Antipov and Buksa are World Junior Champions

Mikhail Antipov and Nataliya Buksa are World Junior Champions

World Junior Championships took place from the 31st of August to 16th of September 2015 in the city of Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. The Open group saw 62 players from 33 countries, including nine grandmasters and 22 International Masters. The average rating was 2351. The girls section witnessed 48 entries from 27 countries, with two International Masters and four WGMs taking part – average Elo 2154. It was a thirteen round event with one round every day and one rest day. The first eight rounds of the tournament were covered in a previous report on our newspage.

The last round of almost any tournament is filled with excitement; more so when the event is as important as the World Juniors. As the players took their seats in order to begin the final round it seemed like Jan-Krzysztof Duda was the clear favourite, leading the pack by a half-point margin, with a score of 9.5/12. Right on his heels was Mikhail Antipov with 9.0/12. The next player was on eight points and had no chance of fighting for the gold medal. Duda faced Benjamin Bok with the black pieces on the first board, while Antipov was white against Francesco Rambaldi on the second.

Benjamin Bok (left) with the white pieces was pressing throughout the game,
but Jan-Krzysztof Duda managed to salvage the half point

Mikhail Antipov won the final round game against Francesco Rambaldi, but not without drama

As Duda drew his game and Antipov won his, the scores were tied at 10.0/13. The first tiebreak was their direct encounter. But Duda and Antipov had drawn their individual battle against each other in the ninth round. The next tiebreak was Buchholz which was also equal. The third tiebreak was able to resolve the issue, with Antipov having an extra point over Duda. Thus, the World Junior Champion was decided on the basis of the third tiebreak. That’s how close it was.

With 10.0/13, Mikhail Antipov became the World Junior Champion 2015

Jan-Krzysztof Duda led the tournament from the start but had to settle for the silver medal

One of the most talented players of Germany, Matthias Bluebaum, finished third and won the bronze medal

After the tournament ended, Mikhail Antipov was kind enough to give us an interview. Here is what he had to say:

Sagar Shah: The last round was extremely crucial for you. You were trailing Duda by half point and found yourself in a completely lost position.

What was going through your mind at this point? And what did you think after your opponent’s not so accurate move 32…d4?

Mikhail Antipov: Around ten moves earlier I understood that my position was very bad and I just need to play confidently and keep a calm mind in order to have some practical chances. When I got to this position I thought that it isn't easy for him to find the right way to play. After his inaccurate 32…d4 and my move 33.Bf4 I felt a bit relaxed, because I was sure that I will make a draw at the very least.

SS: How does it feel to be the World Junior Champion? Did you expect that you would win the gold medal when you set foot in Khanty Mansiysk?

MA: It was a big surprise for me that I became World Junior Champion – it is still hard for me to believe this! When I came to this tournament my goal was to do my best. I thought that a place in top three in such a long and strong tournament will be good for me.

SS: Whom would you like to dedicate this victory to?

MA: I would like to dedicate this victory to all the fans of creative and interesting chess!

Antipov opened five out of his six white games with 1.e4 and loves to play attacking chess

SS: Did you make any special preparations prior to the tournament?

MA: Before this tournament I tried to improve my fitness as much as possible, because it was always hard for me to keep good concentration during such a long event.

SS: You played some amazing attacking games, like the one against Jorden van Foreest and Daniel Yuffa. Which was your favourite game from the event?

MA: My favourite game was against Jorden van Foreest. I think it is the best game that I have played in my life. [Ed: The following game with annotations was sent to us by Antipov]

SS: What do you study in your academic career?

MA: I am studying educational psychology in RSUH (Russian State University for Humanities)

SS: Now that you are a World Junior champion, how does your life change and what are your future plans?

MA: I will try to do my best in chess, improve my skills and solve the problems in my play.

SS: Who do you think will win the World Cup in Baku?

MA: I think Caruana has good chances to win this tournament.

SS: Thank you Mikhail for answering the questions for our readers.

