger team chemistry than their counterparts. This was a well deserved victory by the World team, who outplayed their higher rated and more experienced opposition.
Under 17 Section
The day started with the World team leading by 11 points. The U.S. team still had a mathematical chance of winning the event if they won every single game. Granted that there were twelve games left, this was an impossible and unrealistic task. Both the morning and the evening matches ended in an even 2-2 score, which was more than enough to secure the win for the World team. On the American side, Sam Sevian and Ruifeng Li delivered convincing victories, whereas on the World side Haik Martirosyan and Andrey Esipenko continued their winning streak to keep the matches balanced.
Under 14 Section
Once again, the U.S. team was no match for the World team. Awonder Liang was the only victor on the American team. He defeated the Uzbek phenom Nodirbek Abdusattorov and brought his score to a 2/4, which is still below his rating but it was a good recovery from a bad loss. The rest of the World team won their games, including Nurgyul Salimova who won two games in a row after losing the first two games. The breakout star of the World team was Bibisara Assaubayeva, who was the only person on both teams to win all of her games.
Overall, the World team players were very happy to have to the opportunity to play in the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. They were impressed by the conditions, the hotel, the level of the organizations and the competitions. It was their first time visiting the U.S. and they were grateful to have the opportunity to compete at such a high level event with good prizes against a challenging competition. Even though many of them strive to become professional chess players, it was their first time being treated as true professionals.
Even though it was a devastating defeat for the U.S. team, it was also a great learning experience for the American youngsters. The best lessons come from greatest defeats and this was no exception. With the exception of Jeffery Xiong, none of them had any prior experience of playing in a team event and this was a great opportunity to gain insight into what it is like to play for the National Team at the Olympiad. As the players keep improving, it is expected that at least several of them will make the U.S. Olympiad team and hopefully this tournament will be one they reflect back on as the first step on the ladder to the bigger stage of team events.
Day three of the Match of the Millennials saw the complete obliteration of the U.S. team. Out of the twelve games, the Americans were able to only score 1.5 points. As usual, the members of the World team were very well prepared and mentally strong, as they didn’t let their guard down even with a commanding lead. In the post game interviews, many of the players mentioned the great team spirit they have and the amount of time they spend together analyzing and preparing for each round. The score of the match so far is 23.5-12.5 in favor of the World team. They need just one point out of the next twelve games to clinch the title.
Under 17 Section
After a tough loss in the previous round, the U.S. team really needed to score big today. Given that their top two players, Jefferey Xiong and Sam Sevian had the white pieces, a comeback seemed to be on the horizon. Unfortunately, they were off to a bad start after Nicolas Checa was completely annihilated by Alexey Sarana. An early win is a big confidence boost for the rest of the team since it puts the pressure to catch up on the other team. Even with the bad start, the rest of the positions looked promising for the Americans. Ruifeng Li had a comfortable position with the black pieces against Aryan Chopra. Not the one to shy away from complications, the American tried to push for a win but his opponent handled the attack masterfully, trading most of the pieces and ending the game in a draw. Jefferey Xiong had a big advantage against Haik Martirosyan who suffered a big loss yesterday after a careless blunder. The American overpressed and allowed his opponent first win a pawn in the endgame, then improve his only remaining pieces which were completely binded before. The Armenian recovered nicely from his previous game, delivering an important point to his team. The deal was sealed after Andrey Esipenko held Sam Sevian to a draw by finding the most precise continuation at the critical moment. The match ended with 3-1, in favor of the World Team.
It is always difficult to bounce back after tough losses and even more so in a team event. The second round of the day saw the complete collapse of the U.S. team. The team leader, Jefferey Xiong, was the only player who managed to salvage a half a point by drawing Andrey Esipenko.
Sam Sevian, John Burke and Ruifeng Li lost to Haik Martirosyan, Aleksey Sarana and Anton Smirnov respectively. The World team completely dominated on all three boards without giving the U.S. team any winning chances. A lot of credit has to be given to Aleksey Sarana and Haik Martirosyan who won both of their games today, but more so to the latter who recovered from yesterday’s embarrassing loss perfectly.
