World Junior Championships: Niemann and Yip head lineups in Mexico City

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/21/2023 – The World Junior Championships will take place from September 21 to October 1 at the Hotel del Prado in Mexico City. Two US representatives, Hans Niemann and Carissa Yip, are the top seeds in the open and the women’s section, respectively. The event is an 11-round Swiss Open. Former champions of the prestigious under-20 championships include Levon Aronian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Humpy Koneru (women’s). | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
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Eleven days, eleven rounds

Winning the World Junior Championship has traditionally been considered as a reputable achievement. The prestige linked to the event prompted FIDE to make it a demanding tournament, with 11 rounds a long-enough distance for luck not to play a prominent role.

As of late, however, given how the prodigious talents climb up the rating ladder at ever younger ages, fewer of the strongest under-20 players decide to take part in the event.

This year, for example, the seven highest-rated junior players in the world are skipping the event — understandably, given the level they have reached in the main circuit. Alireza Firouzja is already a regular in the Grand Chess Tour and Praggnanandhaa recently qualified to the 2024 Candidates Tournament, while Vincent Keymer and Nihal Sarin will participate in the European Club Cup, starting on October 1.

Notwithstanding, the tournament will be extremely competitive and entertaining. The top seeds in the open section are Hans Niemann (United States), Frederik Svane (Germany) and Arseniy Nesterov (FIDE), while the lineup in the women’s section is headed by Carissa Yip (United States), Candela Francisco (Argentina) and Mariam Mkrtchyan (Armenia).

Unfortunately, five Indian players who intended to participate will not make it to Mexico City due to visa issues. These players do not have a Schengen visa nor a valid United States visa — both of which would grant them the right to enter Mexican territory — and have failed to access the Mexican online system to solicit the visa, according to Indian GM Pravin Thipsay.

The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 minutes until the end of the game, with 30-second increments from the start.

Schedule

  • The tournament lasts 11 days, as it includes a double-round day (September 22) and a rest day (September 25).
  • Rounds start daily at 16.00 local time (0.00 CEST, 18.00 ET, 3.30 IST), except for round 11, which starts six hours earlier than usual.
  • On the double-round day (September 22), round 2 starts at 10.00 local time and round 3 starts at 17.00 local time.

Mexico City

Mexico City’s ‘Palacio de Bellas Artes’ (Palace of Fine Arts)

Participants - Open

No. Name Rtg
1 NIEMANN, Hans Moke 2667
2 SVANE, Frederik 2626
3 NESTEROV, Arseniy 2575
4 MAURIZZI, Marc`andria 2555
5 MAKARIAN, Rudik 2548
6 AMAR, Elham 2541
7 DUDIN, Gleb 2537
8 SCHITCO, Ivan 2533
9 KACHARAVA, Nikolozi 2528
10 AVILA PAVAS, Santiago 2510
11 PRANAV, Anand 2509
12 PETKOV, Momchil 2499
13 GHARIBYAN, Mamikon 2495
14 GIREL, Joseph 2494
15 BUDISAVLJEVIC, Luka 2492
16 SUBELJ, Jan 2492
17 KOELLNER, Ruben Gideon 2485
18 RODRIGUE-LEMIEUX, Shawn 2485
19 STEFANSSON, Vignir Vatnar 2484
20 WOODWARD, Andy 2480

...146 players

Participants - Women’s

No. Name Rtg
1 YIP, Carissa 2372
2 FRANCISCO GUECAMBURU, Candela Be 2345
3 MKRTCHYAN, Mariam 2343
4 RAKSHITTA, Ravi 2272
5 HRYZLOVA, Sofiia 2228
6 KRASTEVA, Beloslava 2223
7 LU, Miaoyi 2214
8 CIOLACU, Alessia-Mihaela 2199
9 KANYAMARALA, Trisha 2183
10 GETMAN, Tatyana 2172
11 OBREGON GARCIA, Roxangel 2171
12 HERNANDEZ GIL, Ineymig 2170
13 DEMCHENKO, Svitlana 2169
14 RODRIGUEZ REDONDO, Adhara 2135
15 GORAJ, Barbara 2135
16 ZHANG, Xiao 2128
17 BOMMINI, Mounika Akshaya 2096
18 VANDUYFHUYS, Daria 2088
19 TER-AVETISJANA, Agnesa Stepania 2080
20 WALTER, Ema 2063

...85 players

Links

Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.