Chess battles of the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships are now over, it’s time to celebrate the victories!

Traditionally, the closing ceremony of the event was held in the concert and theater center “Ugra-Classic”. The Chief Arbiter of the championships Carlos Oliveira Dias was the first to address the participants of the tournament and to congratulate them on the new achievements and success:

“First of all, I’d like to thank the organizing committee of these Championships for their work. Everything went smooth during the tournament. Thanks to the participants, their parents, relatives and coaches who paid much effort to take part in these Сhampionships. And, of course, thanks to the team of arbiters, who were working with me all these days. I am congratulating all of you on the successful closing of the tournament!”

The Director of the department of physical culture and sports of Ugra Igor Gubkin thanked FIDE for its support and expressed his hopes that many players of these Сhampionships will come back to Khanty-Mansiysk in 2020 to participate in the Chess Olympiad:
“Today we are closing these Сhampionships, but we are not saying good-bye to chess, as in less than two months we are going to host the Women’s Grand-Prix here. We want to thank FIDE for giving us opportunities to conduct such big and important chess events. And we want to thank all players who made it possible for us to watch their games with our own eyes. I am sure, among this audience there are those who will come back to Khanty-Mansiysk in four years to participate in the Chess Olympiad 2020”.

The President of Ugra Chess Federation Vasily Filipenko has concluded:

“During this tournament we had a unique opportunity to meet the future of the world chess. These Championships are an evidence of the fact that chess is developed in all parts of the world. There are different approaches and different styles of playing chess, so it is very interesting to see all of them meet in one place here in Khanty-Mansiysk. The tension and heat of the games was growing from round to round and it couldn’t be cooled down by our Siberian weather. Success was achieved by whose who kept in mind our folk wisdom – keep your head in cold, but your feet in warmth”.

After the speeches of FIDE representatives and officials of Khanty-Mansiysk region the most pleasant part of the ceremony started. Gifts and diplomas were given to the medalists and prize-winners of the championships. In each category top-10 players were awarded with presents from the organizers. Besides, those who achieved norms during the tournament got their certificates as well.

The majority of the new champions were coming to the scene wrapped in their national flags. Five anthems played in honor of six gold medalists from Armenia, China, Russia, Greece and India are an evidence that chess is popular in all countries of the world.

In the end of the official part of the ceremony Carlos Oliveira Dias declared the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships closed.

The ceremony continued with the performances of the best song and dance ensembles of Khanty-Mansiysk, whose energy made all 412 participants of the Championships think again about all the emotions they felt during the rounds of the tournament. We hope, these emotions won’t be forgotten! See you next time! 

Round 11. Awards Come to the Heroes 

The official web-site of the tournament: http://wy2016.fide.com/ 

The final round of junior championships often becomes a formality, just making official what has already been known. Not this time, though! In Khanty-Mansiysk, five champions out of six were determined only in the concluding round.

The only man who could not care less about the final round is the undisputed winner of the Open 14 championship Semyon Lomasov from Russia. He could hardly force himself to fight in the last round, and his opponent Shant Sargsyan used the occasion, playing focused and strong game. However, this victory did not even give the Armenian a top-3 spot. The highest rated player of the championship Andrey Esipenko (Russia) took the silver, scoring the same 9 points as Lomasov, and Nodirbek Yakubboyev from Uzbekistan won the bronze.

The champion of the Girls 14 category was determined the quickest of all. Who could ever expect seeing the Indian Vantika Agrawal (15th ranked player of the tournament) and the American Annie Wang (14th ranked) on top of the leaderboard on the last day? And who could expect both of them losing in the last round, thus handing the gold medal over to the Chinese Zhu Jiner (12thranked)?

Wang lost a very one-sided game to Aleksandra Maltsevskaya – the Russian was disappointed by her poor performance at the championship and tried really hard in the last round. Agrawal had a decent position against Zhu Jiner and just needed to hold as White to clinch the title. However, the time pressure took its toll.

48.Be3?? After 48.Bc2 g3 49.hxg3 Rg8 50.Rg2 Bb7 51.Ree2 White still holds. The text-move gives Black a winning attack.

48…g3! 49.hxg3 (49.Rg2 does not help either – 49…Rg8 50.Bf1 Bb7 51.hxg3 Nxe3 52.Rxe3 Bxg2 53.Bxg2 Rxg3, and Black wins an exchange) 49…Rg8. Black could win even quicker by 49…Qxg3+! 50.Kf1 Qh3+ 51.Kf2 Nf6!, and White cannot defend against all threats.

The rest was easy: 50.Rg2 Rxg3 51.Bf1 Rxe3 52.Rg7+!? Kf8 53.Bxh3 Rxe5 54.fxe5 Rxg7+, and Black eventually converted an extra piece. Zhu Jiner gets the crown!

