World Youth Championship: India and Russia reign supreme
The World Youth Chess Championship held in the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel in Mumbai, India is in the books. Youngsters from 66 countries were competing in the Girls U14, Open U14, Girls U16, Open U16, Girls U18, and Open U18 categories. The championship ended on a high note for India. The home team won 7 medals (more than any other country) including one gold in the Open U18 category taken by the 14-year old prodigy Praggnanandhaa. Red-hot from this event the Indian teenager is heading to New Delhi to participate in the U20 Championship that starts on October 14.Russia netted 5 medals, producing 3 champions. It is worth mentioning that Polina Shuvalova successfully defended her title in the Girls Under 18 category and became the two-fold champion. Leya Garifullina scored an equal amount of points with Nazerke Nurgali but won gold thanks to better tie-breaks in the Girls U16 category. Final standings: Open U18: 1. Praggnanandhaa R (IND) – 9 points out of 11 2. Shant Sargsyan (ARM) – 8.5 3. Artur Davtyan (ARM) – 8 Girls U18: 1. Polina Shuvalova (RUS) – 8.5 2. Agrawal Vantika (IND) – 8 3. Alexandra Obolentseva (RUS) – 7.5 Open U16: 1. Rudik Makarian (RUS) – 8.5 2. Stefan Pogosyan (RUS) – 83. Ghosh Aronyak (IND) – 8 Girls U16: 1. Leya Garifullina (RUS) – 8.5 2. Nazerke Nurgali (KAZ) – 8.5 3. Anousha Mahdian (IRI) – 8 Open U14: 1. Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) – 9 2. Srihari L R (IND) – 8 3. Sreeshwan Maralakshikari (IND) – 8 Girls U14: 1. Meruert Kamalidenova (KAZ) – 8.5 2. Deshmukh Divya (IND) – 8 3. Ravi Rakshitta (IND) – 8
5th Global Chess Festival goes big in Budapest
The fifth edition of the Global Chess Festival founded by Judit Polgar to celebrate the diversity of chess kicked off on October 12 in Hungary’s magnificent capital city Budapest. This year the festival is held in a very special venue, the Hungarian National Gallery, located in the castle district of the city. The festival is free of charge for all participants. The organizers aim to bring friends and families together to have a memorable experience while playing, learning, and enjoying the rich cultural atmosphere the event provides. One of the main objectives of the festival is to highlight the diverse nature of chess in four main ways: Chess as a Sport, Chess as a Science, Chess as an Art and Chess as an Educational Tool.Participants will even have the opportunity of playing in a simultaneous exhibition against the Polgar Sisters on the day of the Future Champions of Europe event. For the first time at the Chess Connects conference, lecturers provided insight on how science influences modern chess, including chess as an educational tool in the 21st century and the challenges modern chess presents within the context of sport. Global Chess Festival includes numerous programs (Morgan Stanley Chess Café, Chess Playground, Chess Palace, Promenade, Sweet Art and Craft, Chess Shop, Magical Paintbrush, etc) and several tournaments (Inspiration Cup, Chess Palace Cup, Future Champions of Europe and Chess Challenge). As always, a number of very special guests are in attendance this year, including FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Arkady Dvorkovich delivered a speech in which he shared his impressions of the festival: “What I saw on the floors here, in the Hungarian National Gallery is amazing and very exciting. Different kids of different ages, with different abilities and interests doing all kinds of things together… Here it is a real combination of art, sport, education, and science and that is what makes it a special, huge event.” Official site
World Youth Championship is in the books
Six new World Champions will be crowned today in Mumbai (India) in the World Youth Chess Championship finishing at the Renaissance Convention Centre Hotel . Youngsters from 66 countries are competing in the Girls U14, Open U14, Girls U16, Open U16, Girls U18, and Open U18 categories. Here are the standings after Round 10 & key pairings for the last round that is now underway: Girls U14 1. Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (MGL) – 8 2-4. Eline Roebers (NED), Ekaterina Nasyrova (RUS) & Meruert Kamalidenova (KAZ) – 7½ Mungunzul – Ravi Rakshita (IND, 7) 0-1Kamalidenova – Roebers 1-0Diviya Deshmukh (IND, 7) – Nasyrova 1-0 Meruert Kamalidenova is the new champion Open U14 1. Aydin Suleimanli (AZE) – 82-6. L R Srihari (IND), R Abinandhan (IND), Alex Kobay (USA), Marc Morgunov (AUT), Vo Pham Thien Phuc (VIE) – 7½ Sultan Amanzhol (KAZ, 7) – Aydin Suleimanli 0-1Vo Pham Thien Phuc – L R Srihari ½ – ½Morgunov – Kobay ½ – ½Abinandhan – Sreeshwan Maralakshikaru (IND, 7) 0-1 Aydin Suleimanli (AZE) is the new champion Girls U16 1. Nazerke Nurgali (KAZ) – 8½2. Leya Garifullina (RUS) – 87 players are tied for 3rd with 7 points Govhar Beydullaeva (AZE, 7) – Nurgali 1-0Garifullina – Svitlana Demchenko (CAN, 7) ½ – ½ Leya Garifullina is the new champion (better tiebreaks) Open U16 1. Rudik Makarian (RUS) – 82-4. Ghosh Aronyak (IND), Stefan Pogosyan (RUS), Arash Daghli (IRI) – 7½ Pogosyan – Makarian ½ – ½Daghli – Aronyak ½ – ½ Rudik Makarian is the new champion Girls U18 1. Polina Shuvalova (RUS) – 82. Agrawal Vantika (IND) – 7½3-5. Alexandra Obolentseva (RUS), Zala Urh (SLO), Assel Serikbay (KAZ) – 7 Serikbay – Shuvalova ½ – ½Obolentseva – Vantika ½ – ½Urh – Honorata Kucharska (POL, 6½) ½ – ½ Polina Shuvalova defended her title Open U18 1. R Praggnanandhaa (IND) – 8½ 2. Shant Sargsyan – 83. Aryan Gholami (IRI) – 7½ Praggnanandhaa – Valentin Buckels (GER, 7) ½ – ½Kalyan Arjun (IND, 7) – Sargsyan ½ – ½Artur Davtyan (ARM, 7) – Gholami 1-0 R Praggnanandhaa is the new champion Official site Final report to follow…
Grand Swiss: Only five scored 100 percent
