CalChess Squeaks by South Africa 8-6

(Samyukta Bhat on left and Evan Ye on right each scored 2-0 to lead the CalChess delegation.)







The friendship scholastic chess match between CalChess and South Africa occurred as scheduled on Saturday morning with only minor complications. Seven members of each team played a pair of 45 5 games on the Internet Chess Club against an opponent halfway around the world. Most of the participants were between age 12 to 14 and rated 1500 to 1800; unlike a similar match against Australia in 2006, none of the well known elite juniors in California played. The tightly contested South Africa match lasted 3.5 hours and the outcome was in doubt until the final 15 minutes.

In the end, the CalChess team won 8-6, winning both the first round (playing black on all boards) and the second round (playing white) by 4-3. However, the local squad had its back against the wall for much of the morning after losing quickly on boards 1 and 2. Since some boards took much longer than others, we were actually down 3.5-5.5 at one point, but with two games still in progress from round 1. We clinched the match when Roland Zhu pulled a rabbit out of his hat to swindle a losing king and pawn endgame (he won!).

The most valuable players for the local team were Samyukta Bhat and Evan Ye, who both scored 2-0. Samyukta, who recently won the 2009 CalChess Girl's Championship, won a drawn endgame in round 1 and then crushed her opponent on the queenside in an instructive King's Indian Defense. Evan first outplayed his opponent in a wild time scramble with both players relying on the 5 second increment. However, in the second game, the Saratoga High School freshman left nothing to doubt when he executed the "Spanish Torture" in the Ruy Lopez.

Samyukta Bhat (1641) vs Byron Ter Morshuizen
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Ne7 9. Be3 Ne8 10. Nd2 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Qb3 h5 14. h3 c6 15. Rfd1 cxd5 16. cxd5 b6 17. Rac1 Bb7 18. Nb5 a6 19. Na3 b5 20. Nc2 Rc8 21. a4 Ng6 22. axb5 axb5 23. Qxb5 Rf7 24. Nb4 Rfc7 25. Bb6 Nf6 26. Bxc7 Rxc7 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Nc4 Kh7 29. Nxd6 Qxd6 30. Qxb7 Qc5+ 31. Kh1 Nh4 32. Bf1 Qf2 33. Nd3 Qc2 34. Rc1 Qd2 35. Qb4 Qe3 36. Re1 Qa7 37. Nxe5 Qf2 38. Nd3 Qg3 39. Qd2 g4 40. Qxf4 Qxf4 41. Nxf4 gxf3 42. gxf3 Nxf3 43. Re3 Ne5 44. Ne6 Bh6 45. Re1 Nc4 46. Bxc4 Nd7 47. e5 Bd2 48. Re2 Bb4 49. d6 Kg6 50. Bb5 Nb8 51. d7 Nxd7 52. Bxd7 Kf5 53. Nd8+ Kf4 54. e6 Kf3 55. Re1 Bxe1 56. e7 Bh4 57. e8=Q Bxd8 58. Qxd8 Ke2 59. b4 Kd3 60. b5 Ke4 61. b6 Kf3 62. b7 Kg3 63. b8=Q+ Kf3 64. Bc6+ Kf2 65. Qd3 h4 66. Qb2+ Ke1 67. Qdb1# 1-0
Click here to replay Samyukta's game in Chess Publisher's java viewer.

