It is always my great pleasure to share the stories and achievements of California’s most outstanding young chess talents. Below is a remarkably brilliant game played by Mission San Jose Elementary School’s own Kevin Pan in route to a National Championship title both for Kevin and the MSJE Chess Team.
[Event “USCF National Elementary Championships”]
[Site “Nashville, TN”]
[Date “2018.5.13”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Pan, Kevin”]
[Black “Justice, Drew”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Eco “B18”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
{[ CARO-KANN,B18]}
1.e4 c6
2.d4 d5
3.Nc3 dxe4
4.Nxe4 Bf5
5.Ng3 Bg6
6.N1e2 {Kevin avoids the old stodgy 6. h4 line in favor of creating early complications for Drew. Mikhail Tal would be pleased…}
6… e6
7.Nf4 Bd6
8.Ngh5 {“Genius is initiative on fire!”-Holbrook Jackson}
( 8.c3 Qh4 9.Ngh5 Bxh5 10.Qxh5 Qxh5 11.Nxh5 g6 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4
Nf6 14.Nd3 Nbd7 15.g3 O-O 16.Bg2 Rfc8 17.a4 a5 18.Kd2 Kf8 19.Rhb1
Nb6 20.Nc5 Rc7 21.b4 Nfd5 22.bxa5 Nc4+ 23.Kd3 Nxa5 24.c4 Ne7
25.Bh3 Kg8 {1/2-1/2, Polgar Judit (HUN) 2665 – Anand Viswanathan (IND) 2795 , Haifa 1998 It (active)})
8… Bxf4 {8…Bxh5 and Kf8 seem less tricky from black’s persepective.}
( 8…Bxh5 9.Nxh5 g6 10.Ng3 Nf6 11.Bc4 Nbd7 12.c3 Bf8 13.O-O
Bg7 14.Re1 O-O 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bf4 Nd5 17.Bd6 Re8 18.Bb3 Bf8 19.Ne4
N5f6 20.Bxf8 Rxf8 21.Qf3 Nxe4 22.Rxe4 Nf6 23.Re5 Kg7 24.Rae1
Nd5 25.g3 Qf6 26.Qg4 Rh8 27.h4 h5 28.Qe4 {…0-1, Guido Flavio (ITA) 2405 – Zelcic Robert (CRO) 2554 , Schwarzach 8/25/2012 It (open)})
( 8…Kf8 9.c3 Nd7 10.Qf3 Ngf6 11.Nxf6 Qxf6 12.Be2 Bc2 13.Qg4
Bf5 14.Qf3 Re8 15.Nh5 Qg6 16.Ng3 Bc2 17.Qg4 Qxg4 18.Bxg4 Nf6
19.Bd1 Bxd1 20.Kxd1 h5 21.f3 h4 22.Ne2 e5 23.h3 exd4 24.Nxd4
c5 25.Nf5 Bc7 26.Re1 Rd8+ 27.Kc2 Nh5 28.Ne3 {…0-1, Vydeslaver Alik (ISR) 2404 – Shengelia Davit (AUT) 2569 , Barcelona 8/29/2007 It (open)})
9.Nxf4 Ne7
( 9…Nf6 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.c3 Qc7 13.g3
c5 14.O-O Rd8 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Qc2 O-O 17.Be3 Nd5 18.Bd4 e5 19.Bxc5
Qxc5 20.Bf3 f5 21.Bxd5+ Rxd5 22.Qb3 Rfd8 23.Qxb7 e4 24.b4 Qc4
25.Qxa7 f4 26.gxf4 Rd3 27.Qc5 Qe6 28.Qg5 R8d5 29.Qg2 {…1-0, Finkel Alexander (ISR) 2455 – Adianto Utut (INA) 2610 , Bastia 1998 It (open) (active)})
10.h4 {Kevin will not stop applying pressure.}
( 10.c3 Qc7 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.g3 c5 13.Bb5+ Nbc6 14.dxc5 Qe5+ 15.Be3 Nf5 16.Qf3
Nxe3 17.Bxc6+ Ke7 18.Bxb7 Nc4+ 19.Qe4 Rab8 20.Qxe5 Nxe5 21.c6
Nd3+ 22.Ke2 Nxb2 23.Rab1 Na4 24.c7 {1-0, Karpatchev Aleksandr (RUS) 2469 – Berg Peter (DEN) 2017 , Esbjerg 7/13/2007 Cup North Sea (open)})
10… h6
11.Nxg6 {And these two extremely talented combatants are discovering new territory in an old opening.}
11… Nxg6
12.h5 {In these kinds of positions you might as well push the pawn forward one more square to force the black knight to retreat.}
12… Ne7
13.Qg4 {Which in turn allows the queen to develop with threats.}
13… Nf5 {Black’s knight must provide protection to g7.}
14.Bd3 {Unfortunately for Drew Justice, the knight on f5 is also an easy target.}
14… Qxd4 {?} {Kevin Pan’s constant pressure finally causes Drew Justice to crack. 14…Nd7 and 14…0-0 are much better choices for black.}
( 14…Nd7 15.Bxf5 Qa5+ 16.c3 Qxf5 17.Qxg7 O-O-O )
( 14…O-O 15.c3 Nd7 )
15.Bxf5 {!} {Kevin spots the tactical punishment for Drew’s inaccuracy.}
15… Qe5+
16.Be4 f5
17.Qg6+ {Scissors beat paper and checks beat fork.}
17… Ke7
18.Be3 Nd7
19.O-O-O fxe4 {?}
( 19…Rag8 )
20.Rxd7+{!} {It’s moves like these that win national championships!}
20… Kxd7
21.Qf7+ Kc8