Under 14 Section
Unfortunately for the Americans, they did not have a Jeffery Xiong in this section and lost on every single board. Andrew Hong did not know how to handle the opening, lost a pawn and consequently the game against the young Nordibek Abdusattorov. The current US Junior champion Awonder Liang got outplayed in a Spanish turned Benoni, then blundered and resigned a move later against the young phenom from India, Praggnanandhaa Ramesh Babu. After playing two marathon games, Carissa Yip had a shorter day but with an undesired result. In a balanced position she blundered and walked into a pin, which forced her to lose a piece and the game to Bibisara Assaubayeva. The U.S. team had some hopes of getting at least half a point, when the game between Martha Samadashvili and Nurgyul Salimova fizzled out to an opposite color bishop endgame with the latter having two extra pawns. These endgames are known for being mainly draw even with the material discrepancy. With no time on the clock, Martha allowed the enemy king in her camp closer to her passed pawn and could no longer hold the fortress, which sealed the fate of the game.
After a hard fought twelve games, the World team extended its lead over the U.S. team by two points. For the first time, the U17 U.S. team lost even though they outrate their opponents by quite a bit. In the U14 section, the U.S. team managed to hold the World team to a tie after Carissa Yip’s marathon game yet again, which she managed to win.
Under 17 Section
The players kept things consistent by keeping the score 2-2. Sam Sevian, who was unstoppable yesterday, for some reason played a very unambitious game and drew Alexey Sarana with the white pieces in 18 moves. In a team event, this a huge advantage, as it leaves the opposing team with two whites. His teammate, World Junior Champion Jeffery Xiong, defeated Aryan Chopra’s Najdorf in a very clean game after outplaying his opponent in a positional manner then delivering a tactical blow. Unfortunately for the U.S. team, Ruifeng Li chose a very unsound opening against Andrey Esipenko and was punished convincingly. Anton Smirnov and John Burke drew after giving each other several winning chances but failing to take advantage of them.
In the fourth round, the U.S. team suffered its first loss. Things were really looking good for the American team as the Armenian Haik Martirosyan blundered against Nicolas Checa and was forced to resign several moves later. Sam Sevian decided to return the favor by blundering a pawn, which was enough for Anton Smirnov to bring home the point. Alexey Saran had to suffer and defend against Jeffery Xiong for most of the game. The American superstar did not make the most out of his extra pawn in the rook ending allowing his opponent to find enough counterplay to draw. John Burke had a big advantage in the middle game and the only mistake in the game was enough for Andrey Esipenko to turn the tide, which allowed the World team to win their first match.
Under 14 Section
After suffering a loss yesterday, the U.S. team drew the match against the higher rated World team. Andrew Hong and Praggnanandhaa Ramesh Babu played a sharp theoretical line where the American had to be quite careful not to find himself in trouble. He handled the complications masterfully and made a comfortable draw. Martha Samadashvili out-prepared her much higher rated opponent, Bibisara Assaubayeva and got the advantage out of the opening. However, as the game went on, the Russian player demonstrated her strength and experience by not allowing her position to collapse and giving her opponent opportunities to error in an extremely complicated position. Once out of book and on her own, Samadashvili found herself in an unknown territory and made one crucial mistake, which was enough for her opponent to capitalize on and deliver the full point. The newly crowned U.S. Junior Champion, Awonder Liang, once again found himself in an uncomfortable position but defended tenaciously until his opponent, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, had to settle for a draw. The score was now 2-1 in favor for the World team and it was up to Carissa Yip and Nurgyul Salimova to decide the fate of the match. This was an epic 112 move battle where first Carissa had the material advantage, then her opponent refused to repeat the position to try to go for checkmate but missed a checkmate in two moves. This, in turn, left Carissa with the material advantage away but her king was still in trouble which allowed her opponent to force a draw, an opportunity that was not spotted. Towards the very end, with reduced amount of material on the board, Salimova once again had a great opportunity to make a draw but after a five-hour of play and no time on the clock, it was yet another missed opportunity. With this win, the score of the match is now a tie.
