Winners crowned at EU Youth Chess Championship 2021
On Sunday, August 22nd, the EU Youth Chess Championship 2021 reached a culmination point in Kouty nad Desnou (CZE) – the final rounds in eight categories were full of tension and exciting battles. EU Youth Chess Championship 2021 under the patronage of the ECU was organized by Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou in cooperation with the Czech Chess Federation. The event brought together 81 young players from 10 federations. Boys and girls played in the same tournament but were ranked separately. All games were broadcast online. The top-three finishers in each category got a cup and diploma. All the participants of EUYCC 2021 received medals and t-shirts with the logo of EUYCC. All eight champions are leaving Kouty nad Desnou with new laptops. The prizes were awarded by the director of the event Mr. Zdenek Fiala, and the tournament director of ECU, Mr. Petr Pisk. Final standings: Open U8 1. Vladimir Sofronie (ROU)2. Maksymilian Janeczek (POL)3. Stepan Kroulik (CZE). Girls U8 1. Aleksandra Pehlivanova (BUL)2. Emma Cretescu (ROU)3. Amalie Martikanova (CZE) Open U101. Andrei Negrean (ROU)2. Danail Popzafirov (BUL)3. Filip Kulich (SVK) Girls U10 1. Ariana Badica (ROU)2. Sofiia Markina (CZE)3. Eliska Janouskova (CZE) Open U12 1. Kamil Warchol (POL)2. Matej Jasso (CZE)3. Roman Popov (CZE) Girls U12 1. Timea Haasova (SVK)2. Ena Bangerter (SUI)3. Valerie Barteckova (CZE) Open U14 1. Ondrej Winter (CZE)2. Iosif Ciocani (ROU)3. Nikola Kanov (BUL). Girls U14 1. Lucia Kapicakova (SVK)2. Ioana-Bianca Chicarosie (ROU)3. Adela Janouskova (CZE) The following players were awarded for the best game in each round: Aleksandra Pehlivanova (BUL), Danail Popzafirov (BUL), Jan Vana (CZE), Daniel Kulich (SVK), Emma Cretescu (ROU), Eliska Janouskova (CZE), Teodor-Stefan Anghelescu (ROU), Tamir Artan (SUI), Bozhidar Mihaylov (BUL), Nikol Barteckova (CZE), Kamil Warchol (POL) and Simon Lang (CZE). The organizers also established prizes for the best game in each category. Andrei Negrean (ROU) won in the open category for his game against A. Tsolov (cat. B10, round 7) and Sofiia Markina (CZE) did in the girls category for her game against Matej Mydlar (cat. G10, round 8). The participants and the guests of the championship enjoyed various off-board activities. They could use a swimming pool, wellness, sauna, table tennis, bowling, pool, etc. The photo gallery from the tournament and other activities is available on the official website. Finally, I would like to thank all players for their performance and fair play, all parents and coaches for cooperation, arbiters for running the tournament and all cooperators for their work. Hopefully, you enjoyed together with us this championship and believe to see us again the next year! Text: IO Zdeněk Fiala, director Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou Photo: Official website Official website: https://www.chess.cz/mistrovstvi-evropske-unie/ Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr573693.aspx?lan=5&art=0&turdet=YES&flag=30 Photo gallery of the championship: https://sachysvetla.rajce.idnes.cz/EUYCC_2021/ Photo gallery of the championship – players:https://sachysvetla.rajce.idnes.cz/EUYCC_2021_Players/
Online Cadets and Youth World Cup Finals are all set
The qualification stage of the Online Cadets and Youth World Cup 2021 came to an end. More than 1600 participants from 100 national federations took part in the tournaments from 1-20 August. The top finishers in each of 10 age categories (Open under 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 years old; Girls under 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) and seeded players secured their places in the finals scheduled for 26-31 August. One hundred sixty participants of the finals (16 per category) represent 35 countries from every part of the Globe. India, one short of 30 players, plus Russia, the USA, and Vietnam, boast the broadest participation with more than ten players each. The event is also abounding in title-holders. Three grandmasters are taking part – GM Batsuren Dambasuren (Mongolia) and GM Lance Henderson De La Fuente (Spain, pictured below) cross swords as the rating favourites in the Open under 18 category, trailed by five International Masters. Famous Indian prodigy GM Gukesh D (pictured below) starts as a favourite in the Open Under 16 tournament. Four rival IMs will be trying to steal his thunder, with Russian hope Volodar Murzin among them. Rated #7 among girls under 20, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan, pictured below) is a firm favourite in the Girls under 18 section. Among Girls U16, the closest gold race rivals are Bibisara’s compatriot WFM Xeniya Balabayeva