Aleksandr Ostrovskiy Leads US Juniors

In an exciting turn of events in round 4, International Master Aleksandr Ostrovskiy defeated the top seed and tournament leader, Jeffery Xiong. This victory puts Ostrovskiy in clear first place with 5 rounds to go. Commentator FM Aviv Friedman called Ostroskiy’s play in his victory against Xiong “a model game”.

[pgn][Event "US Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr"]
[Black "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2730"]
[BlackElo "2627"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.12"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. Re1 e6 7. c3 b5 8. a4
c4 9. Be2 Bb7 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Bxa8 12. d3 Be7 13. Nbd2 cxd3 14. Bxd3 Qb6
15. b4 e5 16. Qe2 Bc6 17. Nb3 O-O 18. Na5 Rb8 19. Nxc6 Qxc6 20. Bd2 h6 21. Nh4
Bf8 22. Nf5 d5 23. exd5 Qxd5 24. Ng3 Qa2 25. Rd1 Qb3 26. Rb1 Qa2 27. Rd1 Qb3
28. Rb1 Qa2 29. Be1 Qd5 30. Ra1 Ne8 31. Ra5 Nc7 32. c4 Qc6 33. c5 g6 34. Ne4
Ne6 35. Nc3 Nd4 36. Qa2 Nxc5 37. bxc5 b4 38. Ne4 Be7 39. h3 Qd7 40. Bc4 b3 41.
Qb2 Qf5 42. Bd3 Qd7 43. Ra6 Nc6 44. Bc4 Qd4 45. Qxd4 Nxd4 46. Rxg6+ 1-0[/pgn]

Meanwhile, Xiong is tied for second with IM Awonder Liang and IM-elect Michael Brown. Liang’s most impressive victory so far was over GM Kayden Troff against the Najdorf Sicilian.

[pgn][Event "US Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Liang, Awonder"]
[Black "Troff, Kayden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2430"][BlackElo "2630"]
[PlyCount "103"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3
Be6 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. exd5 Bf5 11. Qd2 Nd7 12. O-O O-O 13. Na5 Qc7 14. c4 Bg6 15.
b4 Rfe8 16. Rac1 b6 17. Nc6 Bf8 18. Bd3 Nb8 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. b5 Nd7 21. a4 a5
22. f4 exf4 23. Rxf4 Be7 24. Qf2 f5 25. h4 Bf6 26. h5 gxh5 27. Rxf5 Re4 28. Rf1
Rae8 29. Bd4 h4 30. Kh1 Rg4 31. Rh5 g6 32. Rh6 Kg7 33. Qf3 Rxd4 34. Rxg6+ Kxg6
35. Qf5+ Kh6 36. Nxd4 Bxd4 37. Qf4+ Kg6 38. Qg4+ Kh6 39. Qxh4+ Kg6 40. Qg4+ Kh6
41. Qf4+ Kh7 42. Qf7+ Kh6 43. Rf5 Re1+ 44. Kh2 Be5+ 45. g3 Bxg3+ 46. Kg2 Re2+
47. Kxg3 Re3+ 48. Kg2 Re2+ 49. Kf1 Rh2 50. Qe6+ Nf6 51. Rxf6+ Kh5 52. Rf5+ 1-0[/pgn]

Two favorites who’ve had a slow start, but are still in the running are Ruifeng Li and the defending champion, Akshat Chandra. Both players have drawn all four games. This round was particularly tough on Ruifeng Li, who uncharacteristically blundered a pawn early in the game against Nicolas Checa and then fought his way to a draw.

[pgn][Event "US Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Checa, Nicolas"]
[Black "Li, Ruifeng"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E16"]
[WhiteElo "2484"]
[BlackElo "2484"]
[PlyCount "137"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bf4 d6
9. Qc2 Nbd7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Rad1 Qe7 12. Rfe1 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxg2
15. Nxg6 fxg6 16. Kxg2 Qf7 17. Qd3 Nd7 18. Qd5 g5 19. Bd2 Ne5 20. b3 Ng4 21.
Rf1 Rae8 22. h3 Bxc3 23. Bxc3 Qxd5+ 24. Rxd5 Nf6 25. Rf5 Ne4 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.
Bb2 Nc5 28. e3 a5 29. g4 Kf7 30. Rd1 a4 31. b4 Nd7 32. Rd5 a3 33. Rf5+ Kg6 34.
Bd4 c5 35. Bc3 Re4 36. Rd5 Kf7 37. bxc5 Rxc4 38. c6 Rxc6 39. Bb4 Ke6 40. Rd2
Ne5 41. Bxa3 Nc4 42. Rd3 Ne5 43. Rd1 Nc4 44. Rc1 b5 45. Bb2 Ra6 46. Bg7 Rxa2
47. Bxh6 Kf6 48. h4 gxh4 49. Rb1 Rb2 50. Rc1 Ra2 51. Rb1 Ne5 52. Rxb5 Nxg4 53.
Bg5+ Ke6 54. Bxh4 Nxe3+ 55. Kf3 Nf5 56. Rb4 Ra3+ 57. Ke2 Ke5 58. Bg3+ Kd5 59.
Rb5+ Ke6 60. Rb4 Ra6 61. Bf4 d5 62. Be3 Ra2+ 63. Kd3 Ra3+ 64. Kd2 Nd6 65. Rh4
Ne4+ 66. Ke2 Ra4 67. Rh6+ Kf5 68. Rh5+ Kg6 69. Rh6+ 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Look out for updates throughout the event on the US Chess Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information on the U.S. Junior Championship, visit the Official Website. The U.S. Junior Closed runs from July 8-17. Rounds are everyday at 1 p.m. CST, except for the final round which is at 11 a.m.