World Junior Chess Championship
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The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
The idea was the brainchild of William Ritson-Morry and he organised the 1951 inaugural event to take place in Birmingham, England. Subsequently, it was held every two years until 1973, when an annual schedule was adopted. In 1983, a separate tournament for girls was established.
Each FIDE member nation may select one entrant except for the host nation, which may select two. Some players are seeded into the tournament based on Elo rating and top finishes in previous championships. The first championship was an 11-round Swiss system tournament. In subsequent championships the entrants were divided into sections, and preliminary sectional tournaments were used to establish graded finals sections (Final A, Final B, etc.). Since 1975 the tournaments have returned to the Swiss format.
Originally the winner was awarded the title International Master if he had not already received it. Currently the winner receives the Grandmaster or Woman Grandmaster title, and the second and third place finishers receive the International Master or Woman International Master titles (FIDE 2004, 1.2).
Four winners, three Russian and one Indian, namely Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Viswanathan Anand, have gone on to win the FIDE World Chess Championship.
World U-20 Championship
World Girls U-20 Championship
No. Year Location Champion Country 1 1983 Mexico City Fliura Khasanova 
Soviet Union
2 1985 Dobrna Ketevan Arakhamia Soviet Union
3 1986 Gausdal Ildiko Madl 
Hungary
4 1987 Baguio Camilla Baginskaite Soviet Union
5 1988 Adelaide Alisa Galliamova Soviet Union
6 1989 Tunja Ketino Kachiani Soviet Union
7 1990 Santiago Ketino Kachiani Soviet Union
8 1991 Mamaja Natasa Bojkovic 
Yugoslavia
9 1992 Buenos Aires Krystyna Dąbrowska 
Poland
10 1993 Kozhikode Nino Khurtsidze 
Georgia
11 1994 Caiobá Zhu Chen 
China
12 1995 Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Nino Khurtsidze Georgia
13 1996 Medellín Zhu Chen China
14 1997 Żagań Harriet Hunt 
England
15 1998 Kozhikode Hoang Thanh Trang 
Vietnam
16 1999 Yerevan Maria Kouvatsou 
Greece
17 2000 Yerevan Xu Yuanyuan China
18 2001 Athens Humpy Koneru 
India
19 2002 Goa Zhao Xue China
20 2003 Nakhchivan Nana Dzagnidze Georgia
21 2004 Kochi Ekaterina Korbut 
Russia
22 2005 Istanbul Elisabeth Pähtz 
Germany
23 2006 Yerevan Shen Yang China
24 2007 Yerevan Vera Nebolsina Russia
Notes
- The main source of reference is indicated beneath each year's entry.
1955 - Antwerp, Belgium - (July) - There were 24 players in total, comprising an original entry of 23, plus an additional player from the home country to make a more manageable number. The competitors were split into three groups of eight; the representatives of USSR, Argentina and Yugoslavia (the top three teams at the 1954 Olympiad) were seeded into separate groups and the remainder allocated their group randomly. The top three finishers of each group plus the highest scoring fourth place then went forward to a final ten player all-play-all contest. Surprise casualties at the group stage were Cecil Purdy (AUS) and Ciric (YUG). In the final, Lajos Portisch (HUN) and Tringov (BUL) just failed to make the first three places, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Boris Spassky (USSR) 2. Edmar Mednis (USA) 3. Miguel Farre (ESP)
- --- British Chess Magazine No. 9, Vol. 75 pp. 262 - 265
1975 - Tjentiste, Yugoslavia - (July) - Jonathan Mestel managed a top three finish despite being one of the youngest competitors at eighteen years. Ventzislav Inkiov of Bulgaria finished on equal points to the Englishman, in fourth place.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Valery Chekhov (USSR) 2. Larry Christiansen (USA) 3. Jonathan Mestel (ENG)
- --- CHESS magazine Vol. 40 September p. 349
1976 - Groningen, Netherlands - (December 21, 1976 - January 5, 1977) - The event was shared with the contest to determine the European Junior Champion, that particular title going to the top placed European, namely Lubomir Ftacnik (see European Junior Chess Championship). Tied for 4th-8th places were Daniel Campora from Argentina, Leslie Leow from Singapore, Marcel Sisniega from Mexico and Evgeny Vladimirov from the USSR. Also in the chasing pack were Ian Rogers (AUS), Krum Georgiev (BUL), Attila Groszpeter (HUN), Jonathan Mestel (ENG), Petar Popovic (YUG), Reynaldo Vera (CUB), Murray Chandler (NZL) and Margeir Petursson (ISL). The overall winner, Mark Diesen performed above expectation and some put this down to the considerable coaching and adjournment skills of his second, GM Kavalek.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Mark Diesen (USA) 2. Lubomir Ftacnik (CZE) 3. Nir Grinberg (ISR)
- --- British Chess Magazine No. 5, Vol. 97 p. 222
1977 - Innsbruck, Austria - (September 4 - 19) - The event was won by Artur Yusupov, a 17 year old student of Economics at Moscow University. Coincidentally, second placed Zapata was also studying Economics, but at the University of Bogota. Yusupov's second was the Russian IM Dvoretsky and their alliance heralded the start of a long-running and mutually beneficial relationship. Marcel Sisniega of Mexico hired experienced Soviet GM Vasiukov to be his second and it may have boosted his performance, but not enough to make a difference to the medals. Also challenging for honours were Skembris of Greece, Fries-Nielsen of Denmark and Vera of Cuba, who lost out to Popovic on tie-break.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Artur Yusupov (USSR) 2. Alonso Zapata (COL) 3. Petar Popovic (YUG)
