As you have probably heard, and as reported in the Poughkeepsie Journal, our very own Brandon Wang tied for first in the Bradley Open. Along with way he defeated FM Christopher Chase (2402) and GM Alexandar Ivanov (2546). It is difficult to overstate just how impressive this accomplishment is. If an Expert level player is honest with themselves, they might believe that once in their life, if they play the game of their life, they might have a chance to take a GM to the limit. And if the stars align and they have banked enough karma, maybe even win. Well Brandon performed this feat before age 12. It’s safe to say his star is on the rise, and we will be hearing a lot more from him in the near future.
His rating also shot up above 2100 thanks to this performance, and I doubt it will stop there. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but Master Wang does have a nice ring to it.
His father was kind enough to share Brandon’s aforementioned wins. I’ve added some analysis and commentary (with the help of the computer engines, I certainly am not capable of critiquing Brandon’s play on my own).
[pgn height=500 initialHalfmove=start autoplayMode=none]
[Event “Bradley Open”]
[White “Wang, Brandon”]
[Black “Chase, Christopher”]
[Site “Sheraton Bradley Airport”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Date “2016.07.24”]
[WhiteElo “2005”]
[BlackElo “2402”]
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 h6 5. e4 e5 {The Modern defense (aka Robatsch) is a specialty of FM Chase, although from the games I found he typically doesn’t play this way. Perhaps wanting to get his young opponent out of book?} 6. Be3 (6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Be3 Nc6 9. 0-0-0+ {The game is far from over but White doesn’t seem to have much to worry about} )Nd7 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qc2 Ne7 9. Bd3 0-0 10. Nd5 c6 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. c5 Nf6 13. 0-0 Nh5 14. Nd2 Nf4 15. Bxf4 $2 (15. Rfd1 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 {In this line White still traded a bishop for a knight, but without giving Black’s dark-squared bishop full reign of the board. Computers have this at 0.00} )exf4 16. Rae1 Be6 17. h3 Rad8 18. Nf3 g5 (18… Bxb2 19. Qxb2 Rxd3 20. Ne5 Rdd8 21. Rc1 Qf6 $17 )19. e5 h5 20. h4 gxh4 21. Bf5 Kh8 22. Bxe6 Qxe6 23. Ng5 {Nice tactical awareness from Brandon, and now White has the initiative} Qh6 24. Qf5 f6 25. exf6 Bxf6 26. Ne6 Rd5 27. Qxf4 Qxf4 28. Nxf4 Rxc5 29. Ne6 {Not taking on c5 wouldn’t have helped Black, as Brandon could have dropped his knight on g6. Forked either way!} Be7 30. Nxc5 Bxc5 31. Re5 Bd4 32. Rxh5+ Kg7 33. Rxh4 Kg6 34. Rxd4 1-0
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[pgn height=500 initialHalfmove=start autoplayMode=none]
[Event “Bradley Open”]
[White “Ivanov, Alexander”]
[Black “Wang, Brandon”]
[Site “Sheraton Bradley Airport”]
[Result “0-1”]
[Date “2016.07.24”]
[WhiteElo “2546”]
[BlackElo “2005”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Bc2 {Perhaps GM Ivanov is honoring the late IM Danny Kopec by playing his anti-Sicilian system} Bg4 6. d3 e6 7. Nbd2 Be7 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nf1 d5 10. Ng3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 d4 12. 0-0 (12. c4 {Linares, 2001 Zulfugarli (2496) – Najer (2616) 1-0 in 53 moves} )0-0 13. c4 h6 14. Qe2 Nd7 15. f4 e5 16. Nf5 Kh7 17. a3 exf4 18. Bxf4 Nde5 19. Ba4 Bf6 20. b4 cxb4 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. axb4 a5 23. Rxa5 {GM Ivanov spent 40 minutes on this move and played under time pressure the rest of the game. Fritz prefers Qd2 (+.58) } Rxa5 24. bxa5 Qxa5 25. Kh1 Qc3 26. Rd1 (26. Bxe5 Bxe5 27. Ne7 c5 28. Nc6 Bc7 29. e5 $18 )Ng6 27. Bd2 Qb3 28. Rf1 Be5 29. h4 Qb2 30. Qd1 Re8 31. h5 Ne7 32. Nh4 Bg3 33. Rxf7 (33. Be1 Bxe1 34. Qxe1 Kg8 $11 )Bxh4 34. Qg4 Bf6 35. Bf4 Qa1+ 36. Kh2 Qa5 {GM Ivanov flagged. Although the computer says the position is equal – giving a line beginning with Bh6 and ending with a perpetual check, it is an impressive accomplishment for an Expert player to beat a GM. Time is part of the game!} 0-1
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