Day one of the Match of the Millennials is in the books and it looks like it is going to be a close match! In the under 17 section, after two rounds, the score is 4-4.In the under 14 section, after one round, the World team leads by a full point with 2.5-1.5. Overall, the World team has a full point lead over the U.S. team but there is still a lot of games to be played. The heroes of the day were Sam Sevian from U.S. and Aryan Chopra from India, both of whom scored two points for their teams.
Under 17 Section
The day started with the players in the U17 section facing off. The top player from the World team, Haik Martirosyan of Armenia and Jeffery Xiong of U.S. had a solid draw. Things were really looking up for team U.S.A. as Sam Sevian outplayed his opponent, Andrey Esipenko of Russia, in a sharp and tactical Benoni, an opening that is rendered dubious by many top players. The game between Anton Smirnov of Australia and Ruifeng Li of U.S.A. was also a peaceful draw. It all came down to the marathon game between John Burke of the U.S.A. and Aryan Chopra of India. After playing over 70 moves, Burke managed to break through his opponent’s fortress and even promoted one of his pawns to a queen while his opponent only had a bishop, a knight and two pawns. Normally, that is not enough compensation for the queen, but the players had little time on the clocks and Chopra had a dangerous passed pawn, which gave him practical chances. Not sensing the danger, Burke kept pressing for a win instead of making a draw which would have clinched the win for team U.S.A. Unfortunately, his ambitions backfired as he blundered his queen, allowing the match score to even out to 2-2
In the second round of the day, the team score for the section remained the same. Once again, Sam Sevian saved the day by outplaying Haik Martirosyan most of the game and converting the full point. Jeffery Xiong was up the exchange but his opponent, Anton Smirnov, had enough compensation to hold the draw. Since each team has one reserve player, both teams decided to rest the players who lost in the first round. Alexey Sarana made his debut for the World team and played a 91 move marathon game against Ruifeng Li, which ended in a draw. The debutant for the U.S. team, Nicholas Checa, did not fair so well as he got a bad position out of the opening, sacrificed a piece to complicate the position, but did not manage to salvage the half a point necessary to win the match.
Under 14 Section
After the first hour of play, it looked as though the score of the match would 4-0 in the favor of the world team. Awonder Liang, the newly crowned U.S. Junior Champion, was suffering the whole game against Praggnanandhaa Ramesh Babu of India, but managed to escape with a draw in the endgame. Martha Samadashvili of the U.S. had a great position against Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria but made the mistake of exchanging the wrong pieces, eventually getting outplayed in the opponent. Luckily for her, Salimova ran out of time in a rook endgame which was headed towards a draw. Andrew Hong had a great attacking position and a winning strike, but instead played a series of incorrect moves, allowing his opponent not only to escape but to eventually win the game. Carissa Yip from team U.S.A. miscalculated in a sharp line and found herself in one of the most unusual imbalances in chess where she had two rooks while her opponent Bibisara Assaubayeva of Russia had three minor pieces. Eventually, Yip found herself defending with one rook against a knight and a bishop. After 102 moves, the two pieces overpowered the lone rook, forcing the American to resign, allowing the World team to win the match with 2.5-1.5.
For immediate release
Match of the Millennials Announces U.S. and World Team Delegations
Americas best juniors face off against the best from around the world July 26-29
ST. LOUIS, July 24, 2017 - The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL), in cooperation with the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF), U.S. Chess Federation, World Chess Federation (FIDE) and FIDE Trainers’ Commission are proud to announce the U.S. and World Team players for the Match of the Millennials. Hosted at the CCSCSL from July 26th through the 29th, nine American players will face the nine best juniors from around the world.
“We are thrilled to host this tournament showcasing some of the best junior players from not only the United States but from around the world” said Tony Rich, executive director of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “This demonstrates that Saint Louis is becoming the epicenter of chess world-wide.”
