Kolay Finishes Fourth at World Youth

Alex Kolay drew in today’s final round to share second place, and fourth overall via tiebreaks, in the 2019 FIDE World Youth Open Under 14 section. He stands to gain 80 rating points for his performance. Kolay entered the round a half-point behind leader IM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE), and was paired with FM Mark Morgunov (AUT), who like Kolay was at 7.5 ponts. Suleymanli won on board one against Sultaon Amanzhol (KAZ), getting to 9/11 and taking uncontested first place. Kolay drew with Morgunov, with both players joining four others others (Srihari, Sreeshwan, Vo Phan Thien Phuc, and Tvestkov) at 8/11.

[pgn]

[Event "World Youth Open U14"]
[Date "2019.10.12"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Morgunov, Marc"]
[Black "Kolay, Alex"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C07"]
[WhiteElo "2280"]
[BlackElo "2164"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2019.10.02"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8.
Bd3 Bd6 9. Qe2 Ne7 10. e5 Bc7 11. Nf3 Ng6 12. O-O f6 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. Bg5 Qf7
15. Bxg6 Qxg6 16. Bh4 O-O 17. Bg3 Bxg3 18. hxg3 Rab8 19. Ne5 Qe8 20. b3 Qe7 21.
Rfe1 Be8 22. Qd2 Rf6 23. Re2 c5 24. c4 dxc4 25. Nxc4 Bb5 26. Re4 Bxc4 27. Rxc4
Rd8 28. Qe3 Rd5 29. Rac1 Qd6 30. f3 Rff5 31. Re4 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Kf2
Rd5 34. Qe1 Rd2+ 35. Re2 Rxe2+ 36. Qxe2 Qd4+ 37. Kf1 Kf7 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

IM Hans Niemann had a golden chance to win in the final round and perhaps medal, but he came apart in a tricky position against FM Jose Gabriel Cardoso Cardoso (COL). IM Jan van de Mortel analyzes the key moves; check out chessct.org for more from van de Mortel!

[pgn]

[Event "World Youth Open U16"]
[Date "2019.10.12"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Cardoso Cardoso, Jose Gabriel"]
[Black "Niemann, Hans"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2313"]
[BlackElo "2439"]
[Annotator "Jan,van de Mortel"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rNr5/pQ4pp/2p1p1k1/6qn/8/8/5PPP/5RK1 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

{2019 World Youth Championship Under 16, round 11 (annotations by IM Jan van
de Mortel)} 28. Qxc8 {A wild game with a triple pawn sacrifice has forced
black's king out in front of his pawns, but white's attack has led up for one
move allowing black a chance to clinch the game} Qd5 $4 (28... Qe5 {does not
win the knight because of the discovered attack with} 29. Nxc6 {and white has
small chances to hold the endgame after} Rxc8 30. Nxe5+ $19 {but}) (28... Nf4
$1 29. g3 Ne2+ 30. Kg2 Qe5 {and the inclusion of the knight maneuver to e2,
forcing the white king to g2, would have clinched the game because after} 31.
Nxc6 Qd5+ $19 {this in-between check wins decisive material.}) 29. Qc7 $1 {
now white unpins the knight while stopping black's lethal threat of Nh5-f4,
for example} (29. h3 $2 Nf4 30. f3 Qd2 31. Rf2 Qe1+ 32. Rf1 Qg3 33. Rf2 Nxh3+
34. Kh1 (34. Kf1 Qxf2#) 34... Nxf2+ 35. Kg1 Nh3+ 36. Kh1 Nf4 37. Qe8+ Kh6 {
and checkmate will follow soon, or}) (29. Qg8 Nf4 30. f3 Qd2 31. Rf2 Qe1+ 32.
Rf1 Ne2+ 33. Kh1 Qxf1#) 29... c5 30. Nc6 {although black's position is still
defendable, the weakness of the king and the realization that you just
blundered away a win and a medal makes his position almost impossible to
defend.} Kh6 31. Ne5 Nf6 $2 (31... Rf8 {was the only move as} 32. Nf7+ Kg6 33.
Ne5+ Kh6 {just leads to a repetition while} 34. Ng4+ Kg6 35. Ne3 Qe4 {will
give the black enough time to find safety, for example} 36. Qxc5 Rd8 37. Qxa7
h6 38. g3 Nf6 (38... Kh7 $2 39. Qa5 $18) 39. Ng2 Kh7) 32. Nf7+ Kh5 $6 (32...
Kg6 33. Ne5+ Kh6 34. Re1 Rf8 {would have prolonged the fight a little longer,
although after} 35. h4 $1 {the black king is in dire straits too.}) 33. Re1 g5
(33... Kg6 34. Ne5+ Kh6 35. g4 $18) 34. Ne5 Rf8 35. Qg7 {Checkmate cannot be
avoided anymore, for example} (35. Qd6 g4 36. Nxg4 {Qxh7+ Nh6 Qg6+} Kh4 {Qxh6#}
) 1-0

[/pgn]

Niemann finished in ninth place with 7/11. Overall winners include: Open U14 – IM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE), 9/11 Girls U14 – WFM Meruert Kamalidenova (KAZ), 8.5/11| Open U16 – IM Rudik Makarian (RUS), 8.5/11 Girls U16 – Leya Garifullina (RUS) and WFM Nazerke Nurgali (KAZ), 8.5/11 Open U18 – GM R Praggnanandhaa (IND), 9/11 Girls U18 – WIM Polina Shuvalova (RUS), 8.5/11 Final American point totals and places: Final round results for Team America: Thanks to the complete US Chess delegation – US Chess Executive Director Carol Meyer, Head of Delegation GM Elshan Moradiabadi, and Coaches IM Armen Ambartsoumian, WGM Sabina Foisor, and FM Aviv Friedman – for on-site support. Special thanks also to team uniform sponsor American Intercultural Education for their continued support.

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