Thanks to her today’s victory, Maltsevskaya unexpectedly jumped on the second place. The disappointed Annie Wang finished third.

The struggle in the Open 16 championship was even more tense. The fate of the title looked sealed a long time ago – the Armenian Haik Martirosyan started with 7 straight wins, while his main rival, Olexandr Triapishko from Russia, had just 4 points in 6 games. However, while the leader was busy making short draws to secure the gold, the chaser kept winning game after game, and in process obtained a superior tie-break!

Had Triapishko defeated the Croatian Leon Livaic in the last round, Martirosyan could miss the title. To secure the gold, he needed to beat Tran Minh Thang from Vietnam. The Armenian played for a win, but also kept an eye on a game of his rival, and such “war on two fronts” proved quite costly.

White ties Black’s forces with protecting the c7-pawn, but he has nothing forced yet. However, Haik is not willing to stand still, and he initiates a suicidal maneuver.

28.Kf2?! Bh6 29.Ke2? hxg3 30.hxg3 Nf6 31.Be1 Nh5 32.Nf1 Qg5! Now Black always has a perpetual, and his attack shows promise as well. The Armenian still does not sense the danger. 

33.Qd7 Qc1 34.Kf1? (after 34.Qxc8 Black gives a perpetual: 34…Qc2+ 35.Nd2 Bxd2 36.Bxd2 Nxg3 37.Ke1 Qd3 38.Bh6+ Kxh6 39.Qh3+ Nh5 etc., but now the white king is in danger) 34…Rf8 35.Rxc7 Nxg3 (35…Qb2+ 36.Kg1 Qe2 37.Bf2 Qxf3 38.Qxd6 Bf4! is unclear) 36.Nxg3 Qe3+ 37.Kf1 Qxf3+ 38.Bf2 Be3 39.Nf5+!(the only move) 39…exf5 40.Qxf5 Qd1? Black could transpose to a very favorable and possibly winning ending after 40…Bf4! 41.b5 Qd3+ 42.Kg2 Rg8! 43.Rc8 (of course not 43.Qxf7+?? because of 43…Kh8+ with mate) 43…Rxc8 44.Qg4+ Bg5 45.Qxc8 Qxe4, etc. However, it is difficult to calculate such lines on the control move.

Now the game ends peacefully: 41.Kg2 Bxf2 42.Qg5+. Draw.

Fortunately, Martirosyan did not have to worry too much – Triapishko never had any winning chances. He played an ambitious opening, but then hesitated for too long, and the game eventually dried out following exchanges in the center. To be fair, Olexandr’s play in Khanty-Mansiysk probably did not deserve the gold. And silver is a fine metal, too.

The unexpected 10th round loss of Polina Shuvalova made the Girls 16 title up for grabs. Both Anna-Maja Kazarian (Netherlands) and Hagawane Aakanksha (India) were half a point ahead of the Russian. The Indian also had an advantage in form of a victory in the individual duel with Kazarian, and this turned out to be decisive.

Kazarian was desperate to win, but overextended and lost to Mobina Alinasab. The evaluation of Aakanksha-Sliwicka was jumping back and forth, but the player from Poland was last to make a mistake, and Hagawane brought India the only gold of Khanty-Mansiysk. Alinasab from Iran finished second, Shuvalova, who managed to pull herself together in the final round to beat Battsooj Amina, took third place.

The number of contenders in each Under 18 championship was narrowed to two names: Maksim Vavulin or Manuel Petrosyan in the Open 18, Alexandra Obolentseva or Stavroula Tsolakidou in the Girls 18. In both cases the Russians had the advantage of a superior tie-break, so they only needed to perform not worse than their rivals. However, went the dust settled, the titles went to Armenia and Greece.

Vavulin, despite all his effort, could not do anything with the Frenchman Bilel Bellahcene, who played very solid as White and did not react to provocation. And Petrosyan, playing very methodically, slowly broke the resistance of Rakotomaharo, who defended very tenaciously and even had a chance to survive in the endgame, but missed it due to the time pressure. Thus, Petrosyan surpasses Vavulin for the second time – first at the European, and now at the World Championship. Shahim Lorparizangeneh from Iran took third place.

In the girls tournament, Obolentseva was unable to cope with her nerves. While Tsolakidou was confidently outplaying Uuriintuya, who blundered a pawn and did not use all the resources in the endgame, Alexandra got stuck in a defensive line of Irina Drogovoz. A draw was not enough for Obolentseva, therefore she tried to squeeze a win at any cost and eventually lost.

