World Youth Chess Championship

Summary

The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess 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).

Valentina Golubenko and Ivan Šarić won Under-18 titles in 2008.

Under-18 winners edit

Year Location Boys Girls
1987   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   Gustavo Hernández (Dominican Republic)   Hulda Figueroa (Puerto Rico)
1988   Aguadilla (Puerto Rico)   Michael Hennigan (England)   Amelia Hernández (Venezuela)
1989   Aguadilla (Puerto Rico)   Vladimir Akopian (Soviet Union)   Katrin Aladjova (Bulgaria)
1990   Singapore (Singapore)   Sergei Tiviakov (Soviet Union)   Elena-Luminița Cosma (Romania)
1991   Guarapuava (Brazil)   Vladimir Kramnik (Soviet Union)   Nataša Strižak (Yugoslavia)
1992   Duisburg (Germany)   Konstantin Sakaev (Russia)   Ilaha Kadimova (Azerbaijan)
1993   Bratislava (Slovakia)   Zoltán Almási (Hungary)   Ilaha Kadimova (Azerbaijan)
1994   Szeged (Hungary)   Peter Svidler (Russia)   Inna Gaponenko (Ukraine)
1995   Guarapuava (Brazil)   Robert Kempiński (Poland)   Corina Peptan (Romania)
1996   Cala Galdana (Spain)   Rafael Leitão (Brazil)   Marta Zielińska (Poland)
1997   Yerevan (Armenia)   Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine)   Rusudan Goletiani (Georgia)
1998   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Nicholas Pert (England)   Ruth Sheldon (England)
1999   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Dmitry Kokarev (Russia)   Aarthie Ramaswamy (India)
2000   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain)   Zeinab Mamedyarova (Azerbaijan)
2001   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia)   Sopio Gvetadze (Georgia)
2002   Heraklio (Greece)   Ferenc Berkes (Hungary)   Elisabeth Pähtz (Germany)
2003   Halkidiki (Greece)   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan)   Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia)
2004   Heraklio (Greece)   Radosław Wojtaszek (Poland)   Jolanta Zawadzka (Poland)
2005   Belfort (France)   Ildar Khairullin (Russia)   Maka Purtseladze (Georgia)
2006   Batumi (Georgia)   Arik Braun (Germany)   Dronavalli Harika (India)
2007   Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)   Ivan Popov (Russia)   Valentina Gunina (Russia)
2008   Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)   Ivan Šarić (Croatia)   Valentina Golubenko (Croatia)
2009   Antalya (Turkey)   Maxim Matlakov (Russia)   Olga Girya (Russia)
2010   Porto Carras (Greece)   Steven Zierk (United States)   Narmin Kazimova (Azerbaijan)
2011   Caldas Novas (Brazil)   Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (Armenia)   Meri Arabidze (Georgia)
2012   Maribor (Slovenia)   Dariusz Świercz (Poland)   Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia)
2013   Al-Ain (UAE)   Pouya Idani (Iran)   Lidia Tomnikova (Russia)
2014   Durban (South Africa)   Olexandr Bortnyk (Ukraine)   Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan)
2015   Porto Carras (Greece)   Masoud Mosadeghpour (Iran)   M. Mahalakshmi (India)
2016   Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia)   Manuel Petrosyan  (Armenia)   Stavroula Tsolakidou (Greece)
2017   Montevideo (Uruguay)   José Eduardo Martínez (Peru)   Laura Unuk (Slovenia)
2018   Halkidiki (Greece)   Viktor Gažík (Slovakia)   Polina Shuvalova (Russia)
2019   Mumbai (India)   Praggnanandhaa R (India)   Polina Shuvalova (Russia)
2020 Online   Nihal Sarin (India)   Carissa Yip (United States)
2021 Online   Nikolaos Spyropoulos (Greece)   Govhar Beydullayeva (Azerbaijan)
2022   Mamaia (Romania)   Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux (Canada)   Mariam Mkrtchyan (Armenia)

