The Women’s World Championship has just concluded with the Chinese grandmaster Hou Yifan reclaiming the title from Ukrainian Mariya Muzychuk by a one-sided score of 6-3. Muzychuk had her chances, but it seems that at every crucial moment, she would make a mistake or two, turning promising positions into either a draw (game 8) or a loss (game 6). Hou Yifan, on the other hand, didn’t miss any opportunity presented. One very interesting thing about the match was that Muzychuk choose the open variation of the Ruy Lopez as her principle defense to the Ruy Lopez. I haven’t seen this discussed in a championship match since the famous 1978 Karpov-Korchnoi match, when Viktor Korchnoi also chose it as his main defense.
The fields have been set for MACA’s 2016 Spiegel Cup State Scholastic Championships on March 20 (Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, 181 Boston Post Road, Marlborough, MassChess.org). The invitation-only field is divided in three age groups: 8 & under, 11 & under, and 14 & under. The high school championship is open to any high school student. The invited players are listed below:
8 & under: Henry He (1253), Kevin Li (1315), Raymond Xu (1583), Winston Zhao (1532), Thomas Ha (1510), Ryan Wang (1429), Tianna Wang (1411), Victor Feng (881); 11 & under: Maxwell Chen (1666), Evan Maclure (1625), Alan Song (1936), Jerry Li (1852), Nikita Roldan-Levchenko (1814), Bernie Xu (1921), Dustin Liang (1869), Derek Jin (1865), David Zhou (1855), Mark Chudnovsky (1474); 14 & under: Eric Feng (2070), Alan Sikarov (1931), Alex Yu (1960), Danila Poliannikov (1914), Carissa Yip (2294), Nithin Kavi (2097), Brandon Wu (2054), Jason Tang (2030), Vittal Ranganath (1084), Conway Xu (2026).
Winners: Legends of Chess: Ruslan Ponomariov, Boylston CC: Open: 1st: Carissa Yip: 3.5-.5, 2nd- 5th: Alex Cherniack, Ryan Sowa, Michael Mi, Brandon Wu: 3-1; U1950: 1st: Elliott Wu, 3.5-5, 2nd-4th: Joe Ray, Jerry Williams, Jason Albert Havener: 3-1; Concord-Carlisle Chess Club Scholastic: 11&Over: 1st: Ritvik Pulya: 3.5-5, 2nd: Lucas Kamon: 3-1, 3rd: Gregory Klimov; 11 & Under: 1st: Henry Booth, 4-0, 2nd: Theo Randall: 3.5-5; 3rd: Dylan Jiang; 3-1; Waltham Ashley G/25, D5 Quad: Q#1: 1st: Lawyer Times: 2.5-.5, Q#2: 1st: Vitaliy Ryabinin: 3-0, Q#3: 1st: Juan T. Fernandez: 2.5-.5.
Coming vvents: Waltham FREE Wild Card #35, March 25, Waltham Chess Club, WalthamChessClub.org/Schedule.html; Spring Action Tournament, March 26, Boylston Chess Club, Cambridge, www.boylstonchess.org; BCF Spring Action Tournament; March 26, Boylston Chess Club, Cambridge, www.BoylstonChess.org; 93rd Chelmsford Burger King Chess Tournament, March 27, Burger King—Chelmsford, 77 Drum Hill Road, Chelmsford, MatthewGosselin24@yahoo.com.
Answer to today’s problem: A difficult one. 1.Qxh7+! Kxh7 2.Nf6+ Kh6 3.Rh3+ Kg5 4.Bh4+ Kh6 (or 4...Kf4 5.Rf3+ Ke5 6.Bg3#) 5.Bg3+ Kg5 6.Nh7+ Kg4 7.Rh4#