Evan Ye (1658) vs Vikash Magu
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. h3 Nf6 8. Re1 O-O 9. c3 Re8 10. d4 Bb7 11. d5 Nb8 12. a4 bxa4 13. Bxa4 Nbd7 14. Nbd2 h6 15. Nc4 Rb8 16. Na5 Qc8 17. Nc6 Bxc6 18. Bxc6 Rf8 19. b4 Nb6 20. Qd3 Nh7 21. Rxa6 f5 22. exf5 Rxf5 23. Ra7 Rf8 24. Nd4 Bd8 25. Ne6 Rf7 26. Bxh6 Bf6 27. Qg3 Kh8 28. Bg5 Qg8 29. Bxf6 Nxf6 30. Qh4+ Nh7 31. Ng5 Rf6 32. Qxh7+ Qxh7 33. Nxh7 Kxh7 34. Rxc7 Rbf8 35. f3 Nc4 36. Re4 Nd2 37. Rg4 Rg8 38. Bd7 Kh6 39. Be6 Rgf8 40. Rgxg7 Nxf3+ 41. gxf3 Rxf3 42. Rh7+ Kg5 43. Rcg7+ Kf4 44. Rf7+ Ke4 45. Rxf8 Rxf8 46. Rh4+ Kd3 47. c4 Rg8+ 48. Kf2 Rf8+ 49. Kg3 Ra8 50. c5 dxc5 51. bxc5 Ra3 52. c6 e4 53. Bf5 Kc4+ 54. Kf4 Kxd5 55. c7 Rf3+ 56. Kg5 Rg3+ 57. Kf6 Rc3 58. c8=Q Rxc8 59. Bxc8 e3 60. Ba6 e2 61. Bxe2 1-0
Click here to replay Evan's game in Chess Publisher's java viewer.

Pairings for CalChess vs South Africa Match

A friendship scholastic chess match between CalChess and South Africa is scheduled for Saturday morning. The games on the Internet Chess Club will begin at 8:00am San Francisco time, which is 6:00pm in Johannesburg. Eight kids from each team will square off, playing two 45 5 games that may take up to three hours. Most of the participants are 12 to 14 years old and rated between 1500 and 1800.

Here are the pairings for the match. South Africa will be white in the first game and CalChess will be white in the second one. I will update the results live on this blog.

1. 2.0:0.0 SouthAfrica1 (Darren B, 1800) vs CalChess (Ojas C, 1801)
   
2. 1.5:0.5 SouthAfrica5 (Craig B, 1788) vs CalChess (Steven H, 1731)
   
3. 1.0:1.0 SouthAfrica2 (Francois O, 1620) vs CalChess (Alex G, 1739)
   
4. 1.0:1.0 SouthAfrica8 (Divek S, 1675) vs CalChess (Roland Z, 1748)
   
5. 0.5:1.5 SouthAfrica7 (Petrus B, 1650) vs CalChess (Aditya K, 1689)
   
6. 0.0:2.0 SouthAfrica3 (Vikash M, 1550) vs CalChess (Evan Y, 1658)
   
7. 0.0:2.0 SouthAfrica6 (Byron TM, 1550) vs CalChess (Samyukta B, 1641)
8. board 8 was canceled because one player from each team did not show up
   

TOTAL = South Africa 6.0 -- 8.0 CalChess

To follow the match live on ICC, simply observe the corresponding SouthAfrica account. To watch board 1, type: /observe SouthAfrica1. For board 2, type: /observe SouthAfrica5.

Recruiting Juniors for CalChess vs South Africa

Northern California will engage in a friendly internet match next Saturday against a group of juniors from the country of South Africa. Chess is a game played worldwide, yet most players never compete against someone from another country. In 2006, about 25 local kids took on the entire continent of Australia, winning by a handsome margin. This year's match will be smaller but hopefully just as enjoyable as the last one.

• What: Internet friendship match between CalChess and South Africa.
• Where: Internet Chess Club (ICC).
  
• When: Saturday, February 28 from 8-11 in the morning PST.
• Format: 8 board match + 2 alternates; play 2 games with opponent.
• Time control: 45 5 (G/45 with 5 second increment).
  
• Who: We need 10 players, age 12-16 and rated 1500-2000.
• Other: Not USCF or FIDE rated. ICC experience required.
  

If you are interested in playing on the CalChess team, send email to michael AT fpawn DOT com. Include your real name, age, USCF rating and ICC username. Make sure that you can wake up in time to log in at 7:45 on Saturday morning! In putting together our team lineup, I will give priority to players who have ICC experience.

If you are interested, please email me ASAP so that I can put together our lineup.

Update 2/24: I currently have commitments from 6 players and need 2-4 more.
Update 2/26: I now have 9 players and don't need any more.