World Youth - stalemate discussion

There has been some discussion on the ChessBase website about the unfairness of stalemate resulting in a draw. I cannot agree with that sentiment. Stalemate should remain a draw! Centuries of endgame theory would be overturned if stalemate was not a draw, as the basic position of K+P versus K with the defending King in front of the pawn would no longer be drawn.

Consider the following diagram, from round 8 of the World Youth under 14 boys, with White to move. White has been defending a Bishop ending a pawn down, and has just swapped the dark squared Bishops, because he knows the pawn ending is drawn:

This is drawn because of the variations 1.Kc4 b3 2.axb3 axb3 3.Kxb3 Ke5 4.Kc4 Kf4 5.Kd5! f5 6.Ke6 swapping all the pawns, or else 4... f5 5.Kd3 Kf4 6.Ke2 Kg3 7.f4 Kxf4 8.Kf2 is a book draw, because of stalemate at the end. Yes, I know that 7.Ke3 also works.

Stalemate usually occurs through carelessness, or through a very clever defence. I saw an example of each case in round 8. In a game on one of the lower boards they had K+R vs K. The final position was wKh1 vs bKh3, with bRg3 causing a stalemate draw. That was extremely careless.

Here is an example of a very clever defence, with Black to move:

Here Black played 1... Re8 threatening Rh8# so 2.Qc7+ is forced, met by 2... Kg6 renewing the mate threat. However, after 2... Kg6 we see that the Kh4 has no legal moves, so White can sacrifice his Queen to achieve stalemate. Unfortunately White blundered and played 3.Qh7+?? Kxh7 4.Kh5 Re1 and had to resign.

Notice that any one of 3.Qb8, 3.Qc8 or 3.Qd8 would be a very clever defence to the mate threat! For example, 3.Qc8! Kf7 (3... Rxc8 is stalemate) 4.Qb7+ Kg6 5.Qxe4+ Rxe4 results in a pretty stalemate.

World Youth - at the half-way mark

So far we have completed 6 of the 11 rounds, with today being a welcome rest day for the players and officials. At the half-way mark, our leading KZN player is Shivar Gopaulsingh (from Chatsworth) who is playing in the under 14 boys section. Shivar reached 3.5 points from 6 games with a win over Endre Machlik, rated 1902 (from Norway). In the Durban GM open, being held alongside the World Youth championships, we have 5 players on 3 out of 6, namely Qobo, Subke, Xulu, Moodley and Zuma. I will give some photos and games from the boys under 14 section, where I am an arbiter.

Birds eye view of boards 11 to 49 in the under 14 boys section

Kevin Schroeder (2250) from Germany, he lost this Bishop ending
 in round 6 vs his Lithuanian opponent Paulus Pultinevicius (2026)

but won this position with the White pieces in round 4. Black is forced to play
42... Kb6 after which 43. Qd8+ Kc5 44. Qc8+ clinched the game (of course,
he saw the simple trap 43. Rb2 "winning the Queen" is met by Qxb2+ here)

Paulius Pultinevicius of Lithuania, successful vs Schroeder, but this
photo is from his loss against Aram Hakobyan (Armenia) in round 4

Adham Fawzy (2119) from Egypt had a 70-move battle versus fellow Egyptian
Adham Kandil (1927) in round 6, with Kandil winning in the end

Top seed Roven Vogel (2434) from Germany has been battling to beat his lower rated opponents

Carlos Dias (deputy chief arbiter) and Giuseppe Buonocore (section arbiter, boys under 14)
meet about a defective clock, Salikh Ayupov (1489) from Kazakhstan just ignores them

To end off this report, here is an exciting game from round 6:

World Youth - a marathon day

Day 2 was an exhausting double round marathon. The time control for this event is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes to complete the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 1. Many games took almost 5 hours to complete, with one round 2 game going almost 6 hours after the players got into the notorious Rook and Bishop versus Rook ending (drawn after about 125 moves because of the 50-move rule).

