Niemann Keeps Lead In World Youth U16

IM Hans Niemann kept his lead in the 2019 FIDE World Youth Open U16 on Wednesday after a spectacular Round 8 win over Colombian FM Miguel Angel Soto.

Hans Niemann, Photo IM Rosen

Niemann appears to have rehabilitated a line in the 3…e6 Rossolimo Sicilian that was scoring very well for White. While it’s unclear whether this was over-the-board brilliance or heavy home preparation, IM Jan van de Mortel explains in his notes to Soto-Niemann just how Hans got the job done. Check out chessct.org for more from van de Mortel as the tournament unfolds!

[pgn] [Event "World Youth Open U16"] [Date "2019.10.09"] [Round "8"] [White "Soto, Miguel Angel"] [Black "Niemann, Hans"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2283"] [BlackElo "2439"] [Annotator "Jan,van de Mortel"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {2019 World Youth Championship Under 16, round 8 (annotated by IM Jan van de Mortel)} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo Variation against the Sicilian Defense has been a popular way to combat 2...Nc6.} e6 {Now white must decide whether to take on c6 and double black's c-pawns or proceed as in the game...} 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1 {It might seem odd to bring the bishop back to its starting square, but white's kingside pieces are working together well and white retains the option of employing the bishop on the long diagonal with g2-g3 and Bf1-g2.} (6. Bxc6 $6 Nxc6 {Would give up the pair of bishops without getting a better pawn structure in return.}) 6... d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. d4 cxd4 $5 (8... Nf6 {is how most Grandmaster games continue, but black's choice is the start of an impressive piece of game preparation or over-the-board brilliance.}) 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. Nf5 {This position scores a whopping 5,5-0,5 in the database, but in nine logical moves by white he is suddenly caught in a vicious attack on his king.} Qc7 11. Qxd5 {It appears that Black is equalizing after this natural move which wins a pawn.} (11. c4 {but here too Black seems to be up to the task.} Nf6 {Black is ready castle queenside forcing the white knight back, so} 12. c5 $5 {is a critical attempt to try justify the knight on f5.} Nb4 $1 {Black is getting ready to throw up a big roadblock on his outpost on d5.} 13. Nd6+ (13. Be3 Bc6 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. cxd6 Qd7 16. Nc3 O-O 17. Bc5 Nbd5 {and white's passed pawn on d6 is more of a liability than an asset, although with the pair of bishops white should be ok even if the pawn is lost. However, black has successfully equalized.}) 13... Bxd6 14. cxd6 Qc5 15. Nc3 Nbd5 16. Nxd5 Qxd5 17. Bf4 Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Bb5 {forcing the trade of white's pair of bishops and getting ready to block the passed d-pawn with the king, for example} 19. Bxb5+ axb5 20. Re5 Kd7 21. Rxb5 Rhb8 22. a3 Nd5 23. Bg3 b6 $44 {and black is more than fine with the strong knight and active king.}) 11... O-O-O 12. Qc4 exf5 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Qxf7 Ne5 16. Qb3 {looks very logical, but as it turns out white will be facing big practical problems soon.} (16. Qh5 {is the best, and perhaps only way to continue:} Ng4 17. Be2 Qf4 18. Qh4 Bc6 19. Qg3 Qxg3 20. hxg3 Rhe8 $44 {and even in the endgame black's active pieces are more than enough compensation for the pawn, for example} 21. Nc3 Rd2 22. Bd3 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Rxf2 24. Re2 Rxe2 25. Bxf5+ Bd7 26. Bxd7+ Kxd7 27. Nxe2 Kd6 {knight endgames with an extra pawn are usually winning, but white's king has a very hard time activating and it is black who has the better chances.}) ( 16. Qxg7 $2 Nf3+ 17. gxf3 Rhg8 $19) 16... Ng4 17. Qg3 (17. g3 $2 Bc6 18. Na3 ( 18. Nc3 Qc5 $19) 18... Rhe8 {With tremendous activity, for example} 19. Nc4 Qd4 20. Ne3 Nxf2 21. Qc3 (21. Kxf2 f4 22. gxf4 Qxf4+ 23. Kg1 Rd2 {and white king will not be much longer for the world.}) 21... Qxc3 22. bxc3 Nd1 $1 23. Raxd1 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Rxe3 25. Bd3 g6 $19 {Although the material is even, black has a superior pawn structure and much more active pieces.}) 17... f4 18. Qc3+ Bc6 19. h3 $2 {The decisive mistake, but white's position was already a nightmare to play from a practical point of view.} (19. Bd3 Kb8 20. h3 h5 21. Nd2 f3 22. Nxf3 Bxf3 23. hxg4 hxg4 24. Qe5 {is a very narrow path to hold the position.}) 19... h5 $1 20. Na3 (20. a3 {a 'non-move' to show black's lethal threat:} f3 21. g3 Qxg3+ 22. fxg3 f2#) (20. f3 {is the best move for white} Ne3 {but this is not going to be a walk in the park either.}) 20... f3 $1 21. hxg4 hxg4 22. Qe5 Qxe5 23. Rxe5 Rh6 {Even without queens the white king is caught in a mating attack.} 24. gxf3 Bxf3 25. Bg2 Rdh8 {threatening Rh6-h1 with checkmate to follow.} 26. Re8+ {Postponing the inevitable} Rxe8 27. Kf1 Rh2 (27... Rh2 28. Bxf3 gxf3 29. Kg1 Reh8 {and ...Rh1# next.}) 0-1 [/pgn]

