Alice in Wonderland

John B. Henderson • Jun 19, 2023

In our previous column, The Cinderella Story, we reported on Anna Zatonskih, 44, who late in life scored the biggest victory of her long career by dominating the Cairns Cup to attain her first GM norm. Now comes the opposite-end-of-the-generation-gap story of rising female star Alice Lee, 13, who enters the record books by becoming the youngest American-born female in history to earn the IM title.

Lee, from Minnesota, turned in a tour de force result recently at the 2023 Canadian Transnational Chess Classic in Montreal, as she placed highly in a tough field to gain her third and final IM norm. She faced eight grandmasters and one international master and achieved a performance rating of 2531.

Alice found herself in wonderland indeed, as she started with a comfortable draw (and with Black) against the highly-experienced and very strong GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista that proved to be a confidence-boosting launchpad for the teenager, who then went on to defeat GMs Arturs Neiksans and Bator Sambuev in rounds two and six; and then drawing with an additional four grandmasters.

Lee credits her recent success to the persistence and patients of her highly-respected longtime coach, GM Dmitry Gurevich, who has transformed her game - and how! The first major breakthrough came with a first IM norm at the 2022 Southwest Class Championships, and then she went on to gain her second norm by finishing a full point ahead of the field at the St. Louis IM Norm Tournament back in January.

Now, with a third and final norm, Lee joins a very select club by becoming one of only three female players to earn the full IM title at the age of 13, a feat only ever achieved previously by GMs Judit Polgar and Kateryna Lagno. She now also becomes the second-highest-rated woman in the U.S.― only behind eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush.

IM-elect Alice Lee is congratulated by the new World #2, Hikaru Nakamura, who made a surprise appearance at the Canadian Transnational Classic, en route to taking a well-deserved break after his sensational big victory recently at the Norway Chess Tournament.

Read about the rise of Alice Lee on Chess Life Online.

GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista - IM-elect Alice Lee

Canadian Transnational Classic, (1)

 D10: QGD Slav Defence, Exchange variation

1.c4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 The Slav Defence is an easy-to-play system for players of all levels looking for a reliable Black defence to the Queen's Pawn opening. The problem for higher-rated players is that, with the Exchange variation, the symmetrical set-ups on both wings make it difficult to avoid a lot of draws - but being a seasoned GM with a hefty 250+ rating advantage, Bruzon hopes to grind his younger opponent down, but to her credit, Lee holds her nerve and the draw. 4.Bf4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.e3 a6 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.Nge2 e6 9.O-O Bd6 10.f3 Bh5 11.Na4 O-O 12.Nc5 The ideal square for the knight, as it can't be kicked with ...b6 due to Nxa6! This is a position though that has become a focus for attention, as we reach a crossroads of plans. 12...Bxf4N The current debate in this line is the move 12...Rb8!? championed by a young JK Duda in 2014 that worked well for the Pole in the stem game against Bruzon himself! That game continued 13.Rc1 Nb4 (Also, a further twist has seen 13...e5!? scoring some upset victories, but mainly in online blitz events) 14.Bb1 a5 15.a3 Na6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Qd2 Nxc5 18.Rxc5 b6 that soon ended in a draw (32) in Bruzon-Duda, Tromso 2014. Rather than playing into a well-analysed line that Bruzon would be familiar with, Lee rightly decides to "mix it up" with the GM. 13.Nxf4 Qe7 14.Rc1 Bg6 15.Nxg6 Both automatic moves from either side. 15...hxg6 16.f4 Putting the "Big Clamp" on Black playing the freeing ...e5. 16...Rfc8 There's not much in this position - it just takes the teen to hold her nerve against the GM by finding the correct way to rejig her knights, after which, Bruzon doesn't have much to play with to force a win. 17.a3 Rc7 18.Rf2 Rac8 19.Rfc2 Nb8 The knight has to retreat to directly contest the c-file, and perhaps slightly better was 19...Na7 20.b4 Ne8 21.a4 Nd6 with equality and both sides having their pieces on their most optimum squares. 20.h3 Ne8!? As noted above, a more than useful manoeuvre as Lee's knight has more scope operating from the d6-square. 21.g3 Nd6 22.h4 Nd7 23.b4 It is indeed a fascinating tussle of experience vs youth - many teens would crumble under the extreme pressures, but Lee shows her mettle by not giving anything away to the GM. 23...Nf5 The engine prefers instead 23...Nf6 - but Lee rightly spots that White has weak points on g3 and e3 and something for Bruzon to worry about. 24.Nxd7 Bruzon was probably trying to make 24.Nxb7 work in his favour - but Lee was ahead of the game with her previous move, as White has nothing after 24...Nxe3 25.Rxc7 Rxc7 26.Qe1 Rxb7 27.Qxe3 a5! 28.b5 Qxa3 29.Rc8+ Nf8 and the engine says White now has to take the tactical bail-out with 30.Qd2 Qa1+ 31.Kg2 Qxd4 32.Qxa5 Qxd3 33.Rxf8+ Kh7 34.Qa8 Qe2+ and a perpetual check. 24...Qxd7 25.Kf2 Rxc2+ 26.Rxc2 Nd6! With the knight again controlling e4 and c4, and pieces being traded freely, Black has no problems as she achieves complete equality and a draw on the cards. 27.Qc1 Rxc2+ The more pieces that get exchanged, the easier the draw. 28.Qxc2 Qc8 29.Qc5 The only try left for Bruzon is to try and "boss the position" with a very actively-placed queen - it does look strong, but it is not enough on its own as Lee finds all the right moves to stay competitive. 29...Qd7 30.a4 (see diagram) Left to his own devices, Bruzon would like to tighten the squeeze with b5 - but Lee cunningly avoids this from happening. 30...Ne4+! Freeing up the d5 square for Black's queen to take up a similar dominating post, and with it Bruzon by now had to realise this game was petering out to a draw. 31.Bxe4 dxe4 32.b5 axb5 33.axb5 No better was 33.Qxb5 as 33...Qxb5 34.axb5 f5! leads to a similar impasse as in the game, though with a little twist, as 35.Ke2 Kh7! 36.b6 Kh6 and White's king has to stay within the f2/g2 zip code otherwise the Black king marches in via g4 to f3 (or even h3, if White doesn't get his king to g2 in time) and xe3 to queen the e-pawn first. 33...Qd5 Kudos to Lee, who has finely calculated that the K+P ending is just a draw due to a blockade. 34.Qxd5 exd5 35.g4 f6 36.f5 g5! 37.hxg5 fxg5 38.Ke2 White would like to play 38.b6, but can't, as his king is one square too far away, where now 38...Kf7 39.Ke2 Ke7 40.Kd2 Kd6 41.Kc3 Kc6 42.Kb3 Kxb6 43.Kb4 Kc6 44.Ka4 and he's on the worse end of a drawing K+P ending where, despite being sans a pawn, the White king saves the day by (just) holding the opposition. 38…b6 ½-½ The perfect blockade with no pawn breaks and neither king able to cross their own fourth rank. A well-played game from 13-year-old Alice Lee against a very experienced GM.

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The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • 02 Oct, 2023

Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • 29 Sep, 2023

The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • 27 Sep, 2023

Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • 25 Sep, 2023

Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • 22 Sep, 2023

With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • 19 Sep, 2023

India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • 14 Sep, 2023

“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • 11 Sep, 2023

With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • 08 Sep, 2023

The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • 04 Sep, 2023

The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.