Kostya on the 2018 Pan American Youth Chess Championships

I was really excited to get invited to coach for the U.S. team at the 2018 Pan American Youth Chess Championships—it’s been a goal of mine for a few years now to work and prepare top talents, and this was an excellent opportunity to do just that. The event took place in Santiago, Chile, with the actual tournament held inside one of the large sport complexes within the National Stadium. I traveled to South America from Europe, as I was in the midst of a multi-tourney trip which started all the way back on June 10 (!), landing a few days before the event. My task was relatively straightforward, prepare six of our official players for each round and then analyze their games afterwards. I was quite happy to work alongside veteran coaches IM Armen Ambartsoumian and IM Andranik Matikozyan – they along with the head of delegation, FM Aviv Friedman were able to show me the ropes, and share a lot of stories about the team’s greatest successes (and failures)! Overall, the tournament was a resounding success for the U.S delegation--we earned four gold medals, two silvers, six bronze medals, and the overall team gold, a great achievement! For a full list of winners, sections, and other info, check out Franc Guadalupe’s nice recap here. To check out some of the top games from each section throughout the tournament, you can view them on chess24. Based on brief anecdotes I’d heard from other coaches and articles I’d read about past world youth competitions, going in I knew to expect that the daily schedule of prep/gameplay/game analysis would be grueling, and that there would probably be some logistical surprises/hiccups along the way. So I prepared myself emotionally to work hard, be patient, and try to give my full effort no matter what. I also aimed to keep an adventurous mindset, which often simply meant holding a positive attitude when issues would arise on the fly. Before the start of the tournament on July 22, there were already a few challenges to sort out, mainly those having to do with the compact schedule of the tournament and the 30-40 minute traffic distance between the venue and the official tournament hotels. Long story short, through a combined effort between the coaches and the parents, issues were solved in time and spirits were mostly kept high throughout the event. Once we got to Round 1 and the kids were able to start playing chess, the tournament ran like any other.

My Students

The prep sessions before the rounds, despite often not lasting more than 10-15 minutes were still fairly productive. Many parents were already experienced in looking up games and handling PGNs, which meant they could start preparing for opponents as soon as pairings went up. This meant I could use the individual time I had with each student focusing on as much concrete chess as possible, reviewing their opening repertoire and patching up whatever lines we could in the given time. As is typical for these events, I was assigned six students – Rohan Rajaram (U8), Rowan Field (U10), Lila Field (U10), Iris Mou (U10), Jed Sloan (U10), and Davis Zhong Jr. (U12). All in all, I was really impressed, not just with everyone’s performance, but their effort and attitude throughout the event. Most of the kids aren’t used to playing full nine round events, which meant it was increasingly important to maintain their focus and motivation in the final rounds. Rohan finished in 5^th place in the Absolute U8 with 6.5/9, which was a good result overall, but he was definitely aiming for a higher score. Sisters Rowan and Lila Field both performed above their initial standing, with Rowan finishing in 7^th and Lila in 28^th place. Despite their good score, after working with them throughout the event, I’m sure they also have their ambitions set to do even better next time. Iris was one of the top players in the Girls U10 and had a great event to finish with 7.5/9, earning her the silver medal behind another American, Sophie Velea, who dominated the field with 8.5/9. Sophie’s sister, Anne-Marie Velea also won clear first in her own section, the Girls U14, while a third sister, Stephanie Velea, finished in a respectable 10^th place in the Girls U12. Not bad for one family! Vying for one of the medals from the very start and succeeding was Jed Sloan, one of the top contenders in the Absolute U10, who scored 7/9 and won silver, ahead on tiebreaks of fellow U.S. player Shawnak Shivakumar, who also scored 7/9. While the 2^nd place result was fantastic, the last round was a bit unfortunate: Jed had the tournament leader on the ropes with an extra pawn, in a spot where the win would give him clear first, but decided to settle for a draw and clinch silver instead, not wanting to risk it. It was likely a missed opportunity for another gold, but from a player’s perspective I certainly understand the desire not wanting to lose in the last round. A great achievement nevertheless! Here is one of Jed’s games from an earlier round, where he was able to get a small advantage from the opening and grind out a nice endgame win:

