The Youth Movement Continues in May Knights Round 3

Round 3 - Results

The tournament youngsters struck again in the third round of the May Knights. Andrew Cai (821) and Chaim Zaromb (872) were victorious over their higher-rated opposition. Zaromb now has 2/3 points and is a contender for second place overall. Both kids have demonstrated sharp tactical ability throughout the tournament and the capacity to play above their rating.

Game of the Week

Andrew Cai scored his first point of the tournament this week with a sensational victory over Matthew Manley (1086). It was a model attacking game from a frequent opening in the Knights Tournament – the Colle System.

Manley made a strange decision on move three by playing 3… Bb4+ followed by placing the bishop offside on a5. Manley proceeded to take a few too many indulgences on the queenside with the moves 5… Nc6, 6… a6, and 7… b5. Meanwhile, Cai developed the typical Colle setup and prepared to launch an attack on the kingside.

Black ultimately never contested the center, which Cai appropriately seized with the moves e4-e5, driving Black’s only defender (the knight on f6) to the awkward e8 square. The 9 year old then played the brilliant 12. Bxh7+! – a piece sacrifice his opponent couldn’t afford to accept – as Cai pointed out during the post-mortem.

Cai placed a knight on g5 and maneuvered the queen from e3-f3-h3 and there was simply no defense in sight. He sacrificed another piece with 16. Nxe6+ and the end was very near. White was attacking with a queen and two bishops and Blacks possible defenders were stranded on the queenside and unable to guard His Majesty. A phenomenal attacking performance from the tournament’s youngest player.

Andrew Cai v. Matthew Manley // Annotation by GM Ben Finegold

In other news…

The Knights Tournament welcomed its twentieth entrant to the field – Jan Fredriksen. Fredriksen is a visitor from Norway and scored a point in his first USCF rated game against Daniel Bartz (1122). Fredriksen has been traveling around the country on a 3 month vacation in the States and was attracted to Saint Louis for its rich and active chess environment.

With only one round to go, Joseph Garnier (2003) leads the pack with a perfect 3/3 score. Garnier will face off with Peter Krasucki (1711) in the final round. Krasucki now has an impressive streak of four straight wins in the Knights Tournament spanning back into April but will be seriously tested in the final round. 

The Monthly Knights tournament is a Swiss event that plays one round every Wednesday evening. Cash prizes are awarded to the top finishers, as well as the top U1700 and U1400 player, and all players receive grandmaster analysis of each of their games.

Round 4 - Probable Pairings