Booster Section Report
By TD Andrew Volynsky
A game from the first round that stood out was Jacob playing white against Charles. This game had an aggressive opening, with both players fighting for control of the center. Some exchanges later, Jacob was able to win a minor piece from Charles through a cunning skewer of black’s aggressive queen and kept this material edge to the end of the game. Fighting valiantly with two rooks and pawns, black put up a fight on the kingside, but Jacob was able to activate his rooks for a great two-rook checkmate in the semi-early endgame to take the victory. All the students were praised for taking their time in this round, and they ended up finishing later than the higher-rated Stepping-Stone 5 group-a rare feat which was a nod to how especially thoughtful they were about their games this round!
In the second round, Arvind playing white against Charles had a very interesting middlegame, leading to a classic smothered mate where black was able to come out on top. A strong past pawn was the star of the show for Charles, which led to a discovered attack and allowed black to win white’s queen.
The third round was the Booster section’s quickest, and they were again reminded to take their time. In this round one game ended in a resignation after a queen loss, and players were encouraged to play their games to the end no matter the material difference, and another game this very round illustrated exactly why, when a back-rank checkmate was played by black while down significant material late in the game.
In the final round, Rudransh faced off with Logan. In their competitive game, the tide turned from an equal opening and early middle game when Rudransh, playing white was able to open up Logan’s king and double the pawns by winning his knight. After successfully doing so, he didn’t let his foot off the gas and activated his queen (which he gave up for a rook to further open the king) and minor pieces, and ended up checkmating with a rook and bishop while down material from his sacrifice.
On Sunday August 13th, the Steppingstone 5 section played a great tournament with a field of 12 players. There was one exception to our full field where one player left after the second round due to an appointment. We kindly request that all future participants are available for the entire tournament before signing up (typically 2-5:30pm). And now, back to the tournament for some awesome highlights:
After Anirv played 46. Rf1 to stop black's past pawn, Everest was able to secure a forced draw here with his threefold repetition knowledge. Given he was in a losing position, this was a brilliant tactic by Everest to gain a half point.
Ryan makes a stockfish approved exchange sacrifice with 18. Rxe7+ (rook for bishop). This gives him such a significant advantage that his opponent would have to sacrifice his queen to avoid checkmate. Arooban keeps his beloved queen, while Ryan spots a forced mate in 6 after 20. ... Kd7, ending with 26. Qe2#. Awesome king hunting Ryan!
With 23. Qe5# Christopher finds a "dovetail" mate. This mate gets its name from the triangular formation of the king and his "tail" pawns. If Anirv avoided taking this "poison" knight he would still have a winning position! Knowledge of common checkmate patterns can help players recognize a winning situation and avoid a losing one. Here is a link to excellent checkmate patterns study: lichess.org/practice.
On move 14, Arooban checkmates Ansh with a simple battery checkmate. This was not the best match I have ever seen, but I still wanted to put it here to demonstrate an important point: unnecessarily rushing in a tournament match can result very badly, very quickly. Mistakes like these can be avoided by using one's time more effectively.
Meanwhile, it is now time for us to peek at the winner's circle!
In Third Place, with 3 total points accumulated of 4, is Arooban Ravichandran! Believe it or not, we actually had a tie for First Place between two undefeated participants! Let us extend a huge congratulations to Christopher Rao and Ryan Lim with 3.5/4 points, with a draw against each other! Arooban, Christopher, and Ryan, you all earned a qualification point towards the category 5 title.
Thank you all for playing!
Steppingstone 5 Report
By TD Jesse Wilensky
Round 1: Anirv - Everest:
Round 2: Ryan - Arooban:
Round 3: Christopher - Anirv:
Round 4: Ansh - Arooban:
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