- --- British Chess Magazine No. 11, Vol. 97 pp. 481 - 490
1978 - Graz, Austria - (September 2 - 18) - Yusupov narrowly failed to win the tournament for a second year in succession, but could be pleased that his friend, Sergei Dolmatov was the man to capture his title. He is another player from the Mark Dvoretsky stable and so the result was a double triumph for the Muscovite's training skills.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Sergey Dolmatov (USSR) 2. Artur Yusupov (USSR) 3. Jens Ove Fries-Nielsen (DEN)
- --- British Chess Magazine No. 3, Vol. 99 p. 121
1979 - Skien, Norway - (July 27 - August 10) - The first three finishers were expected to do well, but disappointing was the form of the highly rated Artur Yusupov, who finished some way down the final listings. Among the chasing pack were James Plaskett, Margeir Petursson, Ivan Morovic and Attila Groszpeter. Fifty-six players in all.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Yasser Seirawan (USA) 2. Alexander Chernin (USSR) 3. Predrag Nikolic (YUG)
- --- British Chess Magazine No. 11, Vol. 99 p. 551
1991 - Mamaia, Romania - (August) - The tournament had to be put together in hasty fashion when the planned hosts (The Chilean Chess Federation) dropped out at the last minute. Despite this setback, the proceedings went without any serious hitch and the players appreciated the excellent conditions and sound organising skills of the Romanian officials. Hot favourites for a clean sweep in the Boys/Open U-20 event were the Soviets Vladimir Akopian, Sergei Tiviakov and Mikhail Ulibin. It turned out that all three were in good form and the medals were divided between them, following a tie-break to separate the top two. The Girls U-20 event was a two-horse race between Botsari of Greece and Bojkovic of Yugoslavia, the Greek girl winning out in the end:
- Boys U-20 - 1. Vladimir Akopian (USSR) 2. Mikhail Ulibin (USSR) 3. Sergei Tiviakov (USSR)
- Girls U-20 - 1. Anna-Maria Botsari (GRE) 2. Natasa Bojkovic (YUG) 3. Maja Koen (BUL)
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 56. December pp. 16-18
1993 - Kozhikode, India - (November - December) - Top seed in the Boys / Open event, Matthew Sadler of England, led with the Czech Republic's Vlastimil Babula for much of the tournament. With both players facing top quality opposition each round, the pressure finally became too great and both failed at the final hurdle in their quest for the gold medal. Sadler also suffered from serious and frequent time trouble. This strong event contained many players who went on to become top-flight grandmasters; Alexander Onischuk, Christian Gabriel, Vladislav Tkachiev and Peter-Heine Nielsen were just four of the strong finishers not amongst the medals. Swede Jonas Barkhagen also played some enterprising chess, but was just unable to keep up with the leading group. In the Girls event, Armenian Elina Danielian, Krystina Dabrowska of Poland and Adrienne Csoke of Hungary were among those challenging for the medals. FIDE President Florencio Campomanes attended the closing ceremony and announced a new directive that assured future winners of the Boys / Open event an automatic Grandmaster title.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Igor Miladinovic (YUG) 2. Vlastimil Babula (CZE) 3. Sergei Rublevsky (RUS).
- Girls U-20 - 1. Nino Khurtsidze (GEO) 2. Ilaha Kadimova (AZE) 3. Mekhri Ovezova (TKM).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 58. March pp. 20-22
1995 - Halle, Germany - There were 80 entrants in the Boys / Open section representing nearly 70 different countries. The Girls event had an entry of 66. Giovanni Vescovi of Brazil was another star performer in the Boys section, narrowly missing out on a medal. The Girls category was even more closely contested with second, third and fourth places being decided on tie-break; Natalia Zhukova was the unlucky runner-up.
- Boys U-20 - 1. Roman Slobodjan (GER) 2. Alexander Onischuk (UKR) 3. Hugo Spangenberg (ARG).
- Girls U-20 - 1. Nino Khurtsidze (GEO) 2. Eva Repkova (SVK) 3. Corina Peptan (ROM).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 60. March pp. 46-48
1997 - Zagan, Poland - (July 13 - July 27) - Most of the top players were able to make it, with the exception of Antoaneta Stefanova in the Girls' event; she had reportedly fallen out with the Bulgarian Chess Federation. Tal Shaked, the winner of the Open/Boys' section, secured the title on tie-break; top seed was Alexander Morozevich. Other promising young players in attendance included Vladimir Baklan, Hristos Banikas and Sergei Movsesian. In the Girls' event, Corina Peptan started as top seed, but was not in her best form. Results were as follows:
- Boys U-20 - 1. Tal Shaked (USA) 2. Vigen Mirumian (ARM) 3. Hristos Banikas (GRE).
- Girls U-20 - 1. Harriet Hunt (ENG) 2. Joanna Dworakowska (POL) 3. Tatiana Vasilevich (UKR).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 62. October pp. 28-31, 34-35
See also
References
- Brace, Edward R. (1977), An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess, London: Hamlyn Publishing Group, p. 308, ISBN 1-55521-394-4
- FIDE (2004), "1.2 Titles achieved from International Championships", FIDE Handbook
- Keene, Raymond (1977), "World Junior Championship", in Golombek, Harry (ed.), Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Batsford, pp. 346–347, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
- Sunnucks, Anne (1970), Encyclopaedia of Chess, New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 538, LCCN 78-0 – 1
- Whyld, Ken (1986), Guinness Chess, The Records, Guinness Superlatives, ISBN 0-85112-455-0. (results through 1985)