The Denker and Barber representatives for New Jersey will be, respectively, Christopher Wu for the Denker and John Michael Burke for the Barber. The NJSCF gives a stipend to help defray their expenses.
Both won it outright. The junior championship was quite strong with six of the eight players rated as either expert or master. Burke and Jacobson, two masters, had to fight it out between themselves.
It was held at the International Chess Academy run by Diana Tullman and directed by Noreen Davisson.
New Jersey Junior Championship 2015 — Denker Standings, Page 1
Place Name/PreTournament Rank Rating Score
1 Wu, Christopher (1) 2393 4.5
2 Gu, Alan (4) 2122 3.5
3. Chen, Andy (6) 2050 3.0
4 Glassman,Jeremy R (3) 2182 3.0
5 Jacobson, Aaron (2) 2219 2.5
6 Gabovich, Gregory (5) 2096 2.0
7 Drillich, Gilad Gi (7) 1829 1.0
8 Demarchi-Blumstei (8) 1560 1.0
New Jersey Junior Championship 2015 — Barber Standings, Page 1
Place Name/PreTournament Rank Rating Score
1 Burke, John Michael (1) 2381 5.0
2 Jacobson, Brandon (3) 2201 4.0
3 Rautela, Vedant (6) 1867 3.0
4 Idnani, Roshan (5) 1909 3.0
5 Ajith, Aayush (9) 1604 3.0
6 Brustein, Roman (8) 1668 3.0
7 Zhurbinsky, David (4) 1682
8 Popov, Nikita (7) 1021 2.5
9 Chaku, Arnav (14) 1941 2.5
10 Sarkar, Piush (10) 1463 2.0
11 Li, Dennis (11) 1445 2.0
12 Kumar, Aravind (2) 2221 2.0
13 Stengle, Spencer (12) 1302 1.5
14 Subramanian, Venka (13) 1048 1.5
15 Reddy, Vineeth (15) 429 1.0
16 Kim, Benjamin (16) nnnn 0.0
Here’s a game we have received from the winner with notes by Pete Tamburro:
(2) Glassman,Jeremy (2182) – Wu,Christopher (2393) [E17]
NJ Junior, 30.05.2015
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 [Players of the White pieces should give some thought to the Flohr/Petrosian idea of 4.a3, which often transposes into a Queen’s Gambit Declined or Benoni. Since Black intended a Nimzo-Indian and then a Queen’s Indian, 4.a3 would be a good choice on psychological grounds as Black has preferred Nimzo structures rather than the other two and may be less comfortable as Black–and that is not to be underestimated.]
4…Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.d5!? [White heads toward a sharp line which has been played by masters to try something different from the much preferred (by 7 to 1!) 7.Nc3]
7…exd5 8.Nh4 c6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nf5 Nf6 11.e4 d5 12.e5 [Continuing in an agressive mode. Another possible continuation was something along these lines:]
[12.Nc3 Na6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.Bxd5 Rb8 18.Re1 Nb4 19.Bb3 Qxd1 20.Raxd1 Bxb2 21.Re7 a5 22.Nd6 Rfd8 23.Rxf7 Kh7 24.a4]
12…Ne8 13.Qg4 [The alternative is good enough for a draw, but nothing more: 13.Nc3 Nd7 14.Re1 Nc7 15.Rb1 (15.Qg4 g6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Ng7 Rf8 18.Nf5) 15…f6 16.e6 Ne5 17.f4 Nc4 18.Qg4 g6 19.Nh6+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Rxf7 21.exf7 Nd6]
13…Nd7 14.Re1 Kh8 15.Nc3 f6 [Black makes simple replies which dissipate White’s attack.]
16.Qh4 Nxe5! [Black sees 16…fxe5 17.Nxe7 but takes a close, and winning look at the knight recapture.]
17.Rxe5 [White’s only choice.]
17…fxe5 18.Nxe7 Rf6! [Black had to see this ahead of time. It forces White to give back material, and Black ends up with an advantage in material.]
19.Nexd5 cxd5 20.Bg5 Qd7 21.Bxf6 Nxf6 [Black’s a pawn up with a mobile pawn center. Black needs to exercise care as White won’t go down without a fight and his pieces are active, but so are Black’s.]
22.Rd1 d4 23.Ne4 Qd5 24.f3 Rf8 25.Nxf6 gxf6 26.Qe4 Qf7 27.Qb1 Rc8 28.b3 Qg6 29.Qb2 [Whether he exchanges or not doesn’t really matter. Black here can play]
29…Qc2 [29…Rc2 30.Qb1 (30.Qa3 Rxg2+ 31.Kxg2 Qc2+ 32.Kh3 Qf5+ 33.Kh4 Qg5+ 34.Kh3 Qh5+ 35.Kg2 Qxf3+) 30…d3]
30.Rd2 Qf5 31.Qa3 Bxf3 32.Rf2 e4 33.Bxf3 exf3 34.Qb4 Rc1+ 35.Rf1 Rxf1+ [White Resigns as after]
36.Kxf1
0–1
