WYCC 2014: The winners and the stories

by Albert Silver
10/1/2014 – The night before the last round, only two players slept well, knowing they had bagged the gold. For the rest it meant a nail-biting last round to decide their fates. Would they be able to bask in everlasting glory, or would they lie awake for weeks to come, wondering about that one move, that defining moment? Here is the final report with all the results, pictures, and stories.

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A fine morning in Durban...

...a fine venue for a World Championship...

...Battle!

While some managed relaxed smiles, others showed the pressure of the moment

At stake were trophies, medals, and their names inscribed in the annals of chess history

See no evil, hear no evil

Aussie power

Touch Move

Naturally there were also tales of woe on the last day, but special credit must be given
to the adults who were there, and the gentle care they displayed

An official comes to see the distraught young player

Together they reassure him

The importance of the 'touch move' rule is explained

The last round had its fair share of nail biters

The officials and arbiters who helped run a smooth operation (or as smooth as can be
expected with 1000+ kids)

The collected signatures of the various arbiters and officials

The media was keen to cover the event

Final Standings Under-8 Boys

The winners of the Boys Under-8

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1   Makoveev Ilya U08 RUS 1799 9.5 0.5 1576
2 CM Tugstumur Yesuntumur U08 MGL 1612 9.5 0.5 1631
3 CM Mendonca Leon Luke U08 IND 1465 8.0 1.0 1446
4   Deng Yu Dong Michael U08 HKG 0 8.0 1.0 1562
5   Gukesh Dommaraju U08 IND 1661 8.0 1.0 1449

Final Standings Under-8 Girls

The winners of the WYCC Girls Under-8

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1   Davaakhuu Munkhzul U08 MGL 0 8.5 1.0 1209
2   Luu Ha Bich Ngoc U08 VIE 0 8.5 0.0 1266
3   Ezizova Bagul U08 TKM 0 8.0 0.0 1178
4 WCM Zvereva Margarita U08 RUS 1632 8.0 0.0 1237
5 WCM Eswaran Aksithi U08 USA 0 8.0 0.0 1154

Final Standings Under-10 Boys

Dmitry Tsoi celebrates his win over Sarin Nihal on board one, and although
Nihal could not be denied the gold, this gave Tsoi the bronze medal

Sarin Nihal took the gold, helping India become the top medal winner

FM Nodirbek Abdusattorov was the clear Elo favorite, but a loss in round
three forced him to play catchup for most of the event. Though he never
managed to threaten the eventual winner, he was rewarded with silver.

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1   Nihal Sarin U10 IND 2018 9.0 0.0 2075
2 FM Abdusattorov Nodirbek U10 UZB 2128 8.5 0.0 1928
3   Tsoi Dmitry U10 RUS 2027 8.5 0.0 1984
4 FM Praggnanandhaa R U10 IND 1836 8.0 0.0 1988
5   Dhanush Bharadwaj U10 IND 1888 8.0 0.0 1776

Final Standings Under-10 Girls

Who could have predicted the young Indian Divya Deshmukh would run away with the
tournament despite being ranked 13th? Her main opposition was Bibbisara Assaubayeva,
rated over 300 Elo more, and who ultimately tied with 10.0/11, losing on tiebreak.

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 WFM Divya Deshmukh U10 IND 1607 10.0 0.5 1867
2 WFM Assaubayeva Bibissara U10 KAZ 1927 10.0 0.5 1923
3 WFM Asadi Motahare U10 IRI 1726 8.0 0.0 1539
4   Song Yuxin U10 CHN 0 8.0 0.0 1628
5   Nurgali Nazerke U10 KAZ 1634 7.5 0.0 1458

Final Standings Under-12 Boys

This was by far the most surprising result, with American star FM Liang Awonder, rated 2323
failing to make the top five, while his compatriot David Peng led but lost in the very last round.
The US sighed in relief as Rayan Taghizadeh snatched bronze, despite the surprise finish, and
four players tied at 8.5/11.

Armenian Shant Sargsyan was the one denied the podium on tiebreak. Always a tough break,
but he can at least leave knowing he scored as well as the winners.

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 FM Nguyen Anh Khoi U12 VIE 2208 8.5 0.0 2241
2   Zarubitski Viachaslau U12 BLR 2130 8.5 0.0 2213
3   Taghizadeh Rayan U12 USA 2026 8.5 0.0 2191
4 CM Sargsyan Shant U12 ARM 2077 8.5 0.0 2058
5 CM Peng David T U12 USA 2011 8.0 0.0 2098

Final Standings Under-12 Girls

The final round was just a formality for American WFM Jennifer Wu,
who had secured sole first the day before. A fantastic win.

