|
Young Winner at U.S. Junior Championship |
 |
|
Sunday, 26 June 2011 05:06 |
 Saint Louis, June 25, 2011 -- Gregory Young is the 2011 U.S. Junior Champion, taking the title with a win Friday before the final round of play even began. The champion had already been decided, but fighting chess continued for the ninth and final round of the U.S. Junior Closed Championship at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis Saturday.
Young clinched the day before but second place was up for grabs. When the final round ended, Shen held a draw with Young for a score of 5.5/9 and Getz beat Sturt for the same score. Holt also finished with 5.5/9. Holt would have had clear second with a win but lost to Troff, who won his last two games to finish with 3/9. Holt had been on a tear, winning his previous four games.
Naroditsky drew Jialin Ding to end the championship with 5/9, tied with Warren Harper and John Bryant. Harper beat Bryant Saturday to get the tie — with Holt’s loss, Bryant could have had clear second with a win.
When the matches ended, the players talked about what they learned from the experience.
“I don’t think I played well the entire tournament,” Shen said. “I had some games where I got lucky. Kayden had a winning position against me. Warren also had a winning position. I think I scored more points with bad positions. In my game with Gregory, I had a slight pull but it was never clear.”
As for improving his game, Shen said he will work more on his openings to broaden his repertoire and work to avoid time trouble.
“I need to improve my tactics,” Getz said. “It cost me four points. There were positions I could have held to draws.”
Getz said by round 5 he thinks he gave up subconsciously. “I have to work on my fighting spirit,” he said.
Naroditsky told Finegold that he put too much pressure on himself and collapsed.
Harper said he also could have improved on his performance. “I don’t think I prepared well,” he said.
Bryant played uncompromising chess throughout the event, sometimes sacrificing pieces in positions that surprised Finegold and Friedman. He had five wins and four losses.
“I just try to play the best lines and it happens sacrifices are the best moves in my positions,” Bryant said.
Bryant also said he found it hard to study for his opponents as his computer recently quit working.
Troff said he will use his computer less frequently.
“I’m going to analyze more by myself,” he said. “Computers can be cool, but it’s hard not to get carried away using them. I’ll also work on my openings a little bit and improve my positional understanding.”
Ding said as the tournament went on he felt he gained confidence after being somewhat overwhelmed by his opponents’ higher ratings.
“This was a big tournament for me,” Ding said. “I need to manage my time better. I played more openly as the rounds went on.”
Friedman pointed out that Ding was fine in nearly every game around move 25 only to make a mistake or an oversight that cost him a few moves later.
In the Shen-Young game, commentators Finegold and Friedman preferred Shen’s position most of the game. On move 20, Shen played c4, protecting his passed pawn and having both bishops. Young’s dark-squared bishop stuck on g7 with a pawn on f6. Shen thought he was better but he didn’t know by how much. He had a bishop when the game ended but no way to attack Young’s pawns.
Young takes the first-place prize of $3,000 and receives an invitation to the 2012 U.S. Chess Championship to take place at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis on a date yet to be set.
Report by Ken West
|
