Monday, 3 August 2015

Nadia is British Girls U11 Champion

Nadia Jaufarally, playing in the British Championships in Warwick, has just become British U11 Girls Champion. Her score of 5/7 came from 4 wins, 2 draws and a defeat in the last round - with six of her games being against higher-graded opponents. The game below, from round 6, is a good example of how to play for a win in a very even position and shows strong endgame technique, her opponent is graded 155 - 57 higher than her own grade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Event "2015 British Chess Championships: Under "] [Site "University of Warwick, Coventr"] [Date "2015.07.31"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Jaufarally, Nadia"] [Black "Sanitt, Leo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "98"] [BlackElo "155"] [Annotator "Barnes, Nathan"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2015.07.27"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 c6 {4...Nf6 is the mainline; though c6 is one of the most commonly-seen replies.} 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd2 Qc7 7. Be2 Bf5 8. Be3 (8. Nh4 {is a better option as Black's bishop is most effective on the b1-h7 diagonal and the knight forces it to give up this diagonal or allow White to gain the bishop-pair advantage.}) 8... e6 9. Bd3 {Not bad but Nh4 was still the best option.} Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nbd7 11. g3 Bd6 12. O-O-O O-O-O 13. Ng5 Nb6 (13... -- 14. Nxf7 {winning the exchange}) 14. Rhe1 h6 15. Nge4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Nd5 17. Nxd6+ Qxd6 18. c3 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Qd5 20. b3 Rd7 $11 {The position is very even, though it is not yet drawn.} 21. e4 Qg5+ 22. Qe3 $5 {Taking the game into an equal endgame - this is often a good plan against juniors who often have limited experience in these types of position.} Qxe3+ 23. Rxe3 Rhd8 24. Red3 Kc7 (24... e5 $142 {would lead to a pawn endgame, that while likely to be drawn, gives Black any winning chances.} 25. d5 cxd5 26. Rxd5 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Rxd5 28. exd5) 25. c4 e5 26. d5 {Anything else loses material} c5 27. Kc2 f6 28. h4 Rf8 29. Rf3 h5 30. Rg1 Rdf7 31. g4 $5 {White is still playing for the win and this move gives more space for White's rooks.} hxg4 32. Rxg4 Rh8 33. Kd3 Kd7 34. Rfg3 {White's rooks have better activity than Black's which are being tied down to defending the g-pawn.} Rh7 35. Ke2 Ke7 36. Rf3 Kd6 37. Rf5 Ke7 38. Kf3 Rh6 39. Kg3 Kd6 $6 (39... g6 {would free Black's rook from the defence of the weak g-pawn.}) 40. h5 $1 {Playing a few waiting moves in the endgame often works as it can then make the breakthough moves more unexpected, White now starts to force matters.} Ke7 41. Rg6 Rh7 42. Kf3 Rf8 43. Kg3 Kf7 44. Kh4 Rfh8 {missing a tactic that leads to a much easier, though not winning endgame, for Black.} (44... Rxh5+ $5 45. Rxh5 (45. Kxh5 $2 Rh8+ 46. Kg4 Kxg6 { and Black's control of the open file should be enough to win.}) 45... Kxg6) 45. a3 a5 46. Rg3 {Setting a trap} g5+ $2 {that Black fails to spot, Black thinks that this move blocks the line of communication between the f5 rook and the h5 pawn allowing him to win the isolated h-pawn.} 47. Rgxg5 $1 {The rook is safe as the f-pawn is pinned.} Ke7 $2 (47... Rh6 $142 {though Black is still lost this puts up more resistance.}) 48. Rg6 Rf8 49. h6 b6 50. Rf1 (50. Kh5 Rhh8 51. Rg7+ {leads to a quicker win}) 50... Rff7 51. Kg4 Rf8 52. Kf5 Rff7 53. Rh1 Rh8 54. d6+ Kxd6 55. Rxf6+ Rxf6+ 56. Kxf6 a4 57. bxa4 {Black resigns - he will have to give up his rook to stop the h pawn.} 1-0

Note: picture taken from the English Juniors Twitter account.