David Peng Wins High School Champs: "Must-See DGT"

    FM David Peng won clear first at the 2018 National High School Championship with an undefeated score of 6 ½ - ½.  The top section that David won looked more like a FIDE rated section than a scholastic event.  There was also an Under 1900 section and because there were more than 256 players in the top section, the pairings were accelerated.  This meant that in round one the top board masters were already playing experts and 2300+ players were not even playing on the top DGT broadcasted boards!  There were 36 players in the top section over 2200 (8 were over 2400!). There were four International Masters, ten FIDE Masters, two Woman International Masters and one Woman FIDE Master.  While all the students were obviously from U.S. high schools, there were eleven players from other FIDE federations!  The other FIDE federations were India, Cuba, Canada, Turkey, Venezuela, and Jamaica.  Overall, 160 of the 280 players had FIDE ratings!  In scoring 6 ½, Peng played two IMs and two FMs.  While, I realize that this was not FIDE rated and there are many rules on norms, I want to put into perspective Peng’s performance:  his rating performance was at the level of an IM norm! The event was a who’s who of scholastic chess.  Two record holders for youngest US master were on hand:  Christopher Yoo and Max Li. There were 266 players in the Championship section.  Of this number, 127 are featured on a US Chess Top 100 list for their age!  104 of the players are ranked in the top 100 players of all ages in their respective state.  At the elite level, five of the players are already ranked in the Top 100 players in the United States, including all adults.  Looking at the top 100 list for Under age 21, there were 23 players in attendance at this tournament which is remarkable since that list includes 18-20 year old players who would have already graduated from HS and wouldn’t be eligible to play. In round one there were already very competitive games and several of the top seeds were nicked for draws or upsets.  IM Bryce Tiglon was held to a draw by WFM Sasha Kovalenko.  FM Ben Li was held to a draw by Nicholas Cardenas.  Four masters lost in round one as NM Vincent Baker lost to Derek Chen, NM Eli Karp lost to Nicklas Breskin, NM Ricky Wang lost to Manas Manu and NM Prateek Pinisetti lost to Mark De Dona.  After the dust settled in round one, over 25% of the masters no longer had perfect scores.  Four masters lost while six gave up draws and one took a half point bye.  This would clearly be a competitive event! In round two, two class A players beat their second master in a row! 1988 rated player Mark De Dona from traditional powerhouse IS 318 in New York defeated NM Jason Morefield and 1996 rated player Derek Chen from New York’s Edgemont HS defeated NM Jason Wang.  Also, nineteenth seeded NM Justin Paul also lost to Caleb Wan while FM William Graif went down to Nicholas Xie.  After only two rounds, half of the masters had already surrendered a draw or loss and only 18 of the 36 masters remained at 2-0! By round three even masters were paired up on the top boards.  The major upset of the round was NM Akhil Kalghathi defeating FM Andrew Hong on board 5.  De Dona continued to frustrate masters as he drew with 10^th seeded FM Danial Asaria.  Derek Chen lost to the eventual tournament winner FM David Peng.  Up to this point, Peng had been flying under the radar a bit as his 2407 rating “only” made him the 8^th seed in the event. FM David Peng defeated Junior High School Champion FM Arthur Guo in round four, while FM Zhaozhi (George) Li defeated FM Ethan Li.   FM David Peng and IM George Li were the only 4-0 scores from 11 perfect 3-0s, because there were many round four draws including a marathon struggle between NM Justin Chen and IM Praveen Balakrishnan.

[pgn]

