 |
Junior World Championships
The 43rd World Junior
and 21st World Junior Girls Championship was held at the Casino Hotel,
Cochin, India from Nov. 18th to 30.
This event was a
13 Round affair with over 1080 participants from countries all over the
world.
|

Harikrishna, Korbut Win Titles
By Arvind Aaron, Media Coordinator
Grandmaster Pentyala Harikrishna became the second Indian after Viswanathan
Anand to win the World Junior Chess Championship when he drew the final round
game after a long 50-move encounter at Casino Hotel in Kochi on a historical
Tuesday.

Junior world champions Ekaterina Korbut and Pentala Harikrishna
Harikrishna scored 10 points, half point more than the rest in the 71-player
field. "It was my career-best result," said Harikrishna who would
be gaining around 15 Elo points from this event. It was his second world title.
Harikrishna had won the World U-10 championship at Menorca, Spain in 1996.
The girls title was won by top seed Ekaterina Korbut of Russia
with 10.5/13. Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany who needed a win for the title was
outplayed by India's Kruttika Nadig. Paehtz left the hall in tears for her
second place with 9.5 points. IWM Eesha Karavade of India beat Zhang Jilin
of China for her second 13-game WGM norm and bronze medal. She too scored the
same 9.5 points. "We got into a drawish ending and she (Zhang) kept pushing
and lost a pawn and I won," a delighted Karavade explained her game.
Paehtz Elisabeth (Ger) - Nadig Kruttika (Ind)
World Junior Girls 2004 Kochi, India, 2004

After a seesaw game, with an easily drawn position on the board, the exhausted
Elli Pähtz commits a capital blunder: 55.Rxd4?? Naturally
it was necessary to take with the queen. Now her 16-year-old opponent has 55...Qe1+
56.Kg2 (56.Kf3 Qe2#) 56...Re2+ 57.Kf3 Rf2+ and White
loses her queen. The game ended on move 70 with 0-1.

Silver medal winner WGM Elisabeth Pähtz from Germany
Harikrishna came looking for a victory in the final round. He opened with
1.g3 and his strategy was clear. Better a little surprise than be surprised
in the last round. The Hyderabad player won a pawn on the 18th move but play
was clearly headed for an opposite colour bishop ending. Opposite colour bishops
are known to produce drawn results. Berkes, the top seed, had nothing to gain
in this game except that it was a prestigious clash between the top two seeds.
Also, Berkes was the roommate of Petrosian who had a chance for the title.
Berkes defended the pawn down ending well and drew in 50 moves in a rook and
opposite colour bishop ending.
Harikrishna made sure Zhao Jun resigned against the world under-18 champion
Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland before offering and getting a draw in his game.
There was lots of tension and large number of spectators crowded the top three
boards in the boys section.

Elizbar Ubilava (left) the trainer of the Indian team at the Calvià
Olympiad
"I played mainly the English opening or some side variations," said
Harikrishna while speaking to the press. "At Calvia I learnt from GM Elizbar
Ubilava (Indian trainer) how to approach and prepare for a game. Playing in
the same team with Anand gave me big confidence," said the new 18-year
old world junior champion.
About his ambition, he said, "I would like to reach 2650 very soon and
look at improving my rating towards the 2800 mark. He is looking for a sponsorship
as his old one (2000 to 2004) with a Bangalore based IT major expires in December
this year. Harikrishna was accompanied by his father and spoke to his mother
and grandfather immediately after winning the title.
Harikrishna won seven games and drew six including his final round encounter.
He remained the only undefeated player. "I was solid and played fast,"
Harikrishna said. Ubilava had told him to play fast and he followed it with
rewards as he put his opponents in time pressure in the Anand style.
Asked if the Polish world under-18 champion Wojtaszek did him a big favour
by defeating Zhao Jun, Harikrishna said, "(exploding into laughter) yes,
I think I owe him a treat!" The Polish player sacrificed a rook for bishop
on the 13th turn and won two pawns and a minor piece for a rook and converted
that in a nicely executed ending.
Tigran Petrosian of Armenia enjoyed an overwhelming advantage against Iran's
Moradibadi. Needing a win in the ending to tie for first place, Petrosian slipped
and drew for a shared second.
Korbut faced the queen pawn and went for an irregular variation. Motoc of
Romania lost her way early and offered weaker resistance losing two pawns.