Round two of the Isle of Man Grand Swiss was marked by two events. First, the World Champion, after a difficult struggle, drew on board one against the excellently prepared 19-year-old Russian Alexey Sarana. Secondly, after just two rounds, in the field of 154 top-class chess players, only five have a maximum score of two out of two! The 100% group is led by the world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, who is at the top joined by Baskaran Adhiban of India, Wang Hao and Bu Xiangzhi of China, and Alexei Shirov of Spain. On the top board, the game between Magnus Carlsen and the 19-year-old Russian Alexey Sarana progressed very fast, with most pieces being exchanged within the first 50 minutes of play (by move 26, after a massive exchange). The Russian created a strong position, threatening Carlsen’s king who, in return, had a passing pawn on the queenside. Sarana obtained such an advantage that Carlsen was pushed to play very precisely in order to secure a draw. The dynamic and intriguing pace of the game between Carlsen and outsider Sarana attracted an unusually large number of GM spectators in the hall. After a large exchange of pieces, the Russian continued to press the World Champion towards a very tough endgame. Eventually, Carlsen had to let go of his bishop so he could find a way to a rook and knight vs rook endgame. Usually, it could be said that Magnus Carlsen gave away half a point, but in the case of the game against Sarana (their first-ever duel), it would seem more appropriate to say that the World Champion was fortunate to save half a point. Interestingly, what appeared a very dynamic and spontaneous game, with developments promising excitement, was, actually – all part of Sarana’s deep preparation, which went all the way to move 22!Young Indian prodigy pushes former World Champion challenger towards a fast draw The first game of the day to finish was that between former contender for the title of World Champion, Sergey Karjakin, and the 13-year-old Indian prodigy Raunak Sadhwani. The key moment of the duel was on move 18 when Black managed to build a stable position, creating a blockade in the middle and preventing White from advancing. After an exchange on the a-file, both players were left with a bishop and seven pawns each. Soon afterwards the bishops were exchanged and an even pawn endgame arose. A good start for the Indian prodigy who at the last year’s Isle of Man tournament also played a much-noticed game in which he almost defeated Viswanathan Anand after a spectacular attack.Top players mostly showed confidence in round two, as Vishy Anand bounces back Board two saw a big duel between two American players: Sam Sevian playing Fabiano Caruana. The latter managed to secure a pair of bishops and made a push on the kingside. Throughout the game, Caruana enjoyed the advantage of better time control which he used in the finish to find the precise way to trap the black king. Sevian tried to save the day with a stalemate trick, but Caruana saw straight through that. After five hours and 20 minutes of play, with one step away from promoting a pawn but facing a checkmate, Sam Sevian resigned.One tiny detail might have impacted Sam Sevian though: before the game, he realised he entered the playing room without his ID card and seemed somewhat uncomfortable about that until the arbiters gave him a temporary pass. One of the most serious hopefuls for the last place in the Candidates’, Levon Aronian played as white against Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan (despite a rating of 2632, is not a member of his country’s Olympic team). While Aronian did secure the advantage, he was struggling to find the right path to break black’s defence. After a draw in round one, Aronian, however, again had to give half a point away. It will be interesting to see how Aronian plays in the coming rounds. This tournament is his last chance to qualify for the Candidates’ so – assuming he is aiming for that – he must come down hard on his upcoming opponents. One of the chess crowd’s favourites, Hikaru Nakamura scored a victory which boosted his chances but, maybe even more importantly, his confidence. Nakamura highlighted that he hasn’t played well recently, so all he wants at this tournament is to get his game going. Round two saw an interesting performance by Alexei Shirov, who with black pieces beat Erwin L’Ami and is in the small group of players with a maximum score after just two rounds. Shirov built a strong position, secured an extra pawn and then delivered a decisive blow with an excellent bishop to a4, attacking a pawn on b3.The defending Isle of Man champion, Radoslaw Wojtaszek scored a point against Aryan Tari of Norway and is now on 1.5 out of two. His wife Alina Kashlinskaya, however, was out of luck for the second game in a row. She faced David Howell of England who – as always, dicing with time trouble – secured an advantage and won. Ruslan Ponomariov, who celebrated his 36th birthday today, drew against Turkish GM, Mustafa Yilmaz. The former World champion is now in the middle of the pack, with one point out of two. After a shocking loss in the opening round, Viswanathan Anand – playing on board 62 (!) – bounced back defeating the Israeli GM Tal Baron.A double upset by two women players A big upset happened on board 74 as Indian GM S.P. Sethuraman (2624) lost to Elina Danielian, who is more than 250 points lower-rated. Playing the French Defence, Danielian sacrificed a pawn in the middlegame to activate her pieces and launch a forceful attack on the white king. As it usually the case in the life of a chess-player, S.P. Sethuraman refused an offer to repeat moves and draw, going for a win but eventually – lost the game. S.P. Sethuraman blundered badly in the 36th move and had to sacrifice his queen to avoid checkmate. Another notable game for the women players on the Isle of Man was that of Antoaneta Stefanova who