Brandon Wang recently had the honor and privilege of qualifying for and participating in the World Cadets – part of the World Youth Chess Championship and featuring the best chess players in the world under 12 years old (broken into 3 sections of U8, U10 and U12, for boys and girls). Brandon was part of a large US contingent which ended up taking two gold and one bronze medal.

The tournament, 11 grueling rounds, took place in Batumi, Georgia (the country, not the state). I’m sure it was a memorable trip for both Brandon and his father.

The following are two of Brandon’s wins (he finished with a very respectable 5.5/11). Due to time constraints, one game is presented without commentary, and the other just has light notes.

 [Event "2016 World Cadets Chess Championship"] [White "Wang, Brandon"] [Black "Huang, Qiuyu"] [Site "Batumi Sheraton"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2016.10.28"] [WhiteElo "1844"] [BlackElo "1969"] [PlyCount "115"] [TimeControl "7200+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 0-0 6. Rc1 c5 7. e3 Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a3 Re8  {10. cxd5 exd5 11. Be2 Be6 12. 0-0 Be7 13. Nd4 Rc8 14. Nxc6 1-0 Gurevich 2535, San Segundo 2505 New York 1998}  10. b4 Bf8 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Be2 Be6 14. 0-0 Rc8 15. Nd4 Qb6 16. Nb3 a5 17. b5 Ne7 18. Be5 Nf5  19. Bb2 Rxc1 20. Qxc1 Rc8 21. Qd2 a4 22. Nd4 Nd6 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Bd4 Qc7 25. Bg4 Re8 26. Qd1 Qa5  27. Bh5 Qxb5 $2 {What's wrong with g6? White's b pawn is not going anywhere} 28. Bxe8 Qxe8 29. Bc5 Qc6  30. Bxd6 Bxd6 31. Qd3 b5 32. Ra1 Qc4 33. Qxc4 bxc4 34. Kf1 e5 35. Ke2 Kf7 36. Kd2 d4 37. Kc2 Ke6 38. e4 Bc5  39. g3 d3+ 40. Kd2 Bxf2 $2 {While tempting and "equalizing" material, it allows White time to free  his rook and take control} 41. Rc1 $18 Bc5 42. Rxc4 Bxa3 43. Rxa4 Bc5 44. Kxd3 Bg1 45. h3 Bf2 46. Ra6+ Kf7  47. g4 Bh4 48. Kc4 Bf6 49. Kd5 Ke7 50. Ra7+ Kd8 51. Ke6 h6 52. Rf7 Ke8 53. Rxf6 gxf6 54. Kxf6 Kd7 55. Kg6 Kd6  56. Kxh6 Kc5 57. Kg5 Kd4 58. Kf5 1-0  

 [Event "2016 World Cadets Chess Championship"] [Site "Batumi Sheraton"] [Date "2016.10.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Wang, Brandon"] [Black "Koellner, Ruben Gideon"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1844"] [BlackElo "2067"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [TimeControl "7200+30"] 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 Nbd7 4. Nc3 e5 5. e4 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Be3 Qc7 9. d5 a6 10. Nd2 cxd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. cxd5 b5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Qxa4 Nf6 15. Rfc1 Qb8 16. f3 Bd7 17. Qa3 Bb5 18. Bxb5 axb5 19. Qb4 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Bd8 21. Ra6 Bc7 22. Nb1 Qb7 23. Rc6 Rb8 24. Na3 Ne8 25. h3 h6 26. Kh2 Qa8 27. Rxc7 Nxc7 28. Qxd6 Rc8 29. Qxe5 b4 30. Nc4 Nxd5 31. Bd4 Nf6 32. Nb6 Qb8 33. Nxc8 Qxc8 34. b3 Kh7 35. Qe7 Qb8+ 36. Be5 Ng8 37. Qd6 Qb5 38. Qd5 Qxd5 39. exd5 Ne7 40. d6 Nc6 41. d7 Kg6 42. Bc7 Kf6 43. d8=Q+ Nxd8 44. Bxd8+ Ke5 45. Be7 1-0