Sanjana Vittal Wins Westfield Championship

13 year old WFM Sanjana Vittal won the 2016 Westfield Club Championship yesterday, defeating 2 Masters to finish with a perfect 4-0 score.

She dispatched LM James West in round 3 & clinched the crown by upending NM Max Lu, the nation's 3rd-ranked 11 year old.

Here is the latter game:

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Move	N	Result	Elo

1.e4	1,162,869	54%	2421
1.d4	944,726	55%	2434
1.Nf3	280,651	56%	2441
1.c4	181,586	56%	2442
1.g3	19,663	56%	2427
1.b3	14,175	54%	2427
1.f4	5,871	48%	2376
1.Nc3	3,767	51%	2384
1.b4	1,737	48%	2378
1.a3	1,193	54%	2403
1.e3	1,064	48%	2408
1.d3	945	50%	2378
1.g4	658	46%	2359
1.h4	444	53%	2373
1.c3	422	51%	2422
1.h3	278	56%	2416
1.a4	108	60%	2468
1.Nh3	88	66%	2510
1.f3	87	45%	2429
1.Na3	40	63%	2477

Please, wait...

1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 This is playable but 2.c4 & a Q's Gambit or 2.Nf3 /\ 3.c4 is more thematic. 2...Nf6 2...c6 3.e4 makes a Caro-Kann & 2...e6 3.e4 forms a French. 3.Bg5 Veresov's System. 3.Bf4 is Barry's Attack. 3...Bf5 Black chooses quick, active development over 3...Nbd7 & structural preservation. 4.Bxf6 White seizes the opportunity & gives his foe doubled pawns. exf6 5.e3 c6 6.Bd3 6.Nf3 Bd6 7.Be2N is passive & leaves Black with the B pair. 6.Nge2 Bd6 7.Ng3 Bc8! N 8.Bd3 g6 is weaker still. 6...Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Bd6 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4

We now have a Tartakower Caro-Kann structure but, since there are fewer pieces here, the 2nd player should, at least in the middlegame, have an easier task compared to 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6, which is rarely seen at the top levels these days. 9...Bc7N 9...0-0 9...Bb4+ & 9...Be7 had been tried previously. 10.0-0-0 0-0 With the kings residing on opposite sides of the board an interesting fight is on the card. 11.Ne2 Na6 11...Nd7 12.d5 Ne5 was an option. The Na6-Bc7 alignment seems somewhat artificial & I wonder where Black's Q will go. 12.Qb3

12.a3 , keeping the enemy steed from coming into b4, is more solid than pawn-hunting on the Q-side. However, Max needs a win to net a share of 1st place while a draw will do the same for Sanjana. 12...Qe7! 13.N2g3 If 13.Qxb7?? then Bf4+-+ 13...Qe6 14.Qa4? 14.Qxe6 fxe6 15.c3= 14...Qd5?! 14...Rfe8 15.c4 Qa5?! 15...Qd8= 16.Qb3?! 16.Qxa5 Bxa5 17.d5 16...b5 17.cxb5 Rab8 18.Qc3??

18.Nc3 Bf4+ 19.Kb1 Nc7 20.Nf5 18...Nb4? 18...Qxa2‼-+ ∆19.bxa6 Rb3 19.Qa3? 19.Qc4 Rxb5 20.Nc3 19...Qxb5 20.Kb1 Rb6? 20...Bxg3 21.Nxg3 Rb6-+ 21.Nc5 Rfb8!? 21...Bxg3 22.fxg3 Ra6 22.Qb3? 22.Qa4 Qc4 23.Nd7 Ra6 ≤22.Nd7?? Bxg3-+ ∆23.Nxb6? Qf5+ 24.Ka1? Nc2+ 25.Kb1 Nxa3+ 26.Ka1 Qb1+! 27.Rxb1 Nc2# 22...Qa5 23.Nd7?? 23.Qc4 23...Nd5?? 23...Bxg3 24.Nxb6 Qf5+ 25.Ka1 Bd6-+ when White can't save his N with 26.Nc4 , for example, because Black has Nc2+ discovering on the Q 27.Kb1 Rxb3 etc. 24.Nxb6 Rxb6

25.Rde1? 25.Qc4 returning the Exchange Nc3+ 26.Ka1 Nxd1 27.Rxd1= 25...g6 26.Qc4 Qd2 27.Qc1 Qxd4 28.Ka1 Be5 29.Re2? 29.Rxe5 fxe5 30.Nf5! ( ∆gxf5?? 31.Qg5+ with an inevitable draw by repetition) was the only try but even that may be losing. 29...Nf4-+ 30.Rd2 Now Black's steed joins the attack upon b2. 30.Rxe5 fxe5 31.Rd1 Nd3 32.Qc2 Qxb2+ 33.Qxb2 Nxb2 34.Rd8+ but that's 2 pawns in the red. 30...Nd3 31.Rhd1 White is without resource. After 31.Rxd3 Qxd3 he loses his Q. 31...Qb4 32.Qb1 Again 32.Rxd3 Bxb2+ is no help. 32...Nxb2 Mate is in the air. 33.Rd8+ Kg7 34.Re1 Nd1+ White resigns 0–1

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White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res

Lu,M

2262

Vittal,S

2043

0–1

Please, wait...

14-time champ LM Todd Lunna had to settle for 2nd place & expert Eric Li (the nation's 3rd-ranked nine-year-old!) was 3rd.

The U2200 prize (pooled with U2000 & 2nd U2000) went to David Zhurbinsky, Keshav Rao, NM Maricio Camejo, Abhimanyu Mishra, Louis Leiggi, Michael O'Connor & Boyang Zhao.

U1800 Section Winners

1st place: Abinav Mundayat

2nd place (+ U1600): Ramneek Singh, Tarosh Gurramkonda, Benjamin Ma, Paul Gottlieb & Shravan Varadharajan

U1400: Aiden Lu & Bowen Liu

U1200 Section Winners

= 1st/2nd: Audrey Hu, Ryan Chen & Rohan Narayanan

U1000: Yussef Diakite

U800: Eli Rosenblatt