The World Youth is divided by age group and by gender, from under 8 up till under 18. The top 10 boards in each are using DGT boards so that moves played on these boards can be seen by spectators outside the playing hall. Strictly no spectators are allowed inside the playing hall! There is a complicated system of coloured lanyards in place to enforce this. My photo ID has two coloured dots, giving me access to the playing hall and to the arbiters room. If you see somebody with all the colours of the rainbow, then you know they are a numzaan.

In between the rounds I was able to chat to several of the visiting international arbiters. I was shown the following position that was reached in one of the under 8 games, with White to move. White accepted his opponent's draw offer, thinking that stalemate was inevitable:

After the score sheets had been signed, Black confessed that he knew White has a forced win! His winning line went 1.Kf3 g4+ 2.Ke3 g3 3.Kd2 g2 4.Kc2 g1=Q 5.Qb2#. I improved on that with a mate in 3, which you might like to calculate. So, even the under 8's are capable of gamesmanship!

After 3 rounds our local KZN players are struggling to get to grips with players from the rest of the world. Only Aarti Datharam (in the under 8 girls section) still has a plus score (2 points out of 3). Our KZN players seem to be doing better in the Grandmaster open which is being played alongside the World Youth. In the GM open we still have 4 players on a plus score, namely Jason Subke, Lindokuhle Xulu, Joseph Mwale and Jerry Zuma, all with 2 points.

For more information and detailed results, go to the chess-results (RSA) server.

World Youth - first day impressions

Round 1 got under way a few minutes late but nobody seemed to mind too much after the rousing dancing exhibition. I was present as an arbiter for the under 14 boys division, with boards 11 to 18 being my responsibility. Boards 1 to 10 were played on DGT boards in a separate section of the hall, so I didn't see much of those games. The top seed was rated 2434 and the ratings of the 11th to 18th seeds ranged from 2312 to 2215 on my boards.

Table 11: Burri (France) versus van der Lingen (South Africa)

I watched the board 11 game with great interest. On move 14 Burri sacrificed a Bishop for a strong attack. It seemed to be an intuitive sacrifice, as he played his next 2 moves quickly before starting to think on his 17th move. My computer says both players missed some chances in what followed. Here is the game with light notes:

World Youth opens with dance

Opening ceremonies can be quite boring with all the obligatory speeches, but the organisers livened up their ceremony with a Zulu dancing exhibition. As an arbiter for the under 14 boys group, I was lucky enough to have a front row seat for the dance!

The dancers arrive on stage, creating a buzz

Were they doing the locomotion?

A challenge is laid down as Winston and Gunther look on

I'm not sure how to interpret this look

Dignatories on stage, from left: Lewis Ncube (FIDE Africa), Ravi Govender (Master of Ceremonies),
Emelia Ellapen (FIDE Board), Winston Dalpat (Chessa), Gunther van den Bergh (Chief Arbiter)

Uthungulu Youth champs

After holding a successful trials tournament in August to pick the Uthungulu youth teams, it was decided to hold another rated tournament in September, to sort out the board orders. With only 66 players, a smaller venue at Brackenham Primary was used for the championships. The time control was also increased (to 60/60) so that players could record all their moves, something that was new to a lot of the players. The most common queries were on how to record a promotion. Thanks once again to Lisa Griffiths and her team for inviting me back to Richards Bay for this pleasant event.

Lisa Griffiths gives the "start play" command, the under 14 players are in the foreground

Kabelo Mthethwa vs Lindelwa Nxumalo, behind them is Luyanda Mbambo vs Mxolisi Ncanana,
you can also see Kelvin Aidan and Sandile Mdunge in the picture

u12's Gabriel Gounden, Siyabonga Mqaise and Keane Reddy concentrating on their notation

 u12 players Uvash Harrilall on board 26, Tlhoni Tsotetsi on board 25

Top u14 players, Nikash Baboolal vs Sandile Mdunge, Sandile won yet again

Best under 16, Siyanda Khumalo, deep in thought

The final results were as follows:
under 12 championship
under 14 championship
under 16 championship
under 20 championship

For more information, contact Lisa Griffiths

World Youth - Beach Launch

World Youth starts in 2 weeks

Congratulations to the following KZN players who will be participating in the 2014 World Youth Chess Championships, which starts in Durban in two weeks time.

