Report after nine rounds
By John Henderson
The battle for the World Junior crown, taking place at the luxurious five-star
Cidade de Goa in India, now more than ever looks to be heading for a nail-biting
final few rounds, as the leading group in first place expands further to eight
players.
As the top three boards opted for safety with draws, the main casualties of
round nine turned out to be the Chinese, as both Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua suffered
losses that more or less put paid to their chances of a that elusive, first
title. Top seed Bu lost to India's latest GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, who now
joins the leading pack, as does Poland's Radislav Wojtaszek after inflicting
a second successive defeat on Ni Hua.
England's Luke McShane, looking to become the first British player to capture
the title since Tony Miles in 1974, also stays among the leading group on 6.5/9.
And, with just four rounds of play left in the prestigious junior title, McShane
is joined in equal first with Levon Aronian of Armenia, Ferenc Berkes of Hungary,
Radislav Wojtasjek of Poland, the Russian duo of Artyom Timofeev and Dimitry
Jakovenko, and Indians Pedalya Harikrishna and Ganguly.
Round nine also proved to be a good one for Scotland's Graeme Kafka, as he
beat India's Gurpreet Singh Maras for his first win of the tournament. He now
moves up the table to 70th with 3.5/9.
The women's competition now also looks set for a dramatic final few rounds
as defending champion GM Humpy Koneru of India closes to within half a point
of leader Zhao Xue of China, who leads with 7.5/9.
Standings after ten rounds
Boys |
1
|
Luke McShane |
GM
|
England |
7.5
|
2
|
Aronian Levon |
GM
|
Armenia |
7.0
|
3
|
Berkes Ferenc |
GM
|
Hungary |
7.0
|
4
|
Harikrishna P |
GM
|
India |
7.0
|
5
|
Poobesh Anand S. |
|
India |
7.0
|
6
|
Surya Sekhar Ganguly |
IM
|
India |
7.0
|
7
|
Timofeev Artyom |
IM
|
Russia |
7.0
|
8
|
Wojtaszek Radoslaw |
|
Poland |
7.0
|
9
|
David Craig Smerdon |
IM
|
Australia |
6.5
|
10
|
Erenburg Sergey |
IM
|
Israel |
6.5
|
11
|
Ghaem Maghami Ehsan |
GM
|
Iran |
6.5
|
12
|
Miton Kamil |
IM
|
Poland |
6.5
|
13
|
Neelotpal Das |
IM
|
India |
6.5
|
14
|
Yakovenko Dmitri |
GM
|
Russia |
6.5
|
Girls |
1
|
Zhao Xue |
WGM
|
China |
8.0
|
2
|
Koneru Humpy |
WGM
|
India |
7.5
|
3
|
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
WGM
|
Russia |
7.5
|
4
|
Wang Yu |
WGM
|
China |
7.0
|
5
|
Calotescu Ana-Cristina |
|
Romania |
6.5
|
6
|
Eesha Karavade |
|
India |
6.5
|
7
|
Kosintseva Tatiana |
WGM
|
Russia |
6.5
|
8
|
Moser Eva |
WGM
|
Austria |
6.5
|
9
|
Oubiennykh Ekaterina |
WFM
|
Russia |
6.5
|
10
|
Tian Tian |
WGM
|
China |
6.5
|
Pictures from Paradise
An illustrated report by Vishal Sareen/Vijay Kumar
The World Juniors at Goa is a grand success on all counts. Picturesque locales.
Good hospitality and nice playing environment.

St. Francis Xavier Church in Goa

The Mangesh Temple

The Mangesh Temple Tower

Lobby of the Cidade de Goa Hotel, venue of the championship
Barring of course the fact that the boys cannot watch the games of the girls
and vice versa! The reason cited in one of the meetings was that it is a distraction,
as because of the ‘hot’ weather here, the girls are finding the most
suitable cloths.

Forbidden for the boys, who are not even allowed a peek: the girls tournament

Silje Bjerke of Norway
Portraits of the girls

P Priya India
|

Zhao Xue, China |

Leonie Helm, Germany
|

Koneru Humpy, India* |

Tatiana Kosintseva, Russia
|

Jana Jackova, Czech Republic |

Tania Sachdeva, India* |

Natalia Pogonina, Russia |
* Koneru Humpy is the Reigning World Junior
Champion, Tania Sachdeva the reigning Asian Junior Girls Champion. |

Dronavalli Harika, 11, created an Asian record by becoming the youngest
ever International Women Master after she defeated Tana Halusova of Czech republic
in the 10th round.
So this time around the girls and boys have been separated despite playing
in the same hall. No peeping! And yet when it did not stop it is said that the
temperature in the tournament hall was decreased quite substantially to avoid
tension! Only the boys are minding that!?
The competition however has been fierce. On-board and off-board. With some
of the excellently fought games to some blooming romances. No one’s complaining
here!
The pick of the boys’ tournament so far has been Levon Aronian who has
played some of the best games here. It has been a five way lead at the top after
the first eight games with Englishman Luke McShane, Russians Artyom Timofeev
and Dimitry Jakovenko and Indian P Hari Krishna joining Aronian with 6 points
each in their kitty.
McShane was the early leader here with some spectacular wins in the first few
rounds but his loss against Aronian was costly. Timofeev has been steady while
Jakovenko and Hari Krishna have been winning and drawing intermittently. The
Championship is interestingly poised!
In the Girls’ championship Zhao Xue of China is looking strong with 7
points from the first 8 games. Defending champion and top seed Koneru Humpy
is a full point behind the Chinese with 6 points in her bag and it appears that
remaining round will see a race between these two to determine this years’
girls champion.

Participants enjoying a cruise ride on their free day
Everything is being done to perfection. On the rest day after the seventh round,
the players were taken to sightseeing in the morning and to a Cruise in the
evening. Some of them danced there too!
The venue is excellent with a beach attached to it and some of the finest locales
in this formal Portugeese Colony. There is ear-soothing music almost everyday
at the beach and a Casino that is visited by quite a few.
With five more rounds remaining the battle for the crowns and other fronts
is only likely to heat up in the rounds to come!
Vishal Sareen/Vijay Kumar