World Cadets Chess Championships 2016

[Peter Turner]

Enjoyed reading the reports. Congratulations and thanks to everyone involved.

[John Higgs]

Round 10 report by Glafcos Tombolis, Head of Delegation:

Round 10’s and 11 will be important games to determine points, performance rating and bragging rights in our England team. Some of our players already have very decent scores and will be looking to squeeze out anything they can from the last 2 games to further enhance them. Others will have a target in mind with which they will go home happy or ultimately dissatisfied if it is not reached. think it is natural to have unrealistic expectations at the start of a tournament. You see the ratings of players on paper but you can’t feel how good they are until you play them. To dream of what could be though is surely the first step in making it happen and hope springs eternal. Nevertheless at this stage in the game we know where we are whether we are happy or not we should be ready to grab whatever more we can, and so to round 10.

Aditya Munshi was playing a higher rated Azerbaijan opponent as black. White took the initiative early on in the game and as a result Aditya was always on the back foot. White moved very fast in the game finding strong aggressive play move after move and Aditya was ultimately unable to defend and find sufficient counter play and resigned the game. Aditya is White next round and will be facing an apparently weaker opponent and surely will back himself for a respectable 50% score after the next round.

Anum Sheikh also lost today. She didn’t come out of the opening quite how she would have liked and though the game was close for some time, perhaps today her opponent understood the position a little more than Anum and ultimately a couple if misplaced moves made all the difference. Our WCM is on 6 points and will be striving to make it 7 tomorrow.

Our U8’s Joe Birks and Keerthana Easwar also lost today. These “Young Guns “of our team have given everything and this tournament will be fantastic for their chess development. They know now what it takes to play chess at the highest level in the world and will be stronger players domestically and internationally as a result. One more round to go. Put everything into the last game guys! Let’s finish with a winning feeling.
Bobby Akeya-Price drew today as black against an opponent that his compatriot Christopher Tombolis drew with in round 2. In a positional game where both players were manoeuvring their pieces in an attempt to gain an advantage Bobby managed to get an edge a pawn up with Bobby’s Knight against his opponent’s bishop. Analysis showed that the final position may have been winning but it certainly wasn’t easy. Bobby will go into the final round with high hopes of achieving a 50% score. He will have the white pieces but this won’t be easy as he is playing a 1969 rated Canadian player. Bobby has to come out well in the opening to give himself a chance in game 11.

Ilya Misyura achieved a commendable draw today as white against his higher rated Bulgarian opponent. Ilya is on 6 points and will have an equally tough task in round 11 as black. However Ilya has beaten higher rated, over 2000 rated opponents in this competition before and will be preparing himself for a tough encounter that I believe he can win. Go for it Ilya, let’s make it lucky 7!

And so to the winners in round 10. George Clarkson produced what I feel was one of his best games of the tournament as Black in the Grunfeld. His opponent diverged from theory on move 14 by playing e5 when d5 was the move, opening up George’s white square bishop. George increased his advantage until he played 23…Rd5 which allowed white back into the game. In actuality George had the edge throughout the game and was the better player. George’s Czech opponent had his chances to emerge with equality on move 42 but this would have surely been a travesty and perhaps the pressure that George was able to maintain throughout meant his opponent was unable to find this sequence of moves. A good win and the crowds are baying for more of the same George; it would be a shame to let them down!

Nilomi Desai produced an excellent performance today against her Serbian opponent. A controlled game of chess where with the black pieces she was able to gain equality early, ramp up the pressure and outplay her opponent. Apparently Nilomi gets nervous during her games, but she doesn’t let her opponents know and it doesn’t affect her play. Nilomi made this complicated game look easy today. One more win will take her to 6.5. In round 11 she has the white pieces against an over 2000 rated Fide Master. I feel if Nilomi can believe she can win she has every chance as she is capable of consistently excellent play. The bigger they are the harder they fall Nilomi. Give it your best in round 11!

Christopher Tombolis produced the kind of performance today that I know he is capable of. Christopher has just been playing too fast in his games and as a result has missed combinations or tactics that have led to losing positions for him. Moving slower or indeed moving faster is easier said than done. Today Christopher’s time management was excellent. He made consistently good moves throughout and on move 23.b4 his opponent made a mistake and then blundered on move 27. Bd2 was played allowing his Knight to get trapped with the subsequent move. One more game to go for my son and one more win will give him a 50% score. Christopher plays a beatable opponent tomorrow with the white pieces and though this player from Japan has a higher rating his performance rating in the tournament has been lower than Christopher’s. I will be living every minute with my son tomorrow, and as I write this report he is snoring away behind me, hopefully getting a good night’s sleep.

4 out of 9 for England today and we will all be keeping our fingers crossed to have a winning end to the tournament for all the England team.

[Roger Lancaster]

Series of interesting reports.

[LawrenceCooper]

Last rounds results and final standings now available here:
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr238132. ... =30&wi=984

[Carl Hibbard]

Series of interesting reports.

Yes a nice job so thanks John.