The Match of the Millennials tournament is not only unique in the young players representing all corners of the world, but also in its format. Across the four days of the tournament, players will compete in two rounds starting at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Each round will have eight games total, four from a U17 (under 17 years old) section and four in the U14 (under 14 years old) section.
In addition to the bragging rights, teams will be vying for top honors and the $30,000 prize fund. The winning team will receive $20,000, while the runner-up will receive $10,000. Prizes will be split evenly should the match end in a tie. The prize fund is sponsored by the Saint Louis Chess Club, whose impact over the last 10 years has transformed American chess.
All games can be viewed live at uschesschamps.com with commentary by chess Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez, Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade, and the colorful commentary of Grandmaster Maurice Ashley on the smartboard.
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U.S. Team Captains: Michael Khodarkovsky and Armen Ambartsumian; Coach Alex Onischuk |
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|
Team |
Name |
FIDE Rating |
Age |
Home Country |
Federation |
|
U17 |
Jeffery Xiong |
2642 |
17 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U17 |
Sam Sevian |
2633 |
16 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U17 |
Ruifeng Li |
2568 |
15 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U17 |
John Michael Burke |
2479 |
16 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U17 |
Nicolas Checa |
2415 |
15 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U14 |
Awonder Liang |
2536 |
14 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U14 |
Andrew Hong |
2334 |
12 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U14 |
Carissa Yip |
2261 |
13 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
U14 |
Martha Samadashvili |
2018 |
13 |
U.S.A. |
U.S.A. |
|
World Team Captains: Efstratios Grivas (Greece) and Alexander Beliavsky (Slovenia), Head of delegation/Coach Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Georgia). |
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|
Team |
Name |
FIDE Rating |
Age |
Home Country |
Federation |
|
U17 |
Haik Martirosyan |
2544 |
17 |
Armenia |
ARM |
|
U17 |
Andrey Esipenko |
2523 |
15 |
Russia |
RUS |
|
U17 |
Aleksey Sarana |
2510 |
17 |
Russia |
RUS |
|
U17 |
Anton Smirnov |
2495 |
16 |
Australia |
AUS |
|
U17 |
Aryan Chopra |
2491 |
16 |
India |
IND |
|
U14 |
Praggnanandhaa Ramesh Babu |
2479 |
12 |
India |
IND |
|
U14 |
Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2467 |
13 |
Uzbekistan |
UZB |
|
U14 |
Bibisara Assaubayeva |
2386 |
13 |
Russia |
RUS |
|
U14 |
Nurgyul Salimova |
2332 |
14 |
Bulgaria |
FIDE |
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About The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the Club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.
Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.
About the U.S. Chess Federation
The US Chess Federation (US Chess) is the official governing body and not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization for chess players and chess supporters in the United States. Our mission is to empower people through chess one move at a time. Our vision is to enrich the lives of all persons and communities through increasing the play, study, and appreciation of the game of chess. For more information, visit www.uschess.org.
About the Kasparov Chess Foundation
Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, KCF’s mission is to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children worldwide by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. The Foundation promotes the study of chess as a cognitive learning tool in curricular classes and after-school programs for elementary, middle and high schools, both in the public and private school sectors. The not-for-profit Foundation also organizes regional, national, and worldwide tournaments, programs for talented students, and promotional chess events. For more information, visit www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.
About the World Chess Federation
Founded in Paris on 20 July 1924, the World Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs, known as FIDE from its French acronym) was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an International Sports Federation in 1999. With 188 member federations, FIDE is among the biggest sports organizations in the world, very proud of over forty official championships for youngsters, men, women and seniors. For more information, visit www.fide.com.
About the FIDE Trainers’ Commission
The FIDE Trainers’ Commission is responsible for testing and licensing of chess trainers worldwide. For more information, visit trainers.fide.com.
Gorti won the Girls’ Section with one round to spare, but there was still a lot of action in the last round in both sections!