Thereafter, the Romanian staged a recovery to organise an attack but Korbut
defended and kept the pawns intact to win the game and the title.

Gold medal winner Ekaterina Korbut
Korbut becomes the first Russian since Alisa Galliamova (1988) to win the
world junior by a clear one point margin. She is superstitious in the sense
that she wore the same dress for the last ten games. She is a typical Russian,
avoiding to talk to the press. She won eight games and drew five to be the
only undefeated player among the 37 girls who participated. She started cautiously
with two draws and caught up with the leaders when she beat Ushenina of Ukraine
in the middle of the tournament.

A bronze medal for WIM Eesha Karavade of India
"Yes, it was my career best showing," said Eesha Karavade who made
her earlier WGM at Pune this September. She played the Berlin defence of the
Ruy Lopez with the black pieces to win in 64 moves. Kruttika Nadig who caused
the biggest upset in the girls section, by winning the queen of Paehtz to take
the fourth place after her 70-move triumph.
It was an eventful tournament for other Indians as well. Deep Sengupta of
Jharkhand made his maiden 10-game GM norm. Eesha Karavade obtained her maiden
13-game WGM norm. N. Vinuthna of Hyderabad completed her IWM title requirements.
Maharashtra player, Kruttika Nadig living in Bangalore completed her second
14-game IWM norm. Among the visitors, Siti Zulaikha of Malaysia completed her
IWM title and Zhao Jun of China became a grandmaster making his third and final
norm here.
The prizes were distributed by L.Kuriakose, IRS., Chief Commissioner of Income
Tax at a glittering ceremony in the evening. India showed to the chess world
that they could organise the World Junior for the fourth time in a third venue.
One title in the boys and one bronze medal in the girls is more than what India
expected from this meet and it is time for celebration among the chess fraternity
in the land which invented chess.
Final standings boys
Rk |
Ti |
Name |
Rtg |
FED |
Pts |
RtgSum |
1 |
GM |
Harikrishna P (IND) |
2612 |
IND |
10 |
30111 |
2 |
GM |
Petrosian Tigran L. (ARM) |
2539 |
ARM |
9½ |
30001 |
3 |
- |
Zhao Jun (CHN) |
2511 |
CHN |
9½ |
29709 |
4 |
IM |
Wojtaszek Radoslaw (POL) |
2536 |
POL |
9 |
29462 |
5 |
GM |
Alekseev Evgeny V. (RUS) |
2604 |
RUS |
8½ |
29925 |
6 |
GM |
Berkes Ferenc (HUN) |
2630 |
HUN |
8½ |
29569 |
7 |
IM |
Jianu Vlad-Cristian (ROM) |
2444 |
ROM |
8½ |
29477 |
8 |
GM |
Drozdovsky Yuri (UKR) |
2510 |
UKR |
8½ |
29455 |
9 |
- |
Deep Sengupta (IND) |
2359 |
IND |
8½ |
29423 |
10 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy (IND) |
2503 |
IND |
8½ |
29399 |
11 |
IM |
Moradiabadi Elshan (IRI) |
2445 |
IRI |
8½ |
28609 |
12 |
FM |
Zhe Quan (CAN) |
2345 |
CAN |
