Summerscale Chess Clubs website

World Junior Championship 2008

International Master Lawrence Cooper, reporting as English squad coach
from the Championships in Turkey.
Official website

This year’s World Junior is being held in Gaziantep in Southern Turkey. England is represented by David Howell and Peter Constantinou in the open section and by Sarah Hegarty in the ladies. Also playing is Karl McPhillips of Ireland. The open has 108 players and the strength can be measured by the fact that David, rated 2561, is only 14th seed! Peter, Karl and Sarah are all in the bottom half of the draw and so will face strong opposition in the first round.

David found himself facing an extremely young Indian, Sahaj Grover who at the age of 12 is already an FM and rated 2306. Peter and Karl were up against GM opposition and Sarah was also facing an opponent 300 points above her. Although the four games all went according to rating this doesn’t tell the full story. David won a long hard fought game where he comfortably equalised but a comfortable middle game led to nothing better than a complex ending with very little time for both players. Initially I thought David may have been worse in a rook and minor piece ending but whatever the assessment he handled the blitz phase of the game much better and by calculating a tactical line further than his opponent he won a piece for two pawns and his opponent soon resigned.

Peter’s game was most unfortunate. From an equal English he outplayed his opponent, breaking through on the b file and winning a pawn. However, a combination of tiredness, time trouble and perhaps the pressure of playing a GM led to a couple of inaccuracies which led to black gaining counterplay and eventually breaking through as Peter’s time ran out. Although it will be of little consolation so soon after the game, Peter can proud of the way he played albeit he will be disappointed he wasn’t able to convert his advantage. At least he has shown he is far from out of his depth against such strong opponents and hopefully the subsequent rounds will prove this.

Sarah faced the Centre Counter and her opponent equalised and a couple of inaccuracies by Sarah then led to her position becoming worse and then critical. I feel her opponent played very well and punished Sarah for a couple of weakening pawn moves which left her with no counterplay and long term pawn weaknesses. A tough lesson but after her successful showing in Pardubice just a week before I expect her to bounce back strongly.

Karl was hit by a lot of theory in a Qc2 Nimzo but handled the complications well and by returning the exchange his opponent had sacrificed came very close to holding the ending. A tough start but he deserves a lot of credit for negotiating his way through the complications.

Unfortunately, after a long day travelling the day before and tough opening round games a lengthy opening ceremony was held in the evening, following the end of round 1 and the joys of two rounds the next day was soon upon us. Oh and did I mention the temperatures of almost 40 degrees centigrade?

After my grumbles the day before about the double round, I can at least report a clean sweep in round 2. David won smoothly against his Dutch IM opponent, outplaying him in a Guicco Piano and unleashing some well-timed tactics, which resulted in a winning king side attack and a well-calculated finish.

Peter bounced back well after his disappointment the round before. Facing a very young unrated Turkish player he equalised comfortably in a modern and soon gained the advantage and then won a pawn whilst keeping total control. White shortened his suffering by allowing a nice queen sacrifice to force mate. A good start to what will be a long and tiring day.

Sarah won even more quickly; her opponent losing her b5 knight for a pawn to a Qa5+ check in a reversed hippo (where she confused us all by putting her knights on c3 and f3 despite having played d3 and e3!) and what followed was an easy moping up exercise. Time to rest before a potentially tough round 3 game.
Karl completed the whitewash winning an exchange in a Bd3 Kings Indian and easily converting his material advantage.

After the whitewash in the morning this round was ultimately disappointing, albeit against much stronger opposition. The pairings for this round were only published 20 minutes before the bus left for the venue so whilst this was the same for all players, I think it played a crucial part in our games. David played well to ensure a disadvantage did not become too serious and played very accurately to maintain the balance. The opening 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Qa4+ does contain some venom and so I was impressed at how he overcame his early difficulties especially as it was clear his opponent seemed to remember far more of the theory. Eventually a hard fought game ended in a repetition of moves in a drawn rook ending.

Peter was again unlucky against stronger opposition. What initially looked like a peaceful Trompovsky exploded into life in the early middle game and although we thought the complications favoured black a brief glance by Fritz informed us that Peter was much better/winning. After missing a couple of possibilities he sacrificed a piece, which proved to be inadequate although he could have complicated the game a little more towards the end. Again a frustrating game but again encouraging that he is getting good positions against titled players, third time lucky maybe?