Cadets and Under-16 winners edit

Unofficial U18 Cadets edit

Year Location Boys
1974   Pont St. Maxence (France)   Jonathan Mestel (England)
1975   Creil (France)   David Goodman (England)
1976   Wattignies (France)   Nir Grinberg (Israel)

Official U17 Cadets edit

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)

Under-16 edit

Year Location Boys Girls
1981   Embalse, Córdoba (Argentina)(†)   Stuart Conquest (England)   Susan Polgar (Hungary)
1982   Guayaquil (Ecuador)   Evgeny Bareev (Soviet Union) not held
1983   Bucaramanga (Colombia)   Alexey Dreev (Soviet Union) not held
1984   Champigny-sur-Marne (France)   Alexey Dreev (Soviet Union)   Ildikó Mádl (Hungary)
1985   Petah Tikva (Israel)   Eduardo Rojas Sepulveda (Chile)   Mirjana Marić (Yugoslavia)
1986   Río Gallegos (Argentina)   Vladimir Akopian (Soviet Union)   Katrin Aladjova (Bulgaria)
1987   Innsbruck (Austria)   Hannes Stefánsson (Iceland)   Alisa Galliamova (Soviet Union)
1988   Timișoara (Romania)   Alexei Shirov (Soviet Union)   Alisa Galliamova (Soviet Union)
1989   Aguadilla (Puerto Rico)   Sergei Tiviakov (Soviet Union)   Krystyna Dąbrowska (Poland)
1990   Singapore (Singapore)   Konstantin Sakaev (Soviet Union)   Tea Lanchava (Soviet Union)
1991   Guarapuava (Brazil)   Dharshan Kumaran (England)   Nino Khurtsidze (Soviet Union)
1992   Duisburg (Germany)   Ronen Har-Zvi (Israel)   Almira Skripchenko (Moldova)
1993   Bratislava (Slovakia)   Đào Thiên Hải (Vietnam)   Elina Danielian (Armenia)
1994   Szeged (Hungary)   Peter Leko (Hungary)   Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine)
1995   Guarapuava (Brazil)   Hrvoje Stević (Croatia)   Rusudan Goletiani (Georgia)
1996   Cala Galdana (Spain)   Alik Gershon (Israel)   Anna Zozulia (Ukraine)
1997   Yerevan (Armenia)   Levente Vajda (Romania)   Xu Yuanyuan (China)
1998   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Ibragim Khamrakulov (Uzbekistan)   Wang Yu (China)
1999   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Leonid Kritz (Germany)   Sopiko Khukhashvili (Georgia)
2000   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Zviad Izoria (Georgia)   Sopiko Khukhashvili (Georgia)
2001   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Konstantine Shanava (Georgia)   Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia)
2002   Heraklio (Greece)   Levan Pantsulaia (Georgia)   Tamara Chistiakova (Russia)
2003   Halkidiki (Greece)   Borki Predojević (Bosnia and Herzegovina)   Polina Malysheva (Russia)
2004   Heraklio (Greece)   Maxim Rodshtein (Israel)   Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia)
2005   Belfort (France)   Alex Lenderman (United States)   Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia)
2006   Batumi (Georgia)   Jacek Tomczak (Poland)   Sopiko Guramishvili (Georgia)
2007   Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)   Ioan-Cristian Chirilă (Romania)   Keti Tsatsalashvili (Georgia)
2008   Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)   Adhiban Baskaran (India)   Nazí Paikidze (Georgia)
2009   Antalya (Turkey)   S. P. Sethuraman (India)   Deysi Cori (Peru)
2010   Porto Carras (Greece)   Kamil Dragun (Poland)   Nastassia Ziaziulkina (Belarus)
2011   Caldas Novas (Brazil)   Jorge Cori (Peru)   Nastassia Ziaziulkina (Belarus)
2012   Maribor (Slovenia)   Urii Eliseev (Russia)   Anna Styazhkina (Russia)
2013   Al-Ain (UAE)   Murali Karthikeyan (India)   Gu Tianlu (China)
2014   Durban (South Africa)   Alan Pichot (Argentina)   Laura Unuk (Slovenia)
2015   Porto Carras (Greece)   Roven Vogel (Germany)   Stavroula Tsolakidou (Greece)
2016   Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia)   Haik M. Martirosyan (Armenia)   Hagawane Aakanksha (India)
2017   Montevideo (Uruguay)   Andrey Esipenko (Russia)   Annie Wang (United States)
2018   Halkidiki (Greece)   Shant Sargsyan (Armenia)   Annmarie Muetsch (Germany)
2019   Mumbai (India)   Rudik Makarian (Russia)   Leya Garifullina (Russia)
2020 Online   Frederik Svane (Germany)   Rakshitta Ravi (India)
2021 Online   Volodar Murzin (Russia)   Xeniya Balabayeva (Kazakhstan)
2022   Mamaia (Romania)   Pranav Anand (India)   Munkhzul Davaakhuu (Mongolia)
(†) The girls tournament was held separately, in Westergate, England.

