by Sheila Heiser
The drive to Columbus, Ohio was pleasant and not too long. As always, on a road trip everyone is happy when arriving at their destination. The Hyatt was very accommodating and enjoyable; bustling with enthusiastic chess players of all ages. After check in and unpacking, it was time to acclimate to the venue and meet up with the other players.
Everyone was excited to be there. This was Georgia’s Wolf’s first National, and Shayna Provine, who is more seasoned on traveling and participating in out of state tournaments, was happy to share in Georgia’s joy of this experience. The girls’ combined friendship and chess made it an exceptionally pleasant time for all.
Georgia did very well; she played in ‘U10 and under’ winning half her games, 3 wins out of 6 games, placing 26th out of 55. She was constantly alert, always ready to do analysis of her games with RK Coach FIDE Expert Eric Heiser, was a wonderful good sport no matter how her games went, plus she had a lot of fun and loved the experience. Georgia was an absolute pleasure to be with at all times. RK would love to take her on all our "On the Road Trips"!
Shayna Provine played up in the ‘U18 and under' the only 4th grader in this section. Shayna is 10 years old and has been playing at tournaments for only 1 year, her first tournament was the Knights Quest in March '09. Her performance was amazing, winning 3 ½ games out of 6, and placing 7th out of 16. Winning two trophies! (One in the main tournament and one in the blitz tournament). Watch out, Shayna may be the first home grown female chess master from Illinois! She was also a pleasure to be with all weekend; RK is very fortunate to have such fantastic girls!
Huge congratulations to Shayna and Georgia, plus big thank you to the great parents of the girls, everyone made this trip a big success!
Click here: 2010 All Girls' National Championship
Annotated Game analysis by Jeff Cavaney:
White: Shayna Provine (1489)
Black: Janel Diaz (1368)
1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qa5
4.d4 c6
5.Nf3 Nf6
6.Bc4 Bg4
7.O-O e6
8.Bf4 Nbd7
9.Re1 Bxf3
10.Qxf3 Qb4
11.b3 Qb6
11...b5 doesn't work because it leaves the c6 pawn pinned: 12.Nxb5! cxb5 13.Qxa8+.
12.d5 cxd5
13.Bxd5 Rc8
14.Bc4
14.Bxb7 doesn't work because 14...Rxc3! 15.Qxc3 Qxb7 wins the bishop and knight for the rook, and Black still has the threat of ...Bb4 skewering the queen and the rook.
14...Bb4
15.Re3 O-O
16.Qg3 Nh5
17.Qh4 Nxf4
18.Qxf4 Bxc3
19.Rxc3 e5
20.Qf5 Qd4!
Surprisingly White has no good defense to this move. Black exploits the two unprotected white rooks on the same diagonal, as well as the pin on the white bishop on the c-file. On the last move White needed to keep her queen controlling d4 to stop this move.
21.Qh3
21.Qd3 wasn't any better after 21...b5! 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Bxb5 Rxc3 24.Bxd7 Rxc2 and Black is winning.
21...Nf6
Black misses her chance: 21...b5! was the winning move. Even after the mate threat 22.Bd3, the block 22...g6 is still winning for Black because of the deadly attack on the white rooks. After 23.Rxc8 Qxa1+ 24.Bf1 Rxc8 25.Qxd7 Rxc2 the black king hides on g7 and Black is winning. This is simpler than 22...f5 23.Bxf5 Rxc3 and Black has to calculate all the ways the queen and bishop can chase her king around.
22.Rf1
Whew! With one rook safe, Shayna can get her other rook and bishop out of the sticky situation on the c-file, or do even better...
22...b5
23.Bxf7+!
Shayna turns the tables on the c-file: instead of a pin, now it's a discovered attack by her rook and queen on the black rook on c8! And just like that, White is winning. When two good players compete, one move can be the difference between victory and defeat
23...Kxf7
24.Rxc8 Rxc8
25.Qxc8 Ne4
26.Qf5+ Kg8
27.Re1 Nd6
28.Qxe5 Qxe5
29.Rxe5
With the queens exchanged Black has no chance to save the game anymore: in this kind of endgame with pawns on both sides of the board, the knight cannot compete against the rook.
29...Kf7
30.f4 Nc8
31.Rxb5 Nd6
32.Rd5 Ke6
33.c4 Nf5
34.Kf2 h6
35.g4 Ne7
36.f5+ Kf6
37.Rd6+ Kg5
38.Kg3
The sudden threat of h4 mate! forces Black to give up her knight for just a couple pawns.
38...Nxf5+
39.gxf5 Kxf5
40.c5 Ke5
41.b4 h5
42.h4 a6
43.Rxa6 Kd5
44.c6 Kd6
45.b5 g6
46.Ra7 Kc5
47.c7 Kb6
48.c8=Q Kxa7
49.Qc6 g5
50.b6+ Kb8
51.Qc7+ Ka8
52.Qa7 mate 1-0.