Sarah bravely played into a sharp theoretical line of the Sveshnikov although the lack of preparation time worked against her as time trouble was to prove costly. Initially she appeared to have won the theoretical debate but a wrong decision let her advantage slip and she was forced onto the defensive. Her position proved to be far more resilient than it looked and her opponent did actually allow her an opportunity to be better but a blunder in time trouble eventually decided the game in her opponent’s favour. Although the game had a frustrating outcome I felt this was a clear improvement over her round one game and again showed how underrated she is.

This turned out to be a hugely successful round against much tougher opposition than our round 2 whitewash. Not for the first time David had a long game but this was a marathon that lasted 5 and a quarter hours which with the FIDE time limit meant he was playing a move every 30 seconds for the last 30 or so moves of the game. As in round 2 David played the Guicco Piano although this time his opponent played the Be7 line instead of Bc5. He played for a safe edge and outplayed his opponent on the middle game, eventually winning two pieces for a rook. His task was made much harder by the fact that he was already in serious time trouble and on one move had only a second to spare after completing his move. It was just as well he received an extra 30 minutes at move 40 as his opponent was very resourceful and David had to work hard to convert the extra material. With hindsight I could say the win was never in doubt although during the game I was probably feeling the pressure more than David! Once again I was impressed by the composure he showed, not to mention his playing ability!

Peter’s main obstacle in this round was not his opponent but his health. Possibly a combination of the 40 degree heat and something he ate contributed him looking very pale, suffering a high temperature and more visits to the bathroom than is generally desirable with this time limit! Fortunately, despite a slightly loose opening (a slightly irregular modern) he managed to win the game which in view of how he was feeling was definitely an achievement. Hopefully he will be feeling better for the forthcoming rounds.

Sarah produced her best game of the tournament and convincingly outplayed her 2145 rated opponent. Possibly wary of Sarah’s recent results her opponent played an innocuous opening against the Grunfeld (5 e3) and Sarah comfortably equalised and then proceeded to outplay her opponent apart from one slip in time trouble. No sooner had her opponent got back in to the game than it was over, courtesy of a well-calculated tactic by Sarah. A very controlled performance and a neat finish after a momentary loss of control in time trouble.

Karl drew a topsy-turvy game against an IM. I thought he had a winning attack but his opponent was able to escape into an endgame, which was eventually drawn.

Another undefeated round with David winning and Sarah and Peter drawing against high rated opposition. Once again Peter came close to winning.

David played another smooth game to win with white. Faced with the relatively rare 2..d6 against the c3 Sicilian David developed sensibly and secured a space advantage and the two bishops. His opponent attempted to drum up counterplay and sacrificed two pawns but David carefully calculated his way through the complications to secure a winning ending, sacrificing one pawn to force a winning queen and rook ending where he held an extra passed a pawn. After the drama of the day before it was a welcome change to see David with time in hand at the time control.

Peter surprised his opponent with 2 Bf4 and 4 Na3 in the London System and as his opponent struggled to come to terms with the unusual opening Peter emerged two pawns up. His opponent had enough activity to win one back and Peter was left with the task of trying to convert an extra pawn in a rook ending. He was unable to force a win (subsequent analysis showed he had one chance when he was very short of time) but at least had avoided slipping to defeat after holding a favourable position as in rounds 1 and 3. I am confident he will start to convert these positions and it’s good to report his health has improved a lot in the last 24 hours.

Sarah faced the Accelerated Dragon and obtained a small advantage from the opening. Although she maintained an edge she was unable to convert this into anything more substantial and it looked like a drawn ending was the likely outcome. Somewhat unwisely her opponent avoided/missed the simplest way to draw and very nearly constructed a self-mate. It was extremely fortunate that there wasn’t an obvious way to mate the black king but she was just about able to survive.

Karl drew a fluctuating struggle where he appeared to have attacking chances but his opponent was able to hold the balance.

Scores after five rounds: David 4.5, Peter & Sarah 2.5, Karl 2.

