USA Grand Master Jeffery Xiong and Kazakh Woman Grand Master Dinara Saduakassova won the open and girls` titles respectively in the World Junior Chess Championship, which concluded at KIIT University here today. With the title triumph, Xiong and Saduakassova automatically qualified for the forthcoming World Cup, which is part of the World Championship cycle. Besides the the titles, duo took home cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
Sixteen-year-old Xiong became one of the the youngest World Junior Champions in chess history, scoring 10.5 points out of a possible 13. He, in fact, clinched the title with a round to spare. Top seed GM Vladislav Artemiev of Russia won his country a silver medal with 95 points, while Indian GM S L Narayanan grabbed the bronze medal with nine points.
Of the two Odisha players participating in the open category, FM Rakesh Kumar Jena finished 28th with seven points, while Utkal Ranjan Sahoo occupied 53rd position with six point. Jena, however, had the credit of securing the second IM norm of his career in the ninth round.
In the girls` category, top seed Saduakassova emerged champion with 9.5 points. WIM Pv Nandhidhaa made India proud by winning the silver medal, scoring nine points. The bronze medal went to Russia WIM Dinara Dordzhieva, who finished with nine points. WCM Saina Salonika, the lone Odisha player in the fray, finished 26th with 6.5 points.
Altogether 135 players, including 56 girls from 55 countries, participated in the 13-round championship, which organised by All Odisha Chess Association with KIIT University as the main sponsor. The 15-day event, the first of its kind in Odisha and seventh in India, was inaugurated by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
R Anantharam was the chief arbiter of the championship. He was assisted by nine international and national arbbiters, including three from Odisha _ Suresh Chandra Sahoo, Bhabesh Mohanty and Tapas Kumar Mohanty.
World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on January 1 in the year of competition). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritson-Morry, who organized the 1951 inaugural event 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. Four winners – Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand – have gone on to win the World Chess Championship.
FINAL PLACINGS (Top 10):
OPEN: 1. GM Jeffery Xiong (USA, 10.5), 2. GM Vladislav Artemiev (RUS, 9.5), 3. GM S L Narayanan (9, IND), 4. FM Xu Yi (9, CHN), 5. GM Murali Karthikeyan (IND, 8.5), 6. IM Masoud Mosadeghpour (IRI, 8.5), 7. Xu Yinglun (CHN, 8.5), 8. IM Grzegorz Nasuta (POL, 8.5), 9. IM Rasmus Svane (GER, 8.5), 10. GM Aravindh Chithambaram (IND, 8).
GIRLS: 1. WGM Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ, 9.5), 2. WIM Pv Nandhidhaa (IND, 9), 3. WIM Dinara Dordzhieva (RUS, 9), 4. IM Rueda Paula Andrea Rodriguez (Col, 8.5), 5. WIM Janelle Mae Frayna (PHI, 8.5), 6. WIM R Vaishali (IND, 8.5), 7. WIM Uurtsaikh Uuriintuya (MGL, 8.5), 9. WIM Alina Bivol (RUS, 8), 10. WIM Catherina P Michelle (IND, 8).
ROLL OF HONOUR (Read as Edition, Year, Location, Champion, Country):
OPEN CATEGORY:
1. (1951) Coventry/Birmingham, Borislav Ivkov, Yugoslavia
2. (1953) Copenhagen, Oscar Panno, Argentina
3. (1955) Antwerp, Boris Spassky, Soviet Union
4. (1957) Toronto, William Lombardy, United States
5. (1959) Münchenstein, Carlos Bielicki, Argentina
6. (1961) The Hague, Bruno Parma, Yugoslavia
7. (1963) Vrnjacka Banja, Florin Gheorghiu, Romania
8. (1965) Barcelona, Bojan Kurajica, Yugoslavia
9. (1967) Jerusalem, Julio Kaplan, Puerto Rico
10. (1969) Stockholm, Anatoly Karpov, Soviet Union
11. (1971) Athens, Werner Hug, Switzerland
12. (1973) Teesside, Alexander Beliavsky, Soviet Union
13. (1974) Manila, Anthony Miles, England
