Rising U.S. chess stars bring home the hardware at world junior tourney

There are still a couple of days left to turn things around, but the consensus seems to be building that 2020 will not go down as a banner year.

Chess was not exactly spared: tournaments big and little scrubbed for the first in decades, top players — including both the U.S. and U.S. women’s national champs this year — surviving nasty brushes with COVID-19.

Still, the news was by no means all bad. Online play emerged to fill the over-the-board void, with some great virtual events involving top players quickly coming together. Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” brought unlikely general popularity and cachet to our game. And chess has bounced back from bad years before: 1941 was no picnic and don’t get us started on 1863.

And just in time for the new year comes news of some fine performances by young U.S. stars at this month’s FIDE world youth championships, with eight players medaling and four bringing home the gold in a modified rapid knockout event played (of course) online.

The honor roll: WGM Carissa Yip, Under-18 Girls gold; Dimitar Mardov, Under-12 Open gold; Alice Lee, Under-12 Girls gold; Omya Vidyarthi, Under-10 Girls gold; Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, Under-18 Girls silver; Zoey Tang, Under-12 Girls silver; IM Christopher Yoo, Under-14 Open bronze; Bach Ngo, Under-12 Open bronze.

And the quality of the play, given the shorter time controls and weird circumstances, was refreshingly high. Yip and Cervantes Landeiro engaged in tense absorbing battle in Under-18 girls final before the more experienced Yip finally broke on top.

In a Two Knights Defense after 21. Bxb6 cxb6, Black has lost her bishop tandem but has repaired her queenside pawn majority, a potentially significant endgame edge. But White’s advance pawn center and dominance of the e-file force a decisive defensive slip.

Thus: 24. f5 fxe5 (Qd7 25. e6 Qd6, and Black is playing defense for the rest of the game) 25. Rxe5 Qf6 26. Rfe1?! (more accurate was 26. Qe3!, as one 26…b5 27. axb5 cxb5 28. Re6 Qf7 29. f6! Rfe8 30. Rxe8+ Rxe8 31. Qc5 gxf6 32. Qxb5, all of Black’s pawns are vulnerable) Rfd8? (see diagram; and now was the time to break out with 26…b5 27. axb5 Rxb5 28. R1e2 with good queenside counterplay) 27. Qg4!, targeting Black’s soft spot with threats such as 28. Re6 Qf8 29. f6 Rd7 32. Qd7 Re8 33. Qd8! h6 34. Qxb6, and if 34…Rxe7??, 35 Qd8+ wins.

After 27…Rf8 (a sad but necessary retreat) 28. Re7 Rf7 29. R7e6 Qd8 30. Rxc6, Yip is a clear pawn to the good. Cervantes seek salvation in a rook-and-pawn ending, but after treading water for a while, White finds the winning idea 56. Kg4! Rxg2+ 57. Rg3 Rb2 58. Kxg5, and the h-pawn can’t be stopped. About to do a queen down after 65. h7 Ke6 66. Kg7, Black resigned.

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Expect to hear more of Illinois NM Dimitar Mardov in the coming decades, to judge from his fine positional win against Ukrainian candidate master Ihor Samunenkov in the Open Under-12 rapid finals.

A Sveshnikov Sicilian evolves into positional trench warfare, with both sides’ kingside attacks seemingly stymied. But Mardov adroitly uses the weakness of Black’s h-pawn and Samunenkov’s jumbled forces to open a new front with 36. b4 Ne6 37. a4!. Using the entire board against Black’s cramped defenses, White cranks up the pressure with 43. c4 Na7 44. Bd1! (once again targeting the unfortunate h5-pawn) Bxd5 45. Nxd5 Rc8 46. Ne3!, when Black’s d-, f- and h-pawns all hang and something has to give.

The positional dominance inevitably leads to a tactical opportunity, which White does not miss: 49. Qd5 Nc8 50. Rxh6+! Kxh6 51. Nxf5+ Kh7 52. Nxg7 Rxg7 53. Qxe4+, and Black is busted. Credit a game Samunenkov with conjuring up one last cheapo — 58. Qxf6 Rxg3!, when 59. Rxg3?? is a stalemate — but Mardov’s careful 59. Bc2+! snuffs that hope out; Black resigned.

Yip-Cervantes Landeiro, FIDE Girls Under-18 Online World Championship, December 2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Bc5 10. Be3 Bb6 11. c3 O-O 12. f3 Ng5 13. f4 Ne4 14. Nd2 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 f6 16. Nf3 Bf5 17. a4 a5 18. Nd4 Qd7 19. Rae1 Rae8 20. Nxf5 Qxf5 21. Bxb6 cxb6 22. Qd4 Rb8 23. h3 Qe6 24. f5 fxe5 25. Rxe5 Qf6 26. Rfe1 Rfd8 27. Qg4 Rf8 28. Re7 Rf7 29. R7e6 Qd8 30. Rxc6 Qd7 31. Rce6 Rbf8 32. f6 b5 33. axb5 Qxb5 34. fxg7 Rxg7 35. Qe2 Qxe2 36. R1xe2 Rg6 37. Rxg6+ hxg6 38. Re6 Kf7 39. Ra6 Rb8 40. Rxa5 Ke6 41. b4 Rc8 42. Rc5 Rb8 43. Kf2 Ke5 44. Ke3 Ra8 45. Rc6 Ra3 46. Kf2 g5 47. Rc8 Kf4 48. Rf8+ Ke5 49. Rf3 Ra2+ 50. Kg3 Rc2 51. Kh2 Rc1 52. Rg3 Kf5 53. Rd3 Ke4 54. Rf3 Rc2 55. Kg3 Rb2 56. Kg4 Rxg2+ 57. Rg3 Rb2 58. Kxg5 Ke5 59. h4 d4 60. cxd4+ Kxd4 61. h5 Ke5 62. Rg4 Ke6 63. Kg6 Ke5 64. h6 Rh2 65. h7 Ke6 66. Kg7 Black resigns.

Mardov-Samunenkov, FIDE Under-12 Online World Championship, December 2020

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Na3 b5 10. Nd5 Bg7 11. c3 f5 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. Nc2 O-O 14. Nce3 Bg6 15. h4 h6 16. Qg4 h5 17. Qg3 Kh7 18. Be2 f5 19. f4 Ra7 20. Rd1 Bh6 21. O-O Rg7 22. Qh3 Qe8 23. Bd3 e4 24. Bc2 Nd8 25. g3 Kh8 26. Kh2 Bh7 27. Rg1 Ne6 28. Qf1 Qd8 29. Kh3 Rfg8 30. Rd2 Qe8 31. Bd1 Qf7 32. Rgg2 Nc5 33. Be2 Ne6 34. Bd1 Nc5 35. Qe2 Bg6 36. b4 Ne6 37. a4 Qb7 38. Kh2 Rf8 39. Bb3 Nc7 40. axb5 Nxb5 41. Ra2 Bf7 42. Qd2 Be6 43. c4 Na7 44. Bd1 Bxd5 45. Nxd5 Rc8 46. Ne3 Qf7 47. Rxa6 Rcg8 48. Rxd6 Kh7 49. Qd5 Nc8 50. Rxh6+ Kxh6 51. Nxf5+ Kh7 52. Nxg7 Rxg7 53. Qxe4+ Kh6 54. Qc6+ Qg6 55. Qxc8 Rg8 56. Qc5 Qf6 57. Qg5+ Kh7 58. Qxf6 Rxg3 59. Bc2+ Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.