Chess
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE WORLD Youth Championships are under way in the Spanish town of Oropesa del Mar, a delightful resort on the Mediterranean, where the Spanish Team Championships were held three years ago.
We have 11 players in total. The most promising on paper - though I certainly don't want to write the others off - is Murugan Thiruchelvam, whom I featured last week and who is third seed in the under-10s. The other boys are Gawain Jones and Thomas Rendle in the under-12s, Simon Buckley in the under-14s, Desmond Tan in the under-16s and Nicholas Pert in the under- 18s, while the four girls are Sophie Tidman in the under-14s, Melanie Buckley and Heather Richards in the under-16s and Ruth Sheldon in the under-18s.
The top seed in the oldest boys section is the Russian, Alexander Grischuk, an international master rated 2,490, who will be 15 this Saturday. This is his first-round win.
In this sharp opening, if 13... Nc4 14 Bxc4 bxc4 15 Nc5 Qc7 16 N5a4 is possible. Once he got in 19 f5 Grischuk was clearly better - so presumably Kaner should have captured two moves earlier 17... exf4 18 Bxf4 Ne5 though 19 Nd4 looks pleasant for White.
In the diagram 21 f6! was very strong, since after 23 Bb5 White has time to anchor the bishop - 23... .axb3 loses to 24 Qxf6. Black had to play 25... Rxg3 before the knight reached f5. The rest was slaughter.
White: Alexander Grischuk
Black: M Kaner
Oropesa del Mar under-18 boys
Sicilian Najdorf
jspeelman@compuserve.com
1 e4 c5
2 Nf3 d6
3 d4 cxd4
4 Nxd4 Nf6
5 Nc3 a6
6 Be3 e5
7 Nb3 Be7
8 f3 Be6
9 Qd2 Nbd7
10 g4 h6
11 0-0-0 b5
12 Kb1 Nb6
13 Qf2 Rb8
14 h4 Qc7
15 Bd3 Nfd7
16 g5 h5
17 f4 b4
18 Ne2 a5
19 f5 Bxb3
20 cxb3 a4 (see diagram)
21 f6! gxf6
22 gxf6 Bxf6
23 Bb5 Ke7
24 bxa4 Rhg8
25 Ng3 Rxg3
26 Qxg3 Nc5
27 Qf3 Nbxa4
28 Bxa4 Nxa4
29 Rhf1 Nc3+
30 bxc3 bxc3+
31 Ka1 c2
32 Qxf6+ Ke8
33 Qh8+ Ke7
34 Bg5+ 1-0
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments