Scholastics / Spring Nationals It was IM Akshat Chandra who succeed -
ed in achieving this victory, despite the fact that he had not even been able to prepare properly for his game against Viswanadha. After the tournament fin - ished, Akshat explained on his blog, “Quest to Chess Grandmaster—The Journey of IM Akshat Chandra,” that for a second time, his father had confused the result of a competitor’s game, and thus Akshat ended up prepar ing for a different opponent than he was actually paired against! By staying focused, however, Akshat
triumphed. After the game concluded, Akshat confessed that he had no idea that the game on board two had ended in a draw, for the boards were on opposite sides of the playing hall. Therefore, Akshat did not push harder for a win, and indeed, since he felt he already had a comfortable position, he continued to play strongly until he earned the point.
Nimzo-Indian Defense, Classical Variation (E39) IM Akshat Chandra (2580) IM Kesav Viswanadha (2394)
2015 National High School Championship (7), Columbus, Ohio, 04.12.2015 Notes by Chandra.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 0-0 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Na6 7. g3 Nxc5 8. Bg2 Nce4 9. 0-0 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Be7 11. e4 d6 12. e5 dxe5 13. Nxe5 Qc7 14. Qe2 Bd6 15. Re1
Chandra (2459), Richardson, Texas, 2015. 16. Bf4 Ba4!
A strong maneuver, which takes away the d1-square for my rooks. 17. Rab1 Rab8 18. Rb2 Qe7 19. Reb1 b6 20. c5
White has an extra rook and two bishops, but that means nothing here as I cannot escape from the checks.
26. ... Re8 27. Kh2! Another strong move, preparing Be5.
20. ... bxc5 The only way for Black to equalize was
20. ... Bxc5!. 21. Bc6 (21. Qa6 Be8 22. Ng6 fxg6 23. Bxb8 Ng4, when Black clearly has good compensation for the Exchange.) 21. ... b5!.
21. Rb7 Nd5 22. Qa6 Nxc3?? 22. ... Nxf4! I had correctly seen that
this led to a forced draw after 23. gxf4 Bxe5 24. fxe5 Rxb7 25. Rxb7 Qh4! perhaps this is what my opponent missed. I realized dur ing the game that I would have nothing better then a draw here, after something like 26. Qxa7 Qf4 27. Qxc5 Qc1+ 28. Bf1 Qg5+ 29. Bg2 Qc1+ 30. Bf1 Qg5+.
23. Ng6! hxg6 24. Bxd6 Rxb7 25. Rxb7 Qd8
27. Be5 Qd1+ comes with check, and now the Ba4 is defended, and Black can move his knight away without worry.
27. ... Qf6 28. Bxc5 Qf5 A blunder which speeds up the end. 28.
... Bc2 was the only chance, after which I was calculating 29. Be3! to prevent ideas like ... g5, before taking on a7.
29. Bd4 Now I win a piece.
29. ... Bd1 No better is 29. ... Bb5 30. Qa5 Ne2 31.
Rxb5.
30. Bxc3 Qxf2 31. Qxa7 Qc2 32. Qd4 e5 33. Qd5, Black resigned. With this victory, I became the sole winner
of the 2015 National High School Champi- onship. I was glad to have won the tour na - ment, as it’s never easy winning when one is the top seed. Also, it must be said that the arbiters and officials did a great job, smoothly running the tournament, despite more than a 1,000 players!
After a weekend of constant pressure, This was the position I was aiming for.
There was no time to prepare before the game, and so I decided on going for this solid line for White. Objectively, Black should be able to equalize, but it’s not so easy to work things out over the board.
15. ... Bd7!? 15. ... Nd7 was played by me a few
weeks prior to this. I suffered a bit in that game, and that was probably one of the reasons I was attracted to this setup with 15. Re1 for White. 16. Bf4 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Bxe5 18. Qxe5 Qxe5 19. Rxe5 Rd8 20. Rb1 Rd7 21. Reb5 Rb8 22. c5 Rc7 23. c6 b6 24. R5b4 Ba6 25. c4 Rd8 26. Ra4 Bc8 27. c5 bxc5 28. Rc4 Kf8 29. Rxc5 Ke7 ½- ½ Giorgi Margvelashvili (2531)-Akshat
Now I had a long think before hitting
upon an absolutely monstrous idea. 25. ... Ne2+ doesn’t work due to 26. Kf1 Qg5 27. Qxe2 Qc1+ 28. Qe1 Qc4+ 29. Kg1.
26. h4! Making luft for my king on h2. Now I’m
threatening to take the rook on f8. It was tempting to grab the material with 26. Rb8 Qxb8 27. Bxb8 Rxb8 but I couldn’t see how to progress, and things are quite unclear here; 26. Bxf8 was nearly played by me, but then I saw Black’s clever idea 26. ... Qd1+ 27. Bf1 (27. Qf1?? Ne2+ 28. Kh1 Qxf1+ 29. Bxf1 Bc6+ and Black wins) 27. ... Bb5! 28. Rxb5 Ne2+ 29. Kg2 Nf4+! 30. gxf4 Qg4+ 31. Kh1 Qf3+ 32. Kg1 Qg4+.
a relaxed and content Akshat shared that he felt very honored to have won such a prestigious event. His only other appear - ance at a national tournament was in 2013 at the SuperNationals, however, this was his first National High School Champi- onship appear ance. Before he even began to play, Akshat knew that he would face particularly strong competition in this tour nament. As a top-seeded player, Akshat explained that many of his oppo - nents would be content with a draw against him, which would make it harder for him to earn a win. Furthermore, one of his greatest hurdles was the compound - ed exhaustion of playing so many games. What concerned him, he said, “was the exhausting schedule, about 30 hours of chess in 53 hours, and my ability to recover from a fatiguing Philadelphia Open tournament just prior.”
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