14. (1975) Tjentište, Valery Chekhov, Soviet Union
15. (1976) Groningen, Mark Diesen, United States
16. (1977) Innsbruck, Artur Yusupov, Soviet Union
17. (1978) Graz, Sergey Dolmatov, Soviet Union
18. (1979) Skien, Yasser Seirawan, United States
19. (1980) Dortmund, Garry Kasparov, Soviet Union
20. (1981) Mexico City, Ognjen Cvitan, Yugoslavia
21. (1982) Copenhagen, Andrei Sokolov, Soviet Union
22. (1983) Belfort, Kiril Georgiev, Bulgaria
23. (1984) Kiljava, Curt Hansen, Denmark
24. (1985) Sharjah, Maxim Dlugy, United States
25. (1986) Gausdal, Walter Arencibia, Cuba
26. (1987) Baguio, Viswanathan Anand, India
27. (1988) Adelaide, Joël Lautier, France
28. (1989) Tunja, Vasil Spasov, Bulgaria
29. (1990) Santiago, Ilya Gurevich, United States
30. (1991) Mamaja, Vladimir Akopian, Soviet Union
31. (1992) Buenos Aires, Pablo Zarnicki, Argentina
32. (1993) Kozhikode, Igor Miladinovic, Yugoslavia
33. (1994) Matinhos, Helgi Grétarsson, Iceland
34. (1995) Halle, Roman Slobodjan, Germany
35. (1996) Medellín, Emil Sutovsky, Israel
36. (1997) Zagan, Tal Shaked, United States
37. (1998) Kozhikode, Darmen Sadvakasov, Kazakhstan
38. (1999) Yerevan, Aleksandr Galkin, Russia
39. (2000) Yerevan, Lázaro Bruzón, Cuba
40. (2001) Athens, Peter Acs, Hungary
41. (2002) Goa, Levon Aronian, Armenia
42. (2003) Nakhchivan, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Azerbaijan
43. (2004) Kochi, Pendyala Harikrishna, India
44. (2005) Istanbul, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Azerbaijan
45. (2006) Yerevan, Zaven Andriasian, Armenia
46. (2007) Yerevan, Ahmed Adly, Egypt
47. (2008) Gaziantep, Abhijeet Gupta, India
48. (2009) Puerto Madryn, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, France
49. (2010) Chotowa, Dmitry Andreikin, Russia
50. (2011) Chennai, Dariusz Swiercz, Poland
51. (2012) Athens, Alexander Ipatov, Turkey
52. (2013) Kocaeli, Yu Yangyi, China
53. (2014) Pune, Lu Shanglei, China
54. (2015) Khanty-Mansiysk, Mikhail Antipov, Russia
55. (2016) Bhubaneswar, Jeffery Xiong, USA
GIRLS CATEGORY:
1. (1982) Senta, Agnieszka Brustman, Poland
2. (1983) Mexico City, Fliura Khasanova, USSR
3. (1985) Dobrna, Ketevan Arakhamia, USSR
4. (1986) Vilnius, Ildikó Mádl, Hungary
5. (1987) Baguio, Camilla Baginskaite, USSR
6. (1988) Adelaide, Alisa Galliamova, USSR
7. (1989) Tunja, Ketino Kachiani, USSR
8. (1990) Santiago, Ketino Kachiani, USSR
9. (1991) Mamaja, Nataša Bojkovic, Yugoslavia
10. (1992) Buenos Aires, Krystyna Dabrowska, Poland
11. (1993) Kozhikode, Nino Khurtsidze, Georgia
12. (1994) Matinhos, Zhu Chen, China
13. (1995) Halle, Nino Khurtsidze, Georgia
14. (1996) Medellín, Zhu Chen, China
15. (1997) Zagan, Harriet Hunt, England
16. (1998) Kozhikode, Hoang Thanh Trang, Vietnam
17. (1999) Yerevan, Maria Kouvatsou, Greece
18. (2000) Yerevan, Xu Yuanyuan, China
19. (2001) Athens, Humpy Koneru, India
20. (2002) Goa, Zhao Xue, China
21. (2003) Nakhchivan, Nana Dzagnidze, Georgia
22. (2004) Kochi, Ekaterina Korbut, Russia
23. (2005) Istanbul, Elisabeth Pähtz, Germany
24. (2006) Yerevan, Shen Yang, China
25. (2007) Yerevan, Vera Nebolsina, Russia
26. (2008) Gaziantep, Harika Dronavalli, India
27. (2009) Puerto Madryn, Soumya Swaminathan, India
28. (2010) Chotowa, Anna Muzychuk, Slovenia
29. (2011) Chennai, Deysi Cori, Peru
30. (2012) Athens, Guo Qi, China
31. (2013) Kocaeli, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Russia
32. (2014) Pune, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Russia
33. (2015) Khanty-Mansiysk, Nataliya Buksa, Ukraine
34. (2016) Bhubaneswar, Master Dinara Saduakassova, Kazakhstan
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PHOTO: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurates the World Junior Chess Championship in Bhubaneswar on August 7, 2016.