Another good round. Three blacks and Peter and Sarah again out graded by a large amount whilst David was facing the number three female player in the world who is still only 15. David surprised his opponent (and me) with an interesting pawn sac in what looked like being a standard Lopez. White declined the pawn offer and play developed along fairly original lines with David’s position looking perfectly good. Unfortunately he blundered a pawn as the position opened up although he was able to steer the game into a drawish ending with queens, rook and opposite coloured bishops where he had a chance to fix the white pawn majority. He missed this chance and after a subsequent queen exchange David blundered again and his position became critical as he lost another pawn. Miraculously he found a clever drawing idea when two pawns down and facing three passed pawns against his e pawn on the 7th and white could do nothing except repeat moves. A lucky escape but also the sign of a good player who makes it as hard as possible for his opponent to win, even after making mistakes.

Peter equalised comfortably as black in a quiet Torre Attack. Indeed, black was able to open the position and stood better when a draw was agreed with white having an isolated pawn and no counterplay to compensate. However, I was fairly pleased with the result; a comfortable draw as black against an opponent 150 points higher and another round where Peter has looked as good if not better than a higher rated player.

Sarah had to dig in to hold a slightly worse ending arising from an Accelerated Dragon. White had a passed d pawn on d7 for much of the game and Sarah had to play accurately to maintain the balance. White didn’t really find the best way of testing Sarah’s technique but a solid draw as black against an opponent over 200 points higher is clearly a good result even allowing for how under rated Sarah clearly is.

Karl slipped to defeat against an IM, his fourth black in six rounds so I’m sure he is looking forward to a few whites in the later rounds.

David continued his run of smooth victories with white by grinding down another GM. This time it was a prepared line in the Alekhine Four Pawn Attack where he had found an improvement in an endgame that was meant to be relatively harmless for black. Once black had unwisely exchanged a set of rooks his position became difficult and his attempts at counterplay proved insufficient and David’s technique did the rest. A successful first week and David stands 1st= with his third round opponent on 6/7 at the end of the first week.

Peter finally managed a win with white and bizarrely it was from the worst position he had had in all four of the games. His opponent played aggressively against Peter’s London System and soon gained a space advantage. Peter played too passively and it looked like black would break through on the kingside. He mistimed his attack though and Peter’s position came to life. One by one his opponent’s pawns started to disappear and Peter had won. This bit of luck was long overdue and well deserved. He deserves credit for hanging on in a difficult position and as his earlier games had shown won positions still have to be won. A hugely successful first week, especially as he has played hardly any chess in the last 12 months and a fine score of 4/7.

Sarah switched from her usual 2 d3 against the French and played the Tarrasch. One of the difficulties of preparing for a player who plays the French, Sicilian and Centre Counter is it’s very hard to predict which one she will face. As it turned out we had spent relatively little time on the French although at least Anya was not expecting the Tarrasch. Sarah played 5 f4 against 3…Nf6 and emerged with the usual space advantage. Unfortunately her relative inexperience with the line possibly played a part in a pawn blunder in the early middle game and although the pawn was returned by now black had a very strong position. Sinking into time trouble Sarah was unable to save the game. It was a shame that she ended the first week with a loss but having played six players rated between 2145-2258 she has played well above her rating. She actually has 2.5/3 with black and 0.5/4 with white although this does not tell the full story, especially as she has played 4 strong players with white and came close to victory in her round 5 game as well as having chances in round 3. All in all, a good week, I’ve been especially impressed with her hard work preparing and her fighting spirit during the games.

Karl made use of a rare white to record a win and claw his way back to 3/7, albeit after a scare when he was a pawn down in the middle game. At least we can enjoy a day off tomorrow and recharge the batteries ready for another six tough games next week.

Round 8 proved to be a tragedy for David. His opponent surprised him by playing 1 d4 and a theoretical debate in the Grunfeld Exchange with 7 Bc4 ensued. By move 21 a middle/endgame with Q, R and minor piece each was reached where black had a queenside majority against to balance white’s isolated e4 pawn but white’s bishop was much more active than black’s offside knight on a5. White sacrificed his e pawn for active play and the next phase of the game saw white threatening the black king, which led to the black king running up the board, eventually as far as b2. Amazingly the game lasted 137 moves and it was only around move 100 that white demonstrated for certain that he had a winning position. David felt he could have drawn but had tried to win in the mutual 30 seconds a move that the last 90 or so moves were played at. The game lasted six and quarter hours and both players were clearly exhausted at the end. I only hope David can find the energy to bounce back tomorrow in what is a key moment for his chances of winning the tournament. He is now half of the lead but with five rounds to go and hopefully three whites to come there is clearly all to play for.

