The 5th EU Youth Chess Championships

1-9 August 2007, Mureck, Austria

Round 2

Thursday. The day breaks, but then again why wouldn’t it? It is glorious, the sun is shining and bikes have been hired – who’d have thought rural Austria could offer quite so much. But not for everyone. Not for the coaches. At oh-nine-hundred precisely a hush falls on the antechamber to the dining room, it is here that coaching takes place. Three coaches, three tables, three boards and up to 6 laptops at any one time. At the allotted hour, the three Players who are next up enter the room. The coaches kick off the session, everyone instinctively talking in hushed voices. Soon the airs hums quietly with the click of mouse buttons and the soft clack of pieces being moved around the boards. Through the open doors to the dining room drifts the happy sound of RAP chatter and occasional laughter. Some siblings sit out on the verandah simulating world heritage sites with beer mats. And beyond it all, the beeping of Gill’s buggy in reverse.

But let me explain – as with many an England chess trip it is important to establish, as early as possible, a routine around coaching and matches. There are 3 coaches who, in feral combination with Peter “Mr Chips” Turner, form the backbone of the England party. The conscientious and excessively dedicated coaches are: GM Neil McDonald; IM Adam Hunt (we’re still not related); and Tom Eckersley-Waites. Neil and Adam have charge over

Lunch is at 13:00 so the coaches get to grab a bite to eat before generally helping out on any questions from the Players, playing ping pong, tennis or making themselves Scarce. After lunch is individual time and it is generally split between continued preparation and mental break time. And then 30 minutes before the round starts everyone gathers on the verandah for ferrying / cycling / running to the venue …

At this early stage everyone seems to be getting on: Players, RAPs and coaches. But then again, Jack and Piggy thought the same at the beginning…

And now the Chess bit:

A very slick start to Round 2. Players know the layout and the pairings have been known since 9pm last night. There are far fewer adults – clearly yesterday’s opening ceremony was actually quite an event in Mureck, drawing a large crowd unrelated to the chess! Everyone’s at the boards, all have the full complement of pieces and a bottle of water, and clocks are started at 15:00 sharp. As with many RAPs, I stay just long enough to see what opening my Player gets. In this case d4 (QPd2-d4 for grandparents who still recollect the grand ol’ style of chess notation) which I think he does not like playing against. My Player responds with Nf6 and I assume the worst – he’s going to lose! Funny that: they are just one move and 15 seconds into a game that can last 5 hours, what’s more they’re playing a game I know nothing about, yet it is clear to me that he’s lost already! Aaaargh, I must get a grip. Maybe best not to watch at all! Instead I turn to replacement activity – I head straight to the office of the tournament organisers to email the Round 1 report back to Blighty. Then I get on my bike – literally – and head back to Guest House Fabiani for a game of table tennis against one of the coaches. But once there I can’t help it: “My Player got d4!” I blurt out. A raised eyebrow is the only response, not exactly the reassurance I need. “I think he played Nf6 in response?” I add and am rewarded for my superb memory with a response: “Ah, a Grunfeld.” Still not the reassurance I crave, mainly because it means nothing to me (Vienna – we’re in Austria, spooky huh?). Hang on a sec! Grunfeld? I do know that name, it must be an opening he plays! Hurrah, he hasn’t lost already!! He is in with a shout, he must be, he does know the Grunfeld and he does play the Grunfeld and … I’m so relieved that I want to kiss the coach but unfortunately I just beat him at ping pong instead.

I cannot speak for the other RAPs but I’m guessing everyone spends some of the match time (as little as 98%?) wondering how their particular Player is doing. And then engage in displacement activities, here’s a few from Round 2:

Sunbathing (some lying as far as 20 foot from the Playing Hall door)
Shopping (for knick knacks)
Swimming (in the municipal pool)
Table Tennis (mentioned earlier)
Tennis (like table tennis only much bigger)
Knitting (which leads inexorably to recollections of macramé plant holders)
Cycling (normal two-wheel variety)

As for the Non-RAPs watching remotely by txt msg back in the UK – I can’t begin to imagine the not knowing - at least here you can, if you so choose (and Noel does), go in to the playing hall every once in a while and count the pieces remaining on the board…

And then the players start to come out. In the U10s, Peter wins but James loses. In the U12 Eng-v-Eng match no prisoners are taken: Brandon beats Polly. The other U12 results aren’t too bad: Danny and Joseph win, but Megan, Robert and George G all lose. The U14s score 1½ points out of a possible 5: George O wins and Alex draws, but David, Charlie and Patrick all lose. Overall a bad day for England with only 5½ out of a possible 14 points (even being generous and recognising that the one Eng-v-Eng pairing means there are only 13 points on offer does not make it a better total).

