CalChess Contenders at World Youth

FIDE Masters Cameron (L) and Rayan (R)
smile for Cam's mother Kerrie Utsumi.

The World Youth Championships in Greece have passed the midway point.  Ten out of 22 Bay Area participants have maintained a Plus-2 score through Round 6, with another seven sitting at Plus-1!  The masters Andrew, Cameron, Rayan and Ashritha are leading the local delegation by example.  Five more rounds remain.  Go U-S-A!

Bay Area Juniors at World Youth
(Updated after Round 6) 

• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 4.5 in 7th place
• Open U14
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 4.5 in 11th place
• Open U12
  • NM Andrew Hong (2136) 5.0 in 4th place
  • NM Hans Niemann## (2046) 5.0 in 6th place
  • David Pan (1848) 3.0
• Open U10
  • CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 4.5
  • Christopher Yoo (1807) 2.5
  • Balaji Daggupati (1767) 3.5
  • William Sartorio (1725) 3.5
  • Rishith Susarla (1505) 4.0
  • Prarthan Ghosh (unrated) 2.0
• Open U8
  • Adrian Kondakov (1565) 4.5
  • Sriram Krishnakumar (1280) 3.5
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 4.5
• Girls U16
  • WIM Eswaran Ashritha (2207) 4.0
• Girls U14
  • Simona Nayberg (1905) 3.5
  • WFM Joanna Liu## (1857) 3.0
  • Serafina Show (1593) 1.0
• Girls U12
  • Hiya Ghosh (1785) 1.0
  • WCM Chenyi Zhao (1544) 3.5
• Girls U10
  • WCM Aksithi Eswaran (1473) 3.5
  • Annapoorni Meiyappan (1246) 4.0
• Girls U8
  • Wong, Allyson (unrated) 3.0
  • Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 3.5

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE.  I am tracking a pair of players (Hans Niemann and Joanna Liu) who have ties to the Bay Area chess community, but now live out of state.

World Youth Tracker Rd 5

Unfortunately, USA teammates sometimes must face each other.
Here William Sartorio of CalChess plays Jason Wang of Ohio.

Team USA Statistics
(Updated after Round 5)

• 129 players (76 boys + 53 girls)
• Round 4 :: 70.0 = 54%
• Round 5 :: 72.0 = 56%
• Rounds 1-5 :: 368.0 = 57%
• Perfect 5.0 = 2
• Score 4.5 = 4
• Score 4.0 = 10
• Score 3.5 = 25
  
• Average = 2.9 / 5

Aristo Liu of Ohio proudly
wears red, white and blue.

Congratulations to masters Justin Wang (Open U10) of Texas and Carissa Yip (Girls U12) of Massachusetts for winning the first five rounds!  FM Cameron Wheeler (Open U16) and NM Andrew Hong (Open U12) lead the Bay Area contingent with 4.5 each.  Rest day on Friday.  The tournament resumes on Saturday. 

Top Individual Results
(Updated after Round 5) 

• Open U18
  • Aaron Grabinsky (2194) 3.5
• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 4.5 in 2nd place
  • Haik Der Maneulian (2163) 4.0
• Open U14
  • FM Nicolas Checa (2437) 4.5 in 2nd place
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 3.5
  • FM David Brodsky (2251) 3.5
• Open U12
  • Andrew Hong (2136) 4.5 in 5th place
  • Hans Niemann (2046) 4.0
  • Aydin Turgut (1884) 4.0
  • Justin Paul (1926) 3.5
  • Kevin Yang (1904) 3.5
  • FM Awonder Liang (2365) 3.5
  • Wesley Wang (2004) 3.5
• Open U10
  • Justin Wang (2046) 5.0 in 2nd place
  • Benjamin Medina (1826) 4.0
  • William Sartorio (1725) 3.5
  • CM Arthur Guo (2073) 3.5
  • Anthony He (1820) 3.5
  • Balaji Daggupati (1767) 3.5
  • CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 3.5 
  • Jason Yu (1565) 3.5
  • Rohun Trakru (1517) 3.5
  • Gabriel Eidelman (1705) 3.5
• Open U8
  • Vishnu Vanapalli (unrated) 4.5 in 5th place
  • Adrian Kondakov (1565) 4.0
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 4.0
  •  James Oh (unrated) 4.0
  • Adi Murgescu (unrated) 3.5
  • Arthur Xu (1782) 3.5
• Girls U18

  

  USA ladies modelling the team colors.

