ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
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The Acción Cultural Española organised a worldwide school tournament at the "Expo 2020" in Dubai, which was postponed to 2021. 293 teams with 2,637 players from 53 countries took part in this huge scholastic tournament.
After the preliminaries, which were played online at Chess24, the Spanish Chess Federation invited the best twelve teams to play the finals live in the Spanish Pavilion at the Expo. Incidentally, Judit Polgar is also sitting there, commentating the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi together with Anish Giri, who, however, shares his insights from the Netherlands.
118 young people from India, Mongolia, Peru, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the USA, Israel, Spain, Turkey and the UAE took part in the final round.
The twelve teams were divided into two groups and the six teams in each group now played a round-robin. The two best teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage. In Group A, the team from Velammal Nexus was the clear favourite. With Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Mendonca, the Indians brought no less than three strong Grandmasters to the start, plus an IM, a Candidate Master and a student without a title, who probably still would have had good chances to be the number one chess player in most schools of the world.
The Velammel Educational Trust is a private school and educational organisation founded in 1986 by Shrimati. M. V. Muthuramalingam. The trust began with 30 students but today, the "Velammal Educational Empire" comprises 30 institutions including three nursery schools, one boarding school, three international schools, eight high schools, eleven CBSE schools, three technical colleges and one medical college with a total of more than 90,000 students and 8500 members of staff.
Anand opens the round
The Velammal Nexus School won their preliminary group quite confidently, and the three grandmasters won all their games. The winner of the B group was the team of the 33rd Secondary School from Mongolia, which was also stocked with title holders.
The tournament venue
The breaks offered time for more chess
After the group stage, the two best teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage. Here, Velammal Nexus won against School #1, which was also from Mongolia, and the surprisingly strong team of Saco Oliveros from Lima (Peru), which had finished second in group A, eliminated the 33rd Secondary School.
Group picture with World Champion
In the final, Velammal Nexus defeated the Saco Oliveros team, but only 3-2. The 33rd Secondary School from Mongolia finished third.
Selfie with Dana Reizniece and the well-travelled Peruvians
The strong Peruvians from Saco Oliveros in Lima
The Velammal Nexus School received the trophy from Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, and José Manuel Franco, Spanish Secretary of State for Sport.
| Rk. | Team | Tb1 | Tb2 |
| 1 | Velammal Nexus | 15 | 21,5 |
| 2 | Saco Oliveros | 13 | 19,0 |
| 3 | Gujarat State Chess Association | 11 | 15,0 |
| 4 | EDM Torrelavega | 9 | 9,0 |
| 5 | Mission San Jose Hopkins Junior | 7 | 9,5 |
| 6 | Al Ain Culture & Chess Club | 5 | 1,0 |
| Rk. | Team | Tb1 | Tb2 |
| 1 | 33rd Secondary School | 14 | 16,5 |
| 2 | School #1 | 13 | 19,5 |
| 3 | Gymnazium Petra Bezruce | 9 | 10,0 |
| 4 | Istanbul Erkek Lisesi Team | 9 | 9,0 |
| 5 | Green Village Chess Academy | 8 | 10,0 |
| 6 | Csanyi Alapitvany Gyermekekert | 7 | 10,0 |
| Semifinals | |||||
| No. | Team | Team | Res. | : | Res. |
| 1 | Velammal Nexus | School #1 | 3½ | : | 1½ |
| 2 | Saco Oliveros | 33rd Secondary School | 3 | : | 2 |
| 3 | EDM Torrelavega | Gymnazium Petra Bezruce | 2 | : | 3 |
| 4 | Mission San Jose Hopkins Junior | Csanyi Alapitvany Gyermekekert | 3 | : | 2 |
| 5 | Gujarat State Chess Association | Istanbul Erkek Lisesi Team | 3 | : | 2 |
| 6 | Al Ain Culture & Chess Club | Green Village Chess Academy | 1 | : | 4 |
| Finals | |||||
| Nr. | Team | Team | Res. | : | Res. |
| 1 | Velammal Nexus | Saco Oliveros | 3 | : | 2 |
| 2 | School #1 | 33rd Secondary School | 2½ | : | 2½ |
| 3 | Gujarat State Chess Association | Gymnazium Petra Bezruce | 2 | : | 3 |
| 4 | Istanbul Erkek Lisesi Team | EDM Torrelavega | 1 | : | 4 |
| 5 | Green Village Chess Academy | Mission San Jose Hopkins Junior | 2 | : | 3 |
| 6 | Csanyi Alapitvany Gyermekekert | Al Ain Culture & Chess Club | 5 | : | 0 |
