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:

[Event "Westfield Club Championship"] [Site "Westfield, NJ"] [Date "2016.12.11"] [Round "4"] [White "Lu, Max"] [Black "Vittal, Sanjana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D01"] [WhiteElo "2262"] [BlackElo "2043"] [Annotator "Moldovan,John"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2016.12.04"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceDate "2016.12.11"] 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. Be2 $146 { is passive & leaves Black with the B pair.}) (6. Nge2 Bd6 7. Ng3 Bc8 $1 {N} 8. Bd3 g6 $15 {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.} Bc7 $146 (9... O-O) (9... Bb4+) ({& } 9... Be7 {had been tried previously.}) 10. O-O-O O-O {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 $1 13. N2g3 ({If} 13. Qxb7 $4 {then} Bf4+ $19) 13... Qe6 14. Qa4 $2 (14. Qxe6 $142 fxe6 15. c3 $11) 14... Qd5 $6 (14... Rfe8 $142 $15) 15. c4 Qa5 $6 (15... Qd8 $142 $11) 16. Qb3 $6 (16. Qxa5 $142 Bxa5 17. d5 $14) 16... b5 17. cxb5 Rab8 18. Qc3 $4 {[#]} (18. Nc3 $142 Bf4+ 19. Kb1 Nc7 $44 20. Nf5) 18... Nb4 $2 (18... Qxa2 $142 $3 $19 19. bxa6 $140 Rb3 $40) 19. Qa3 $2 (19. Qc4 $142 Rxb5 20. Nc3 $17) 19... Qxb5 20. Kb1 Rb6 $2 (20... Bxg3 $142 21. Nxg3 Rb6 $19) 21. Nc5 Rfb8 $5 (21... Bxg3 $142 22. fxg3 Ra6 $17) 22. Qb3 $2 (22. Qa4 $142 Qc4 23. Nd7 Ra6 $15) (22. Nd7 $143 $4 Bxg3 $19 23. Nxb6 $140 $2 Qf5+ 24. Ka1 $2 Nc2+ 25. Kb1 Nxa3+ 26. Ka1 Qb1+ $1 27. Rxb1 Nc2#) 22... Qa5 23. Nd7 $4 (23. Qc4 $142 $17) 23... Nd5 $4 (23... Bxg3 $142 24. Nxb6 Qf5+ 25. Ka1 Bd6 $19 {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 $2 (25. Qc4 $142 { returning the Exchange} Nc3+ 26. Ka1 Nxd1 27. Rxd1 $11) 25... g6 26. Qc4 Qd2 27. Qc1 Qxd4 28. Ka1 Be5 29. Re2 $2 (29. Rxe5 $8 fxe5 30. Nf5 $1 {(} gxf5 $140 $4 31. Qg5+ $44 {with an inevitable draw by repetition) was the only try but even that may be losing.}) 29... Nf4 $19 30. Rd2 (30. Rxe5 $142 fxe5 31. Rd1 Nd3 32. Qc2 Qxb2+ 33. Qxb2 Nxb2 34. Rd8+ {but that's 2 pawns in the red.}) { Now Black's steed joins the attack upon b2.} 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

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