Championship Sunday at K-12 in Orlando

It’s Championship Sunday in Orlando, and Round 6 is underway at the 2019 K-12 National Grade Championships. Top boards are being broadcast live on the US Chess Twitch channel with commentators GM Fidel Corrales and WGM Jennifer Yu. Individual and team titles will be awarded in 13 grade sections tonight after today’s final two rounds.Here’s how things stand after five rounds, coming into this morning’s action. Grade 12 Three players – Joseph Zeltsan, Gabriel Sam, and Ansh Shah – are tied at 4.5 heading into today’s play. Zeltsan and Sam play each other this morning on board one.

Ansh Shah (photo Ana Vivas)

Gabriel Sam (photo Ana Vivas)

Sam and Shah drew in Saturday night’s fifth round after Sam gambled by grabbing the b-pawn. Black had sufficient compensation and the players split the point after 28 moves.

[pgn] [Event "2019 12th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Sam, Gabriel"] [Black "Shah, Ansh"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C07"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nb3 Nf6 9. Nbxd4 a6 10. Re1 Be7 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. Ne5 Qc5 13. Bb3 O-O 14. Qf3 Nd7 15. Nxd7 Bxd7 16. Qxb7 $5 {A pawn is a pawn, but Black has serious compensation.} Bc6 (16... Ra7 17. Qe4 Bc6 18. Qc4) 17. Qc7 Rfc8 (17... Bd6 18. Be3) 18. Qg3 (18. Qe5 Qb4 19. a3 Qb7) 18... a5 19. Be3 Qf5 20. c3 Bf6 21. Bd4 a4 22. Bxf6 Qxf6 23. Bc2 Bd5 24. Re5 (24. a3 $1 {stops Black's counterplay. White is slightly better.}) 24... Rab8 25. Re2 a3 26. bxa3 Ra8 27. Rc1 Rxa3 28. Bb3 Bxb3 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Justin Chen (photo Ana Vivas)

Hans Niemann (photo Ana Vivas)

Niemann played Justin Chen last night in a battle of the only two 2400+ players in the field, prevailing after a somewhat dodgy stretch in the early middlegame.

[pgn] [Event "2019 11th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Niemann, Hans"] [Black "Chen, Justin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E17"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. d4 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 c5 10. e3 Rc8 11. Qe2 Qc7 12. Rac1 Qb8 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 14. Ng5 h6 15. Ngf3 Qa8 16. h3 a6 17. a3 dxc4 18. bxc4 Ne4 19. Nf1 $6 {A somewhat strange move, but the idea is to protect g3, allowing Niemann to play f2-f3 and control e4.} Ndf6 20. Ne1 Nd6 (20... Qb8) 21. d5 exd5 22. Bxf6 Bxf6 23. cxd5 Nb5 24. Qd3 Nc3 $2 (24... c4 $1) 25. Rxc3 Bxc3 26. Qxc3 Bxd5 27. Rxd5 Rxd5 28. Qb3 c4 29. Qxb6 Rb5 30. Qxb5 axb5 31. Bxa8 Rxa8 32. Nc2 Kf8 (32... Rd8 33. e4) 33. Nd2 Ke7 34. Ne4 f5 35. Nc3 Ra5 36. Kf1 Kf6 37. Ke2 g5 38. Kd2 Ke5 39. f4+ Kf6 40. Kc1 gxf4 41. gxf4 $1 h5 42. Kb2 h4 43. Nd4 Ra8 44. Nd5+ Kf7 45. Nxf5 Rh8 46. Nc3 Rb8 47. Nd6+ Ke6 48. Ndxb5 Rg8 49. Nd4+ Kd7 50. Ne4 1-0 [/pgn]

Elton Cao (photo Ana Vivas)

Elton Cao leads with 5 points, and is trailed by Anish Vivekanathan at 4.5. They meet this morning, with Cao having White. Grade 9 Raghav Venkat took down top seed Vincent Tsay in Round 5 to move to a perfect 5-0. He leads the section over Eugene Yoo and Milind Maiti, both at 4.5.

