Young Stars of the World

Several readers of this blog remarked at the absence of two-time CalChess High School champion FM Danya Naroditsky from last weekend's festivities in San Jose. No, he was not boycotting the state championship; instead he was preparing to fry bigger fish.

This week, Danya flew to St. Petersburg, Russia to play in the Somov's Memorial, better known as the Young Stars of the World tournament. Recent winners include Aleksandr Shimanov (2008), Ivan Popov (2006) and Sergey Karjakin (2005). This year's event isn't quite as strong as 2005, but still it is a strong Category 5 with IM norm possibilities. Like Danya, many of the participants are former World Youth champions. The format will be a 12-player round-robin at a time control of G/90 plus 30 second increment.

• GM Shimanov, Aleksandr (Russia 1992) ELO 2519 -- Defending Champion
  
• IM Ipatov, Alexander (Spain 1993) ELO 2486 -- 2nd place at 2008 LeMans Open
  
• Belous, Vladimir (Russia 1993) ELO 2414 -- 2009 Russian U16 Champ
  
• IM Narayanan, Srinath, (India 1994) ELO 2381 -- 2005 World U12 Champ
  
• FM Stukopin, Andrey (Russia 1994) ELO 2380
• FM Chan, Yi-Ren Daniel (Singapore 1994) ELO 2375 -- played in 2008 Olympiad
  
• FM Dubov, Daniil (Russia 1996) ELO 2372
• FM Bukavshin, Ivan (Russia 1995) ELO 2365 -- 2006 European U12 Champ
  
• FM Naroditsky, Daniel (USA 1995) ELO 2335 -- 2006 World U12 Champ
  
• FM Kovalev, Vladislav (Belarus 1994) ELO 2320
• FM Fedoseev, Vladimir (Russia 1995) ELO 2318
  
• Ganichev, Alexander (Russia 1994) ELO 2154

Danya faces a very stiff challenge in this talented field. He already played against Narayanan and Bukavshin at World Youth. Here's wishing him good luck!

Good news from Russia: Danya won in round 1 of Young Stars on Saturday morning! Check out all of the games online.