Team USA Clinches 4 Gold Medals at the Pan-Am Youth Championships

The US Team won 4 gold medals at the Pan-American Youth Championships held recently in San Jose, Costa Rica---more than any other country---while 6 more US team members tied for 1st, achieving top scores in a total of 7 different sections.

Under 8

Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest US Chess expert ever, tied for 1st, ultimately earning silver by tiebreaks, in the Under 8 section with 8 points out of 9. Here is his hard-fought 5th round game against fellow US Chess player, Sebastian Prestia, who finished in clear 3rd with 7 points.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.03"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Black "Prestia, Sebastian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1696"]
[BlackElo "1548"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. dxc6 Nxc6 6. Nf3 e6 7. d4 Bd6 8.
O-O O-O 9. Nc3 a6 10. a4 a5 11. Nb5 Be7 12. h3 h6 13. Bf4 Rc8 14. b3 Nb4 15.
Nd6 Bxd6 16. Bxd6 Re8 17. Bxb4 axb4 18. Ne5 Rf8 19. Qd2 Qe7 20. Rfe1 Rfd8 21.
Nd3 Be8 22. Nxb4 e5 23. c3 Qc7 24. Nc2 Bc6 25. Qe3 exd4 26. Nxd4 Re8 27. Qg3
Rxe1+ 28. Rxe1 Qxg3 29. fxg3 Bxa4 30. Nf5 Rc7 31. Re7 Rxe7 32. Nxe7+ Kf8 33.
Nd5 Nxd5 34. Bxd5 Bc6 35. Bxc6 bxc6 36. Kf2 Ke7 37. Ke3 Kd7 38. Kd4 Kd6 39. b4
h5 40. Kc4 Kd7 41. Kc5 Kc7 42. c4 g6 43. h4 f6 44. b5 cxb5 45. cxb5 Kb7 46. Kd6
Kb6 47. Ke6 Kxb5 48. Kxf6 Kc6 49. Kxg6 Kd7 50. Kxh5 Ke7 51. Kg6 Kf8 52. Kh7 Kf7
53. g4 1-0[/pgn]

Under 8 Girls

Omya Vidyarthi won clear 1st in the Girls Under 8 section with 8 points. Check out how Vidyarthi uses her positional bind and more active pieces to trap her opponents queen in round 4.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.03"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Vidyarthi, Omya"]
[Black "Montalvo Rubio, Maria Fernanda"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. b3 c6 7. c4 b6 8. Nc3 Bb7
9. Rb1 a6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Re1 a5 12. Ne5 Nbd7 13. f4 Qc7 14. Nb5 Qc8 15. Be3
Ba6 16. Rc1 Qb8 17. Nc6 Qb7 18. Nxe7+ Kh8 19. Rc7 Qb8 20. Nc6 Qe8 21. Nd6 Ng4
22. Bd2 Bb5 23. Nxe8 Raxe8 24. Na7 Ba6 25. Rxd7 Rd8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Nc6 Rd6
28. Nb8 Bb5 29. e4 Nh6 30. Qc1 g6 31. f5 Ng4 32. h3 Rd8 33. hxg4 Rxb8 34. Qc7
Ra8 35. Qxf7 Rg8 36. Bh6 Be8 37. Qf6+ Rg7 38. Qxg7# 1-0[/pgn]

Under 10

Eric Li won clear 1st in the Under 10 section with 7.5 points. Watch how Li outplays his higher-rated opponent and the tournament's 2nd seed in the endgame in round 4.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.03"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Levine, Joseph"]
[Black "Li, Eric"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1841"]
[BlackElo "1770"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bd3 e5 7. Nde2 h6 8. O-O
Be7 9. Ng3 O-O 10. h3 Be6 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Nc6 13. Be3 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15.
Nxd5 Bxd5 16. Nf5 Bg5 17. Rf2 Bxe3 18. Nxe3 Be6 19. c3 Qg5 20. Nf5 Ne5 21. h4
Qg4 22. Qxg4 Nxg4 23. Rf4 Ne5 24. Bc2 Rfd8 25. Nd4 Bd5 26. b3 b5 27. Re1 f6 28.
Kf2 Rac8 29. Ne2 Bb7 30. Bf5 Nd3+ 31. Bxd3 Rxd3 32. Rc1 Rd2 33. a4 Re8 34. Re1
Bxg2 35. Kxg2 Rexe2+ 36. Rxe2 Rxe2+ 37. Kf3 Rc2 38. axb5 Rxc3+ 39. Kg4 axb5 40.
Rb4 Rc5 41. Rd4 Kf7 42. h5 Rg5+ 43. Kh4 Ke6 44. b4 f5 45. Rd8 Rg4+ 46. Kh3 Rxb4
47. Rg8 Rg4 48. Kh2 Rg5 49. Re8+ Kf7 50. Re5 f4 51. Re4 Rxh5+ 52. Kg2 Rf5 53.
Kf3 h5 54. Rd4 g5 55. Rd7+ Ke6 56. Rh7 g4+ 57. Kg2 f3+ 58. Kf2 g3+ 59. Kf1 f2
60. Rg7 h4 61. Rg6+ Rf6 62. Rg4 b4 63. Re4+ Kf7 64. Rg4 b3 65. Rb4 g2+ 66. Ke2
f1=Q+ 67. Kd2 Rd6+ 68. Ke3 g1=Q+ 69. Ke4 Qg4+ 70. Ke5 Qf6# 0-1[/pgn]

