Parham Maghsoodloo is the unstoppable force at the World Juniors 2018. No matter what his position is, he is able to stir up some play and win the game. In the eighth round, he was up against the in-form Karthik Venkatraman from India. The position didn't seem anything special but Parham found the most accurate moves and converted the game into a full point.
The unstoppable force at the World Juniors 2018 - Parham Maghsoodloo | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Interview with Parham Maghsoodloo after his victory
When Awonder Liang was paired against Alireza Firouzja, it was clear that the match was going to be extremely interesting. Alireza is a month or two younger than Awonder. In the game, the American was in his best form as he found one strong move after another, while Alireza surprisingly seemed off balance. His first error came as early as move 14:
Liang took on f6 which had to be recaptured by the pawn and after Nh4-f5, White was in the driver's seat. Firouzja tried to complicate the game as much as he could, but White was just too solid with his pawn chain in the centre.
Firouzja's opening choice landed him in a miserable position after the first 15 moves and Liang didn't give him a chance | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Awonder Liang speaks about his win against Alireza Firouzja
Awonder Liang with his father after his game | Photo: Amruta Mokal
When the game ended, Firouzja didn't leave the playing hall in a hurry or anger. He, in fact, sat down with Liang on the analysis board and analysed the game in great detail. The young boy from Iran knows that in order to become a stronger chess player, what he needs is to learn from his every mistake and become stronger. And hence instead of getting angry or depressed, he spent time analyzing the game. A great attitude.
Alireza and Liang analyzing the game
Abhimanyu Puranik played the second seed of the tournament Jorden van Foreest and won against him.
Get to know Puranik better through this interview on his win against van Foreest
The top board clash between Komeriki and Maltsevskaya ended in a draw | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, with blue nail polish to match the Russian flag, is one of the three leaders of the tournament | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The Girls section is very interestingly poised at this moment with three players on 6½/8 — Maltsevskaya, Khomeriki and Dozdzhieva. We have another five players on 6.0/8. It remains extremely unclear who will go back with the medals and it should be exciting to follow.
Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova played a beautiful endgame against Akshita Gorti to score a win and move to 6.0/8 | Photo: Amruta Mokal
It's really nice to see that players analyze their games after it is over | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Amin Tabatabaei played the rook endgame in flawless style to beat solid German GM Dmitrij Kollars | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The mind and heart behind the tournament — two important members of the Turkish Chess Federation: Ozgur Solakoglu (left) and Gulkiz Tulay | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Chinese team coach GM Wen Yang | Photo: Amruta Mokal