The full results of Round 2 are as follows:

The draw for Round 3:

The Players’ results to date:

Notwithstanding the low overall score, there are several sweet spots from Round 2 to share:

O'Toole, George [ENG] - Grah, Matej (1850) [SLO]
European Union Youth Championships – Mureck, Austria 2007 Under 14 Rd 2
[Annotated by IM Adam Hunt]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 A solid, but somewhat passive system for black. 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bd7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.0–0 Be7 8.f4 a6?! The first new move, and not a particularly good one. White is going to have to take on c6 at some stage anyway. 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.Qf3 0–0 12.Be3 Qb8 13.Rab1 [13.e5 is tempting 13...Nd5 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.Nxd5 cxd5 16.b3 and although white keeps some advantage, the position isn't as special as hoped.] 13...c5 14.e5 Nd7 15.Nd5 white has more space, a better pawn structure and more active pieces. He is therefore clearly better. 15...Qd8 16.Qe4 Nb6 17.Rbd1 Nxd5 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Qxd5 Qe7 20.Rde1 Qe6 21.Qxe6 fxe6 22.Bd2 Rae8 23.Re4 e5 24.Rfe1 Perhaps Georges' only mistake of the game. Better is [24.f5 when the weak black pawns and bad bishop make the black position very difficult.] 24...Rd8! 25.fxe5 Bxe5 26.Rxe5 Rxd2 27.R5e2 Rfd8 28.g3 with the idea of Rf2 and Ree2 to disturb the strong black rook.

28...h6 29.Rf2 Rxf2 30.Kxf2 Rd2+ 31.Re2 Rxe2+ 32.Kxe2

Black's decision to swap all the rooks has left a losing endgame. In such endings keeping a pair of rooks on the board will dramatically increase black's drawing chances. 32...Kf7 33.Kd3 Ke7 34.Ke3 g6 35.g4 Kf6 36.Kf4 g5+ 37.Ke4 Ke6 38.a3 a5 39.a4 c6 40.h3 Kf6 41.Kd3 Ke5 42.Kc4 Kd6 43.c3 A very smooth game from George and a nice demonstration of how to play against a weakened pawn structure. 1–0

Andreev, Peter [ENG] - Ungureanu, Dan [ROM]
European Union Youth Championships – Mureck, Austria 2007 Under 10 Rd 2
[Annotated by Tom Eckersley-Waites]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Qc7 [8...e5 is the move to play - it gives black good central control and the white bishops have fewer prospects.] 9.0–0 0–0 10.f4 Bxc3?! the first new move of the game, and not a successful one! This gives up the bishop pair for no good reason, removing a key defender of the black position. 11.bxc3 d5 the big idea, but it isn't enough. 12.e5 Nd7 [12...Ne4 is the move black would like to play, but it's no good: 13.Ba3! (13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Qc2 c5 15.Qxe4 Bb7 is the sort of position for which black was aiming 3 moves ago.) 13...Rd8 (13...c5 14.Qc2 Bb7 15.cxd5 exd5 16.c4!+-) 14.Qc2 Bb7 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Bd6 with a big edge.] 13.Qh5 f5 14.exf6!? [14.Ba3 is perhaps a little stronger, with the idea of 14...Rf7 15.Bd6 Qb6+ 16.Rf2] 14...Nxf6 15.Qe5! a good decision from Peter, who has to assess that his dodgy-looking pawns won't be weak, and that his bishop pair will be even stronger in the ending. 15...Qxe5 16.fxe5 Nd7 17.Rxf8+ Kxf8 18.Ba3+ Kg8 19.cxd5! again, a great move - Peter plays his moves in the right order to ensure that he can put his rook on the right square. 19...cxd5 20.Rf1 g6 21.Bd6±

