JOHN RAY BATUCAN - " Beating a US Star in the 2008 World Youth "

American Teens Abroad: Ray Leads in Norway; Ostrovskiy in Curacao

( USCF On-line August 6, 2009 )

14-year-old IM Ray Robson is one of the leaders at the Arctic Chess Challenge (Tromso, Norway, August 1-9).

Meanwhile at the Curacao Chess Festival another one of our young talents, Aleksandr Ostrovskiy earned clear second place. Normally the annual Curacao tourney attracts many GMs, but this year the highest rated player was a 2261 FM, Alexander Hernandez but the prize-fund was just as large. This made for a big payday for 13-year-old Aleksandr.

His father Anatoly , who also played and scored 4.5/9, told CLO, "This was our first time in the Caribbean and it was Alex's first non-scholastic tournament abroad. He got paid $1,230 in total ($1,000 for the second place, $200 for U2200, and $30 for 2nd-3rd place in the blitz (7/9). It is interesting to note that unlike in American tournaments it is possible to win more than one prize, as these class prizes are regarded as bonuses."

Aleks and Anatoly Ostrovskiy at the traditional beach party at the Curacao Chess Festival
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The above-stated feature was originally published in the United States Chess Federation (USCF) website last August 6, 2009. Of course, every chess fans worth his salt knew of IM Ray Robson who at this stage of his young chess career has been referred to as the next Bobby Fischer. He is the recipient of the 2009 and 2010 Samford Chess Scholarship award giving him enough dollars to finance his GM quest.

How about CM Aleksandr A. Ostrovskiy?. He is also one of the up and coming young chess talents of the United States and by the mere sound and spelling of his name I am sure that he is somehow a product of one of those former USSR chess crazy Republics. He was among the US representatives during the 2008 World Youth Chess Championships held at Vung Tau City, Vietnam. He played in the 12 and under category and was seeded 9th with a 2113 ELO rating. He did not perform well in the said tournament scoring only 5.5 pts. in 11 rounds. One of his losses was inflicted by our very own RP bet John Ray Batucan.


Batucan,John Ray-Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr A (C87)
World Youth Chess Championship 2008 - Vung Tau City

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. 0-0 Bd7 6. c3 Nf6 7. Re1 Be7 8. h3 0-0 9. d4 Re8 10. Nbd2 Bf8 11. Nf1 exd4 12. Bc2 dxc3 13. bxc3 g6 14. Rb1 b6 15. Bb2 Bg7 16. Ng3 Ne5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. Qe2 Qe7 19. c4 Bc6 20. Qe3 Nd7 21. Ne2 Bf8 22. Nc3 Qf6 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. cxd5 Bc5 25. Qg3 Rad8 26. Rf1 c6 27. Bb3 cxd5 28. Bxd5 b5 29. Bc1 Rb8 30. Bg5 Qg7 31. Bc6 f6 32. Qb3+ Kh8 33. Qd5 Red8 34. Bxd7 Ba3 35. Rb3 Rxd7 36. Bh6 Rxd5 37. Bxg7+ Kxg7 38. exd5 Bd6 39.Rc3 Rb7 40.Rfc1 Rb8 41. Rc8 Kf7 42. Rxb8 Bxb8 43. Rc8 Bd6 44. Rc6 Be7 45. Rxa6 h4 46. Rb6 h5 47. d6 Bd8 48. Rxb4 Ke6 49. Rb8 Ba5 50. Kf1 Kxd6 51. Ke2 h4 52. f3 Ke6 53. Rb5 Bc3 54. a4 Bd4 55. a5 Kd6 56. a6 Kc6 57. Rb7 f5 58. Rg7 e4 59. Rxg6+ Kc7 60. fxe4 fxe4 61. Rg4 Bf6 62. Rxe4 Kb8 63. Re6 Bg5 64. Rg6 Be7 65. Rg8+ Ka7 66. Rg7 Kxa6 67. Rxe7 Kb5 68. Re4 Kc5 69. Rxh4 Kc6 70. Re4 Kd5 71. Kd3 Kc5 72. h4 Kd5 73. h5 Kc5 74. h6 Kd5 75. h7 1-0