The World Youth Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk are now officially closed

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

RESULTS & STANDINGS

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.

25…Nxd2! 26.Qxd2 Rhc8 27.Rxb5+ Kd6 28.Rc5 R8xc5 29.bxc5+ Rxc5 30.Qb4 Bf6, and the position becomes dynamically balanced. In a few moves the players agreed to a draw.

Manuel Petrosyan defeated Bilel Bellahcene, and is now just half a point behind the Muscovite.


Bellahcene Bilel (FRA) and Petrosyan Manuel (ARM)

The 15-year-old Alexandra Obolentseva won another game without making her friends and trainers sweat and remains a full point ahead of the pack. After a lucky save in a difficult position against Nino Khomeriki she caught the wind in her sails and crushes one opponent after another.


Khomeriki Nino (GEO) and Tsolakidou Stavroula (GRE)

In the game against Heinemann, Obolentseva played her favorite opening, where White sacrifices a central pawn for the strong initiative. The German player did not manage to solve the opening problems, lost an exchange and gave up. Alexandra now has 8 out of 9, and needs only one point in the next two games to at least tie for first place with Stavroula Tsolakidou, whose tie-break right now is inferior to the Russian’s. But who can dare saying that Obolentseva will slow down?

The all-important step to the title was made by Polina Shuvalova in the Girls 16 category. Her usual rivals, Tsolakidou and Obolentseva, ran away to the Under 18 group, so the player from Moscow mostly has to fight with herself. This fight is not always successful – if Shuvalova converted all her opportunities, she would already secure the title. From time to time her nervousness affects the natural course of the games, and her today’s encounter with Alicija Sliwicka can serve as a good example.



Black’s position is ruined, following White’s powerful blows in the opening. Converting such advantage into a full point must be easy. And yet…

25…g5 26.Be3?! (why not 26.Bg3) 27…Nxe3 28.fxe3 Bc5 (now Black has a target to attack) 29.Kf2 f5!? 30.Ke2? Trying to avoid pins after f4-f5, but the same could be achieved by the stronger 29.Nd4 Ng7 30.Ncb5 f4 31.Nd4!, and White promotes her pawns.

29…f4?! (Black for some reason avoids 29…Bxg2 30.a6 Bh3 31.Rg1 Ng7, creating White problems with coordination) 30.e4? After 30.Ne4 the game returns to its normal course, and Black loses to a pin: 30…Bxe4 31.Bxe4 fxe3 32.Rf1, liberating the pawns.

30…Be3 31.Rc2 Rc5 (31…Bb7!) 32.Rd8 Kg7 33.Rxf8+ Kxf8 34.Rb2?! (more accurate is 34.Nd1! Rxc2+ 35.Bxc2 Bc5 36.a6, and the king marches on the queenside with decisive threats) 34…Ne8 35.a6 Rxe5 36.Bd3 Ke7 37.Na3! Finally Shuvalova finds the right arrangement of her pieces.

37…Ba7? (the knight transfer to c4 could be prevented by 37…Nd6, and White must regroup again) 38.Nc4 Rc5 39.Nb5 Bb8 40.a7 Be5 41.Nb6!? Generosity of a rich man.

One could retreat with the rook, but Polina isn’t bothered by minor losses when her pawns are queening.

41…Bxb2 42.Nxa6 Rxb5? (42…Rc8 does not save either, as White queens both pawns) 43.axb5 Bd4 44.Nb6? (what is wrong with 44.b6 and Nc7?) 44…Nc7 45.a8Q? (45.Nc8+ Kd7 46.b6!) 45…Nxa8 46.Nxa8 Kd7 47.Bc4 e5 48.Kf3 h5 49.h3 Kc8 50.Bd5 Kb8 51.b6 Kc8 52.Nc7 Bxb6 53.Ne6, and White converted an extra knight.

A win is a win, you say? Tell it to the trainers who follow such games, unable to help their students, and just burn themselves over such painful endings.


Martirosyan Haik M. (ARM)

The championship is far from over for Shuvalova, too, as her main competitor Hagawane Aakanksha from India also won today, and the gap between them remains the same – half a point.

The leader of the Open 16 championship Haik Martirosyan made a quiet draw with the Russian Olexandr Triapishko. To secure the gold, he needs to make two draws in the last two games, and his opponents will probably not object, as Martirosyan already played with all of his rivals.

Semyon Lomasov, the leader of the Open 14 championship, does not slow down. Today he won the eighth game! His opponents cannot bear the pressure and accuracy, and he always punishes them for mistakes.



The Russian decided to invade the queenside, to which Nodirber Yakubboev replied with a central break. Here is what happened next: 26…Ng5? Better is 26…cxb4 27.Nc6 Rde8 28.Ndxb4, and apart from some light-squared pressure, White does not have much.

27.Qe3 Nxe4?! (Black could still change his mind: 27…cxb4 28.Nc6 Rd7 29.Bxe5, accepting a slightly worse but bearable position) 28.Nc6! Rxd5 (alas, there is no choice) 29.Rxd5 Bb7 (29…Qxd5 fails to 30.Ne7+) 30.Rd8+ Rxd8 31.Nxd8 Qxa2 32.Nxb7 Qxb2 33.Re1 f5 34.Nxc5, and Lomasov converted an extra exchange.


Zarubitski Viachaslau (BLR)

Curiously, the rating favorite of the tournament Andrey Esipenko does not play for a win as hard as the leader. Today he spent a minute to play 21 moves of a well-known variation of the Slav, which leads to an absolutely equal position. His attempts to refute this evaluation did not bring success. So Lomasov is 1.5 points ahead right now.

The gap between Zhu Jiner, leader of the Girls 14 championship, and her chasers was also 1.5 points, but today the Chinese suddenly lost as White to Olga Badelka from Belarus. Objectively the sharp rook ending they entered was equal, but the nerves let Zhu Jiner down. “Technique is how you handle your nerves!”, Alexander Alekhine said once, and the Chinese player seems to have problems with it.


Zhu Jiner (CHN)

So now, with two rounds to go, three players are half a point behind the leader – Badelka, Annie Wang (USA) and Vantika Agrawal (India). It is going to be a hot race!

Follow the latest news from the Championship at the official website http://wy2016.fide.com/

Round 8: Golden victories

With three rounds to go, we can fairly confidently name three future World Youth Champions. The Russians Maksim Vavulin (Open 18) and Semyon Lomasov (Open 14) are a full point ahead of their pursuers and have already played with all major rivals. The Chinese Zhu Jiner (Girls 14) is even farther ahead – 1.5 points. In three other categories nothing is clear yet.

In the Open 18 section, Maksim Vavulin scored another victory, while his arch-rival Manuel Petrosyan made the fourth draw, which increased the gap between them to a full point. Considering the fact that the Russian also has a better tie-break score, only a miracle can prevent him from winning the title. Miracle – or inexplicable enervation, which is something he has never shown in Khanty-Mansiysk. Contrary to that, his games are distinguished by tenacity and determination – he won six games out of eight, often not having the slightest opening advantage and coming through lost positions in some of them!

The game he played today against Aram Hakobyan is a good example of his chess. Maksim deviated from theoretical lines early, unwilling to compete in the French Defense knowledge. He did not mind trading the queens, losing the right to castle, or lagging in development. White’s only pluses were a slightly superior pawn structure and spatial advantage. It took just a couple of moves for Vavulin to convert it into something real.



Black’s queenside is weak (the a7 and c6 pawns), but he has nothing to worry about in a rook ending. Both 18…Nf6 and 18…h6 look natural. Instead of that, Black starts fighting for the center – 18…f6?!

19.Be3! a6? Creating a new target and missing the forced sequence that totally ruins Black’s position. He could still hold after 19…Ra8 or 19…Rc8.

