My Adventurous Gold Medal Run, Part Two

For part one of Alice's journey to the world title, click here.

Next up in the knockout, I was matched against WFM Shvedova in the semifinal.

In game 1, I could not gain an advantage as white and we agreed to a draw in an equal-material knight end game. Game 2 became highly tactical after we castled on opposite sides. She went on an aggressive attack, neglecting to take care of some of her hanging pawns. I mistakenly did not take them and opted for a safer approach. When she continued to keep hanging her pawns, I realized my mistake and took one of them. Unfortunately, it was the wrong moment, as it allowed her to sacrifice her knight for an attack on my king.

My king took a nice walk around the board. Under time pressure, she did not proceed correctly and ended up down a piece. However, she had a passed pawn and a few good ways to continue. I had to find the only defensive moves on several consecutive moves. The game cumulated with a double threat in which I attacked her queen and threatened checkmate. She saved her queen, but I checkmated her king and won the match!

Semifinal match - Shvedova vs. Lee. The position was equal, but Black mistakenly took a pawn with 29…Qxc2??. White accurately responded with 30. Nxe6!! Kxe6, and White suddenly has a dangerous attack on the king. How might the game have continued in White’s favor?

The final match was against a very serious opponent, my USA teammate Zoey Tang and the 2020 ChessKid Online National Champion. We were very evenly matched.

In game 1, with black pieces, I played to a drawing rook endgame. In game 2, I could not gain an advantage with white pieces. We played out to a bishop end game and drew with two bare kings on the board. This led to the tiebreak Armageddon game, where White would get 5 minutes to Black’s 4 minutes. But Black would have the draw odds, meaning that black would win if the game is a draw.

Most people would choose black in this situation, but my coach GM Dmitry Gurevich told me to go with what I would feel comfortable with. To choose color, the arbiter spun a wheel and it landed on the higher-rated player, which was me. I chose white, knowing that Zoey would play the King's Indian Defense, a sharp opening that’s dangerous for both sides, leaving few chances for a draw.

The game was indeed tactical all the way through, but as pieces were traded and both kings under attack, I spotted a tactic with a knight fork of Zoey’s queen and rook (below). As the clock ticked down, I started to see that my move could be partially refuted, and Zoey would go down a queen for a rook and a bishop. She would be worse, but not losing. Still, it was difficult to see the defense, and a short time later, resignation came and I won the match and the tournament!

The Armageddon tie-break game in the final round - Lee vs. Tang. On move 40, White played 40.Nh5?, forking Black’s queen and rook. It was difficult for Black to defend this position with little time on the clock. But can White find a better move than 40.Nh5? White to move and win.  

I was as relieved as I was happy after the final match. But there was no time to celebrate. I had to catch up for missing two days of school, and take a long algebra exam in the afternoon.

At 6pm, as I submitted the exam, it was all over. Snow fell and swirled outside of my window into a large blizzard. I was grateful for having been in this tournament. It was an honor to play against the world’s very best young chess players. We did not meet face to face, yet by reading stories about them and fighting with them over the board, I felt like I knew them. I have many people to thank: FIDE and the Georgian Chess Federation for organizing the event, GM Gurevich for coaching and guidance, and my mom for staying quiet and not distracting me.

Solution for the puzzle from part one: 24. Bxf7+!

Solution for Schvedova-Lee: 30. Nxe6!! Kxe6 31. Qa3!!

Solution for Lee-Tang: 40. Rb8+ Rg8 41. Ng6+!! Kg7 42. Rb7+

Editor's note: Don't forget to check the ChessKid events calendar to see when the next Alice's Pawn Palace will be!