Bb7 22.Bb5 Nb6 23.Rf6 a6 24.Bd3 Re8 25.Bc2! having forced the weakening ...a6, Peter reroutes his bishop to his his opponent's weak pawns. 25...Bc8 [25...Nc4 is the obvious move, but it loses material: 26.Ba4 Nxd6 27.exd6 Rd8 28.Rxe6 Bc8 29.Re8++-] 26.Bb3 Bd7 27.Bc5 Nc8? possibly the losing move - it's hard to see how black can do anything with his pieces so passive after this. 28.c4! consistent and strong. 28...Bc6 29.Kf2 a5 30.a4 dxc4 31.Bxc4 Bxa4 32.Rxe6 Kg7 33.Rxe8 [33.Rf6 is a bit prettier, but also requiring a lot of otherwise unnecessary calculation.] 33...Bxe8 34.Be6 and it's all over. 34...Bc6 35.Bxc8 Bd5 36.Bd7 Kf7 37.g3 Be6 38.Bxe6+ Kxe6 39.Bd6 a4 40.Kf3 a3 41.Bxa3 Kxe5 42.g4 Kf6 43.h4 h6 44.Bb2+ Kf7 45.Kf4 Ke6 46.Bg7 h5 47.gxh5 gxh5 48.Kg5 Kf7 49.Bb2 Kg8 50.Kxh5 Kh7 51.Bc3 Kg8 52.Kh6 Kf7 53.Kh7 Kf8 54.h5 Ke7 55.Kg7 Kd6 56.h6 Kc5 57.h7 Kd5 58.h8Q Kc4 59.Qc8+ Kd3 60.Ba5 it's a thankless task, defending those endings. A classic example of how to use the 2 bishops in these sorts of positions. 1–0

I like the following vignette, provided by GM Neil McDonald. To set the scene: the question is often raised – and coincidentally Neil himself was raising the same point with me only yesterday – does the coaching at these events make a difference? Ask any Player and they will look at you as if you are completely mad… it is exceedingly obvious to them that it makes a huge difference. But for observers and the coaches themselves it’s moments like the one in the game below from Joseph Quinn that makes it real:

Quinn, Joseph (1768) [ENG] - Bauer, Valentina (1613) [AUS]
European Union Youth Championships – Mureck, Austria 2007 Under 12 Rd 2
[Annotated by GM Neil McDonald]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Be2 Bd7 7.h3?! 'A pawn move without a clear purpose should always be condemned ' wrote former World Champion Emanuel Lasker. White should keep his options open by castling. On the other hand, the game move does make Black a little too complacent. 7...a6?! [Bauer [which means 'pawn' in German] also plays a senseless little rook pawn shuffle. Instead 7...Nge7 8.0–0 Ng6 intending to attack the white centre with Be7 and f7-f6 was correct, as White's normal counter with h2-h4-h5 to drive back the knight would show up 7.h3 to be a lost tempo.] 8.0–0 The game now follows the normal Advance French course, but with h3/a6 thrownin. 8...cxd4 9.cxd4 Nge7 10.Na3 Nf5 11.Nc2 Be7 12.Bd3 Ncxd4?

A bomb that took three years to explode... It can be a frustrating business being a chess coach - often hours are spent trying to find a subtle improvement for a forthcoming game, only for hopes to be reduced to dust when an opponent who 'always' plays 1.d4 confidently bashes out 1.e4. But this was one of the happier moments. Way back in 2005 when I first worked with Joe Quinn I showed him a tactical trap from my book Mastering the French. He never got the chance to try it out, until Bauer - perhaps overconfident because of the meek 7.h3 - impetuously grabbed the d4 pawn. 13.Nfxd4! The only way; Black escapes after [13.Ncxd4 Nxd4 14.Be3 Nxf3+ as he breaks the pin on d4 with check.] 13...Nxd4 14.Be3 Bc5 15.b4! Joe remembers the key move. 15...Nxc2 [Black is also a piece down after 15...Bxb4 16.Bxd4] 16.Bxc5 Qc7 17.Bd6! Qc6 18.Bxc2 b5 19.Qg4! A precise finish. If 19...Qxc2 20.Qxg7 0–0–0 21.Rac1 winning the black queen. 19...g6 20.Qg5 Mate follows on e7. A nice miniature game by Joe Quinn. 1–0

And finally…

The answer to yesterday’s Brain teaser 1 – ‘feedback’

Brain teaser 2 – Numbers this time. Using the digits 2, 4, 6, 8 once each, together with the mathematical operators + - X / (plus, minus, times & divide) make a mathematical equation where the total is 25.