Hunting for Medals in Greece

One of four tournament rooms in Porto Carras.  Many girls play chess!

As the World Youth Championships enters the home stretch, the battle for the trophies reached a climax.  After nine rounds, 3 players are currently in medal position and up to 11 others have a chance with a strong finish.  In most sections, a final score of 8.5 or 9.0 will be required to reach the podium.  The best hopes for Team USA lie in the U12 category, both Open and Girls.  Indeed, NMs Andrew Hong and Carissa Yip have played among the leaders throughout the championships.  Can they finish the deal?  Other medal hopes lie with WIM Agata Bykovtsev in Girls U16 and NM Justin Wang in Open U10.  Good luck to all!

The penultimate round has already begun.  The final round starts bright and early on Thursday:  10AM in Greece or midnight in California.  Check out the live games online!  Hundreds of photos are available for viewing at Chessdom and Flickr.

Unfortunately, I am traveling for the next week with little internet access.  I leave early tomorrow, before the last round begins.  Readers will need to find the final results elsewhere.  
 

Team USA Medal Contenders
(Updated after Round 9)
(Round 10 results in blue)

• Open U18
  • none
• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler 6.0 in 17th place -- drew
• Open U14
  • FM Nicolas Checa 6.0 in 16th place -- WON 
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh 6.0 in 18th place -- drew
• Open U12
  • Andrew Hong 7.5 in 3rd place -- lost
  • Hans Niemann 7.0 in 5th place -- lost
  • CM David Peng 7.0 in 10th place -- WON
  • Aydin Turgut 6.5 in 11th place -- lost
  • FM Awonder Liang 6.5 in 12th place -- WON
• Open U10
  • Justin Wang 7.0 in 4th place -- drew
  • CM Arthur Guo 6.5 in 13th place -- drew
  • Anthony He 6.5 in 14th place -- drew
  • Rohun Trakru 6.5 in 15th place -- drew
• Open U8
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan 6.5 in 8th place -- lost
  • Adi Murgescu 6.5 in 9th place -- WON
  • Vishnu Vanapalli 6.5 in 10th place -- WON
  • Lucas Foerster-Yialamas 6.5 in 11th place -- lost 
  • James Oh 6.0 in 17th place -- lost
• Girls U18
  • none
• Girls U16
  • WIM Agata Bykovtsev 7.0 in 3rd place -- WON       
  • WIM Ashritha Eswaran 6.0 in 11th place -- drew 
• Girls U14
  • none
• Girls U12
  • Carissa Yip 7.5 in 2nd place -- WON
  • WFM Martha Samadashvili 7.0 in 6th place -- drew
• Girls U10
  • Rochelle Wu 6.5 in 8th place -- lost
  • WCM Nastassja Matus 6.5 in 9th place -- drew 
  • Rianne Ke 6.5 in 11th place -- WON
  • WCM Aksithi Eswaran 6.0 in 19th place -- WON 
• Girls U8
  • Maya Behura 6.0 in 19th place -- WON

N.B. Includes only players in Top 20 of standings after Round 9.  Players ranked by the official tiebreaks.  Bay Area representatives in orange.

Local Kids Play for Medals

USA teammates Aydin Turgut (white) and Andrew Hong shake
hands before playing in round 9. Photo by Kerrie Utsumi.

Two rounds remain at the World Youth Championships in Halkidiki, and half of the Bay Area participants have already clinched at least a 50% final score (5.5).  Three remain in contention to earn a medal: NMs Andrew Hong and Hans Niemann in U12 plus Aghilan Nachiappan in U8.  Andrew has the strongest chances since he is currently tied for first in U12 with two others.

The championships conclude with round 10 on Wednesday (5am PST) and round 11 on Thursday (Midnight PST).  Watch the top boards in each section (except U8) LIVE!  Go U-S-A!


Bay Area Juniors at World Youth
(Updated after Round 9) 

• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler 6.0
• Open U14
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh 6.0
• Open U12
  • NM Andrew Hong 7.5 in 3rd place
  • NM Hans Niemann 7.0 in 5th place
  • David Pan 5.0
• Open U10
  • William Sartorio 5.5
  • Balaji Daggupati 5.5
  • Christopher Yoo 5.5
  • CM Chinguun Bayaraa 5.0
  • Rishith Susarla 4.0
  • Prarthan Ghosh 3.5
• Open U8
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan 6.5 in 8th place
  • Adrian Kondakov 4.5
  • Sriram Krishnakumar 4.5
• Girls U16
  • WIM Eswaran Ashritha 6.0
• Girls U14
  • Simona Nayberg 4.0
  • WFM Joanna Liu 5.5
  • Serafina Show 3.5
• Girls U12
  • WCM Chenyi Zhao 4.5
  • Hiya Ghosh 3.0
• Girls U10
  • WCM Aksithi Eswaran 6.0
  • Annapoorni Meiyappan 5.5
• Girls U8
  • Wong, Allyson 5.0
  • Yan Rui Yang 5.0

World Youth Tracker Rd 8

Temple of Poseidon, ancient Greek god of the sea. Photo by Ted Castro.

Team USA Statistics
(Updated after Round 8)

• 129 players (76 boys + 53 girls)
• Round 6 :: 73.5 = 57%
• Round 7 :: 63.0 = 49%
• Round 8 :: 68.0 = 53%
• Rounds 1-5 :: 368.0 = 57% 
• Rounds 6-8 :: 204.5 = 53%
• Score 7.0 = 1
• Score 6.5 = 4
• Score 6.0 = 5
• Score 5.5 = 14
• Score 5.0 = 25
• Score 4.5 = 26
  
• Average = 4.4 / 8

After a week of intense chess in Halkidiki, several American medal hopefuls hit the proverbial wall in rounds 7 and 8.  Is it homesickness or exhaustion?  Irrespective, three more rounds remain, just enough time to get back on track and finish strong.  One player who stayed on track is Justin Wang of Texas, co-leader of Open U10 with 7.0 out of 8.  Tomorrow, he faces the other co-leader, a kid from Poland.  Aside from Justin, the best medal chances for Team USA lie in U12, both Open and Girls.  Indeed, six of the top 10 scores come from this age group, including three of the four 6.5s.  Bay Area readers will recognize two of the 6.5s: NM Andrew Hong (U12) and Aghilan Nachiappan (U8).  The other two are Massachusetts master Carissa Yip (Girls U12) and Aydin Turgut (U12) of Illinois.   


Top Individual Results
(Updated after Round 8) 

• Open U18
  • Aaron Grabinsky (2194) 4.5
  • FM Christopher Wu (2324) 4.5
• Open U16
  • FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 5.5
• Open U14
  • CM Jacob Furfine (2174) 5.5
  • FM Nicolas Checa (2437) 5.0
  • FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 5.0
  • FM David Brodsky (2251) 5.0
  • Brandon Nydick (2160) 5.0
• Open U12
  
  • Aydin Turgut (1884) 6.5 in 3rd place
  • Andrew Hong (2136) 6.5 in 5th place
  • Hans Niemann (2046) 6.0 in 6th place
  • CM David Peng (2231) 6.0 
  • FM Awonder Liang (2365) 5.5
  • Kevin Yang (1904) 5.0
  • Justin Paul (1926) 5.0
  • Akira Nakada (1831) 5.0
    
• Open U10
  • Justin Wang (2046) 7.0 in 1st place
  • Anthony He (1820) 6.0
  • CM Arthur Guo (2073) 5.5
  • Rohun Trakru (1517) 5.5
  • Jason Wang (2040) 5.5
  • CM Maximilliam Lu (1844) 5.5 
  • Benjamin Medina (1826) 5.0
  • CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 5.0
  • Jason Yu (1565) 5.0
  • Nathaniel Shuman (1680) 5.0
  • Daniel Hung (1538) 5.0
• Open U8
  • CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 6.5 in 5th place
  • Adi Murgescu (unrated) 5.5
  • Vishnu Vanapalli (unrated) 5.5
  • Lucas Foerster-Yialamas (1687) 5.5  
  • James Oh (unrated) 5.0
• Girls U18
  • WCM Apurva Virkud (2027) 5.0
• Girls U16
  • WIM Agata Bykovtsev (2117) 6.0 in 4th place       
  • WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2207) 5.0 
• Girls U14
  • WIM Annie Wang (2087) 5.0
  • WCM Sasha Konavolenko (1670) 5.0
  • Jie Tianhui (1792) 5.0
  • WFM Joanna Liu (1857) 5.0 
  • WCM Priya Trakru (1780) 5.0
• Girls U12
  • Carissa Yip (2007) 6.5 in 2nd place
  • WFM Martha Samadashvili (1711) 6.0 
  • WCM Naomi Bashkansky (1609) 5.0
• Girls U10
  • Rochelle Wu (unrated) 5.5
  • WCM Nastassja Matus (1761) 5.5
  • Rianne Ke (1392) 5.5
  • WCM Aksithi Eswaran (1473) 5.5 
  • WCM Anh Nguyen (1462) 5.0
  • Annapoorni Meiyappan (1246) 5.0
• Girls U8
  • Maya Behura (unrated) 5.0
    
  • Allyson Wong (unrated) 5.0

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE.  Includes players with a score of plus-2 or higher.  Players ranked by tiebreaks at official standings.  Bay Area in orange.  Check back for periodic updates.  

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. 

Medal Hopes in Durban

Flags of the 87 countries hang from ceiling.

After ten days of intense competition, the World Youth Chess Championships in South Africa are drawing to a close.  For the American delegation, the hunt for medals reaches a climax, with 7 players ranked in the top 4 for their section and an amazing 20 in the top 11 spots on tiebreaks.  Many of these children could claim a medal simply by winning the last two rounds.  Round 10 is underway as I write these sentences and Round 11 begins at 1:00 PDT on Monday morning.

The best medal chances for Team USA lie in the following sections:

• Girls-U12: Jennifer and Akshita are clear 1st + 2nd and decide gold among themselves.
• Boys-U12: David is tied for 1st, Praveen is 3rd, and Rayan + Aravind are tied for 4th.
• Girls-U8: Rianne is tied for 3rd with Aksithi and Rochelle just 0.5 behind.
• Boys-U10: Aydin is tied for 3rd while Andrew lurks 0.5 back.
• Boys-U8: No Americans are in top 6, but somehow 6 squeezed into the top 14.

How many medals will Team USA collect?  Coach Ben Finegold predicted five medals at the start of the tournament.  Will he be right?  Stay tuned!

The CalChess kids have performed well too, with five scoring 6.0 or 6.5.  Three have realistic medal hopes if they can win the final two games: Rayan (B12), Aksithi (G8) and Andrew (B10).  Ashritha (G12) and Vignesh (B12) should finish in the top 10 with 1.5 out of the last two games.  Good luck!!

Sunday late night update: The Sunday round proved tragic for many of the American players.  Sigh!  The best chances remain in the Boys and Girls U12 sections.  At least there will be one medal -- Jennifer Yu (G12) clinched gold!  The CalChess medal hopes rest on the shoulders of Rayan (B12) and Aksithi (G8), while Vignesh can finish top 5 with a win.  Round 11 begins at 10:00am in Durban -- 1:00am in California.  Go U-S-A!! 


Team USA -- Average Score: 5.4 out of 9 (60%).
Team USA -- Average Score: 5.8 out of 10 (59%).


Boys-U8

• Nathaniel Shuman 6.0 (7th place) Drew Round 11 - Final 15th place
• Rohun Trakru 6.0 (8th place) Won Round 11 - Final 10th place
• Jason Yu 6.0 (9th place) Won Round 11 - Final 11th place
• Rithik Polavaram 6.0 (11th place) Won Round 10 - Final 9th place
• Arthur Guo 5.5 (12th place) Won Round 10 + Drew Round 11 - Final 8th place
• Pranav Prem 5.5 (14th place) Won Round 10 - Final 14th place

Girls-U8

• Rianne Ke 6.5 (4th place) - Final 14th place
• Aksithi Eswaran 6.0 (CalChess) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 5th place
• Rochelle Wu 6.0 (11th place) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 6th place

Boys-U10

• Aydin Turgut 7.0 (4th place) - Final 14th place
• Andrew Hong 6.5 (9th place) (CalChess) Won Round 11 - Final 10th place
• Maximillian Lu 5.5 Won Round 11 - Final 25th place
• Christopher Shen 5.5 Won Round 11 - Final 22nd place

Girls-U10

• Martha Samadashvili 6.0 (11th place) Won Round 10 - Final 8th place
• Natassja Matus 5.5 Won Round 10 + Drew Round 11 - Final 10th place
• Evelyn Zhu 5.5 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 6th place

Boys-U12

• David Peng 7.5 (2nd place) Drew Round 10 - Final 5th place
• Praveen Balakrishnan 7.0 (3rd place) Drew Round 11 - Final 12th place
• Rayan Taghizadeh 6.5 (CalChess) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - BRONZE MEDAL
• Aravind Kumar 6.5 (6th place) - Final 25th place
• Awonder Liang 6.0 (14th place) Drew Round 10 - Final 24th place
• David Brodsky 5.5
• Marcus Miyasaka 5.5
• Hans Niemann 5.0 (CalChess) Won Round 11 - Final 40th place

Girls-U12

• Jennifer Yu 8.0 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - GOLD MEDAL
• Akshita Gorti 7.0 (clear 2nd) - Final 12th place
• Camille Kao 5.5
• Ramitha Ravishankar 5.5 
• Chenyi Zhao 4.5 (CalChess) Won Round 10 - Final 34th place

Boys-U14

• Vignesh Panchanatham 6.0 (CalChess) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 5th place
• Angel Hernandez-Camen 5.5 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 10th place
• Bryce Tiglon 5.5 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 11th place

Girls-U14

• Ashritha Eswaran 6.0 (CalChess) Drew Round 10 + Won Round 11 - Final 7th place
• Priya Trakru 5.0 Drew Round 11
  
• Tianhui Jie 5.0 Won Round 10

Boys-U16

• Kapil Chandran 6.5 (6th place) - Final 14th place
• Edward Song 5.5 Drew Round 10 - Final 19th place

Girls-U16

• Apurva Virkud 6.0 (10th place) - Final 17th place
• Agata Bykovtsev 6.0 (14th place) - Final 19th place

Boys-U18

• Atulya Shetty 6.0 (10th place) - Final 27th place

Girls-U18

• Jessica Regam 5.5 (15th place) - Final 28th place

Cal Kids Strong in South Africa

Inside the Playing Hall

After a very hectic 6 rounds over 4 days, today is the rest day at the World Youth Champs in Durban.  Some participants even took advantage the opportunity for a real African safari!  The chess tournament resumes tomorrow with the leisurely pace of one round per day through Monday.  Follow the top 10 boards in each section LIVE at the official website starting at 7:00am PDT.

Aksithi Eswaran

Team USA continues to score well at 62% overall.  Two girls have staked a 1/2 point lead in their respective sections, and a third player finds himself in a tie for first.  Three more guys share second place at the midpoint of the event.  Congratulations to Aksithi (G8), Jennifer (G12), Rayan (B12), Rohum (B8), Andrew (B10) and Christopher (B16)!  By my count, 14 juniors occupy the Top 10 in their section, and nearly half (34 of 70) currently have a score of 4.0 or more.  Of course, a lot can happen over the final 5 rounds.

The 7 CalChess representatives have contributed well to the statistics espoused in the previous paragraph.  Aksithi Eswaran leads Girls-U8 outright while her older sister Ashritha led Girls-U14 before a setback in round 6.  Andrew Hong and Rayan Taghizadeh carry the standard for the guys, both with 5.0 in Boys-U10 and Boy-U12, respectively.  Vignesh Panchanatham stands at 4.0, ready to continue his winning ways after two defeats earlier. Check out his daily blog reports!

Team USA -- Average Score: 3.7 out of 6 (62%).

Boys-U8

• Rohun Trakru 5.0 (tied for 2nd)
• Jason Yu 4.5
• Pranav Prem 4.5

Girls-U8

• Aksithi Eswaran 5.5 (clear 1st) (CalChess)
• Rianne Ke 4.0 - won Round 7

Boys-U10

• Andrew Hong 5.0 (tied for 2nd) (CalChess)
• Aydin Turgut 4.5 - drew Round 7
• Maximillian Lu 4.5

Girls-U10

• Natassja Matus 4.5
• Evelyn Zhu 4.5
• Martha Samadashvili 4.5

Boys-U12

Rayan Taghizadeh

• Rayan Taghizadeh 5.0 (tied for 1st) (CalChess) - drew Round 7
• David Peng 4.5 - won Round 7
• Aravind Kumar 4.5 - won Round 7

Girls-U12

• Jennifer Yu 5.5 (clear 1st) - drew Round 7
  
• Akshita Gorti 4.0 - won Round 7

Boys-U14

• Vignesh Panchanatham 4.0 (CalChess) - won Round 7
• Angel Hernandez-Camen 4.0

Girls-U14

• Ashritha Eswaran 4.5 (CalChess)

Boys-U16

• Christopher Wu 5.0 (tied for 2nd)
• Kapil Chandran 4.0

Girls-U16

• Agata Bykovtsev 4.0 - won Round 7
• Apurva Virkud 4.0 - won Round 7

Boys-U18

• Atulya Shetty 4.0 

Girls-U18

• Jessica Regam 3.5 - won Round 7

Team USA at World Youth - Top Scores

Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel in Durban (Photo: Franc Guadalupe)

Team USA started off on a roll at the World Youth Champs in South Africa, scoring a collective 75% in the first round.  Four players won the first 3 games, and 13 scored the very respectable 2.5.  Moreover, 49 of the 70 American representatives (70%) claim a plus score at this early stage.  Special recognition goes to Aydin Turgut (B10), Awonder Liang (B12), Jennifer Yu (G12) and Vignesh Panchanatham (B14) for beginning with a perfect 3-0.  Of course, it is a long tournament (11 rounds) and the competition is fierce (ratings often mean nothing).

LIVE Games available at official website!

Team USA -- Average Score: 1.9 out of 3 (64%).

Boys-U8

• Jason Yu 2.5
• 9 tied with 2.0

Girls-U8

• Aksithi Eswaran 2.5 (CalChess)
• Rochelle Wu 2.0

Boys-U10

• Aydin Turgut 3.0
• Andrew Hong 2.5
• Wesley Wang 2.5
• Christopher Shen 2.5 
• Cole Frutos 2.5
• 2 tied with 2.0

Girls-U10

• Martha Samadashvili 2.5
• 6 tied with 2.0

Boys-U12

• Awonder Liang 3.0
• David Brodsky 2.5
• 6 tied with 2.0

Girls-U12

• Jennifer Yu 3.0
• Akshita Gorti 2.5
• Ramitha Ravishankar 2.0

Boys-U14

• Vignesh Panchanatham 3.0 (CalChess)
• Craig Hilby 2.0
• Angel Hernandez-Camen 2.0

Girls-U14

• Ashritha Eswaran 2.5 (CalChess)
• Priya Trakru 2.5

Boys-U16

• Kapil Chandran 2.0
• Christopher Wu 2.0

Girls-U16

• Agata Bykovtsev 2.5
• Apurva Virkud 2.5
• Shaileja Jain 2.0

Boys-U18

• Atulya Shetty 2.0 

Girls-U18

• Jessica Regam 2.0

Note: Due to my travel schedule, I will not be able to update this blog until midweek.

World Youth Begins in Durban

Vignesh and Rayan at the venue.

Hans strolls on the sand.

The 2014 World Youth Chess Championships kicked off today in Durban, South Africa.  Among approximately 950 players from 88 countries are 70 Americans, including 7 residing in Northern California.  The overall turnout is half of last year in United Arab Emirates, and Team USA shrunk from a record 94 participants.  No doubt, the tournament dates contributed to the lower turnout, especially compared to last year's event over the Winter Holidays.  Follow the results of Team USA at a glance using the Chess-Results website.

Life's a Beach in Durban.

The first impressions have been positive.  In a preview at Chess Life Online, GM coach Ben Finegold spoke of a great hotel with a plentiful buffet, immediately addressing one of the shortcomings last year.  In his chess chronicles, Bay Area NM Vignesh Panchanatham lauds the organization and good playing conditions.  The children will no doubt enjoy the adjacent beach, while adults can relax in the mild spring breezes off the Indian Ocean.

Of course, the primary focus is chess.  The schedule features 11 rounds through September 29, with double rounds tomorrow and on Tuesday, plus a rest day on Wednesday.  Most rounds begin at 16:00 local time, which converts to 7:00 in the morning PDT (rounds 2, 5 and 11 begin at 10:00 local).  Hopefully there will be live coverage of some of the top boards at the official website.

Three of the seven Northern California representatives already earned the USCF title of National Master, a tribute to their skill and experience competing against adults and juniors alike.  I expect them to fare well even against higher rated opposition.

Bay Area Delegation -- Scores after Round 3

• WCM Aksithi Eswaran (G8) 2.5 !
• Andrew Hong (B10) 2.5 !
• NM Rayan Taghizedah (B12) 2.0 
• Hans Niemann (B12) 2.0
• Chenyi Zhao (G12) 1.0
• NM Vignesh Panchanatham (B14) 3.0 !!!
• NM Ashritha Eswaran (G14) 2.5 - drew with #1 seed from Russia!

Extra: Check out this fun attack and checkmate by Rayan at US Chess!

Team USA maintains high hopes of earning several medals once again.  Arthur Guo (B8) and FM Awonder Liang (B12) are rated highest in their respective sections.  Alas, they're hardly the only contenders.  In particular, watch the Boys Under 12 section with seven Americans seeded in the top 20, including Rayan and Hans from the Bay Area.  Among the young ladies, the Girls Under 12 appears most promising, with Jennifer Yu and Akshita Gorti both ranked in the top 4 of the section.  Good luck to all!  Go U-S-A!!


(Photos have been shamelessly borrowed from the Facebook pages of player parents.  Credit to Siva Panchanatham, Kaimi Niemann and Ramalingam Eswaran.)

World Youth In Al Ain Draws To Close

David Peng (left) and Awonder Liang stand next to the FIDE President.
For hundreds of more photos, check out South Africa on Facebook

Happy New Year!  Before we continue with 2014, let me wrap up the final results of the 2014 World Youth Chess Championships in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.  GM Ben Finegold reported on Chess Life Online and this post merely provides supplemental material.  Another report on ChessBase website includes photographs from the awards ceremony.

On the bright side, Team USA brought home two medals, both in the U10 division.  Kudos to FM Awonder Liang (10-1) of Wisconsin and CM David Peng (9-2) of Illinois for earning the gold and silver medals, respectively!   Total domination!!  Bay Area youngster Josiah Stearman (7-4) found himself in contention after 8 rounds, but ran out of energy down the final stretch.

Outside of the Playing Hall

On the other hand, the American delegation had hoped to win more hardware.  Six more children finished in the Top 10 for their age.  A pair of girls, Jennifer Yu (U12) of Virginia and Carissa Yip (U10) from Massachusetts, took home 4th place honors, only a tiny bit short of a medal.  In the U18 section, GM Daniel Naroditsky knew his tiebreaks were inferior and played aggressively in a valiant yet unsuccessful attempt to complicate the last game as black against a fellow Grandmaster.  C'est la vie!

Click here for the complete results of Team USA.

Danya

• U18 - Open
• GM Daniel Naroditsky 7.5 (CA-N)
• FM Atulya Shetty 6.5
• U18 - Girls
• WFM Jessica Regam 6.5
• Rochelle Ballantyne 5.5
• U16 - Open
• FM Michael Bodek 7.5
• NM Safal Bora 7.0
• NM Michael Brown 7.0
• NM Christopher Wu 7.0
• U16 - Girls
• WCM Ellen Xiang 6.5
• WCM Apurva Virkud 6.0
• Taylor Mccreary 6.0 (CA-N)
• Margaret Hua 6.0
• U14 - Open
• NM Edward Song 8.0 (7th)
• NM Colin Chow 7.0 (CA-N)
• U14 - Girls
• Agata Bykovtsev 7.5 (9th) 
• Ashritha Eswaran 7.5 (CA-N)
• U12 - Open
• NM Albert Lu 7.5
• NM Ruifeng Li 7.0
• U12 - Girls
• WFM Jennifer Yu 8.5 (4th)
• WFM Annie Wang 8.0 (8th)
• Priya Trakru 7.0
• U10 - Open



Awonder

• FM Awonder Liang 10.0 (1st)
• CM David Peng 9.0 (2nd)
• Josiah Stearman 7.0 (CA-N)
• Christopher Shen 7.0
• U10 - Girls
• Carissa Yip 8.5 (4th)
• WCM Vittal Sanjana 7.5 
• Shreya Mangalam 7.0
• Martha Samadashvili 7.0
• U8 - Open
• Maximillian Lu 8.5 (5th)
• Logan Wu 7.5
• Kevin Chor 7.5 
• Maurya Palusa 7.5 (CA-N) 
• Balaji Daggupati 7.0 (CA-N)
• Advait Budaraju 7.0 (CA-N)
• Rithik Polavarem 7.0
• U8 - Girls
• Maggie Ni 7.5
  
• Anh Nhu Nguyen 7.0
• Annapoorni Meiyappan 7.0 (CA-N)

Closely following the round-by-round results from the tournament, I observed some trends.  Frankly, I was shocked by the sizable role of momentum.  The American kids were remarkably streaky!  One young man won his first three games, then lost the next three!  An unfortunate lady won three straight, then lost the next four!  A boy in youngest division won the first four rounds, but somehow ended up under 50%.  On the other hand, a teenager lost twice to lower rated opponents in the first three rounds, yet finished with a respectable 7-4.

Aside from wavering confidence and difficult competition, the young players faced a variety of challenges off the board.  They slept in a foreign country, in a dorm room, and had to adjust to the 9 to 12 hour time difference.  Many faced unbearably long lines (60 minutes or more!) at the cafeteria.  Towards the end of the fortnight in the Arabian desert, exhaustion and homesickness took its toll on some.  No doubt a few children (and their parents) battled minor illnesses.  Hopefully, most will look back at this journey as an adventure.

Crunch Time at World Youth

1818 Kids Represent 121 Countries!

If Santa Claus arrived tardy at your house yesterday, then blame the 94 American juniors competing at the World Youth Chess Championships deep inside the desert of the United Arab Emirates.  No doubt, this lengthy detour cost Santa and his reindeer valuable time.

Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai. Photo: tripadvisor

After a day of rest and sightseeing to coincide with Christmas, the chess tournament resumes tomorrow (Thursday) with three rounds left to play.  Rounds 5 to 8 left a brutal toll on Team USA, with the players struggling to a 53% overall score (compared to 64% in the first 4 rounds).  A dozen kids have scored 6-2 or more, but only half appear strong enough to seriously compete for the medals.  Given the increased turnout this year, a score of 8.5 will probably not be sufficient for a medal in the U14 and lower sections.

The best American chances lie with the U10 age group.  Top rated FM Awonder Liang won all 8 rounds to open up a full point lead.  The biggest surprise to date is Bay Area expert Josiah Stearman, currently second on tiebreaks with 7-1.  He caught the eyes of ChessBase website, because he has no FIDE rating yet; locals know he improved rapidly this year, with a current USCF rating of 2090.  Two U10 girls, Carissa Yip of Massachusetts and Sanjana Vittal of New Jersey, have also made waves and find themselves within striking distance.  

The final contenders are GM Daniel Naroditsky (U18) and expert Agata Bykovtsev (U14).  The two Californians currently find themselves in 4th place, narrowly outside the medals.

Click here for the complete results of Team USA.  Result of Round 9 in GREEN.

• U18 - Open
• GM Daniel Naroditsky 6.0 (4th) WON
• FM Atulya Shetty 4.5
• U18 - Girls
• WFM Jessica Regam 4.5
• U16 - Open
• NM Michael Brown 5.5 Drew
• NM David Hua 5.0
• FM Michael Bodek 5.0 WON
• U16 - Girls
• Margaret Hua 5.0 Drew
• WCM Ellen Xiang 4.5 WON
• U14 - Open
• NM Edward Song 5.5 WON
• NM Vignesh Panchanatham 5.0 
• NM Siddharth Banik 4.5 WON
• NM Colin Chow 4.5 WON
• U14 - Girls
• Agata Bykovtsev 6.0 (4th) Drew
• WCM Maggie Feng 5.5 
• Ashritha Eswaran 5.5 WON
• U12 - Open
• NM Ruifeng Li 5.5
• Brandon Nydick 5.5
• NM Nicolas Checa 5.5
• Andrew Zheng 5.0
• U12 - Girls
• WFM Jennifer Yu 5.5 WON
• WFM Annie Wang 5.5 Drew
• Joanna Liu 5.0
• Trakru Priya 5.0 WON



Josiah is all smiles. Photo: McCarty

• U10 - Open
• FM Awonder Liang 8.0 (1st) WON
• Josiah Stearman 7.0 (2nd)
• CM David Peng 6.0 (9th) WON
• CM Christopher Shen 5.5 Drew
• U10 - Girls
• Carissa Yip 6.0 (7th) WON
• WCM Vittal Sanjana 6.0 (8th)
• Martha Samadashvili 5.0 Drew
• Shreya Mangalam 5.0 WON
• U8 - Open
• Logan Wu 6.0 Drew
• Kevin Chor 6.0 WON
• Balaji Daggupati 6.0 
• Atreya Vaidya 6.0 Drew
• Anthony He 5.5
  
• Maximillian Lu 5.5 WON
• Maurya Palusa 5.5 WON
• U8 - Girls
• Anh Nhu Nguyen 6.0 (9th)
• Aksithi Eswaran 5.0
• Maggie Ni (5.0) WON
• Annapoorni Meiyappan 5.0
• Subramaniyan Keertana 5.0 WON
• Nastassja Matus 5.0 Drew

Wishing best skill to all!!!