The Perfect Ratio: Jennifer Yu Earns Norm & Bronze in Italy

 Jennifer Yu of Virginia earned a bronze medal and an IM norm at the World Junior Girls (Under 20) Championship in Tarvisio, Italy (Nov 12-26).  Yu went into the final round just a half point behind first, and facing IM Zhansaya Abdumalik, a player that US readers may remember from Jamaal Abdul-Alim's report on the 2017 World Open, where Abdumalik had an outstanding performance.

A win would clinch gold for Yu, so she had just one result on her mind. She told US Chess, "She offered me a draw, but I didn't take it because I wanted to push for a win."

[pgn]

[Event "World Junior Girls Championship"]
[Site "Tarvisio, Italy"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yu, Jennifer"]
[Black "Abdumalik, Zhansaya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A36"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.11.26"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.11.26"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. d3 e5 6. e3 Nge7 7. Nge2 d6 8. a3
O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Nd5 Qd7 11. Rb1 Bh3 12. b4 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 b6 14. b5 Nd8 15.
e4 Ne6 16. Be3 f5 17. f3 Rf7 18. Qd2 Nxd5 19. cxd5 Nc7 20. Nc3 f4 21. Bg1 h5
22. h3 fxg3 23. Qg5 Kh7 24. Be3 a6 25. bxa6 b5 26. Rb3 Rxa6 27. Rfb1 Ra5 28.
Ne2 Rf8 29. Qxg3 Rfa8 30. Bc1 Ra4 31. Kf2 b4 32. axb4 cxb4 33. Be3 Na6 34. R3b2
Ra3 35. Rg1 Qf7 36. Nc1 Rc8 37. Ke2 Rac3 38. Kd1 Bh6 39. Bxh6 Kxh6 40. Kd2 Nc5
41. Ke3 Na4 42. Ra2 Rxc1 43. Qg5+ Kh7 44. Rxc1 Qa7+ 45. d4 Rxc1 46. Rxa4 Qxd4+
47. Ke2 Rc2+ 48. Ke1 Qf2+ 0-1

[/pgn]

Yu's favorite game was her win against Jiner Zhu of China. "It was an important round for me, because it was right after the rest day and I played against her three years ago in the World Youth in South Africa."  Jennifer had won the 2014, and ultimately earned a gold medal, becoming the first American girl to do so in 27 years.   In this game, she decided to change her normal openings. "It was quite a different style for me, and I learned the Modern in a few hours. The game ended up being drawish but I liked my practical choice of giving up an exchange for massive compensation in the endgame."

[pgn]

[Event "World Junior Girls Championship"]
[Site "Tarvisio, Italy"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zhu, Jiner"]
[Black "Yu, Jennifer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B06"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.11.26"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.11.26"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d5 4. e5 f6 5. exf6 Nxf6 6. Bf4 O-O 7. f3 c5 8. dxc5
Nc6 9. Qd2 Qa5 10. Nb5 Qxd2+ 11. Bxd2 Bf5 12. c3 Rac8 13. Nd4 Nd7 14. Nxf5 gxf5
15. Be3 e5 16. Rd1 d4 17. Bc4+ Kh8 18. Be6 Nxc5 19. Bxc8 Rxc8 20. Bf2 e4 21.
Bxd4 Nxd4 22. cxd4 Nd3+ 23. Kf1 Bxd4 24. Ne2 Bb6 25. Rd2 Be3 26. Rxd3 exd3 27.
Nc3 Bc1 28. Kf2 Bxb2 29. Nb1 Bd4+ 30. Kg3 Be3 31. f4 d2 0-1

[/pgn]

Jennifer Yu also had plenty of good times in Tarvisio, Italy with her friend Emily Nguyen, who also represented the US. In addition to fierce chess battles, the US delegation also learned some important lessons about Italian culture and cuisine. Yu said she enjoyed eating Italian every meal, "Pizza is definitely better there. The sauce to cheese to dough ratio is on point." Emily ended the tournament on a high note, with a victory to give her 6/11, while Grandmaster Awonder Liang finished with 7/11. Aryan Tari of Norway won the Open section, a feat that was reported on chess.com, and which he, and the World Champion memorably tweeted on: https://twitter.com/aryan_tari/status/934467358814560256 https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/status/934432415744974849 Find full crosstables on chessresults, and more information on the official site.