2014 U.S. Junior Closed (St. Louis, USA)

The 2014 U.S. Junior Open started off with some fireworks as all five games were decisive. Jeffrey Xiong of Texas beat Alex Ostrovskiy is a rather unorthodox Advance Caro Kann. The game followed theory until 10.b5!? which is the first choice in Houdini, but no games recorded with this move.

White continued to hold a speculative edge after 12.Qh5+ and tried a daring move after 12…Kf8 13.Nd2 Qc7 14.f4!? White even offered an exchange of queens a pawn down, but was able to complicate matters. It seemed as if black was holding on, but allowed white to get a rook on the 7th and a knight on d4. This pressure was enough to win a pawn and obtain a technically winning position.

Senior Master Josh Colas in 2012. Photos coming!
Photos by FM Paul Truong.

In Colas-Harmon, white played the London System and took advantage of a strange-looking 10.Qc8?! Late black entered the endgame a pawn down and with back rank issues. White won another pawn and was even mated in the final position. Local favorite Matt Larson opened the tournament with hopes of making an impression as the wild card nominee. However, he faced a well-prepared Michael Bodek. In this Catalan, black equalized easily and developed an initiative on the queenside. Larson fought back and tried to get a mating attack, but could never find time to play the intended Qh6, Qg7 mate. Black’s attack was always a step ahead of time.

In Shen-Troff, Ben Finegold was critical of Troff’s 8…a5 since black is usually playing for …c5 in the Grunfeld which attacks the center. Incidentally, Troff did play 15…c5 sacrificing a pawn to attack at the center, but in an inventive way. Arthur Shen was holding his ground until he blundered with 23.Qd7 allowing the immediate 23…Bxe5! winning a crucial center pawn. White was forced to trade queens into a totally lost ending.

U.S. Junior Open Champion Justus Williams got off to a good start with a nice win over GM-elect Samuel Sevian. The game morphed from a Sicilian to an Advanced French with white a tempo down (Bc4 and Bf1). Williams sacrificed the exchange to liquidate the center as is common in these positions, black got tremendous play. However, Sevian decided to sacrifice another pawn, but this was a tower of strength on b2. White’s position collapsed quickly and Williams got the full point. Impressive victory.

Catch live commentary of the event at https://www.uschesschamps.com/tags/2014-us-junior-closed-championship.

Official Site: https://www.uschesschamps.com/

In round three, the pace remained brisk as there were two more decisive games. Only Kayden Troff and Jeffrey Xiong remain undefeated in a first place battle. Samuel Sevian got his first win after facing Michael Bodek’s improbable 1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 g5!!??

FM Michael Bodek seem to have gotten his inspiration from outer space… 1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 g5!!??

According to official reports, Sevian stated,

“When he played it, I thought he just played it out of the blue,” Sevian said of Bodek’s opening surprise. “But afterward, he told me he had prepared g5 against me — not deep preparation, though. I’m not sure g5 can be prepared that deeply.”

Ultimately, Bodek’s plan backfired as his kingside became predictably weak and pieces started to encroach. Both players ended up in time pressure on a 30-second increment and there were several blunders made. However, Bodek decided to play for more than a drawn nursing a pawn advantage, but his king exposed in the open board. Sevian kept probing black’s position with his queen until black’s position came crashing down after his lost his queen. The win is a sigh of relief for Sevian who had lost his first two games.

Josh Colas played his friend Aleks Ostrovskiy and continues trotting out the London system to sidestep preparation. Predictably, this will not get white much in the way of advantage. In fact, black had developed a slight advantage before the game petered out into sterile equality. Both are on an even score after three rounds. The tournament’s longest game occurred between Matt Larson and Jeffrey Xiong. Despite the nearly 300-point rating difference, the hometown favorite battled valiantly throughout.

The game started as a highly theoertical Grunfeld that Xiong played rather well. Black reached totally equality by move 30, but Xiong was playing the rating game and pressed on. However, black played an ambitious 35…h5!? However, Larson was in a desperate time pressure with seconds hanging and missed that white would win instantly by 40.Rd5! White actually lost a pawn held a 3 vs. 2 rook ending rather easily.

It was “Fire on Board” between FM Arthur Shen and Luke Harmon-Vellotti!

