World Youth 04-07: Nothing Special to Show Yet

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 30/09/2016

The Indian team at the World Youth Championship 2016 is having a tough time staying in the competition. India's best performer (relatively) is in the girls' under-16 section, where Akanksha Hagawane is tied for the second spot with 5.5/7. IM K.S. Raghunandan is on a fine comeback streak despite beginning with 1.0/3. We have an illustrated report with more to follow...

World Youth 04-07: Nothing Special to Show Yet

The Indian team at the World Youth Championship 2016 is having a tough time staying in the competition. Most of our players are struggling to perform against their higher-rated counterparts. Russians are leading the events in most sections. The tournament is being played in the open' and the girls' sections for under-14, under-16, and under-18.

India's best performer (relatively) is in the girls' under-16 section, where Akanksha Hagawane is tied for the second spot with 5.5/7. We have good chances in the under-14 section as well -- Vantika Agarwal and Saina Salonika are jointly tied for the third spot with eight other girls.

One must note that IM K.S. Raghunandan is on a fine comeback streak, after starting with 1.0/3. He is now on 5.0/7, and this particular event could become very interesting. Read on to know more.

Under-14 Section

Girls

Vantika Agarwal (2012) of Delhi held Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2319) in the seventh round. She is tied for the third spot with 5.0/7.

Saina Salonika (2093) of Odisha held higher-rated Elizaveta Solozhenkina (2320) of Russia to a draw in the seventh round. She is also on 5.0/7.

Priyanka Nutakki (2070) Andhra Pradesh is on 4.5/7.

China's Zhu Jiner is leading the table with a bunch of Russians. Team India has good chances to score a medal in this section with four more rounds to go.

Open

Bhavik Bharambe was the hero in the first three rounds. he has since suffered a slump and is on 4.0/7.

P. Iniyan (2368) has bounced back from a poor 1.0/3 start and is now on 4.5/7.

India's chances don't look too rosy in this section.

Under-16 Section

Girls

Akanksha Hagawane (2183) of Maharashtra was delivering a majestic performance until she lost in the seventh round. Nonetheless, she is tied for the second spot with 5.5/7.

Black had several ways to lose, but her ...Ng4 was the quickest. White to play and mate.

Priyanka K. (2205) is lagging behind with 4.5/7.

Open

IM K.S. Raghunandan (2451) started with an abysmal 1.0/3. He has punched four straight victories since then and now is on 5.0/7.

Under-18 Section

Girls

WIM M. Mahalakshmi (2221) of Tamil Nadu has scored 4.0/7 and has fallen behind by miles.

Open

(Not so) Amazingly, India's one of the best performers in the Open is Vaishali R. (2295) with 4.0/7.

The tournament is taking place in Khanty-Mansysk

This year's Youth Championships have been divided into two separate events, with the second half to take place in Georgia next month. Russia, the host country, is visibly quite serious about stamping its dominance in the youth events as well with leaders in almost every section of play in the event.

India has an uphill task ahead if it hopes to return with medals.

All photos sourced from the official website and Lakshmi Priya TT. Special report by her will be published soon.

PGN and other details.