20.a3! Ba5 21.Bc5+ Kf7 22.Nd6+ Kg6 23.Nb7 Nxc5 24.Nxc5! (weaker is 24.Nxa5 e5, and although Black is down a pawn, he puts the knight on d4 with some chances) 24…Bb6 25.Nxe6. White gained a pawn, the weakness on a6 and c6 remain, the knight is stronger than a bishop. Conclusion: White is winning.

The rest was easy: 25…Rde8 26.Rae1 Kf7 27.c5! Ba7 28.b4 Bb8 29.Nd4 Rxe2+ 30.Rxe2 Rc8 31.Nf5 g6 32.Re7+! (poor coordination of Black’s pieces allows White to carry out a small combination and grab another pawn) 32…Kf8 (also after 32…Kg8 White remains on top) 33.Rxh7 Re8 34.Rh8+ Kf7 35.Nd6+. Black resigns.

Vavulin’s task is almost complete. After a draw in the first round he managed to catch up with Petrosyan, then surpassed him and increased the gap, winning game after game. Well done!


Ghukasyan Siranush (ARM)

In the Girls 18 championship, everything is just getting started. Eight players are tightly packed within a single point on top of the standings. The key game of the round was played on the first board between Siranush Ghukasyan and Alexandra Obolentseva.



White got nothing out of the opening, but instead of accepting a draw started to play too ambitiously.

21.Bd2?! Better is 21.Qc3 Qxc3 22.Nxc3 Bb7 with a draw. Now the queens getting exchanged, but Black’s pieces also gain power.

21…Qa4 22.Qxa4 Nxa4 23.Nb4 Nb2! 24.Rf1 Bb7 25.Bc3?! Being consistent with her line. Stronger is 25.Rc2 Na4 26.Rb1 Rad8, and Black is just slightly better. But now…

25…Na4 (25…a5 is also interesting) 26.Ba1 (after 26.Bxe5 Bxe5 27.Nxe5 Nd4 White has problems) 26…Nec5 27.Nh2 Rad8 28.Rfd1 h5 29.Nf1 f6 30.Ne3 Bh6 31.Nbc2 Kf7 32.Kf1 a5! 33.Ke2 Ba6 34.Na3 Ke7 35.f3 h4! Obolentseva has excellent sense of dynamics – she gradually turns Black’s pieces into dummies.



36.gxh4 Ne6 37.Bf1 Rh8 38.h5 Rxd1 39.Rxd1 Bxe3? (Siranush was playing on an increment, and Alexandra makes a hasty move; much better is 38…Nf4+! and …Nxh5, maintaining the pressure) 40.Kxe3 Rxh5 41.Nb1 Nec5 42.Nd2 Bc8 43.Nb3 Nb7 44.Rc1 Bxh3 (Black has an extra pawn and a more active position)45.Be2 Be6 46.Bd1 Rh2 47.Nd2 Nbc5 48.Rb1 Bd7. The white king is in a mating net, Black only needs to advance the f- and g-pawns.

49.Rb8 Kd6 (49…g5!) 50.Ra8? A careless move. With 50.Bxa4 Nxa4 51.Rf8! Ke7 52.Ra8 White could defend more tenaciously. Now she has to part with a piece.

50…f5! 51.Bxe5+ Kxe5 52.f4+ Kd6 53.e5+ Ke7, and White resigned soon.

Khomeriki Nino (GEO)

The 15-year-old Russian became a sole leader with 7 out of 8. However, her competitors are not giving up. Nino Khomeriki recovered from yesterday’s nerve-wrecking game and did not give a chance to Khanim Balajayeva. Josefine Heinemann was close to a victory against Uurtsaikh Uuriintuya, but carelessly allowed Black to transpose to a opposite-colored bishops’ ending, and did not achieve more than a draw. Stavroula Tsolakidou also drew today, although she should consider it a success, as she had big problems against Michal Lahav.

Black has a protected passed pawn. If she transfers the knight to d3, the game will be over. White’s counterplay is linked with the passed a-pawn. Surprisingly, it proves sufficient.

29.a4 Kd6 (more accurate is 29…Ke6, keeping the light squares under control)30.Rb3 Ne5 31.a5?! It seems this adventurous move confused Black. Objectively it is weaker than 31.Kd2 (controlling the d3-square!) 31…Kd5 32.Rb5+ Kd4 33.Rb4+ Nc4+ 34.Ke1 Kd5 35.Rb5+ Kc6 36.Rb3, and Black cannot break through the third rank, so the game should probably end in a draw.

31…Kd5 32.Kd2 Kd4 33.Rb4+ Nc4+? A fatal mistake in the opponent’s time trouble. The outflanking 33…Kc5 wins: 34.Rb3 Kc4 35.Re3 f6!, and White is helpless.

34.Ke1! Kd3 35.Rb3+ Ke4 36.Rb4 Kd3. The only move. 36…Kd4? runs into 37.b3, and on 36…Kd5 White begins to attack the bishop on the third rank. Therefore, a draw. Starvoula managed to calculate everything under the time pressure.

Now, the 16-year-olds. In the Open 16 tournaments, Haik Martirosyan conceded his first half a point. However, a draw as Black against the rating favorite of the championship, Parham Magsoodloo from Iran, is not a bad result at all, considering a 1.5-point gap between them. The Russian Olexandr Triapishko moved to a second place, following his surprising win over the second Iranian, Amin Tabatabaei, who overplayed a slightly better endgame.


Tabatabaei M.Amin (IRI) and Triapishko Olexandr (RUS)

Both top games of the Girls 16 event ended peacefully. Polina Shuvalova from Russia got a winning position against Yao Lan from China, but failed to covert an extra exchange. The Indian Aakansha Hagawane, who was half a point behind, had a huge advantage over the Italian Desiree Di Benedetto, a girl with a romantic name and model looks, but gradually, one poor move after another, lost all her winning chances. Only Anna-Maja Kazarian celebrated a victory. Shuvalova remains half a point ahead of the pack.

Lomasov Semen (RUS)

Semyon Lomasov, the leader of the Open 14 championship, also did not win his 8th game in a row. The Russian made a draw as White against Pawel Teclaf, having a suspicious position along the way. The game could take a different course, though, had Semyon played a different 23rd move.

After 23.Bf3 White would keep his pawn line intact, retaining the threats against the black king. The immediate 23.Nd5?! totally released the pressure.

23…Kf8 24.Nxe7?! This mistake could be very costly. After 24.Nxf6 Bxf6 25.Qd6+ Kg7 26.Qxd7 Qb6 Black makes a draw: 27.Qb7 Bxb2+ 28.Kb1 Qxb7 29.Bxb7 Rb8! 30.Rd7 Ba3, etc. The text-move brings White trouble, however, the player from Poland does not show much ambition.

24…Qxe7 25.Qxf4 hxg4 26.Qh6+ Ke8?! (much stronger is 26…Rg7 in order to take on g4 with a knight) 27.hxg4 Rxg4 (after 27…Nxg4 White captures on a6)28.Bf3 Rg8 29.Qf4 Kf8 30.Qh6+. Draw, as neither side has resources to make progress.

The second Russian, Andrey Esipenko, won his game and reduced the gap to a full point. The highest rated player of the event will not be content with less than a silver medal. Four players have half a point less.


Zhu Jiner (CHN)

In the Girls 14 championship the situation is very clear. The Chinese Zhu Jiner scored 7.5 out of 8, and is 1.5 points ahead of the pursuers. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya tried to challenge her authority today, but without success. The Russian’s  attempt to seize the initiative after the opening was completely groundless. Zhu Jiner refuted Black’s play and developed a winning attack. The second Russian star of this category, Elizaveta Solozhenkina, also lost today – she played poorly in the opening against the Indian Agrawal Vantika, and resigned already on the 31st move.