  • WCM Apurva Virkud (2027) 3.5
• Girls U16
  • WIM Agata Bykovtsev (2117) 4.0 in 3rd place       
  • WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2207) 3.0 
• Girls U14
  • WIM Annie Wang (2087) 4.0 in 4th place
  • Jie Tianhui (1792) 3.5
• Girls U12
  • Carissa Yip (2007) 5.0 in 1st place
  • Chenyi Zhao (1544) 3.5
• Girls U10
  • WCM Anh Nguyen (1462) 4.0
  • Rochelle Wu (unrated) 3.5
  • Julia Miyasaka (1512) 3.5
  • Rianne Ke (1392) 3.5
  • WCM Nastassja Matus (1761) 3.5
• Girls U8
  • Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 3.5

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE.  Includes players with a score of plus-2 or higher (with one exception).  Bay Area in orange.  Check back for periodic updates.  Photos from the official Chessdom photo gallery.

World Youth Tracker Rd 3

One of four big playing halls for World Youth.  Credit: Chessdom

Team USA Statistics
(Updated after Round 3)

• 129 players (76 boys + 53 girls)
• Round 1 :: 81.0 = 63%
• Round 2 :: 78.5 = 61%
• Round 3 :: 66.5 = 52%
• Perfect 3.0 = 13
• Score 2.5 = 12
• Score 2.0 = 43 
• Average = 1.8 / 3

Top Individual Results
(Updated after Round 3) 

The venue in Porto Carras lies on
the Aegean Sea. Credit: Chessdom

• Open U18
  • FM Christopher Wu (2324) 2.5
• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 3.0
• Open U14
  • FM Nicolas Checa (2437) 3.0
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 3.0
  • FM Marcus Miyasaka (2170) 2.5
• Open U12
  • Hans Niemann (2046) 3.0
  • Andrew Hong (2136) 2.5
  • FM Awonder Liang (2365) 2.5
• Open U10
  • CM Arthur Guo (2073) 3.0
  • Justin Wang (2046) 3.0
  • William Sartorio (1725) 3.0
  • Jason Yu (1565) 2.5
  • Balaji Daggupati (1767) 2.5
  • Logan Wu (1832) 2.5
• Open U8
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 3.0
  • Adrian Kondakov (1565) 3.0
  • Adi Murgescu (unrated) 2.5
  • Arthur Zihan Xu (1782) 2.5
  • Vishnu Surya Vanapalli (unrated) 2.5
• Girls U18
  • Alice Dong (1808) 1.5
  • WCM Apurva Virkud (2027) 1.5
• Girls U16
  • WIM Eswaran Ashritha (2207) 3.0
  • WIM Agata Bykovtsev (2117) 3.0
• Girls U14
  • WIM Annie Wang (2087) 3.0



Great place for a chess vacation!

• Girls U12
  • Carissa Yip (2007) 3.0
• Girls U10
  • Rianne Ke (1392) 2.5
• Girls U8
  • Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 2.5

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE.  Includes only players with a score of plus-2 or higher.  Check back for periodic updates.

CalChess Well Represented in Greece

Ashritha at Pan Am Junior 2015

Rayan at World Youth 2014

Young chess players from the Bay Area comprise one-sixth of Team USA at the World Youth Festival in Greece.  Four masters lead the local representatives: FM Cameron Wheeler (silver medal for U12 at 2012 World), FM Rayan Taghizadeh (bronze medal for U12 at 2014 World), WIM Ashritha Eswaran (winner of both 2015 US Junior Girls and 2015 Pan Am Junior Girls) and NM Andrew Hong (champion at 2015 US Elementary K-6 as a 4th grader).  Overall, 13 boys and 9 girls, together with their dedicated parents, made the trip from San Francisco to Halkidiki.  They will participate in every age group except U18.

Nine out of 22 Bay Area kids have achieved a perfect score through Round 2!!

Bay Area Juniors at World Youth
(Updated after Round 2) 

• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 2.0
• Open U14
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 2.0
• Open U12
  • NM Andrew Hong (2136) 2.0
  • NM Hans Niemann## (2046) 2.0
  • David Pan (1848) 1.0
• Open U10
  • CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 2.0
  • Christopher Yoo (1807) 1.0
  • Balaji Daggupati (1767) 1.5
  • William Sartorio (1725) 2.0
  • Rishith Susarla (1505) 0.5
  • Prarthan Ghosh (unrated) 0.0
• Open U8

  

  Young Adrian at Berkeley Chess

  • Adrian Kondakov (1565) 2.0
  • Sriram Krishnakumar (1280) 1.5
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 2.0
• Girls U16
  • WIM Eswaran Ashritha (2207) 2.0
• Girls U14
  • Simona Nayberg (1905) 1.0
  • WFM Joanna Liu## (1857) 1.0
  • Serafina Show (1593) 1.0
• Girls U12
  • Hiya Ghosh (1785) 0.0
  • WCM Chenyi Zhao (1544) 1.0
• Girls U10
  • WCM Aksithi Eswaran (1473) 1.0
  • Annapoorni Meiyappan (1246) 1.0
• Girls U8
  • Wong, Allyson (unrated) 1.0
  • Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 2.0

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE.  I am tracking a pair of players (Hans Niemann and Joanna Liu) who have ties to the Bay Area chess community, but now live out of state.  If I omitted any other local kids playing in Greece, please contact me ASAP.

World Youth Begins in Halkidiki, Greece

The annual World Youth Chess Championships kick off this weekend in Porto Karras, a coastal resort in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece.  Most Americans flew on Thursday, arriving on Friday in Thessaloniki via a stopover in western Europe.  Team USA consists of a record 129 participants, supported by a dedicated army of parents and coaches.  Overall, approximately 1600 players from more than 90 countries have registered, considerably more than South Africa in September 2014 and a modest increase over the same venue in October 2010, but less than United Arab Emirates in December 2013.

Girls and boys compete separately in six age divisions.  The largest sections are in the U10, U12 and U14 age groups, each numbering over 180 boys or 110 girls.  In a change from past years, there will be no double round.  Thus, the schedule calls for 11 rounds over 12 days, including a rest day.  Rounds begin at 3pm Greek time, 6am Pacific daylight time (5am after November 1).  Traditionally, the boards in each section will be broadcast live.

Cameron, Sam and Kayden were all smiles in 2012.

Despite stiff competition from Russia and India, the American delegation has achieved modest success in recent years.  For five straight years, Team USA has earned a gold medal!  The best team result of 4 medals came in 2012, when future GMs Troff and Sevian captured gold in U14 and U12, respectively.  In each of the past two years, the squad won a pair of medals, including one gold.


Best USA Results

• Jennifer Yu, GOLD for Girls U12 in 2014
• Awonder Liang, GOLD for U10 in 2013
• Kayden Troff, GOLD for U14 in 2012
• Sam Sevian, GOLD for U12 in 2012
• Cameron Wheeler, Silver for U12 in 2012 (tied for first)
• Awonder Liang, GOLD for U8 in 2011
• Steven Zierk, GOLD for U18 in 2010
• Sam Shankland, Bronze for U18 in 2008 (tied for first)
• Daniel Naroditsky, GOLD for U12 in 2007

Steven celebrated his 2010 gold
medal on the beach in Halkidiki.

How will Team USA fare in Halkidiki?  Players must recognize that the tournament is like a marathon, and one bad game does not mean disaster.  Indeed, 8.5 may be sufficient to win a medal!  Check out the following list of the top rated Americans in each section.  N.B.: Ratings mean little for the youngest divisions; indeed many participants do not even have an international rating yet.


Whom to Watch on Team USA

• #42 FM Chris Wu in U18
• #28 FM Cameron Wheeler in U16
• #2 FM Nicolas Checa and #25 FM Rayan Taghizadeh in U14
• #2 FM Awonder Liang, #8 David Peng and #17 Andrew Hong in U12
• #7 Arthur Guo, #9 Justin Wang and #10 Jason Wang in U10
• No rating favorites in U8 (too many FIDE unrateds)
• #32 Apurva Virkud in Girls U18
• #7 WIM Ashritha Eswaran and #17 WIM Agata Bykovtsev in Girls U16
• #11WIM Annie Wang in Girls U14
• #3 Carissa Yip in Girls U12
• No rating favorites in Girls U10 (too many FIDE unrateds)
• No rating favorites in Girls U8 (too many FIDE unrateds)

For the latest news, check out the official Twitter feed @fidewycc2015.  Dozens of photos daily at Chessdom Photo Gallery.