GM Joel’s Chess Week Recap - Episode 33

Opening: B20, A05, B51, C07 :

Player(s): Andreikin, Vachier-Lagrave, Brattain, Troff, Liang, Li, Yip, Gorti

The strong tournament in Dortmund, Germany, finished yesterday, with the triumph of the Polish Grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Kramnik missed a rare chance to leapfrog the World Champion in the rating list. He had the possibility, but he'd have needed to play a brilliant tournament. Vladimir started slow, and the tourney was only seven rounds. In the end, Kramnik lost 9 rating points and two positions in the rating list. Now the closest to Magnus is again Wesley So, 12 points behind the World Champion.  GM Joel shows us a pyrotechnic game from the last round. Then Joel switches the US Junior Championships. The American A-wonder won the Junior, half a point ahead of the "veteran" Kayden Troff.  Li Ruifeng, the highest rated boy in the lot, got third place. Awonder Liang won the Junior at 14 and is ready to be one of the youngest American GMs. Next year we will see him fight in the US Championship, and it'll be exciting! Akshita Gorti, 15, won the girls' Junior, with a stunning 7 out of 9. GM Benjamin shows us some of the best games from this important event for young talents.