Peter finally suffered in the opening as his opponent very harshly dealt with a slightly dubious line of the modern. An early f5 allowing a Qh5+ is not meant to be too bad for black but white knew the line well and his accurate handling may cause David to give up the line and look for something else in future. As the game developed black’s king was caught in the crossfire of the white pieces and the result was never in doubt. A harsh lesson but he can still be pleased with his 50% score after eight rounds.

Sarah prepared well for her opponent in a theoretical line of the Grunfeld Exchange with 8 Rb1 and the subsequent gambiting of the white a pawn. Her opponent avoided the critical lines with 17 d6 in favour of an innocuous line, which brought Sarah immediate equality. In fact, as her opponent avoided immediate simplification Sarah could have looked to hang onto an extra pawn but her opponent’s activity persuaded her to return the pawn into a drawn endgame. Another solid performance and good preparation and a comfortable neutralising of a higher rated opponent. Having scored well with black Sarah will now be looking to improve her score with white in the remaining rounds.

Karl drew a totally chaotic game against a 2392 in a Benoni, which I couldn’t possibly begin to assess. An ending with Karl having two rooks and extra pawns against three minor pieces was reached and it’s well worth a look at when the games are published on the site.

John Saunders of the British Chess Magazine comments on David's game on the Atticus Chess Forum:
I watched the second half of this epic game and was hugely impressed by both players...

Li,Chao (2590) - Howell,D (2561) [D87]
World Junior Chess Championship Gaziantep (8.1), 10.08.2008

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 Nc6 9 Be3 0-0 10 0-0 Na5 11 Bd3 b6 12 Qd2 e5 13 Bh6 f6 14 Bxg7 Kxg7 15 f4 cxd4 16 cxd4 Bg4 17 dxe5 Bxe2 18 exf6+ Rxf6 19 Qxe2 Qd4+ 20 Kh1 Rxf4 21 Rxf4 Qxa1+ 22 Rf1 Qe5 23 Qf2 Kh8 24 Ba6 Re8 25 h3 Qg7 26 Bb5 Rd8 27 e5 Qxe5 28 Qh4 g5 29 Qb4 Qc5 30 Qb1 Qe7 31 Re1 Qf6 32 Qe4 Rf8 33 Rd1 Qg6 34 Qe5+ Qg7 35 Qe1 Qf6 36 Qg3 Qf4 37 Qa3 Rf7 38 Be2 Kg7 39 Qd3 Qe5 40 Bh5 Rc7 41 Rf1 Kh6 42 Bd1 Kg7 43 Bc2 Kh6 44 Qd8 Qe7 45 Qd4 Rc6 46 h4 gxh4 47 Qd3 Rg6 48 Qd2+ Rg5 49 Rf4 Kg7 50 Qd4+ Re5 51 Rxh4 Kf8 52 Rf4+ Kg8 53 Rg4+ Kf8 54 Qf4+ Ke8 55 Rg8+ Kd7 56 Bf5+ Kc7 57 Rh8 Kc6 58 Qf3+ Kb5 59 Bd3+ Kb4 60 Rxh7 Re1+ 61 Kh2 Qe5+ 62 g3 Re3 63 Qg4+ Ka3 64 Bf1 Rc3 65 Rh4 Rc2+ 66 Kh3 Kb2 67 Rh5 Qf6 68 Rb5+ Kc1 69 Bd3 Rb2 70 Rf5 Qh6+ 71 Rh5 Qd2 72 Qc8+ Kd1 73 Qg4+ Kc1 74 Qf3 Rxa2 75 Re5 Qh6+ 76 Rh5 Qd2 77 Rh7 Qh2+ 78 Kg4 Ra4+ 79 Kg5 Qd2+ 80 Kg6 Kb2 81 Re7 Qc3 82 Re2+ Ka3 83 Re3 Nb3 84 Bf5 Qb2 85 Be6 Rb4 86 Qf8 Qc2+ 87 Kg7 Qc5 88 Qf3 Qc2 89 g4 a5 90 g5 Qc7+ 91 Bf7 a4 92 g6 Qd6 93 Kg8 Kb2 94 Qe2+ Ka3 95 g7 Rh4 96 Qf3 Qb8+ 97 Re8 Qd6 98 Ra8 Kb4 99 Be8 Nc5 100 Qg2 Rh2 101 Qg4+ Ka3 102 Bf7 Qd3 103 Qf4 Rh1 104 Kf8 Nd7+ 105 Ke7 Re1+ 106 Be6 Nc5 107 Rxa4+ Nxa4 108 g8Q Re3 109 Qh8 Rxe6+ 110 Kxe6 Nc5+ 111 Kf7 Qd5+ 112 Kg6 Qg2+ 113 Qg5 Qe4+ 114 Qf5 Qg2+ 115 Kh6 Qh2+ 116 Kg7 Qg3+ 117 Kf7 Qc7+ 118 Kg6 Qg3+ 119 Qg5 Qd3+ 120 Kf7 Qc4+ 121 Kg6 Qd3+ 122 Kh5 Qh3+ 123 Qh4 Qf3+ 124 Kg6 Qd3+ 125 Kg7 Qd7+ 126 Kg6 Qd3+ 127 Kh5 Qf3+ 128 Kh6 Qe3+ 129 Kg7 Qe5+ 130 Kg6 Qd6+ 131 Q8f6 Qd3+ 132 Qf5 Qd6+ 133 Kh5 b5 134 Qhf2 Ne6 135 Qa7+ Kb4 136 Qe4+ Kb3 137 Qae3+ 1-0