Thus, Stavroula Tsolakidou became a World Champion for the third time in her career. The 15-year-old Greek won titles in all three categories – under 14, under 16, and now under 18. The young Russian will have another chance to challenge the title next year, and this time she can console herself with the silver. Michal Lahav from Israel won the bronze. 

 

Round 10. One Champion is Determined 

The official web-site of the tournament: http://wy2016.fide.com/  

With one round to go, only one player, Semen Lomasov from Russia, is guaranteed the first place – he cannot be surpassed in the Open 14 category. A draw tomorrow will make Haik Martirosyan the Open 16 champion. The champions of other categories will be determined tomorrow. The struggle in the Girls championships will be particularly sharp – sudden losses of the leaders in all age groups ruined many plans.

Obolentseva Alexandra (RUS)

Let us begin with them. Alexandra Obolentseva played the first nine days of the Under 18 championship perfectly – aggressively as White, accurately as Black. However, in the penultimate round, when the goal was so close, she suddenly collapsed…

Normally Obolentseva senses dynamic opportunities of Black in the King’s Indian with her fingertips. Not today, though. The diagrammed position in the game against Uurtsaikh Uuriintuya from Mongolia (Black) is equal. The simplest way to prove it is 20…Bxc1 21.Qxc1 Kh8, and the attacks on opposite sides of the board must balance each other. However, the Mongolian wants more, and Alexandra accepts the challenge.

20…f4 21.Bd3?! (the bishop does not prevent e5-e4, and the g2-square becomes weak) 21…Qe7 22.Bc2?! (bringing the piece even further from the king) 22…Qg7 23.Nd2 Bd7! (aiming at the h3-pawn) 24.Qf3 Kh8 25.Bb2. Still not sensing any danger. White should have maintained the blockade by 25.Ne4 Bf5, and it is not easy to break through.

Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh (MNG)

25…Be8! (hinting that a queen is a poor blocker) 26.Qe2? (more accurate is 26.Kh1, vacating the g1-square for a rook) 26…Rg8! 27.f3. If White is forced to play such move, she is definitely in trouble. On 27.Qf1 there is the elegant 27…Nxd5!, and 28.cxd5? fails to 28…Bb5!

27…Bd7?! (more accurate is 27…Nh5, combining the threats on g- and h-files)28.Kh2? (the king is vulnerable here; after 28.Kh1 Nh5 29.Ne4 Bf5 30.Qd2 Qd7 31.Nf2 there is nothing forced for Black) 28…Qg3+ 29.Kh1 Rg5! 30.Rf1?! (better is 30.Qf1 and Re2) 30…Bxh3! A spectacular finale. White cannot survive under a coordinated attack of all Black’s pieces. Obolentseva resisted hopelessly until the 45th move, but the inevitable happened – her first loss in 10 games. She has 8 out of 10 now.

Tsolakidou Stavroula (GRE)

Her only rival Stavroula Tsolakidou won easily against Mahalakshmi, who got lost in a well-known variation of the French.

Black had no time to prepare a long castling and now gets punished for that. 13.d5! cxd5 (13…exd5? loses to 14.Nd4 Qd7 15.Bd3) 14.Bb5+ Nd7 15.Nd4 Kf8? Black has a difficult position after 15…a6 16.Bc6 Bxc6 17.Nxc6 Qc7 18.Nxe7 Kxe7 19.Rxd5, but at least it does not lose on the spot. The text leads to a quick finale. 16.Qh5! Rg7 (protecting on f7, but missing another hit) 17.Rxe6! Kg8 18.Rxe7(all roads read to Rome by now) 18…Qxe7 19.Ngf5. Black resigns. The Greek moved on 8 out of 10. The fate of the gold will be decided tomorrow. If Tsolakidou and Obolentseva tie for first, the Greek will likely become a champion, as she has a superior tie-break, and their individual game ended in a draw.

Shuvalova Polina (RUS)

Polina Shuvalova once again created problems for herself in the Girls 16 championship. Her opponent Mobina Alinasab got under time pressure and gave the Russian great winning chances. Alas, the Moscow champion did not use this opportunity. Actually, she even found the way to lose.

The knight transfer to f4 is called for. Black can also capture on a2, winning a pawn. Instead of that, Shuvalova blitzed out 31…Bxf5?! 32.exf5 Qd4 33.a3 Nbd5 34.Qd3 h5? This makes no sense. Black must trade queens are bring her king in the center with a clear advantage due to a better structure and piece activity.

35.Qxd4 exd4 36.Nc4 Nf4 37.Be4 b5 38.Nd2 Ned5? Preventing the bishop from going to b5. Fixating a weakness on h3 was necessary – 38…h4! And now White achieves a winning position, playing simple and natural moves. Black’s pawns on b5 and a6 are the deciding factor of the game.

