Abhimanyu Mishra's Record-Breaking IM Norm

He may look cute and innocent, but don’t be fooled. Abhimanyu “Abhi” Mishra is an absolute killer at the chessboard. Mishra, age 10, set a record last month when he became the youngest person to record an IM norm, doing so at the age of 10 years, 7 months, and 3 days. He bettered the previous record, held by wünderkind R. Pragganandhaa, by a scant 15 days. The norm was earned at the Chess Max Academy Summer GM Norm Invitational, which ran from August 3rd through 9th in New York. The event was won by GM Djurabek Khamrakulov from Uzbekistan, who finished with 7/9. Another young American phenom, IM Christopher Yoo, took second with 6/9. Mishra scored 5/9 to finished tied for fourth place, earning his first IM norm with a final round draw aganst GM Mark Paragua. He provided CLO with this annotated game from the event.

[pgn]

[Event "Chess Max Acadamy GM norm event"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.05.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Black "Hong, Andrew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2304"]
[BlackElo "2434"]
[Annotator "Mishra"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

{I was playing against strong IM Andrew. Earlier played against him twice and
lost both games. This time i was determined to settle the score and was
mentally prepared for a long fighting game.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11.
Qd3 Nd7 12. O-O-O Nc5 13. Qf3 b5 {Here I didn't play Nec3 because I thought
there was Bg4} 14. Kb1 (14. Nec3 Be7 (14... Bg4 $4 15. hxg4 hxg4 {Is the idea
of Bg4 but it doesnt work due to Bxb5+} 16. Bxb5+ axb5 17. Qe2 $18 {White is
winning due to the falling b-pawn and more importantly the weak black king})
15. Kb1 h4 16. g3 Kf8 17. Qe3 $1 {With the idea of f4} Rb8 18. a3 g6 19. f4
hxg3 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Qxg3 $14 {White's position is around better due to his
control over the d5 outpost}) 14... Rb8 15. Ng3 h4 16. Nf5 g6 17. Nfe3 Bg7 18.
Be2 b4 19. g3 a5 {here I should put pressure on d6 with Nc4 which after is
slightly better for white} 20. Qg2 $6 {I played this with the idea of f4 and
gxh4 followed by Nf5 due to the pin} (20. Nc4 Kf8 (20... O-O $2 21. Nxd6 $16
Bxd5 (21... Qxd6 $4 22. Nf6+) 22. Rxd5) 21. Nde3 $1 $14 {Again attacking d6})
20... a4 21. gxh4 Rxh4 22. Bg4 Kf8 23. Rdg1 b3 24. Bxe6 bxa2+ 25. Kxa2 Nxe6 26.
f3 {Here the position is around equal because of white's bad pawn structure
compensating for the d6 weakness and control over d5 Also the black bishop
isn't bad because he can play Bh6 and trade on e3.} Nd4 27. c3 Ne6 28. Qe2 Qc8
29. Qc4 {offering an ending that would be around winning for me as a4 and d6
will be not sufficiently defended and white will capture the pawns} Nc5 (29...
Qxc4+ $2 30. Nxc4 $16) 30. Rg4 {stopping black from capturing of h3} Rxg4 $2 {
This fixes my pawn structure better was 30.Rh5} (30... Rh5) 31. hxg4 $16 Qd8
32. Nb4 Qg5 {Here I missed Qd5! Attacking d6 as black cannot take on e3
because of Qxd6+ Forking the king and rook} 33. Qe2 $6 (33. Qd5 $1) 33... Rd8
34. Rd1 Kg8 35. Nc4 Bf8 36. Qe3 Qh4 37. Qe2 {Here I was under time pressure
and was getting to move 40 where I would get an additional 30 minutes added to
my clock} Ne6 38. Nb6 Nf4 39. Qe3 Bh6 40. Qg1 Qh3 41. Qh1 $1 {Now Black cannot
avoid the trade and white is way better} Kg7 42. Qxh3 Nxh3 43. Nc6 Re8 44. Nxa4
(44. Rxd6 $2 {Allows counterplay} Ng1 45. Rd3 $4 Re6 $19) 44... Ra8 45. b3 $6 (
45. Ka3 $1 $18 {Looked more precise as white can play b4 next}) 45... Bf4 46.
Ka3 (46. Rxd6 {I was worried about Ra6 here but Ka3 followed by b4 wins} Ng5 (
46... Ra6 47. Ka3 Ng5 48. b4) 47. Rd3) 46... Ng5 47. Rd3 Bc1+ 48. Kb4 Rh8 49.
Kc4 Rh3 50. b4 Nxf3 51. b5 f5 (51... Nd2+ {was the best try but white wins
after} 52. Rxd2 Bxd2 53. b6 Rh8 54. b7 Be3 55. Kd5 f5 56. exf5 gxf5 57. gxf5
Kf6 58. c4 Bd4 (58... Kxf5 59. Ne7+ $18) 59. Kxd6 Be3 60. Nc5 Kxf5 61. Kd5 Bxc5
62. Kxc5 e4 63. b8=Q Rxb8 64. Nxb8 e3 65. Nc6 $18 e2 66. Nd4+) 52. b6 fxe4 (
52... Nd2+ 53. Rxd2 Bxd2 54. b7 Rh8 55. Nb6 fxe4 56. Nc8 e3 57. Kd3 $1 (57.
b8=Q $2 e2 $13 {might also win but is more complex}) 57... e4+ 58. Kc2 Rh1 59.
Nd4 $1 $18 (59. b8=Q $2 e2 $11)) 53. Rd1 Bg5 54. b7 Rh8 55. Nb6 e3 56. Nc8 e2
57. Ra1 {now it is all over white queens next} Rf8 58. b8=Q e4 59. Qxd6 Nd2+
60. Kd5 Rf1 {desperate attempt to save the game but white's attack is too
strong} 61. Qc7+ Kf8 (61... Kh6 62. Qh2+ $18) 62. Ra8 Kg8 63. Nd6+ Rf8 64. Qf7+
{A good win with the white pieces!} 1-0

[/pgn]

Regular CLO readers may remember Mishra’s first foray into history making. Last year he became the youngest US Chess master on record, leapfrogging the 2200 barrier at 9 years, 2 months, and 17 days. In the weeks since Mishra earned his first norm, he has played in three more tournaments, adding another 25 points to his US Chess rating. The clock is ticking on his attempt to become the youngest IM in history – he has just under two months to do it – but he will get another shot at the Chess Max Academy Fall Norm events, which will take place in New York from November 2nd through 8th. Women’s Program Director and Senior Digital Editor Jennifer Shahade caught up with “Abhi” last month via e-mail and got to ask him to answer a few questions for CLO. CLO: Hello Abhi! Congratulations on your norm! What would you like to tell CLO readers? Abhi: As I mentioned earlier, I am determined to be the youngest ever IM and GM in the world. I have about four months to get the remaining two norms and about two years and one month for GM title. It would not be possible without playing in Europe and playing in many closed norm events. For that I would need some financial support. I request chess enthusiasts to support me at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-abhi-to-become-youngest-ever-im-in-the-world CLO: Any advice for young players? Abhi: It is a demanding game. You get good results once you enjoy working hard. CLO: What was the best moment in your journey so far? Abhi: Getting my first IM norm last week and setting the world record by a nice margin. (43 days) CLO: What was the last good chess book or video you saw/read? Abhi: Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual!