Margaret Hua to represent the U.S. in 2008 World Youth Chess Championship

By Lauren Smith

Margaret Hua is an active 10-year-old who has been playing chess for close to three years. According to Margaret’s mother Diane, she started moving chess pieces at the Parkway summer school program for an extracurricular activity. Margaret sits down at least once a day to get a few games in through the Internet, and almost every weekend playing in tournaments and occasional tournaments in Chicago. Although Margaret enjoys the competitive nature of the game, she also enjoys the deep intellectual thinking of it all.

Margaret is a resident of Ballwin, Missouri and will travel nearly half way around the world to compete in the 2008 World Youth Chess Championship in October, 2008. The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will be sponsoring this once in a lifetime opportunity for such a dedicated chess player. The competition will take place in Vung Tau, Vietnam for 13 days, with more than 2000 of the best young chess players in the world from over 100 countries. Margaret will compete in the girls under 10 section.

“We feel very proud and honored that Margaret will represent the United States at such an important international event”, says her mother. Margaret’s current USCF rating is 1495. Her rating is ranked in the top three girls of all United States players under the age of 10, number 22 in the nation under the age of nine (boy and girl) and top 10 in the Saint Louis metropolitan K-12 student (boy and girl.) Margaret’s many awards include a tied 2nd place at the 2007 National All Girls Championship, ages 8 and under, a tied 2nd place at the 2008 National All Girls Championship, ages 10 and under, 2007 4th grade Missouri State champion, and 15th place at the 2007 National Young Action 5th grade and under.

What does the future hold for such a little girl with big potential? Thanks to her parents’ encouragement, and the support of organizations like the Chess Club and Scholastic Center, Margaret Hua one day hopes to become a Grand Master.

Below is a game from the recent event at the Missouri History Museum, in which Margaret came very close to beating Expert Jim Voelker.

White: Jim Voelker (2120)
Black: Margaret Hua (1495)
Event: Simultaneous Exhibition, Missouri History Museum
Date: July 13, 2008
(Notes by Jim Voelker)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5!?

More common are 4...Nf6 and 4...d6.

5. Bb3 Bc5

A seemingly active square for the bishop, inhibiting white's intended d2-d4, but perhaps a slight error. It makes white really want to play d2-d4, especially after the preliminary c2-c3, since white can potentially gain a tempo by making the bishop on c5 move again. An interesting question, discussed by John Watson in volume one of his Mastering the Chess Openings (2006), is why white is considered to have a slight advantage in this position, whereas black is pretty much even in the analogous Giuoco Piano line (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5). The main difference is that with the white bishop on c4 black has the option of equalizing with a timely d7-d5, gaining a tempo herself. With the white bishop on b3 black lacks that counterattack and also has to watch out for the "fork trick" Nf3xe5, which might be good here.

6. c3 Nf6?! 7. Qe2? (diagram)

J. Voelker - M. Hua, 2008

Black to move

I wanted to play 7.d4, but I was afraid of losing the pawn at e4 after 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+. What I missed was 7.d4! exd4 8.e5! followed by 9.cxd4, which gives white an advantage. This idea doesn't work in the Giuoco Piano after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6! 5.d4 exd4 6.e5? d5! with a good game for black. In our game black probably should have played 6...d6, allowing white a central advantage after 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4.

7...d6 8. h3 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Rd1 Re8! 11. d4??

Margaret has a good game and I get sloppy.

11...exd4 12. cxd4 Bb6?

12...Rxe4! wins a pawn.

13. e5 dxe5 14. dxe5 Bd7 15.Nc3

Now things are looking up for white.

15...Nh7 16. Qe4 Qe7 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. Nxb6 cxb6 (diagram)

J. Voelker - M. Hua, 2008

White to move

Black's king is overworked, being the sole defender of both f7 and h7, so...

19. Bxf7+ Kxf7 20. Qxh7 Nxe5 21.Nxe5+ Rxe5 22. Bxh6 Rf5 23. Qxg7+ Ke6 24. Rd2 Qc7 25. Rxd7 Qxd7 26. Re1+ Kd6 27. Rd1+ Rd5 28. Rxd5+ Kxd5 29. Qxd7+ Kc5 30. Be3+ Kb4 31. Qd1 1-0

A well-played game by Margaret, who was winning at one point.