Saint Louis Invitational-A 2019 - with Shiyam Thavandiran

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

https://www.uschesschamps.com/2019-s...s-invitational
November 21-26, 2019

About Shiyam:
Bio:
Shiyam is an International Master who was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where he currently works full-time as a machine learning engineer. In 2002, he tied for 4th in the World Youth Chess Championship U10, in a field that included Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren. In 2005 at the age of 12, he became the youngest winner of the Canadian Junior Chess Championship in history. After completing a master's degree in mathematics in 2016 at the University of Western Ontario, he achieved the International Master title in 2017. Despite working full-time in the AI field, he is fully committed in his pursuit of the Grandmaster title by regularly training and playing in international tournaments. He is looking for his first GM norm in Saint Louis.



The first game

[Event "Saint Louis Invitational-A 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2019.11.21"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Thavandiran, Shiyam"]
[Black "Abrahamyan, Tatev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2409"]
[BlackElo "2397"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 a6 6. a4 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. exd4 Be7 9. O-O Nc6 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bb3 Nb4 12. Ne5 b6 13. Qf3 Ra7 14. Be3 Bb7 15.
Qh3 Nbd5 16. Bd2 Ra8 17. Rad1 Rc8 18. Bc2 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Bb1 b4 21. Nxd5 Bxd5 22. Ng4 g6 23. Nxf6+ Bxf6 24. Bxb4 Re8 25. Bc3 Qb6 26. Be4 Red8 27. Qf3
Bg7 28. h4 h5 29. Ra1 Bxe4 30. Rxe4 Bxd4 31. Rxd4 Rxd4 32. Qf6 Rcd8 33. Ra4 Rd1+ 34. Kh2 Kf8 35. Rf4 R8d7 36. Qxg6 R1d4 37. Bxd4 Qxd4 38. Rxd4 1-0

[Erik Malmsten]

Nice to read bios of players trying for norms, how intense the competition will be. Shiyam needs to submit a photo. Many untitled Canadians would fit into the rating range of the IM-norm section.

[Hans Jung]

I wish Shiyam all the best in his continuing journey to grandmaster. Hes had a good start. Its a tough schedule with two rounds a day.

[Hans Jung]

I noticed one prodigy in the field with IM Yoo age 12. Then my jaw dropped when I noticed that IM Mishra who he played in round 2 is age 10!

[Hans Jung]

Shiyam missed great opportunities against GM Zierk in rd 8. (although he played some great chess in that game) It might have cost him a GM norm. No matter how tactically proficient you are, you can always be more tactically alert.

[Hans Jung]

IM Yoo is poised to get his first GM norm. Last round to play - will he do it? He interests me because he plays the Smith-Morra Gambit and is successful at that level. At that age (12) already playing the Smith-Morra! Wow!

[Ian Findlay]

IM Yoo is poised to get his first GM norm. Last round to play - will he do it? He interests me because he plays the Smith-Morra Gambit and is successful at that level. At that age (12) already playing the Smith-Morra! Wow!

Wow, that says something. Nakamura admitted in an interview that he was stealing Christopher's opening ideas already!

[Shiyam Thavandiran]

Thank you everyone for the kind words and support! I got off to a good start (2.5/3) but I unfortunately only scored 0.5 in the next three games, which knocked me out of contention for the norm (Hans, FYI the required score was 6.5/9).

A lot of strong players praised my play. I'd like to thank Kevin Spraggett for his immense help during preparation and I have him to thank for the successful results, and myself to blame for the losses. I've been working with Kevin since 2017 and I'm incredibly grateful for his profound mentorship in all areas of my life, as I navigate this challenging journey of pursuing the Grandmaster title while working full-time.