World Junior R02+03: the tournament builds up

Rounds two and three: the tournament builds up!

By Sagar Shah

While the first round saw many lopsided pairings, things started to get a little more interesting in the second and third rounds of the World Junior Chess Championships 2014. After three rounds, the Open section has five players with a perfect score of 3.0/3. They are Wei Yi (2641), Cori Jorge (2612), Kovalev Vladislav (2548), Lu Shanglei (2533), Idani Pouya (2517). Surprisingly in the girls section we already have a sole leader with three points: FM Daria Pustovoita (2354) of Russia. As was the case with the first round report, here too we will let the pictures do the talking.

One of the prime examples of how a well prepared IM can give a tough time to super grandmasters
was the battle between GM Robin Van Kampen (2641) vs IM Bai Jinshi (2406)

Bai Jinshi was so well prepared that he hardly used his time for the 26 moves that he made and effortlessly drew against his opponent, who was rated almost 250 points above him

Two of the best Indian players crossed swords with each other in round three. GM Sahaj Grover (2491) vs GM Vidit Gujrathi (2635) ended in a draw. Vidit can be a little upset with the result as he had a clear advantage but he had some luck going his way when he converted a seemingly impossible position to win a rook endgame in round two.

After a scare in the first round, the Chinese super prodigy Wei Yi played confident chess in the next two rounds and is now 3.0/3. Surely, the readers are inquisitive as to what exactly happened in round one. Wei Yi missed a mate in 13 moves right out of the opening.

Out of the Chinese three players in the open section two are in the lead with 3.0/3. One is Wei Yi as mentioned above and the other is the blitz master Lu Shanglei (2533).

The 1995 born Chinese player Lu Shanglei recently beat Magnus Carlsen in World Blitz Championship. In the World Juniors he is playing extremely well and the finish to his third round game against IM Shardul Gagare was aesthetically beautiful.

38.Qe7-f7+ was a nice way to finish off the game

Kovalev Vladislav (2548) from Bulgaria is 3.0/3

FM Daria Pustovoitova (2354) is the sole leader in the women's section with 3.0/3

WFM Irina Petrukhina (2218) from Russia with a score of 2.5/3

WIM Ivana Maria Furtado drew with WGM Padmini Rout in round three and is now on 2.5/3

WIM Ni Shiqun (2312) of China is 2.0/3

Cyrielle Monpeurt (2115) from France is on 1.5/3

The two GM-hopefuls of India Aravindh Chithambaram and Murali Karthikeyan. Both have made their three GM norms and only need to cross 2500 to get the title. Murali was 2499 at the start of the tournament but lost his first round and is now 2492 in the Live Rating list, while Aravindh is on 2484.

Dhaval Shah, the co-owner of RBS Ahmednagar Checkers team in the
Mahrashtra Chess League watches the top games with two little fans.

Waiting for the players is really a boring job! Some pass their time reading books...

… while some simply doze off

The Under-10 World Champion Nihal Sarin is playing wonderfully with a score of 2.0/3. He has one win and two draws and all his opponents were rated above 2400. The little kid came to the analysis room to show his third round game, and the clarity with which he analysed the game was simply mind blowing.

An inspiring video showing Nihal's restless style of play, how he never sits at the board during the game

GM Abhijit Kunte (right), who is not only the main organizer of this event but also a strong grandmaster, came to the commentary room and analysed a few games with the author of these lines (middle). He was witty and funny, as you can see by the reaction of WGM Soumya Swaminathan (left)!

The interview with Abhijit Kunte starts at 2 hours 17 min, and Nihal Sarin's from 4h 28 min

The lobby of Hotel Grand Hyatt where the tournament is being played has a piano. We found a young boy trying his hand at the instrument. He was so good that we had to go and interview him. And guess what?!! He is a 2183 rated player from Finland and has 11 years of experience of playing the piano. His name is Erik Ronka and maybe he is the future Mark Taimanov!

Erik Ronka playing the third movement (Presto agitato) of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Piano Sonata

Pictures by Amruta Mokal

Top Open standings after three rounds

• Full results and standings of all 137 players here

Top Girls standings after three rounds

• Full results and standings of all 78 players here

Live video commentary on the official site by our reporters Sagar Shah and V. Saravanan

WJCC Round 2 Video Report

WJCC Round 3 Video Report

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN; Open + Girls (courtesy TWIC) The games are being 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 and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.