Chess: Dmitry Andreikin wins world junior title

Position No. 6121: Black to play and win. From the game Max Schwartz-Max Cornejo, U.S. Open, Irvine 2010.

Solution to Position No. 6120: White wins spectacularly with 1 Bxh7+ Kxh7 2 Rh3+ Kg8 3 Bh6! (intending 4 Bxg7) Bf6 4 Rxf6! N7xf6 5 Bxg7 Ng4 6 Bf6! Nf2+ 7 Qxf2 Qxf2 8 Rh8 mate.

The 49th World Junior Championship ended Monday in Chotowa, Poland. Every country was invited to send its best young player, born in 1990 or later. The record field of 120 players, representing 55 countries, included 20 grandmasters and 34 IMs.

Russian grandmasters Dmitry Andreikin, age 20, and Sanan Sjugirov, 17, shared first place with scores of 10-3. On tiebreak, Andreikin wins the gold medal.

Andreikin had played in four previous World Juniors, with a best result of fourth place in 2007. This year, he was rated highest at 2650 and went undefeated despite facing eight GMs. Sjugirov won the most games (eight) but suffered one upset.

Four players tied for third at 9-4, with GM Dariusz Swiercz of Poland receiving the bronze medal.

Sam Shankland of Berkeley, who won the U.S. Junior Championship last month, declined to play. His replacement, Marc Tyler Arnold, 17, of New York, was seeded 41st and ended in a tie for 27th place at 71/2 -51/2.

The 81-player World Junior Girls Championship was the largest ever. Overwhelming favorite IM Anna Muzychuk, 20, of Slovenia lost in the penultimate round, jeopardizing her triumph. However, she won her final game to finish with 11-2, while Olga Girya, 19, of Russia drew and took second place at 101/2 -21/2.

Third was Padmini Rout, 16, of India, 10-3. Alisa Melekhina, 19, of Pennsylvania scored 81/2 -41/2 to tie for sixth place, the best result by an American since 1999.

State championship

Joel Banawa and Philip Xiao Wang scored 31/2 -1/2 last weekend to take the lead in the Southern California Championship, the eight-player invitational that counts as a state championship. Masters Ankit Gupta and Konstantin Kavutskiy and former champion IM Cyrus Lakdawala are tied for third place at 2-2.

The four newcomers in the field have trounced the four veterans, scoring six wins, no losses and four draws in youth vs. experience clashes.

The tournament concludes today in Century City. Results and games will be posted at scchess.com.

Local news

The San Luis Obispo County Championship takes place next Saturday in the Wildwood Ranch Club House, 819 Tempus Circle in Arroyo Grande. Entrants will play one 45-minute game and three 60-minute games. For more details, visit slochess.com.

Chess Palace will conduct the Summer Chess Fiesta, an outdoors tournament for students in grades K-12, next Sunday at the chess park in Santa Monica, about 200 yards south of the Santa Monica pier. Register before 9:45 a.m., or call (714) 899-3421 for information.

The Santa Monica Bay Chess Club plans a beach blitz tournament (five-minute games) at 1 p.m. at the same site.

The newly formed Metropolitan Chess plans a simultaneous exhibition by California’s best player, GM Varuzhan Akobian, on Sept. 12. For more about the club, write to Michael Belcher at td@chess.com or Ron Morris at asst_td@chess.com.

Today’s games

GM Varuzhan Akobian-Deepak Aaron, U.S. Open, Irvine 2010: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e3 A quiet method of sidestepping the Slav Defense, 4 Nf3 dxc4. a6 5 Nf3 b5 6 c5 Nbd7 7 b4 a5 8 Qb3 Surprisingly rare, considering that White gets nothing from the usual 8 bxa5 Qxa5 9 Bd2 b4 10 Nb1 Ne4. e5?! The refinement 8…axb4 9 Qxb4 e5 works much better. 9 Nxe5 Nxe5 10 dxe5 Ng4? Maybe Black overlooked White’s startling reply. After 10…Nd7 11 Nxd5 cxd5 12 Qxd5 Rb8 13 a3, White has no more than a small advantage. 11 Nxb5! Opening the closed position for attack. White anticipates 11…cxb5 12 Bxb5+ Ke7 13 0-0, when Black cannot coordinate his pieces to shield his King and hold his d-pawn. For example, 13…Be6 is routed by 14 f4 d4 15 Qb2 Nxe3 16 Bxe3 dxe3 17 f5, while 13…Nxe5 14 f4 Ng4 15 Rd1 Be6 16 e4 Qb8 17 Qd3! dxe4 18 Qxe4 brings Black no closer to developing his Kingside. Nxe5 Best. Instead, 11…Rb8 12 Nd4 Rxb4 13 Qc3 Bd7 14 Ba3 Rb8 15 f4 gives Black no compensation for the pawn. 12 Bb2 Nc4 Black will not recover the pawn after 12…Nd7 13 Nd6+ Bxd6 14 cxd6 0-0 15 b5. 13 Nd4 Qc7? Black could keep some hope with 13…Nxb2 14 Qxb2 axb4. Then 15 Qxb4 Bd7 and 15 Nxc6 Qc7 16 Nxb4 Qxc5 aren’t too bad. White should settle for a positional advantage by 15 Nxc6 Qc7 16 Nd4 Bxc5 17 Bb5+ Bd7 18 Bxd7+ Qxd7 19 Nb3. 14 Bxc4 dxc4 15 Qxc4 Ba6 Nor does 15…axb4 16 Qxb4 Rb8 17 Qc3 Ba6 help, as 18 Nf5 or 19 Rd1 keeps command. 16 Qc2 Be7 After 16…axb4 17 Qe4+ Be7, Black has no good answer to 18 Nf5. 17 Qe4 0-0 18 Nf5 Rfe8 Or 18…Bg5 19 Qg4 f6 20 h4, and more material goes. 19 Nxg7 Bxc5 20 Nxe8, Black Resigns. Against 20…Bxb4+, easiest is 21 Qxb4 axb4 22 Nxc7.