Under-14 winners edit

World Infant Cup edit

Year Location Boys
1979   Durango (Mexico)   Miroljub Lazić (Yugoslavia)
1980   Mazatlán (Mexico)   Julio Granda (Peru)
1981   Xalapa (Mexico)   Saeed Ahmed Saeed (United Arab Emirates)
1984   Lomas de Zamora (Argentina)   Lluís Comas Fabregó (Spain)

Boys & Girls edit

Year Location Boys Girls
1985   Lomas de Zamora (Argentina)   Ilya Gurevich (United States)   Sandra Villegas (Argentina)
1986   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   Joël Lautier (France)   Zsofia Polgar (Hungary)
1987   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   Miroslav Marković (Yugoslavia)   Cathy Haslinger (England)
1988   Timișoara (Romania)   Eran Liss (Israel)   Tea Lanchava (Soviet Union)
1989   Aguadilla (Puerto Rico)   Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)   Anna Segal (Soviet Union)
1990   Fond du Lac (United States)   Judit Polgár (Hungary)   Diana Darchia (Soviet Union)
1991   Warsaw (Poland)   Marcin Kamiński (Poland)   Corina Peptan (Romania)
1992   Duisburg (Germany)   Jurij Tihonov (Belarus)   Elina Danielian (Armenia)
1993   Bratislava (Slovakia)   Vladimir Malakhov (Russia)   Ruth Sheldon (England)
1994   Szeged (Hungary)   Alik Gershon (Israel)   Rusudan Goletiani (Georgia)
1995   São Lourenço (Brazil)   Valeriane Gaprindashvili (Georgia)   Xu Yuanyuan (China)
1996   Cala Galdana (Spain)   Gabriel Sargissian (Armenia)   Wang Yu (China)
1997   Cannes (France)   Sergey Grigoriants (Russia)   Ana Matnadze (Georgia)
1998   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Bu Xiangzhi (China)   Nadezhda Kosintseva (Russia)
1999   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Zahar Efimenko (Ukraine)   Zhao Xue (China)
2000   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Alexander Areshchenko (Ukraine)   Humpy Koneru (India)
2001   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Viktor Erdős (Hungary)   Salome Melia (Georgia)
2002   Heraklio (Greece)   Luka Lenič (Slovenia)   Laura Rogule (Latvia)
2003   Halkidiki (Greece)   Sergei Zhigalko (Belarus)   Valentina Gunina (Russia)
2004   Heraklio (Greece)   Ildar Khairullin (Russia)   Dronavalli Harika (India)
2005   Belfort (France)   Lê Quang Liêm (Vietnam)   Elena Tairova (Russia)
2006   Batumi (Georgia)   Vasif Durarbayli (Azerbaijan)   Klaudia Kulon (Poland)
2007   Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)   Sanan Sjugirov (Russia)   Nazí Paikidze (Georgia)
2008   Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)   Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (India)   Padmini Rout (India)
2009   Antalya (Turkey)   Jorge Cori Tello (Perù)   Marsel Efroimski (Israel)
2010   Porto Carras (Greece)   Kanan Izzat (Azerbaijan)   Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan)
2011   Caldas Novas (Brazil)   Kirill Alekseenko (Russia)   Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia)
2012   Maribor (Slovenia)   Kayden Troff (United States)   M. Mahalakshmi (India)
2013   Al-Ain (UAE)   Li Di (China)   Stavroula Tsolakidou (Greece)
2014   Durban (South Africa)   Liu Yan (China)   Qiyu Zhou (Canada)
2015   Porto Carras (Greece)   Shamsiddin Vokhidov (Uzbekistan)   R. Vaishali (India)
2016   Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia)   Semen Lomasov (Russia)   Zhu Jiner (China)
2017   Montevideo (Uruguay)   Batsuren Dambasuren (Mongolia)   Jishitha D  (India)
2018   Halkidiki (Greece)   Pedro Antonio Ginés Esteo (Spain)   Ning Kaiyu (China)
2019   Mumbai (India)   Aydin Suleymanli (Azerbaijan)   Meruert Kamalidenova (Kazakhstan)
2020 Online   D Gukesh (India)   Eline Roebers (Netherlands)
2021 Online   Ediz Gurel (Turkey)   Zsóka Gaál (Hungary)
2022   Mamaia (Romania)   Ilamparthi A R (India)   Zarina Nurgaliyeva (Kazakhstan)