Shen-Harmon-Vellotti was a French Tarrasch where white got an overwhelming attacking position.

“After Ng5, I’m just getting checkmated pretty much,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “Or at the least I have to give up a lot of material, but even then my pieces were hard to get over to the kingside to protect. After Ng5, I knew it looked pretty bad for me.”

However, it would be 22.Bf6!? that would force black to donate an exchange. White’s attack was still very strong. aFter 24. g4 Ne7 white missed 25.Bxe7! Rxe7 and 26.g5. Instead he played 25. g5 Neg6 26. Kh1 Qf4 27. Bxg7 Kxg7 28. gxh6+ Kh8 and now black’s shredded kingside was repaired! The key was that despite the black king scampering for safety, white’s king was in sudden danger. White had to return the exchange, but black now had a winning ending and was duly converted when the white king was cut off from stopping black’s passed pawns.

Justus Williams played his usual 1.Nf3 but faced an unorthodox response from top-seed Kayden Troff. Black understood the position and got a strong position after move 22…Rfc8, but in a few moves white was OK. A three-fold repetition ended the game.

Each round of the 2014 U.S. Junior Closed will see its first move daily at 1:00 p.m. CT through June 29, with a rest day on Wednesday. The tournament will be streamed live on http://www.uschesschamps.com, with commentary, analysis and player interviews by GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman.

Official Site: https://www.uschesschamps.com/

Today’s round of the U.S. Juniors was wild and wooly with four more decisive results. Matt Larson got into the winning column with an impressive victory over Aleksandr Ostrovskiy. The 300+ point difference did not matter… at least in the mind of Larson. In fact, commentator Ben Finegold was discussing Larson’s air of confidence in saying that the young player often engaged in “trash-talking”. This game will certainly boost his confidence.

NM Matt Larson got his first win in impressive fashion.
Photo from uschesschamps.com.

In this Semi-Slav, white played the sharpest of lines sacrificing a pawn for strong development. Larson expertly shifted his queen to the kingside and it was now obvious that he was up to no good. With all of his pieces aimed at the vulnerable black king, he suddenly pounced like a tiger on his prey. On 20.h4 and 21.h5 white pried black’s kingside and then continue his battering with 23.f4! Then he started sacrificing pieces for checkmate. This was a textbook attack that bore fruit after 28.Rxf7+! when black was slain after a short chase. Nice win for the hometown favorite.

In another brutal battle, Arthur Shen caught Josh Colas’ king flat-footed and it never got off of the e8-square. In this Sicilian Paulsen, Colas played the standard moves until 9…d6. At this point the commentators were wondering whether he should play 10…b4 or 10…e5. Sometimes black plays …Ne5!? as well. Colas opted for 10…b4?! and was hit with the typical sacrifice 11.Nd5. While this sacrifice doesn’t give white a decisive advantage in this position, Colas appeared to panic.

After 11. Nd5 exd5 12. exd5+ Nce7 13. c4 bxc3 14. Rc1 Colas played 14…Nf6? which turns out to be too slow. The last blow for white was after 18.Qa4+ black blundered with 18…Qd7 (18…Bd7 was needed) when 19.Qxa6 creates too many threats. Black had to resign. Disastrous game for Colas.

Samuel Sevian is trying to rebound after a 1/4 start. IM Jeffrey Xiong suffers first loss
Photo from uschesschamps.com.

In Sevian-Xiong, the tournament leader suffered his first loss and inexplicably dropping a pawn after 25.Nxb6! White would win another pawn with 39.Bxd6! effectively ending the game. Xiong is still in first place, but it’s a tight race. Williams-Harmon-Vellotti was a hard-fought game out of a Queen’s Indian. It appeared that Williams carried a nice spatial advantage in the middle game. The game got a bit messy, white lost a pawn and had to play actively to secure a draw in a rook ending.

At the beginning of the round the commentators stated that they like white in all the games and white was up 3-0. Black got a breakthrough with Michael Bodek’s win over Kayden Troff, the GM’s first defeat. Everyone has tasted defeat in the tournament. In this game, Troff’s Catalan was unable to create the lasting pressure and black was able to get good play.

The game still should have been drawn (with opposite-colored bishops), but Troff erred in the ensuing ending by trading rooks. Black played some star moves (44…e5!) after activating his king and raiding white’s kingside. In the final position, white has no moves and is in total zugzwang. Bodek is back in the hunt and only half-point back.

