World Youth Chess Championship
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The World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.
The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also for U18. The 1976 featured very young players such as Garry Kasparov and Julian Hodgson (12+) but also players slightly older than 18, but younger than 19 such as Louis Roos. It was recognized in 1977 by FIDE as the World Championship for Cadets for players under 17. In 1981 the age limit was reduced to under 16, applicable at the start of the year the championship is played in. It was also the year in which the first women's championship for U16 was played.
In 1979, International Year of the Child, the first edition of the World's Children's cup was played for U14. This cup had four editions, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984. In 1985 the U14 edition was included in the first edition of the World Youth Chess Festival for peace. Subsequently, the age categories U10, U12 and U18 were introduced. In 1987 the festival included the sections U10, U12, U14 and U18, while the U16 was help separately. In 1988, U16 was incorporated, but U18 was held separately. It was not until 1989 that the festival included all five age categories. Later, the U16 and U18 were sometimes played at separately from the U10, U12 and U14, as was the case in 1990, 1991, 1995 and 1997. In 1997 the name of tournament was changed to the World Youth Chess Championships. The under 8 category was first introduced in 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Under-18 winners
[edit] Unofficial U18 Cadets
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Year Location Boys 1974 
Pont St. Maxence (France)
Jonathan Mestel (England)1975 Creil (France) David S. Goodman (England)1976 Wattignies (France)
Nir Grinberg (Israel)
[edit] Under-18
[edit] Under-16 winners
[edit] Official U17 Cadets
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Year Location Boys 1977 Cagnes-sur-Mer (France)
Jon Arnason (Iceland)1978 
Sas van Gent (Netherlands)
Paul Motwani (Scotland)1979 Belfort (France)
Marcelo Javier Tempone (Argentina)1980 Le Havre (France)
Valery Salov (Soviet Union)
[edit] Under-16
[edit] Under-14 winners
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Year Location Boys 1979 
Durango (Mexico)
Miroljub Lazic (Yugoslavia)1980 Mazatlán (Mexico)
Julio Granda (Peru)1981 Xalapa (Mexico)
Saeed Ahmed Saeed (United Arab Emirates)1984 Lomas de Zamora (Argentina)
Luis Fabrego Comas (Spain)
[edit] Under-12 winners
[edit] Under-10 winners
[edit] Under-8 winners
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Year Location Boys Girls 2006 
Batumi (Georgia)
Ch Mohineesh (India) Ivana Maria Furtado (India)2007 
Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)
Konstantin Savenkov (Russia) Ivana Maria Furtado (India)
[edit] Notes
- The main source of reference is indicated beneath each year's entry.
1989 - Aguadilla, Puerto Rico - (July 28 - August 9) - There were 54 countries and 281 juniors participating. Living conditions were quite stretched as the organisers were not expecting the players to be accompanied by more than 200 adults. Regrettably, there was a shortage of competent decision-making organisers, but a friendly, good humoured atmosphere prevailed and the problems were resolved amicably. A variety of tie-breaking systems were used to separate the final places. In the case of the Boys Under-10 category, the resulting split was particularly harsh on the Brazilian Rafael Duailibe, who was deprived of a gold medal on the basis of 'strength of first round opponent'. Antoaneta Stefanova, the winner of the girls Under-10 event, was already being talked about as a future women's world champion. IM Bob Wade attended the event and felt that the most successful countries were those that prepared their competitors best in terms of 'basic' rather than 'opening' training. Among the lesser medals were; Alex Sherzer (silver, U-18), Christopher Lutz (bronze, U-18), Matthew Sadler (silver, U-16), Vladimir Kramnik (silver, U-14), Peter Leko (bronze, U-10). In the girls events, Tea Lanchava took silver in the U-16 and Corina Peptan, bronze in the U-12. The gold medals went to;
- Boys U-10 - Irwin Irnandi (INA); Boys U-12 - Marcin Kaminsky (POL); Boys U-14 - Veselin Topalov (BUL); Boys U-16 - Sergei Tiviakov (USSR); Boys U-18 - Vladimir Akopian (USSR).
- Girls U-10 - Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL); Girls U-12 - Diana Darchia (USSR); Girls U-14 - Anna Segal (USSR); Girls U-16 - Krystina Dabrowska (POL); Girls U-18 - Katrin Aladyova (BUL).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 54. November pp. 26-27
1992 - Duisburg, Germany - (June 29 - July 13) - The venue, a large sports complex, was playing host to over 500 competitors engaged in 10 World Junior Championships. There were initially some problems with overcrowding , but these were quickly sorted out by the organisers. There was a commentary room where those who had finished their games could benefit from the expert opinion of Grandmaster Helmut Pfleger. TV screens were displayed throughout the venue to cover the positions on the top boards. Peter Leko of Hungary, the world's youngest IM at the time, played in the U-14 event and was expected to win with an enormous Elo rating advantage over his closest rival.. However, his opponents had not read the script and he finished a disappointing fourth. There was a shock too in the Girls' U-14 section, when the Romanian Corina Peptan, top seed and national champion at 14, only managed to secure the silver medal. In contrast, the U-18 events went according to expectation with Sakaev (in the Boys/Open) and Kadimova (in the Girls) totally dominant. There was a good showing from the English contingent; by comparison other western European nations failed miserably. McShane won the Boys/Open U-10 event, despite being the youngest competitor at 8. Ruth Sheldon took silver in the U-12 Girls and Harriet Hunt a bronze in the U-14 Girls, even though she was heavily outrated. Gold medal winners were as follows:
- Boys U-10 - Luke McShane (ENG); Boys U-12 - Georgi Bakhtadze (GEO); Boys U-14 - Yuri Tihonov (BLR); Boys U-16 - Ronen Har-Zvi (ISR); Boys U-18 - Konstantin Sakaev (RUS).
