Chess Buzz for June 27, 1997

This Week's Topic: Junior Superstars!

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This week in the buzz: junior superstars! The same week that Garry Kasparov made the cover of Newsweek for his rematch with Deep Blue, 4,000 US Chess Federation junior players appeared on the front page of the New York Times for the 1997 SuperNationals. In recent months young players from 9 year old Adam Maltese at the New York Open to 19 year old IM Tal Shaked at the Hawaii International have been showing that they can not just play well for their age--they can take first in events with adults! Is it better training? The influence of the Internet? The dawn of the Age of Aquarius? Whatever it is, there's definitely a new generation of chessplayers on the rise in America. The buzz this week looks at some of their stories.

1997 Interplay US Junior Invitational Championship Underway

Will the winner be Grandmaster-apparent Tal Shaked of Arizona? 16 year old wunderkind Eugene Perelshteyn? SuperSib Greg Shahade? See the US Chess online Feature Article for standings and games.

International Scene: Deja Vu For Two Former Junior Superstars

The hair is greying, but the game stays fresh...A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Garry Kasparov of the then Soviet Union and 2 years younger Nigel Short of England played for the World Junior Championship. Kasparov ended up with the Gold and Short the Silver. Last week the two met again in the final round at Novgorod, one of the strongest tournaments on the international circuit. The game ended with a perpetual check, and a draw. Novgorod featured an unusual scoring system--0 points for a loss, one point for a draw, and three points for a win! This didn't seem to affect the results, since the old system would have produced the same order of finish: Kasparov, Kramnik, Short, Bareev, Topalov, and Gelfand.

Yes, We Know She's a Girl...

More importantly, Grandmaster Judit Polgar, Hungarian Champion, is also the youngest player in FIDE's Top 25 players in the world. With her rating up to 25 points to 2670, the youngest of the three Polgar sisters is now ranked #14 of all players worldwide. Polgar turns 21 in July. She's not the youngest in FIDE's Top 100, though--fellow Hungarian Peter Leko is 3 years younger, and ranked 36th in the world at 2635. Oldest player on the Top 100 list? Viktor Korchnoi, now 66, rated 2610 and ranked #54th in the world. The highest-ranked American player is Gata Kamsky, ranked 7th in the world at 2720. Kamsky, a former US Champion and Challenger for the World title, turns 23 this month and has retired from active play in order to go to medical school.

The SuperNationals: 4300 Junior Players meet in Knoxville

Is there any way you missed coverage of this incredible event? For the first time (and many coaches hoped, for the last) the USCF brought together its major national scholastic events, the national championships for Elementary, Jr High, and High School, not just in one city, but basically under one roof. Your buzz correspondent was there, and there was lots to see, lots to do, and lots of chess. A little friction, yes. There was the high school team that was slightly disconcerted when their rousing cheer out in the hall before one round caused a nearby 7 year old to burst into tears. There was the challenge faced by 3 foot 4 inch players trying to make their way through crowds of 6 foot 16 and 17 year olds. But still--the weather held up, the tournament directors were great, the kids got to play chess on a national level. Harry Akopyan set a US record with his 10th national scholastic title. For more details, see the June Scholastic News

Tal Shaked did not do well at the 1996 US Junior Invitational. But as the 1995 winner he went to the 1996 Interplay US Invitational--and startled everyone when he wound up leading the event after the first third. Eventually he dropped back, but the result promised great things to come--and Shaked has delivered. In the last 6 months, he's earned three of the four Grandmaster Norms he needs for the title. Not only that, he's tied for first in several important adult events. In the April Hawaii International, he scored 7.5/10 for a 2600 performance rating, tying for first with GM Miles of England and GM Atalik of Turkey. Who came in 4th? GM Yermolinsky, the 1996 US Champion who gave Tal a private lesson in defeat in their meeting in that event, pushing the junior out of first place. Less than a year later, and while Yermolinsky is arguably still at the top of the US lists for active Grandmasters, Shaked is coming on strong.

Shaked also placed first at the First Saturday tournament in Budapest this month, but in spite of a performance of 2589 was still a half point short of the 4th GM norm he needs. Another US Junior superstar was there, too--IM Josh Waitzkin, rated 2440, who placed fourth and had an excellent performance of 2501 for the event.

Shearwood (Woody) McClelland III, 19, is new US Junior Open Champion

Most US Championships come in two flavors: the Invitational which is, let's face it, the real thing. Players brought in by invitation only, tops in their group, head to head for match play or round robin. Then there are the Opens. Just as in golf, these are wild events, often with hundreds of players, where anyone can walk up and enter--and anything can happen. Played in Swiss style formats, pairings are unpredictable and results even more so. However, most Opens have a prize worth winning--not just prestige (good) and money (often very good), many Open Championships include a guaranteed invitation to the next year's Invitational Championship in the same category. This year, Woody McClelland, rated just over 2200, won the US Junior Open with 5.5 out of 6--which means he'll be invited to the 1998 US Junior Invitational Championship, where he'll probably get to compete against players 3 years younger and rated 300 points higher. Of course, look what Tal Shaked did with HIS seed into the US Championship in 1996. With a year to go, McClelland will have time to build a repertoire and a reputation. We'll keep you updated on his progress.

Media Buzz

Have you seen that new sandwich bag commercial yet? It features a (fictional) junior chess champion, called on to make the "smart choice" in sandwich bags. What's interesting about this commercial--there's no chess set! Even in advertising, chess is becoming more than just pawns and pieces...