8 |
29754 |
13 |
- |
Tikkanen Hans (SWE) |
2338 |
SWE |
8 |
28915 |
14 |
IM |
Bartel Mateusz (POL) |
2481 |
POL |
8 |
28744 |
15 |
IM |
Quezada Perez Yunieski (CUB) |
2513 |
CUB |
7½ |
29387 |
16 |
IM |
Deepan Chakravarthy (IND) |
2396 |
IND |
7½ |
29247 |
17 |
IM |
L'Ami Erwin (NED) |
2516 |
NED |
7½ |
29031 |
18 |
IM |
Paragua Mark (PHI) |
2534 |
PHI |
7½ |
28936 |
19 |
- |
Barbosa Oliver (PHI) |
2311 |
PHI |
7½ |
28714 |
20 |
IM |
Iljin Artem (RUS) |
2522 |
RUS |
7½ |
28322 |
21 |
GM |
Smeets Jan (NED) |
2515 |
NED |
7½ |
28309 |
22 |
GM |
Timur Gareyev (UZB) |
2525 |
UZB |
7 |
28888 |
23 |
- |
Das Arghyadip (IND) |
2353 |
IND |
7 |
28746 |
24 |
IM |
Smerdon David (AUS) |
2425 |
AUS |
7 |
28645 |
25 |
IM |
Poobesh Anand (IND) |
2367 |
IND |
7 |
28450 |
26 |
- |
Sai Srinivas D. (IND) |
2237 |
IND |
7 |
28397 |
27 |
- |
Nadj Hadjesi Balind (SCG) |
2337 |
SCG |
7 |
28317 |
28 |
- |
Hasan Mehdi (BAN) |
2251 |
BAN |
7 |
28156 |
29 |
FM |
D'Costa Lorin A.R. (ENG) |
2358 |
ENG |
7 |
28008 |
30 |
FM |
Gupta Abhijeet (IND) |
2412 |
IND |
7 |
28005 |
31 |
- |
Grigorov Grigor (BUL) |
2321 |
BUL |
7 |
27839 |
32 |
IM |
Lafuente Pablo (ARG) |
2473 |
ARG |
7 |
27622 |
33 |
FM |
Mandizha Farai (ZIM) |
2200 |
ZIM |
7 |
27479 |
34 |
FM |
Perdomo Leandro (ARG) |
2312 |
ARG |
6½ |
29020 |
35 |
- |
Rohit G (IND) |
2281 |
IND |
6½ |
28279 |
36 |
IM |
Venkatesh M.R. (IND) |
2450 |
IND |
6½ |
28006 |
37 |
- |
Cifka Stanislav (CZE) |
2310 |
CZE |
6½ |
27731 |
38 |
- |
Sandeep Y. (IND) |
2138 |
IND |
6½ |
27327 |
39 |
- |
Vaidya Chaitanya N. (IND) |
2184 |
IND |
6½ |
27158 |
40 |
IM |
Johannes Manyedi M. (RSA) |
2316 |
RSA |
6½ |
26902 |
41 |
- |
Bucchicchio Giampaolo (ITA) |
2315 |
ITA |
6½ |
26676 |
42 |
- |
Tiwari Arjun (IND) |
2319 |
IND |
6½ |
25735 |
43 |
- |
Braschi Giancarlo (ITA) |
2172 |
ITA |
6½ |
25343 |
44 |
FM |
Geir Sune Tallaksen (NOR) |
2343 |
NOR |
6 |
28231 |
45 |
- |
Olsson Linus (SWE) |
2289 |
SWE |
6 |
28151 |
46 |
- |
Bhatti Ranveer Singh (IND) |
2195 |
IND |
6 |
27334 |
47 |
- |
Puneet Jaiswal (IND) |
2212 |
IND |
6 |
27238 |
48 |
- |
Arun R. Karthik (IND) |
2152 |
IND |
6 |
27095 |
49 |
- |
Ashwath R. (IND) |
2124 |
IND |
6 |
26906 |
50 |
- |
Mihailidis Anastasios (GRE) |
2278 |
GRE |
6 |
26829 |
51 |
- |
Ryosuke Nanjo (JPN) |
2154 |
JPN |
6 |
24564 |
52 |
- |
Tomba Ivan (ITA) |
2235 |
ITA |
6 |
24112 |
53 |
- |
Patwardhan Omkar (IND) |
2212 |
IND |
5½ |
27253 |
54 |
- |
Artels Lieven (BEL) |
2084 |
BEL |
5½ |
27175 |
55 |
- |
Karthikeyan P. (IND) |
2131 |
IND |
5½ |
27095 |
56 |
- |
Soumitra Mujumdar (IND) |
2148 |
IND |
5½ |
26620 |
57 |
- |
Navin T.U.Kanna (IND) |
2058 |
IND |
5½ |
26412 |
58 |
- |
Gopal G.N. (IND) |
2278 |
IND |
5 |
27394 |
59 |
- |
Cereijo Nicolas (ARG) |
2120 |
ARG |
5 |
26932 |
60 |
- |
