The World Youth Chess Championship is a
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
-organized worldwide
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cadets Chess Championship" (categories U8, U10 and U12) and "World Youth Chess Championship" (categories U14, U16 and U18).
Under-18 winners
Cadets and Under-16 winners
Unofficial U18 Cadets
:
Official U17 Cadets
:
Under-16
:
:(†) The girls tournament was held separately, in
Westergate, England.
Under-14 winners
World Infant Cup
:
Boys & Girls
:
Under-12 winners
:
Under-10 winners
:
Under-8 winners
:
See also
*
World Junior Chess Championship
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 Ritso ...
*
European Junior Chess Championship The first chess youth championship in Europe was the yearly European Junior Championship for under age 20. It was played from 1971–2002. FIDE officially introduced the European Junior Championship in 1970 at their Annual Congress and so the 19 ...
*
European Youth Chess Championship The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 there was als ...
Notes
:''The main source of reference is indicated beneath each year's entry.''
Tournament history
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
Julian Hodgson
Julian Michael "Jules" Hodgson (born 25 July 1963 in London) is a British chess player, grandmaster, and former British chess champion.
Biography
He first came to the notice of the chess world for his achievements as a junior, whilst at Ha ...
(12+) but also players slightly older than 18, but younger than 19 such as
Louis Roos
Louis Roos (born 7 December 1957) is a French chess player who holds the FIDE title of International Master (IM, 1982). He won the French Chess Championship in 1977.
Biography
Roos comes from a French chess family. His father Michel Roos (1932 ...
. It was recognized in 1977 by FIDE as the World Championship for
Cadet
A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...
s for players under 17 and attracted for example
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
. 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 girls' championship for U16 was played.
In 1979,
, the first edition of the World Infant Cup was played for under 14. This cup had four editions, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984. In 1985 the U14 event 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 held 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.
1974 – Pont-Sainte-Maxence, France, 2–13 July – The first World Cadet Championship was an Under-18 event, organised by the French chess authorities. Thirty players took part in an 11-round Swiss. Englishman
Jonathan Mestel
Andrew Jonathan Mestel (born 13 March 1957 in Cambridge, England) is Professor of Applied Mathematics at Imperial College London. He worked on magnetohydrodynamics and biological fluid dynamics. He obtained his PhD with the thesis "Magnetic Le ...
won by a one-and-a-half point margin, scoring +8−0=3. The silver and bronze medals went to
Evgeny Vladimirov
Yevgeniy Vladimirov (russian: Евгений Владимиров; born 20 January 1957) is a chess player and trainer from Kazakhstan. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1989.
Career
In 2004, during the 14th Abu Dhabi Chess Fe ...
and Oskar Orel, respectively. Also competing were the Canadian
Jean Hébert
Jean Hébert (born November 11, 1957 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian chess player, writer, journalist, and commentator who holds the ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster and the FIDE title of International Master. He is the 2009 Ca ...
and the Lebanese
Bachar Kouatly
Bachar Kouatly (Arabic: بشار قواتلي) (born 3 March 1958 in Damascus) is a French chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, journalist and activist. He is deputy president of FIDE.
He played three times for Lebanon in the World Junior Che ...
.
: --- ''The Batsford Chess Yearbook'', Kevin J O'Connell (ed.) (1975, Batsford) p. 128
1975 – Creil, France, 1–12 July – The second World Cadets was once again a French organised Under-18 event, comprising twenty-five players in an 11-round Swiss.
David Goodman of England won the gold medal (8½/11), with silver going to Terence Wong of Singapore (8/11) and bronze to
Predrag Nikolić
Predrag Nikolić (born 11 September 1960 in Bosanski Šamac) is a Bosnian chess grandmaster.
Biography
He first competed for the Yugoslav Championship in 1979, taking a share of second place. The following year and again in 1984, he went ...
of Yugoslavia (7/11). Also with 7 points was Australia's
Ian Rogers, taking a share of third place. The West German
Eric Lobron
Eric Lobron (born 7 May 1960) is a German chess grandmaster. A former two-time national champion, he has been awarded the title Grandmaster by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Biography
Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United ...
and Lebanese Bachar Kouatly were two future grandmasters who also took part.
: --- ''The Batsford Chess Yearbook 1975/76'', Kevin J O'Connell (ed.) (1976, Batsford) p. 73
1978 – Sas-van-Gent, Netherlands, December 1978 – January 1979 – The World Cadets tournament was held over the New Year. Scotland gained its first ever world champion in chess,
Paul Motwani
Paul Motwani (born 13 June 1962) is a Scottish chess grandmaster. He was the first Scottish player to become a grandmaster.
Chess career
Born in Glasgow and raised in Dundee, he became World Cadet (Under 17) Champion in 1978, and won the firs ...
from the city of Dundee. Following closely were England's
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the w ...
, aged only 13, and Jose Huergo of Cuba, who required a tie-break to separate them. Other well known players in the pack included
Ivan Morovic
Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...
of Chile and
Jóhann Hjartarson
Jóhann Hjartarson (born 8 February 1963) is an Icelandic chess grandmaster and lawyer. He is a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion.
Since 1998, Johann has been the general counsel and secretary of the Ice ...
of Iceland.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 44. March p. 191
1979 – Belfort, France – (July) – For a second successive year, England's Nigel Short (age 14) narrowly failed to take the World Cadets title, after losing out to his Argentine rival,
Marcelo Tempone
Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to:
* Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
on the sum of opponent's scores rule (a method of tie-break). Third place was taken by Ivan Morovic and further down the field were future grandmasters
Gilberto Milos
Gilberto Milos (born October 30, 1963) is a Brazilian chess player. He was awarded by FIDE the title of International Master in 1984 and the title of Grandmaster in 1988. Milos competed in the FIDE World Championship five times (1998, 1999, 2 ...
