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Friday, 24 Dec 2021 02:20
Cadets & Youth Super Final: Congratulating the Winners 

The FIDE Online Cadets and Youth Rapid cycle started in August with the selection stage to the World Cup, continued with the World Cup final, then two Grand Prix events, and culminated in the round-robin final with a 30,000 euros prize fund that finished on December 21. From more than 3,000 participants, only six strongest in each category (open and girls under 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) made it to the Super Final. 

The battles commenced on Tornelo playing platform, and it was not an easy walk for the initial favourites. A few of them had a rocky start but managed to pull themselves together, restore their status, and come out on top. One example was the highest-rated 10-year-old in the world, Turkish star Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. He lost the second game, but a brilliant series of wins in the middle of the event brought him back to first place in the tournament table. On the last day, the final test awaited when he faced his main pursuer, Indian Vaz Ethan. The two exchanged punches maintaining the status quo. 

Top-3, Open U10:

  1. CM Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan (TUR, 2276) - 6
  2. AIM Vaz Ethan (IND, 1384) - 5
  3. CM Schnaider Ilan (ARG, 2106) - 3,5

 

Who could predict that in Open U12 the first day would decide the outcome? The favourite was clear: nobody expected anything but a victory from Abhimanyu Mishra, the wonderboy who just broke Karjakin's record for obtaining the grandmaster title at the youngest-ever age. However, Ukrainian talent Ihor Samunenkov had another opinion and stated it loudly, defeating Mishra in their first-day mini-match 1.5-0.5. Both had an excellent run, handing their opponents only 1.5 points. Mishra eventually managed to catch up with Samunenkov, so their direct encounter decided the medals distribution, and gold went to the Ukrainian FIDE Master. Keep an eye on this young man, who also won the national rapid championship this year (not youth, but an overall one!).

Top-3, Open U12:

  1. FM Samunenkov Ihor (UKR, 2369) - 6,5
  2. GM Mishra Abhimanyu (USA, 2510) - 6,5
  3. Zemlyanskii Ivan (RUS, 2169) - 3,5

 

In Open U14, the competition was close and unclear until the last moments. An early leader Aldiyar Ansat from Kazakhstan slowed down in the middle of the tournament and let Ediz Gurel from Turkey catch him going into the last two days. They faced each other on a penultimate day and made two draws, postponing the fight for gold to the final day. Aldiyar lost the final game, while Ediz scored 1.5 in his mini-match and claimed first place. In addition to that, Dimitrios Makridis caught up with Aldiyar and overcame him in the standings due to a better tiebreak. 

Top-3, Open U14:

  1. FM Gurel Ediz (TUR, 2390) - 7
  2. Makridis Dimitrios (GRE, 2082) - 6
  3. IM Ansat Aldiyar (KAZ, 2366) - 6

 

A very close race marked Open U16, too. Eventual winner Volodar Murzin won only two of his mini-matches—1.5-0.5 against FM Samadov on the first day and 2-0 against FM De Silva on the second—and it was enough for a clear first place. Not losing any mini-match was key to his success in this highly competitive category. Samunenkov and Murzin took silver in their categories (U14 and U16) last year, and now, one year older, they both improved their result to the highest possible place. 

Top-3, Open U16:

  1. IM Murzin Volodar (RUS, 2519) - 6,5
  2. FM Babazada Khazar (AZE, 2429) - 6
  3. IM Pranav V (IND, 2486) - 6

 

Nikolaos Spyropoulos was unstoppable in the Open U18. He started with six straight wins, interrupted by losing in Round 7. The misfire did not discourage him, as he scored other 2,5 points out of the last three games, demonstrating the best result among all categories in the event. The victor's only offender, Harshavardhan G B was rewarded with second place. 

Top-3, Open U18:

  1. FM Spyropoulos Nikolaos (GRE, 2445) - 8,5
  2. IM Harshavardhan G B (IND, 2397) - 6,5
  3. FM Makoveev Ilya (RUS, 2322) - 6,5

 

In the Girls U10, nobody could run on par with Diana Preobrazhenskaya from Russia, who went supersonic at the finish winning the last four games. She came to the finish line two full points above the field, adding a first-place result to last year's bronze. 

Top-3, Girls U10:

  1. Preobrazhenskaya Diana (RUS, 1789) - 8
  2. Akbari Rosha (IRI, 1380) - 6
  3. Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini (SRI, 1371) - 6

 

For most of the Girls U12 tournament, rating favourite Alice Lee from the USA and Anna Shukhman from Russia went neck to neck, Anna trailing by half a point. The two met on Day 4, with Alice winning 1.5-0.5 and essentially cementing her first place. Even one loss on the last day could not change the outcome anymore.

Top-3, Girls U12:

  1. WIM Lee Alice (USA, 2178) - 8
  2. WCM Shukhman Anna (RUS, 2014) - 7,5
  3. Kirtadze Anastasia (GEO, 1701) - 5

 

Girls U16 was a challenging journey for the rating-favourite, Hungarian star WIM Zsoka Gaal (2362). After an unconvincing start, she was trailing the discovery of the event and her second-day offender, Fiorella Contreras Huaman from Peru (1931), by half a point going into the last two rounds. But Fiorella started to stumble and scored only 1.5 out of 4 at the finish, eventually letting Zsoka reestablish herself at the top. 

Top-3, Girls U14:

  1. WIM Gaal Zsoka (HUN, 2362) - 6,5
  2. WFM Contreras Huaman Fiorella (PER, 1931) - 6
  3. WCM Nguyen Linh Dan (VIE, 1413) - 5,5

 

Another surprise of the event, Nguyen Hong Nhung from Vietnam (1697), lost only one game in the first six rounds of the Girls U16 tournament. However, she faced the rating-favourites on the last two days, WIM Meruert Kamalidenova (2351) and WFM Xeniya Balabayeva (2220). Balabayeva won 2-0 to claim clear first place, placing an explicit mark at the end of a great run without any single loss. The encounter between Nguyen and Kamalidenova ended 1-1, leaving the latter in third place, a somewhat disappointing result for the initial rating-favourite. 

Top-3, Girls U16:

  1. WFM Balabayeva Xeniya (KAZ, 2220) - 8
  2. WCM Nguyen Hong Nhung (VIE, 1697) - 6
  3. WIM Kamalidenova Meruert (KAZ, 2351) - 5

 

WIM Govhar Beydullayeva (2290) from Azerbaijan recovered from a loss in the first round and did not let herself slip again, convincingly scoring 8 points in the next nine games and finishing clear first. Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong was the only one to defeat the winner but stumbled on the second day, as a result finishing half a point behind.

Top-3, Girls U18:

  1. WIM Beydullayeva Govhar (AZE, 2290) - 8
  2. WIM Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong (VIE, 2198) - 7,5
  3. WCM Ismayil Malak (AZE, 2058) - 5,5

Bravo to all the winners! We'll take a moment to congratulate them once again at the virtual closing ceremony on December 26 on our YouTube channel.

You can find the results, regulations, and other information about the event on the official website.

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The FIDE Online Cadets & Youth Rapid Super Final is held with the support of Gazprom.