Raghav Venkat (photo Ana Vivas)

Vincent Tsay (photo Ana Vivas)

[pgn] [Event "2019 9th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Tsay, Vincent"] [Black "Venkat, Raghav"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A38"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. b3 c5 7. c4 Nc6 8. Bb2 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. Nc2 Qc8 11. Nc3 Bh3 12. Ne3 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Ne4 14. Qc2 Nxc3 15. Bxc3 Bxc3 16. Qxc3 Qe6 17. Rad1 Rac8 18. Rfe1 b6 19. Nd5 Rfe8 20. e4 Qe5 21. Qe3 Qg7 22. Re2 Ne5 23. f4 Ng4 24. Qf3 Nf6 25. Nc3 h5 26. h3 Nh7 27. g4 hxg4 28. hxg4 Nf8 29. Nd5 Ne6 30. Rf2 Nc7 31. Ne3 b5 32. g5 (32. f5 $5) 32... bxc4 33. f5 cxb3 34. axb3 Nb5 35. f6 exf6 36. gxf6 $2 {Throwing away the advantage. Now f6 is unavailable to the knight, and Venkat grabs his chance with both hands.} (36. Ng4 f5 37. Nf6+ Kf8 38. exf5 gxf5 39. Qxf5 $18) (36. Nd5 fxg5 37. Nf6+ $18) 36... Qh6 37. Rh1 Qg5+ 38. Qg3 $4 (38. Qg4 Qxg4+ 39. Nxg4 Rxe4 40. Nh6+ {forces the perpetual:} Kf8 41. Ng4 Kg8 42. Nh6+) 38... Qxg3+ 39. Kxg3 Nc3 $1 40. Rf3 Nxe4+ 41. Kg2 Nxf6 42. Rhf1 Rc3 0-1 [/pgn]

Noah Thomforde-Toates (photo Ana Vivas)

Noah Thomforde-Toates, Michael Zheng, Alan Morris-Suzili, Nathaniel Shuman, Hersh Singh, Wenjie Li, and Hemachandra Rambha are in a seven-way for first place at 4.5 heading into today’s play. Grade 7 It’s a three-way tie for first in Grade 7, with Harry Le, Ronald Hernandez, and Wyatt Pak all at 5-0. Abinav Mundayat is the only player at 4.5. Hernandez got a lot of credit from the commentary team of Corrales and Yu for the way he handled this endgame against Vyom Vidyarthi.

Ronald Hernandez (photo Ana Vivas)

Vyom Vidyarthi (photo Ana Vivas)

[pgn] [Event "2019 7th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "5.7"] [White "Vidyarthi, Vyom"] [Black "Hernandez, Ronal"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A48"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "136"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. h3 d6 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O Qe8 8. c4 e5 9. Bh2 Qe7 10. Nc3 c6 11. Qc2 Ne8 12. b4 f5 13. b5 Nc7 14. Rad1 c5 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 Be6 18. Rd2 Rfd8 19. Rfd1 Rd7 20. Qa4 b6 21. Bg3 Rad8 22. Kh1 g5 23. Qc2 h6 24. a4 Qf7 25. Rc1 Nxf3 26. Bxf3 d5 27. cxd5 Bxd5 28. Bxd5 Rxd5 29. Rcd1 c4 30. Rxd5 Rxd5 31. Rxd5 Qxd5 32. Kg1 c3 33. Kf1 Qc4+ 34. Ke1 Bf6 35. f3 f4 36. exf4 gxf4 37. Bf2 Kg7 38. Bg1 $2 (38. h4) 38... Bh4+ 39. Bf2 Bxf2+ 40. Kxf2 {Now Hernandez plays the endgame like a Grandmaster, according to Corrales and Yu on the livestream.} Qd4+ 41. Kf1 Kf6 42. Ke2 Kg5 43. Qh7 Qe3+ 44. Kf1 Kh4 $1 45. Qc2 Kg3 46. Qg6+ Kh2 47. Qc2 Qg1+ 48. Ke2 Qxg2+ 49. Kd3 Qxc2+ 50. Kxc2 Kg3 51. Kxc3 Kxf3 52. Kc4 Ke4 53. Kc3 Ke3 54. Kc4 f3 55. Kd5 f2 56. Kc6 f1=Q 57. Kb7 Qf7+ 58. Ka6 Kd4 59. h4 Kc5 60. h5 Qd7 61. a5 Qxb5+ 62. Kb7 bxa5+ 63. Kc7 Qb6+ 64. Kd7 Kd5 65. Ke7 Ke5 66. Kd7 Qb7+ 67. Ke8 Ke6 68. Kf8 Qf7# 0-1 [/pgn]