[John Higgs]

Round 11 (last round) report by Glafcos Tombolis, Head of Delegation:

For the last 3-4 months I have been working hard to make sure to make sure our trip went smoothly. If I could facilitate this and do my best to keep everybody happy then perhaps parents and coaches would be able to focus on the important thing - getting the kids to play their best possible chess. I learnt a lot of trivial things in the process. I now know three cities in Georgia: Batumi, Kutaisi and Tbilisi. I am embarrassed to mention that I did not know that it was the Black Sea that bordered Batumi until a day into the trip! However it is not these things that will be embossed in my mind.

The memories I will take away are; an arduous journey; finding a player from the Irish delegation and watching my son playing Blitz in the departure lounge in Budapest. Buying some hot Hungarian soup and somehow insulting the vendor by not knowing it was their national dish and then burning our palates with it. Cramming into a crowded transfer bus in Kutaisi, unable to get comfortable in my seat, but so tired I slept anyway - only to be told by my son that everyone had a good laugh at my snoring.

The noisy sound of the cars on the poorly maintained cobbled streets surrounding the hotel. Zebra crossings that are ignored by the local drivers. The presence of lots of friendly but inquisitive stray dogs and cats. The under construction Trump tower not 10 minute walk away. The snow covered mountains that surround Batumi in the distance and the Black sea. Lots and lots of rain but not cold. A lovely hotel which was the best I’ve stayed at for a chess event. A lovely spa, swimming pool and gym to use whilst the kids are playing their games. Striking up a conversation about Georgian football with a member of the bar-staff. A pretty girl and a scary looking security guard outside the 24 hr casino which is in the hotel next to the lifts. Waiting for about 45 minutes at least in total for lifts going up and down during the entire competition.

Efficient running of the event by the organisers. A nice breakfast provided by the hotel but a lunch and dinner in a refectory next to the Black sea that was nothing to write home about. Playing tennis in the local tennis club not 5 minutes walk away. Being almost run over at least 3 times by the electric mini-bus that was available outside the refectory (silent but deadly). Playing table tennis on tables outside the hotel daily both with my son, other kids and the Dads, with and without a net.

Losing miserably at Blitz in an adult only chess face off. Using What’s App for the first time as a group but finding it a useful tool. Making friends and being involved. Team unity and the feeling that parents, children and coaches care about what happens to one another. Writers block in writing these reports (believe it or not) but a feeling of satisfaction once they were done.

The next thing I would like to do is thank IM Andrew Martin and GM Glenn Flear for the fantastic job they have done both before and during the event. They are experienced coaches who know what they are doing. Their instruction was not only vital for the games at the championship but also invaluable for the children’s chess going forward. I would also like to thank John Higgs, Andrew Walker, Gary Wilson, Christelle Hafstad and Traci Whitfield at the ECF and Simon Metcalfe for giving me advice on the role and mentoring me especially at the start.

So here comes round 11. Keerthana Easwar was the first one out of the playing hall. This was the best game of the tournament for her. She played really solid but aggressive chess. This was not a typical 8year old low on energy at the end of the tournament. A really excellent game. Well done Keerthana. This took her score to a respectable 4/11.

Aditya Munshi also won his game meaning that he achieved his 50% score of 5.5/11. His game was a positional affair. Aditya took a pawn with his Knight, leaving his opponent with an open King. The opponent did not accept the sacrifice but instead threatened checkmate. In analysis Aditya admitted to “Nearly having a heart attack” after Qc6 which attacked check mate and his Knight. Thankfully Aditya has Nf4 saving his knight and protecting checkmate.

Christopher Tombolis backed up his win last round with another against his higher rated opponent from Japan and it looks like the end of this tournament is coming too soon for him. This was another Benko which he had faced in a previous round and lost. This time he Fiancetto’d and took advantage of being a pawn up following the gambit. He slowly outplayed his opponent. Black thought he had a tactic by taking the pawn on d5 with the Knight on f6, then after Nxd5 blacks queen would go to c6 or b7 pinning the knight and at the end of the variation he would win his knight back, but Christopher spotted Bb2 check and Rhd1 and after e6 trying to win the knight back, he would attack checkmate forcing black to go e5 and then just protect the knight on d5 again. Christopher’s technique in completing the game seemed a bit risky to me but he assures me he had it all under control. He finished on 50% and 5.5/11. He was very happy with his play in the last 2 rounds.

Joe Birks, Ilya Misyura and Anum Sheikh drew their games, leaving them with 4.5, 6.5 and 6.5 respectively. Anum and Ilya had excellent tournaments and Anum received her prize after winning the puzzle prize for the competition that took place on the rest day.

Bobby , Nilomi and George lost their games against much higher rated opponents so no shame at all. They were left with 4.5, 5.5 and 5.5 respectively.

Well done to all our players. You have done yourselves and your country proud during this marathon competition. Thank you to all the parents for their understanding help and support. This was my first international trip and I would say to any parent whose child qualifies for a tournament like this- don’t hesitate, express your interest and go. This was the most amazing experience for me and my son and we hope for a repeat if we are able.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these reports.

[LawrenceCooper]

Well done to all our players. You have done yourselves and your country proud during this marathon competition. Thank you to all the parents for their understanding help and support. This was my first international trip and I would say to any parent whose child qualifies for a tournament like this- don’t hesitate, express your interest and go. This was the most amazing experience for me and my son and we hope for a repeat if we are able.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these reports.

Safe journey home everyone and thanks for the round by round reports.