Here is a game by the talented 10 year old Eve Zhurbinskiy (1534). She defeated Shaun Smith (2009)! In the same tournament, she also defeated another expert. Her only loss came in the hands of IM Alex Lenderman. Eve’s rating after the tournament went up to 1636!
It is Black to move. Can you find the best continuation?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Knight to a3 check followed by Rxb2 wherever the King moves seems tempting! If King takes the rook there’s got to be mate coming although I haven’t worked out all the lines yet.
c3 seems to put a lot of pressure on white.
No, c3 hangs the Queen
hehe. I saw that as soon as I went back to the site. Too late to be workng on chess problems.:)
Whats wrong with waiting move ..d5. black position only gets better with that move without any counterplay for white.
Na3 followed Rxb2 is indeed right. And wow, when you work out the line it’s very pretty!
It also depresses me. Eve in 5 years old right? 🙂
d5 does keep things even, but I think it eliminates the brutal loss of whites queen followed by mate.
ok. although i don’t see whats the white response which illiminates the combination black has. maybe Ka1?
also u shouldn’t be too depressed. most 5 yrs olds are way smarter than desktop computers and computers beat most gms hands down.
Jerry,
What happens after ..Na3, Ka1 Rb2, Kb2
Any hints? King seems to escape..
I have to take back my computer comment. I am 14 and I would hate to lose to a 5 yr old eventhough I don’t mind losing to a computer.
My ideas for White’s best defense against Na3 is:
Ka1 Rxb2
Qd3 Rdb8
Now the Queen has to go with either Qxh7+ ; Qb3 ; or Qxa3
mate follows after Qxa3 with
…qxa3
Bxc4 Rxa2+
Bxa2 Qc3#
If Kxb2 then
…Rb8+
Ka1 Nxc2+
Qxc2 Qxc2
Bd4 c3
Bxc3 Qxc3#
If Kxb2 then
…Rb8+ then Kc3
what now? I know there should be mate somewhere but just that I couldn’t calculate it till the end.
being that i am shaun smith..i have two things to say…eve is not 5 years old add 7 or so years to this i believe…also…while she played quite well…i should say that i had the ooportunity to trade queens with a better endgame just several moves ahead…i definately tok her for granted..while i saw Rb2 i never expected her to see it…I def. learned the hard way to never underestimate anyone…
-Shaun
ok. kc3 nb5 kb2 qa3 ka1 nc3. now i guess white has to give up the queen..
Eve is in 5th grade, so she’s 10 or 11.
a) The comment under the diagram states Eve is 10.
b) Very cool of Shaun Smith to stop by and prove he lost with dignity.
anand…
after Kc3 it’s Qa5+
Kd5 (only move) Qe5#
up 102 points in one tournament. She must have had a great tournament performance rating. She is still going to be under rated because she can perform at the TPR.
Beware playing kids at tournaments.
1…Na3+
after this shot 2.Ka1 leads to mate after 2… Nxc2+! 3.Kb1 Rxb2+! 4.Kxb2 Rb8+ 5.Kc1 Qa3+ 6.Kxc2 Qb2#
so, the relative best “defense” against 1…Na3+ is
2.Kc1 Rxb2
3.Kxb2 Rb8+
4.Ka1 Nxc2+
5.Qxc2 Qxc2-+ with a clear win
great combo by a ten years old!
greetings
Na3+ Kc1 or Ka1
Rxb2 Kxb2
Rb1+ Kc3
Nb5+ Kb2
Qa3+ Ka1
Nc3 Qxc3
Qxc3++
this one took awhile to find the exact moves. the knight in my opinion is the central piece to the problem.