- Girls U-10 - Parvana Ismajlova (AZE); Girls U-12 - Iweta Radziewicz (POL); Girls U-14 - Elina Danielian (ARM); Girls U-16 - Almira Skripchenko (MDA); Girls U-18 - Ilaha Kadimova (AZE).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 57. September pp. 20-22
1993 - Bratislava, Slovakia - (July 17 - July 29) - Held at the Park of Culture and Leisure, the Slovakian Federation played host to a record number of participants from a staggering 78 nations. Unfortunately the tournament got off to a bad start, before even a game had been played. The organisers had implemented an arduous registration process, designed to catch late registrants and penalise them or their federation with a $100 U.S. late entry fee. It appeared to be a cynical attempt at earning the organising committee a tidy sum. There were a number of protests; some paid up and others refused. Before things turned too nasty, Florencio Campomanes stepped in and ordered a reduction in the fee, which helped patch things up. However, the French were so upset that they decided to boycott the opening celebrations. Attending the closing ceremony was former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, the guest of honour replacing Campomanes on his departure. The contest contained a few surprises; Malakhov edged out Peter Leko in the Boys U-14 and a similar fate awaited the rapidly improving Vallejo Pons in the Boys U-12. Winners of the various age categories were as follows:
- Boys U-10 - Etienne Bacrot (FRA); Boys U-12 - Evgeny Shaposhnikov (RUS); Boys U-14 - Volodia Malakhov (RUS); Boys U-16 - Dao Thien Hai (VIE); Boys U-18 - Zoltan Almasi (HUN).
- Girls U-10 - Ana Matnadze (GEO); Girls U-12 - Evzhenia Chasovnikova (RUS); Girls U-14 - Ruth Sheldon (ENG); Girls U-16 - Elina Danielian (ARM); Girls U-18 - Ilaha Kadimova (AZE).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 58. October pp. 16-18
1994 - Szeged, Hungary - (August) - Peter Leko finally got his gold medal, this time in the U-16 Boys event. Bearing in mind his past disappointments, it is worth noting that other high profile players missed gold medals at this event, including 2 future World Champions. In retrospect, this underlines the strength of the event. Among those taking home silver medals, were Alexandra Kosteniuk (U-10 Girls), Etienne Bacrot (U-12 Boys) and Rustam Kasimdzhanov (U-16 Boys). There was an impressive showing from the Ukrainian Girls Squad, taking 3 of the 5 gold medals on offer. The list of winners comprised:
- Boys U-10 - Sergei Grishchenko (RUS); Boys U-12 - Levon Aronian (ARM); Boys U-14 - Alik Gershon (ISR); Boys U-16 - Peter Leko (HUN); Boys U-18 - Peter Svidler (RUS).
- Girls U-10 - Svetlana Cherednichenko (UKR); Girls U-12 - Nguyen Thi Dung (VIE); Girls U-14 - Dorote Ivaniuk (POL); Girls U-16 - Natalia Zhukova (UKR); Girls U-18 - Inna Gaponenko (UKR).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 59. January p. 48
1998 - Oropesa del Mar, Spain - (October - November) - The Marina d'Or venue played host to over 1000 players from 48 countries. Russia's bright prospect Alexander Grischuk, already an International Master with a near Grandmaster rating, was (at 15 years) participating in the U-18 category. England turned up with a strong looking squad and performed even above their own expectations, landing two gold medals. Russia's Kosintseva sisters did enough to suggest they might become a powerful force in Ladies chess for years to come; Nadezhda took gold in the U-14 and Tatiana took silver in the U-12. The Boys / Open U-14 category comprised an unusually strong list of entrants, with David Navara and Zahar Efimenko taking silver and bronze respectively. The winners of each event were as follows:
- Boys U-10 - Evgeny Romanov (RUS); Boys U-12 - Teimour Radjabov (AZE); Boys U-14 - Bu Xiangzhi (CHN); Boys U-16 - Ibragim Khamrakulov (UZB); Boys U-18 - Nicholas Pert (ENG).
- Girls U-10 - Vera Nebolsina (RUS); Girls U-12 - Koneru Humpy (IND); Girls U-14 - Nadezhda Kosintseva (RUS); Girls U-16 - Wang Yu (CHN); Girls U-18 - Ruth Sheldon (ENG).
- --- CHESS magazine Vol 63. December pp. 37-40
[edit] See also
- World Junior Chess Championship
- European Junior Chess Championship
- European Youth Chess Championship
[edit] External links
- Several results, all age categories: 1974-2004
- Several results, all age categories: 1974-2004
- Several results, all age categories: 1974-2004
- World Cadet Chess Championship: 1974-2007
- Results 1997 edition: U10,U12,U14 and U16,U18
- Results from Mark Crowther, The week in chess: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
- Results from chess.gr: 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003
- Homepages: 2002, 2004,2005, 2006, 2007
- Biography of Tea Lanchava: 1988-1990
- Biography of Amelia Hernández: 1988
- English successes in the championship: 1974-2006
- Romanian successes in the championship: 1974-2007
- 2007 edition from Chessbase: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
- On the 1983 edition of the U16: 1983
- New York Times: 1987
- On the 1979 edition: 1979