The winners of the Girls Under-12

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 WFM Yu Jennifer R U12 USA 2043 10.0 0.0 2199
2 WFM Solozhenkina Elizaveta U12 RUS 1946 8.0 0.0 2003
3   Badelka Olga U12 BLR 2091 8.0 0.0 1958
4 WFM Antova Gabriela U12 BUL 1989 7.5 0.0 1888
5   Priyanka Nutakki U12 IND 1756 7.5 0.0 1909

Final Standings Under-14 Boys

The winners of the Boys Under-14

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1   Liu Yan U14 CHN 2364 9.5 0.0 2529
2 FM Tabatabaei M.Amin U14 IRI 2326 8.5 0.5 2306
3 FM Costachi Mihnea U14 ROU 2356 8.5 0.5 2405
4   Sarana Alexey U14 RUS 2411 8.0 1.0 2421
5   Panchanatham Vignesh U14 USA 2276 8.0 0.0 2283

Final Standings Under-14 Girls

The winners of the Girls Under-14

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 WFM Zhou Qiyu U14 CAN 2119 8.5 0.5 2169
2 WFM Kiolbasa Oliwia U14 POL 2094 8.5 0.5 2129
3 WFM Vaishali Ramesh Babu U14 IND 2124 8.0 0.0 2098
4 WFM Obolentseva Alexandra U14 RUS 2151 8.0 0.0 2061
5   Yuan Ye U14 CHN 2098 8.0 0.0 2103

Final Standings Under-16 Boys

Argentine IM Alan Pichot arrived in the last round tied with three others
at 8.0/10, ahead of three more at 7.5/10. Of the leaders he was the
only one to win, bringing an important gold medal to Argentina.

Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. was the leader of the Boys Under-16 for
most of the tournament until he lost twice in a row in rounds eight and
nine. For many this would be it, but he got his head back together, won
his final two games, and took silver on tiebreak.

The winners of the Boys Under-16

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 IM Pichot Alan U16 ARG 2452 9.0 0.0 2595
2 IM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. U16 IND 2496 8.5 0.0 2537
3 FM Bellahcene Bilel U16 FRA 2428 8.5 0.0 2504
4 FM Rambaldi Francesco U16 ITA 2456 8.5 0.0 2428
5 IM Karthikeyan Murali U16 IND 2462 8.0 0.0 2455

Final Standings Under-16 Girls

Although the deepst congratulations must be given to Laura Unuk for winning the gold,
a special note must made of second place Stavroula Tsolakidou from Greece who could
have played in the Under-14

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 WFM Unuk Laura U16 SLO 2247 9.0 0.0 2287
2 WFM Tsolakidou Stavroula U14 GRE 2250 8.5 0.0 2224
3 WFM Gazikova Veronika U16 SVK 2134 8.0 0.0 2127
4 WFM Mahalakshmi M U16 IND 2048 8.0 0.0 2190
5 WFM Monnisha Gajendra U16 IND 2078 8.0 0.0 2163

Final Standings Under-18 Boys

With a 2700+ performance, IM Olexander Bortnyck led from beginning
to end, never giving his GM rival a chance

The podium of the Boys Under-18

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 IM Bortnyk Olexandr U18 UKR 2505 9.5 0.0 2711
2 GM Vaibhav Suri U18 IND 2521 9.0 0.0 2624
3 IM Henriquez Villagra Cristobal U18 CHI 2466 7.5 0.0 2480
4 IM Bluebaum Matthias U18 GER 2521 7.5 0.0 2504
5 FM Studer Noel U18 SUI 2404 7.5 0.0 2452

Final Standings Under-18 Girls

WGM Dinara Saduakassova lived up to her favoritism, and ran away with the title. German
WIM Filiz Osmanodja was part of the group fighting for silver and bronze with 7.5/10, but
she alone won, taking silver. WFM Xiao Yiyi beat WFM Polina Rodionova to take bronze.

Rk   Name Cat Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf
1 WGM Saduakassova Dinara U18 KAZ 2409 10.0 0.0 2515
2 WIM Osmanodja Filiz U18 GER 2310 8.5 0.0 2313
3 WFM Xiao Yiyi U18 CHN 2168 8.0 0.0 2211
4 WFM Rodionova Polina U18 RUS 2090 7.5 0.0 2236
5   Nandhidhaa Pallathur V. U18 IND 2144 7.5 0.0 2186

We would like to extend special thanks to Reint Dykema who has provided wonderful pictures at the South African Chess Federation's Facebook page. The pictures presented here are but the smallest sample of his work.

About the photographer

Reint Dykema has been taking photos for 24 years. He developed a passion for photography and this has lead him on the path of capturing the emotions at weddings in wedding photography, and this passion followed his children’s passions of which chess is but one. A chess player himself and Fide development trainer, this also helps him to understand the position the players are in  and trying to reflect that. Not good at waiting for hours at chess games, chess photography has become a natural outlet for a photography and chess enthusiast.

Links

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 there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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