World Youth Chess Championship 2017

[John Higgs]

The World Youth Chess Championship starts on 17th September and runs to 26th September. The event is a 11 round FIDE rated event and is for boys and girls in the U14s, U16s and U18s. The venue is Montevideo, Uruguay.

The England delegation is 4 players and 1 coach. The team can be viewed at:

http://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/worl ... -the-team/

The event website is Http://fuajedrez.org/wyccuruguay2017

The chess-results link for the event (tab across for your chosen age group) is:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr297054. ... =30&wi=821

Latest news, photographs etc can be seen via the twitter feed : @ECFJuniors2017

No twitter account? You can follow the twitter feed via this link

https://mobile.twitter.com/ECFJuniors2017

[John Higgs]

Round 1 report from our Head of Delegation, Christelle Hafsted

Good morning from Montevideo!

The small England delegation arrived very tired on Saturday at the hotel with an average of 20h of flying time and additional connection time.

We have been afforded a team room which we share with the Uruguyan team. This arrangement has been OK as the mornings in the team room have been very quiet so far. We all suffer from a bit of jetlag and it was a real challenge to stay up for the opening ceremony where we had a well know Uruguayan guitarist played some wonderful soothing music.

In our first round, England managed to secure 2.5 out 4.

Monday will be a tough day with 2 rounds …

[John Higgs]

Good morning from Montevideo!

Round 2 and round 3 report

It was a challenging second day at the WYCC 2017 with a double round. We are still fighting a bit of jetlag making the third round at 5pm local time a real challenge for all of our England players. England scored 3 points.

Sacha won in good form in the second round where his fierce attack concluded with a neat combination to win the queen for a rook and bishop. This so demoralised his opponent that he resigned after 17 moves rather than fight on in a bad position.

In Round 3, Sacha’s positional pressure culminated in a neat mating finale. Leif also managed to win in a topsy-turvy battle in round two, and followed this up in round three with a fighting draw against a much higher rated player.

The England player spent some time after the game discussing with his opponent and the Argentina coach whether he could have won the game.

Neil & Christelle

[John Higgs]

Round 4 starts at 7pm UK time today (3pm local time).

None of our players are on live boards:

Live board link for U18s
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... -o18/4/1/1

Live board link for U16s
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... -o16/4/1/1

Live board for U14s
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... -o14/4/1/1

Live board for U14 girls
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... -g14/4/1/1

[John Higgs]

Good sunny morning from Montevideo!

Round 4 report

There were some hard struggles against the South American representatives.

Ravi's tournament came to life when he gradually outplayed Dotta Gian Franco of Uruguay, clinching the game in a rook and pawn endgame.

Meanwhile Sacha exploited an inaccuracy in the opening to achieve a total bind on the position against the Argentine Ricardo Garcia. His opponent's desperate bid for freedom was easily crushed, leaving Sacha with two pieces against a rook and an easily won endgame.

All in all, a good result on Round 4 for Team England… 2.5 points.

[John Higgs]

Good morning England!

Round 5 and Rest Day

Round five resulted in one point for England. Some difficult battles were fought. Sacha on a live board showed resilience and was close to achieving a draw with a much higher rated player.

Ravi had a hard fought game against his Indian opponent. He gained the initiative as Black and pressed for the win, but Kaustuv held on and even had the advantage before Ravi found a clever way to force perpetual check. This exciting struggle was the subject of a long post-mortem with Ravi, Neil and the Norwegian coach, Nicolai Getz.

Meanwhile Thivyaa built up her game expertly and looked to have a big attack against the South African WFM Staal. Somehow her opponent survived and offered a draw when she reached a favourable endgame, which Thivyaa was sensible to accept.

Our pizza social with the Norwegian and Irish teams in the England team room proved very successful. Exchange chess and “mafia” card games were played and were a great distraction.

During the rest day, some members of the team went to visit a local winery, others went on the local bus tour. Heavy rains during the rest day made outdoor activities less attractive.

The team is in good spirits and well rested to start the second half of the tournament with a double round.

[John Higgs]

Good morning from Montevideo!

Double round day report: Round 6 and 7

The England team was well rested to take on the double round day.

Ravi was involved in a double edged battle in round six, but he pulled through thanks to his fighting spirit and registered an important win against his Swiss opponent Dill .

In the same round Leif surprised Araoz with some enterprising play in the opening. The Peruvian was provoked into some over aggressive play which was convincingly refuted.

Sacha had a good day, beating both Tarlabasi (Turkey) and Morozli (Latvia). The latter opponent was outplayed in fine strategic style.

After some near-wins in earlier games, Thivyaa was finally rewarded in round seven for her strong positional play versus the Latvian Golsta, who never recovered from a premature foray with her knight.

Neil & Christelle

[LawrenceCooper]

4/4 in round 8

[John Higgs]

Round 8 report from Christelle

A fantastic performance for team England in Round 8: a perfect score! (4/4)!

Sacha had a complex game on a live board. First of all he outwitted his US opponent in a theoretical struggle, which prompted Turgut to sacrifice a knight to muddy the waters. This met with a deeply calculated refutation.

Thivyaa played some tough positional chess as Black to neutralise Podesta’s opening advantage. She then wore down the Uruguayan opponent’s resistance in a well-played middlegame.

In another England versus Uruguay matchup Leif seized the initiative as Black. He began a big attack on Oviedo’s king which had recklessly castled queenside. White’s piece sacrifice to gain counterplay proved inadequate in the face of Leif’s precise defence.

Ravi playing White built up a strong attack right from the opening against Kutsanyan. His Croatian opponent wilted under the pressure and suffered a quick defeat.

We finished the day with a social with the Australian team in our team room which yielded a lot of laughter and relaxation after a tense but exciting day.

[NickFaulks]

Unlike yesterday, Sacha's live board is working.

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2017-wo ... ozel_Sacha

Looks ok so far, fingers crossed.

[Richard Bates]

Unlike yesterday, Sacha's live board is working.

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2017-wo ... ozel_Sacha

Looks ok so far, fingers crossed.

Good stuff.

[LawrenceCooper]

Yes, 0-1.

[John Higgs]

Good Morning England!

Round 9 report.

A impressive performance from Sacha on live board 4!

Sacha’s German opponent Kopylov was soon struggling after he made an unsound pawn offer. He was efficiently despatched by a queen sacrifice in only 21 moves.

Thivyaa also won a pawn for not too much in the opening against Radikovic of Croatia. Her advantage dissipated in a complex middlegame and a draw was eventually agreed.

Having seized a lot of space Leif attempted to batter through the defences of Chang (Suriname), but there was no obvious continuation.

A postmortem involving the whole of the England team concluded that a draw was a fair result.

Neil & Christelle

[John Higgs]

Sacha on a live board in round 10:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... o14/10/1/2

[John Higgs]

The last round, 11/11, starts today at 1pm UK time (9am local in Uruguay).

Good luck to our 4 hard working players and thanks to Neil the equally hard working coach.