It will be a very happy 15th birthday indeed for Christopher Yoo.
With GM three norms under his belt — the Memorial Day 2021 CCCSA GM Norm Invitational, the Labor Day 2021 CCCSA GM Norm Invitational, and the 2021 US Masters — Yoo found himself five rating points shy of the 2500 barrier required to become a Grandmaster after his performance at the US Masters in Charlotte.
Yoo’s father, Young-Kyu Yoo, asked Facebook friends to suggest possible events where Christopher might be able to hunt down those five final points, allowing him to become a GM-Elect before his fifteen birthday. William Graif suggested the Edward Lasker Memorial / Marshall Chess Club Championship, held over two weekends at the historic Marshall Chess Club in New York City.
Only able to play the first weekend due to scheduling conflicts, the pressure was on: could Yoo avoid any “Botez gambits” and pick up those five final points in just five rounds?
This happy face tells the tale better than words ever could:
Scoring 4½/5, including wins over two FMs and a draw with GM Brandon Jacobson, Yoo appears to have gained 5.2 rating points, putting him just over the 2500 mark, and earning him the GM title at 14 years and 51 weeks — subject to FIDE confirmation, of course.
Here are two games from the event. The first, against veteran FM Konstanin Dolgister, features a tactical flurry worth of a new grandmaster, while the second, against Zachary Tannenbaum, gave him the final point needed to earn his title.
[pgn][Event "Marshall Chess Championship"] [Site "New York"] [Date "2021.12.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Yoo, Christopher"] [Black "Dolgitser, Konstantin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Be7 11. d5 dxe5 12. dxe6 f6 13. Qc2 Qc8 14. Bb3 O-O 15. Nh4 Na6 16. Rd1 Nc5 17. Nf5 Re8 {[#]} 18. Rd7 $1 Be4 (18... Nxd7 $4 19. exd7+) 19. Nxe7+ Rxe7 20. Qe2 Qe8 21. Ba3 $1 Bc6 22. Bxc5 bxc5 23. Qa6 Be4 ( 23... Rc8 $2 24. Rxe7) 24. f3 Bf5 25. Qb7 Rxe6 (25... Kf8 $2 26. Rxe7 Qxe7 27. Qxa8+) 26. Bxe6+ Bxe6 27. Rxg7+ Kf8 28. Rxh7 1-0 [Event "Marshall Chess Championship"] [Site "New York"] [Date "2021.12.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Yoo, Christopher"] [Black "Tanenbaum, Zachary"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C58"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. h4 h6 10. Qh5 Qf6 11. Nh7 Rxh7 12. Bxh7 g6 13. Qe2 Nf4 14. Qf3 Qg7 $6 (14... Bb7 $142 15. Nc3 c5 16. Ne4 Qg7 17. d4 O-O-O 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. O-O-O f5 $2 (19... cxd4 $1) 20. dxc5 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Bxe4 22. Qa3 $16 {1/2-1/2 (74) Popov,I (2608)-Moskalenko,A (2535) Moscow 2018}) 15. Qc3 Nxg2+ $2 (15... Bf5 $1 16. Qxa5 Bxc2 17. Nc3 Bd3 $13) 16. Kf1 Nf4 17. Qxa5 Qf6 18. d3 Bh3+ 19. Rxh3 Nxh3 20. Be3 Rb8 21. Qc7 Qd6 22. Qxd6 Bxd6 23. Nd2 Kd7 24. h5 Rxb2 25. hxg6 fxg6 26. Bxg6 Nf4 27. Bf5+ Kc7 28. Bxf4 exf4 29. d4 Bb4 30. Nc4 1-0 [/pgn]
Congratulations to GM-Elect Christopher Yoo!
For those interested in following in the Yoo’s path to the top, here’s some advice from Christopher’s father, Young-Kyu Yoo:
Here is my advice to parents. You might have a coach of master strength or lower until about 2000. We had Wei Liu, who as far as I know has never played tournament chess, but who coached his own son and daughter to master strength, until Christopher was about 1800/2000.
Then, if your kid is ambitious, transition to a coach of GM strength. GM Khachiyan was that coach for us. If your kid makes master and seems to be on track to get to GM, consider adding an openings coach (GM Avrukh for Christopher) until your child can do openings on their own. Sometimes, however, your regular coach can also be the openings coach.
If the child becomes an IM or stronger and seems capable of even higher levels, find a coach who can best guide them to the upper levels. That was GM Aagaard and then (on GM Aagaard's suggestion) GM Shankland for Christopher.
Along the way, if your child shows promise, your child may become eligible for free training. In the U.S., we have the US Chess School that provides free chess camps to strong juniors. The Kasparov Chess Foundation provides free training to a few select kids in the US and, more recently, in Europe and elsewhere. Through the KCF we've been lucky to get training from GM Chernin and GM Onischuk.
Recently, the FIDE Online Academy has become available to strong kids around the world. Unfortunately, their class hours don't work for us here in California and Christopher will likely have to drop out.
Categories
Archives
- November 2024 (18)
- October 2024 (35)
- September 2024 (23)
- August 2024 (27)
- July 2024 (44)
- June 2024 (27)
- May 2024 (32)
- April 2024 (51)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (37)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (38)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (35)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (31)
- July 2017 (28)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (36)
- February 2016 (28)
- January 2016 (32)
- December 2015 (26)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)