Looking back: Xiong in the Capablanca

"Fast and furious" is the headline of an article published in the Cuban newspapers: but they were not referring to Ivanchuk, who won the Elite group in the Capablanca, or any of the players in that section for that matter. It was a teenage boy that was ripping apart the Premier section that caught everyone's attention. Jeffery Xiong continues to make headlines, and for good reason.

The Capablanca Memorial is always more than just one tournament. Even though the international press tends to focus on the Elite event, which consitently has featured the top two Cubans joined by incredibly strong foreign 2700s, there are other tournaments which are worth mentioning happening at the same time.

The Open event attracts players all over latinamerica, and is one of the most popular destinations for players trying to earn a norm. However, this year the Premier section was the one that was, at least to me, of particular interest. Two young American players where invited to participate in Cuba, just in time as the country is opening up politically to the United States.

Sam Sevian had a decent performance, but it was Jeffery Xiong that stole the show. Jeffery won the tournament outright with an amazing +4 score, finishing half a point ahead of a strong field and earning 14 rating points.

Jeffery started with a win in round one against a luckless Morovic, and he never let go. He finished the event with a win with the black pieces to secure his first place, a performance of 2741 and a great rating jump.

Jeffery Xiong's rating graph: skyrocketing!

With this rating jump Jeffery is now 2641 at the tender age of 15 (he will turn 16 on October 30th). Wei Yi, who is currently 45 points higher rating than Jeffery, is over a year older than him (Wei Yi turned 17 this past June 2nd). It is without a doubt that the future is very bright for this youngster from Coppell, Texas, and he has the coaching to make things happen.

Winnners! Ivanchuk won the Elite, Xiong won the Premier

Jeffery is currently one of the Young Stars – Team USA program that has been sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) and the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) since 2012. A group of young and promising chess players are assessed and evaluated by Garry Kasparov himself, along with KCF President and FIDE Senior Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky. These players are also individually trained by prominent grandmasters and famous coaches, including Alexander Chernin.

Other big names in this upcoming group of players include Sam Sevian, Kayden Troff, John Michael Burke, Carissa Yip, Awonder Liang, among others.

Cuban press took notice of the amazing performance in the Premier section

With three 2700s in their Olympic team, and with Jeffery's meteoric rise, team USA is looking quite fierce for the upcoming Olympiads!