9/16/2018 – Although the gold medal in the open section had already been confirmed by Parham Maghsoodloo, the fight for other medals was exciting on the last day of the World Juniors 2018. Esipenko managed to beat Maghsoodloo, but it wasn't good enough for a medal for the Russian. Silver went to Abhimanyu Puranik who beat Aram Hakobyan and bronze to Sergei Lobanov who got the better of Johan-Sebastien Christiansen. In the Girls section, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova drew her last round game which allowed Aleksandra Maltsevskaya to overtake her and win the gold. Tokhirjonova had to be content with silver and bronze to Nino Khomeriki.

9/14/2018 – The Open section has ceased to be interesting from the gold medal point of view as GM Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran notched up another win, this time against Awonder Liang from America. Maghsoodloo is on 8½/9 and has a 1½ point lead over the field with a rating performance of 2944! In the Girls section, there is everything to play for as five girls are tied for the top spot with 7.0/9. Among the five, four are Russian and one is from Uzbekistan. It will be exciting to see who comes out on top — Maltsevskaya, Dordzhieva, Tokhirjonova, Assaubayeva or Potapova?

9/13/2018 – Parham Maghsoodloo has shown some tremendous chess at the World Juniors 2018. He is currently the sole leader with a score of 7½/8. He has a lead of one full point over his rivals. On 6½/8 we have Awonder Liang followed by ten players on 6.0/8. In the Girls section Maltsevskaya, Khomeriki and Dordzhieva are leading with 6½/8. They are being followed by five more players on 6.0/8. While Maghsoodloo is a clear favourite for gold in the Open section, nothing is clear in the Girls. Round eight report from Gebze, Turkey. | Photo: Amruta Mokal