[pgn][Event "2018 Pan American Youth Chess Festival"]
[Site "Gimnasio Polideportivo del Es"]
[Date "2018.07.24"]
[Round "4.8"]
[White "Jimenez Jimenez, Abednego"]
[Black "Sloan, Jed"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1192"]
[BlackElo "1494"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2018.07.22"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CHI"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Be2 Nf6 8.
O-O Bb4 9. f3 Bxc3 10. bxc3 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Qd2 Nxe3 13. Qxe3 Qe5 14. Qxe5
Nxe5 15. f4 Ng6 16. Rab1 O-O 17. Bf3 Nxf4 18. Bxb7 Bxb7 19. Rxb7 Nd5 20. c4 Ne3
21. Rf3 Nxc4 22. Rc3 Rfc8 23. Rf3 Nd6 24. Rd7 Rd8 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Ra3 Nb5
27. Nxb5 axb5 28. Ra5 Rb8 29. Kf2 g6 30. Ke3 e5 31. Ke4 f6 32. Ra6 Kf7 33. Ra7+
Ke6 34. Rxh7 f5+ 35. Ke3 Ra8 36. Rh6 Kf6 37. Rh3 Ra3+ 38. Ke2 Rxh3 39. gxh3 Ke6
40. Ke3 Kd5 41. Kd3 e4+ 42. Ke3 g5 43. c3 f4+ 44. Kd2 Kc4 45. a3 e3+ 46. Ke2
Kxc3 47. h4 gxh4 0-1[/pgn]

My oldest student was Davis Zhong Jr., who was one of the top players in the Absolute U12 section. Davis had recently broken 2200 USCF over the summer and had a lot of confidence going into the event, which made the prep sessions with him productive and spirited. He showed a real enthusiasm for the game, and I saw recently he wrote a nice article about the 44^th US Chess School at the Marshall Chess Club. Despite giving up a few too many draws against lower-rated players, he was also just half a point behind first place going into the last round, when he was then paired against the leader (and top player of the section) for a chance at gold. Having calculated that a draw would likely land him out of the medals (as a few other players would catch up and beat him on tiebreaks), he went all out for a win in an equal endgame and ended up losing. A tough finish, but I have no doubt he’ll be fighting for medals in future years to come. I’d like to share one of his earlier games in the event, where he produced a nice attacking miniature:

[pgn][Event "2018 Pan American Youth Chess Festival"]
[Site "Gimnasio Polideportivo del Es"]
[Date "2018.07.24"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Zong, Davis"]
[Black "Aragon, Ricardo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2075"]
[BlackElo "1441"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2018.07.22"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CHI"]1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 b6 5. Qd2 Bb7 6. O-O-O Nd7 7. h4 h5 8. Nh3
c5 9. Ng5 Ngf6 10. e5 $1 {A nice break that refutes Black's setup on the spot.}
cxd4 {This move looks great if not for White's reply.} ({After the critical}
10... dxe5 {Davis planned} 11. dxe5 ({but} 11. Bc4 $5 e6 12. d5 $1 {is also
quite promising:} exd5 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 14. Bxd5 $18 {and Black will have to give
up at least an exchange.}) 11... Nxe5 12. Bb5+ ({Instead} 12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13.
Rxd8+ Kxd8 14. f4 $1 {wins the exchange.} Neg4 15. Nxf7+ Kc7 16. Nxh8 Nxe3 17.
Nxg6 $18) 12... Ned7 $1 {The only move. Now White has a choice. Stockfish
finds an amazing option:} (12... Bc6 {or Nc6 would lose the same way:} 13.
Qxd8+ Rxd8 14. Rxd8+ Kxd8 15. Bxc6 Nxc6 16. Nxf7+ $18) 13. Nxf7 $3 Kxf7 14. Bg5
$1 $16 {The point being to next play Rae1, building up pressure while Black
can hardly move anything with the knight on d7 able to be recaptured at any
time.}) 11. e6 $1 {A sweet tactical finesse.} Nf8 $2 {Making matters worse,
though Black's position was already very tough.} ({White's point can be seen
after} 11... dxe3 12. exf7+ Kf8 13. Ne6+ $1 {Everything comes with checks and
Black loses the queen.} Kxf7 14. Nxd8+ $18) ({Best was} 11... fxe6 12. Qxd4 $18
{and White has a huge advantage, but the game can continue.}) 12. Bb5+ {Now
White wins the house.} N8d7 13. exf7+ Kf8 14. Ne6+ Kxf7 15. Nxd8+ Raxd8 16.
Bxd4 e5 17. Be3 d5 18. Bg5 d4 19. Bc4+ Kf8 20. Rhe1 dxc3 21. Qd6+ 1-0[/pgn]

The Rest of the Team

Putting up the most impressive performance of any player in the tournament was Omya Vidyarthi in the Girls U8, who scored a perfect 9/9 in both the main tournament and the blitz. Omya also took clear first in this section in 2017, cementing her status as one of the best talents in the United States. Though to be fair, she definitely got a nice bit of luck in the final round---having already clinched first place in the previous round, Omya seemingly relaxed and fell into a completely lost position for most of the game, until her opponent blundered a mate in two (!), giving Omya the perfect score for the event. Her most important win of the tournament came in Round 6, when she defeated the top seed and main rival in the event, fellow American Crystal Gu. After Crystal missed a chance to snag the initiative in the opening, Omya secured a nice positional advantage and eventually converted in the endgame:

