Sheena Zeng Wins the Kansas State Girls Championship

Photo: Jim Turner

March 17th marked the annual Girls State Championship in Lindsborg, Kansas. The event was hosted by the Karpov School of Chess and included 16 participants from across the state. Sheena Zeng from Thomas More Prep High School took 1st place with 4/4 and will represent Kansas in the upcoming National Girls Invitational in July.

[pgn][Event "Kansas State Girls Championship"]
[Site "Lindsborg, Kansas"]
[Date "2018.03.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Rita Joseph"]
[Black "Sheena Zeng"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2018.03.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 e6 6. Nf3 d6 7. exd6 Bxd6 8.
Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. Bd2 Bd7 11. Bd3 Bc6 12. O-O Nd7 $1 {White offers
black a pawn. An interesting try, as black is not fully developed and the open
lines favor white.} (12... Bxf3 $6 13. Qxf3 Bxh2+ 14. Kh1 Bd6 15. Rab1 Nc6 16.
Qe4 {With strong play on both sides of the board.}) 13. Re1 {Tempting black a
second time.} O-O 14. h3 Rfe8 15. c4 b6 16. Rc1 h6 17. Bc3 $2 {Allowing 17...
Bf4, which forces a concession.} Qb7 (17... Bf4 18. Rb1 (18. Bd2)) 18. Be2 {
White's play is good, but conservative. Hanging pawn structures can sometimes
lead to decisive hack attacks. An interesting try would be 18. Nh4...} (18. Nh4
Be7 19. d5 $3 {Opening up the diagonal.} exd5 (19... Bxh4 20. dxc6 Qxc6 21. Qg4
Bf6 22. Be4) 20. Bxg7 $3 Kxg7 (20... Bxh4 21. Qg4) 21. Nf5+ Kf8 22. Qh5 Bg5 23.
Nxh6 Nf6 24. Qxg5) 18... Rad8 19. Qd2 $2 Qb8 20. Qc2 Bf4 21. Rcd1 Nf8 22. Bd2
$4 {Hanging pawns often necessitate active play. White's passivity is
tactically punished, though even without hanging a pawn, white would do better
not to trade pieces.} Bxf3 23. Bxf3 Rxd4 24. Bxf4 Qxf4 25. Rxd4 Qxd4 26. Rd1
Qc5 {When the smoke clears, black is up a clean pawn with no weaknesses.} 27.
Bb7 b5 28. Rc1 Rd8 29. Ba6 bxc4 30. Bxc4 Qd4 31. Qb3 Ng6 32. Be2 Nf4 33. Bc4
Rc8 34. Rd1 $4 (34. Rc2) 34... Qxc4 35. Rd8+ {A last ditch effort at a swindle!
} Kh7 0-1[/pgn]

Veronika Vancsa of Prairie Trail Junior High School and Luna Byington of Wichita North High School took 2nd and 3rd place with 3/4. After the tournament, GM Timur Gareyev invited the girls to a quick simul (not blindfolded!).

Photo: Jim Turner

Photo: Jim Turner

Lindsborg, the flat and quiet “Little Sweden” of Kansas, is not the first town that comes to mind when one thinks of chess. Indeed, to consider it the past training grounds of a Russian world champion seems even more unthinkable! Yet, it is known that in 2002, Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov chose to train there for his match against Garry Kasparov (Karpov went on to win that match 2 1/2 out of 4).

Photo: Jim Turner

Lindsborg is mainly known for its Swedish culture and ubiquitous “Dala” horses---Though to local chess lovers, it is known as the home of the Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess and the yearly chess camp taught by blindfold world record holder GM Timur Gareyev. If you are interested in our upcoming chess camp, please visit: http://www.anatolykarpovchessschool.org/chesscamps.html