Cervantes and Zhu Finish in Top Ten at World Youth in Greece

Results are in at the World Youth Championships, held in Halkidiki, Greece (October 19-30). Top results from the U.S. team included National Master Thalia Cervantes of Saint Louis, who tied for fourth place in the Girls Under 16.

[pgn]

[Event "Girls U16 World Youth Championship"]
[Date "2018.10.30"]
[White "Cervantes Landeiro, Thalia"]
[Black "Bach, Ngoc Thuy Duong"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "2129"]
[BlackElo "2161"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Vietnam"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "VIE"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nbd2 Nf6 5. Qc2 Nbd7 6. g3 Bd6 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O
Re8 9. Rd1 Qc7 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Qd4 Bf8
15. Bf4 Qb6 16. Rab1 Nd7 17. Qxb6 Nxb6 18. b3 a5 19. Ne5 f6 20. Be3 Ra6 21. Nd3
Nd7 22. c5 e5 23. Bd5+ Kh8 24. Bf7 Rae6 25. a3 R6e7 26. Bxe8 Rxe8 27. b4 axb4
28. axb4 e4 29. Nf4 Ne5 30. b5 Kg8 31. h3 Kf7 32. Kg2 g5 33. Nd5 Be6 34. Nc7
Rc8 35. Nxe6 Kxe6 36. c6 bxc6 37. b6 c5 38. b7 Rb8 39. Rb6+ Kf7 40. Ra1 Nd7 41.
Ra8 Be7 42. Rxb8 Nxb8 43. Rb5 1-0

[/pgn]

Evelyn Zhu of New York also had a strong showing, finishing in a tie for 5th place in the Girls Under 14.

[pgn]

[Event "Girls U14 World Youth Championship"]
[Round "9.8"]
[White "Zhu, Evelyn"]
[Black "Dhyana Patel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D71"]
[WhiteElo "1926"]
[BlackElo "2002"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3 O-O 8.
e3 c5 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. O-O Qc7 11. a4 Rd8 12. Ba3 b6 13. Qc2 Bb7 14. Rfd1 cxd4
15. cxd4 Rac8 16. Rac1 Qd7 17. Qb1 Na5 18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. Qd3 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 e5
21. Bb2 exd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Bxd4 Qd5 24. Qc3 Qd7 25. Bf6 Re8 26. Qb4 Nb7 27.
Qf4 Qe6 28. Bb2 Nc5 29. Rd1 Ne4 30. Rd4 Qa2 31. Qxe4 Rc8 32. Rd2 Qe6 33. Qd4 f6
34. Qxf6 Rc1+ 35. Kg2 Qxf6 36. Bxf6 Kf7 37. Be5 1-0

[/pgn]

Vincent Tsay, last year's Open Under 12 Champion, scored 7/11 in the Open Under 14.

[pgn]

[Event "U14 World Youth Championship"]
[Date "2018.10.24"]
[White "Tsay, Vincent"]
[Black "Stremavicius, Pijus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E03"]
[WhiteElo "2310"]
[BlackElo "2024"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Lithuania"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "LTU"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Bg2 b5 8.
Qc6 Rb8 9. Bf4 Nd5 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nc3 Nb4 13. Qxc7 Nc2+ 14. Kd1
Nxa1 15. Ne5 O-O 16. Nc6 Qf6 17. Ne4 Qh6 18. Nxb8 Nxb8 19. Qxb8 e5 20. Qxe5 Bh3
21. Bxh3 Qc6 22. Kd2 Re8 23. Rc1 1-0[/pgn]

Our youngest National Master in US Chess history, Abhi Mishra scored 6/11 in the same section. At only nine years old, Abhi is five years away from the upper age limit in this section!

[pgn]

[Event "U14 World Youth Championship"]
[Date "2018.10.26"]
[White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Black "Kouvidis, Ioannis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2149"]
[BlackElo "1896"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Greece"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GRE"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Ne4 6. Ne2 f6 7. Ng3 fxe5 8. dxe5
Be7 9. c3 O-O 10. Be3 Bd7 11. Bd3 Nc5 12. Bc2 Be8 13. Qb1 h6 14. Nd4 Bf7 15. f4
Nxd4 16. cxd4 Nd7 17. O-O c5 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Bxc5 Nxc5 20. b4 Nd7 21. Qb2
Qb6+ 22. Kh1 Rac8 23. Bd3 Rc7 24. Rae1 a5 25. a3 axb4 26. axb4 Nc5 27. Bb1 Na6
28. b5 Rc5 29. Bd3 Nc7 30. Ne2 Be8 31. Nd4 Bd7 32. Nb3 Rxb5 33. Bxb5 Nxb5 34.
Rc1 Nd4 35. Qxd4 Qxb3 36. Rb1 Qc2 37. Rfc1 Qe2 38. Rxb7 Bc6 39. Rb2 Rxf4 40.
Qxf4 Qxb2 41. Rxc6 1-0

[/pgn]

Aydin Turgut also had 6/11 in the Open Under 14. Find full results from Team USA on chessresults.com and look for more photos and games in follow-up CLO reportage. Thanks to sponsor Two Sigma for their support, including team uniforms. Two Sigma also hosted an incredible team dinner, a welcome break from the intensity of the event. Next up for Team USA: The World Cadet in Santiago, Spain (November 4-15), where the U.S. will field an even far larger delegation, including our two recent eight year-old experts, Rachael Li, and Alice Lee. Stay posted on CLO, which will continue to feature photos from FIDE Director of Events, Grant Oen. Thanks to sponsor Two Sigma for their continuing support of US Chess.