Round 4 Underway in Grapevine

Three rounds are complete at the 2019 National Junior High School Championships in Grapevine, Texas, and like the Texas weather in springtime, the competition is heating up. Only 11 perfect scores remain in the 162 player K-9 Championship, and giants are being felled. Top seed Alex Costello (California) was knocked off in the first round under contentious circumstances, and second seed Maximillian Lu (Connecticut) was held to a draw in round three.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Lu, Maximillian"]
[Black "Shah, Kai Mahesh"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "2325"]
[BlackElo "2023"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Qc2 Nf6 5. g3 Bd6 6. Bg2 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nbd2
b6 9. e4 dxe4 10. Ng5 Bb7 11. Ndxe4 Be7 12. Rd1 h6 13. Nxf6+ Nxf6 14. Ne4 Qd7
15. Bf4 Rfd8 16. h3 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Bf6 18. Rac1 Rac8 19. b4 Qe8 20. Bf1 Rd7 21.
c5 Qd8 22. Bd3 g6 23. Bd6 Be7 24. Be5 Bf6 25. Be2 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Rd5 27. Qe3
bxc5 28. bxc5 Qc7 29. f4 Rcd8 30. Bf3 Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 32. Bxd1 Qa5 33. Bb3
Ba6 34. Kf2 Qb5 35. g4 Qf1+ 36. Kg3 Kg7 37. Ba4 Bb5 38. Bxb5 Qxb5 39. f5 exf5
40. gxf5 gxf5 41. Qd4 Qe2 42. e6+ Kg6 43. exf7 Qe1+ 44. Kg2 Qe2+ 45. Kg3 Qe1+
46. Kg2 Qe2+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Among the 11 players at 3/3 in the K-9 are Indiana’s Aydin Turgut, who won the K-9 blitz, and fellow masters Anish Vivekanathan and Jason Metpally, both of Texas. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1122140758646116357

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Wu, Eric Sheng"]
[Black "Turgut, Aydin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2018"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. O-O
O-O 9. Rd1 Re8 10. Bc2 Bb6 11. d3 h6 12. Nbd2 Nh5 13. Nf1 Qf6 14. Ng3 Nf4 15.
Bxf4 Qxf4 16. Nh5 Qg4 17. Ng3 h5 18. d4 h4 19. h3 Qf4 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21. exf5
exd4 22. Qd3 dxc3 23. f6 g6 24. Qxc3 Ne5 25. Nxe5 Rxe5 26. Rf1 Qxf6 27. a4 Rae8
28. axb5 axb5 29. Bd3 Qf4 30. Qb3 Rg5 31. Bxb5 Qe4 32. g4 hxg3 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Vivekananthan"]
[Black "Jiang, Brandon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "1997"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 Nc5 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8.
Nxe5 Be7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. d4 Ne6 11. Be3 Bd6 12. Nf3 Bd7 13. Qd2 h6 14. Rad1 Re8
15. Ne4 Nf8 16. Nxd6 cxd6 17. h3 Qf6 18. Nh2 Ng6 19. Ng4 Bxg4 20. hxg4 Qe6 21.
f3 Qd5 22. b3 f5 23. Qd3 Rf8 24. Bc1 Nh4 25. gxf5 Nxf5 26. Re4 Qf7 27. d5 c5
28. Bb2 Rae8 29. Rde1 Ng3 30. Re6 Qh5 31. Qc3 Nf5 32. g4 Qh3 33. gxf5 Qg3+ 34.
Kf1 Qh3+ 35. Ke2 Qg2+ 36. Kd1 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Amburgy, Ryan"]
[Black "Metpally, Jason"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "1990"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxd5 Bxd5 10. Rc1 O-O 11. Qc2 Rc8 12. e3 c5 13. Be2 Nd7 14. O-O
Bb7 15. Qd2 Rd8 16. b4 Rac8 17. bxc5 bxc5 18. Qa5 a6 19. Rfd1 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Nf6
21. Nb3 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Nd5 23. Bf3 h6 24. h3 Nc3 25. Bxb7 Qxb7 26. Nc5 Rxc5 27.
Rd8+ Kh7 28. Qxc5 Qb1+ 29. Kh2 Ne2 0-1

[/pgn]

