Winners 2007 World Youth Chess Championships

Hot off the presses from Chessbase: Boys Under 18: GM Popov Ivan 2539 RUS 9 Girls Under 18: WFM Gunina Valentina 2359 RUS 9 Boys Under 16: FM Chirila Ioan Cristian 2423 ROU 8½ Girls Under 16: Tsatsalashvili Keti 2161 GEO 8½ (USA's WFM Alisa Melekhina 2208 finished in 11th place with 7½) Boys Under 14: IM Sjugirov Sanan 2422 RUS 9 (USA's Ray Robson 2368 finished in 7th place with 8 points) Girls Under 14: WFM Paikidze Nazi 2292 GEO 9½ (USA's Dai Yang 1959 finished in 14th place with 7½) Boys Under 12: Naroditsky Daniel 2124 USA 9½ Girls Under 12: Efroimski Marsel 1911 ISR 9½ Boys Under 10: Wang Tong Sen 0 CHN 10 (USA's Brian J. Luo 1946 finished in 7th place with 8) Girls Under 10: Styazhkina Anna 1869 RUS 9½ (USA's Sarah Chiang 0 finished in 2nd place with 8½) Boys Under 8: Savenkov Konstantin 0 RUS 10 (USA's Jonathan Chiang 0 finished in 6th place with 8) Girls Under 8: Furtado Ivana Maria 0 IND 9 (USA's Simone Liao 0 finished in 6th place with 8) Congratulations to the winners and to all of the chessplayers who participated in this huge event. The Russians dominated the gold medals but the USA's performances are promising, particularly in the younger ranks.

Ivana Furtado Under 8 Girls World Chess Champion

Impressive - and great for chess in India. Goa’s Chess prodigy Ivana retains world title BY SPORTS REPORTER PANJIM, NOV 28 – There is no stopping Ivana Furtado. After securing a place in the Limca Book of Records for being India’s youngest world champion, Ivana added another feather to her cap by retaining the World Girls under-8 chess title at Antalya, Turkey. On Wednesday, Ivana – playing with black pieces — kept her cool and played the all-important draw with Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan) to retain her title. She secured nine points from a maximum of 11 after winning eight games, drawing two and losing one. Ivana now becomes only the third girl after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika to win more than one world age group title. Ivana’s title triumph in distant Antalya was received with a thunderous applause right from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. World champion Viswanathan Anand was among the first to congratulate Goa’s child prodigy. The World Champion hailed the triumph and said he was delighted that there was one more age group world champion. “I was in contact with Ivana Furtado and was supposed to have played a simultaneous in Goa but could not make it,” Anand said on the AICF’s official website, before continuing, “I am happy for her win and wish her well.” Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said Ivana’s amazing success at Antalya will be a great motivator for youngsters in Goa. “I am sure Ivana’s triumph will inspire many others,” said Digambar. Goa State Chess Association President Sameer Salgaoncar attributed Ivana’s success to her coach Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale, her family and GSCA.

American Boy New Under 12 Category World Chess Champion

Wow! San Francisco Chronicle Foster City boy wins world chess championship in Turkey Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 28, 2007 (11-28) 16:25 PST ANTALYA, TURKEY -- A Bay Area sixth grader captured the world championship in chess for the under-12 division after a final two-hour match Wednesday in Antalya, Turkey. Daniel Naroditsky, of Foster City, had the highest score of the 160 boys in his division after 11 rounds at the World Youth Chess Championship, taking the gold medal for the United States. Girls play in separate divisions. Daniel won nine of his games over the two-week tournament, lost one and played to a draw with the previously ranked No. 1 player and chess wunderkind Illya Nyzhnyk, of Ukraine. His victory also earned him the title of Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) Master, an international distinction coveted by competitive chess players. "It's unbelievable," said Daniel's father Vladimir Naroditsky of the gold medal. "It's a huge accomplishment to this country." Daniel started playing when he was 6 and within months was forcing his father to think about his moves. The 12-year-old plays chess a few hours a day and more on the weekends and studies and plays with grand masters at the Mechanics' Institute Library and Chess Club in San Francisco. He is a student at Hillsborough's Crystal Springs Upland School. Daniel was unavailable given the time difference and his pre-dawn departure from Turkey. His father said he told him earlier in the day that he was very happy about the victory. "But the first question he asked is whether he has to go to school on Friday," Naroditsky said.

