The Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with a gala on November 16th. However, the gala event was not the last event of the year as there was one more work session left. In the week before Christmas, from December 16-18, Garry Kasparov trained six talented youngsters, who had an average age of 13 and an average Elo rating of 2490. | Photos: Kasparov Chess Foundation
And just in time for the new year comes news of some fine performances by young U.S. stars at this month’s FIDE world youth championships, with eight players medaling and four bringing home the gold in a modified rapid knockout event played (of course) online.
The honor roll: WGM Carissa Yip, Under-18 Girls gold; Dimitar Mardov, Under-12 Open gold; Alice Lee, Under-12 Girls gold; Omya Vidyarthi, Under-10 Girls gold; Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, Under-18 Girls silver; Zoey Tang, Under-12 Girls silver; IM Christopher Yoo, Under-14 Open bronze; Bach Ngo, Under-12 Open bronze.
And the quality of the play, given the shorter time controls and weird circumstances, was refreshingly high. Yip and Cervantes Landeiro engaged in tense absorbing battle in Under-18 girls final before the more experienced Yip finally broke on top.