GM Anton Korobov (Ukraine)-IM Axel Smith (Sweden), Czech Open, Pardubice 2010: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 Nc6 9 Be3 0-0 10 0-0 A tabiya of the Grunfeld Defense for nearly 60 years. Na5 11 Bd3 b6 12 Qd2 e5 Now Black gets fair compensation from 13 dxc5 Be6 14 Rfd1 Qc7 15 cxb6 axb6. 13 Bh6 Sharpest. cxd4 14 cxd4 exd4 15 Bxg7 Kxg7 16 f4 Topalov defeated Anand sensationally with 16 Rac1 Qd6 17 f4 f6 18 f5 Qe5 19 Nf4 g5 20 Nh5+ Kg8 21 h4 h6 22 hxg5 hxg5 23 Rf3 Kf7? 24 Nxf6!, but 23…Bd7 seems adequate. f6 17 f5 Qd6 Because White has omitted Ra1-c1, Black can centralize with 17…Nc6 18 Bb5 Ne5. After 19 Nxd4, Black has tried 19…gxf5 20 exf5 Kh8 21 Rad1 Bb7 22 Rf4 Qd5, with fine counterplay. 18 Nf4 gxf5?! Shaky, as is 18…g5 19 Nh5+ Kg8 20 h4 h6 21 e5! Qxe5 22 Rfe1 Qd6 23 Be4 Rb8 24 Rad1 Rd8?! 25 Bd5+! Kf8 26 Qxd4. Black should test 18…Qe5 19 Rf3 g5, similar to Anand’s idea. 19 exf5 Nc6?! Now Korobov provides a worthy sequel to Topalov’s feat, destroying Black’s fortress with a series of stunning sacrifices. Black’s last chance is 19…Bd7 20 Rf3 Rf7, although 21 Qf2 continues White’s attack. 20 Rae1 Ne5 Black’s King could return home to die by 20…Bd7 21 Rf3 Ne5 (White overpowers 21…Rae8 with 22 Rg3+ Kh8 23 Ng6+) 22 Rg3+ Kf7 23 Bc2 Rac8 24 Bb3+ Ke8 25 Rd3 Bxf5 26 Rxd4 Qc5 27 Kh1, when he cannot prevent a breakthrough on the central files. 21 Rxe5! Qxe5 After 21…fxe5 22 f6+!, even Black’s toughest reply, 22…Kf7 23 Bc4+ Ke8, won’t survive if White finds 24 f7+ Kd8 25 Nd5 Be6 26 Qh6, threatening 27 Rf6. 22 Re1 The hasty 22 Nh5+?? Kh8 23 Qh6 permits 23…Qe3+, killing the attack. Qc7 To defend g7. Instead, 22…Qa5 23 Qf2 Bxf5 loses more easily to 24 Qg3+ Kh8 25 Re7 Rg8 26 Qh4. 23 Qf2 Qf7 24 Qg3+ Inviting 24…Kh8, because 25 Ng6+! hxg6 26 fxg6 leaves Black helpless against 27 Qh4+. Kh6 25 Re6! As 25…Bxe6 26 Nxe6 makes 27 Qf4+ a deadly threat, and 26…Rg8 27 Qh4+ Qh5 28 Qxf6+ won’t save Black. Qc7 White refutes 25…Bd7 with 26 Qh4+ Kg7 27 Rxf6, anticipating 27…Qxf6 28 Nh5+ or 27…Qxa2 28 Nh5+ Kh8 29 Rxf8+ Rxf8 30 Qxd4+. 26 Qh4+ Kg7 27 Nh5+ Kh8 Shortening the game, but Black could not stand 27…Kg8 28 Nxf6+ Kh8 29 Nxh7 Qxh7 30 Rh6. Or, if 28…Rxf6 29 Qg5+!, two sprightly finishes are 29…Qg7 30 Re8+ Rf8 31 Rxf8+ Kxf8 32 Qd8+ Kf7 33 Bc4+ and 29…Rg6 30 Re8+ Kf7 31 fxg6+ Kxe8 32 gxh7. 28 Qxf6+! Rxf6 Also 28…Kg8 29 Bc4! leads to checkmate. 29 Re8+ Rf8 30 Rxf8 mate.