European Youth Chess Championship 2017

National developments, strategies and ideas.
John Higgs
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by John Higgs » Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:43 pm

Round 7 report from Simon Metcalfe

The sun is still shining and so are our players.

Kian was our first result of the day: he out manoeuvred his opponent in opening and achieved a slight advantage in middle game with a better position. In response, his Romanian opponent played a neat tactic to equalise the position and follow up to win an exchange for a pawn. Kian dug in deep and in the endgame held off his opponent to force a draw following 50 moves without capture or pawn move.

Kishan surprised his opponent in the opening but unfortunately still achieved a worse position with some inaccuracies in the opening. However, Kishan was able to capitalize on his opponent's poor time management and entered a knight end game a pawn up to secure the win.

Shlok has played extremely well in the tournament and was unlucky in round 6 when he let the game slip from his grasp. In round 7 he again played well against a strong defence and was always in control. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to break through and had to settle for the draw. A good tally and still plenty to play for in rounds 8 and 9 (last round).

Savin was playing black and came out of the opening with a small advantage. He opened up his opponent's king and won a pawn with a nice tactic. He won a second pawn in the end game and with that, the win.

Alex played a tactical game today sacrificing two pawns in the middle game to gain a small advantage. He ended a pawn up in an endgame. His opponent tried for a checkmate to salvage the position but lost a piece in the process giving Alex a decisive advantage and a straightforward win.

Charlie came out of the opening with a slight advantage following some inaccuracies by his opponent. He contained his opponent who became cramped. Charlie evaded his opponent's tactics and entered end game 4 pawns up for an inevitable win.

Elliot sacrificed 3 pawns for positional compensation and an initiative. He had a strong attack but his opponent was perhaps fortunate to escape to a drawn rook and knight ending. He played well against a strong French player so overall, a satisfying draw.

Shreyas powers on having had a great game against one of worlds top U8s. When he needed to defend, he defended well but was able to gain the imitative to put his opponent on the back foot. The end game required accurate play but Shreyas was well in control. He had held a time advantage and patiently played out the win to finish the round 7/7.

In summary, a great day, 5 wins and 3 draws with two days to play.

Even in some of our losses we saw some good play, offering plenty of encouragement for the last two rounds.
"I'm not the one who got it wrong. I'm the only one who got it right". Carrie Mathison.

Alex Holowczak
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by Alex Holowczak » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:28 pm

Shreyas looking good so far this morning. Seems to be totalling winning to my eyes after dodging 22. Bxa8.

If Giang of Hungary wins on 2, then it looks like he'll get Gold ahead of Shreyas on tie-break, which is head-to-head result. The live board of his game has only reached move 11 so far, so not a lot to draw from it.
Last edited by Alex Holowczak on Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:39 pm

A win would guarantee second place, which would still be a great result.

What is the tie-break if Ljepic wins?

(PS. You mean 22.Bxa8, surely?)

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David Shepherd
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by David Shepherd » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:46 pm

Nice win for Shreyas :)

Alex Holowczak
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by Alex Holowczak » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:47 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:(PS. You mean 22.Bxa8, surely?)
Ah yes, corrected.
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:A win would guarantee second place, which would still be a great result.
Indeed! :)
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:What is the tie-break if Ljepic wins?
Direct encounter won't come into it. It'll be Buchholz, and there's no real way to predict that given we can only see the top few boards.

LawrenceCooper
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by LawrenceCooper » Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:13 pm

David Shepherd wrote:Nice win for Shreyas :)
You obviously had the good sense to watch it somewhere other than chess24 which seems frozen on move 22 forever more.

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David Shepherd
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by David Shepherd » Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:20 pm

Yes it was on ChessBomb - I swapped as chess24 was frozen (I think on all boards)

LawrenceCooper
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by LawrenceCooper » Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:21 pm

David Shepherd wrote:Yes it was on ChessBomb - I swapped as chess24 was frozen (I think on all boards)
A very comprehensive win after what must have been a very upsetting loss yesterday.

Leonard Barden
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by Leonard Barden » Thu Sep 14, 2017 2:04 pm

Giang Trang has won, according to Chessbomb, so I guess that's it, an unlucky silver medal for Shreyas after dominating the entire tournament bar a single move.

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Thu Sep 14, 2017 2:42 pm

Leonard Barden wrote:Giang Trang has won, according to Chessbomb, so I guess that's it, an unlucky silver medal for Shreyas after dominating the entire tournament bar a single move.
Yes, quite.

Although maybe one and a half bad moves, yesterday. After blundering the piece with ...dxe4, surely he had to keep queens on with ...Qc7. You never know, an eight year old gawain would have done that and might still have come home with something.

John Higgs
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by John Higgs » Thu Sep 14, 2017 10:07 pm

Round 8 report from Simon Metcalfe

Round 8 was certainly our toughest day. They say the last three rounds can be the toughest and we felt it today.

The highlights of the day were two very satisfactory wins for Shlok and Alex and well fought draws by Savin, Elliott, Akito and Ravi. In Shlok's game he was ready for his opponent's gambit opening. After some great play he entered the end game a pawn up. The win was far from guaranteed but Shlok maintained his fine play to seal point number 6.

Alex had an long game. He showed great patience to wear down his opponent by slowly gaining advantage throughout the game. Alex as always was extremely modest about his play but had clearly demonstrated the flexibility in his approach to match the demands of the game.

Savin was up against a higher grade player. This was his longest game by some margin. In a tight game the draw was a fair result with both player showing some excellent play.

Elliott was playing a Spanish FM. His play has improved as the tournament progressed. Such was Elliot's confidence he was initially a bit disappointed with the draw but on reflection and analysis the realised he had played a great game.

Akito and Ravi both drew their games. Both players have been exemplary examples to the younger players. In some respects it has been easy to overlook their efforts since they describe their games with great humility showing the utmost respect for their opponents.

A tough day but all are in good spirits and are looking forward to the final round.
"I'm not the one who got it wrong. I'm the only one who got it right". Carrie Mathison.

John Higgs
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by John Higgs » Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:00 pm

Round 9 report from Simon Metcalfe

The last round was simply remarkable!

The U8 section has been exciting all through the tournament. Shreyas and Shlok have played so well and going into the last round Shreyas was vying for the top spots. He won his final game in style finishing tied for the lead on points and second overall on tie break. This was a wonderful performance so soon after his trip to Brazil. Well done Shreyas!

We had wins from Shlok (finishing on 7/9 and just outside the medals) Savin, Kian, Charlie, Elliott, Akito and Ravi. There were draws from Shyam, Kishan and Alex.

Just Lavanya's result to come; after 5 hours of play she emerged triumphant. This brought to close the England teams account finishing with 9 wins, 3 draws and no losses. On any day this is a great achievement but especially satisfying in the final round.

It just remains to say well done again to all the players and heartfelt thanks to our coaches Dagne Ciuksyte, Meri Grigoryan and Charles Storey for all their support and encouragement.

Thanks also to Traci, Gary and Andrew of the ECF for their support prior and during the event.

Finally, we wish Ravi Haria all the best in the World Youth Chess Championship in.Uruguay. Ravi is back in England for just 4 hours before catching his flight to Montevideo; good luck Ravi.
"I'm not the one who got it wrong. I'm the only one who got it right". Carrie Mathison.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: European Youth Chess Championship 2017

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Sep 15, 2017 11:16 pm

Pleased to see the great results. Er, do some of these players attend really supportive schools?

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