World Youth Championship: The champions

World Youth Chess Championship 2013

17-29 December 2013, Al Ain, UAE

The medalists from the 2013 World Youth Chess Championship

It was a grueling tournament, and hard fought by all, from chess’s youngest competitors, to those coming of age. A couple of players had secured their places on the topmost step of their pantheon, but for most it was all down to the last round when even the most comfortable leaders risked seeing their work dashed in a momentary lapse of reason.

The last round decided the fate of many

The arbiters had their hands full

Little by little the games ended and the name plates were collected

An incredible 1773 players from 171 nations came to compete

The symbols of glory

Boys will be boys

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is greeted with flowers

Look who was in Al Ain, and as usual the centre of interest...

...Garry Kasparov, on a private visit, inspiring those who are still mid-struggle

Wow!! Natasha Van Niekerk from South Africa meets her hero.

Of all the nations, India has to be considered the biggest winner, with a total of eight medals, including three gold. Although China also claimed three gold medals, their grand total was not quite as expansive. Russia claimed one gold, one silver and three bronze, but perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament was Iran. Iran not only saw three athletes take a medal, but incredibly, IM Pouya Idani, ranked 14th in the Under-18 Open group, and over 125 Elo behind the top seed, came in clear first after a flawless campaign.

IM Pouya Idani brought Iran its historic first gold in the Under-18 Open

Before proceeding to the pictures and standings of the deserving victors, it is worth noting that a statement was published on FIDE’s site concerning the lack of Israeli flag in the event. It turns out it was not a slight by the hosts, but rather a request by the Israelis themselves for security reasons. Here is the statement in full:

Announcement by the Israel Chess Federation

Yesterday the 2013 World Youth concluded in Al Ain, in the U.A.E. with the participation of 1773 players from 171 federations. The Israeli delegation which took part in the event consisted of 5 players and several accompanying persons. 

During the event there were several publications and petitions from several institutes and individuals about the fact that the flags of Israel were removed from the relevant tables in the tournament and from the official web as well and replaced by flags of FIDE. We would like to state very clearly that this move was done as a result of our security people's request and with full cooperation with the local organizers. While we believe that participation of Israeli players in events held in Arabic countries, and vice versa of course, with Israeli flags is very positive and contributing to a good atmosphere, we all realize that such events need security solutions and strict cooperation about. 

We cordially appreciate all those who were standing on our rights in what looked like a breach of it but we stress again - this was not a decision or initiative of the U.A.E. authorities but ours and we would like to thank the organizers and FIDE events commission for their cooperation and for the excellent treatment our delegation was met. 

Gens Una Sumus

Israel Gelfer 
FIDE Vice President 

Moshe Slav 
Chairman-Israel Chess Federation

Link to statement on FIDE site

A warm thank you to Team South Africa for sharing their wonderful pictures. See more at their Facebook page.

Girls final standings:

WYCC U8 Girls Classic

Canadian Harmony Zhu receives her gold medal

Three proud winners in the Girls Under-8

WYCC U10 Girls Classic

Iranian Motahare Asadi (silver) and Indian Saina Salonik (gold) are jubilant

WYCC U12 Girls Classic

China's Shengxin Zhao (right) took gold in the Girls Under-12

WYCC U14 Girls Classic

Although Stavroula Tsolakidou from Greece (center) came in as the top seed,
she never led and spent much of the event playing catch-up after an unexpected
loss in round three. Her doggedness and competitivity earned her the gold
with a key last-round win.

WYCC U16 Girls Classic

Giu Tianlu (right) took gold with a better tiebreak over Irene Nicolas Zapata,
who won silver

Iranian WGM Sarasadat Khadem stumbled in the last round
taking bronze, but avenged herself with the Gold medal in
the WYCC 2013 Blitz

WYCC U18 Girls Classic

Belarus WGM Nastassia Ziazulkina (silver), Russian Lida Tomnikova (gold), and
Sabina Ibrahimova from Azerbaidjan (bronze)

Open final standings:

WYCC U8 Open Classic

Indian Praggnanandhaa (center) had a flawless campaign, and silver won by
Isik Can from Turkey (left) and bronze by Elshan Suleymanli Aydin (right) were
only decided in the last round with nine others

WYCC U10 Open Classic

It was a dynamic duo for USA in the Open Under-10 with a near clean sweep
by Awonder Liang (right) with 10.0/11 and gold, and silver for David Peng (left)

WYCC U12 Open Classic

Armenian Aram Akobyan (middle) had a fantastic tournament with 9.5/11 and a
2400+ performance in spite of his 2015 FIDE rating

WYCC U14 Open Classic

Chinese player Li Di came ranked 40th with 2091 FIDE, but took clear first with
9.5/11 and a 2434 performance

Serbian Milan Zajic took silver ahead of...

...Saparmyrat Atabayev from Turkmenistan with bronze.

WYCC U16 Open Classic

It was an Indian tag team for gold and silver by Murali Karthikeyan (center)
and Koushik Girish (left), while Russian Kirill Alekseenko took bronze, edging out
many rivals on tiebreak

WYCC U18 Open Classic

The medalists in the Under-18 Open: David Anton Guijarro (silver), Pouya Idani (gold)
and Suri Vaibhav (bronze)

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games will be 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 there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.