Follow the latest news from the Championship at the official website http://wy2016.fide.com/

Round 7. The Armenian Day

Official website http://wy2016.fide.com/ 

If the Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk ended right now, the medal score would look as follows: Russia – 3 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze medal, Armenia – 2+1+1, and China – 1+0+1. India and Iran would win just one silver each. Comparing this virtual score to the rankings of the players before the start, one can see that the result of the Russians is more or less expected, while the most progressing team is clearly Armenia.

Team Armenia

Mikhail Kobalia, the head coach of Russia, expressed hi concerns about achieving the overall victory as a team. The current position of the Russians is decent, and local environment undoubtedly helps, but the main rivals are starting to gain the momentum… especially the Armenians – a small, but very proud team!

In the 7th round, the players from Armenia shone in all tournaments. Our congratulations to Artashes Minasian, grandmaster and last USSR champion, who quietly prepares the worthy successors to the three-time Olympiad-winning team.

The playing hall

Let us start the round recap with the main breakthrough of the championship, Haik Martirosyan. In the Open 16 section, he won six games out of six and showed no intention of slowing down…

In this double-edged position with attacks on the opposite wings, the Russian Maksim Sorokin made a small mistake: 22…exd5?! (22…Bd7!), giving the opponent time to reduce a threat level for his own king while effectively breaking through the strong-looking defenses of the black monarch.

23.Bxc4! Qxc4 24.Qh4 Be6 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Bh6 Bxh6 27.Qxh6+ Ke7 28.exd5?!(the Dvoretsky-style prophylaxis 28.b3! wins on the spot, pushing the black queen away) 28…Bf5+ 29.Kc1 Qb3 30.Qd2. Taking too much precaution. 30.Qg5+ Kd7 31.Rd2, maintaining a tempo of the attack, is a better technique.

30…b5 31.Rh7! b4? Black fights for the initiative, but it doesn’t work. Better is 31…Kd7 32.g4 b4 33.Rxf7 Kc8 34.gxf5 bxc3 35.Qxc3, although White should be winning with an extra pawn. However, Haik did not find the right way.



32.Qe2+? White wins after 32.Qe3+! Kd7 33.Rxf7+ Kc8, and now 34.Rxc7+! Kxc7 35.Nb5+, and the rest is a matter of technique. Now the game suddenly becomes even again.

32…Kd7 33.Ne4 Kc8 34.g4 Bxe4 35.Qxe4 Qxa4 36.Rxf7 (36.d6!? poses more problems) 36…Qa1+ 37.Kd2?! (37.Qb1=) 37…Qxb2+ 38.Ke3 Qc3+ 39.Kf4 Rd6!Here the players can basically shake hands, however, Martirosyan decides to continue pushing for a win.

40.Rd4 Qc1+ 41.Kg3 Qg1? Black takes too much liberty in his attack, and rejects the simple 41…a5, which would force White to take a draw with checks from e8 and b5.

42.Kh4 a5 43.Rxc7+! Kb8. Loses immediately. However, after 43…Kxc8 44.Qe7+ Kb6 45.Qxd6+ Ka7 46.Qc5+ Ka6 47.Qc4+ Ka7 48.Re4 Rb8 49.Qc7 White collects the queenside pawns and must win the pawn ending.

44.Qe8+. Black resigns, and the leader’s streak continues – 7 out of 7!



In another top game of the round, two Iranians, Parham Marsoodloo and Amin Tabatabaei, fought hard for five hours, but finished with a draw. So the gap between Martirosyan and his rivals increases to 1.5 points – a very significant margin!


Khomeriki Nino (GEO)

Another big win for Armenia was scored by Siranush Ghukasyan, who as Black defeated the main favorite of the Girls 18 championship and her good friend Nino Khomeriki. The first six rounds went almost perfectly for the Georgian, but today she ran into a surprise as early as on the move 4! Lengthy considerations in the opening did not bring any fruit – White failed to pose problems. And then she suddenly rushed into an unprepared attack.



24.Qg4?! White overvalues her position, thinking she has a lead in development and can put pressure on the e6 and g6 pawns. Actually White has no advantage and should aim at simplifications by 24.Ne4, etc.

24…Bxa4 25.Nh4? A blunder – Khomeriki simply overlooks Ghukasyan’s next move. 25.Nh5!? is true to the spirit of the position, intending to meet 25…N7b6 with 26.Ng7, aiming at the e6-pawn. It is unlikely to equalize the game, but Black wouldn’t have such a devastating attack as in the actual game.

25…f5! A revelation. Here Nino had 10 minutes left, and 9 of them were spent on calculating the knight sacrifice – 26.Ngxf5. However, after 26…exf5 White has nothing better than 27.Qh3, because after 27.Nxf5 the attack quickly loses its steam.

26.Qh3 Nf4 27.Bxf4 Bxf4 28.Ngxf5. Desperation. White’s position is not enviable, but she could still fight by 28.d5 or 28.Nf3. Alas, Nino decided to lose at once.

28…gxf5 29.Nxf5 Nf6 (safety first; the second knight can also be taken – 29…exf5 30.Bc4!? Qxc4 31.Rxe8+ Rxe8 32.Rxe8+ Nf8, and the material must tell)30.Rxe6 Rxe6 31.Rxe6 Rc1+ 32.Bf1 Bb5, and Black won easily.

“I lost this game myself”, admitted Khomeriki afterwards. Ghukasyan only gave a modest smile – the victory put her on 6 out of 7. Alexandra Obolentseva from Russia has the same amount of points, following her win against the Israeli Michal Lahav – a very easy win, as it looked to me. Stavroula Tsolakidou also won an important game today, moving on 5.5/7.


Petrosyan Manuel (ARM) and Lorparizangeneh Shahin (IRI)

Happiness of the Armenian head coach would be complete if Manuel Petrosyan won his game in the Open 18 section. Petrosyan, despite playing Black, tried hard against the Iranian, but was unable to squeeze more than a draw. Meanwhile, his main rival Maksim Vavulin won, and the victory was once again achieved mostly thanks to determination. In an equal position, the Russian started to outplay his opponent, Vahap Sanal from India, move by move.



White has more space and his pawn structure is slightly superior. The prophylactic 24.b3 looks natural, followed by further improvement of the position. However, all of a sudden White delivers 24.Ndc6+!?

24…bxc6 26.Nxc6+ Kc8 27.Nxd8 Na4? What is it for? After the natural 27…Kxd8 28.b3 Nd5 29.f4 Ned7 White has adequate compensation, but nothing more than that. After the text-move, he gets a free attack. As they say, fear hath a hundred eyes.

27.Qb4 Ncxb2 28.Nc6 Nxd1? An untimely desire of symmetry. After 28…Qc4 29.Nxa7+ Kd7 30.Rd4 Qxc4 31.Rxc4 Ra8 32.e5 Rxa7 33.exf6 Bc4 White has an advantage, but Black is still kicking.

29.Nxa7+ Kd8 30.Rxd1 Nb6?! Only 30…Qc4 saves from immediate disaster.



31.Rxd6+! (White begins gathering the harvest; almost all black pieces are passive witnesses of this onslaught) 31…cxd6 32.Qxb6+ Ke7 33.Qxa6 Qe6 34.Nc6+ Kf7 35.Nd4 Qd7 36.Qc6 Rb8+ 37.Kc1 Qd8 38.Qd5+ Kg6 39.Nc6. Black resigns, and Vavulin moves on 6 out of 7.


Lomasov Semen (RUS)

The leader of the Open 14 championship, Semyon Lomasov, has 7 out of 7, just like Martirosyan. Lomasov had a hopeless position against Felix Blohberger, but the insane pressure he puts on opponents worked again – in a position with an extra piece the Austrian blundered badly and lost in two moves.

Black is totally outplayed strategically, but now the fun part begins.

26…Bxg2!?? (26…Bd7 27.c6 bxc6 28.bxc6 Be6 etc is way too dry) 27.Kxg2 Ng4 28.Bf3 Qh4 29.Rh1? Not yielding anything. After 29.Ne4 Qxh2+ 30.Kf1 Qf4 31.Qd3 White would duly convert an extra piece. Now the fireworks begin.

