Julia Salamon and Zsiltzova Lubov lead the 12th IBCA World Junior and Women's Chess Championship
The 12th edition of the World Junior and Women's Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired started on the 27th of September 2024. The tournament is taking place at the Chancery Pavilion Hotel, Residency Road, Bengaluru. It is a nine-round Swiss tournament with a time control of 90 minutes + 30 Seconds increment from the first move. There are a total of 32 participants in the tournament with 12 in the Junior and 20 in the Women's section. Apart from India, there are many players from different countries like Ukraine, Poland, the USA, and many others participating in the event. With only one round left, Julia Salamon is leading the Junior's section with 7 points and Zsiltzova Lubov is leading the Women's section with a full 8 points. Take a look at some of the exciting games from the event. Photo: AICFB.
About the event
The 12th IBCA World Junior and Woman Chess Championship started on the 27th of September 2024 at the Chancery Pavilion Hotel, Residency Road, Bengaluru. The tournament commenced with a grand opening ceremony in which the importance of chess within the blind community was discussed. An AICFB short film was demonstrated to highlight the same. The ceremony was graced by the presence of Former Captain of the Indian Hockey Team, Ashish Ballal, GM Pranav Anand, Arvind Shastry, Secretary of Karnataka State Chess Association, Dr. Marilyn Bland, Manish Thool from IBCA, General Secretary of AICFB, Kishan Gangoli, Asian Para Games Medalist and Vice President of AICFB, Ram Niwas Varma.
Junior Section
Round 1 report
Out of the six games, four games had decisive decisive results while two ended in a draw. Ashwin Rajesh played with the white pieces against Racis Micheal of Poland. Ashwin played the Smith-Morra Gambit in the opening but made an early blunder in the middlegame. This gave Black an advantage and eventually won the game.
Polish player Salamon Julia played with the white pieces against the Indian player Sam Peniel. She gained an advantage after the 17th move bxc5 and went on to win the game comfortably.
Round 2 report
Day 2 witnessed a tough fight between the veterans and newcomer players. The top board faced the heat between Racis Michal and Spionkowski Fabian. Michal opted for Queen’s gambit which Fabian declined.
Fabian’s position started getting weak after the move Nb4.
Rachis trapped Black’s knight so beautifully by playing h4, that he had to resign.
Kuanyshuly Nurgisa played against Salamon Julia with white pieces. In the middlegame, white made a blunder by playing Bd3.
This created an imbalance in White’s position and forced him to resign after the 29th move.
Round 3 report
The tournament leaders Racis Michal and Salamon Julia faced each other in round 3. The game started with a Semi-Slav defence with both the players carefully moving their pieces. The game was equal throughout and ended in a draw.
However, it was an interesting position on board two between two Indians, John Harris Sujin and Rahul Vaghela. As soon as the game reached middlegame, Rahul blundered his piece by playing Re8.
He lost his bishop and the position too. He kept on fighting but resigned after the 37th move.
Round 4 report
What made the third day of the tournament eventful was the two rounds that were held on the same day. While the third round was held in the morning at 9:30 am, the fourth round started in the afternoon at 3:30 pm.
One of the tournament leaders Racis Michal played with white pieces against John Harris Sujin. White played the Queen’s Gambit which Black declined. Rachis preferred to attack early in the game and gained the advantage after Black played Qd7.
As White kept on getting advantage, Black almost lost the position when he played h5.
The game between Gradisek Bor and Salamon Julia turned out to be a dramatic one. As the game continued, white started getting a slight advantage when he played Nxd6+.
However, he could not use his advantage and blundered by playing Nxe5. Unfortunately, Black also did not realize his advantage, instead of playing Qd7, he played Qf6. The game was equal again until the 28th move when white blundered again by playing Kh2 risking his rook.
Black missed the move Bxb1 and played Kg7. After this, both the players settled for a draw.
Round 5 report
In round 5, Kuanyshuly Nurgisa played against Racis Michal with white pieces. This was a very long intense game that included so many ups and downs. White made a terrible blunder by playing the move Ba2, but to his luck, Black played a4 which almost neutralized the position.
Soon White made another mistake of playing Qd2 which was again neutralised by Black’s Be7. Immediately, White made a third blunder by playing g5. Surprisingly, White made a fourth blunder by playing Rh2 which gave Black a completely winning position. Black continued dominating till the 52nd move until he played Rc3+.
This made the position equal again. White utilized this golden opportunity and kept on fighting and secured for a draw. This dramatic game turned out to be very important for Nurgisa as he stopped his much higher-rated opponent to a draw.
Another longest game of round 5 was played between Salamon Julia and John Harris Sujin which lasted for 81 moves. The game was equal till the 31st move but then Sujin made a mistake by playing Ne4+.
Julia caught this mistake and kept on benefiting from it. But at a crucial point, she could not realize the best move and ended up neutralizing the position. The game was almost draw-ish but Black made a huge mistake of moving his King to f6.
With this, Sujin lost a very crucial game.
Round 6 report
Racis Michal and Gradisek Bor faced each other on the top board. The game was equal till the middlegame but when the queens were exchanged, Racis' position became slightly better. However, he could not benefit from the position, and the game ended in a draw.
Tanish Waghmare played against Salamon Julia with white pieces. He started losing control of the position after exchanging pieces. Salamon being the experienced player showed wonderful play and kept dominating the position. With this, he got the lead in the tournament.
