Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan has become the FIDE world junior chess champion, winning the title in Gandhinagar, India even though he was only the ninth seed.
An emotional Nogerbek, 20, briefly rested his head on his forearm on the table on Thursday after the tournament victory.
“It feels very good,” said Nogerbek, who won the rapid and blitz titles in the World Youth U18 Championship.
The Kazakh player is an international master (IM), which is the second most difficult title to secure after grandmaster (GM). A number of grandmasters were among those participating in the U20 World Junior Chess Championship, which started at the beginning of June.
Divya Deshmukh, the 18-year-old top seed from India, won the girls’ section.
Nogerbek’s victory was tight. He scored 8.5/11 points, as did grandmaster Emin Ohanyan of Armenia. But Nogerbek did better under a tiebreak system designed to determine a winner in such a scenario. Grandmaster Kuja Budisavljevic of Serbia won bronze with eight points.
“Going into the final round, GM Mamikon Gharibyan from Armenia was in sole lead with eight points, half a point ahead of four players, including Nogerbek,” chess.com reported. “The two faced in the final round, with the Armenian making a crucial mistake in time trouble, while trying to defend a difficult ending.”
Chess.com said the world junior championship has a prestigious history but fewer top players are participating because “more attractive tournaments” are available.
FIDE is the International Chess Federation, which is the translated name of Federation International des Echecs, founded in Paris in 1924.