Under 12

Nico Chasin tied for 1st and earned gold in the Under 12 section with 7.5 points. Here is Chasin's exciting attacking victory in the Sicilian in round 4.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juvent"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.03"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Chavez, Brayan Steven"]
[Black "Chasin, Nico Werner"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1888"]
[BlackElo "2010"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. b3 g6 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. e6+ Kg8 8.
Qf3 dxe6 9. Bxh8 Kxh8 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. Nh3 Nc6 12. O-O-O Bf6 13. Ne4 Nd5 14.
Nhg5 Qa5 15. Kb1 Qa3 16. d4 Ncb4 17. Qe2 Qxa2+ 18. Kc1 Bxg5+ 19. Nxg5 Qa1+ 20.
Kd2 Qc3+ 0-1[/pgn]

Under 12 Girls

Ambica Yellamraju tied for 1st place, earning silver, in the Girls Under 12 section with 7 points. Watch the elaborate knight maneuvers that Yellamraju uses to gain material in round 6.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.04"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "Juarez Garcia, Daniela"]
[Black "Yellamraju, Ambica"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1267"]
[BlackElo "1478"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Nc3 c6 6. Be3 Ne7 7. Nge2 Bf5 8.
Bxf5 Nxf5 9. Bf4 O-O 10. Qd2 Bxf4 11. Qxf4 Nd6 12. h4 Re8 13. O-O-O Ne4 14. g4
Qf6 15. Qxf6 Nxf6 16. f3 Re3 17. Rdf1 Nbd7 18. Nf4 b5 19. Nd1 Re7 20. g5 Ne8
21. h5 Nd6 22. g6 Nf5 23. Rfg1 Nxd4 24. Rh3 Ne5 25. gxh7+ Kxh7 26. Rhg3 Rg8 27.
R1g2 Ndxf3 28. Ng6 fxg6 29. hxg6+ Nxg6 30. Rxg6 Nh4 31. Rh2 Kxg6 32. Rxh4 Kf7
33. b3 g5 34. Rg4 Re4 35. Rg1 g4 36. Nf2 Rf4 37. Nd3 Re4 38. Nf2 Rd4 39. c3 g3
40. cxd4 gxf2 41. Rf1 Rg1 42. Kd2 Rxf1 43. Ke2 Ra1 44. Kxf2 Rxa2+ 45. Kf3 Rb2
46. Kf4 Rxb3 47. Ke5 a5 48. Kd6 Rc3 49. Kc7 a4 50. Kb6 a3 51. Kc7 a2 52. Kb6
a1=Q 53. Kc7 c5 54. dxc5 Rxc5+ 55. Kb6 Rc2 56. Kb7 Qc3 57. Ka8 Qc6+ 58. Ka7
Ra2+ 59. Kb8 Ra8# 0-1[/pgn]

Under 14

Aristo Liu won clear 1st in the Under 14 section with 7.5 points. Check out Liu's upset victory against an opponent nearly 350 FIDE points higher in round 7.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.05"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Soto, Miguel Angel"]
[Black "Liu, Aristo S"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2316"]
[BlackElo "1969"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O
8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bd3 Re8 10. O-O-O Bf6 11. h3 a6 12. g4 g6 13. Bg5 Ne5 14. Bxf6
Nxd3+ 15. cxd3 Qxf6 16. Ng5 d5 17. f4 Qd6 18. f5 gxf5 19. gxf5 Bxf5 20. Rdf1
Bg6 21. Rhg1 Re7 22. h4 h5 23. Nh3 Rae8 24. Nf4 Re5 25. Nxg6 fxg6 26. Qh6 R8e6
27. Kb1 Re2 28. d4 R2e4 29. c4 Rg4 30. Rxg4 hxg4 31. cxd5 Rf6 32. Re1 Qd7 33.
Kc1 Qf7 34. Qg5 Rf1 35. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 36. Kd2 Qf2+ 37. Kc1 Qe1+ 38. Kc2 Qe4+ 39.
Kc3 Kf7 40. h5 gxh5 41. Qxh5+ Ke7 42. Qg5+ Kd7 43. Qg7+ Kd6 44. Qg8 Qf3+ 45.
Kb4 a5+ 46. Ka4 Qd1+ 47. Kxa5 Qd2+ 48. Ka4 Qxd4+ 49. b4 b5+ 50. Kxb5 Qxd5+ 0-1[/pgn]