Round 7 report
With only three rounds left, Salamon Julia played against Ashwin Rajesh in the 7th round with white pieces. Rajesh’s move to Bc7 made him lose control of the board. Julia immediately took over from this and made her opponent resign after the 26th move.
On the second board, Racis Michal continued dominating the game from the start. Though Tanish tried fighting back, he was under serious time pressure which made him make wrong moves. In the end, Rachis scored an important win.
Round 8 report
All the games in round 8 were decisive games. Salamon Julia played against Rahul Vaghela on the top board with white pieces. Both the players opted for King’s Indian opening. While Rahul gave a tough fight, Julia maintained her position and gained an advantage when it was necessary. She was successful in converting her advantage into a win.
On the second board, Rahul Sahani opened with the King’s Pawn against Racis Michal. Michal opted for the Sicilian Defense. The game remained balanced until the 48th move when Michal created an outside passed pawn on the Queen's side. He skillfully used this advantage to secure a comfortable win.
Women's Section
Round 1 report
Out of the ten games, there were eight decisive games in the Women’s section. The top-seeded player in the tournament, Zsiltzova Lubov from Ukraine won the game to remain at the top spot. She is the defending champion at the tournament whose goal was to dominate right from the start.
Round 2 report
Zsiltzova Lubov played with the white pieces against Spychala Jozefa. Jozefa opted for Sicilian defense but made a mistake in the opening by playing h6. That’s when Lubov grabbed the opportunity and forced her opponent to surrender on the 14th move.
On the contrary, Megha Chakraborty had to surrender her game to her opponent Egeman Emilia. Megha was playing on board two with white pieces against Emilia. She played an unusual opening, Kings Indian Defence but made a blunder. She played b4 early in the game, in the fourth move which gave her opponent some advantage. Eventually, Megha resigned on the 53rd move.
Round 3 report
The top-seed Zsiltzova Lubov played against Tryjanska Emilia with black pieces. The game started with white playing the Sicilian Defence. After White played Bf5, Emilia made a blunder by playing Rh4 where she should have played Re1.
Lubov kept getting advantage after this point.
With this, Lubov continued her lead in the tournament.
Round 4 report
As Lubov maintained her dominance with a full score, she was paired up against Egeman Emilia in round 4. The game started with the Sicilian Defence: Najdorf variation. Both the players got hold of the position in the opening but Emilia made a mistake by playing Rab1 after which Black’s pieces were in a better position.
Lubov, being an experienced player showed brilliant performance and pushed for a win. This Rook + Bishop vs Knight + Bishop game ended after the 36th move with Lubov winning the game.
On board 2 were fighting Pham Thi Huong and Tryjanska Emilia. Both the players showed their brilliance in the opening. Huong’s 19th move, Rg1 turned out to be a huge blunder after which White’s position kept getting worse. This rook blunder cost Huong a very big loss.
Round 5 report
The leader Zsiltzova Lubov scored another crucial victory by defeating Lauser, Jessica T with white pieces. Lubov gained an advantage in the game right from the 5th move. Jessica’s move e5 turned out to be a terrible mistake as she lost both the center pawns.
On the other hand, Trynska Emilia played with the white pieces against Muratova Aliya. This was another game in which White gained an advantage right from the 7th move. Even though White lost advantage in the middlegame, she attacked her opponent to get hold of the board. Trynska Emilia won the game and got a score of 4 out of 5.
Round 6 report
In the 6th round, Lubov faced Megha Chakraborty with white pieces. While Black played for French Defence, White chose some uncommon variations to make the game complex.
White got a better position from the 16th move when Black played Ra8. Throughout the game, Black played passively which made White go in attack mode.
On the second board, Egeman Emilia played against Tryjanska Emilia with white pieces. The game started with the opening of the Giuoco Piano. Black was slightly better when White played Re2 but due to miscalculation, Black lost the advantage. Black gained the advantage again after White placed her bishop on b3. But she immediately made a terrible blunder and lost the position after playing Bxf2+.
Round 7 report
Zsiltzova Lubov of Ukraine faced her compatriot Bondar Olena in the 7th round with black pieces. Bondar opted for the Queen's Gambit which Lubov accepted. Despite fighting hard, Bondar tragically lost on time on move 31. And Lubov scored another win to maintain her perfect score.
On the second board, Tryjanska Emilia played the King's Pawn Opening with white pieces against Megha Chakraborty. Megha chose the Pirc Defense but encountered difficulties in the opening and lost a pawn. Tryjanska capitalized on her advantage and, after a long struggle, secured victory in a bishop endgame.
Round 8 report
On the top board, Pham Thi Huong of Vietnam played the Queen's Gambit with the white pieces against Zsiltzova Lisenko Lubov. Lubov accepted the gambit and was pawn up by the 12th move. Huong made a critical blunder on the 14th move by playing Rc1.
She lost her bishop and eventually the game. With this, Lubov secured the championship with a round to spare.
On the second board, Muratova Aliya faced Egeman Emilia. Aliya decided to advance her kingside pawns early in the game which actually turned out to be a bad decision.
g4 was a blunder made by Aliya after which Emilia’s Queen penetrated Aliya’s King's side. Even though Aliya tried to regain control, she could not do it as Emilia kept attacking.
With this, Julia Salamon and Zsiltzova Lubov are leading the Junior and Women's sections respectively.