BOYS
under 08: none
under 10: Joshua Bezuidenhout, Jaedon Naidu
under 12: Cailin Chetty, Mayilan Chetty, Naseem Ahmed Essa, Eli-Jordan Govender,
                Chad Millard, Aaron Jude Naidu, Sachin Reddy, Rahul Heeralall
under 14: Ananta Reddy, Shivar Gopaulsingh, Liam Moodley, Tarendra Moodley
under 16: Kyran Appanna, Yashkar Balmakhun, Duncan Podmore
under 18: Kenyon Padayachee, Randall Varden

GIRLS
under 08: Aarti Datharam, Charlotte Millard
under 10: Priyasha Naidoo
under 12: Santham Moodley, Dayaan Parthiephal
under 14: none
under 16: Keyana Padayachee, Caitlin Chetty, Saiyuri Naidoo, Genevieve Pillay
under 18: none

For more information on the players, go to the Chess-results server (RSA).

Giant chess sets for KZN schools

Sandile Xulu reports: 

On Tuesday 2nd September 2014 the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education, Ms Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni expressed a wish that, in each and every new school to be built in the Province of KwaZulu Natal, there will be a garden chess set.

Speaking to students, educators and business persons at Stanger South High School in Ilembe District, the MEC announced that she wants chess to be rolled out to all schools in KZN. She was talking in the school assembly before walking into a classroom where grade 10 students had their first chess lesson. It was a first-hand experience of ‘classroom chess’ for the MEC as well. As part of her visit to the school, the MEC donated scientific calculators to further enhance mathematics and motivate students to take science subjects.

President Jacob Zuma has repeatedly made a call in support of chess being introduced to all schools in South Africa. Through his own initiative, the Jacob G. Zuma Foundation, President Zuma has launched a program called ‘Chess-in-Schools’ which will see many schools benefit from having a school chess program.

KZN Chess Association President Sandile Xulu together with Ilembe Chess Association chairperson Welcome Gwamanda conducted the chess lessons. Problem was, students were so interested in chess that they did not want the session to end!

The MEC donated some chess sets to help the school start their own chess program. Business people also pledged-in their support to make sure that chess becomes a success story in Stanger South High School.

For more information, contact Sandile Xulu.

1st Durban Open GM tournament announced

CHESS SA has announced that the 1st Durban Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament will be held in Durban, from 20th to 29th September 2014, at the International Convention Centre. The event will take place at the same time as the FIDE World Youth Chess Championships at the same venue.

Details of the event can be found on the World Youth Chess Championship website or you can download the Durban open information brochure. Players should enter online before 15th September, here is the link to register to play in the tournament. All South Africans who register and pay before 5th September qualify for a 25% discount on their entry fees.

Here is a link to the tournament website on Chess-Results.com.
For more information, contact Bridgette Burger.

Historic win by Steel vs Kamsky

It's not very often that a South African beats a super Grandmaster! I remember the game Watu Kobese won against Peter Leko in the 2001 FIDE knockout championship. Before that, there was the win by Wolfgang Heidenfeld versus former world champion Max Euwe at the 1955 Johannesburg international. Now Henry Steel has joined this elite club at the Tromso Olympiad earlier this month. In all fairness, Kamsky was completely winning after his 23rd move, but made things difficult for himself with his poor 28th and 33rd moves. The ending reached after Black's 40th move looks about equal to me, but Steel outplayed his super-strong opponent for an historic win. Here is the game, with light notes:

ILembe Youth Trials, 16th-17th August 2014

This weekend saw the last of this year's youth trials, held over 2 days at Umhlali Preparatory School in the ILembe district. Close to a hundred players took part and enjoyed 6 rounds of rated chess. The surprising winner of the under 20 section (and best under 16 player) was Yasheel Maharaj, who scored 5 out of 6. He drew with top seed Miguel Murugan in the last round, and defeated number 2 seed Gregory Hall with a very nice piece sacrifice in round 3 - unfortunately his game score was not legible so I cannot show you this game. Best under 18 player was Llewellyn Iyer and best under 20 player was Miguel Murugan. Here are some photos I took of the under 20 section:

