World Junior Chess Off to an Exciting Start

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The second round of the 2012 World Junior Chess Championships saw the first major upsets in the Open section as the top players started dropping the points, according to a comprehensive news report in Chessdom. The former World U12 champion (won on the Greek soil in 2010) and World School Champion in 2008 (Thessaloniki, also Greece) Wei Yi from China (2418) stunned the 4th-seeded GM Richard Rapport from Hungary (2605) with black pieces.

Alessio Valsecchi continued playing in excellent shape that brought him the 2nd place in the prestigious Kavala Open and defeated the 3rd-seeded GM Yaroslav Zherebukh.

GM Yu Yangyi

Gao Rui took a draw from his compatriot Ding Liren, the top seeded player in this section. Ryan Rhys Griffiths (IRL 2362) defeated Conrad Holt (USA 2498), while Firat Burak (TUR 2423) held GM Alexandr Shimanov (RUS 2596) to a draw.

Top seed in the Girls section IM Anastasia Bodnaruk (2414) did not allow any surprises and duly signed the 2nd victory. The defending champion WGM Deysi Cori (2413) had a much more difficult task as the former World U12 champion WFM Iulija Osmak put up a strong resistance, but the experience eventually prevailed and Cori won in the time trouble. Bogdana Nonkovic could not repeat the excellent feat from round 1 as she lost against WFM Medina Warda Aulia, but Ana Ivekovic from the neighboring Croatia shocked the local hope WIM Ekaterini Pavlidou.

WGM Guo Qi

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

World Junior Chess Championship 2012 Begins in Athens

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The FIDE World Junior Chess Championships 2012 is taking place in Athens, Greece. The event consists of 2 age group tournaments (Boys/Open U20 and Girls U20) for players born on the year 1992 and later. The games will be played according to the Swiss System in 13 rounds, FIDE rated.

National ratings will not be taken into consideration for the pairings. Rate of play will be according to FIDE regulations 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. Communication between players (draw offer) is forbidden until the 30th move has been played.

The winner of the 2012 World Junior Championship u20 (open/boys) receives the GM title. He also qualifies to the World Cup 2013, part of the World Championship Cycle 2012-2014.The winner of the 2012 World Girl Junior Championship u20 receives the WGM title and a nine-game IM norm. She also qualifies to the World Women Championship 2014. The silver and bronze medalists of both categories (open/boys u20 and girls u20) receive the IM and WIM titles respectively.

Find complete pairings, games and standings at the official website.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com