Friday, March 30, 2012

Youth Invitationals: First Round

First Round Pairings are as follows:

Denker Qualifier

Dubin v. Schmakel  0-1
Moskwa v. Meduri  1/2-1/2
Kogen v. Qazi  1/2-1/2

Josh Dubin and Sam Schamel last played in 2003.  Josh won.    Robert Moskwa defeated Aakash Meduri at the 2012 Tim Just Winter Open.  Jonathan Kogen and Rafeh Qazi have never played.

Girls' Invitational

Provine v. Padget   1/2-1/2
Liu v. Mangalam  1-0
Xu v. Harihara    1-0

Barber Qualifier

Parker-Turner v. Li  0-1
Sun v. Bronfeyn  0-1
Heil v. Adve  1/2-1/2
Lehmann v. Hrach  1-0
Gilchrist v. Xiao   1-0
Do v. Kalgahtgi    0-1

I will update this post as the round goes on.

6:30 PM:  It's a half hour before the round and about there are about a half dozen players here so far, mostly from the Barber Qualifier.

7:00 PM:  Jerry Neugarten, Chairman of the ICA Youth Committee pushes the first pawn and we are underway.

7:20 PM:  Schmakel plays the Semi-Slav against Dubin. Meduri plays what looks like a Dragon/Najdorf hybrid against Moskwa.  Qazi is playing the Breyer variation of the Ruy Lopez against Kogen.  Padget is playing the French against Provine and Liu and Mangalam have a Catalan going.  Most of the Barber games have entered variations whose names I do not know.

7:40 PM:  The players still seem to be feeling each other out.  I'm not sure whether all the Denker games are still in book, but they look like fairly thematic positions.  In the Girl's and Barber, there is a pawn up here and there, but no more than that.

7:45 PM:  Heil v. Adve is the first game to heat up.  Out of an English Opening, White is up the exchange and Black has lost the right to castle, but White's knight is trapped on a8.

7:55 PM:  Do and Kalgahtgi have reached an ending where Black has 2 rooks, a bishop and 6 pawns against White's rook, knight, bishop, and 6 pawns.  At this point, Black's rooks haven't found any open lines and White seems to have a good grip on the center.  Moskwa is poised for the thematic kingside attack against Meduri's Dragon, but Black's hasn't castled yet.

8:15 PM: Heil v. Adve and Do v. Kalgahtgi are still the only games with a material difference greater than a single pawn.   In the former, White's knight is still stuck on a8, but he is threatening to open some holes for it to get out with his b and c pawns.  In the latter, Black seems to be finding some room for his rooks to operate.  Lehmann and Hrach have castled on opposite sides out of a Petroff.  Material is still even,  but White's pawn storm seems to be farther along.

8:25 PM: Liu is the first player to go up by as much as a piece by forcing a Black knight to the side of the board where it was trapped.

8:30 PM:  Schmakel has gone up a pawn on Dubin.  Lehmann has got a pawn to g6.  After shifting the focus to the center, Meduri finally played ...0-0.

8:35 PM:  The first result is in.  Provine and Padget agree to a draw.  It looks like Provine forced a repetition.  Qazi plays ...d5 against Kogen and it looks like things will get exciting.

8:50 PM:  Kalgahtgi has managed to activate his rooks and picked up a pawn.  Lehmann sacked a pawn and it's looking a bit drafty around Black's king.

9:00 PM:  Second game to finish, Kalgahtgi defeats Do.  Schmakel has gone up by a piece against Dubin.   It looks like Kogen has sacked a pawn to lock up the center and gain some freedom to attack on the kingside.

9:15 PM:  Dubin resigns against Schmakel.

9:25 PM:  Kogen has gone ahead by a pawn on Qazi although it looks vulnerable.  Lehmann converted his attack into a rook and pawns v. bishop and pawns endgame advantage.  Heil still has a knight sitting on a8, but Adve has knights on a2 and b1.  I'm not sure what's going on there.  Meduri broke with ...d5 and Moskwa has an isolated pawn on g5 that may be a liability.

9:35 PM:  Gilchrist defeats Xiao.  Bronfeyn defeats Sun.

9:40 PM:  Qazi got his pawn back and it's rook and pawns v. rook and pawns with Qazi's rook looking more active.

9:45 PM:  Lehmann defeats Hrach and Li defeats Turner.

9:50 PM:  Xu has developed a scary looking attack against Harihara's king.

10:00 PM:  Kogen v. Qazi is starting to look like one of those rook and pawn endings where all the pawns are going to get eaten by the rooks.  Meduri seems to have found a way to exploit Moskwa's pawn weaknesses.

10:05 PM:  Kogen and Qazi agree to a draw.  Meduri is up a pawn on Moskwa.

10:25 PM:  Xu defeats Harihara.

10:45 PM:  Liu defeats Mangalam.  Heil has a rook and three pawns against Adve's two knights and three pawns.  Moskwa and Meduri both have queen and three pawns.

11:15 PM:  Heil and Adve draw.  Meduri has queen and two pawns v. Moskwa's queen and one pawn.

11:30 PM:  Moskwa and Meduri draw.

I hope to get most of the games posted tonight when I get home.

12:02 AM:  I'm home and I'll post the Denker games as soon as I input Robert and Aakaash's 81 move draw.  Then we'll see how many more I can get posted before I fall asleep.

12:27 AM:  Denker Round 1 is posted.

12:55 AM:  Here's the Girl's Invitational Round 1.

1:05 AM:  Here are three games from the Barber Round 1.  I think that's all I've got in me for tonight.

11:10 AM: All the first round Barber games have been posted.






4 comments:

Sevan A. Muradian said...

I'm sad - my friend Bill Brock is not here. But he has time to post on other forums :(

Bill Brock said...

I was actually planning to stop by, but ran out of steam...tax season.

Great coverage!

Bill Brock said...

Beautifully done, Vince!

Brad Rosen said...

Vince-- While you might not have a Pulitzer under your belt as of yet, you are well on your way!