2007 World Youth Chess Championships

Some standings after Round 10: Girls Under 18: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Fide Rp 1 5 WIM NEMCOVA Katerina 2255 CZE 8 47 2414 2 1 WFM GUNINA Valentina 2359 RUS 8 40 2285 3 3 WIM GOMES Mary Ann 2262 IND 7½ 47 2279 4 9 WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2220 TUR 7½ 43 2357 5 13 WFM HAMRAKULOVA Yulduz 2185 UZB 7½ 42 2239 6 18 ANDRENKO Irina 2145 UKR 7 40 2313 7 7 RAKIC Marija 2232 SRB 7 38 2223 8 20 PREETHI R 2125 IND 7 35 2180 9 23 WFM STEIL-ANTONI Fiona 2104 LUX 6½ 42 2208 10 8 WIM IGNACZ Maria 2223 HUN 6½ 39½ 2207 USA Players' Standings: (21) NIKOLOVA Ettie 2049 6; (57) KERR Julia 2026 4; (59) KATS Elina 0 USA 4. Girls Under 16: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Fide Rp 1 1 WFM GIRYA Olga 2338 RUS 8½ 47½ 2372 2 11 TSATSALASHVILI Keti 2161 GEO 8 48 2333 3 12 WFM REPINA Varvara 2154 RUS 7½ 43 2270 4 20 WFM NAKHBAYEVA Guliskhan 2098 KAZ 7½ 43 2196 5 16 IVANENKO Olga 2125 UKR 7½ 41½ 2168 6 8 WFM OZTURK Kubra 2174 TUR 7½ 40 2227 7 2 WFM GURAMISHVILI Sopiko 2305 GEO 7 39½ 2158 8 5 MAMMADOVA Gulnar 2217 AZE 7 36 2127 9 26 OLSAROVA Tereza 2048 CZE 7 36 1947 10 4 VOJINOVIC Jovana 2227 MNE 7 35½ 2137 USA Players' Standings: (18) WFM MELEKHINA Alisa 2208 6½; (22) WFM MARSHALL Abby 2208 6; (46) JAMISON Courtney 1949 5; (63) LIVSCHITZ Louiza 2005 4½. In the Boys' Under 14, USA's Ray Robson is in 5th place with 7.5 - one point of the lead. Here are the top 5 in that category: 1 10 WANG Chen 2311 CHN 8½ 2 2 IM SJUGIROV Sanan 2422 RUS 8 3 3 FM TER-SAHAKYAN Samvel 2389 ARM 8 4 7 KANAREK Marcel 2324 POL 8 5 5 FM ROBSON Ray 2368 USA 7½

Chess Updates

Is there anyone out there who hasn't read by now that Garry Kasparov was arrested by the Facist Putin government and sentenced to 5 days in jail for participating in an "illegal" demonstration? I've never been a particular fan of Kasparov, but the man has a right to demonstrate peaceably against the Putin regime. Putin is just another Lenin - in better clothes. And he buries the bodies better. I weep for Russia. Putin has most of the people there totally schmoozed because he's filled the government coffers with oil and gas revenues; those he hasn't been able to pay off he's eliminated in various ways. Russia has gone back to the Dark Ages, regressing backward in terms of political freedom and economic development for the average person. What a shame, what a dirty rotten shame. Other chess updates: 2007 World Cup WGM Xu Yuhua (CHN 2517) was eliminated from the World Cup after losing both of her first round games (0 0) to Vladimir Malakhov (RUS 2690). As far as I can tell, Xu was the only female participating in the event, so I won’t be following it any further, it's just the same old boring faces playing each other. 2007 World Youth Chess Championships Things are moving along; 8 rounds have been completed. Top 10 Under 18-Girls Standings (79 players): Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Fide Rp 1 5 WIM NEMCOVA Katerina 2255 CZE 7 31 2496 2 9 WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2220 TUR 6½ 29 2384 3 23 WFM STEIL-ANTONI Fiona 2104 LUX 6½ 29 2309 4 3 WIM GOMES Mary Ann 2262 IND 6 33 2264 5 1 WFM GUNINA Valentina 2359 RUS 6 25 2189 6 13 WFM HAMRAKULOVA Yulduz 2185 UZB 5½ 28 2164 7 12 WIM UMUDOVA Nargiz 2188 AZE 5½ 27 2211 8 17 WFM RYSBAYEVA Aigerim 2163 KAZ 5½ 27 2278 9 18 ANDRENKO Irina 2145 UKR 5½ 27 2291 10 8 WIM IGNACZ Maria 2223 HUN 5½ 26½ 2230 USA: (20) NIKOLOVA Ettie 2049 USA 5; (53) KATS Elina 0 USA 3½. Top 10 Under 16-Girls Standings (106 players): Rank SNo. Name IRtg FED Pts Fide Rp 1 11 TSATSALASHVILI Keti 2161 GEO 7 32½ 2395 2 1 WFM GIRYA Olga 2338 RUS 7 31½ 2400 3 20 WFM NAKHBAYEVA Guliskhan 2098 KAZ 6½ 28 2211 4 33 IORDANIDOU Zoi 2012 GRE 6½ 28 2265 5 29 BERIDZE Tinatin 2033 GEO 6 31½ 2301 6 16 IVANENKO Olga 2125 UKR 6 27 2130 7 21 ERIC Jovana 2094 SRB 6 26 2129 8 13 WFM TON Nu Hong An 2142 VIE 5½ 30 2200 9 12 WFM REPINA Varvara 2154 RUS 5½ 29 2231 10 17 AGREST Inna 2121 SWE 5½ 27½ 2165 USA: (19) WFM MARSHALL Abby 2208 USA 5; (30) WFM MELEKHINA Alisa 2208 USA 4½; (36) LIVSCHITZ Louiza 2005 USA 4½; (46) JAMISON Courtney 1949 USA 4. In the Under 14 (Boys) Section, USA’s Ray Robson is in 2nd place at the moment, with 6.5 after 8 rounds. Yippee for Ray!