20 players are at 3-0 after the third round in the 298 player K-8 Championship, including the top four seeds: Shunkai Peng (Oregon), Raghav Venkat (Florida), Kevin Pan (California), and Shelev Oberoi (Texas), all masters.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.7"]
[White "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Black "Morris-Suzuki, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2362"]
[BlackElo "1898"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. O-O Bg7 6. Bc4 e6 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8.
Nb5 d6 9. c3 Nf6 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bf1 dxc3 12. Nxc3 e5 13. Bc4 a6 14. a4 Bg4 15.
Qb3 Rb8 16. h3 Bd7 17. a5 Bc6 18. d3 Nh5 19. Qb6 Qh4 20. Qe3 h6 21. Qe2 Bd7 22.
Nd5 Nf4 23. Qf3 Nxd5 24. Bxd5 Kh7 25. Bd2 f5 26. Qe2 f4 27. f3 Bf6 28. Bb4 Be7
29. Rec1 Rfc8 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Bxb7 Rb8 32. Be1 Qg5 33. Bxa6 Bxh3 34. b4 d5
35. exd5 Bxb4 36. Bxb4 Rxb4 37. Bc4 e4 38. Re1 e3 39. a6 Bc8 40. Qa2 Qh4 41.
Rf1 Qd8 42. a7 Bb7 43. Rb1 Qb6 44. Re1 e2+ 45. Kh1 Qf2 46. Qxe2 Qxa7 47. Qe7+
Kg8 48. Qxb4 Ba6 49. d6+ Kg7 50. Re7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.8"]
[White "Woodward, Andy A"]
[Black "Venkat, Raghav"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E69"]
[WhiteElo "1896"]
[BlackElo "2269"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 c6 6. e4 d6 7. Nf3 Qc7 8. O-O
Nbd7 9. h3 e5 10. Be3 Re8 11. Qd2 a6 12. Rac1 exd4 13. Nxd4 Ne5 14. b3 c5 15.
Nc2 Bxh3 16. f4 Bxg2 17. fxe5 Nxe4 18. Nd5 Nxd2 19. Nxc7 Nxf1 20. Kxg2 Nxe3+
21. Nxe3 Bh6 22. Rc3 Bxe3 23. Rxe3 Rac8 24. Nxe8 Rxe8 25. Rd3 dxe5 26. Rd5 b6
27. Rd6 Re6 28. Rd7 a5 29. Kf3 Kg7 30. g4 Kf6 31. Ke4 h5 32. gxh5 gxh5 33. Rd8
Kg7 34. Rd3 Kh6 35. Rf3 Kg6 36. Rf2 h4 37. Rh2 Kh5 38. Kf5 e4 39. Kf4 e3 40.
Kf3 e2 41. Rxe2 Rxe2 42. Kxe2 Kg4 43. Kf2 h3 44. Kg1 f5 45. Kf2 f4 46. Kg1 f3
47. Kh1 f2 48. Kh2 f1=Q 49. a4 Qg2# 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.9"]
[White "Kalyanaraman, Ra"]
[Black "Pan, Kevin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "1886"]
[BlackElo "2214"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4
Bb7 9. d4 Bb6 10. Re1 h6 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 Qxa8 13. Na3 O-O 14. d5 Na5 15.
Ba2 c6 16. b4 Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Nxc4 Bc7 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Nfd2 Nxe4 21.
Nxe4 Bxe4 22. Ne3 Qb7 23. f3 Bc6 24. Nf5 d5 25. Ne7+ Kh8 26. Nxc6 Qxc6 27. Qb3
f5 28. Be3 f4 29. Bf2 Rb8 30. Rd1 Rb5 31. Kh1 e4 32. fxe4 dxe4 33. c4 Rg5 34.
b5 Qb7 35. Qh3 e3 36. Bh4 Rg6 37. Qf3 Qxf3 38. gxf3 Bb6 39. Rd5 Re6 40. Be1 Kh7
41. c5 Bc7 42. Rd7 Be5 43. c6 Kg6 44. c7 Bxc7 45. Rxc7 Kh5 46. Rc6 Re5 47. b6
Rb5 48. Kg2 Rb2+ 49. Kf1 g5 50. h3 Rb1 51. Ke2 Rb2+ 52. Kd3 Rb1 53. Bc3 Kh4 54.
Rxh6+ Kg3 55. Ke2 Rb3 56. Bd4 Rb4 57. Rd6 Kxh3 58. Rd7 g4 59. fxg4 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 National Junior High Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.04.27"]
[Round "3.10"]
[White "Province, Cael D"]
[Black "Oberoi, Shelev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D25"]
[WhiteElo "1868"]
[BlackElo "2201"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 Bg4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Be2 Bd6 8.
Nc3 a6 9. e4 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 e5 11. Be3 c6 12. Be2 O-O 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Bd4 Qc7
15. Qd2 Bxh2+ 16. Kh1 Bf4 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Qb6 19. Qd2 Rfe8 20. Qc2 Nc5
21. Bf3 Ne6 22. Rad1 Nd4 23. Qd3 Rad8 24. Qe3 Qb4 25. a3 Qc4 26. Rfe1 Nc2 27.
Qb6 Nd7 28. Qxb7 Nxe1 29. Rxe1 Ne5 30. Bd1 Rb8 31. Qc7 Rxb2 32. Ne2 Qxe4 33.
Qa5 Qh4+ 0-1

[/pgn]

I.S. 318 (Brooklyn, NY) leads the K-9 Team competition after the third round, while Canyon Vista Middle School (Austin, Texas) is in first place in the K-8 Team standings. While the six sections of the Junior High are the center of attention this weekend, there are other attractions for friends, fans, and family. Jeffery Xiong delivered a lecture this morning and took questions from the audience. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1122177543099101184 The "Friends and Family" side event got underway. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1122162793401192453 The Girls Club is also very popular! https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1121868693473058823 With four rounds yet to be played before the trophies are handed out, anything can (and will) happen. Fans will want to check in with CLO and our Twitter hashtag #JHSChessChamps to keep up with all the news as the weekend progresses. US Chess will also host a livestream from Grapevine starting with tonight’s fifth round. IM John Bartholomew and WGM Sabina Foisor will be analyzing the top games from both the K-9 and K-8 on our Twitch channel – don’t miss out!

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Junior High School Championship Quick Links: Standings and Results  Information Live Games  Twitch  #JHSChessChamps on Twitter Girls Club Room Schedule