The 2013 World Youth Chess Championship started in Al Ain, UAE. With a record number of 1850 participants, this year’s edition had a mixed emotions start. Fantastic reception, massive record breaking participation, hospitality and good food, exciting chess, no live games, round delays, late arrivals, and a pinch of confusion were just some of the elements present on day 1 of WYCC 2013.
The day started with the unexpected message by the organizing committee that games will not be show online for the first round. The massiveness of the event, combined with the local’s desire to provide the needed hospitality, left out such an important element. A message was distributed early in the morning that, “games broadcast will not be conducted on the first day of the tournament”. Chessdom has been assured that starting round 2 all games will be live, bookmark the following links for the broadcast tomorrow:
Games U18 boys / Games U18 girls / Games U16 / Games U14 / Games U12 / Games U10 / Games U8
Round 1 results are in and as soon as we have the games in pgn format, they will be uploaded and analysed at the live arena pages
Results U18:
Jorge Cori, Karen H. Grigoryan, Yury Eliseev, Vaibhav Suri, Hovhannes Gabuzyan, Naroditsky Daniel, and Kamil Dragun were successful at the top tables of the boys U18 competition. David Anton Guijarro and Nijat Abassov were held to draws.
In the girls U18 section wins for Nastassia Ziaziulkina, Hanna-Marie Klek, Filiz Osmanodja, Amalia Aranaz Murillo, Paula Rueda, Alina Bivol, Irina Baraeva, and Sabina Ibrahimova. Draws at the top tables for Maria Severina and Lidia Tomnikova.
Results U16:
Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Matthias Bluebaum, Dennis Wagner, David Paravian, Kirill Alekseenko, Dastan Muhammed Batuhan, Vahap Sanal, Ali Marandi Cemil Can – all started with wins in the U16 section for boys.
The U16 for girls will be a very tough race between Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, Irene Nicolas Zapata, Anna Styazhkina, Iulija Osmak, Polina Rodionova, and this is obvious from the first round.
Results U14:
In the boys section GM norm holder Aryan Tari scored a full point. His closest opponents – Aravindh Chithambaram Veerappan, Benjamin Gledura, Edward Song, and Francesco Rambaldi – also began with victories. The boys U14 group main result was predominantly a win for the higher rated, with very few surprises.
In the girls section the Greek youth star Tsolakidou Stavroula started with a victory her title bid. Her main opponents – Gunay Mammadzada, Irina Drogovoz, Anna Vasenina, and Oliwia Kiolbasa – also won their games, while Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova conceded a draw at the start.
Results U12:
No surprises were present in the girls and boys sections, with all favorites taking the full point. That brings tomorrow’s round as one of the most interesting early rounds of the history of the competition.
Results U10:
The Girls U10 section saw the favorites win their games. Nurgyul Salimova, Assaubayeva Bibissara, and Zahedifar Anahita had no problems on the top boards. The first (small) surprises among the top 20 boards were created by Martha Samadashvili, Yara Allam, and Berdnyk Mariia.
In the Boys U10 all went as expected with the first 22 board all proving rating matters even at this young age. Many of the games though did not lack a fight, and some of the favorites had to play at full strength right form the start.
Results U8:
This has always been the most unpredictable section and it has remained so this time too. Relatively low chess level, great excitement, and a lot of talent bring explosive results on the board.
Opening ceremony
On 17 December 2013 an opening ceremony of the World Youth Chess Championships 2013 took place. This year a record number of 1850 chess players from 120 countries of the world is taking part in the competition. The tournaments among boys and girls in 6 age categories will be held in the UAE University in Al-Ain which is also known as Garden City. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nehyan, the President of the Asian Chess Federation delivered a welcome speech.
Later a sixfold champion of UAE GM Saeed played a blitz game on 4 boards with the winner of the Ukrainian Chess Championship Evgenij Miroshnichenko.
In conclusion a dancing entertaining programme “Emirates – a country of love, friendship and peace” was performed.
What a fantastic event.
First round was 3.5 hours late, parents got pared with players, 1 hour long lines (still, on day 3) to get food, many disappointed people