The winners of the Online Cadets & Youth World Cup announced
August was a hot time for young chess players from all over the world as the Online Cadets and Youth Rapid World Cup 2021 was underway on the Tornelo platform for most of the month. The qualification stage run from 1-20 August and brought together more than 1600 participants from 100 national federations, making it one of the biggest online events of the year. 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 from 26-31 August. Unfortunately, we must admit that not everyone kept their points to the end of the tournament – the Fair Play panel never stopped keeping an attentive eye. The finals were held in a knockout format with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment and broadcast live with the commentary by GM Farrukh Amonatov. You can find the archive of all streams in the dedicated playlist. Sixteen players starting in each category eventually narrowed down to two in the final who determined the overall winner. In addition to well-deserved bragging rights, the top 3 winners in each section qualified for the 2021 FIDE Online Rapid Super Final to be held in December. Five players placed 4-8, and one highest-rated player among 9th-16th secured their participation in the 2021 FIDE Online Rapid Grand Prix Series that will allow them to have another shot on reaching the Super Final – the ultimate stage of this year’s Cadets & Youth World Championship cycle. Russia claimed the most medals – six in total, but only one of the highest order as FM Savva Vetokhin snatched gold from Mrinmoy Rajkhowa (India) in Armageddon. Players from the USA and India collected four medals for each country, with the USA taking two golds. The rating-favourite of Girls U12 WCM Alice Lee won the event after beating second-seeded Anna Shukhman in Armageddon. In Open U16, IM Cristopher Yoo gained the upper hand in a principled encounter with Russian IM Volodar Murzin leaving behind higher-rated Indians Gukesh D and Pranav V. The single gold for India came in a prestigious Open U18 category after IM Harshavardhan G B defeated FM Nikolaos Spyropoulos in the second game of their final. On the diagram is one of the crucial moments of Spyropoulos – Harshavardhan. Commentator GM Farrukh Amonatov criticized White’s decision not to take on e4 and choose 20.Bb2 instead. 20…Bxh3! 21. Ne5 Bf5 was played, Black winning a pawn. White certainly had enough compensation in space and activity, and he managed to develop a dangerous initiative, leading to the following position. However, White slowed down here, capturing on b5, after which Black’s queen and rook got loose on the queenside, and the game was soon over. Instead, White could have broken Black’s resistance by exchanging the last guardian with 28. Ng4. In the absence of a firm favourite IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan), the second seed Azerbaijani WIM Govhar Beydullayeva dominated the Girls U18 section. Vietnamese players triumphed in the Girls U16 category with WCM Nguyen Hong Nhung defeating her compatriot WFM Vu Bui Thi Thanh Van 2-0 in the match for gold. Turkey’s system of involving schoolkids in chess proved efficient once again, with their players taking gold in Open U14 – FM Ediz Gurel – and Open U10 category. The latter was no surprise as CM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, at his tender age, is already famous as the highest-rated 10-year-old in the world. Can you find how Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus played here with White in the final against Vaz Ethan? 22. Rxf6! – nice and efficient. Kudos to Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini from Sri Lanka winning Girls U10 category and WFM Zsoka Gaal, bringing Hungary gold in Girls U14. Our congratulations to the front runners! The event was 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/
Firouzja holds off So’s fierce fightback to storm into semis
Alireza Firouzja pulled off a potentially career-defining win today as he bundled world number 6 Wesley So out of the Aimchess US Rapid. The teen hotshot showed nerves of steel as he clinched the win in a tense blitz tiebreaker after So had launched a fierce comeback to get back into the match. It was a day of high drama in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event as So won an improbable two must-win games in a row to take it to the tiebreaker. But Firouzja held on to set up a mouth-watering semi with Russia’s Vladislav Artemiev tomorrow. World Champion Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, takes on Levon Aronian. Firouzja said the tiebreaker was “crazy” as So roared back at him before the youngster finally prevailed. Magnus Carlsen, the overall Tour leader, was in ominous form yet again as he crushed Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The champ did have a bizarre moment of madness in the opening game as he offered up a pawn for free. But in true Carlsen-style the Norwegian recovered strongly from the blunder and broke through to turn it into a win. Carlsen went on to take the match 2.5-0.5, putting Duda to bed with a clinical win in the third match. Duda, it seemed, never had a chance. Carlsen said: “I had a fairly decent day today. In general, I have been outplaying him. Generally, my level of play has been very decent.” Looking towards his next match, the champ said Levon Aronian has improved his rapid play markedly over the course of the Tour and has become “formidable”. And so Aronian showed. His win over dangerous Azerbaijan’s number #1 Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov was just as commanding as Carlsen’s. After a 3-1 win yesterday, Aronian polished off Mamedyarov in three games with a much smoother 2-1 victory. The Armenian FTX Crypto Cup winner said it was an “emotional battle”, and he needed a rest before taking on Carlsen. The closest match in the quarters was the encounter between Vladislav Artemiev and the Cuban-American Leinier Dominguez. After a 2-2 draw yesterday, Artemiev finally broke through in Game 3 and then turned around an epic final game in which pushed hard. Dominguez, who was the big surprise from the prelims, was out. The result also had broader implications as it meant Artemiev leapfrogs the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the overall standings and has booked himself a place in the $300,000 end-of-season Tour Final. Tomorrow’s semi-final matches start at 17:00 CEST. All games will be played in the chess24.com playzone. Coverage with full commentary is available on www.championschesstour.com or www.chess24.com. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770