Under-12 winners edit

Year Location Boys Girls
1986   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   Dharshan Kumaran (England)   Dalines Borges (Puerto Rico)
1987   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   Hedinn Steingrimsson (Iceland)   Yvonne Krawiec (United States)
1988   Timișoara (Romania)   Judit Polgár (Hungary)   Zhu Chen (China)
1989   Aguadilla (Puerto Rico)   Marcin Kamiński (Poland)   Diana Darchia (Soviet Union)
1990   Fond du Lac (United States)   Boris Avrukh (Soviet Union)   Corina Peptan (Romania)
1991   Warsaw (Poland)   Rafael Leitão (Brazil)   Dalia Blimke (Poland)
1992   Duisburg (Germany)   Giorgi Bakhtadze (Georgia)   Iweta Radziewicz (Poland)
1993   Bratislava (Slovakia)   Evgeny Shaposhnikov (Russia)   Eugenia Chasovnikova (Russia)
1994   Szeged (Hungary)   Levon Aronian (Armenia)   Nguyen Thi Dung (Vietnam)
1995   São Lourenço (Brazil)   Étienne Bacrot (France)   Viktorija Čmilytė (Lithuania)
1996   Cala Galdana (Spain)   Kamil Mitoń (Poland)   Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
1997   Cannes (France)   Alexander Riazantsev (Russia)   Zhao Xue (China)
1998   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)   Humpy Koneru (India)
1999   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Wang Yue (China)   Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia)
2000   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Deep Sengupta (India)   Atousa Pourkashiyan (Iran)
2001   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine)   Shen Yang (China)
2002   Heraklio (Greece)   Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia)   Tan Zhongyi (China)
2003   Halkidiki (Greece)   Wei Chenpeng (China)   Ding Yixin (China)
2004   Heraklio (Greece)   Zhao Nan (China)   Klaudia Kulon (Poland)
2005   Belfort (France)   Srinath Narayanan (India)   Meri Arabidze (Georgia)
2006   Batumi (Georgia)   Robert Aghasaryan (Armenia)   Mariam Danelia (Georgia)
2007   Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)   Daniel Naroditsky (United States)   Marsel Efroimski (Israel)
2008   Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)   Sayantan Das (India)   Zhai Mo (China)
2009   Antalya (Turkey)   Bobby Cheng (Australia)   Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran)
2010   Porto Carras (Greece)   Wei Yi (China)   Iulija Osmak (Ukraine)
2011   Caldas Novas (Brazil)   Karthikeyan Murali (India)   Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan)
2012   Maribor (Slovenia)   Samuel Sevian (United States)   R. Vaishali (India)
2013   Al-Ain (UAE)   Aram Hakobyan (Armenia)   Zhao Shengxin (China)
2014   Durban (South Africa)   Nguyễn Anh Khôi (Vietnam)   Jennifer Yu (United States)
2015   Porto Carras (Greece)   Mahammad Muradli (Azerbaijan)   Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria)
2016   Batumi (Georgia)   Nikhil Kumar (United States)   Bibisara Assaubayeva (Russia)
2017   Poços de Caldas (Brazil)   Vincent Tsay (United States)   Divya Deshmukh (India)
2018   Santiago de Compostela (Spain)   Gukesh D (India)   Savitha Shri B (India)
2019   Weifang (China)   Zhou Liran (United States)   Galina Mikheeva (Russia)
2020 Online   Dimitar Mardov (United States)   Alice Lee (United States)
2021 Online   Ihor Samunenkov (Ukraine)   Alice Lee (United States)
2022   Batumi (Georgia)   Artem Uskov (FIDE)   Shubhi Gupta (India)
2023   Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt)   Khuong Duy Dau (Vietnam)   Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana (Sri Lanka)