David's king makes one of the most amazing escapes I have ever seen, crossing to the other side of the board under heavy attack from White's major pieces. Clearly White missed wins along the way but, by about move 80, David seemed to have shored up his position. If you look through the game with Fritz at this stage, you will find that the two players mostly play accurate moves despite only having the 30-second increments on which to survive and a very complex position on the board. For the last 70-80 moves of the game, neither of them ever had more than 2½ minutes left on their clocks, and usually significantly less than that. As I watched, I was filled with admiration for the courage and tenacity of both players.

David's best chance to salvage a draw was probably on move 106 when he could have played Rxe6+ but of course it is easy for me to say that having watched with Fritz. In real life and in such a position it would have been unbelievably hard to keep finding the right move. As it was, he wasn't very far from getting a perpetual, even after his opponent had two queens on the board.

He will obviously be shattered after this result but it is still not the end of his championship hopes. Last year Ahmed Adly lost two consecutive games in the middle of this tournament but came back to win the title. David needs to put this game behind him and concentrate on the final run-in. In Swisses it is all about finishing strongly. Come on, David - think of Rebecca Adlington!

Another mammoth round for David. A game lasting 127 moves, in which the last 34 demonstrated Grandmaster technique Queen and King vs Rook and King. View the game here. After such a tough round yesterday, this stamina is incredible. Well done David. This victory takes him back into 2nd=, just half a point behind the leader.

Congratulations also to Sarah, who continues to beat much higher rated players - Claire

David bounced back from his 137-move loss with a 160+ move win! After a Caro Kann Panov Attack David found some neat tactics against the uncastled black king and appeared to be heading for a fairly routine win as he won queen for rook and bishop whilst also having a passed pawn on d7 supported by his queen. Most unusually for David he allowed black to win the pawn and the win became more problematic as pawns were exchanged. It looked like the ending could be heading for a draw as black had the drawing plan of giving up his bishop for the passed b pawn and being left with rook and two pawns against queen and one and obtaining a blockade. David kept trying though and when his opponent allowed his king too far up the board he was able to win the black kingside and ended up with queen & b pawn versus rook and bishop. This was far more difficult to draw, if at all possible and David was able to force the win of the bishop in exchange for his last pawn. He therefore had 50 moves to win queen against rook, not a trivial task given that he had to move every thirty seconds. He managed to win; just inside six hours and very relieved that the winning position he had several hours earlier hadn’t been completely squandered. Once again, he had handled the pressure very well to win in the end. He is now on 7/9, just half a point behind Arik Braun who is now outright leader after defeating Hou Yifan.