Llewelyn Iyer vs Yasheel Maharaj on board 1

Gregory Hall, Richard Paterson and Yasheel Maharaj

Top seed Miguel Murugan vs Gregory Hall, James Hulett on next board

Not surprisingly the under 14 section was won by top seed Sachin Reddy, with a perfect score. Sachin has been chosen to represent South Africa in this age category. Some photos of the under 14's:

Kayler Hulett and Frederick Paynter in u14 section

Dylan Atherstone went on to win this game vs Paynter

The other section winners were Cameron Evetts (under 12), Jamie Evetts (under 10) and Kiegan Padayachee (under 8).

Here are the final results for each age group:

under 8/10 results

under 12 results

under 14 results

under 16/18/20 results

For more information, contact Welcome Gwamanda.

Amajuba tournament, 9th August 2014

Mashumi Nhlapo reports from Newcastle: Amajuba Chess staged its inaugural district tournament on Saturday 9th August 2014 at Newcastle Recreation Center. There were 52 entrants from all over the Amajuba District. The tournament was divided into two categories, namely an under-20 section with 40 entrants and an over-20 section with 12 entrants. The winner in the under-20 section was Maseko Nkululeko; winner of the over-20 section was Nxumalo Nhlakanipho; the best female player was Magagula Ayanda and the best young player was Mnguni Lwandle.

There was tough competition in the under 20 section

Lwandle Mnguni receiving Best Young Player prize
 from Lulama Nqubuka (right) and Blessing Zambuko

Nkululeko Maseko (in black top) won first prize in under 20 section

Nhlakanipho Nxumalo (middle) won first prize in over 20 section

Prize winners and Amajuba Chess committee members.
 Ayanda Magagula (second from right in front row) won Best Female prize

For more information, contact Mashumi Nhlapo.

Uthungulu Youth Trials - team photos

combined under 10/12 teams

players sponsored by BHP Billiton

under 16 team

under 18 team

under 20 team

Uthungulu Youth Trials, 2nd-3rd August 2014

I was invited to Richards Bay as chief arbiter of the Uthungulu Youth Trials by Lisa Griffiths, the chairperson of the Uthungulu Chess Association. Her committee did a good job in organising the tournament, setting up the playing venue, keeping track of the scores and so forth. I really liked their table numbers, which were easy to see at a distance. 

On the first day we had a tournament for the under 12 players. There were no defaults and the juniors played so quickly that I was able to do pairings sooner than expected, so we finished the day early. As there were not enough under 10 players for a full team, the best under 10 players were included with the best under 12 players for team selections.

On the second day we had a full house of players from under 14's to under 20's. Despite lots of late entries we started on time, but then ran late as there were so many defaulters (players who had entered but who failed to pitch up) who had to be removed from the draw before round 2. We later caught up on the playing schedule and held the selectors meeting and prize-giving on time.

On both days there were a lot of new and inexperienced players, with a surprising number of games ending in draws due to stalemate or the 50-move rule (when trying to mate with K+Q vs K or K+R vs K). That's something for Head coach Makhosonke to sort out before Nationals in January! Here are some pictures from both days of the youth trials:

Stefan Britz vs Mongezi Shoba, they both scored 6/7 and tied for 1st place

Tlhoni Tsotetsi also scored 6/7 in the under 12

Khandisiwe Mbambo

Scorers Nishi and Michelle were kept busy

Lisa Griffiths with best girls Lungelo Vilakazi and Londeka Buthelezi

This game ended in stalemate!

Sandile Mdunge vs Nikash Baboolal, the top 2 seeds in under 14

Here are the final results for each age group:

under 8/10/12 results
under 14 results
under 16/18/20 results

For more information, contact Lisa Griffiths.