Shen Yang and Zaven Andriasian World Junior Champions

Junior World Championships in Yerevan

The Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, venue of the World U20 Championships

Participants and guests place flowers in front of 9th world champion Petrosian's statue

The 2006 World Junior Chess Championships under way

Top boards on the stage, the weaker players in the hall

The most important games are covered on the internet and on demo boards

For our younger readers: a "demo board" is a large wooden or vinyl chessboard attached upright to the wall or supported by a stand. The pieces attach to the board with magnets, or are cleverly inserted into slits at the bottom of the squares. Sometimes, when the boards are very large (as in the above pictures) rods are used to move the pieces. The transmission of the moves from the game to the board is done by non-electronic means – a human agent is used instead.

World Junior Championship top finishers

The open section was won by 17-year-old Armenian super-talent Zaven Andriasian, who last year won the Boys' Under 16 section of the Youth Championships in Herceg Novi. Zaven started as the 29th seed in this event. Second was 19-year-old IM Nikita Vitiugov of Russia, who was the fourth highest rated player in the tournament.

• All available games in zipped PGN

World Junior Championship Girls' section

The Girls' section was won by 18-year-old of China, the second seed, by a narrow tiebreak margin ahead of her 12-year-old (!) compatriot Hou Yifan, certainly one of the most remarkable talents in chess today.

Hou was spotted over a year ago by Ali Nihat Yazici, who predicted a great future for her ("I must draw your attention to this young lady. Take a good look at her – we are introducing you to a future women's world champion. She is a great talent and I predict that she may soon become the youngest GM in the world. Not WGM, but GM!")

• All available games in zipped PGN

• Official web site