New chess talent on the horizon

Photo: Nottingham Evening Post

ENGLAND's answer to Utah's Kayden Troff and Gold Coast's Daniel Lapitan could be Mark Kenyon, who has recently won the country's under-11 chess competition.

Here's the full report from the Nottingham Evening Post by Tanya Holden.

'A nine-year-old boy has beaten youngsters two years older than him to become the England under-11s chess champion.

Ravenshead youngster Mark Kenyon has been playing chess since he was four and hopes to be a grand master in the future.

He won five matches out of five to be crowned the winner of the competition, held at Nottingham High School.

The win means he has qualified for trials to play for England.

Mark said: "I'm happy I won.

"I enjoy competitions, especially when I win them, and I hope to be a grand master one day."

The Ravenshead C of E Primary School pupil practices his chess skills every night with his dad and brother.

He also has weekly sessions with coach David Levens.
Mark said: "I find it all interesting.

"There are millions of combinations and I like using the pieces and getting them to work together."

Dad Alan said Mark wanted to join the chess club at school when he was in Year Two but was too young.

After Mark had won a few competitions he took the trophies into school and they let him join the club.

But Mr Kenyon said if Mark wants to be a grand master, the only way is to practice.

He said his son is currently one of the top three chess players of his age in the country.

"He's got a lot of ability," said Mr Kenyon.

"He's pretty confident on the chess board and that helps him.

"It's what makes the difference between being quite good and the best."

Mark will undergo trials for England in the spring.
Mr Levens said: "He is a future grand master without any doubt.

"He has a terrific attitude and is very confident in a pleasant way. He will overtake me."

The Chess Connoisseur is always on the lookout for young chess talents who are prospective stars of the future.
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Ray Robson, USA’s youngest grandmaster ever!

Ray Robson (Photo: wikipedia.org)

NO sooner than we made our prediction from the introductory statement of the last post that Ray Robson will obtain the grandmaster title did the breaking news come out that he has already done so by winning the Pan American Junior championship and became the youngest US grandmaster ever.

In so doing The Chess Connoisseur got both prediction and distinction correct but not the timeframe (‘before this year is over’). With the title, still to be confirmed by FIDE which is just a matter of procedure and formality, Robson (born October 25, 1994) beat by four days the record set by Fabiano Caruana two years ago.

Like a house on fire, Ray was in such a hurry that he beat his first seven opponents before allowing a draw in a superior position to secure the grandmaster norm and the title, on his way to winning the tournament with one round to go. For topping the event, he automatically earned a GM norm—his third, and accordingly the GM title since his rating is already above the 2500 minimum.

Although it was a relatively weak event with only one GM (Andre Diamant of Brazil, who he defeated the second time in less than 3 weeks; the first was at the SPICE Cup B in late September), it's apparently the case that winning the tournament confers an automatic GM norm on the victor.

Robson’s next assignment, his first as a grandmaster, will be the World Chess Cup to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk in November 2009. His acquiring the grandmaster title provides justice and adds credence to his nomination by the FIDE President to this event.

News of Robson’s recent feat may be found from here:

Breaking News! Robson is the newest American GM!
Ray Robson is the newest American GM!

Highlights of Ray Robson’s chess career:

• Pan American Youth Chess Championship in Brazil, tied for first; awarded the FIDE Master (FM) title in June 2005
• Earned the USCF National Master (NM) title in January 2006 by raising his chess rating above 2200 (the minimum required for the title of National Master).
• Earned the three norms needed for the IM title in only six weeks: the first at the 6th North American FIDE Invitational on November 3, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois
• Earned second IM norm on November 27 at the World Youth Chess Championship in Antalya, Turkey
• Earned third and final IM norm on December 10, 2008 at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) GM Invitational in Dallas, Texas, making him the youngest IM-elect in the United States.
• Tied for first place in the 2008 Florida championship.
• Won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, becoming one of the youngest such champions ever on July 16, 2009.
• Tied for first at the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromso, Norway in August of 2009 garnering his first GM norm in the process.
• Went on that same month to earn his second GM norm by winning the 23rd North American FIDE Invitational in Skokie, Illinois.
• Won the Pan American Youth Chess Championship in Uruguay, October 2009; earned his third and final GM norm and thus GM title .

Watch out, Ray Robson! This Utah boy got game!

THE Chess Connoisseur predicts that IM Ray Robson would obtain his third and final grandmaster norm before this year is over and become USA’s youngest grandmaster ever. Robson, 14 years old, missed the target by a mere half-point in the 2009 SPICE Cup B tournament held recently at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.

But don’t look now! It may not take long before Ray gets competition from a Utah kid three years his junior.

