Going into the final round of the 2015 National High School Championship, four players sat at an undefeated 5.5 points out of 6.0. In the end, the pre-tournament favorite Akshat Chandra was the only one to break through, and he collected his first place prize with 6.5 points.
While accruing victories is always entertaining, the intensive training that comes with three days and possibly 28 hours of chess is far more valuable.
Here are three lessons you can take away from this year’s high school championship:
The Comeback!
Chess is not a game where there are a lot of Hail Mary plays at the end. The player with the advantage in chess can and will win if he or she has good technique and does not make mistakes. There are not very many humans capable of this in the world, so I want to give you two ideas to create opportunities to get back into the game.
Then, if you are winning the position, look to limit these types of counterplay:
Do not develop your opponents' pieces for them! One of the easiest ways to watch your advantage evaporate is to activate opposing pieces.
A passed pawn will ruin your winning day faster than anything. Remember what Nimzovitsch said: "A passed pawn is a criminal that must be kept under lock and key."
Can you find the plan that Black missed to make a comeback in the following game?
The Grind!
When competing in Nationals, do not show up expecting any quick victories. Most students at nationals are underrated. C'mon! These kids and their families drove and flew from every corner of the country to play chess; they know what they are doing.
That leads us to our next lesson: create weaknesses in your opponent's position and be patient in grinding them down. An excellent example of this was shown in the fourth round between two undefeated master players.
Kesav Viswanda was in it until the end, but his team was first place!
Invade and Coordinate!
Humans stink at defense. Nearly every game I analyzed over the weekend went the way of the more aggressive player. Ultimately our goal is to invade down open files and then put our pieces together. White does a nice job of that in this game by a young master.
The excellent coordination between the rook and knight reminded me of this puzzle that our team had a hard time trying to solve while we trained in between rounds.