22.Bf4 {Black resigns and Kevin Pan is a National Champion!}
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Game pgn:
[Event “USCF National Elementary Championships”]
[Site “Nashville, TN”]
[Date “2018.5.13”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Pan, Kevin”]
[Black “Justice, Drew”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Eco “B18”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
[Source “”]
{[ CARO-KANN,B18]} 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3
Bg6 6.N1e2 {Kevin avoids the old stodgy 6. h4 line in favor of creating early complications for Drew. Mikhail Tal would be pleased…} {%08DA}
e6 7.Nf4 Bd6 8.Ngh5 {“Genius is initiative on fire!”-Holbrook Jackson}
( 8.c3 Qh4 9.Ngh5 Bxh5 10.Qxh5 Qxh5 11.Nxh5 g6 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4
Nf6 14.Nd3 Nbd7 15.g3 O-O 16.Bg2 Rfc8 17.a4 a5 18.Kd2 Kf8 19.Rhb1
Nb6 20.Nc5 Rc7 21.b4 Nfd5 22.bxa5 Nc4+ 23.Kd3 Nxa5 24.c4 Ne7
25.Bh3 Kg8 {1/2-1/2, Polgar Judit (HUN) 2665 – Anand Viswanathan (IND) 2795 , Haifa 1998 It (active)}
) {%09DB} Bxf4 {8…Bxh5 and Kf8 seem less tricky from black’s persepective.} {%09DB}
( 8…Bxh5 9.Nxh5 g6 10.Ng3 Nf6 11.Bc4 Nbd7 12.c3 Bf8 13.O-O
Bg7 14.Re1 O-O 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bf4 Nd5 17.Bd6 Re8 18.Bb3 Bf8 19.Ne4
N5f6 20.Bxf8 Rxf8 21.Qf3 Nxe4 22.Rxe4 Nf6 23.Re5 Kg7 24.Rae1
Nd5 25.g3 Qf6 26.Qg4 Rh8 27.h4 h5 28.Qe4 {…0-1, Guido Flavio (ITA) 2405 – Zelcic Robert (CRO) 2554 , Schwarzach 8/25/2012 It (open)}
) ( 8…Kf8 9.c3 Nd7 10.Qf3 Ngf6 11.Nxf6 Qxf6 12.Be2 Bc2 13.Qg4
Bf5 14.Qf3 Re8 15.Nh5 Qg6 16.Ng3 Bc2 17.Qg4 Qxg4 18.Bxg4 Nf6
19.Bd1 Bxd1 20.Kxd1 h5 21.f3 h4 22.Ne2 e5 23.h3 exd4 24.Nxd4
c5 25.Nf5 Bc7 26.Re1 Rd8+ 27.Kc2 Nh5 28.Ne3 {…0-1, Vydeslaver Alik (ISR) 2404 – Shengelia Davit (AUT) 2569 , Barcelona 8/29/2007 It (open)}
) 9.Nxf4 Ne7 ( 9…Nf6 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.c3 Qc7 13.g3
c5 14.O-O Rd8 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Qc2 O-O 17.Be3 Nd5 18.Bd4 e5 19.Bxc5
Qxc5 20.Bf3 f5 21.Bxd5+ Rxd5 22.Qb3 Rfd8 23.Qxb7 e4 24.b4 Qc4
25.Qxa7 f4 26.gxf4 Rd3 27.Qc5 Qe6 28.Qg5 R8d5 29.Qg2 {…1-0, Finkel Alexander (ISR) 2455 – Adianto Utut (INA) 2610 , Bastia 1998 It (open) (active)}
) 10.h4 {Kevin will not stop applying pressure.} ( 10.c3 Qc7
11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.g3 c5 13.Bb5+ Nbc6 14.dxc5 Qe5+ 15.Be3 Nf5 16.Qf3
Nxe3 17.Bxc6+ Ke7 18.Bxb7 Nc4+ 19.Qe4 Rab8 20.Qxe5 Nxe5 21.c6
Nd3+ 22.Ke2 Nxb2 23.Rab1 Na4 24.c7 {1-0, Karpatchev Aleksandr (RUS) 2469 – Berg Peter (DEN) 2017 , Esbjerg 7/13/2007 Cup North Sea (open)}
) h6 11.Nxg6 {And these two exteremely talented combatants are discovering new territory in an old opening.}
Nxg6 12.h5 {In these kinds of positions you might as well push the pawn forward one more square to force the black knight to retreat.} {%08DA}
Ne7 13.Qg4 {Which in turn allows the queen to develop with threats.}
Nf5 {Black’s knight must provide prtotection to g7.} 14.Bd3 {Unfortunately for Drew Justice, the knight on f5 is also an easy target.}
Qxd4 {?} {Kevin Pan’s constant pressure finally causes Drew Justice to crack. 14…Nd7 and 14…0-0 are much better choices for black.}
( 14…Nd7 15.Bxf5 Qa5+ 16.c3 Qxf5 17.Qxg7 O-O-O )
( 14…O-O 15.c3 Nd7 ) {%09DB} 15.Bxf5 {!} {Kevin spots the tactical punishment for Drew’s inaccuracy.} {%09DB}
Qe5+ 16.Be4 f5 17.Qg6+ {Scissors beat paper and checks beat fork.}
Ke7 18.Be3 Nd7 19.O-O-O fxe4 {?} ( 19…Rag8 ) {%09DB} 20.Rxd7+
{!} {It’s moves like these that win national championships!} {%09DB}
Kxd7 21.Qf7+ Kc8 22.Bf4 {Black resigns and Kevin Pan is a National Champion!}
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