Look at these accomplishments:

• Gold Medal Winner North America Youth Championship 2009
• Member of the 1st Place 2009 Utah Championship Team
• 2009 Utah State Quick Chess Champion
• 2009 Utah State Bughouse Champion with partner DamianNash
• 2009 Utah State Chess 960 Champion
• June 2009 Top in the Nation for 10 year olds and Quick Under 13
• 2009 Utah State 5th Grade Elementary Champion
• 2009 Utah State G60 Chess Champion
• Invited as one of 8 youth in the nation to attend the US Chess School to be held in NY in July
• 2009 Utah State Speed Chess Champion (never won by a scholastic K-12 player before)
• 2007 to Present - Teaching Assistant TNT Chess Camp run by the Troff and Treiman Families Top 20 in the Nation for the 2008 Junior Grand Prix
• 2008 Junior Grand Prix Utah Champion December
• 2008 - 2nd Place in the 5th Grade National K-12 tournament in Orlando, Florida
• March 2008 - K-6 Utah State Elementary Blitz Champion
• March 2008 - Utah State 4th Grade Elementary Champion
• 2008 National All American Chess Team
• July 2007 - 1st Place Utah Class B USCF Tournament
• March 2007 - Utah State 3rd Grade Elementary Champion
• 2006-2007 Utah Scholastic Grand Prix Champion (5 tournaments throughout Utah with a perfect 25-0 score)
• March 2006 - Utah State 2nd Grade Elementary Champion
• February 4, 2006 - Won his first USCF rated tournament (first time tournament was ever won by a 2nd Grader)
• 2005-2006 Helped instruct Elk Ridge Middle School Chess Team
• March 2005 - Utah State Elementary First Grade Champion

Remember this name: Kayden William Troff from West Jordan, Utah.

Kayden Troff (Photo: Kayden Troff's album at photobucket.com)

Kayden (born 1998) is acknowledged as a chess prodigy – Utah’s own “Mozart of Chess” — because of his numerous extraordinary chess accomplishments at a very young age.

He is the reigning North American Youth Champion under age 12, winning the Gold Medal in Mazatlan, Mexico as a representative of the USA. At the same event—Kayden’s first international competition—where he won the medal he became a Candidate Master. At eleven he is also the highest rated chess tournament player in the State of Utah. He is the current Utah state champion for all ages of several time controls and chess variants: Game in one hour, Game in 15 minutes (quick chess), Game in 5 minutes (speed chess), Chess960 (Fischer random chess) and Bughouse Chess (partner chess).

In Mazatlan, Kayden and nine other American youth were selected to compete for the USA. The team came away with four gold medals and two bronze medals. By virtue of winning this event, Kayden has earned a right to represent the USA and compete for the gold in the Pan American Youth Championships in Brazil in 2010. Additionally, it is expected that he will be named to represent the USA in the 2010 World Youth Championships in Greece.

Kayden’s current ratings are: FIDE rating 2174, USCF rating = 2186, USCF quick rating = 2180 (#1 in the USA for under age 13) (June and August 2009)

After making it to number one in the nation on the 10 year old list, Kayden turned 11 and moved to number 3 for all 11 year olds. However, he remains number one on the Quick Under 13 list once again!

Kayden is now officially the highest rated active player in the state of Utah on both his standard and quick rating.

Here is an interesting game played by Kayden at the Utah Expert series #2:

Kayden Troff's opponent in this game, Tony Chen, age 15, has been in the top 50 in his age group since he started playing tournaments many years ago.

Tony Chen – Kayden Troff
Expert Series #2, 28.03.2009 Queen’s Pawn [D00]

1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f3 c5 4.e4 e6 5.Be3 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.Bxc6

After 8.Qd2 a6 9.exd5 axb5 10.dxc6 Bxc6 11.Qxd8+ Rxd8, Black is slightly better.

8... bxc6 9.exd5 exd5 10.0–0–0 Be7 11.Bg5 0–0 12.h4?!

On 12.Nge2 Re8, Black has the advantage.

12...Re8 13.g4

If 13.Qd2, then 13... Qb6 is advantageous for Black.

13... c5 14.Qf4?

Better is 14.Qd2 d4 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Ne4, but Black still has a clear, if not winning, advantage (development, two bishops, active pieces and control of open files).

14...d4 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Ne4 Be5 17.Qd2 Qb8!?

This move shows the boy has talent although still raw. Better was 17...Qb6!?, with the same idea without bottling up his a8-rook.

18.Ne2 d3?!

Eager beaver. Still not too late and better was 18... Qb6, with a winning game for Black.

19.cxd3 Bb5 20.f4?

20.Qc2!? may be tried. (See diagram)

20...Bxd3! 21.N4c3 Bxe2 22.Nxe2 Bxb2+!

Identical would be 22… Qxb2+ 23.Qxb2 Bxb2+ 24.Kxb2 Rxe2+.

23.Qxb2 Qxb2+ 24.Kxb2 Rxe2+ 25.Ka1 Re4!

Kayden’s endgame technique, although still needs polishing, is sound. He brought home the point without much difficulty.

26.Rhf1 Rc8 27.Rd7 a5 28.Kb2 c4 29.Kc3 Re3+ 30.Kd2 Rh3 31.Rc1? h6 32.a4 c3+ 33.Ke2 Rc4!

A very efficient finish.

34.Rd3 Re4+ 0–1

Photo from Kayden Troff blogsiteRead more stories about Kayden and his chess exploits from the following:

• Kayden’s story
• Kayden Troff blogsite
• Kayden Troff bio
• A 10-Year-Old Champion, Immersed in the Game
• Utah Boy Named Part of 2008 All-American Chess Team
• 10-year-old wins Utah State Chess Championship
• Young Utah chess player wins North American championship
• Chess tips from Kayden Troff
• 10-year-old making splash in the chess world
• West Jordan boy now top chess player in U.S. for his age

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