Each round of the 2014 U.S. Junior Closed will see its first move daily at 1:00 p.m. CT through June 29, with a rest day on Wednesday. The tournament will be streamed live on http://www.uschesschamps.com, with commentary, analysis and player interviews by GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman.

Official Site: https://www.uschesschamps.com/

A showdown between the two leaders!
Photo from uschesschamps.com.

The race toward the end has tightened as Kayden Troff is back on top of the field. Troff beat front-runner Jeffery Xiong to take a half-point lead. In a Catalan, black played a bit too ambitiously by sacrificing a pawn for development. White’s structure prevented black from getting coordination. There was a tactical skirmish and black ended up down an exchange for a pawn. White nursed his exchange and managed to get the queens off the board. His passed b-pawn never had to move, but it was the trump that decided the game.

In Sevian-Larson, black showed that he was up for the challenge after showing good preparation. The move 10…Qb8!? was interesting. Sevian stole a pawn with Be3-g5-d8xa5. As the game wore on pieces begin leaving the board and Sevian maintained his pawn plus. However, after nursing the pawn for 30 moves, he inexplicably gave up the pawn with 63…Qg5 and after 64.Qxc3 his advantage dissipated.

Josh Colas trying to find his way.
Photo from uschesschamps.com.

Williams-Colas is a game between two players who have known each other since the beginning of their chess lives. They have even played a couple of publicized practice matches. These encounters always bring some intrigue given that both Justus Williams and Josh Colas (along with James Black, Jr.) have inspired the African-American (and worldwide Black) community with their respective successes and both receive immense support in New York. So who would win this encounter? It would be a Catalan to decide.

In the opening, Colas made a crucial mistake with 11…f6 and 12…f5 as this weakened the a2-g8 diagonal allowing Williams to seize the initiative with 13. cxd5 exd5 14. e4! (even better was 14.Nxd5!). For the third game in a row, Colas was flailing away trying to get out of the opening alive.

After Williams won a pawn, he kept the pressure. In fact, he actually sacrifice two queenside pawns to focus on black’s weakened kingside. After 26. Bg4 Nb6 27. Re6 Qg7 28. Bxh5 gxh5 29. Re5, black was shredded. Colas had to donate an exchange, but there was too many holes in his position to survive.

Bodek-Harmon-Vellotti was one of two marathon games in the round. Out of a French Tarrasch, Bodek attempted to hold onto a free pawn. Ultimately he had to give it back, but found some nice resources in the middlegame including a couple of nice zwischenzug moves. A queen ending ensued and while white was a pawn up, he had to contend with black’s outside passed a-pawn. Unfortunately, black blundered it away in time pressure and Bodek converted cleanly.

In the longest game of the room, Shen-Ostrovskiy played a “topsy-turvy” game where black sacrificed an exchanged (15…Rxf3) for what seemed like inadequate compensation. White played actively so that black would not achieve the usual central pressure. The continued on when white begin to make some inaccuracies.

After 34.Rxb7?! the game started to level out. Black’s pieces came alive and started to zip around the board neutralizing the exchange. As black’s pawns started rolling 40…d4+ 41. Kf2 d3 42. Ke3 Ng2+ 43. Kd2 e4 white panicked with 44. Rxc6 allowing 44…e3+ 45.Kxd3 Kxc6 46.Ke2 Rd8! This was the move Shen stated that he missed. So he had to give up a piece and go for an ending.

What happened in the ending was novel. While black had an extra piece, it wasn’t clear how he would win, but then white’s king got trapped on the edge of the board and black weaved an improbable mating net by running his king from b7-c8-d7-d6-d5-d4-d3-c2-b1-b2.

The final finesse was beautiful after 104. Rh5 Nb5 105. Rxb5 Rc3! 106. Rc5 Ra3#. Shen showed a bit of class by allowing mate. Commentators were suggested that white should have traded rooks and played b5 attempting to get at the a6-pawn and achieve a draw. However, black wins by one tempo in that line. Nice finish by Aleks!

Each round of the 2014 U.S. Junior Closed will see its first move daily at 1:00 p.m. CT through June 29, with a rest day on Wednesday. The tournament will be streamed live on http://www.uschesschamps.com, with commentary, analysis and player interviews by GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman.

