Tal Shaked won World Junior Championship

By Kristianus Liem

JAKARTA (JP): U.S. Junior Champion Tal Shaked won the World Junior Championship (for players under 20) which was held from July 13 to July 28 in Zagan, Poland. Tal scored an undefeated 9.5 points from 13 rounds and edged IM Vigen Mirumian of Armenia on tie-breaks.

Other top finishers were IM Hristo Banikas (Greece), IM Sergey Movsesian (Czech Republic) and IM Zhong Zhang (China) all with 9 points. Top seeded GM Alexander Morozevich of Russia took a hard 95-move loss to Tal in round 10 and finished twelfth with 8 points.

The victory for players from the West after a long period of East European domination could stimulate sponsorship. Shaked, from Tuscon Arizona, gets a ticket to KO's World Chess Championship in Groningen, Holland, at the end of this year.

Shaked played well throughout the competition in Zagan, surviving a scare in the penultimate round against Morozevich. Shaked fought back, being an exchange down, and won the game. In clinching the world title Shaked became a new U.S. grandmaster.

Shaked's style is universal. Strong in tactics and complicated positions, he can also play for small positional advantages. In his game against Amin Bagheri of Iran, Shaked chose the Short Attack against the Caro-Kann defense, gained space, a Bishop's pair and crushed his opponent with a powerful offensive. Here is the game.

White: IM Tal Shaked Black: Amin Bagheri Caro-Kann Defense

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2

Short Attack variation.

5...Nd7 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Nh4 Bg6 8.Nd2 c5 9.c3 Nc6

Against Anand in Candidate Match 1991, Karpov played 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Nf5 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Nf3 Be7 13.Bd3 Nb8 14.Bd2 Nc6 15.Bc3 a6 16.b3 Nh4 17.Nxh4 Bxh4 and reached a draw after 63-move.

10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Nf3 Qb6 12.Rb1 Rc8 13.Be3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Be7 15.b4

This move not only gaining space, but also restricts Black pieces on the queen-side.

15...0-0 16.h4 Qd8 17.b5 Na5 18.Bd3 Nc4

If 18...Bxh4 19.g3 Be7 20.Kg2 White threatens a deadly attack by swinging the heavy pieces on the h-file.

19.Bg5 Re8 20.g3 Bxg5 21.hxg5 Qa5 22.Qe2 Na3 23.Rb3 Rc3 24.Qd2 Rec8 25.Kg2 b6

See diagram.

26.Qf4!

The beginning of the attack. The route to victory leads through the h-file.

26...Rxb3 27.axb3 Rc3

After 27...Qc3 comes 28.Rh1 as in the game.

28.Rh1! Nxb5

For 28...Rxd3 29.Qh4 Kf8 30.Qh8+ Ke7 31.Qg8! Rxf3 32.Rh8 Rxf2+ 33.Kh3 Rh2+ 34.Kxh2 Qd2+ 35.Kh3 and no more check, after that White will make mate in three moves.

29.Qh4 Kf8 30.Qh8+ Ke7 31.Qg8 Nf8 32.Rh8 Rc8 33.Qxg7 Qb4 34.Bxg6

Black resigned here, because after 34...Kd7 35.Qxf7+ Qe7 36.Qxe7+ Kxe7 37.Bd3 Nc7 38.g6 Ne8 39.Rg8 followed by 41.g7, White wins. 1-0