wolverine
some other variations i found looking at this problem
Na3+ Kc1 or Ka1
Rxb2 Kxb2
Rb1+ Kc3
Nb5+ Kb2
Qa3+ Ka1
Nc3 Bxc4
Qb2++
Na3+ Kc1 or Ka1
Rxb2 Kxb2
Rb1+ Ka1
Nxc2+ Qxc2
Qxc2 Bd4
c3 Bxc3
Qxc3++
wolverine
1… Na3+
(Main line)
2. Ka1 Nxc2+
3. Qxc2 Qxc2
4. Bd4 Ra8
5. a3 d5
6. Rg3 Rdb8 (All over for white)
If…
3. Kb1 Rxb2+
4. Kc1 Qxa2
5. Qc3 Rb1+
6. Kd2 Nd4+
Not…
4. Kxb2 Rb8+
5. Kc3 Qb4+
6. Kxc2 Qb2#
Neither…
2. Kc1 Rxb2
3. Kxb2 Rb8+
4. Kc3 Qa5+
5. Kd4 Qe5#
Nor…
4. Ka1 Nxc2+
5. Qxc2 Qxc2
6. Bd4 c3
7. Bxc3 Qxc3#
Na3+ Kc1
Rxb2 Kxb2
Rb8+ Ka1
Nxc2+ Qxc2
Qxc2 Bd4
c3 Bxc3
Qxc3++
this is another mating variation if king moves c1. theres seems to be alot of variations to this problem.
wolverine
“No, c3 hangs the Queen”
Yes, but with counterthreat. White can’t take c3 because of
2. bxc3 Nxc3+
If 3. Ka1 then ..Qxa2#
If 3. Kc1 then ..Rb1#
(3. Qxc3 is not possible because of the double check from Rb8.)
And after 2. Qxc3 Nxc3+, the black queen escapes.
But if white accepts the queen exchange with 2. Rxa4 cxd2 3. Bxd2 (prevents the fork Nc3+), then black does not seem to have another attack.
Therefore, 1..Na3+ seems clearly preferrable.
… Na3+
Kc1 … Rxb2
Kxb2 … Rb8+
Ka1 … Nxc2+
Qxc2 … Qxc2
{over for white}
… and Shaun, that’s part of the love of chess is to learn not to beat yourself. In this case, you had lots of help.
Shaun,
Yes, you had a better position after queens exchange.
But if you sacrificed an exchange for a pawn instead of playing Qd3-d2?? (one move before the position on the diagram): 24. Rxc4! Na3 25. Ka1 Nxc4 26. Qxc4 Qxc4 27. Bxc4, then I think that 2 strong bishops give White equal chances.
Regards,
Eve.
does someone have a posting to this entire game? i’d love to see it complete. Shaun? Eve?
Shaun, where could I find the game Shirov – Motylev, that you mentioned?
Thanks!
Shaun, you show real sportsmanship and a very good attitude to post this. I only wish that our world champs would show as much grace and humility. Good show! You, undoubtedly will go very far.
As per another request here is the Shirov game that went similar to ours in the opening but diverted as I never played Bc4, something to think about for next time…
[Event “Corus Chess 2007”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee”]
[Date “2007.??.??”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Shirov”]
[Black “Motylev”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “2007.??.??”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O
8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. Be3 Re8 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. h4 Qd7 14.
Qd5 Qa4 15. Ng5 Qc6 16. c4 Qxd5 17. cxd5 Nxg5 18. hxg5 f6 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. c4
Re4 21. b3 Rae8 22. Kc2 h6 23. Kd3 Bg5 24. Bxg5 hxg5 25. Rh5 Rf4 26. f3 Rf5 27.
Rdh1 Kf7 28. Rh8 Rfe5 29. Rxe8 Rxe8 30. g4 a5 31. a3 b6 32. Ra1 Kf6 33. b4 Ra8
34. Kc3 axb4+ 35. Kxb4 g6 36. Re1 Kf7 37. a4 Ra5 38. Re4 Rc5 39. Re3 Ra5 40.
Re2 Rc5 41. Re4 1/2-1/2
Sincerely,
Shaun M. Smith
Thank you Shaun!