29…h4 30.Qd3? A panic attack! After 30.Qd1 h3+ 31.Kf1 Qc4+ 32.Ne2 Nf6 Black is out of danger, but White is alive as well, while now he loses because of poor coordination of his forces.

30…h3+ 31.Kf1 e4! 32.Nxe4 Ne5 33.Qe3 Qxf3 34.Rg1? (after 34.Qxf3 Nxf3 35.Ke2 Ng5 36.f3 f5 37.Rg1 Nf7 Black ends up with an extra piece, but the text-move loses much more) 34…Qd1+ 35.Qe1 Qd3+ 36.Qe2 Qb1+ 37.Qe2 Qxb5+ 38.Qe2 Qb1+ 39.Qe1 Qxe1+, and White resigned in view of 40.Kxe1 Nf3+ and …Nxg1. A great example of overwhelming confidence!

Shuvalova Polina (RUS)

In the Girls 16 category, Polina Shuvalova broke into a sole lead. The Chinese Zhu Jiner leads in the Girls 14 tournament with a full point gap. But who knows, who will have a national celebration tomorrow?

29 September 2016

Round 6: The 18-year-old Make Their Choice

Six championships bring six different and thrilling plots. There are no primary and secondary events in Khanty-Mansiysk, however the most attention is naturally paid to the elder categories.

A match between the main favorites of the Open 18 championship was scheduled for today – the moment of truth, I would say. In the Girls 18 championship, three strongest players were running parallel courses… And the outcome? A standstill in both events!

Vavulin Maksim (RUS) and Petrosyan Manuel (ARM)

The fight between Maksim Vavulin and Manuel Petrosyan was highly anticipated. These two players are showing the most well-rounded and determined game, and they also have a lot of history with each other. By now all our readers are probably aware of Petrosyan’s victory at the European Championship, as well as of Vavulin’s urge to avenge that loss. The Russian puts a great fight in Khanty-Mansiysk, plays uncompromising chess until the very last move, which sometimes brings him unexpected wins as a bonus. Petrosyan’s victories are less spectacular, but the outcome of his games is rarely in doubt. Interestingly, in today’s game it was Petrosyan who was desperate to win, as Vavulin’s tie-break is way better at the moment.

Manuel arrived wearing the warpaint – his left eye was heavily painted in iodine. Grandmaster Artashes Minanian, Armenian head coach, said the boy stumbled and fell. The injury did not reflect on Petrosyan’s fighting spirit. After the clocks were started, the Armenian closed his eyes, took his head in hands, and then confidently moved the queen’s pawn forward – 1.d4. Maksim responded with the Bogo-Indian Defense, and soon the players arrived at one of the critical positions of this subtle opening.

Here Petrosyan took a lengthy pause and then made the natural, but rather committal 18.g4! White is completely mobilized on the kingside and must look for attacking options. The immediate bishops sacrifice yields nothing: 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Qxh6 Qd8 20.g4 Nxg4 21.Ng5 Bf5 22.e4 Bxg5!, and Black parries the attack.

18…Bxg4 19.Nh2 Qh5 20.Bxh6!? (after 20.Qg3 Kh8 21.Bf3 Bxf3 22.Nxf3 Rd8 23.Ne5! Rf8! White cannot hope for more than a draw) 20…Bxh4!? That’s the spirit! Vavulin is not satisfied with 20…gxh6 21.Qxh6 Bg6 – the opponent has too many pieces near the black king.

Vavulin Maksim (RUS) and Petrosyan Manuel (ARM)

21.Qh3 Qe7 22.Bf4 Qf6?! This escalates a crisis that completely cleans up the board. Black could opt for 22…e5 23.Bg3 Bxg3 24.fxg3 Qg5, and White has definite compensation for the sacrificed pawn, but both sides still have plenty of resources.

23.Bxd6 Rxb6 24.Rxb6 Bxe2 25.Nf3! (25.R1d2 Qxf2+ 26.Kh1 Bg5 and Be3) 25…Bxd1 26.Qxh4 (26.Rxd1 Bg5 27.Nxg5 Qxg5 28.Qg3 is just a transposition) 26…Qxh4 27.Nxh4 Bc2. Vavulin ends up with an extra pawn, but his pieces are lacking coordination (the knight on b8 is particularly miserable), so the most likely outcome is a draw.

28.Nf3 Rc8 29.Ne5! f6?! A blunder, after which Black cannot play for a win anymore. He had to settle the bishop first (29…Bf5!?), and only then pay attention to the white pieces. Petrosyan’s next move clarifies the situation.

30.Bh3! Kf8 31.Bxe6. Draw agreed. There players run out of ammunition after 31…Ke7 32.Rb6 Rd8 33.Ng4.

A decent grandmaster game, full of hidden pressure! Compare it with the game on the second table, with the evaluation jumping from “totally won” to “totally lost” a couple of times, and you will agree that there are only two suitable candidates for the gold in the Open 18 section. Vavulin or Petrosyan? Petrosyan or Vavulin? The Russian is slightly ahead, but there are still five games left to play, and the players are unlikely to win them all.

Tsolakidou Stavroula (GRE)

In the Girls 18 section, there were three main contenders – Stavroula Tsolakidou from Greece, Nino Khomeriki from Georgia, and Alexandra Obolentseva from Russia. The chances of Tsolakidou seemed slightly inferior, as she hasn’t played with the rivals yet, while Khomeriki and Obolentseva already passed their individual duel (drawn). The Greek obviously realized that, and it looks like she simply burnt out…

In a technically winning endgame against Siranush Ghukasyan she kept deteriorating her position until it was no longer won, and then some. The shock was strong; before finally resigning the game, Tsolakidou played a dozen moves being down a rook…

Khomeriki Nino (GEO)

On other boards, both Khomeriki and Obolentseva won their games effortlessly. One could learn from the Georgian how to materialize a moral advantage – the opponents simply fear Nino! Take a look:

Surprisingly, the position is objectively equal because the black king is weak. After, for instance, 34.Rd1 Qg6 35.Rd7 Rad8 36.R1xd3! cxd3 the game ends in a draw: 37.Qb3+ Kh8 38.Qc3+, etc. The Chinese Hu Yu A wants more, so she plays34.Nh5?!

34…Re7 (covering the g7-square) 35.Rc1?? Why would you place the knight on h5 if you don’t use the Q+N battery? After 35.Rxd3! cxd3 36.Nf6+ Kf8 37.Nh5! Black is forced to repeat the moves: 37…Kg8 38.Nf6+, etc.

35…Rf8! (it turns out difficult for White to defend on f2, plus the knight went loose) 36.Ng3 Qf6 37.f3? Protecting the f2-square (perhaps 37.Nh1! is better?), but Black has other targets.

37…b4! Unexpected and elegant. White loses a rook, so she resigned.

Obolentseva played White against Mariola Wozniak, successfully combining attack with defense, even won an exchange, but pushed too hard in an attempt to trap a queen.

Black attacks b2 and h3. The Russian can retain all advantages of her position by 32.Bf6! Bxf6 33.Qxf6 Qxg3 34.Rd8+ Rxd8 35.Qxd8+ Kg7 36.Re4!, etc. Instead she plays for a trap – 32.Rd2, luring the queen on h3 with a one way ticket. The opponent takes the bait.

32…Qxh3! 33.f3? Black looks helpless against Rh2, trapping the queen, but it is just an illusion: 33…h6!!, and only White can have problems here. 34.Be7 (34.Bf6? Bxf6 35.Qxf6 Qg3+) 34…Rc4! 35.Rh2 (the only move) 35…Rxf4 36.Rxh3 Rd4!, and Black, despite being an exchange down, has excellent counterplay against White’s numerous pawn weaknesses.

Alas, the player from Poland replied by 33…Bf8?, and stopped the clock after 34.Rh2 Bc5+ 35.Kh1.

