Chess giants India and China topped the Asian Youth Chess Championship with two golds each and three silvers for India and one silver for China. The surprise was tiny Sri Lanka placing third with one gold and one silver, ahead of Vietnam and other chess powerhouses.
The event was supported by the FIDE Planning and Development Commission. Visit chess-results.com for round by round standings and results and to download games.
The 25th Asian Youth Chess Championship was organized 12-22 December 2023 at the Al Ain Convention Center in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, by the Al Ain Chess Club under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE and in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Over 600 players from some 40 countries with parents and coaches came for a total of a thousand participants in a chess festival atmosphere.
Actually Russians playing under the FIDE flag won many individual medals as shown below but were not allowed to play as a team as resolved by the International Olympic Committee.
Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan (third from left) honors the top three federations: first place India (second from right), second place China represented by GM Li Chao (right) and third place Sri Lanka, represented by Sri Lanka Chess Federation president Luxman Wijesuriya (third from right). At left is UAE Chess Federation president Taryam Matar Taryam.
IM L.M.S.T. De Silva of Sri Lanka had to work extra hard for the gold medal in the Boys Under-18 category after a tie in all systems with Zhang Di of China necessitated an armageddon tie break. De Silva played black and forced 3-time repetition of position to claim the gold.
Here are photos of the awards ceremonies captioned under with names of the gold (1), siilver (2) and bronze (3) winners on the awards stand. (Photos by Hossam Eldin Mohammed).
