Winners crowned at 2023 FIDE World Cadets & Youth Blitz and Rapid Championship
The curtain fell on the FIDE World Cadets& Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2023 held in Batumi at Hotel Euphoria. More than 450 boys and girls from 35 federations competed in under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 years old age categories (girls and open to all). After six days and 11 rounds of exciting competition, all 120 medals were awarded to the best youngsters in each group. The closing ceremony of the World Chess Youth Championship in the conference hall of the Legend Hotel was attended by Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sports of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Badri Nakashidze; the Head of the Sports Department, Irma Nizharadze; the Minister of Education, Culture and Sports of Adjara, Maya Khajishvili; the Mayor of Batumi, Archil Chikovani; ECU President, Zurab Azmaiparashvili; FIDE Special Tasks Director, the President of the Georgian Chess Federation, Akaki Iashvili; Georgian Chess Federation first Vice-President George Giorgadze and many other guests, as well as more than 500 participants and their parents. FIDE Special Tasks Director, the President of the Georgian Chess Federation, and the Tournament Director, Akaki Iashvili, thanked all the players and guests for participating. The government members told about the event’s preparation process and stressed a high organizational level. Zurab Azmaiparashvili also praised the host country, organizers and arbiters: “I am very glad that the Cadet World Championship was held in one of the wonderful countries of the world – Georgia.” The closing ceremony started with the performance of the Georgian anthem and national dances. Then, the first vice-president of the Georgian Chess Federation, Giorgi Giorgadze, awarded the participants of the Champions Match: Mariya Muzychuk, Anna Muzychuk, Nino Batsiashvili and Meri Arabidze. The members of the government awarded the best five players in all categories. Finally, the winners of the second World Youth Solving Championship received their trophies. Final standings Blitz Under 8 Open: Cheng, Louis (SCO) Nabiyev, Iman (KAZ) Le, Phan Hoang Quan Nguyen, Nhat Khuong Melkonyan, Davit Under 8 Girls: Sivanandan, Bodhana (ENG) Khusnitdinova, Husnorakhon (UZB) Sobirova, Mumtozbegim (UZB) Sarvaanica, A S (IND) Ruslanova, Dunya (TKM) Under 10 Open: Sklokin, Sergey (FID) Guo, Ethan (USA) Banerjee, Supratit (SCO) Bulgak, Damir (FID) Sason, Noam (ISR) Under 10 Girls: Sevastsyanchuk, Anastasiya (FID) Chiokadze, Barbare (GEO) Zavivaeva, Kristina (FID) Milner, Romi (USA) Berikkyzy, Alanna (KAZ) Under 12 Open: Moskvinov, Prokhor (FID) Korelskiy, Egor (FID) Dau, Khuong Duy (VIE) Karpenko, Anton (FID) Kviriashvili, Andria (GEO) Under 12 Girls: Altynbek, Aiaru (KAZ) Tong, Thai Hoang An (VIE) Akbari, Rosha (IRI) Aydogan, Arya (TUR) Venskaya, Nika (FID) Under 14 Open: Vetokhin, Savva (FID) Uskov, Artem (FID) Agasarov, Benik (ARM) Dinh, Nho Kiet (VIE) Gilfanov, Marat I (FID) Under 14 Girls: Nurgaliyeva, Zarina (KAZ) Kirtadze, Anastasia (GEO) Mgeladze Kesaria (GEO) Tabermakova, Leila (FID) Sgukhman, Anna (FID) Under 16 Open: Gurel, Ediz (TUR) Stribuk, Artiom (FID) Piliposyan, Robert (ARM) Navumenka, Mikhei (FID) Sapenov, Daniyal (KAZ) Under 16 Girls: Shvedova, Alexandra (FID) Norman, Kseniya (FID) Volchkova, Alena (FID) Hayrapetyan, Nvard (ARM) Amulya, Guruprasad (IND) Under 18 Open: Murzin, Volodar (FID) Grebnev, Aleksey (FID) Sahakyan, Aleks (ARM) Tsaruk, Maksim (FID) Prisacaru, Stefan-Emilian (ARM) Under 18 Girls: Omonova, Umida (UZB) Zeliantsova, Kseniya (FID) Nguyen, Hong Nhung (VIE) Shohradova, Lala (TKM) Tsotsonava, Elene (GEO) Photos: Guram Turashvili Official website: batumi2023.fide.com/ Live games Pairings and Results
2023 Asian Championship: Vohidov and Deshmukh clinch titles
GM Shamsiddin Vohidov (Uzbekistan) and WGM Divya Deshmukh (India) emerged as the winners of the 2023 Asian Continental Chess Championship. The event, with a prize fund of $100,000, held in the open and women sections, took place from June 3-12, 2023, in Almaty, Kazakhstan and brought together 129 players from 18 national federations. Shamsiddin Vohidov (pictured below) grabbed the lead in the open tournament after defeating Rinat Jumabayev in Round 6 leaders’ clash and never looked back. The 21-year-old from Uzbekistan scored 7/9 and finished clear first, a half-point ahead of a large group of players on 6.5/9, including top seed Arjun Erigaisi of India. GM Bardiya Daneshwar (Iran) and IM Alisher Suleimenov (Kazakhstan), who had the best opponents’ rating average, took silver and bronze, respectively. Final standings open: 1 GM Vokhidov, Shamsiddin UZB 2583 7 2 GM Daneshvar, Bardiya IRI 2555 6½ 3 IM Suleymenov, Alisher KAZ 2463 6½ 4 GM Puranik, Abhimanyu IND 2602 6½ 5 GM Tin, Jingyao SGP 2570 6½ 6 GM Erigaisi, Arjun IND 2702 6½ 7 GM Sethuraman, S.P. IND 2606 6½ 8 IM Madaminov, Mukhiddin UZB 2431 6 9 Utegaliyev, Azamat KAZ 2432 6 10 GM Jumabayev, Rinat KAZ 2590 6 Complete results The women’s tournament was dominated by Divya Deshmukh (pictured below), who netted an impressive 7.5/9, conceding her competition only three draws and becoming the only unbeaten participant. The champion’s compatriot, WGM Mary Ann Gomes, tied for second place with top-rated IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul. Both finished on 6.5/9, but silver goes to the Indian thanks to the highest opponents’ rating average. Final standings women: 1 WGM Divya, Deshmukh IND 2389 7½ 2 WGM Gomes, Mary Ann IND 2315 6½ 3 IM Munguntuul, Batkhuyag MGL 2397 6½ 4 WIM Balabayeva, Xeniya KAZ 2186 6 5 WIM Kairbekova, Amina KAZ 2146 6 6 WFM Khamdamova, Afruza UZB 2260 6 7 WIM Chitlange, Sakshi IND 2225 5½ 8 WIM Kamalidenova, Meruert KAZ 2350 5½ 9 WGM Alinasab, Mobina IRI 2347 5½ 10 WGM Gong, Qianyun SGP 2257 5½ Complete results The four top finishers in the Open Championship and the gold and silver winners in the Women’s Championship qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup will take place in Baku (Azerbaijan) from July 29 to August 26. 2023 Asian Continental Chess Championship was organized by Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Asian Chess Federation, Kazakhstan Chess Federation with the support of Almaty city akimat. Freedom Holding Corp was the general partner of the competition. Photos: official website Official website: asianchampionship2023.kz/