and Indian WIM Divya Deshmukh, set to meet only in the final. With more young stars taking part, like the world’s top-rated player under 10 Turkish CM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (FIDE standard rating of 2150), the event is set to a great start. The finals will be held in the knockout format on the Tornelo platform, with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment, and broadcast live on Chess24 and FollowChess. The live video stream of the games with commentary by GM Farrukh Amonatov will be available on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/fidechannel. The Online Cadets and Youth World Cup is the first stage of the 2021 World Championship cycle for young players, that includes the Grand Prix series and culminates in a Super Final in December. Three World Cup winners per category will qualify directly for the Super Final, while five players placed 4-8 and one highest-rated player among 9-16 will be eligible for the Grand Prix. The event is supported by SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic. You can find the results, regulations, and other information on the official website: https://youth-worldcup.fide.com/
Three in the lead after Round 6
For the first time in the event, all five games in today’s round ended peacefully, as while a few players stood better at various points, no one could increase their advantage to a significant degree. With the slew of draws, So, Vachier-Lagrave, and Dominguez remain at the top of the standings with 4.0/6, while Caruana is still a half-point behind with three rounds left to play. Swiercz – Mamedyarov | ½-½, 42 moves A 5.Re1 Berlin gave Swiercz a small but nagging advantage in terms of the structure, though he was never able to do much against Mamedyarov’s stubborn defence. A risky pawn grab (23…Bxa2) a-la Game 1 of the 1972 Spassky-Fischer World Championship worked out just fine for Mamedyarov, who managed to force liquidations and eventually secure a draw in the endgame. Dominguez – Svidler | ½-½, 35 moves One of the sharpest games of the round featured aggressive handling of the Black side of the Italian Game by Svidler, who seemed to burn all bridges by advancing his kingside pawns towards White’s king. Missing an opportunity (pointed out by the engines) in the middlegame to sacrifice a knight and launch a powerful attack, Svidler instead played more calmly, allowing Dominguez to consolidate and equalize the game. 26…b5! 27.axb5 Nf3+!! was winning according to the engines, with the point that 28.gxf3 gxf3 29.Rfd1 Qh4!-+ (followed by Ra7-g7) gives Black a decisive attack. Caruana – Vachier-Lagrave | ½-½, 46 moves In a highly important game for the standings, Caruana came armed with some deep theoretical preparation, targeting MVL’s beloved Najdorf and repeating the same line (6.Be3) that Dominguez used earlier to score a win against the French No. 1. Maxim deviated from the game with Dominguez, though he still found himself under serious pressure, using up more than half his time while Caruana was still clearly in his preparation. In a complex middlegame with opposite sides castling, Fabiano had managed to create a powerful passed pawn on f6, but MVL was just in time to create counterplay with a passed pawn of his own. Not seeing a way to break through, Caruana forced a draw as the players reached the first time-control. Shankland – Rapport | ½-½, 47 moves An unusual line in the Scotch Opening led to a fresh position early on, as both players castled queenside before starting to fight for key squares in the center and kingside. It seemed as though Rapport had a small edge thanks to his healthier pawn structure but ultimately couldn’t make anything out of it, eventually allowing simplifications into a drawn rook endgame. Xiong – So | ½-½, 56 moves The final game of the round to finish saw Xiong utilizing the London System, as he managed to put So under some pressure in the middlegame thanks to his better piece coordination. So defended well, and although Xiong missed a few chances to increase his edge, he was never close to winning, as the game eventually petered out into a drawn bishops of opposite color endgame. Round 7 of the 2021 Sinquefield Cup takes place on Tuesday, August 24, starting at 2:50 PM CDT, with all the action covered live by commentators GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Alejandro Ramirez, and GM Maurice Ashley. Watch live on grandchesstour.org as well as twitch.tv/kasparovchess. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#STLRapidBlitz Venue: Saint Louis Chess Club, USAAugust 10- August 16, 2021 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios Credits available on Flickr. Livestream:Grandchesstour.orgKasparovchess.com