Official Site: https://www.uschesschamps.com/

The 2014 U.S. Junior Closed has come to an end and Grandmaster Kayden Troff is the winner. With only one loss in his +5 score, Troff automatically qualifies for the 2015 U.S. Championship.

In the press conference, he mentioned that this tournament was stronger than previous editions and that there was a fighting spirit present. While many will look at the cross chart it may appear to be a convincing victory, but it was not so easy… especially in the beginning. Troff got help from Josh Colas who beat Michael Bodek.

In Troff-Larson, the St. Louis native was playing with a lot of confidence, but perhaps got carried away against the Grandmaster from Utah. Larson’s opening was a risky one as he ceded the two bishops and had a questionable pawn structure. The move that came into question by the commentators was 16…Qd6?! Larson was trying to create threats on the king, but this simply lost two pawns for nothing. After 17. Bxc6+ Kf8 18. Bxb7 Qh2+ 19. Kf1 there was no follow up. Ultimately, black got the queen on h2 trapped.

Troff had already won which meant there was no way for Michael Bodek to catch him. However, this game between two familiar opponents was bitter-sweet for Josh Colas who had lost four in a row. Bodek-Colas was an intense game out of a Guioco Piano. Colas admitted that he had not prepared deeply. Thus, white got a comfortable position with a lot more space. However, Colas felt that his knight would be better than the bishop.

White poised for a queenside break-though doubled rooks along the a-file setting up deadly invasion. On 29. axb5 cxb5 (29…axb5?? loses to 30.Rxa8 Rxa8 31.Rxa8 Nxa8 32.Qd6! with Qf6+ looming) 30. Qd6. White repeated moves and played 34.Bf3 after which black gave a spite check with 34…Rc2+ (what else). White has four moves… 35.Kh3, 35.Kf1, 35.Kg1 and 35.Kh1. Bodek played 35.Kh3 which looks the safest, but there was danger lurking after 35…Rf8. In fact, Houdini says the position is now equal after 36.Qg5.

Bodek replied 36.Qe6+ and after 36…Kh8 had not answer to the looming 37…Qg7. Bodek stated that the didn’t see the idea until after it was played. This means that he probably forgot about his king. So after 37.Rxa6 Qg7! white was in a type of “Luhzin Defense” mating net. Black threatens 38…Qh6# and so after 38.Bh5 gxh5 mate still could not be averted. Very fortuitous for Colas to end the tournament with a win after losing four in a row. He started with a win and ended with a win and the middle… he said with a laugh, “We won’t talk about that.”

Colas ended on a happy note after losing four in a row.
Photos from uschesschamps.com.

Luke Harmon-Vellotti and Jeffery Xiong are the two player closest in strength, a mere two points separating the IMs. This game was also very equal and neither player took any risks in the Grunfeld and they shook hands after three-fold repetition on move 22. Sevian-Ostrovskiy was an interesting theoretical battle out of the King’s Indian Attack (French). Black gave up two pieces for a rook to destroy white’s pawn center, but got nothing for it. In fact, after black sacrificed an exchange, his central pawns were easily blockaded and white was poised to take control.

Lastly, Justus Williams had come off of a tough loss and was looking to score against a struggling Arthur Shen. In this game were was nothing after a middlegame skirmish. The game appeared to be headed for a draw after 22…Rac8 since 23.Rb1 would hold the balance.

Williams was still “playing for tricks” as Ben Finegold called it, but there was nothing to do but grab the draw. Black seized on the chance after 30…Bxg3! 31. Bg2 Bxh2 32. Qh4 Be5 33. c6 Rxa2 and in a matter of moves, black is three pawns up. After a few more moves, Williams gave up the ghost and resigned. In the press conference, a somewhat dejected Williams admitted that he had lost two of his games by pressing too hard.

Justus will certainly be back!
Photos from uschesschamps.com.

Great tournament!

Official Site: https://www.uschesschamps.com/

GM Kayden Troff
2014 U.S. Junior Chess Champion
Photo from uschesschamps.com.

Below is a nice picture of my quiet son Joshua. I got him the tools he needed. His next tournament is the US Cadets; I am looking forward to that one. He got caught off guard at the Junior Closed, but learned a good lesson about opening prep.