Top final standings (after 13 rounds)

• Full rankings of all 62 players here

Girls section

In the girls section we had a surprising winner. At the half way stage it was WGM Zhansaya Abdumalik who was cruising towards the finish line with a score of 7.5/8, as previously reported. A draw in the ninth round was followed by two losses to Alina Bivol and Dorsa Derakhshani. Her tournament ended with a win against WIM Ulviyya Fataliyeva in the penultimate round and a draw with Alexandra Makarenko in the last game. In that game against Makarenko she was pushing throughout. A victory would have given her the title because in the direct encounter she had beaten Nataliya Buksa. But she wasn’t able to break through. Zhansaya scored 9.5/13, gained ten Elo points and finished third. But it was nowhere as spectacular as her 7.0/7 start.

Bronze medal for the prodigious Zhansaya Abumalik from Kazakhstan

Alina Bivol from Russia won the silver medal

Alina’s best achievement in this tournament was her tenth round victory over Zhansaya Abdumalik. When the Kazakh was unbeaten and running away with the tournament it was this Russian who stopped her. Pay special attention to the natural opening mistake committed by Zhansaya in the game below.

The player of the tournament in the girls section was definitely the 19-year-old Ukrainian Nataliya Buksa who started as the 23rd seed and won the event with a score of 10.0/13.

World Junior girls champion 2015 – Nataliya Buksa

Nataliya also gained 88 Elo points for her effort. She beat a lot of strong players like Andrea Rodriguez, Bayarjargal Bayarmaa, Alina Bivol, Andrea-Cristina Navrotescu, Dinara Saduakassova and Sabina Ibrahimova – all rated higher than her. She drew her last three games and emerged as the champion.

Though Nataliya played many fine games in the tournament, I think the one which represents her style very well is the one she won against the silver medalist Alina Bivol.

If you are interested to learn the aggressive English Attack which was used by Nataliya to beat her opponent then you must definitely look into the latest ChessBase DVD by Daniel Gormally:

Top final standings (after 13 rounds)

• Full rankings of all 48 players here

Picture gallery

The champions, Mikhail Antipov and Nataliya Buksa, in a relaxed chat after an intense 13-round tournament

Quentin Loiseau finished fourth with a score of 8.5/13. Earlier in the year we had reported about this talented French player, when he had won the Lucopen in Lille.

Fifth: GM Ulvi Bajarani of Azerbaijan

Jorden van Foreest, who finished sixth, became Netherland’s latest grandmaster

Seventh: Benjamin Bok played a huge role in determining the World Junior Champion
by drawing against Duda in the last round

Eight: Francesco Rambaldi let the eventual champion, Mikhail Antipov, escape in the last round
with a full point from a position where he had an advantage of nearly five points

Ninth: Akash Ganesan from India had a good tournament as he scored 8.0/13 and gained 25 Elo points

Tenth: Daniel Yuffa from Russia

The only player from China Bai Jinshi didn’t do so well and finished 30th

GM Jorge Cori missed the World Cup 2015 to participate in the World Juniors.
He had maybe the worst tournament of his life as he scored 7.0/13, losing 35 Elo points.

GM Karen Grigoryan from Armenia was one of the favourites, but had to be content with the 15th spot

Aleksandra Goryachkina didn’t fare so well in the open section, finishing 34th and losing 17 Elo points

In the Girls Section Dinara Saduakassova finished fourth…

….ahead of Nastassia Ziazulkina. Dinara and Nastassia both scored 9.0/13
but the tiebreaks favoured the former because…

….in the clash between the second and third seeds, it was Dinara (right) who emerged victorious

Sixth: WIM Dorsa Derakhshani from Iran had a great event, scoring 8.5/13,
gaining 80 Elo points, and climbing to 2357 on the live rating list

Seventh: Gunay Mammadza from Azerbaijan

Eighth: Alexandra Makarenko from Russia

Can the thumb bear the weight of all those variations in her head?!

Chess can be exhausting and brutal

Bus transport was provided by the organizers …

… so that the participants reached the playing hall on time

A final goodbye to Khanty Mansiysk which organized the World Junior Championships in a very professional and efficient manner

Pictures from the official website by Maria Emilianova and Vladimir Barsky

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN: Open + Girls (courtesy TWIC) The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.