Everyone was excited to be there. This was Georgia’s Wolf’s first National, and Shayna Provine, who is more seasoned on traveling and participating in out of state tournaments, was happy to share in Georgia’s joy of this experience. The girls’ combined friendship and chess made it an exceptionally pleasant time for all.
Georgia did very well; she played in ‘U10 and under’ winning half her games, 3 wins out of 6 games, placing 26th out of 55. She was constantly alert, always ready to do analysis of her games with RK Coach FIDE Expert Eric Heiser, was a wonderful good sport no matter how her games went, plus she had a lot of fun and loved the experience. Georgia was an absolute pleasure to be with at all times. RK would love to take her on all our "On the Road Trips"!
Shayna Provine played up in the ‘U18 and under' the only 4th grader in this section. Shayna is 10 years old and has been playing at tournaments for only 1 year, her first tournament was the Knights Quest in March '09. Her performance was amazing, winning 3 ½ games out of 6, and placing 7th out of 16. Winning two trophies! (One in the main tournament and one in the blitz tournament). Watch out, Shayna may be the first home grown female chess master from Illinois! She was also a pleasure to be with all weekend; RK is very fortunate to have such fantastic girls!
Huge congratulations to Shayna and Georgia, plus big thank you to the great parents of the girls, everyone made this trip a big success!
Click here: 2010 All Girls' National Championship
Annotated Game analysis by Jeff Cavaney:
White: Shayna Provine (1489)
Black: Janel Diaz (1368)
1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qa5
4.d4 c6
5.Nf3 Nf6
6.Bc4 Bg4
7.O-O e6
8.Bf4 Nbd7
9.Re1 Bxf3
10.Qxf3 Qb4
11.b3 Qb6
11...b5 doesn't work because it leaves the c6 pawn pinned: 12.Nxb5! cxb5 13.Qxa8+.
12.d5 cxd5
13.Bxd5 Rc8
14.Bc4
14.Bxb7 doesn't work because 14...Rxc3! 15.Qxc3 Qxb7 wins the bishop and knight for the rook, and Black still has the threat of ...Bb4 skewering the queen and the rook.
14...Bb4
15.Re3 O-O
16.Qg3 Nh5
17.Qh4 Nxf4
18.Qxf4 Bxc3
19.Rxc3 e5
20.Qf5 Qd4!
Surprisingly White has no good defense to this move. Black exploits the two unprotected white rooks on the same diagonal, as well as the pin on the white bishop on the c-file. On the last move White needed to keep her queen controlling d4 to stop this move.
21.Qh3
21.Qd3 wasn't any better after 21...b5! 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Bxb5 Rxc3 24.Bxd7 Rxc2 and Black is winning.
21...Nf6
Black misses her chance: 21...b5! was the winning move. Even after the mate threat 22.Bd3, the block 22...g6 is still winning for Black because of the deadly attack on the white rooks. After 23.Rxc8 Qxa1+ 24.Bf1 Rxc8 25.Qxd7 Rxc2 the black king hides on g7 and Black is winning. This is simpler than 22...f5 23.Bxf5 Rxc3 and Black has to calculate all the ways the queen and bishop can chase her king around.
22.Rf1
Whew! With one rook safe, Shayna can get her other rook and bishop out of the sticky situation on the c-file, or do even better...
22...b5
23.Bxf7+!
Shayna turns the tables on the c-file: instead of a pin, now it's a discovered attack by her rook and queen on the black rook on c8! And just like that, White is winning. When two good players compete, one move can be the difference between victory and defeat
23...Kxf7
24.Rxc8 Rxc8
25.Qxc8 Ne4
26.Qf5+ Kg8
27.Re1 Nd6
28.Qxe5 Qxe5
29.Rxe5
With the queens exchanged Black has no chance to save the game anymore: in this kind of endgame with pawns on both sides of the board, the knight cannot compete against the rook.
29...Kf7
30.f4 Nc8
31.Rxb5 Nd6
32.Rd5 Ke6
33.c4 Nf5
34.Kf2 h6
35.g4 Ne7
36.f5+ Kf6
37.Rd6+ Kg5
38.Kg3
The sudden threat of h4 mate! forces Black to give up her knight for just a couple pawns.
38...Nxf5+
39.gxf5 Kxf5
40.c5 Ke5
41.b4 h5
42.h4 a6
43.Rxa6 Kd5
44.c6 Kd6
45.b5 g6
46.Ra7 Kc5
47.c7 Kb6
48.c8=Q Kxa7
49.Qc6 g5
50.b6+ Kb8
51.Qc7+ Ka8
52.Qa7 mate 1-0.