Ruijgrok Dennis (NED) |
2255 |
NED |
5 |
26871 |
61 |
- |
Louw Daniel Johannes (RSA) |
2187 |
RSA |
5 |
24777 |
62 |
- |
Mishra Soumyaranjan (IND) |
2299 |
IND |
5 |
24658 |
63 |
- |
Raghuram C. V. Balaji (IND) |
2043 |
IND |
5 |
24388 |
64 |
- |
Phadke Sohan (IND) |
2125 |
IND |
5 |
24202 |
65 |
- |
Aswin Jayaram (IND) |
2160 |
IND |
4½ |
27646 |
66 |
- |
Swaraj Palit (IND) |
2172 |
IND |
4½ |
27131 |
67 |
- |
Nitin S. (IND) |
2119 |
IND |
4½ |
24651 |
68 |
- |
Soon Wai Cheong (MAS) |
2048 |
MAS |
4½ |
24515 |
69 |
- |
Venkat S. Sundaram (IND) |
2152 |
IND |
4½ |
24247 |
70 |
- |
Prasanna K.(IND) |
2096 |
IND |
4½ |
24050 |
71 |
- |
Phanikanth J.S.S. (IND) |
1985 |
IND |
1½ |
23933 |
72 |
- |
Anis Bari (IND) |
2194 |
IND |
0 |
0 |
Final standings girls
Rk |
Ti |
Name |
Rtg |
FED |
Pts |
RtgSum |
1 |
WGM |
Korbut Ekaterina (RUS) |
2400 |
RUS |
10½ |
26849 |
2 |
WGM |
Paehtz Elisabeth (GER) |
2398 |
GER |
9½ |
27115 |
3 |
WIM |
Eesha Karavade (IND) |
2307 |
IND |
9½ |
27089 |
4 |
- |
Nadig Kruttika (IND) |
2182 |
IND |
8½ |
26897 |
5 |
WGM |
Ushenina Anna (UKR) |
2370 |
UKR |
8 |
26994 |
6 |
WFM |
Vinuthna N. (IND) |
2229 |
IND |
8 |
26872 |
7 |
WIM |
Bensdorp Marties (NED) |
2214 |
NED |
8 |
25859 |
8 |
- |
Sivasankari P. (IND) |
2112 |
IND |
8 |
23500 |
9 |
- |
Zhang Jilin (CHN) |
2287 |
CHN |
7½ |
27105 |
10 |
WFM |
Siti Zulaikha (MAS) |
2162 |
MAS |
7½ |
26759 |
11 |
WIM |
Sachdev Tania (IND) |
2256 |
IND |
7½ |
26554 |
12 |
- |
Ramya Krishna I. (IND) |
2096 |
IND |
7½ |
25902 |
13 |
- |
Majdan Joanna (POL) |
2219 |
POL |
7 |
26803 |
14 |
WFM |
Motoc Alina (ROM) |
2359 |
ROM |
7 |
26549 |
15 |
- |
Van Weersel Arlette (NED) |
2184 |
NED |
7 |
25562 |
16 |
WFM |
Perez R. Jennifer (CUB) |
2162 |
CUB |
7 |
25216 |
17 |
- |
Saheli Nath (IND) |
2130 |
IND |
6½ |
27242 |
18 |
- |
Kavitha J.E. (IND) |
2088 |
IND |
6½ |
26325 |
19 |
- |
Delphin C. (IND) |
1998 |
IND |
6½ |
25917 |
20 |
WIM |
Gutsko Anastasiya (UKR) |
2272 |
UKR |
6½ |
25776 |
21 |
- |
Koneru Chandra Hawsa (IND) |
2107 |
IND |
6½ |
25592 |
22 |
- |
Iswarya Shobana L. (IND) |
2082 |
IND |
6½ |
23319 |
23 |
- |
Raghavi N. (IND) |
2117 |
IND |
6 |
26274 |
24 |
WIM |
Aketayeva Dana (KAZ) |
2223 |
KAZ |
6 |
26127 |
25 |
WIM |
Ghader Pour Shaesteh (IRI) |
2025 |
IRI |
6 |
26012 |
26 |
WFM |
Gutierrez C. Paloma (ESP) |
2119 |
ESP |
6 |
23774 |
27 |
- |
Nimmy George (IND) |
2063 |
IND |
6 |
23590 |
28 |
- |
Anuprita Patil (IND) |
2081 |
IND |
6 |
23541 |
29 |
- |
Sandhya N. (IND) |
2113 |
IND |
6 |
22748 |
30 |
- |
Stiri Alexandra (GRE) |
2201 |
GRE |
6 |
22735 |
31 |
- |
Meenu Rajendran (IND) |
1979 |
IND |
5½ |
25793 |
32 |
- |
Hodova Lucie (CZE) |
2118 |
CZE |
5 |
25651 |
33 |
WFM |
Mijovic Aleksandra (SCG) |
2152 |
SCG |
5 |
23051 |
34 |
- |
Brekke Jorunn (NOR) |
1988 |