U.S Girls’ Junior Championship
Akshita Gorti already won the tournament, but she arrived hungry for some more chess! She played Apurva Virkud, and even though she was Black she took the initiative early on with 11…Ba6! and 12…b5!. Virkud, however, fought hard and managed to hold, even though Akshita Gorti was trying hard to win her last game. A nice fighting game from both players, especially from Akshita, playing for a win even though the tournament was already decided!
Maggie Feng came second, as she managed to draw a difficult game against Bykovtsev. Emily Nguyen had a good chance for second place, but she had to console herself with a tied third place as she lost to Carissa Yip after her Queen got trapped in an equal position.
Thalia Cervantes also tied for third place, just like Annie Wang, but Emily Nguyen was awarded the third place due to better tiebreakers. Thalia won a nice game against Eswaran. Thalia Cervantes equalized early with Black, and she managed to slowly push her opponent off the board. A nice technical win from Cervantes!
The last game of the whole tournament was played by Annie Wang and Rachel Ulrich. Both of them played a fantastic fighting tournament, and their personal encounter wasn’t any different! Annie Wang played the famous Breyer variation, and even though she was initially slightly worse, after hours of play she took control of the game. Rachel Ulrich didn’t give up however, and fought hard until they reached a Queen endgame. After the long struggle Annie ran into a perpetual check, but one slip was enough and it seemed that Ulrich missed the draw. At that moment, Ulrich found the fantastic resource 80.g3+ Kf3 and comes the move of the tournament, Qf2!!, Kxf2 Stalemate! A wonderful display of the fighting spirit of the tournament!
U.S. Junior Championship
Everyone expected a swift finish with a dominating Troff, even though Liang was half point behind, Kayden seemed to be in position to become the U.S. Junior Champion.
Chandra although not the mathematical favorite to win it all, was the first to drop out of contention. He was facing Checa and needed to win to keep his winning chances alive. Chandra did manage to get a preferable position, but it was extremely difficult to convert the advantage into a win, and the players agreed to a draw after the repetition of moves.
That left the leader Kayden Troff, and his rival Awonder Liang to duke it out for the U.S. Junior Championship title.
Troff did not change his tactics, and played his usual lines, but his opponent Mika Brattain was very well prepared against Troff. Troff wasn’t prepared for this variation and was clearly in trouble and it was clear that Brattain won the opening phase. Meanwhile, Liang also had to get acquainted with a type of position he had not seen before. Michael Brown played the Berlin Defence, and an early d6. Liang did not seem to be familiar, so it was clear that there would be a long struggle! Hours later Mika Brattain played the courageous 16.d5!, which seemed to me to be the strongest and most natural. He followed it up with energetic play, centralizing his pieces with 18. Rad1! and 19 e5!, Troff was forced into defensive. At this moment Liang’s position wasn’t clear, but Brown seemed to be at loss and it was increasingly difficult to find plans for both sides!
Getting closer to time trouble, Mika Brattain launched his final attack, and it was just too strong, and even though Troff tried to defend it, the defensive front eventually collapsed and Mika Brattain won against Troff!
This was the golden moment for Liang, as a draw would force a tiebreaker match with Troff, but a win would mean the Championship Title! Liang doubled up on the ”e” line and after Brown’s inaccurate move 34…e4, Liang opened up the position with the powerful 34.f3!
At that moment it was clear, with precise play, Awonder Liang was going to win.
Precise he was, and after some nervy play from both sides, Liang broke through with the knight maneuver Ne2-d4-f5! putting decisive pressure on Brown’s position. Brown resisted heroically, but Liang was unstoppable and with confident play, he converted his advantage!
Liang, with this clutch win, won the 2017. U.S. Junior Championship!
Troff came second and Rufieng Li and Akshat Chandra tied for third. Akshat Chandra became third on account of his better tiebreaker. A great U.S. Junior Championship ended with a dramatic final. Troff and Akshat Chandra played good chess, but Liang proved to be the strongest, as he managed to win the most critical wins at the crucial moments! The Champions of the 2017 U.S. Junior Championships are Akshita Gorti and Awonder Liang.