US Junior Closed Chess Championship 2013 Round 2: Shen, Shetty Lead
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(Left) FM Atulya Shetty, the reigning K-12 Champion, is tied with IM Victor Shen after two rounds at the U.S. Junior Closed Championship 2013.
SAINT LOUIS (June 16, 2013) -- Pairings for Round 2 of the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship looked more like those from a Swiss system than the actual round robin in place. After a completely decisive first round on Friday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, four out of five games on Saturday featured identical-score matchups, ensuring some early separation in the rankings.
Both FM Atuyla Shetty, who had the lone matchup without a like-scored opponent, and IM Victor Shen, a third-place finisher in the last two U.S. Juniors Closed events, were able to keep a perfect pace through the first two rounds. IM Daniel Naroditsky and FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti, both of whom earned wins in the first round, agreed to an opposite-colored bishop draw after 36 moves. Robert Perez and Samuel Sevian also drew, both earning their first half-point of the tournament. IM Kayden Troff also earned his first point of the tournament.
Shen wasn’t sure if he had just dodged a bullet in his game versus FM Yian Liou until he saw the text message from his father shortly after the game’s conclusion: You’re lucky.
SAINT LOUIS (June 16, 2013) -- Pairings for Round 2 of the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship looked more like those from a Swiss system than the actual round robin in place. After a completely decisive first round on Friday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, four out of five games on Saturday featured identical-score matchups, ensuring some early separation in the rankings.
Both FM Atuyla Shetty, who had the lone matchup without a like-scored opponent, and IM Victor Shen, a third-place finisher in the last two U.S. Juniors Closed events, were able to keep a perfect pace through the first two rounds. IM Daniel Naroditsky and FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti, both of whom earned wins in the first round, agreed to an opposite-colored bishop draw after 36 moves. Robert Perez and Samuel Sevian also drew, both earning their first half-point of the tournament. IM Kayden Troff also earned his first point of the tournament.
Shen wasn’t sure if he had just dodged a bullet in his game versus FM Yian Liou until he saw the text message from his father shortly after the game’s conclusion: You’re lucky.
“My dad doesn’t even play chess – but he does have a computer next to him, so I assume I was losing somewhere,” Chen said. “I had a feeling I was, so hearing that was not a giant surprise, but I just didn’t ever see it. And neither did [Liou].”Indeed Liou, who had accurately squeezed Sevian into submission in the first round, came out with an equally clean King’s Indian Attack that seemed to foreshadow steady advancement into Shen’s camp. Tossing fuel on the fire was Shen’s offering of 19. … Qc8, a wasted move that was corrected immediately with 20. … Qc7, but at the loss of a crucial tempo. It was here Shen guessed he had earned the text from his father.
“I had been happy with the result of the opening, but after that [Qc8] mistake, I thought [Liou] was better,” Shen said. “After that, I just kept feeling that something dangerous was about to happen on the kingside.”
Labels: atulya shetty, us junior closed chess championship 2013, victor shen
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