[Event "National High School (K-12) Championshi"]
[Site "Columbus, Ohio"]
[Date "2018.04.28"]
[White "Chen, Justin"]
[Black "Balakrishnan, Praveen"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "2482"]
[PlyCount "232"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. e4 Be7 7. Qxc4 c5 8.
e5 Nb6 9. exf6 Nxc4 10. fxe7 Qc7 11. Bxc4 cxd4 12. Nb5 Qxe7 13. b3 O-O 14. Ba3
Qf6 15. Bxf8 Kxf8 16. O-O a6 17. Nbxd4 b5 18. Be2 Bb7 19. Rfd1 Rd8 20. Rac1 g5
21. h3 Be4 22. b4 h5 23. Nb3 Bd5 24. Nfd4 g4 25. hxg4 hxg4 26. Bxg4 Qh4 27. Bf3
Bxb3 28. Nxb3 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Qxb4 30. g3 a5 31. Bc6 a4 32. Nd4 Qd6 33. Bf3 Qa3
34. Kg2 Qxa2 35. Nxb5 Qb2 36. Rd8+ Kg7 37. Bc6 a3 38. Nxa3 Qxa3 39. Bf3 Qa4 40.
Rd3 f5 41. Re3 Kf6 42. Kf1 e5 43. Be2 Qa8 44. Bf3 Qa4 45. Be2 f4 46. gxf4 exf4
47. Rd3 Qe4 48. Rh3 Qf5 49. Kg2 Qg6+ 50. Kf1 Ke5 51. Bf3 Kd4 52. Rh4 Qd3+ 53.
Kg2 Qf5 54. Rh3 Qg6+ 55. Kf1 Qf5 56. Kg2 Qg5+ 57. Kf1 Kc3 58. Rh5 Qg6 59. Rc5+
Kd4 60. Rd5+ Kc4 61. Rh5 Qd6 62. Rd5 Qf6 63. Rh5 Qf8 64. Kg2 Kc3 65. Kf1 Qe7
66. Rd5 Qh7 67. Rh5 Qb1+ 68. Kg2 Qg6+ 69. Kf1 Qf6 70. Rc5+ Kd4 71. Rd5+ Kc4 72.
Rh5 Qa1+ 73. Kg2 Qg7+ 74. Kf1 Qf8 75. Rd5 Kc3 76. Kg2 Qg8+ 77. Kf1 Qf8 78. Kg2
Qg7+ 79. Kf1 Qe7 80. Rh5 Qd6 81. Rd5 Qf8 82. Kg2 Kc4 83. Kf1 Qf6 84. Rh5 Qd6
85. Rd5 Qa3 86. Kg2 Kc3 87. Rh5 Qe7 88. Rd5 Qa3 89. Rh5 Qf8 90. Rd5 Qe7 91. Kf1
Kc2 92. Kg2 Qb4 93. Kf1 Qe7 94. Kg2 Qa3 95. Rh5 Qb4 96. Rd5 Qc3 97. Bd1+ Kc1
98. Bf3 Qa3 99. Rf5 Qd6 100. Rd5 Qe7 101. Rd1+ Kc2 102. Rd5 Qb4 103. Kf1 Qc4+
104. Kg2 Qc3 105. Be4+ Kb2 106. Bf3 Kc1 107. Rd1+ Kb2 108. Rd5 Qg7+ 109. Kf1
Qe7 110. Rd2+ Kc3 111. Rd5 Qb4 112. Kg2 Qe7 113. Kf1 Qb4 114. Kg2 Qc4 115. Rh5
Qe6 116. Rc5+ Kd4 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

I was nearly ready to declare the game a draw because of the 75 move rule (same as 50 move rule except that a TD may initiate it without a player claiming).  It had been 70 moves since a capture or pawn move.  However, Chen claimed the 50 move rule and saved me from initiating. NM Christopher Shen and FM Wesley Wang drew, as did NM Alexander Crump and NM Christopher Yoo. FM Peng became the only perfect 5-0 score, by defeating IM George Li in a fun Sicilian, also posted in an earlier US Chess report. Peng called this his "favorite game" of the event. "I hold George Li in a very high regard and I felt that his play was very strong throughout the tournament."