Peter emerged from the opening with a passive but solid position. His opponent gradually managed to open up the position but by sacrificing a piece for three pawns Peter seemed to have obtained decent chances. However, he allowed his opponent to get too active and he broke through on the kingside with a knight sacrifice that led to a mating attack. A disappointing end but at least a far better showing than yesterday’s one-sided game. Hopefully, he’ll be able to bounce back with white pieces tomorrow.

Sarah won in slightly uncertain style, mixing up her moves in the opening and instead of a comfortable position she found herself having to work hard to keep her opponent’s advantage to a minimum. Having seemingly accomplished this she lost her h pawn but then, somewhat unexpectedly, her opponent made a couple of errors and Sarah was able to win back her pawn and then proceeded to exploit her opponent’s shaky play to eventually end four pawns up in an ending! A much-needed win to get her back to 50% and her first win with white.

Karl slipped to defeat against another high rated IM after obtaining a reasonable looking opening.

A desperately disappointing day for David as his hopes of the gold medal suffered what may be a decisive setback. His opponent appeared to have surprised him by playing 9 d4 in the Spanish and David found himself in a difficult position (15… Qd7 appears unusual) and white was left to build up on the kingside at his leisure. Despite fighting hard and using up all his time he was unable to hold the position together and he lost a piece on move 40 although his position had been critical for some time before that. Having said that, his opponent’s conduct in looking at his watch after David’s frantic remaining moves left a bit to be desired. A disheartening game, for player and coach but hopefully David can bounce back. After playing 300+ moves in the last two days fatigue may have been a factor. It’s no coincidence that David’s opponents in those two marathon games then lost their next game. David is now in fourth place on 7/10, but is still performing at over 2650 and will be hoping to maintain his 100% with the white pieces tomorrow.

Peter again punted 2 Bf4 although this time against 1 ….d5. He emerged from the opening with a space and time advantage and the rest of the game saw him keep his advantage into a favourable double rook and minor piece ending where his bishop was more active than the black knight. He also had a better pawn structure with black having a backward c pawn to defend. Unfortunately he failed to increase his space advantage by playing e4 when he had the chance and black was able to escape and improve his position until a draw was agreed. This was a frustrating echo of game five where he was unable to convert a better ending. Nevertheless, having the better of a draw against a 2360 after two defeats in a row will hopefully have boosted his confidence ahead of the closing three rounds.

Sarah lost in unfortunate circumstances. Having faced 3 Bb5 in the Sicilian and emerged from the opening with a healthy middle game despite her opponent having cleared prepared for her Sarah then was able to open the position to her advantage. To her horror she then found herself picking up her c rook when playing Re8 (she had planned Rfe8) which not only left her c pawn undefended but also meant the f8 rook would be en-prise after her intended Ne6 when white captures the knight. This was the turning point in the game and her position then fell apart. A tragic end to a well played game and she therefore slipped to –1. She is still gaining 22 points though and can take confidence from outplaying a 2236 with black although she will of course be annoyed not to have got a positive result from the game.

Karl had another chaotic game, which I expected either to end in a winning attack for Karl or a consolidation of extra material for his opponent but eventually the game ended in a draw.

A ridiculously exciting round in what is shaping up to be a thrilling finish in the World Junior Championships. In my experience, it's so rare to see so many decisive results. In fact, the top 6 boards all recorded decisive games. The lead has changed again, Arik Braun stands 1st with 8.5 points and the chasing pack of 6 with 8.0 includes our very own David Howell.

The penultimate round (for what must be now a very tired group of juniors) is tomorrow. Come on David!
Claire

Once again David showed his character by bouncing back from a disappointing defeat the day before to win his sixth successive game with white. David played the c3 Sicilian and his opponent played 2…. Nf6. The middle game was very familiar to David and he tactically outplayed his opponent winning a piece for two pawns as all the tactics worked in his favour. At the end of the sequence he was able to force the queens and then a pair of rooks off and the ending was easily winning. For once a relatively short game and some much needed rest time ahead of the twelve round. David is now 2nd= half behind the new leader Arik Braun who defeated Wesley So as the previous leader was defeated on top board.

