Speed Chess Championship: The Frenchman vs The X-Man
This Wednesday's second-to-last Speed Chess Championship opening-round clash will feature the world's new number-two and the youngest player of the event.
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, fresh off his career's marquee victory at the 2017 Sinquefield Cup, will face off against upstart GM Jeffery Xiong, one of the event's four qualifiers.
The match will be August 30 at 9 a.m. Pacific, 12 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central Europe and will be shown live on Chess.com/TV.
Does the X-man have what it takes to be an x-factor in the Speed Chess Championship? No upsets according to seeding have ever occurred in the event's two-year history. While this is a #4 vs. #13 matchup, the rating spread is not the largest of the first round (October's Carlsen-Guisenov matchup is slightly more imbalanced according to current classical ratings).
GM Jeffrey Xiong, the X-man?
When he shows his face, it's to feel sad for his opponents!
Are they really that different, or are they just at different stages in their careers? After all, it's a battle of two world champions. Vachier-Lagrave won the world junior championship in 2009 at the age of 19. Xiong would not be impressed. He's the reigning junior champion, winning last year at 15, before most U.S. states would let him drive a car. Vachier-Lagrave was driving Peugeots; Xiong was climbing podiums.
But score one for the world number-two: While both became grandmasters at 14, Vachier-Lagrave earned the title a few weeks quicker. And there's that whole bit about being 2800 and the most feared Najdorf player of the era!
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, le roi.
Xiong might be hoping that coming of age solely in the internet era will give him the edge online (even though Vachier-Lagrave is online a ton these days!). Xiong, who is exactly 10 years and nine days younger than the Frenchman, never even knew the 1900s.
Or the American might just be hoping that a fellow countryman gave an assist, and significantly wore out Vachier-Lagrave, in what has been called the world giant chess championship.
How do you settle a battle of players a decade apart? Let's look at their best tactics. Let us know in the comments who impresses you more from the sample below!
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Number Five:
Number Four:
Number Three:
Number Two:
Number One:
Bonus game! We present this without analysis. Just the starting position shows you what kind of creativity Vachier-Lagrave is capable of. As original as GMs Jobava and Rapport are in the first 10 moves, the Frenchman is equally flamboyant in the next 10 moves.
Now for the teenager's best tactics:
GM Jeffrey Xiong
Number Five:
Number Four:
Number Three:
Number Two:
Number One:
Who will show more tactical prowess Wednesday? Give your predictions in the comments, and tune in to Chess.com/TV to find out. Remember that all the actin starts August 30 at 9 a.m. Pacific, 12 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central Europe.
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Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to more than 85 countries.
