World Youth Championship – top scorers after nine rounds

The World Youth Chess Championship 2007 is taking place in Kemer-Antalya, Turkey, between November the 17th, 2007 (arrival) and November the 29th, 2007 (departure). There are separate groups for girls and for boys, under 8, under 10, under 12, under 14, under 16 and under 18 years old. Over 1500 players from 103 countries, with more than a thousand accompanying parents, trainers, VIPs, TCF staff, journalists, etc. are staying in the three official hotels, Limra, Alinda and Sailor's Beach. The numbers make this event the second largest in the country's history – certainly the biggest event staged with a single sport. The organisers are handling the onslaught with equanimity, having prepared for the possible arrival of up to 4,500 persons.

Top scorers after round nine

In the following tables we have the top scorers, which we define as players scoring over seven points in their nine games, except in the Under 16 and Under 18 sections, where we have included players with 6½ points as well.

After Round nine of the World Youth Chess Championship, Marsel Efroimski of Israel in Under 12 Girls is the only player with the perfect score of nine points out of nine games. In the Boys Under Twelve the great star Ilya Nyzhnyk is trailing the leader Ivan Bukavshin by half a point. In the Boys Under 18 GM Ivan Popov of Russia is in the lead with 7½/9, and in the Girls Under 18 it is WIM Katerina Nemcova of the Czech Republic leads with 8/9 points.

Boys under eight

Girls under eight

Boys under ten

Girls under ten

Boys under twelve

Girls under twelve

Boys under 14

Girls under 14

Boys under 16

Girls under 16

Boys under 18

Girls under 18

The Indians are coming...

S.P. Sethuraman (U-14), the Indian Under 15 champion is already an International Master at 14. He started the Under-14 as the top seed and is tipped to become a strong grandmaster in future from our Indian connections.

B. Adhiban (U-16), Asian under-16 gold medallist. Hails from Anand's city of Chennai. Adhiban is known to be very uncompromising on the board. He was playing qualification tournament for the Indian championship and needed a draw to make it. He played on nevertheless in true combative style and finally drew. Also an International Master.

S. Nitin (U-16), tall and charming Asian Under 14 gold and Under 16 silver winner

R. Ashwath (U-16), another boy from Chennai in the Under 16 section

V.A.V. Rajesh (U-16): this boy is playing in Under 16 section for some reasons. He was in the Under 12 age group last year.

Kiran Monisha Mohanty (U-18): late starter that she is, Kiran is almost in a hurry to catch up with the lost time. She has had some brilliant results off late, including her second place finish in the just concluded Indian women's championship. Watch her at Dresden for India.

Srinath Narayanan (U-14): Under 12 world champion in 2005. Another promise from the Chennai chess factory. Srinath loves to checkmate. The style is attacking and likes to calculate deep.

Bhakti Kulkarni (U-16) recently won the Indian juniors championship and came to limelight.

Shardul Gagare (U-10): won Asian Gold in Under 10.

Arjun Bharat (U-8): Very, very talented young lad, rated 1825. This 8-year-old from Bangalore stumbled into chess through an ability to learn video games by just looking at them for a few minutes.

C.H. Meghana (U-8) from Kerala is rated 1716,

Mary Ann Gomes (U-18) won the Asian Junior girls championship when it was held in Delhi the last time. She was also member of the Indian team just a couple of years back. Mary Ann scored six points in her first six games in Antalya.

J. Mohana Priya (U-14). Trivia: where is she from? Chennai, of course.

Krithika N. Pon. This girl has been around for quite a while...

Gogineni Rohit (U-18) has a couple of grandmaster norms and is in the next generation of Indian hopefuls who want to make it big. The GM norms were made earlier this year at Parsvnath tournament in Delhi and Aeroflot 'B'. Completing the title seems to be paramount in his mind for now. There will be more to look forward to, later of course.

Sahaj Grover (U-12) won the World Under 10 championship in 1995. He likes to sing. In a press conference soon after he won the U-10, he was actually asked to sing, and obliged the media in great style. Comes from the Indian capital. Strong material for future reference.

C.R. Varsha (U-8) broke one of her teeth while at play, just before the second round. Brave that she is, she came to play undeterred for her game and won.

Ivana Maria Furtado (U-8) is the defending champion in the Wourld Youth Under 8 section. When she won it last year she was only seven, and now she is back in the same group. After nine rounds she leads with 7½ points. Ivana is rich: a cash award of around US $15,000 followed after she won the championship last time. She hails from Goa, where a chess cult is being built by regional association President Sameer Salgaocar.

Pictures by Frederic Friedel, captions by Vishal Sareen

TCF Videos

• WYCC 2007 Free day (12.8 Mb)
• WYCC 2007 Organization Team (13.98 Mb)
• WYCC 2007 - Interview with players (23.4 Mb)
• WYCC 2007 - Turkish National Team (11.56 Mb)
• WYCC 2007 - Round 9 (13.46 Mb)
• WYCC 2007 - Interview with Italian Chess Player (4.66 Mb)
• WYCC 2007- Interview with Ecuador's Chess Player (12.5 Mb)
• Video report page of the Turkish Chess Federation

Links

• Official Youth World Championship web site
• Home page of the Turkish Chess Federation
• Main sponsor: Türkiye Is Bankasi