[pgn][Event "2018 Pan American Youth Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2018.07.25"]
[Round "6.12"]
[White "Vidyarthi, Omya"]
[Black "Gu, Crystal Jiuzhou"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "1145"]
[BlackElo "1313"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Ne4 4. Bf4 Qb6 5. Qc1 g6 6. f3 Bg7 7. c3 Nf6 8. e4 d6
9. Bd3 (9. Na3 {was better, preparing Nc4.}) 9... Nbd7 (9... e6 $1 {would have
made White's life difficult, as c3-c4 runs into Nh5, and} 10. dxe6 Bxe6 $17 {
Followed by 0-0 and d5 with a very active position for Black.}) 10. Ne2 Ne5 11.
Bxe5 dxe5 12. Nd2 Bh6 13. Qc2 O-O 14. Nc4 Qc7 15. a4 {White now has a nice
setup, restricting most of Black's position.} Bd7 16. O-O a6 17. a5 Rad8 18.
Nb6 e6 19. c4 Nh5 20. g3 exd5 $2 {This opens the c-file up for White's pieces.}
(20... f5 $5 {would keep the game dynamically balanced.}) 21. cxd5 Bh3 22. Rfd1
Qe7 23. Nc3 Qg5 24. Qf2 Nf4 25. Bf1 $1 {With this move White is able to trade
off Black's most active pieces and neutralize the attack.} Bxf1 26. Kxf1 Nh3
27. Qg2 Qh5 28. g4 Qh4 29. Qg3 Qxg3 30. hxg3 $16 {White's advantage in this
endgame is quite serious, as the protected passed pawn on d5 is strong and
Black's minor pieces are misplaced. Omya is eventually able to convert without
too many mishaps along the way.} f5 31. Kg2 Ng5 32. gxf5 gxf5 33. d6 fxe4 34.
fxe4 Ne6 35. Ncd5 Nd4 36. d7 Kf7 37. Nc4 Ke6 38. Rh1 Bg7 39. Ndb6 h6 40. Na4
Nb3 41. Ra3 Nd4 42. Nxc5+ Ke7 43. Rh5 Nc6 44. Ne3 Nd4 45. Ng4 Ne6 46. Nxe5 Bxe5
47. Rxe5 Rf6 48. Rf3 Rg6 49. Rb3 Kf7 50. Rxe6 Rxe6 51. Nxe6 Kxe6 52. Rxb7 Rxd7
53. Rxd7 Kxd7 54. Kf3 Ke6 55. Kf4 Kf6 56. e5+ Ke6 57. g4 Ke7 58. Kf5 Kf7 59.
e6+ Ke7 60. Ke5 Ke8 61. Kf6 Kf8 62. e7+ Ke8 63. Ke6 h5 64. g5 h4 65. g6 h3 66.
g7 h2 67. g8=R# 1-0[/pgn]

While I didn’t get a chance to interact with them much, the two sisters as mentioned above, Sophie Velea (U10) and Anne-Marie Velea (14) dominated their respected sections and both impressively clinched gold in the penultimate, 8^th round. Check out their key victories that nailed their 1^st place finish home:

[pgn][Event "2018 Pan American Youth Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2018.07.27"]
[Round "8.9"]
[White "Velea, Sophie"]
[Black "Pollard, Teja"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C46"]
[WhiteElo "1563"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Nxe5 Bxf2+ 5. Kxf2 Nxe5 6. d4 Nc6 7. Be3 d6
8. Be2 Qh4+ 9. g3 Qf6+ 10. Kg2 Qe6 11. Rf1 Nf6 12. Bf3 h5 13. Bf4 Qh3+ 14. Kg1
Bg4 15. Nd5 O-O-O 16. Nxf6 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 gxf6 18. d5 Ne7 19. Qg2 Qxg2+ 20. Kxg2
Rde8 21. Rae1 f5 22. c4 fxe4 23. Rxe4 Nf5 24. Be5 Nh6 25. Bxh8 Rxe4 26. h3 Re2+
27. Kh1 Re7 28. Bf6 Re3 29. Bg5 Rxg3 30. Bxh6 Rxh3+ 31. Kg2 Rh4 32. b3 Rg4+ 33.
Kh3 Re4 34. Rxf7 Re2 35. Bg5 b6 36. a4 Rc2 37. Rf3 a5 38. Kh4 Rh2+ 39. Rh3
Rxh3+ 40. Kxh3 Kd7 41. Kh4 c6 42. Kxh5 c5 43. Kg6 Ke8 44. Kf6 Kd7 45. Bf4 Kc7
46. Ke6 Kd8 47. Kxd6 Kc8 48. Ke7 b5 49. axb5 Kb7 50. d6 Kb6 51. d7 a4 52. d8=Q+
Kb7 53. Qb8# 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "2018 Pan American Youth Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2018.07.27"]
[Round "8.8"]
[White "Vicmary, Perez Hernandez"]
[Black "Velea, Anne-Marie"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B53"]
[BlackElo "1773"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 a6 5. c4 Nc6 6. Qd3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Nc3
Nf6 9. h3 Qa5 10. Rc1 O-O 11. Be2 Nd7 12. O-O Nde5 13. Qb1 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Be6
15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. cxd5 Ne5 17. Be2 Rfc8 18. Rfd1 Qd8 19. Rd2 Rxc1+ 20. Qxc1 Rc8
21. Rc2 Rxc2 22. Qxc2 h6 23. Qb3 Qc7 24. Bb6 Qc1+ 25. Bf1 Nd7 26. Bd8 Nc5 27.
Qf3 Qxb2 28. Bxe7 Qe5 29. Bd8 Qxe4 30. Qxe4 Nxe4 31. Bb6 Kf8 32. f3 Nc3 33. Bc4
Ke7 34. Kf2 Na4 35. Be3 b5 36. Bb3 Nc5 37. Bc2 h5 38. g4 hxg4 39. hxg4 a5 40.
Ke2 Bb2 41. Kd2 a4 42. Bxc5 dxc5 43. Bd3 c4 44. Be4 Kd6 45. f4 b4 46. f5 gxf5
47. Bxf5 Kxd5 48. Bd7 b3 49. axb3 axb3 50. Bf5 c3+ 0-1[/pgn]

Our final gold was earned by Max Lu in the Absolute U16 section. Max was one of the top players going into his section and was certainly aiming for the top spot from the very beginning, but he had a disaster in the first round and lost! After that, it was an uphill battle, but he managed to rattle off seven straight wins to win the tournament with a solid draw in the final round. Max’s Round 8 victory over the tournament’s top seed and leader was incredibly clutch—needing to play for a win with Black, Max found a comfortable opposite colored bishops middlegame and simplified into a winning endgame to elegantly convert the advantage:

[pgn][Event "2018 Pan American Youth Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2018.07.27"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Quirhuayo Chumbe, German Gonzalo"]
[Black "Lu, Maximillian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2198"]
[BlackElo "2211"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Peru"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "PER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bg5
Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. Nd2 b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. a4 b4 13. Nd5 Bb7 14. Nxb4 a5 15.
Na2 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Nc3 d5 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bc4 Qb6 20. b3 Kh8 21. Qd5
f5 22. Rad1 Qf6 23. Kh1 Rfd8 24. Qb5 Bb4 25. Bd5 Rab8 26. Qe2 Rd6 27. g4 g6 28.
gxf5 gxf5 29. f3 exf3 30. Qxf3 Rf8 31. Qe2 e4 32. c4 Qc3 33. Rg1 Rh6 34. Rg2
Bc5 35. Rf1 Rg6 36. Rb1 Rff6 37. Qb2 Qf3 38. Qe2 Qxg2+ $1 {An instructive
exchange. Superficially, it seems like Black may want to keep more pieces on
the board in view of the opposite colored bishops. But with White's queenside
majority completely blocked and Black's pawns on f5-e4 still flexible, Black
gets a solid endgame advantage and is able to win smoothly.} 39. Qxg2 Rxg2 40.
Kxg2 Rg6+ {Forcing White's king to sit out on the h-file.} (40... Kg7 {
Bringing the king forward right away was also good.}) 41. Kh1 Kg7 42. Rf1 Rf6
43. h4 Kg6 44. Kg2 Rb6 45. Rb1 Kf6 46. Kg3 Ke5 {Now Black's pawns are rolling
forward, though the game doesn't last much longer as White ends up blundering
a piece:} 47. h5 Bd6 48. Bg8 h6 49. Bf7 Kf6+ 0-1[/pgn]

Overall, we had some fantastic successes, but of course some important disappointments as well. I’d like to express thanks to the official U.S. delegation: Aviv, Franc, Armen, and Andranik; as well as the parents, who were an immense help throughout the tournament, and the folks at USCF supporting the team from back home – Boyd Reed and Judy Misner. The U.S. team has a couple of events to look forward to later this year – the World Youth in Halkidiki, Greece (Oct 16-31) and the World Cadet in Santiago de Compostela (Nov 3-16). This was a great first official coaching experience for me, I hope to do this a lot more in the future!