So now four players are in the lead with 5 points out of 6: Khomeriki, Obolentseva, Ghukasyan, and Michal Lahav from Israel. Tomorrow the favorites will be testing the ambitious newcomers.

My congratulations to those who have read this far! We are not done yet. First of all, let us celebrate the success from Haik Martirosyan (Armenia) and Semyon Lomasov (Russia) – they are the only participants of this tournament who won all six games! Martirosyan, who leads the Open 16 section, defeated the Italian Luca Minori with the extravagant 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 e5?!! Two moves with one pawn in the opening – what a challenging idea! White got a more pleasant endgame, but then played a bit too sharp, got a worse game and eventually lost a thread.

Martirosyan Haik M. (ARM)

Lomasov, the leader of the Open 14, outplayed another Italian, Matteo Pitzanti, simply wearing him down in a lengthy struggle. Pitzanti defended accurately until the first control, but then started to make mistakes. Now Lomasov is a full point ahead of the nearest rival.

Shuvalova Polina (RUS)

The favorites in the other two tournaments also continued their winning streak. Tomorrow the Russian Polina Shuvalova plays at “her own by right” first table of the Girls 16 section against the Indian Hagawane Aakanksha, who is currently half a point ahead. In the Girls 14 tournament, Aleksandra Maltsevskaya defeated her compatriot and main rival Elizaveta Solozhenkina, and tomorrow will challenge the lead of the Chinese Zhu Jiner, who is half a point ahead, too. The situation in these tournaments is still completely unclear.

* * *
The 6th round started with the minute of silence to mourn the passing of Mark Dvoretsky. All chess players, arbiters, coaches, and parents honored memory of this brilliant teacher. What were they reflecting about? Some of them probably recalled their meetings and conversations with this ironic, sometimes prickly man, who possessed subtle understanding of not only chess, but also the bigger world around us. Others thought about his books and lectures, which became classical over the course of the years. And some of them probably never heard about Dvoretsky until now, but will undoubtedly come across his works on the way to chess perfection. Without this foundation, one simply cannot become a decent player, even in our era of computers.

A minute of silence in memory of Mark Dvoretsky

The coaches from former USSR were totally stunned by his death. For them it was like losing a parent, someone who holds the door to eternity for us all. He surely was a godfather for some of them, an inspiration to become a coach. Mark Izrailevich was always very open for his colleagues, always ready to share his experience, give an advice. He could do so much more… What is 68 years for someone totally dedicated to his profession? It seems reasonable to commemorate the great pedagogue who did so much for chess with founding a Mark Dvoretsky Award, either for the best juniors (Mark Izrailevich was amazing in turning promising juniors into World Champions) or, even better, for successful junior coaches…

27 September 2016

Round Five. The Junction Point

The main favorites in nearly all categories of the FIDE World Youth Championships made strong steps forward, which may even be called decisive later on.

Hakobyan Aram (ARM)

Let us start with the Open 14 section. The two Russians who were running at a full speed met on the first board – Andrey Esipenko and Semyon Lomasov. The former was a clear favorite before the start – being the European Champion and the Vice-Champion of the World, he is also rated 50 points above the second ranked player of the event and obviously has tremendous confidence in his ability. His opponent is ranked 5th, and was considered more of a dark horse.

The course of the tournament, however, did not quite support the prediction. Both players won four out of four, but Esipenko did not always win in a convincing way, often prevailing in attrition wars, while Lomasov’s games were very impressive, especially his second round victory.

Esipenko Andrey (RUS)

Despite playing Black, Lomasov won the opening duel. First he carried out a favorable trade of the light-squared bishops – a key piece in White’s attacking setup, then offered a queen trade. Had Esipenko accepted the offer, the game could end quickly and peacefully. However, Andrey went for an attack by 17.Qg4, and burnt the bridges on the next move, sacrificing a pawn.

Black’s reply 23…h5 looked like a wake-up call for White. While Esipenko spent time on regrouping his pieces, Lomasov blocked all roads leading to his king and started to utilize an extra pawn…

When the fate of the game was nearly sealed, Lomasov looked extremely nervous, as if he was scared to death to spoil everything with a random error, while Espineko seemed extremely confident. He will surely make use of this confidence – in the next six rounds, when he will be trying to catch up with the leader.

Tabatabaei M.Amin (IRI)

The Open 16 section featured a similar plot – two leaders with the perfect score faced each other on the first board: Haik Martirosyan (#3, Armenia) versus Amin Tabatabaei (#2, Iran). The latter’s game in the first four rounds was nothing short of impeccable.

Martirosyan had White, and he started very cautiously, as if he was happy with a draw, not taking any risks, but then, after the queens were exchanged, suddenly grabbed the poisoned d5-pawn! Black quickly developed the initiative. Haik’s minor pieces look just pitiful on the diagram.

The handsome Iranian looked like a king, standing next to the table with arms crossed on a chest looking at his opponent’s misery. On the board, he did everything right – forced the opponent to make weaknesses and then put pressure on them. The only trump Haik had was his passed pawn on the h-file, which looked quite harmless for a long time.

Tabatabaei M.Amin (IRI) and Martirosyan Haik M. (ARM)

However, the pawn made it to the h6 and suddenly started to make a difference. White managed to activate his pieces, and Amin cracked under the pressure.

An exchange sacrifice 59.Rxf4! sealed the game. Black was unable to stop White’s pawns. Martirosyan won his fifth straight game.

There were no such clashes in the Open 18 category, only the final preparatory steps took place. The main favorites, Maksim Vavulin and Manuel Petrosyan scored another wins. The Armenian slowly and without flashes outplayed his compatriot Aram Hakobyan, while the Russian once again created a fire on board and outsmarted his opponent from Madagascar on the fifth hour of play.

Who do you think is playing for a win? It turns out, White does. In the course of the next 10 moves, Vavulin stalemated his king on a5, seizing an excellent outpost on c5 for his knight. Rakotomaharo lost the thread of the game, made several moves with the knight – e6-g7-f5-d6, and then lost two pawns one after another.

Vavulin Maksim (RUS)

Therefore, after the rest day we will have the high point of the 6th round – Petrosyan-Vavulin. Two months ago Manuel stole the European title from Maksim. Will the Russian strike back? We’ll see. The Armenian plays White, so the ball is on his side.

While the situation in Open categories is more or less clear, the Girls events are a complete mess. In the Girls 14 event the tandem of the Russian leaders fell apart. Elizaveta Solozhenkina moved to a sole lead, beating the American Annie Wang in a rook ending 3 vs 2, while Aleksandra Maltsevskaya drew against the Indian Nutakki Priyanka, never having a chance to play for a win.

Solozhenkina Elizaveta (RUS)

The rating favorite of the Girls 16 event Polina Shuvalova won a second game in a row. Finally she managed to get an opening advantage, then misplayed, allowing the opponent to equalize, and then outplayed Vera Prakapuk for the second time – no wonder, as Vera is rated almost 500 points lower! However, the competitors also won their games. Aakanksha Hagawane from India defeated Anna-Maja Kazarian, who was a sole leader before the 5th round, with a checkmate on the board!

On the second table, Oliwia Kiolbasa won against Amina Battsooj – the Mongolian blundered an exchange and resigned immediately.

Finally, the Greek Stavroula Tsolakidou took a sole lead in the Girls 18 section. Her today’s opponent Mariola Wozniak played poorly in the opening, grabbed a poisoned pawn, and by the move 13 was already in a big trouble.

Tsolakidou could have won faster, but a win is a win.

The first board game between Nino Khomeriki and Alexandra Obolentseva could also end in a crushing victory for one of the players. The Russian mishandled the opening, and the rating favorite of the event achieved a totally dominating position on the 13th move.

However, the Georgian spent too much time preparing breaks on the e-file and then on the h-file, so Black managed to consolidate and eventually held a draw. Perhaps after the rest day the girls’ play will be more purposeful!

