Day 2 Underway in Orlando; Livestream Starts Tonight!

Three rounds are in the books at the K-12 Grade Championships in Orlando, Florida. Round 4 is underway as this goes to press, and tonight’s Round 5 (6pm EST) sees the start of the US Chess Livestream with GM Fidel Corrales Jiminez and WGM Jennifer Yu. Current standings for each section are available at the official tournament website, but here are some highlights:

Hans Niemann (photo Ana Vivas)

Hans Niemann is four wins away from fulfilling his Ruthian quest. Niemann “called his shot” on Thursday night, telling visiting media that he intended to go 29-0 over the weekend. After 10 wins in the Bughouse and 12 in the Blitz events, Niemann is at 3-0 in the 11th Grade section after three rounds. Henry Wang made it difficult in Round 3, but Niemann eventually prevailed.

[pgn] [Event "2019 11th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Niemann, Hans"] [Black "Wang, Henry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E02"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 e6 2. d4 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. c4 dxc4 6. Qa4+ Nbd7 7. O-O a6 8. Ne5 O-O 9. Nxc4 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Nxe3 b5 13. Qa3 Rb8 14. Nd2 Qb6 15. Nb3 Bb7 16. Bxb7 Qxb7 17. Rfd1 Rfc8 18. Rd6 Ra8 19. Rad1 Rc7 20. Na5 Qc8 21. Qd3 Rc1 22. Kg2 Rxd1 23. Qxd1 Qc7 24. b4 Qc3 25. Qd2 Qxd2 26. Rxd2 Nb6 27. Rd6 Nbd5 28. Nxd5 Nxd5 29. a3 Kf8 30. Rc6 Ke7 31. e4 Nf6 32. Rc7+ Ke8 33. Nb7 Nxe4 34. f3 Nd2 35. Nd6+ Kf8 36. Rxf7+ Kg8 37. Re7 Nb1 38. Rxe6 Nxa3 39. Re2 Rd8 40. Nb7 Rd4 41. Ra2 Nb1 42. Rxa6 Rxb4 43. Nd6 h6 44. f4 Rb2+ 45. Kh3 b4 46. Ra8+ Kh7 47. f5 Rd2 $2 (47... Rf2 $1 48. Rb8 Nd2 49. Rxb4 Nf1 $1 $132) 48. Nf7 $1 {threatening mate on h8!} g5 49. Ne5 Rf2 50. Ra7+ Kg8 51. Ng4 Rf1 52. Kg2 Nd2 53. Rd7 Rd1 54. f6 b3 55. Ne5 b2 56. Rg7+ Kf8 57. Ng6+ Ke8 58. f7+ Kd7 59. f8=Q+ Kc6 60. Qc8+ Kd5 61. Rd7+ Ke4 62. Qe8+ Kf5 63. Rd5+ Kf6 64. Rd6+ Kf5 65. Qe6# 1-0 [/pgn]

Early rounds at scholastic nationals often feature ratings mismatches of hundreds of points, which can result in tactical fireworks. Yuv Chennareddy, the top seed in the 4th Grade section, takes down Daniel Messer in a very pretty game.

[pgn] [Event "2019 4th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.13"] [Round "2.10"] [White "Messer, Daniel"] [Black "Chennareddy, Yuv"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C45"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qf6 5. Be3 Bc5 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bc4 b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Nc2 O-O-O 10. b4 Ne5 11. Bd3 Bxe3 12. Nxe3 Qg6 13. f3 d5 14. Nf5 Rhe8 15. Nxe7+ Rxe7 16. Bc2 dxe4 17. Qe1 Nxf3+ 18. Rxf3 exf3 19. Bxg6 Rxe1+ 20. Kf2 Re2+ 21. Kg3 Rxg2+ 22. Kh3 hxg6 0-1 [/pgn]

Brewington Hardaway (photo Ana Vivas)

Newly minted National master Brewington Hardaway is at 3-0 in the 5th Grade Championship. He showed impressive technique in this third round win over Henri Van Zandweghe.

[pgn] [Event "2019 5th Grade Ch"] [Site "Orlando, FL, United States"] [Date "2019.12.14"] [Round "3.9"] [White "Van Zandweghe, H."] [Black "Hardaway, Brewin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B43"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 Bb4 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. f3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nde2 Nxe3 11. Qxe3 O-O 12. O-O-O Nc6 13. h4 Qe5 14. Qxe5 Nxe5 15. Ne4 b5 16. Nf4 Bb7 17. Nd6 Bc6 18. Ne4 Rfd8 19. Nd3 Nxd3+ 20. Bxd3 Bd5 21. a3 Be7 22. h5 h6 23. Kb1 Rac8 24. Rhe1 Bh4 25. Rg1 Be7 26. Nc3 Bc6 27. Be4 Kf8 28. Bxc6 Rxc6 29. Rxd8+ Bxd8 30. Rd1 Ke7 31. Na2 Rc5 32. Nb4 a5 33. Nd3 Rxh5 34. f4 Rd5 35. Kc1 Bb6 36. Re1 Bc7 37. Ne5 Bxe5 38. fxe5 Rd4 39. c3 Rg4 40. Re2 g5 41. Kc2 h5 42. b4 a4 43. Kd3 h4 44. Ke3 Kf8 45. Rd2 Rc4 46. Rd3 Kg7 47. Kf3 Kg6 48. Re3 Kf5 49. Kf2 g4 50. Ke2 Re4 51. Rxe4 Kxe4 52. Kf2 Kxe5 53. Ke3 f5 54. Kf2 Kd5 55. Ke3 Kc4 56. Kd2 h3 57. gxh3 gxh3 58. Kc2 h2 59. Kb2 h1=Q 60. Kc2 Qg2+ 61. Kc1 Kxc3 62. Kb1 Qb2# 0-1 [/pgn]

Livestream Tonight

With four rounds to play, there will surely be more twists and turns. Beginning with tonight’s round 5, family, friends, and fans across the globe can head to the US Chess Twitch stream to watch the top boards with analysis from GM Fidel Corrales Jiminez and WGM Jennifer Yu. The stream starts at 6pm EST, and will continue tomorrow with Round 6 (9am) and Round 7 (1pm). Guest Grandmaster Var Akobian will also drop by, and there are always surprise visitors! If you are on-site, head to the El Paso room to watch the stream live and ask questions of our distinguished commentators!

Girls Club

The Girls Club continues today in the Laredo room. Carolina Blanco and Jennifer Shahade played a tandem simul this morning, and you can meet Jennifer Yu at 3pm.