39.gxh5! Kg7 40.Kg3 Nxh5+ 41.Kf3 Nhf4 42.Bxd5 Nxd5 43.Ke4! The tables have turned – the white king plays the key role, while the black king is a mere spectator. Shuvalova’s attempts to complicate things did not bring her anything.

Kazarian Anna-Maja (NED)

Unfortunately for the hosts, Shuvalova’s rivals took the maximum out of her first loss – both Anna-Maja Kazarian and Hagawane Aakanksha won their games and surpassed the Russian. The Indian will also enjoy a tie-break advantage, as she defeated Kazarian in the round 5. Shuvalova can only hope for a miracle…

A complete shake up occurred in the Girls 14 championship. The Chinese Zhu Jiner, who started with 7.5 out of 8, began to crumble. Yesterday she lost to Olga Badelka from Belarus, and today suffered another defeat by Annie Wang from USA. The American slowly gathered small advantages and then suddenly threatened mate, for which there was no defense. Badelka also looked pale today, losing as White to Vantika Agrawal.

Wang Annie (USA)

With one round to go, the Indian and the American have 8 out of 10. Wang is a bit closer to the gold thanks to a victory in their individual game, but who can really predict the events of the final round?

We will provide just two details about the Open championships. Maksim Vavulin, the leader of the Open 18 event, made another draw, and Manuel Petrosyan managed to catch him up. Now the only advantage of the Russian is his superior tie-break.

In the Open 16 category, Haik Martirosyan, as we already reported, only needs a draw to become a champion. The Russian Olexander Triapishko is just half a point behind, but the tie-break of the Armenian is much higher. As for the Open 14 category, the fate of the gold medals has already been decided. 

 

Round 9: Almost there 

The 9th round became one of the most nerve-wrecking of the entire championships. Rather than clarifying the situation, it made things even more complicated. Perhaps only Alexandra Obolentseva, who leads the Girls 18 section, can start celebrating after her today’s win, though chess players are very superstitious and will never celebrate prematurely. 

Tahbaz Arash (IRI)

The spectators who followed both the second table of the Open 16 and the first table of the Open 18 tournaments, could experience deja vu. Arash Tahbaz and Parham Maghsoodloo followed the game of Dmitrij Kollars and Maksim Vavulin move by move. And it was not a fashionable line of the Sicilian or QGD – just a regular King’s Indian… The games deviated on the 13th move. 

Tahbaz initiated a conflict on the kingside: 13.f5?! gxf5 14.Ng3 0-0-0 15.a4 b4! 16.Nh5 Bh6!, and White did not find anything better than trading queens – 17.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 18.Nxd4 Nb8! 19.Nf3 Bxc1 20.Rfxc1 Rxd6 with an equal position, which he did not manage to hold.

Kollars decided to play against Black’s queenside weaknesses, relying on his strong center. After 13.a4! Rc8 14.Qd3 Ngf6 15.Ne5!? Vavulin failed to sense danger and played the provocative 15…Nd5? Safer is 15…Nxe4, removing the d6-pawn: 16.Rxe4 b4 17.Bd2 Qxd6, etc.

Kollars Dmitrij (GER)

The German obliges: 16.Nxd7 Kxd7 17.Bd2 h6? Protecting against Ng5, but Black cannot afford wasting time on that. Closing the queenside was necessary – 17…b4, and there is nothing forced for White, for example, 18.Ng5 Rcf8 or 18.a5 Qc6, etc.

18.b4! Black also experiences difficulties after 18.axb5 axb5 19.Ra5 Rc3! 20.Qxb5+ Qxb5 21.Rxb5 Kc6 22.bxc3 Kxb5 23.c4+, and the d6-pawn plays an important role. The text-move launches an attack on the area where White can deploy superior forces.

18…Rc4 19.axb5 axb5 20.Ra5 (after 20.Nc5+ Rxc5 21.Ra6 Rb8 22.Rea1 White wins an exchange, but his attack evaporates, and there is still a lot of play ahead) 20…Nc3 21.Rea1 Nxe4 22.Ra7+! Kxd6 23.R1a6 Qxa6 24.Rxa6+ Kd5. White won a queen, and his attack is still rolling. 

But suddenly the tables were turned.

25.Rb6? A careless move – White allows trading the key bishop. After 25.Be1 Black has no sensible ideas, even doubling the rooks to attack the c2-pawn does not work due to a checkmate on b5. Therefore, 25…Rb8, but now White can start harvesting: 26.Ra7 Bf8 27.Rxf7 Bxb4 28.Bxb4 Rxb4 29.Rd7, etc.