2007 World Youth Chess Championships

I checked to see how Ray Robson (USA 2368) is doing. In the Under 14 Category (135 players), after Round 4, Ray is in third place (!!!) with 4.0. Ahead of him, also with 4 points each, are (1) S.P. Sethuraman (IND 2427) and (2) IM Sanan Sjugirov (RUS 2422). Michael Anthony Yee (USA 2135) is in 9th place with 3.5. Christian T. Tanana (USA 2166) is in 50th place with 2.5. Victor C. Shen (USA 2117) is in 54th place with 2.0. Alec Getz (USA 2121) is in 62nd place with 2.0. How are the American girls doing? In the Under 16 category (93 players), WFM Abby Marshall leads the US femmes in 12th place with 3.0. WFM Alisa Melekhina is in 21st place with 3.0. Louiza Livschitz is in 45th place with 2.0. Courtney Jamison is in 48th place with 2.0. In the Under 14 category (114 players), in 10th place is Yang Dai with 3.5. In 67th place is Gayatri Vempati with 2.0. Jennie Liu is in 103rd place with 1.0.

2007 World Youth Chess Championships

Some results after 3 rounds: In the Girls Under 18 Category (77 players), Ettie Nikolova (USA 2049) is in 38th place with 1.5. Julia Kerr (USA 2026) is in 48th place with 1.0. Elina Kats (USA Unr (?) ) is in 64th place with 1.0. In the Girls Under 16 Category (93 players), WFM Abby Marshall (USA 2208) is in 7th place with 2.5. Louiza Livschitz (USA 2005) is in 31st place with 2.0. Courtney Jamison (USA 1949) is in 37th place with 2.0. WFM Alisa Melekhina (USA 2208) is in 40th place with 2.0.

Ray Robson

In yesterday’s mail I received a handwritten letter from Gary Robson, Ray’s dad. It was a thank you for a cash gift Goddesschess recently made to help with costs for the World Youth Chess Championships in Turkey and also a progress report, which was very kind of Mr. Robson. I wrote about Ray’s upcoming trip to Turkey here. As you know by now, Ray (USA 2396) (now 13 years old) recently scored his first IM norm!!! at the 6th North American FIDE Invitational, October 28 – November 3, 2007 (put together by the North American Chess Association), finishing in first place with 7.0/9. Way to go, Ray. In Turkey he will be up against the toughest competition in the world, so it will be a true test of Ray’s skill and nerves. I wish there was some kind of national program that would provide financial assistance to our promising chessplayers. I’m a big fan of figure skating – yes, I know darlings, don’t even go there, lol! – and the national and international figure skating associations put through rule changes back in the early 90’s that made it possible for amateur skaters to earn money by participating in touring ice shows and television specials while still retaining their "Olympic" eligibility. Wouldn’t it be possible to do something similar for our chessplayers? Couldn’t someone with the right marketing know-how be able to organize a series of blitz chess events and simuls in say, the top 10 cities in the USA, in which our most promising young chessplayers could participate, all expenses paid, and receive a generous stipend through public and private sponsorship opportunities? I’m no marketing expert – but this is something the USCF should be looking at. One of their organizational objectives is to promote chess in the United States. What better way to promote the game than to put our young stars out there in public, meeting their fans and chess afficianados, giving them opportunities to earn money to help defray training costs and tournament costs (travel, hotel, meals). I mean, darlings, if Dancing with the Stars can organize and sell-out tours of BALLROOM DANCING exhibitions, it cannot be so far-fetched to think that chess can do the same! Well, perhaps someday we will have something organized along these lines for our chessplayers. If you would like to follow Ray’s progress (and, indeed, the progress of your favorite young players from every country participating) at the World Youth Championships (November 17 – 29, 2007), the official website is here, but you may have better luck finding current results and news at Susan Polgar’s chess blog.

Abby Marshall

Sixteen year old Abby Marshall - writer, poet, teenager, female, chessplayer. These are just a few faces of the young Ms. Marshall - but chessplayer is getting the most publicity these days, as she heads to the World Youth Chess Championships in Turkey as a representative of the USA. The event will be held at A comprehensive article was written about Abby and published at the dailypress.com today entitled "Iron Maiden" (oh, please!) Despite the cliches, it's a good enough article. Abby is a fine young woman and would be a good role model for anyone in the US. She's bright, talented in many areas other than chess, erudite, poised. Good luck to Abby and the other young players who will be representing the USA.