[pgn]

[Event "National K-12 Championships"]
[Date "2017.11.24"]
[White "Peng, David"]
[Black "Li, George"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.08.01"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.08.01"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nb3 g6 7. Be2 Bg7 8. g4
Nc6 9. g5 Nd7 10. Be3 b5 11. Qd2 Bb7 12. O-O-O Rc8 13. Kb1 Na5 14. Bd4 Nxb3 15.
axb3 Bxd4 16. Qxd4 O-O 17. Bg4 Rc7 18. f4 Nc5 19. h4 Ne6 20. Qe3 b4 21. h5 gxh5
22. Rxh5 bxc3 23. Rxh7 Kxh7 24. Qh3+ Kg8 25. Rh1 1-0

[/pgn]

Only three players were able to win and keep within striking distance of Peng after five rounds.  IM Balakrishnan defeated NM Crump, NM Asaria defeated NM Zachary Tannenbaum and FM Yoo defeated Nalin Khanna.  That meant Balakrishnan, Asaria, and Yoo would enter the penultimate round trailing Peng by ½ point.  In round 5, Chen and De Dona both won again, and Chen stood at 4-1 and De Dona at 3 ½ - 1 ½. Peng was the only player at 5-0 and there were 3 players at 4 ½, but there were 24 players at 4-1 that would need to win to keep their title hopes alive.   Peng had the black pieces against Balakrishnan and the game ended in a somewhat unusual way.

[pgn]

[Event "National High School (K-12) Championshi"]
[Site "Columbus, Ohio"]
[Date "2018.04.29"]
[White "Balakrishnan, Praveen"]
[Black "Peng, David"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2482"]
[BlackElo "2407"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8.
O-O Bd6 9. Kh1 h5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. f4 e5 12. f5 Be7 13. Bc4 Bb7 14. Qf3 h4 15.
Rad1 Qa5 16. Bb3 O-O-O 17. Na4 d5 18. Bb6 Qb4 19. Bxd8 Rxd8 20. Nc3 d4 21. Nb1
c5 22. a3 Qb5 23. Nd2 Qe8 24. Bc4 Bd6 25. Rfe1 Bc7 26. b4 cxb4 27. axb4 Rd6 28.
Qh3 Rb6 29. Qxh4 Rxb4 30. Bd3 a5 31. g4 Nd7 32. g5 Nc5 33. Qh7 g6 34. Rf1 Bd8
35. h4 Kb8 36. Qg7 a4 37. Kh2 Bc8 38. Rb1 Rxb1 39. Rxb1+ Ka8 40. Bb5 Qe7 41.
Bc4 gxf5 42. Qxf7 fxe4 43. Qxe7 Bxe7 44. Nxe4 Nxe4 45. Bd5+ Ka7 46. Bxe4 a3 47.
Kg3 a2 48. Ra1 Be6 49. g6 Bf8 50. h5 Kb6 51. Kh4 Bh6 52. g7 Bxg7 53. Kg5 Kc5
54. Bf5 Bd5 55. Kg6 Bf8 56. h6 Bxh6 57. Kxh6 Kb4 58. Kg5 Kc3 59. Kf6 Kb2 60.
Re1 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

I started observing the game with both players in time pressure at about move 48.  Balakrishnan was up an exchange, but Peng had some compensation in a protected passed pawn on the 7^th.  Still, Balakrishnan had a clear edge and was playing for the win.  In severe time pressure with each player only having seconds on their clock (with 5 second delay), some wins are missed and Balakrishnan was able to force Peng to give up a piece for a passed pawn leaving Balakrishnan up a rook, but Peng is able to force Balakrishnan to give up the rook for the protected passed pawn.  So, the fireworks conclude and there is a bishop of same color ending where each side has one pawn – dead equal.  However, Balakrishnan’s flag falls and he offers a draw (completely justified by the position) which Peng accepted with 6 seconds remaining on his clock.  Had Peng noticed, he could have won on time and would have finished the tournament 7-0! Peng still singled this game out as his favorite of the event.

My best and toughest game was round 6 against Praveen, facing an unknown opening against a very strong player was difficult and it took a lot of effort and resilience to continue to create pressure for my opponent in an objectively lost position.

Meanwhile on board 2, Yoo defeated Asaria to catch Peng with 5 ½ - ½.  Almost all the games involving players at 4-1 were decisive.  There would be 10 players chasing Peng and Yoo, only down ½ point.  The Cinderella stories of Chen and De Dona came to an end on the last day as Chen lost and De Dona drew to both enter the last round at 4-2.  They would both be paired with masters and both finish with 4 points In round seven, Peng obtained a nice advantage in the early middle game and then demonstrated very strong technique in bringing home the full point to win the tournament in clear first.

