Chenxuan Ling Wins Silver at FIDE World Cadets Cup

22 Americans participated across the six sections of the FIDE World Cadets Cup in Batumi, Georgia from June 23 through July 2. CM Chenxuan Ling won a silver medal in the Under-12 Open section, making him the only American medalist. CM Ethan Guo, also in the Under-12 Open section, came close, however, finishing fourth after taking his match for bronze all the way to sudden death blitz tie-breaks.

Chenxuan Ling (L) finished second behind Sameh Mohamed Abdalrahman. Russia's Bulgak Damir (R) won bronze over American CM Ethan Guo after a blitz playoff in their head-to-head match. (Photo courtesy of FIDE)

The Girls Under-10 section was particularly impressive for the Americans, with several players finishing much higher than their initial seeding based on FIDE rating. Angela Zixi Wang, in particular, was impressive: the 29th-seeded player finished sixth overall.

The World Cadets Cup (Cadets) format is different than the FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women’s World Cup (beginning Sunday, July 6, also in Batumi, Georgia). Rather than a series of knock-out matches, the Cadets consists of a seven-round group stage followed by one round of two-game classical matches.

If the match is tied after these two games, a two-game rapid match (15 minutes per side, with a two-second increment from move one) is the first tie-break, with sudden death blitz games (three minutes per side, with a two-second increment from move one). Unfortunately for spectators, it appears that the sudden death blitz tie-breaks were not broadcast, but all other games from the preliminary and final stages can be reviewed here. The final standings (including results of blitz tie-breaks) for each section will be linked below under the appropriate sub-heading.

Each of the six sections (Under-12, Under-10, and Under-8 for each of Open and Girls) divides competitors into two groups for the group stage. The winner of Group A plays for the gold medal against the winner of Group B, with the match’s loser taking home silver. Then, the second-place finisher in Group A plays for bronze against the counterpart of Group B.

While other matches did not have an impact on the podium, all participants were guaranteed games after the rest day. Compared to the “adult” World Cups, this is a very inclusive format, as every player can book their trip home in advance, and nobody has to go home early even after a disappointing start.

By my count, Americans went 7 – 15 in the final matches. If a player’s placement in the final standings is an odd number, then, it can be inferred that they won that match. That final number also indicates their final standing in the group stage according to the following formula: If even, divide their number by two. If odd, add one and then divide by two.

Under-12 Open

Seven players from the USA delegation competed in the Under-12 Open out of 54 total participants, with four Americans finishing in the top 10. The highest finisher was CM Chenxuan Ling (silver), who earned the Americans’ only medal. CM Ethan Guo finished fourth, while Corin Gartenlaub finished seventh ahead of fellow American Brian Borui Li after winning their head-to-head match. Final standings.

In Group B, Ling finished in clear first with 6½/7. Below is his sixth-round win, which allowed him to keep pace with eventual bronze medalist Damir Bulgak of Russia atop the leaderboard.

In the first game of his final match against Group A champion IM Abdalrahman Sameh Mohamed of Egypt, Ling had to be happy after holding his higher-rated opponent to a draw with the black pieces in only 27 moves. But a surprise opening from Mohamed in the second game saw him equalize easily and go on to win in an unusual game where Black’s two knights were far superior to White’s bishop pair.

In Group A, Guo finished clear second with 5½/7, only behind Mohamed, while Li tied for third with 5/7. Guo’s match for bronze was a tense affair, with Guo and Bulgak trading wins first in classical then in rapid. Below is Guo’s classical win, although Bulgak’s barn-burner in the first classical game is also worth studying for those interested in how to conduct an attack.

After splitting the rapid tie-break, the players went to sudden death blitz. Since the games for the blitz were not broadcast, I do not know how many games it took for a player to score a win. But, considering the previous four games, I’m going to guess it was a one-game playoff.

Under-12 Girls

In the Under-12 Girls, three American players competed in the field of 48. Of the trio, the highest finisher was WFM Laurie Qiu. Final standings.

While Qiu entered as the highest-rated player, a tough group stage saw her finish 11th with an even score. Showing a competitive spirit, she battled on to win her final match 2–0. Her opponent built up a serious initiative in her must-win second game, but Qiu battled back to equalize and, despite only needing a draw to clinch the match, eventually win.

Under-10 Open

Four players from the USA delegation competed in the field of 56. The top finisher was Reyansh Paragiri finishing eighth. Two more Americans, Guntaka Aayansh and Advik Manchanda, finished 15th and 16th, respectively, after Aayansh won their head-to-heaed match. Finishing 23rd, Samanta Aayansh also won his final match. Final standings.

Under-10 Girls

As mentioned in the introduction, the Under-10 Girls section had some of the Americans’ best results. Of the 5 Americans in the 44-girl field, the highest finisher was Angela Zixi Wang in sixth place. With a 1519 FIDE rating, Wang entered seeded 15th out of 22 players, with six of the seven players below her being unrated. And yet, Wang finished in a tie for second with a 5½/7 score, finishing third on tie-breaks.

In her final match, Wang traded wins against India’s Vanshika Rawat in the classical portion before losing her first rapid game. After claiming a draw by perpetual in the return game, Rawat claimed fifth. Below are both of the classical games from the match, which were both thrilling to follow and sure to raise the heart rate of friends and family of either player.

Also in this section, Melanie Liang finished 12th and Magnolia Zhu, who entered seeded 22nd, finished 14th. Ganesh Kaira Ananya finished 23rd, winning her head-to-head match. Final standings.

Under-8 Open

While only 2 USA players (out of 48) competed in the Under-8 Open, both finished in the top 10. Devansh Vellanki was seeded sixth and finished fifth, winning his head-to-head match against Estonia’s Lev Jevglevski. Mehmet Yilanli was seeded ninth and finished ninth, winning his match against Alinur Kairgaliyev (Kazakhstan). Final standings.

Both players lost their first classical game in their respective final matches, and both won on demand the following day to force tie-breaks. Below are each of their “win-on-demand” attacking masterpieces:

Yilanli went on to win both rapid games, while Vellanki’s match went to blitz tie-breaks after two draws in the rapid portion.

Under-8 Girls

Finally, in the Under-8 Girls section, Grace Lingxin Yan was the sole American in the 40-player field. It’s pointless to talk about seeding here, as Yan was one of the 27 players without a FIDE rating in this section. She finished 16th overall, which put her fifth among the unrated players. Final standings.

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