Khomeriki Nino (GEO) and Obolentseva Alexandra (RUS)

P. S. Sad news arrived during the 5th round – Mark Dvoretsky, one of the greatest trainers of our time, passed away at the age of 68. Several generations of chess players grew up on his books and lectures, and dozens of famous grandmasters proudly proclaim themselves Dvoretsky's students. Our condolences to the family members.

26 September 2016

Round 4. Thriller Time

Finally! The key clashes took place today in two age groups out of six. The Girls 18 category featured the most fierce and uncompromising battles between all the main contenders. The nearby boards also added some heat.

Goltseva Ekaterina (RUS)

Let us begin with the main course. Two former World Champions of younger categories faced each other on the first board: the 15-year-old Greek Stavroula Tsolakidou and the 15-year-old Alexandra Obolentseva from Russia. Both started with 3 out of 3 and by no means were strangers on the top board. The game started to produce sparks from the very beginning. Tsolakidou, playing White, tried to surprise the opponent with a rare line, but Obolentseva easily found the right solution, arranged her pieces harmoniously, and White’s first inaccuracy nearly became decisive. Black’s pawns started to advance, and White, additionally troubled by the time pressure, had to sacrifice a piece for a couple of pawns. A favorable situation for the Russian, who should have continued the attack, however, Alexandra went for simplifications, allowing Stavroula to come back into the game. For 50 more moves Alexandra tried to utilize her advantage, but in vain, and the all-important game ended in a draw.

This draw allowed Nino Khomeriki, the highest rated player of the event, to join the leaders. Her play in Khanty-Mansiysk impresses with simplicity and efficiency. She needs no fireworks to outplay her opponents. Today, despite playing Black, Nino quickly gained an advantage against Josefine Heinemann, then exchanged the most active pieces of the German, put pressure on her weaknesses, and demonstrated powers of a passed pawn when it was necessary. A very clean victory! Khomeriki now returns to the first board to play Tsolakidou in the next round, and to face Obolentseva a little bit later. These games must determine the champion.

Yao Lan (CHN)

The leaders of the Open 18 section played in a similarly uncompromising way. While the European Champion Manuel Petrosyan showed excellent technique against Zhanat Saiyn on the second board and won without any fireworks, the Russian Maksim Vavulin played a very risky game. The thing is, Valentin Dragnev from Austria, who commanded the White pieces, completely outplayed the favorite in the opening, leaving the Russian with bad pieces, numerous weaknesses and complete lack of counterplay. In addition, Vavulin experienced his usual time management problems. And suddenly… Quoting Mikhail Kobalia, Russian junior head coach, Vavulin is a slow starter, who comes into full strength only after three hours of play or so. Despite being in an objectively poor position, Maksim created wild complications, and his opponent finally lost a track. White still remained in control around the move 40, but after that started to slip, and fell apart in a few more moves. However, victories of the main contenders did very little for clarifying the tournament situation in this group.

Gazik Viktor (SVK)

Both Under 16 tournaments continued in a usual fashion, with little excitement and no surprises. The leader of the Open 16 event, Amin Tabatabaei from Iran, started today with 1.a3 and had a totally won position by the move 20. Haik Martirosyan, Luca Moroni, and Olexandr Triapishko also did not experience any problems winning their games. Parham Maghsoodloo, the rating favorite of the tournament, won in less than two hours!

The results on top boards of the Girls 16 section directly correlated with the rating order. Among the winners are Anna-Maja Kazarian, Oliwia Kiolbasa, Amina Battsooj, and Aakanksha Hagawane. Polina Shuvalova finally ended her drought, moving on 3 out of 4. She will eventually have to test the leader in one of the next rounds.

Maltsevskaya Aleksandra (RUS)

The Russians are in the lead in both Under 14 sections. However, while both boys, Andrey Esipenko and Semyon Lomasov, extended their winning streak, even if not in the most convincing way, the progress of the top girls, Elizaveta Solozhenkina and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, was hindered. In both games the assessment was jumping up and down, but eventually froze at zero. Well, nobody can win forever!

25 September 2016

Round 3: The Final Time Out

In large open tournaments with an uneven lineup, the third round is usually the last more or less easy day, when the favorites have the luxury of facing a noticeably weaker opposition. Starting with the round four, each game on top boards will become a clash of contenders and will be of critical importance in the fight for the title.


The playing hall

The aforementioned principle was observed in almost all groups of the World Youth Championships, with one exception – the Open 18 category. The top games in this category were extremely tense already today, and the favorites often had no advantage over nominal underdogs. For example, Manuel Petrosyan (2nd ranked) found himself under heavy pressure against Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (12). The Norwegian played very subtly in the opening and forced the black king to desperately look for a safe harbor. It is quite possible that the play of Christiansen could be improved somewhere along the way, however the time pressure took its toll, and the game ended in a draw by perpetual.

Dmitrij Kollars (3), playing White against Seyed Khalil Mousavi (14), tried hard to break away from the group into a sole lead. However, when it started to look as if the German established a comfortable advantage, the Iranian executed series of accurate moves, which gave him a strong initiative. Kollars barely managed to survive in a complex ending. Another large scale fight occurred on the third board, where Zhanat Saiyn (15) held Aram Hakobyan (10) to a draw.

Christiansen Johan-Sebastian (NOR)

The Russian Maksim Vavulin managed to use this situation to his advantage. It seems the rating favorite from Russia in not on top of his form. Yesterday he barely survived as Black. Today he got nothing out of the opening as White. Moreover, had Arystanbek Urazayev shown some precision, Vavulin could end up in a big trouble. However, the player from Kazakhstan transposed the game into a deadly drawn rook ending, which ended… in a victory for the Russian on the 113th move! Bravo!

In contrast to the strongest group, almost half of the top games in other groups were pretty much one-sided. The leaders of the Open 16 section Amin Tabatabaei (2) and Haik Martirosyan (3) both won confidently. The Russian Olexandr Triapishko was also close to a victory, but misplayed in the time trouble and gave up half a point. Coming into the fourth round, four players have the perfect score.

Curiously, the main favorite, Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran, got stuck on +1. Yesterday the main reason for his draw was the opponent, who played White and made his peaceful intentions clear. Today Parham can only blame himself. An unpretentious opening as White lead to an equal position, and a draw was agreed already on the move 23.
Nevertheless, there is little doubt that Maghsoodloo will take part in a fight for the gold in this category. The tournament is long, and one does not have to rush. Just make sure you don’t wait until it is too late…

Kollars Dmitrij (GER)

The leaders of the Open 14 group – Andrey Esipenko (1) and Semyon Lomasov (5) from Russia showed clear superiority over their opponents. The character of those games was somewhat different: Lomasov took the bull by the horns immediately, relying on his deep home analysis (starting with the move 12, he played all the strongest moves suggested by the machine), while Esipenko made a subtle exchange sacrifice on the move 14, and decided the game with a direct attack. Kirill Shevchenko (3), who had a brilliant start, was unable to maintain the tempo – the Italian Matteo Pitzanti (25) proved a tough customer, and despite having a material advantage, the Ukrainian did not get more than a draw.

In the girls tournaments, the favorites swept through the opposition with the Olympiad-like 4-0 score. And they did not just win – they did not give their opponents a glimmer of hope!

Stavroula Tsolakidou (2), who had already won the Under 16 championship and decided to test the Under 18 this year, astonished with clarity of her play – every move of the Greek player was precise and deadly. Aleksandra Obolentseva (4) impressed with her bravery and truly surgical precision in executing her ideas. Josefine Heinemann (7) played with incredible calmness and composure. But the most impressive of all was Nino Khomeriki (1) – it seems she could have won such a fine game in a simul, or playing blindfolded…

Heinemann Josefine (GER)

It is a pity that the 12-year-old Russian Bibisara Assaubayeva (5) was unable to make a step forward as well. This little girl possesses the spirit of a true champion. She managed to get a nearly winning position against Michal Lahav (24), but did not cope with complications in the time trouble and suffered her first defeat. Well, misfortunes make us stronger.