I didn't expect much going into the last round, as I knew Christopher was a very strong player and simply didn't want to repeat my last game against him, where I got crushed with the Black pieces. I think I did a fine job of not letting my emotions get in the way and playing the game like I would against anyone else.

Four of the five games involving players at 5-1 were decisive and the lower rated won three of the four games.  Board 2 saw FM Wesley Wang defeat FM Roland Feng.  On board 3, FM Ben Li defeated IM Cameron Wheeler.  NM Michael Chen and IM Praveen Balakrishnan drew on board 4 as the only draw on the top boards.  Board 5 saw IM George Li beat NM Justin Chen and finally on board 6 NM Jason Morefield beat FM Andrew Hong. https://twitter.com/LeilaDAquin/status/990603418564743170 Other highlights through the weekend was an active girls club room.  There was also a group cheer for Fabiano Caruana's World Championship quest. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/990310856025149440 https://www.instagram.com/p/BiPO7FElmSM/?taken-by=us_chess The team competition went down to the wire and in the end, we crowned co-champions: Thomas Jefferson HS in Alexandria, VA and Whitney Young HS in Chicago, IL.  Both schools scored 19 ½ points.  Right behind them were Edgemont HS from Scarsdale, NY and Jericho Middle School from  Jericho, NY. Thomas Jefferson would be favored- their top four players had the highest average at 2246 with a deep bench of 15 players.  Still, it was bound to be competitive.  Whitney’s top 4 came in at 2146, but they only had a total of 5 players. Another team to watch would be Edgemont as their top 4 averaged 2211.  They had 4 masters on the team and there only non-master was Derek Chen who pulled off the two upsets of masters in the first two round.  However, they only had 4 players and no margin for error.  Jericho also would have to be taken seriously as they had FM Wang, WIM Evelyn Zhu and two class A players.  Their 2079 average made them a darkhorse, but they couldn’t be counted out. Going into the last round, the eventual co-champions were trailing the competition.  Edgemont was leading with 17 points, but they were tied with New York’s Stuyvesant also with 17. Five schools trailed with 16 points:  Thomas Jefferson, Whitney, Jericho, San Jose’s Mission HS and Monta Vista HS from California. Both Thomas Jefferson and Whitney Young  had huge final  rounds, scoring 3.5/4, ending up as co-champs.  Thomas Jefferson also won the Team Blitz Championship, and the team's top board, 16-year-old Praveen Balakrishnan  had some words of wisdom, which US Chess shared in full on Facebook.

Yes, we were lucky. Yes, we reduced the lifespan of our coaches and parents. Yes, we created a thrilling must-see DGT.

But at the end, when the dust settled, we are the NATIONAL CHAMPIONS not in just one category but in both blitz and main categories, a rare feat and first in TJ history.

While the focus is rightfully on the National Champions, there were five Under sections.  We congratulate them as section winners. The winners of each section are listed below: https://twitter.com/IS318Chess/status/990733562398826496 Under 1900:  Robbie Galpern, IS 318, Brooklyn, NY 6 ½- ½ and Team Champion  IS 318- 19 ½ https://twitter.com/IS318Chess/status/990738286305054720 Under 1600:  Samuel Campbell, Mt Vernon HS, Mt Vernon, IN, 7-0 and Team Champions Cass Tech, Detroit, MI 19 and San Benito HS, TX 19 Under 1200: Brecon Hession, Abington HS, PA, John Patrick Corson, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, Richmond, VA and Austin Kubisiak, Nekoosa HS, Nekoosa, WI 6 ½ - ½ and Team Champions Argo HS, Summitt, IL, 23                       Under 800: Zabdiel Green, De La Salle HS, Chicago, IL  7-0 and Team Champions Valley HS, Louisville, KY   20 Unrated: Dominic Salvino, Benet Academy, Lisle, IL  6 ½ - ½ and Benet Academy, Lisle, IL 18 Find full results from the High School Championships on the tournament website.