FIDE Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid: 12 Indians advance to the Quarter-Finals
12 out 16 Indian players advance to the Quarter-Finals of FIDE Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid Championships. Nihal, Iniyan, Priyanka Nutakki, Jyothsna, Rakshitta, Gukesh, Pranav V, Aditya, Savitha, Anupam, Mrinmoy and Shreya Hipparagi are the twelve players who have advanced to the Quarter-Finals. Only Gukesh and Pranav will face each other in the Under-14 Open which means only one Indian player will advance to the next stage in that group. Games are played in best of two Rapid 15 mins + 10 seconds increment where a 1-1 tie will result in Armageddon. Photo: Various sources
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The Final stage of FIDE World Youth Online started on tornelo platform on 19th December. 16 Indians qualified in various age groups from Under-10 to Under-18 in both Open and Girls category to the Round of 16 stage. Out of those 12 players to advanced to Quarter-Finals. Time Control for the Final stage is 15 mins + 10 seconds increment with a best of two matches with both colors. A tie will result in Armageddon with white having 5 minutes against black's 4 minutes and black having the draw odds.
Under-18 Open: CM Johann Emil Schnabel - GM Nihal Sarin 0-2
Nihal made a quick work of his opponent in just 24 moves in the first game.
Schnabel - Nihal, Game 1
Find out why 20.Rad1 is a blunder.
Nihal dominated the second game also and won in just 27 moves.
Nihal - Schnabel, Game 2
Find out the winning continuation for white after 23...Rb4
GM Iniyan P - FM Angel Miguel Soto 1.5-0.5
Iniyan had multiple winning chances in the endgame against Angel but he missed them all and the game ended up in a draw.
Iniyan won an 82-move marathon endgame. It was a complex double rook ending which was the majority of the game and Iniyan won it eventually.
Mahdmi Orimi Gholami - IM Sankalp Gupta 1.5-0.5
Sankalp lost the first game after making an incorrect decision in a difficult position in the endgame.
Sankalp - Gholami, Game 1
Which bishop should white take? b6 or d3?
Sankalp was lost in the second game too but his opponent made a draw as it was enough for him to advance to the Quarter-Finals.
Under-18 Girls: WIM Priyanka Nutakki - WIM Svitlanda Demchenko 1.5-0.5
Priyanka struck first by scoring a fine victory in the first game.
In the second game, Priyanka got an early advantage but her opponent turned things in her favor. Luckily for Priyanka, her opponent couldn't convert and once again she got the upper hand. Eventually the game ended up in a draw and Priyanka advanced to the Quarter-Finals.
Under-16 Girls: WFM Ayan Allahverdiyeva - WFM Jyothsna L 0-2
Ayan misplayed early in the middlegame which allowed Jyothsna to gain the upper hand. However she managed to equalize and only blunder a rook in the endgame to allow Jyothsna to win.
Jyothsna demolished her opponent in the second game as she misplayed in the opening.
WCM Ema Obada - WIM Rakshitta Ravi 1-2
Rakshitta lost the first game as she defended her opponent's threat incorrectly.
Ema - Rakshitta, Game 1
White is threatening to launch a devastating attack on the kingside. How should black thwart those attempts?
Rakshitta struck back immediately by scoring a win in just 26 moves when her opponent blundered a knight after being an exchange down.
Rakshitta won the Armageddon with white pieces when her opponent blundered her queen.
Under-16 Open: FM Jose Gabriel Cardoso - IM Raja Rithvik R 1.5-0.5
The first game was a hard fought draw.
In the second game, Cardoso was better from the early in the middle game and he converted his positional advantage into material advantage and eventually a full point.
Under-14 Open: GM D Gukesh - Michael Simpson 2-0
Gukesh won the first game with ease after his opponent gave up one pawn too many.
Gukesh - Simpson, Game 1
Black must have thought of regaining the lost pawn through knight exchange at e5, but of course that's not the case. Instead 19...Qa6 would have allowed black to survive a bit a longer.
Gukesh made a quick work of his opponent in just 30 moves in the second game.
Simpson - Gukesh, Game 2
26.Re4 doesn't save anything for white. In fact, it only helps black. How?
FM Jan Klimkowski - Pranav Vijay 0-2
Pranav managed to seize advantage in the middle game after his opponent Klimkowski overstretched his center pawn. However, in the endgame Pranav landed himself in a pickle.
Pranav - Klimkowski, Game 1
Find out the correct continuation for white after 37...Qe5
Pranav redeemed himself in the second game by playing fantastic positional game which forced his opponent to give up his queen to prevent checkmate.
Jose A Izquierdo Hernandez - IM Aditya Mittal 0.5-1.5
Aditya scored a fantastic win in the first game against Hernandez after the latter made a huge positional mistake which cost him a lot of material.
Hernandez - Aditya, Game 1
29.Rfe1 opens up a window of opportunity for black. What is it?
Aditya drew the second game in a completely winning position as draw was sufficient for him to advance to the Quarter-Finals.
Under-14 Girls: WFM Savitha Shri B - Shriyan Santosh Priyasha 2-0
Savitha scored a fine victory in the first game after her opponent went wrong early in the middlegame.
Savitha - Shriyan, Game 1
Find out why 14...Nc4 lands black in deep trouble.
Shriyan went wrong early in the opening and lost a valuable pawn in the second game. Savitha had no trouble converting her advantage into a full point.
Laysa Latifah - WFM Sahithi Varshini M 1.5-0.5
Sahithi was completely winning for the majority of the first game. She also missed a simple mate in four in the endgame and the game eventually ended up in a draw.
Laysa - Sahithi, Game 1
Find out the checkmate combination for black after 37.g4
Sahithi misjudged her opponent's attack, went passive and it completely turned things into her opponent's favor.
Under-12 Girls: WFM Samantha Edithso - Anupam M Sreekumar 0.5-1.5
The first game between Anupam and Samantha was a topsy-turvy one where both sides had plenty of opportunities to beat each other.
Anupam - Samantha, Game 1
Find out the only winning continuation for black after 85.Kc7
Samantha played passively in the second game and for that she had to pay the steep price.
Anupam - Samantha, Game 2
What is the optimum way to continue for white here?
Mrittika Mallick - Iris Mou 0.5-1.5
Mrittika was winning for the better part of the first game against Mou. However she missed them all.
Mrittika - Mou, Game 1
One of the best opportunity white had in the entire game was after 36...Kc4. What is the best continuation for white here?
In the second game Mrittika went wrong early in the opening and it became difficult for her to make a comeback for the rest of the game.
Mou - Mrittika, Game 2
Find out why 9...e6 is a mistake and what black should have played instead.
Under-10 Open: Aleksandr Usov - Mrinmoy Rajkhowa 0.5-1.5
Mrinmoy was completely winning against Usov (RUS) in the first game.
Usov - Mrinmoy, Game 1
37.Nxe6 is a blunder. Find out the winning continuation for black.
Mrinmoy won the second game with ease after his opponent blundered a queen in the 17th move of the game.
Under-10 Girls: Shreya G Hipparagi - Victoria Merkulova 2-0
Shreya won both of her games against Victoria (RUS). She converted her positional advantage into a decisive advantage with ease.
Shreya - Victoria, Game 1
It is evident that white has a firm control of the position. How can white increase her advantage after 23...Bf6 ?
Shreya survived a huge scare as her opponent had a good chance to level the score by winning the second game.
Victoria - Shreya, Game 2
Find out the best continuation for white after 38...Qc6. White missed one more opportunity after this.
Black missed a quicker victory after 72.Kg2. What was it?