Under 14 Girls

Two American players in the Under 14 Girls section tied for 1st, Sheena Zeng and Yassamin Ehsani, each scoring 7 points. By tiebreaks, Zeng earned silver while Ehsani earned bronze. Zeng defeated the 3rd seed with Black by outplaying her higher-rated opponent in a knight endgame in round 5.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.03"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Condori, Ana Paula"]
[Black "Zeng, Sheena"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B77"]
[WhiteElo "1703"]
[BlackElo "1599"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 g6 7. f3 Bg7 8. Qd2
O-O 9. Bc4 a6 10. a4 Qc7 11. Bb3 Bd7 12. O-O Na5 13. Rad1 Nxb3 14. Nxb3 b5 15.
a5 Bc6 16. Bh6 Bb7 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Rac8 20. Rf2 Qc4 21. Qd4
Qxd4 22. Rxd4 Rc4 23. Rfd2 Rfc8 24. c3 Kf8 25. Kf2 Ke8 26. h4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Rc4
28. Ke3 Rxd4 29. Kxd4 Kd7 30. g4 h6 31. Nd2 e5+ 32. dxe6+ fxe6 33. g5 hxg5 34.
hxg5 e5+ 35. Kd3 Nd5 36. c4 bxc4+ 37. Kxc4 Nf4 38. Kc3 d5 39. Nb3 Kc6 40. Kb4
Ne6 41. Nc1 Nxg5 42. f4 exf4 43. Kc3 Ne6 44. Kd3 Kb5 45. Ne2 g5 46. Nc3+ Kxa5
47. Nxd5 g4 48. Ke4 g3 49. Nc3 Kb4 50. Ne2 Kb3 51. Ng1 Kxb2 52. Ke5 a5 53. Kxe6
a4 54. Ke5 a3 55. Kxf4 a2 56. Kxg3 0-1[/pgn]

Meanwhile, Ehsani's attacking play in round 5 also scored her a key victory.

[pgn][Event "28° Festival Panamericano de la Juventu"]
[Site "San José, Costa Rica"]
[Date "2017.07.03"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Ehsani, Yassamin L"]
[Black "Carrillo Aguayo, Bertha Hiromi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1588"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 e6 6. d3 a6 7. a4 Be7 8. O-O d5
9. Ba2 Rb8 10. exd5 exd5 11. Ne5 O-O 12. h3 Bd6 13. Nf3 Bc7 14. Re1 Be6 15. g4
Qd6 16. Ne2 d4 17. Ng3 Qd7 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Ng5 Rbe8 20. N3e4 Nxe4 21. Rxe4 h6
22. Nf3 Qd5 23. Qe2 Re7 24. Nh4 Rf6 25. Bd2 Ref7 26. Rf1 g5 27. Ng2 Qd6 28. Qf2
Ne7 29. h4 Ng6 30. h5 Nxf4 31. Bxf4 gxf4 32. Qf3 Qd5 33. Nh4 Qg5 34. Ng6 Kg7
35. Rfe1 Qd5 36. b3 b5 37. axb5 axb5 38. Kf2 c4 39. Rxe6 Qc5 40. Qa8 Rf8 41.
Re7+ Kg8 42. Nxf8 Rxf8 43. Qe4 1-0[/pgn]

Team USA Overall

Even when the US did not win 1st place, the team was very successful---with at least one player finishing in the top five of every single section.

Under 8

Abhimanyu Mishra - 2nd (by tiebreaks), tied for 1st - 8 points

Sebastian Prestia - 3rd - 7 points

Nitish Nath - 4th - 6.5 points

Under 8 Girls

Omya Vidyarthi - 1st - 8 points

Under 10

 Eric Li - 1st - 7.5 points

Marvin Gao - 3rd - 7 points

Tejas Rama - 4th - 7 points

Lucas Foerster-Yialamas - 5th - 6.5 points

Under 10 Girls

Allyson Wong - 2nd - 7 points

Ellen Wang - 3rd - 6.5 points

Anika Rajaram - 4th - 6.5 points

Under 12

Nico Chasin - 1st - 7.5 points

Under 12 Girls

Ambica Yellamraju - 2nd (by tiebreaks), tied for 1st - 7 points

Anh Nhu Nguyen - 4th - 6.5 points

Julia Miyasaka - 5th - 6 points

Under 14

Aristo Liu - 1st - 7.5 points

Akira Nakada - 2nd - 7 points

Under 14 Girls

Sheena Zeng - 2nd (by tiebreaks), tied for 1st - 7 points

Yassamin Ehsani - 3rd (by tiebreaks), tied for 1st - 7 points

Shree Ayinala - 4th - 6 points

Aasa Dommalapati - 5th - 6 points

Under 16

Albert Liang - 3rd - 6.5 points

Under 16 Girls

Sasha Konovalenko - 4th - 6.5 points

Under 18

Justin Wang - 5th - 6 points

Under 18 Girls

Thalia Cervantes - 3rd - 6.5 points

Nastassja Matus - 4th - 6 points

For more information, visit:

• Complete Results Page for the US Team
• Pan-American Youth Website
• Pan-American Youth Photo Gallery