Good Times and Chess in Khanty Mansiysk: Update After Seven Rounds

Gabriel Sam and David Peng are among the leaders of the US Chess delegation in Khanty-Mansiysk, both tied for 5th after seven rounds of the World Youth Championship Under 14 Open section. In between the fierce on the board chess action, the team is enjoying the socializing and general chess education that a tournament like the World Youth offers, including a group dinner to a Georgian restaurant sponsored by Two Sigma.Christopher Wu, who is participating in his seventh World Youth, said, "We made jokes and talked about the games, school, and our home life. We really had fun together. We never had anything like this in the past." Back to the chess! Check out a key victory from Gabriel Sam in round five:

[pgn] [Event "Khanty Mansiysk"] [Site "Khanty Mansiysk"] [Date "2016.09.26"] [Round "5.8"] [White "Sam, Gabriel"] [Black "Roseneck, Jonas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2069"] [BlackElo "2178"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2016.09.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 b5 8. Nd5 Nge7 9. c4 Nxd5 10. cxd5 Nd4 11. Bd3 Be7 12. O-O O-O 13. Nc2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 Bd7 15. Be3 Bg5 16. Qd2 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 f5 18. exf5 Bxf5 19. Rac1 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Rc8 21. Rc6 Rxc6 22. dxc6 d5 23. Qa3 e4 24. Qxa6 e3 25. fxe3 Rxf1+ 26. Kxf1 Qf6+ 27. Kg1 Qxb2 28. Qc8+ Kf7 29. Qd7+ Kf8 30. Qxd5 Ke7 31. Qc5+ Ke6 32. c7 Qa1+ 33. Kf2 Qf6+ 34. Ke2 Qb2+ 35. Kd3 Qb1+ 36. Qc2 Qf1+ 37. Kc3 Kd7 38. Qd3+ Qxd3+ 39. Kxd3 Kxc7 40. Kd4 Kc6 41. e4 1-0[/pgn]

Although Annie Wang, who was tied for the lead after four rounds, lost to top seed Elizaveta Solozhenkina (Russia) in round five of the Girls Under 14, she is currently on 5/7 points and tied for 3rd place.

[pgn] [Event "WYCC2016"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2016.09.26"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Solozhenkina Elizaveta (RUS)"] [Black "Wang Annie (USA)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [PlyCount "195"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bd3 Qb6 11. Bf2 h6 12. O-O Bxf2+ 13. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 14. Kxf2 g5 15. g3 g4 16. Nd2 Ke7 17. Ne2 Bb7 18. Nb3 Rac8 19. Nbd4 Nc5 20. Ke3 f6 21. Nxc6+ Bxc6 22. exf6+ Kxf6 23. Nd4 Be8 24. b4 Na4 25. Rae1 Bf7 26. Kd2 Nb6 27. Re3 Rhe8 28. Rfe1 h5 29. R3e2 Rc7 30. Nb3 Nd7 31. Rf2 Rec8 32. Rfe2 Re8 33. a3 Rcc8 34. Rf2 Rc7 35. Ra1 Rb8 36. a4 Bg6 37. Bxg6 Kxg6 38. axb5 axb5 39. Re2 Rb6 40. Nd4 Rc4 41. Nxe6 Kf6 42. Ng5 Rbc6 43. Kd1 Rxb4 44. Ra7 Rd6 45. Ra8 Rb1+ 46. Kd2 Nc5 47. Rh8 Ne4+ 48. Nxe4+ dxe4+ 49. Ke3 Kg6 50. Re8 b4 51. Rxe4 b3 52. cxb3 Rxb3+ 53. Kf2 Rf3+ 54. Kg2 Rdd3 55. Re6+ Kg7 56. R6e5 Kh6 57. Re7 Kg6 58. R7e6+ Kg7 59. R6e5 Kh6 60. Re8 Kg7 61. R2e7+ Kf6 62. Re6+ Kf5 63. Re2 Kg6 64. Rg8+ Kh6 65. Rh8+ Kg6 66. Re6+ Kg7 67. Rhe8 Rd2+ 68. Re2 Rdd3 69. R8e4 Kg6 70. Ra4 Rd6 71. Ra5 Kh6 72. Rg5 Ra3 73. Rb2 Rda6 74. h3 Ra2 75. Rgb5 Rxb2+ 76. Rxb2 gxh3+ 77. Kxh3 Ra5 78. Kh4 Kg6 79. Rb6+ Kg7 80. Re6 Ra3 81. Re5 Kg6 82. Rg5+ Kf6 83. Rxh5 Ra4 84. Kg4 Ra3 85. Rb5 Ra6 86. Rb4 Rc6 87. f5 Rc3 88. Rb6+ Kf7 89. Kf4 Ra3 90. g4 Ra7 91. Kg5 Kg7 92. f6+ Kf7 93. Rb5 Ra4 94. Rb7+ Kf8 95. Kf5 Rc4 96. g5 Rc5+ 97. Kg6 Rc8 98. Rh7 1-0[/pgn]

Jerry Nash of US Chess reports from the scene that the coaches and players are having a great time, as well as working hard on chess. "The analysis is important for player improvement and team morale. Players greet each other and offer congratulations or condolences as needed and linger to laugh and talk to each other, offering their own insights for the game breakdown. Even parents will observe the sessions and listen in on the suggestions for improvement or the praise for a game well played. The delegation is extremely grateful to Two Sigma for providing the resources to secure this room for the World Youth."

The team also went to a special group bonding dinner, which many of our young delegation enjoyed, including Simona Nayberg in the Girls Under 14, who is attending her second World Youth for US Chess: "I had a great time helping my friends pick out the foods that they ordered at the team dinner. I read and speak Russian so I got to use it to help my friends out. I didn’t know everyone beforehand and it was good to meet a lot of them during the meal. The uniforms are really comfortable to sit in during the games and look good. All the other teams have uniforms and ours make us look like a real team." David Peng, who is doing well in the Open Under 14, is attending his fifth World Youth and said, "The food and the atmosphere was great and it helped us get to know each other better. It helped for the next day because it was a few hours where we didn’t think about chess, we were just having a good time. I had the pork with pineapple. The uniform helps me feel like I am part of a team, not just an individual at a tournament."

  Head of Delegation FM Aviv Friedman told US Chess, "The Two Sigma-sponsored dinner was a tremendous morale booster for the team. It was reminiscent of yesteryear gatherings of our delegation when the numbers were much smaller. I am going to state unscientifically that the good food and the good company were the main catalysts for our team scoring 9 and a half out of 13 points the following day! Thanks to Two Sigma for helping our team!" Team US Chess after seven rounds Open Under 14 Gabriel Sam and David Peng- 5/7 Marcus Miyasaka- 3.5/7 Open Under 16 Bryce Tiglon and Craig Hilby- 4/7 Open Under 18 Christopher Wu- 3/7 Girls Under 14 Annie Wang -5/7 Shreya B Mangalam and Ritika Pandey-3.5/7 Simona Nayberg-3/7

Girls Under 16 Tianhui Jie- 3.5/7 Julia Sevilla- 3/7 Girls Under 18 Evan Xiang- 3/7

Follow along on the official site and find out more about the Two Sigma sponsorship here.