Saturday, March 31, 2012

Youth Invitationals: Second Round

Second Round Pairings:

Denker Qualifier

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


Girls' Invitational

Harihara v. Padgett 1-0
Mangalam v. Xu  0-1
Provine v. Liu 0-1

Barber Qualifier

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

11:00 AM:  The second round is underway.  Aakaash Meduri is seeking to avenge his loss to Jonathan Kogen in last year's Denker Qualifier, which is the only previous meeting between the two.  In the other two Denker matches the players are meeting for the first time.

11:15 AM:  It's closed games in the Denker this morning.  Schmakel plays the English and Qazi responds with 1...e5.  Moskwa is playing the Grunfeld and Dubin goes with the Bf4 line.  Meduri opened with 1.d4 and Kogen has put paws on d6, e6, and h6.  I'm not sure what that variation is called.

11:20 AM:  Harihara is playing the King's Indian Attack against Padgett French.  Mangalam and Liu look to be playing the Four Knights Game.  Provine started out with the Grand Prix Attack against Liu's Sicilian, but now they have transposed into the Scheveningen variation.  Gilchrist is playing the Albin Counter-Gambit against Li (at least I think that's what it's called) while Lehmann simply played the Queen's Gambit Declined against Bronfeyn.

11:30 AM:  Schamakel has invited Qazi to build up a big center with pawns on d5, e4, and f5.  Kogen's defense seems to be in the Queen's Indian/Hedgehog neighbor, and Dubin snatched the c7 pawn.

11:35 AM:  Mangalam has opened a little space around Xu's king with Bxf6 gxf6, but her king is on that side of the board.  Provine castled long which means that fireworks may be forthcoming shortly.

11:40 AM:  Kalgahtgi  played an Open Sicilian against Heil while Hrach played a Closed Sicilian against Do.  Adve and Sun are playing an Italian Game while Xiao and Turner are in the Vienna.

11:50 AM:  I think that Kogen's defense can safely be called a Hedgehog at this point.  Moskwa offered Dubin a bishop which was declined as he is already lagging in development.  Mangalam is trying to open up the position to take advantage of Xu's drafty king position.  Liu is leaving her king in the center for the time being. Li seems to have neutralized Gilchrist's gambit.

11:55 AM:  Although Kalgahtgi played the Open Sicilian, it's Heil who's attacking on the kingside.

12:05 PM:  Hrach is attacking aggressively although he is leaving quite of bit of space around his king to do it.  Moskwa is trying his best to get at Dubin's uncastled king.  Qazi played ...dxc4 and his center is looking slightly less imposing.

12:10 PM:  Lehmann's got a pawn on e2 which is either going to be very very strong or very very weak. Xu seems to be thwarting Mangalam's attempts to open up the position.

12:15 PM:  Gilchrist has recovered his pawn at the price of a cramped position.  Provine is pressing forward in the center as Liu has refrained from castling.

12:25 PM:  Meduri has finally decide to make contact with e5.  Dubin is still ahead by a pawn but his king is trapped in the middle by his bishop on f1 and his queen on e2.

12:25 PM:  First result:  Lehmann defeats Bronfeyn.  It turns out the pawn was very very strong.

12:35 PM:  Xu has managed to turn the half-open g-file from a liability into an asset.  Meduri is turning his space advantage into a kingside attack.

12:45 PM:  Xu has broken open the g-file and Moskwa has gone up an exchange.  Kalgahtgi  v. Heil and Hrach v. Do are both in wide open attacks and I'm not sure who's ahead in either one.

12:50 PM:  Meduri played Bxh6 and it doesn't look like Kogen can take it.  I know these Hedgehog positions can be stronger than they look, but I wouldn't want to be defending it.  Meduri also has a knight on c3 en prise to a pawn on d4 but it doesn't look like Kogen can take that either.

12:55 PM:  Moskwa has gone up by a clean rook against Dubin.

1:00 PM:  The dust is starting to settle and Kalgahtgi is up by two pawns.  Turner has knight and two extra pawns against Xiao rook and pawns, but the extra pawns look pretty weak.  Moskwa defeats Dubin.

1:05 PM:  Liu seems to have weathered Provine's attack.  She finally castled and she's up a pawn.  Harihara is generating some serious pressure on Padgett's king.

1:05 PM:  Li defeats Gilchrist

1:20 PM:  Harihara converted her attack into a rook plus ending.  Kogen finally took one of the pieces Meduri offered and he is hanging on.

1:25 PM:  Adve looks like he has a winning king and pawn ending.  Schmakel and Qazi have only played twenty moves and only traded a pair of pawns.

1:30 PM:  Hrach has two rooks and five pawns against Do's rook, two bishop and four pawns.  Adve is having trouble finding the right plan.  Harihara defeats Padgett.

1:35 PM:  Xu defeats Mangalam.

1:45 PM:  Kogen appears to have consolidated the extra piece.  Schmakel and Qazi have traded a couple  pairs of minor pieces but there is still a lot of lumber on the board.

1:55 PM:  Kalgahtgi defeats Heil.  Adve and Sun draw.

2:05 PM:  Schmakel has a queen, a good bishop and seven pawns against Qazi's queen, knight and seven pawns.  Both players are approaching ten minutes on the clock.  Liu defeats Provine.  Do defeats Hrach.

2:10 PM:  Kogen has rook, bishop and two pawns v. Meduri's rook and two pawns.

2:15 PM:  Turner and Xiao are in an even pawn ending with all the major pieces still on the board.  Turner is down to one minute on his clock.

2:25 PM:  Turner and Xiao draw.  Schmakel penetrates with his queen and picks off a couple pawns.

2:30 PM:  Kogen defeats Meduri.

2:40 PM:  Schmakel defeats Qazi.

Second Round Games are all posted:  Denker, Girl's Invitational, Barber.










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