Caleb Klenoff (photo Ana Vivas)

Caleb Klenoff and Roger Zhang are the only two players at 5-0 in the section, and they face off in this morning’s sixth round. Zhang takes White. Grade 5 Four players remain perfect after five rounds. Brewington Hardaway, Erick Zhao, Doruk Emir, and Spencer Chin are each at 5-0.

Brewington Hardaway (photo Ana Vivas)

Nathaniel Mullodahnov (photo Ana Vivas)

Hardaway suffered the indignity of tripled f-pawns in Round 5, but fought his way back to a win over Nathaniel Mullodzhanov.

[pgn] [Event "2019 5th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "5.9"] [White "Mullodahnov, Na"] [Black "Hardaway, Brewin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1bq1r2/2b2pk1/p4p2/1p3p1p/3P4/P7/1PQ2PPP/RBB1R1K1 w - - 0 23"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 23. Qd1 Rh8 24. Qf3 Rb8 25. Bxf5 $6 Bxf5 26. Qxf5 Qxd4 {Trading the d-pawn for the f-pawn lets Black back into the game.} 27. Be3 Qg4 28. Qc2 Be5 29. Qe2 a5 30. Rad1 (30. f4 $5) 30... b4 31. f4 Bc7 32. Qf2 Rhe8 33. h3 Qf5 34. Kh1 bxa3 35. bxa3 Re4 (35... Rb3 $1) 36. Qc2 Rc8 $2 (36... Bxf4 $1 37. Rf1 Qe5) 37. Bg1 Rxf4 38. Qxf5 $2 (38. Rc1 $16) 38... Rxf5 39. Rc1 Bg3 40. Rxc8 Bxe1 41. Bd4 Bg3 42. Rc1 Rd5 43. Bc3 Kg6 44. Rf1 Be5 45. Ba1 Rd3 46. a4 Ra3 47. Bxe5 fxe5 48. Re1 f6 49. Re4 Rc3 50. Kh2 Kf5 51. Rh4 Kg5 52. Re4 Rd3 53. Kg1 Rd4 54. Rxd4 exd4 55. Kf2 Kf4 56. g3+ Ke4 57. Ke2 d3+ 58. Kf2 f5 59. g4 fxg4 60. h4 g3+ 61. Kxg3 d2 62. Kf2 d1=Q 63. Kg3 Qg4+ 64. Kh2 Kf3 65. Kh1 Qg2# 0-1 [/pgn]

Andrew Jiang (photo Ana Vivas)

Only three players – Andrew Jiang, Rohan Rajaram, and Wesley Luo – have made it to the third day unscathed at 5-0. Grade 2

Leo Yang (photo Ana Vivas)

Four players are still in the hunt for 7-0 after five rounds. Leo Yang, Vihaan Pendse, Derek Tang, and Michael Xiao are tied for first with 5 points after last night’s games. Grade 1 Last year’s Kindergarten co-champ Katherine Zhuge is in clear first at 5-0. Can she repeat as a grade champion? We’ll find out today! Kindergarten Two tiny combatants – Luke Hong and Lucas Yang – lead the Kindergarten field by a full point after five rounds. They face off this morning.

K-12 Chess Championships Quick Links:  Information page and Standings Twitter hashtag #k12chesschamps PDF Schedule of events PDF Newsletter Live Games Twitch stream Twitter #K12ChessChamps Pre-registered players in 13 sections and blitz