,
Joel Benjamin
Joel Lawrence Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation. , his Elo rating was 2506, making him the No. ...
,
Jan Ehlvest
Jaan Ehlvest (born 14 October 1962) is an Estonian-American chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1987. Ehlvest was Estonian champion in 1986. Since 2006, he has represented the United States.
He was named Estonian Athl ...
,
Alon Greenfeld
Alon Greenfeld ( he, אלון גרינפלד; born 17 April 1964 in New York City) is an Israeli chess grandmaster and trainer.
His peak rating is 2610, achieved in the FIDE rating list of January 1994.
In 1982, he finished runner-up in the Eur ...
and Jóhann Hjartarson.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 44. October p. 368
1980 – Le Havre, France – (? – ?) – The World Cadet Championship (for players under 17 on 1 September 1980) was played alongside the familiar Le Havre Open chess tournament. A total of fifty-one 'cadets' represented forty-nine different countries. France fielded three players, two by right and a third when immigration officials mysteriously refused entry to the Pakistan entrant. The winner,
Valery Salov
Valery Salov (born 26 May 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was once ranked the third best player in the world.
Competitive chess career
Salov was awarded the International Master title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was ...
, displayed the usual Soviet formula of good preparation and technique, with strategically planned draws against his nearest rivals, Alon Greenfeld and Joel Benjamin. Greenfeld might have tied first, but lost his crucial last round game with Benjamin, despite having the white pieces. Some of the players and their seconds were unhappy about the conditions, particularly the dormitory-style accommodation and food quality. Many also felt that the Brazilian, Gilberto Milos, was unfairly treated when his twice adjourned game was concluded on the free day without prior warning. He was awoken at 9.10 am and told that his clock had been started. Understandably upset, he played and lost, his follow-up protest falling on deaf ears. The list of entries also contained future grandmasters
Suat Atalık
Suat Atalık (born October 10, 1964) is a Turkish-Bosnian chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Turkish Chess Champion.
Chess career
He was born in Turkey in 1964, represented Turkey in the World Junior Chess Championship in 1983, and was th ...
and
Dibyendu Barua
Dibyendu Barua (born 27 October 1966) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Indian Chess Champion. He was the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, second Bengali after Niaz Murshed, and third South Asian after Niaz and Anand ...
, among others.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 45. Aug–Sept p. 237
1989 – Aguadilla, Puerto Rico – (28 July – 9 August) – 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 Leitão, 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.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 54. November pp. 26–27
1990 – Fond du Lac, USA – (14–22 July) – Wisconsin's Marian College hosted the 5th World Youth Festival, which attracted 170 players from 44 nations. With federation officials and parental entourages, this number swelled to more than 300. It was the first time that the USA had hosted a chess event of this size and importance and the accommodation and conditions received high praise from the competitors. Judit Polgár celebrated victory on her fourteenth birthday (23 July), by taking the gold medal in the Boys U-14 event. This was the second occasion on which she had successfully competed in the Boys category. Her father, Laszlo Polgar, pointed out that Judit's last three 'world' competitions, including the Thessaloniki Olympiad, had resulted in a score of +26 =9 -0. Vasily Emelin of the USSR and Gabriel Schwartzman of Romania finished in silver and bronze medal places. Russia's Diana Darchia won the corresponding Girls' U-14 event from the USSR's Inna Gaponenko and Hungarian Monika Grabics. In the Boys U-12, Boris Avrukh outdistanced second placed John Viloria and third placed Peter Leko. Corina Peptan was triumphant in the Girls U-12, ahead of Monika Bobrowska and Nikoletta Lakos. In the Boys U-10, Nawrose Nur won by a good margin from the Romanian Alin Berescu and Adrien Leroy of France. Ecuador's Evelyn Moncayo took gold in the Girls U-10, while Claudia Bilciu of Romania and Jovanka Houska of England took silver and bronze, respectively. ''New In Chess'' Best Game awards were chaired by
Arnold Denker
Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 21, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player and author. He was U.S. champion in 1944 and 1946. In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States ...
and won by Judit Polgár, Yvonne Krawiec,
Tal Shaked
Tal Shaked is an American chess grandmaster who is best known for winning the World Junior Championship in 1997.
Shaked learned the game at the age of seven, and developed his chess skills in the scholastic chess organizations of Tucson, Arizon ...
, Corina Peptan,
Francisco Vallejo Pons
Francisco Vallejo, son of Ángel R. Vallejo Jiménez, military academy graduate in Law, and Felicidad Pons Gomila. He was born in Mahón, where the main hospital on the island of Menorca was located, but he has never lived there, but rather in E ...
and Claudia Bilciu. Polgar made it a clean sweep by winning an Under-14 Blitz tournament from Vasily Emelin and Ronan Har-Zvi of Israel.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 55. October p. 5 and November p. 26
1992 – Duisburg, Germany – (29 June – 13 July) – 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
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...
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.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 57. September pp. 20–22
1993 – Bratislava, Slovakia – (17–29 July) – 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.
: ---
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), Étienne 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.
: ---
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.
: ---
CHESS magazine Vol 63. December pp. 37–40
External links
* Several results, all age categories
1974–2004* Several results, all age categories
* World Cadet Chess Championship
* Results 1997 edition
* Results from chess.gr
20012003
* Homepages
2004200720122018
* Romanian successes in the championship
* 2007 edition from Chessbase
2009 official site
* On the 1987 edition
{{Chess
World championships in chess, Youth
Chess championship