World Junior

[John McKenna]

Peruvian GM Jorge Cori (2612), 4th seed, is again the sole leader with 6/8

Four players on 5.5 - an Armenian GM, two Chinese GMs and Indian IM (2420) Sunilduth Narayanan.

Our man is paired against an unrated player from Tajikistan.

R8: 66 Horton Jamie 2064 (1.5) - (1.5) Kulmamadov David 0 TJK

[John McKenna]

Yesterday was a "free day" so round 8 is today at 14:30 local time in Pune.

Since most of India is 5 hrs 30 mins ahead of GMT play should be starting now - 10:30 BST.

R8: 66 Horton Jamie 2064 (1.5) - (1.5) Kulmamadov David 0 TJK

Chessbase report on rounds 4 & 5 -

http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-juni ... lose-games

[LawrenceCooper]

A tense endgame in progress in round 8:

http://www.worldjuniorchess2014.com/liv ... _61-70.php

[LawrenceCooper]

A tense endgame in progress in round 8:

http://www.worldjuniorchess2014.com/liv ... _61-70.php

Which ended in a win for Jamie

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 8 result:

66 Horton Jamie A 2064 ENG 1½ 1 - 0 1½ Kulmamadov David 0 TJK

[John McKenna]

Round 9: (Two Chinese GM's on board 1, share the lead, on 6.5, with an Armenian GM.)

Bd. 63 IM Nader Mohamed 2098 EGY (2½) - (2½) Horton Jamie A 2064 ENG

Interesting that Jamie's Egyptian opponent seems to have the IM title and a 2098 rating.

Another win (or draw) would be welcome after yesterday's well-earned point in that "tense" ending.

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 9: (Two Chinese GM's on board 1, share the lead, on 6.5, with an Armenian GM.)

Bd. 63 IM Nader Mohamed 2098 EGY (2½) - (2½) Horton Jamie A 2064 ENG

Interesting that Jamie's Egyptian opponent seems to have the IM title and a 2098 rating.

Another win (or draw) would be welcome after yesterday's well-earned point in that "tense" ending.

http://www.worldjuniorchess2014.com/liv ... _61-70.php for coverage of his round 9 game.

[John McKenna]

Round 9: (Two Chinese GM's on board 1, share the lead, on 6.5, with an Armenian GM.)

Bd. 63 IM Nader Mohamed 2098 EGY (2½) - (2½) Horton Jamie A 2064 ENG

Interesting that Jamie's Egyptian opponent seems to have the IM title and a 2098 rating.

Another win (or draw) would be welcome after yesterday's well-earned point in that "tense" ending.

http://www.worldjuniorchess2014.com/liv ... _61-70.php for coverage of his round 9 game.

Thanks, Loz, I see that Jamie made the time control, with seconds to spare, a double exchange up but a pawn down (B & N + 5P v. 2r + 4p). Still a quite a bit to do in another tense technical ending...

[Mick Norris]

Jamie is often in time trouble, many of the Manchester juniors are frightening to watch in this respect

His younger brother Andy isn't as bad, but as his team mate in the U160 title winning team of 2012, I often had to trust his superior ability meant it was worth him investing lots of time in his position (he's now 214 grade, Jamie being 190)

[AustinElliott]

I can testify to the Horton Bros skill at rapidplay, having several times failed to beat Andy at rapidplay handicap where I have been starting with 17 min to his 3...! I usually do OK in the early stages, but by the time the time handicap 'unravels' to where I am down to 7 min and Andy still has 2 min things are getting dodgy, and once the times are equal I always know I am done for.

Let's hope Jamie can bring home the win today on the increment (assuming there is one). It sounds like he has had a tough tournament facing, presumably, vastly undergraded 'unknown' Indian juniors, and it would be nice to see him get another point on the board.

UPDATE: draw agreed - I'm guessing that with no time, and the opponent having active minor pieces and King, Jamie couldn't find a safe way to a win. It did look at the end like taking the h-pawn (which seemed the main winning try) might be very dangerous for him. Having managed actually to LOSE a +2 R & minor piece ending in time trouble in a League game last night, I could sympathise with that....

[LawrenceCooper]

It looks like he allowed threefold repetition whilst trying to build up time having been playing off only increment for several moves. That said, it wasn't so easy to co-ordinate his pieces and find a way to win with only 30 seconds a move.

[MartinCarpenter]

That final position does look very scary to play. Not sure how often he'll have been abroad before? That must make this sort of event a lot tougher.

It isn't just Manchester juniors and time trouble. Jean Luc Weller has got into some terrifying time scrambles playing out endings in quick play finishes for York. Of course like Mick says, after they win the first couple of times you just start trusting them

Suppose it makes a nice change from the 'traditional' junior recipe of playing far too fast....

[Mick Norris]

Jamie played in Hungary in June 2014 and June 2013, and I assume has been on at least 1 of 3Cs overseas trips, but obviously nothing quite like this

[John McKenna]

That draw puts Jamie on 3/9, which is respectable in the World Junior Ch. with a host of unknown local talents, inspired by Vishy Anand, lurking in every round (particularly the last round - see below).

Technical Points

⦁ Number of rounds: The Championship will be played in 13 rounds Swiss System

⦁ Rate of Play: 90 minutes for the 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for all remaining moves with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one

⦁ Arrival at the Board for the game: Zero tolerance will be followed

⦁ Draw Agreement: Players cannot agree to a draw, in less than 30 moves, without the consent of the arbiter

⦁ Players from same federation will not be paired in the final round

The pairings that result from the last bullet point will be interesting to see - if they fully enforce it!

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 9 result:

63 IM Nader Mohamed 2098 EGY 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Horton Jamie A 2064 ENG