The favorite of the Under 16 tournament, Polina Shuvalova made a second misstep. Playing White against Nilufar Yakubbaeva (30), the Russian never had even a slightly better position. Polina seems to always be under time pressure and does not cope with nervousness well, while the ambitious rivals continue to extend the gap. After the first three rounds, three players have the perfect score – Yao Lan (6) from China, Anna-Maja Kazarian (7) from Netherlands, and Danitza Vasquez (14) from Puerto Rico. Yet, the tournament distance is long, and let us see for how long they will remain on top.

Kochukova Anna (RUS) and Kazarian Anna-Maja (NED)

The Russian leaders of the Under 14 group fired another winning salute. Elizaveta Solozhenkina (1) from St. Petersburg, daughter of grandmaster Evgeny Solozhenkin, stormed her opponent off the board with a strong pawn attack. It could become a textbook game, if Elizaveta did not blunder on the move 29, which forced her to win the game for a second time. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya won a long siege, proving that two rooks are stronger than a queen.

24 September 2016

Round Two: Rating Does Not Mean Anything

“Do not pay attention to ratings when talking about children”, a famous junior trainer told me. “It means nothing or almost nothing!” And indeed, many games played on a second day of the World Youth Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, including those on top boards, proved his point. There is no doubt that many more surprising results will keep arriving every single day.

The playing hall

Do you want facts? Let’s go! Maksim Vavulin, the highest seed of the Open 18 category, lost his first half a point today. Or perhaps gained half a point? He looked sort of happy with the outcome after the game. His Black opening against the Croatian Jadranko Plenca was adventurous, to put it mildly, and in order to create counterplay Maksim sacrificed two pawns. Fortunately, his opponent did not find the best continuation in tactical complications, so the player from Moscow was able to transpose to a rook ending and draw the game by perpetual. Manuel Petrosyan immediately utilized this slip from his main rival, winning a seemingly effortless game. The international master from Yerevan is again prepared to deprive the Russian of the gold medal, just like he did recently at the European Championship. What will be Vavulin’s reply? He also needs to worry about Dmitrij Kollars from Germany, who showed a good technique today, beating a solid opponent from Austria.

Petrosyan Manuel (ARM) and Erenberg Ariel (ISR)

The Iranian leaders of the Open 16 event also did not have an easy day, but the outcome of their games was different. Parham Maghsoodloo’s opponent was very persistent with his desire of making a draw, and the peaceful agreement was signed after about an hour of play. Unlike his teammate, Amin Tabatabaei was permitted to leave the tournament hall only after six tough hours that included many ups and downs. A blitzkrieg against Paulius Pultinevicius failed, and the players entered a complex endgame. For about twenty moves the evaluation was shaking like a boat  in a stormy sea. However, it was the Lithuanian who committed the final mistake of this game, playing under serious time pressure.

Tabatabaei M.Amin (IRI)

Other favorites of the category did not miss this opportunity. There were very few draws on the top boards, and the perfect score after the first two rounds is shown by as many as 15 players! Among them are three Russians – Olexandr Triapishko, Sergei Lobanov, and Timur Fakhrutdinov. A real brawl is anticipated tomorrow…

The Open 14 event saw such brawl already in the second round! Two players from Moscow, Danila Pavlov and Andrey Esipenko, were paired on the first board. The latter was rated by 333 points higher, but had to spend a whole day and evening proving his superiority in an equal ending reached on the move 7. I suppose Andrey will not enjoy the post-game conversation with the Russian head coach, who was not impressed by his student’s opening choice! One should not slack, as the competitors are never asleep! The Ukrainian Kirill Shevchenko, for instance, won in great style today, sacrificing his queen and creating a spectacular mating net on the half-empty board.

Some upsets were observed in girls championships as well. The lead in the Under 18 group was seized by the Greek Stavroula Tsolakidou, who initially planned to take part in the Under 16 championship. Today she defeated the Russian Irina Drogovoz in a very ruthless manner. (The rating favorite of the group, Nino Khomeriki from Georgia, made a misstep yesterday, barely making a draw against a much lower rated opponent, and is now half a point behind the leaders.) Aleksandra Obolentseva defended the reputation of Russian chess on the second board and also moved to 2/2, while our 12-year-old star Bibisara Assaubayeva was unable to covert her advantage and settled with a draw on the board three.

Tsolakidou Stavroula (GRE)

The top seed of the Under 16 championship, Polina Shuvalova also fell behind in the first round, barely escaping with a draw. Today she won quite easily against the player from Czech Republic, but as many as nine players won both starting games and are on top of the leaderboard. However, grandmaster Sergey Zagrebelny, trainer of Shuvalova, informed us that she really enjoys a challenge. The girl has character! Only in the youngest category both Russian favorites, Elizaveta Solozhenkina and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, have a very smooth sailing. The opponents cannot cope with the mistake-free play of our girls, and their victories look very natural and logical. How long will it last?

* * *

Junior events are very exciting. The participants are no kids, but they are not completely developed chess players either. Almost each one of them needs care from family, relatives, or coaches. And watching this army of highly emotional, concerned and often extremely impatient supporters is really curious.

In the morning they all attend breakfast in one of the two restaurants of the Olimplijskaya Hotel,  the home of the participants. Most of the players never show up, preferring to sleep instead, but some of them come as well, half-asleep and looking for coffee, fruits or cornflakes. Then there is preparation for the next game, and after that, shortly before a dinner, the adults bring their wards out for a walk. A quick meal afterwards, and the crowd rushes to the buses that bring both players and their support to the Ugra Tennis Center, the venue of the Championships. A final guidance 10-15 minutes before the game follows by a touching separation. Then the boys and girls enter the playing area, while their parents and coaches start wandering around. Most of them finally settle on the stands next to the chess arena and inevitably begin to worry.

Following all games online has become a habit these days. In Khanty-Mansiysk, however, only 24 games in all six events are relayed live – four top boards in each section. If your player is there – well, lucky you. If not, you better be a psychic! In order to prevent external assistance, the first five rows of the stands are closed for spectators, and one cannot see the situation on the board without powerful optics.  Some coaches wisely brought the equipment, either an opera glass or a field glass. They can look at the players’ faces and exchange opinions, however, the positions are still impossible to grasp…

When the round is finally over, the happy winners and the sad losers load the buses and return to the Olympijskaya Hotel. Then follows a joint supper, a crowded and very loud meal that includes game analysis and other chess-related discussions. After that the players finally have some time to relax – until the pairings of the next round appear, forcing them to return to their rooms and start over the preparation cycle. The parents usually do not rush back, looking for ways to deal with their stress instead. There is another game tomorrow, and who knows which is harder – playing chess or supporting the players?

23 September 2016

The first move is made at the World Youth Championships

The first round of the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships 2016 in Khanty-Mansiysk is played today.

The symbolic first move in the game between Maksim Vavulin of Russia and R Vaishali of India was made by the governor of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous okrug – Ugra Natalia Komarova. 228 players in the open section of the tournament and 181 players in the girls section were having their first games in the world championships.

Upon the end of the first move ceremony the governor went to another end of the playing hall to watch the game of the youngest participant of the championships – 9-year-old Georgy Ryabov representing Khanty-Mansiysk. Besides, the head of the region has greeted the FIDE officials, the organizers of the tournaments and the team of arbiters, wishing all of them the successful and smooth world championships.

The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes till the end of the game with 30 second increment from move 1.

Live games of the tournament are available on the official page of the event.

The capital of Ugra is a well-known chess venue. It hosted the World Cup several times, the 39th World Chess Olympiad, Candidates tournament, the final leg of the FIDE Grand-Prix series and many other major international chess events. In year 2016, which is officially announced to be the Year of Childhood in Ugra, Khanty-Mansiysk hosts the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships 2016. The tournament will be held from September’21 until October’04.