Peter tried a new opening, the Old Benoni, due to concerns over facing the Averbach against his modern defence. Unfortunately his opening went very badly and his position was quickly critical if not totally lost. As coach I have to take some responsibility for this, openings that look okay in preparation aren’t always as successful in reality. His titled opponent quickly exploited Peter’s lack of experience in a line we hadn’t looked at and despite his best attempt to hold on his position inevitably crumbled. A harsh lesson for us both and I doubt we’ll be repeating the experiment. He is now on –2 but despite a tough second week with three blacks out of four I’m hopeful he can bounce back with the white pieces tomorrow.

Sarah’s revival with white continued as she won against the Dragon. She avoided the most theoretical lines with an early Nxc6 which although is considered harmless did at least take her opponent out of theory who reacted too passively and slowly. Sarah’s pawn sacrifice gave black plenty to think about and despite moving the wrong rook (for the second day running!) she had plenty of compensation and broke through on the kingside as her opponent’s time ran low. Although she gave her opponent a temporary reprieve she soon found a mating line to force another impressive win. She is now back to 50% and gaining a lot of rating points as she continues her rise into contention for Olympiad places.

Karl won fairly effortlessly in an old line of the Queen’s Gambit where white had good play to compensate for his isolated d pawn. He won a pawn and his opponent soon crumbled under his kingside pressure.
Lawrence Cooper

I can hardly contain my excitement. With this win as black over a 2605 Grandmaster, David moves into joint 1st place, with everything to play for tomorrow. As you can see below, David faces one of his 1st= rivals with the white pieces.

I'm sure everyone is behind him. Go David!
Claire

The drama seems to increase on the top boards round by round. Again the lead changed hands and by the end of the round David and the two Indians, Negi & Gupta were clear on 9/11 half a point clear of Braun & Sarfarli. David was facing his first 2600 of the tournament, with the black pieces and given how highly white seems to be scoring on the top boards (draws are few and far between in this tournament) it appeared his toughest pairing to date. Their previous score was 2-2 but with black scoring well so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Despite Rodshtein securing an early time advantage David seemed to have a comfortable enough position and the position became unbalanced as David accepted isolated doubled d pawns in exchange for open c and e files which gave him a lot of activity and he gradually pushed white back as the time control approached. David appeared to have a clear advantage but the position became less clear as he inadvertently entombed his bishop after playing b5 and a6 when, as he admitted afterwards b6 and a5 had been his original idea. Still, the position was unclear and after white left himself with a lasting weakness on the kingside by allowing Bxf4 forcing gxf4 David had a weakened king to aim at. Whilst his rook and bishop kept the white pieces hemmed in his queen penetrated the kingside and eventually his attack broke through to win material. In hindsight I suppose this was one of David’s easier games but the pressure of needing to win against a 2600 meant the stakes were huge and I became too nervous to watch live and retreated to the calm of the press room.

Peter finally recovered from a very tough second week by beating only the third lower rated player he has faced all tournament. After yesterday’s opening experiment backfired he went back to basics and played 2 Bf4 for the fourth time this tournament. Peter had pressure on the queenside that appeared stronger than black’s kingside play and he won the exchange for a pawn. Black managed to stir up some confusion and further complications left him with three stray pawns for a piece although I think Peter just about had the game under control. Eventually Peter’s attack broke through and he was able to simplify to a winning ending to give him a much-needed morale-boosting win. All credit to him for battling through a difficult week to leave him on 5.5/12.

Sarah had another tough pairing, this time she was black against a 2248 that I had observed preparing at length the night before outside my room. Honesty stopped me from looking over her shoulder to see what opening she was looking at! As expected she played 4 Bf4 and 5 Rc1 against the Grunfeld and the game ended in a known ending that although black is a pawn down in should give good drawing chances. Sadly, the ending proved unpleasant and Sarah was able to hold against her opponent’s accurate play. Although disappointed not to hold she can at least look forward to the white pieces tomorrow to try and retrieve her 50% score although she will be facing another higher rated player for the 12th time.

Karl had a reasonable opening after his opponent lost a tempo but made a mistake and the white attack became too strong.

Junior:
David, Negi & Gupta 9.0/12
Braun & Sarfarli 8.5
Peter 5.5
Karl 5.0

Ladies:
Haraki 10.0
Muzychuk 9.0
Mikadze 8.5
Sarah 5.5.

