Cover Story
World-number one GM Magnus Carlsen payed a visit to the school. Here, he plays blitz with Justus Williams.
long-time student of GM Sher, while
James and Isaac study with GM Alexander Stripunsky. Having a large core of A
and B players supporting these three
made it possible for 318 to dream of an
historic coup in Minneapolis.
Winning the high school national championship is an historic achievement that
belongs to all 318’s players, not just the
four top scorers who received plaques.
But it was the top four who combined to
produce the winning score of 20 points.
Their names are Justus Williams, Isaac
Barayev, Matthew Kluska, James Black.
JUSTUS
Hailing from the South Bronx, Justus
became the youngest black master in U.S.
history at the age of 12, smashing the previous record by almost three years. At just
13-years-old, Justus’ resume reads like
that of an experienced pro. He has represented the United States four times in
international competition, and been selected
three times as an all-American. He starred
on the 2011 U.S. Chess League champion
New York Knights, and is featured in the
recent documentary, “Brooklyn Castle.”
National Championships are not lacking: He
won the individual K-6 title in 2010 and
shared first in the 2011 Barber tournament for elite junior high players. He might
not tell you any of this himself: Justus lets
his moves communicate his position in the
20
Chess Life — July 2012
chess world.
During games, his demeanor is unusual,
particularly for a middle schooler. He sits
motionless, reaching out only to move a
piece, and deliberately retreats his arm
back toward his body. Several times in
Minneapolis I noticed an opponent shaking his head, tapping his leg, while Justus
sat stoic opposite. During one of these
games, 318 Assistant Principal John Galvin
speculated that “his pulse never goes over
50 beats a minute.” While other top players demonstratively react to moves or
communicate silently with onlookers, Justus’ board manners are perfect. In the
junior high school blitz tournament, when
an opponent’s flag fell, Justus quietly said
“time.” The TDs didn’t hear him.
In Minneapolis, Justus was nicked for a
draw in round three by expert Darren Wu,
of Washington State. No matter: Surely 61⁄2
would at least tie for first. Early draws in
national events were not unusual for Justus, nor were strong recoveries. He won
his next two games to reach 41⁄2/5, within
striking distance of first place. If he were to
beat Arizona master Dipro Chakraborty in
round six, he would be playing for the individual national championship in the last
round. But it was not to be: Surprised in the
opening, Justus later said he had lost the
four hour game “pretty much without a
fight.” With under an hour before the final
round, and the individual championship
gone, Justus quietly told me he wasn’t hungry and was going to play basketball. With
at least one 318 likely scorer to be paired up
in the last round, Justus’ final game would
be a must-win for his team.
Sicilian Defense,
Najdorf Variation (B92)
Jeevan Karamasetty (2190)
Justus Williams (2312)
National High School Championship (5),
04.14.2012
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.
Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9.
Kh1 Be6 10. f4 exf4 11. Bxf4 Nc6 12. Nd4 d5
r+-wq-trk+
+p+-vlpzpp
p+n+lsn-+
+-+p+-+-+-sNPvL-+
+-sN-+-+PzPP+L+PzP
tR-+Q+R+K
After 12. ... d5
Not one of the common moves here,
but Justus has his own ideas and quickly
unbalances the game.
13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Bg4 dxe4 15. Bxe6+ Kh8
16. Qe1 Bb4! 17. Bb3 Qa5!
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