The officials and organizers of the tournament talked about getting ready for the event

Today, on September 22, the press-conference with the officials and organizers of the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships 2016 was held in the media-center of the Ugra Tennis Center.



The speakers of the press-conference were the chief executive officer of FIDE Geoffrey Borg, the director of Russian office of FIDE Berik Balgabaev, the director of the department of physical culture and sports of Ugra Igor Gubkin and the executive director of the tournament Valery Radchenko.



– Geoffrey, you’ve been to Khanty-Mansiysk so many times and, of course, you know all the nuances of hosting chess events. What can you say about this venue where the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships 2016 takes place?

– First of all, I would like to thank the governor of Ugra Natalia Komarova for supporting FIDE and chess events in the region. It is always a pleasure to be back in Khanty-Mansiysk again. Of course, this tournament presents its own challenges, because this is the first time Khanty-Mansiysk hosts the international youth tournament of this level. But we have an excellent team with “UgraMegaSport” and Ugra Chess Federation. They have lots of experience and it is very easy to organize chess events here. Whereas in normal times I spend most of the first days of the tournaments troubleshooting problems with the lights and the temperature in the playing hall, accommodation, etc., here we have most of this problems solved before the start of the tournament. It is much easier to organize here with all this experience. Today we’ve spent more time discussing the future tournaments which will come very soon – the Women Grand-Prix in November 2016 and Team Championships in May 2017.

– Do you think that some of the participants of these Championships will be able to compete in the Chess Olympiad 2020, which will also be held in Khanty-Mansiysk?

– We already have players here who have played in the Chess Olympiad in Baku last week. The average age of chess is coming down very quickly. Some very young players are already members of their national teams not the junior teams. So, I think in 2020 they will be candidates for the medals of the Olympiad. We had 4 8-year-old players in Baku. The perception of chess in general is that only old people are playing it. But this is not so. Chess is very demanding nowadays as there is a lot of energy lost during the games. It is a physical sport. We are walking a lot between our moves, we are not just sitting for 5 hours. The second thing is that it takes a lot of nerves. It is like you are having an exam every day. The stress is just crazy. Sometimes Magnus Carlsen looks like he is sleeping at the board. But Magnus is a very active athlete. He is doing tennis, football and basketball. This is just an image he wants to portray that he is lazy and tired. Sometimes it is only a psychological game.



– Berik, during your visit you have inspected the venues of Khanty-Mansiysk that will be hosting the Chess Olympiad 2020 in four years. What is to be done by Ugra to get ready for the Olympiad?

– The Chess Olympiad 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk was a great success. We feel very comfortable here. I am sure, the participants of the tournament will have the same feelings about this venue. I know almost all the infrastructure of Khanty-Mansiysk and this place fits very well for hosting chess events. Still the Olympiad 2020 will be different from the Olympiad 2010. First of all, the number of the participants will substantially increase. During this visit we managed to discuss the coming Olympiad and to inspect the possible venues where the games could be played.

– Igor, chess is one of the sports that gets the biggest support in Ugra. Is it possible to call Khanty-Mansiysk a chess capital of Russia?

– The development of chess in Ugra has a long and good history. In 2010 we have hosted the World Chess Olympiad and in 2020 we will do this once again. Khanty-Mansiysk is the fourth city in the world that will host the Chess Olympiad twice. Starting from this tournament every year Ugra will host major international chess events. We consider them to be a part of the preparation process for the main tournament – Chess Olympiad 2020.



– Valery, please tell us how did you manage to organize a tournament with 412 participants. What problems did you face?

– A lot of work was done to get ready for the event, as we were also providing visa support for the players. We have been doing this for several months, of course, with the help of the department of physical culture and sports of Ugra and Igor Gubkin. The main difficulty concerned catering for the participants. We needed to keep in mind that we are dealing with people representing different countries, religions and cultures. Besides, time difference also mattered a lot. Some players are already awake at 5 in the morning so we had to organize their breakfast earlier than was planned before. Besides, we added more sweets, cereals and yogurts to their meals.

22 September 2016

The World Youth Championships is declared open

Official website http://wy2016.fide.com/

On September’21 the FIDE World Youth U14, U16 and U18 Championships 2016 have started. The official Opening Ceremony of the event was held in the concert and theater center “Ugra-Classic”. The bright and spectacular show was seen by more than a thousand people. Among them 412 participants of the World Championships, who came to Ugra from 61 country of the world.

The ceremony started with the presentation of the participating countries. Upon its end the official part of the ceremony has begun. The governor of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous Okrug Natalia Komarova and the chief executive officer of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Geoffrey Borg – who were also among the audience – have addressed the participants of the tournament.

“Khanty-Mansiysk has been hosting many major chess events such as the Chess Olympiad, the World Cup and the Candidates Tournament. But this year which we have declared to be the year of Childhood in Ugra, we are very pleased to see the young chess players here in Khanty-Mansiysk, – said the head of the region. – We are hosting now the most talented young chess players of the world and our goal for the coming days is to show as much hospitality to them as possible. We are thankful to FIDE for giving us the honor to host this tournament. Several preceding championships were held in southern countries of the world. But we are sure that our hospitality will compensate the lower temperature. And I am sure that our hospitality will also motivate you to the victories you’re going to accomplish. By hosting these championships and several coming tournaments we are going to learn from the chess players how to calculate several moves ahead, as this is a great responsibility for us to host the forthcoming Chess Olympiad 2020. I wish all the participants success and all the guests to enjoy this chess festival!”

“I would like to thank the governor for the continuous support of FIDE and chess events in Khanty-Mansiysk, – took the floor Geoffrey Borg. – We feel very comfortable for organizing so many chess events in Khanty-Mansiysk, because they understand everything that goes on in our chess world. We have an experienced team of friends and people working in Khanty-Mansiysk, who know us very well now for over 15 years. Organizing chess events here in Khanty-Mansiysk is a pleasure not a duty. We have a calendar of events for the next 4 or 5 years, which is really busy. We start with the FIDE World Youth Championships today and in two-months time comes the final leg of Women’s Grand-Prix series. In 2017 we have the Men and Women World Team Chess Championships 2017. In 2018 comes Women World Championships Knock-out 64 players and in 2019 – World Cup for men. Finally – but, of cause, not literally finally as we will continue to have more events thanks to the generous support of Khanty-Mansiysk government – Chess Olympiad 2020. So I am sure we are all happy to show our appreciation for the governor and the support of Khanty-Mansiysk for all these chess events. I wish you all the best, do what you can to represent your country and to represent FIDE. Good luck to everybody!”

Before the start of the entertaining part of the ceremony, the drawing procedure was carried out. The governor of the region drew the black pawn for top players of the championships.

After the official part, the opening ceremony was followed by a concert performed by numbers of the best city artists. The event showed the synthesis of different genres of performing arts. The program included some rock music played by the band from Ugra on traditional Russian instruments. A mixture of electronic and rock music with folk tunes has greatly impressed the audience. The same mixture of styles and genres was seen in other song and dance performances.

To finish the ceremony on the high note the opera singers sang the final song on the show and the master of ceremonies has congratulated the participants and team members with the official opening of the World Youth Championships and wished them a successful tournament!

21 September 2016

The biggest number of the participants of the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships has arrived to the capital of Ugra. The players and their accompanying persons were greeted in the airport in a traditional Russian way – with songs, accordion playing and local Siberian treats – nuts and cranberries.

The opening ceremony of the Championships will take place today in the concert and theater center “Ugra-Classic”. And tomorrow the first round of the tournament will be played. 412 players from 62 countries have arrived to Khanty-Mansiysk to participate in the FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships.

Follow the latest news from the Championship at the official website http://wy2016.fide.com/