NOR |
5 |
22825 |
35 |
- |
Colautti Marcela (ARG) |
0 |
ARG |
4½ |
23130 |
36 |
- |
Matta Francesca (ITA) |
1857 |
ITA |
4 |
23191 |
37 |
WFM |
Elappen Jenine (RSA) |
2031 |
RSA |
3 |
23027 |
38 |
WGM |
Dronavalli Harika (IND) |
2391 |
IND |
0 |
0 |
All junior world champions
Year |
Venue |
Boys |
|
|
Girls |
|
2004 |
Cochin, India |
Pentala Harikrishna |
India |
|
Ekateriana Korbut |
Russia |
2003 |
Nakchievan |
Mamedyarov, Shakh. |
Azerbaijan |
|
Nana Dzandze |
Georgia |
2002 |
Goa, India |
Levon Aronian |
Armenia |
|
Xue Zhao |
China |
2001 |
Athens |
Peter Acs |
Hungary |
|
Humpy Koneru |
India |
2000 |
Yerevan |
Lazaro Bruzon |
Cuba |
|
Xu Yuanyuan |
China |
1999 |
Yerevan |
Alexander Galkin |
Russia |
|
Maria Kouvatsou |
Greece |
1998 |
Calicut, India |
Darmen Sadvakasov |
Kazakhstan |
|
Hoang Thang Trang |
Vietnam |
1997 |
Zagan |
Tal Shaked |
USA |
|
Harriet Hunt |
England |
1996 |
Medellin |
Emil Sutovskij |
Israel |
|
Zhu Chen |
China |
1995 |
Halle |
Roman Slobodjan |
Germany |
|
Nino Khurtsidze |
Georgia |
1994 |
Caioba |
Helgi Gretarsson |
Iceland |
|
Zhu Chen |
China |
1993 |
Calicut, India |
Igor Miladinovic |
Yugoslavia |
|
Nino Khurtsidze |
Georgia |
1992 |
Buenos Aires |
Pablo Zarnicki |
Argentina |
|
Krystina Dabrowska |
Poland |
1991 |
Mamaja |
Vladimir Akopian |
Armenia |
|
Natasa Bojkovic |
Yugoslavia |
1990 |
Santiago |
Ilya Gurevich |
USA |
|
Ketevan Kakhiani |
USSR |
1989 |
Tunja |
Vasil Spasov |
Bulgaria |
|
Ketevan Kakhiani |
USSR |
1988 |
Adelaide |
Joel Lautier |
France |
|
Alisa Galliamova |
USSR |
1987 |
Bagujo |
Viswanathan Anand |
India |
|
1986 |
Causdal |
Walter Arenciba |
Cuba |
|
Ketevan Arakhamia |
USSR |
1985 |
Dubai |
Maxim Dlugy |
USA |
|
1984 |
Kiljava |
Curt Hansen |
Denmark |
1983 |
Belfort |
Kiril Georgiuev |
Bulgaria |
1982 |
Copenhagen |
Andrey Sokolov |
USSR |
1981 |
Mexico |
Ognjen Cvitan |
Yugoslavia |
1980 |
Dortmund |
Garry Kasparov |
USSR |
1979 |
Skien |
Yasser Seirawan |
USA |
1978 |
Graz |
Sergey Dolmatov |
USSR |
1977 |
Innsbruck |
Artur Yusupov |
USSR |
1976 |
Groningen |
Mark Diesen |
USA |
1975 |
Tjentiste |
Valery Chekhov |
USSR |
1974 |
Manila |
Anthony Miles |
England |
1973 |
Tesside |
Alexander Beliavsky |
USSR |
1971 |
Athens |
Werner Hug |
Switzerland |
1969 |
Stoccolma |
Anatoly Karpov |
USSR |
1967 |
Jerusalem |
Julio Kaplan |
Puerto Rico |
1965 |
Barcelona |
Bojan Kurajica |
Yugoslavia |
1963 |
Belgrado |
Florin Gheorghiu |
Romania |
1961 |
L'Aia |
Bruno Parma |
Yugoslavia |
1959 |
Muenchestein |
Carlos Bielicky |
Argentina |
1957 |
Canada |
William Lombardy |
USA |
1955 |
Amberes |
Boris Spassky |
USSR |
1953 |
Copenhagen |
Oscar Panno |
Argentina |
1951 |
Birmingham |
Boris Ivkov |
Yugoslavia |
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