Under-10 winners edit

Year Location Boys Girls
1986   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   Jeff Sarwer (Canada)   Julia Sarwer (Canada)
1987   San Juan (Puerto Rico)   John Viloria (United States)   Suzanna Urminska (United States)
1988   Timișoara (Romania)   John Viloria (United States)
  Horge Hasbun (Honduras)
  Corina Peptan (Romania)
1989   Aguadilla (Puerto Rico)   Irwin Irnandi (Indonesia)   Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria)
1990   Fond du Lac (United States)   Nawrose Farh Nur (United States)   Evelyn Moncayo Romero (Ecuador)
1991   Warsaw (Poland)   Adrien Leroy (France)   Carmen Voicu (Romania)
1992   Duisburg (Germany)   Luke McShane (England)   Parvana Ismaïlova (Azerbaijan)
1993   Bratislava (Slovakia)   Étienne Bacrot (France)   Ana Matnadze (Georgia)
1994   Szeged (Hungary)   Sergey Grishchenko (Russia)   Svetlana Cherednichenko (Ukraine)
1995   São Lourenço (Brazil)   Boris Grachev (Russia)   Alina Motoc (Romania)
1996   Cala Galdana (Spain)   Pentala Harikrishna (India)   Maria Kursova (Russia)
1997   Cannes (France)   Javad Alavi (Iran)   Humpy Koneru (India)
1998   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Evgeny Romanov (Russia)   Vera Nebolsina (Russia)
1999   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Dmitry Andreikin (Russia)   Kateryna Lahno (Ukraine)
2000   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn (Vietnam)   Tan Zhongyi (China)
2001   Oropesa del Mar (Spain)   Tamas Fodor (Hungary)   Tan Zhongyi (China)
2002   Heraklio (Greece)   Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan)   Lara Stock (Croatia)
2003   Halkidiki (Greece)   Sanan Sjugirov (Russia)   Hou Yifan (China)
2004   Heraklio (Greece)   Yu Yangyi (China)   Meri Arabidze (Georgia)
2005   Belfort (France)   Sahaj Grover (India)   Wang Jue (China)
2006   Batumi (Georgia)   Koushik Girish (India)   Choletti Sahajasri (India)
2007   Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)   Wang Tongsen (China)   Anna Styazhkina (Russia)
2008   Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)   Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland)   Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia)
2009   Antalya (Turkey)   Bai Jinshi (China)   Gunay Mammadzada (Azerbaijan)
2010   Porto Carras (Greece)   Jason Cao (Canada)   Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel (Mongolia)
2011   Caldas Novas (Brazil)   Zhu Yi (China)   Alexandra Obolentseva (Russia)
2012   Maribor (Slovenia)   Nguyễn Anh Khôi (Vietnam)   Nutakki Priyanka (India)
2013   Al-Ain (UAE)   Awonder Liang (United States)   Saina Salonika (India)
2014   Durban (South Africa)   Nihal Sarin (India)   Divya Deshmukh (India)
2015   Porto Carras (Greece)   R. Praggnanandhaa (India)   Ravi Rakshitta (India)
2016   Batumi (Georgia)   Ilya Makoveev (Russia)   Rochelle Wu (United States)
2017   Poços de Caldas (Brazil)   Zhou Liran (United States)   Wei Yaqing (China)
2018   Santiago de Compostela (Spain)   Jin Yueheng (China)   Samantha Edithso (Indonesia)
2019   Weifang (China)   Savva Vetokhin (Russia)   Alice Lee (United States)
2020 Online   Sina Movahed (Iran)   Omya Vidyarthi (United States)
2021 Online   Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş (Turkey)   Diana Preobrazhenskaya (Russia)
2022   Batumi (Georgia)   David Lacan Rus (France)   Nika Venskaya (FIDE)
2023   Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt)   Danis Kuandykuly (Kazakhstan)   Tianhao Xue (China)

