Round 1, World Youth Chess Championship

Round 1 of the World Youth Chess Championship has started with a delay, which was caused due the technical problems which were finally solved. The kids and grown up participants were impatient and almost tired to wait. When they were invited to the Playing hall, they were happy indeed to start the game.

The total number of the World Youth Championship 2013 reached the number of 1814 participants from 120 countries. Girls sectors: 116 players in G-8 group, 139 players in G-10 group, 144 players in G-12, 126 players in G-14 group, 116 players in G-16 group and 99 players in G-18 group. Boys' group has also gathered the record number of participants: 176 players in B-8 group, 206 players in B-10 group, 209 players in B-12 group, 193 players in B-14 group, 166 players in B-16 group and 124 players in B-18 group.

Apart from the fact that the first round started later than scheduled, all the participants started the first round with energy and wish to play.

First round did not bring any surprises. The participants of groups under 16 and 18 played "grown up" chess, while some of the small players were crying after they lost. It melted the hearts of all spectators and locals. They were trying to calm them down, encouraging for tomorrow's game.

One funny situation happened in the category Girls under 8. A Ukrainian girl accidentally knocked down her queen with her hand on her attempt to move another piece. Her opponent, a small Chinese girl, right away wrote down 1=0 in her score sheet. The arbiters solved the issue as well as other moments of tensions between young competitors.

Concurrent with the World Youth Chess Championship, the Open tournament is taking place in the University. It is considered a very strong competition with about 200 participants. We will come back to the Open tournament in more detail the following days.

Photos of round 1: http://www.worldyouth2013.com/gallery