Fifteen of the state’s top-rated juniors capped off the year in chess by attending a seminar with GM Dmitry Gurevich and his good friend, GM Alex Yermolinsky (See USChess Story), who was visiting from South Dakota.
Yermo, as he is known to many, is not only a GM but also a highly respected chess lecturer and author. He presented an in-depth analysis of a game played at the 2007 Russian championship between Aleksander Morozevich and Konstantin Sakaev (game on chessgames.com). Morozevich is one of the top players in the world, and in this game performed a thematic positional sacrifice. The lecture covered some very challenging material, which Gurevich felt the Warren Scholars were ready for and served to deepen their understanding of the game.
Many of the Warren scholar parents also stayed for the lecture, which was held at the home of sibling Warren Scholars Gavin and Bryce McClanahan and younger sister Emily. Thanks to their parents, Glenn and Sue, for generously opening up their home for this event. After the lecture, the Warren scholars paired off for a G20 game, then gathered back together for some very thoughtful game analysis from GM Gurevich.