Under-8 winners edit

Year Location Boys Girls
2006   Batumi (Georgia)   Chennamsetti Mohineesh (India)   Ivana Maria Furtado (India)
2007   Kemer/Antalya (Turkey)   Konstantin Savenkov (Russia)   Ivana Maria Furtado (India)
2008   Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)   Tran Minh Thang (Vietnam)   Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan)
2009   Antalya (Turkey)   Aryan Gholami (Iran)   Chu Ruotong (China)
2010   Porto Carras (Greece)   Abdulla Gadimbayli (Azerbaijan)   Li Yunshan (China)
2011   Caldas Novas (Brazil)   Awonder Liang (United States)   Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan)
2012   Maribor (Slovenia)   Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan)   Motahare Asadi (Iran)
2013   Al-Ain (UAE)   R. Praggnanandhaa (India)   Harmony Zhu (Canada)
2014   Durban (South Africa)   Ilya Makoveev (Russia)   Davaakhuu Munkhzul (Mongolia)
2015   Porto Carras (Greece)   Bharath Subramaniyam (India)   Nguyen Le Cam Hien (Vietnam)
2016   Batumi (Georgia)   Shageldi Kurbandurdyew (Turkmenistan)   Aisha Zakirova (Kazakhstan)
2017   Poços de Caldas (Brazil)   Emrikian Aren C (United States)   Alserkal Rouda Essa (UAE)
2018   Santiago de Compostela (Spain)   Yuvraj Chennareddy (United States)   Zhao Yunqing (China)
2019   Weifang (China)   Artem S. Lebedev (Russia)   Yuan Zhilin (China)
2020 Not held
2021 Not held
2022   Batumi (Georgia)   Marc Llari (France)   Charvi A (India)
2023   Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt)   Roman Shogdzhiev (FIDE)   Bodhana Sivanandan (England)

See also edit

Notes edit

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 (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 and attracted for example Garry Kasparov. 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, International Year of the Child, 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 won by a one-and-a-half point margin, scoring +8−0=3. The silver and bronze medals went to Evgeny Vladimirov and Oskar Orel, respectively. Also competing were the Canadian Jean Hébert and the Lebanese Bachar Kouatly.

--- 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 of Yugoslavia (7/11). Also with 7 points was Australia's Ian Rogers, taking a share of third place. The West German Eric Lobron 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 from the city of Dundee. Following closely were England's Nigel Short, 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 of Chile and Jóhann Hjartarson 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 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, Joel Benjamin, Jan Ehlvest, Alon Greenfeld 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, 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 and Dibyendu Barua, 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 and won by Judit Polgár, Yvonne Krawiec, Tal Shaked, Corina Peptan, Francisco Vallejo Pons 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 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 edit

  • Several results, all age categories: 1974–2004
  • Several results, all age categories: 1974–2004
  • World Cadet Chess Championship: 1974–2007
  • Results 1997 edition: U16,U18 Archived 8 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  • Results from chess.gr: 1996 Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 1998 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 2001 Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 2002 Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 2003 Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  • Homepages: 2004, 2007, 2012 2018
  • Romanian successes in the championship: 1974–2007 Archived 17 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  • 2007 edition from Chessbase: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
  • 2009 official site
  • On the 1987 edition: 1987