Niemann’s win was a beacon of hope on an otherwise rough day for the American team, which saw the squad collectively go 5 for 15 (four wins, two draws) in Round 8. Other good results included Alex Kolay’s victory over Kashyap Dhrupad (IND) in the Open U14, putting in him ninth place heading into tomorrow’s ninth round.

Alex Kolay (photo Carol Meyer)

[pgn] [Event "World Youth Open U14"] [Date "2019.10.09"] [Round "8.12"] [White "Dhrupad, Kashyap"] [Black "Kolay, Alex"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2000"] [BlackElo "2164"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2019.10.02"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. b3 Bg7 16. d5 Rc8 17. c4 c6 18. Bd2 Qc7 19. Rc1 c5 20. Bd3 b4 21. a3 a5 22. a4 Kh8 23. h4 Ng8 24. h5 Nf8 25. Nh2 Qe7 26. Ng4 Qh4 27. Qf3 Rc7 28. h6 Bf6 29. Nxf6 Nxf6 30. Nf1 Ng8 31. Qe3 Bc8 32. Nh2 f5 33. Qg5 Qxg5 34. Bxg5 Rf7 35. g3 Nf6 36. exf5 gxf5 37. f4 Ng6 38. Bc2 Nh5 39. Kf2 Rg8 40. Bd1 Nxg3 41. Kxg3 Nxf4 42. Nf3 Nd3 43. Kh4 e4 44. Bc2 Nxc1 45. Bxc1 Rg2 46. Ng5 Rf8 47. Bd1 f4 48. Nxe4 f3 49. Ng3 Rg8 50. Nf1 R8g4+ 51. Kh5 Bf5 52. Re8+ Rg8 53. Rxg8+ Kxg8 54. Bxf3 Rg1 55. Be2 Bh3 56. Be3 Bxf1 57. Bxg1 Bxe2+ 58. Kg5 Kf7 59. Kf4 Bd1 60. Ke4 Bc2+ 61. Ke3 Bxb3 62. Kd3 Bxa4 63. Bh2 Ke7 {Kd4} 0-1 [/pgn]

Aydin Turgut picked himself up after two losses in Rounds 6 and 7, defeating Nikolas Wachinger (GER) to get to 5 points and sixteenth place in the Open U16.

Aydin Turgut (photo Carol Meyer)

[pgn] [Event "World Youth Open U16"] [Date "2019.10.09"] [Round "8.11"] [White "Turgut, Aydin"] [Black "Wachinger, Nikolas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2281"] [BlackElo "2297"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2019.10.02"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "IND"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 Nfd7 8. g5 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. h4 Be7 11. Be3 Nb6 12. Bh3 Na4 13. Nxa4 bxa4 14. Bg2 Qa5+ 15. Bd2 Qb6 16. c3 O-O 17. O-O Qa5 18. c4 Qe5 19. Ne2 Bc6 20. Qc2 Bd7 21. Bb4 Rc8 22. Rac1 g6 23. f4 Qg7 24. e5 Nc6 25. exd6 Bd8 26. c5 Rab8 27. Bc3 Qf8 28. Qxa4 Nb4 29. Qxd7 1-0 [/pgn]

Adeti Mohanselvan drew Fatima Marium (IND) and is at 4/8 in the Girls U14, while Amy Lei drew Srbuhti Sargsyan (ARM) in the Girls U16 and is now at 3.5/8. After arriving late to the tournament, George Wang won his second game of the event, downing Stilian Angelov (BUL) to get to 2.5/8 in the Open U18. A FRIENDLY FACE The U.S. Delegation met with Jonathan Hwang, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, before play began on Wednesday.

US Chess Executive Carol Meyer presented Hwang, who comes from a chess playing family and also plays himself, with a board signed by the members of the U.S. team.