Rank & File

The following day, I was Black
against Tianhui Jie, a fellow American.
I misplayed the opening and
had a weakened c6 pawn, but my
opponent did not exploit the weakness
well enough to earn a win. Especially
during the middle game, my
opponent and I seemed to be at an
impasse; I could not attack my opponent,
but she could not break through
my defenses either. Eventually, I
managed to open the queenside to allow
my pieces some activity, only to
have Tianhui sacrifice her bishop for
three pawns, leading to a draw. However,
I apparently missed a winning
tactic that would lead to mate.
Round 8 was contested against Vantika
Agrawal, from India. I played
the White side of a Kings’ Indian Defense.
I had an advantage for almost
the entire game, from the opening,
to the middle game. I was up an exchange
at the end of the first time
control. I made a move, went to the
bathroom, came back, and discovered
that my position was now totally losing,
due to a major oversight on my
part. Needless to say, I lost the game.
Round 9 was another one of my
“lucky games.” Playing with Black
against my friend, Joanna Liu, from
Arizona, my king fell under attack,
and I nearly got mated. In fact, Joanna
could have, at some point, taken
my queen, but she missed the continuation
and settled for an exchange instead.
Later, Joanna did not play the
R+R vs. R+B endgame correctly, and
allowed me to draw the game.
The penultimate round was played
against a girl from Lithuania. After
going for so long with only draws and
losses, I was determined to win this
game. While I had been better during
the start of the game, a miscalculation
allowed my opponent to take the
advantage. I thought that my pawn
sacrifice would allow me to win a
piece, but, in reality, it only allowed
me to lose a pawn. Luckily, my opponent
allowed me to pin her rook and
queen, and I won the game. I was extremely
happy to win my first game
since round 3.
The final game was played against
Mariya Nosacheva, of Russia. I was
outplaying my opponent, but missed
a simple double-attack and allowed
Mariya to equalize the position. However,
I was determined to win this
game, and used my advanced a-pawn
and dark-squared bishop to lock her
rook on a2. My king then went around
and picked off her pawns, winning
the game.
All in all, I only lost one game in
the whole tournament to the eventual
bronze medalist from India. I was
even up an exchange in that game,
but blundered in a winning position.
In total, I drew five of the 11 games in
the tournament, including four draws
in a row from the 4th to 7th rounds.
In several games, I was totally losing,
but managed to draw or even win the
games. I was not completely satisfied
with my performance, and felt that I
could have played better. But there is
always next year!
In the end, the Indian team did extremely
well this year, winning 5 out
of 12 gold medals. Team U.S.A. only
won three medals this year, with our
own Agata Bykovtsev taking bronze
in GU16.
On our way back, we stopped in Istanbul,
an energetic city where the
West and East meet. I visited several
of the famous Turkish mosques,
including the Blue Mosque and
Haghia Sofia, but, unfortunately,
both mosques were under renovation.
The beauty of these two mosques was
Solutions to
Outside Shots!
From the back cover.
1. 1.... Ne1 2. Rxc3 Rxc3 3. Qxc3
Qg2+ 4. Kh4 Qxh2+ 5. Qh3 Ng2+ 0-1
Chandreyee - Bykovtsev 2015 World
Youth Ch.
2. 1. Bxc7 f5 2. Bd6 f4 3. Qd2 f3 4.
Bxb5 Nf4 5t. Bc4 1-0 Wang - Peters,
American Open 2015.
3. 1.... Rg2+ 0-1 After 2. Kxg2
exquisite, despite being hundreds of
years old. Dolmabahçe Palace, the
home of many famous Turkish leaders,
was another highlight. The palace
was extremely beautiful, with
real gold lining the ceilings and pillars,
luxurious rugs, and an immense
crystal chandelier that contains over
four hundred lightbulbs.
On the last day of our stay, my dad
wanted to walk across the bridge
separating Europe and Asia. We did
walk across a bridge, but it was the
wrong one. The bridge we crossed was
only one of the small bridges stretching
across the Golden Horn Bay, one
of the primary inlets of the Bosphorus
Strait. Next time, we shall walk
across the correct bridge!
Qb2+ picks up the rook. Pychova -
Bykovtsev 2015 World Youth Ch.
4. 1. Nxh7 Bg7 Nxf8+ 1-0 Peters -
Heredia, American Open 2015.
5. 1.... Rc3!! 2. bxc3 Qxd3# Rivera -
Shlyakhtenko, American Open 2015.
6. 1....Rxb2 2. Qxb2 Ne4 3. Qa3 Nxb6
wins a piece 0-1 Creger - Matikozyan,
American Open 2015.
jw
www.scchess.com Dec 2015-Jan-Feb 2016
Rank & File 23