Lawrence Cooper

Today was a desperately disappointing end to what had been a memorable tournament. David’s play was unrecognisable from the earlier rounds and only he will know if it was fatigue, exhaustion, nerves etc He still showed his customary fighting spirit but today it wasn’t enough to save him. All I can do is look back on a tremendous tournament where he faced all his toughest opponents with black, Braun, Hou Yifan, Li Chao, So, Rodhstein and still managed to be in the joint lead going into the last round having won all six games with white, five of which were rated over 2520. His performance in the first twelve rounds was 2715 and he played far more moves than anyone else in the tournament. He has also been a great ambassador for his country, modest in victory and gracious in defeat. He has also been a big help to the other two English juniors Sarah and Peter. Whilst I feel totally gutted for him at present I am also proud of his performance and look forward to see him reaching 2600 in the near future when he recovers from his disappointment here.

Peter finished with another difficult black and unfortunately it became his fourth loss with black in the second week. Faced with the Fianchetto Variation of the Kings Indian he obtained a solid, albeit slightly passive position. His attempts to complicate with Ng4 were misguided though and the rook and pawn he obtained for bishop and knight was clearly insufficient. A tough second week for him then but overall, having played hardly any chess for 12 months, he can look back with a certain amount of pride, although he will reflect on two or three games that he could easily have won which would have pushed him up to the 50% score we were hoping for.

Sarah finished with a win after good preparation in the Alekhine Four Pawn Attack. Although she did encounter some problems in the middle game she found her way through the complications and her task was eased when her opponent swapped queens to give her an easily won rook ending. A good end to a good tournament and further evidence of the progress she has made. Her style is developing and she is now far more tactically confident and well prepared and it is only a matter of time before she reaches 2100 and breaks into the Olympiad team.

Karl finished with a win, in fact he played that quickly he ended up with more time than he started with. Therefore, a good finish to an up and down tournament, which left him on six points.

In Closing:
I can report that David, Sarah and Peter were great ambassadors for their country; they responded well to setbacks and played with great heart throughout. I have never been to a tournament with so few quick draws and to play 13 games in 13 days at this level without being tempted to halve out is great credit not only to them but to also the other competitors.

There were, however, a number of factors at this tournament, which made it extremely tough for the players. The number of cases of diarrhoea was unacceptably high and contributed to a number of defaults. I myself can vouch for this, having suffered for seven days and Peter too was affected in the first week. We can only assume that this was due to the hotel food and in fact during the second week a notice with “Acute Diarrhoea Diet” was displayed by the rice, potatoes and pasta. (nice - Claire) The toilets at the venue were frankly totally unacceptable for a tournament of this magnitude. Without wishing to offend the host country, holes in the ground are degrading. The outbreak of diarrhoea obviously highlighted this inadequacy even more.

There were a number of problems with two of the arbiters. Again I don’t want to offend anyone and I am sure there is a lot to be said for giving opportunities to what I can only assume were inexperienced arbiters who had never officiated at a tournament of this level. However, when you have the Deputy Chief Arbiter distracting players with 20 seconds on their clock to see what move number the game is at or sitting next to a crucial game flicking through a large pile of scoresheets there is something wrong. That is even before I mention the arbiter who warned a player for their conduct immediately after they had defeated a player from the arbiter’s country. Anya Corke was also twice warned for excess fidgeting which was ridiculous. I should add that the majority of the arbiters were quietly efficient and I am especially grateful to Mr. Abdurrahman Koral The Tournament Director who helped out in a number of ways including local remedies for diarrhoea and ensuring the players weren’t left hungry after the last round when the kitchen staff tried to pack away lunch before most players had even left the tournament hall.

On a personal level I would like to thank all the players for being a joy to be with and to Claire Summerscale for all her support, before, during and after the tournament. I should also thank Sarah for her facebook appeal for a coach as without it I might never have had the opportunity to coach at a World Junior, which is an experience I will never forget. I also need to thank Karl McPhillips for being the first person to locate alcohol in Gaziantep, believe me it was needed after watching a couple of David’s marathon games! Thanks to all.

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Read about the English Under 16 Olympiad squad