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13-year-old GM-elect Yagiz Erdogmus has added the Under 16 ChessKid Youth Championship 2024 title to the Under 13 title he won a week ago. The Turkish prodigy overcame fellow GM-elect Ivan Zemlyanskii 3-1 in the Final after Zemlyanskii had upset GM Abhimanyu Mishra in the Semifinals.
Final Bracket
Semifinals:
Final:
Erdogmus 3-1 Woodward
Erdogmus is currently the world’s youngest grandmaster, a claim-to-fame he snatched from his Semifinal opponent, U.S. GM-elect Andy Woodward, in April. Since then Erdogmus has turned 13, but not before he became the highest-rated 12-year-old in history.
He’s a rival of 10-year-old FM Faustino Oro as the biggest prodigy in chess right now, and he’s been demonstrating his credentials in the ChessKid Youth Championships. He won the Under 13 Championship in impressive style a week ago, and now he’s done the same against the even more formidable ranks of players 16 and under.
After winning his group with 8/10 he raced to a 2-0 lead against Woodward in the four-game Semifinal before going on to clinch the match, though his opponent put up a fierce fight.
In the first game Erdogmus emerged with two extra pawns from a tricky opening, and when he managed to coordinate his undeveloped pieces it was all over bar the shouting.
In the second, however, Woodward looked sure to be able to hunt down the black king and level the scores, but somehow the monarch escaped.
As you can see, near the end Woodward, with a second or two on his clock, dropped a rook for no compensation.
With a second on his clock, Andy Woodward hangs a rook and Yagiz Erdogmus takes a 2-0 lead — he now needs only a draw in Game 3 to clinch the match! pic.twitter.com/od4FTbleKH
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 7, 2024
That was unfortunate and left Erdogmus needing only a draw to clinch the match, which perhaps explained a decision that condemned him to a world of hurt—33.Nxg5?!
The problem for Woodward, however, was that he needed to win on demand a second time to force a playoff. Instead he found Erdogmus in top form, finding an essential move in the opening that had in fact been played before—10…b5!
He went on to give checkmate and book a spot in the final.
Mishra 1.5-2.5 Zemlyanskii
Erdogmus’ expected opponent in the final was 15-year-old Mishra, who as a 12-year-old set the current record for becoming the youngest ever grandmaster. In the end, however, his FM but GM-elect 13-year-old opponent pulled off an upset.
The tense first game that ended in a repetition suggested how close things would be, while Mishra fell behind when he failed to move an attacked rook in a complicated Winawer French in the second game.
Mishra hit back in the third, and while his technique in converting a winning position was far from perfect, there was absolutely nothing wrong with his fighting spirit. He celebrated when his opponent lost on time in an already hopeless pawn endgame.
Mishra celebrates levelling the scores at 1.5-1.5! https://t.co/NziRHhLDp0 pic.twitter.com/slt1w9IYsP
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 7, 2024
That left the scores level going into the final game, which was again a Winawer French. This time Zemlyanskii went on to score an impressively smooth win to book his spot in the final.
Erdogmus 3-1 Zemlyanskii
This battle of the 13-year-olds got off to a wild start when Zemlyanskii, with 40 seconds more on the clock, found the tricky idea 21…Nxg3!?, grabbing a pawn.
Despite the lack of time, Erdogmus navigated the complications well and later pounced to gain a winning edge, but by the final position Zemlyanskii has a chance to equalize. Instead he seemed to lose his connection and lose on time.
That misfortune was shrugged off, however, as Zemlyanskii hit back, taking advantage of a flawed pawn sacrifice by his opponent in the following game.
The four-game match had become a two-game match, but it was Erdogmus who regained the lead in game three, which featured an extremely tense stand-off on the kingside. Erdogmus had only 24 seconds to his opponent’s one minute and 42 seconds after the clever 22.Be4!, but in the end he handled the complications better.
Here are the final stages after 32.Qf1!, threatening Rf8+, made the outcome inevitable.
Yagiz Erdogmus was once again down on time, but he finds a winning idea and takes a 2-1 lead! He now needs a draw in the final game to clinch the title: https://t.co/dnYGCKnBq0 pic.twitter.com/5AQhodai0H
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 7, 2024
Zemlyanskii therefore had to win the fourth game on demand, but when he missed a chance to push d4 on move 10 things turned against him. Erdogmus rounded off the match in real style.
The final moments as Yagiz Erdogmus clinches victory in the ChessKid Youth Chess Championship! pic.twitter.com/Z6we9zYQbh
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 7, 2024
The consolation for other chess kids, and reason to fear for the chess elite, is that Erdogmus is soon likely to graduate to competing on a level footing in the top events.
Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus does it again 🔥👏
✅ Under-13 Champion
✅ Under-16 ChampionHE HAS NEVER LOST A CHESSKID EVENT! 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/wLhxCCw73o
— ChessKid.com 👑 (@ChessKidcom) July 7, 2024
The biggest chess event coming up on the horizon is the SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz that starts Wednesday, but sadly without world number-one Magnus Carlsen.
Due to an urgent family matter, GM Magnus Carlsen has regretfully withdrawn from the upcoming event in Zagreb and will be replaced by American GM Levon Aronian as a wildcard at this tournament. #Grandchesstour #MagnusCarlsen #LevonAronian #chess #superbetrapidblitz
Photos by… pic.twitter.com/PZUOFkDB8B
— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) July 7, 2024
The ChessKid Youth Championships are Chess.com’s top events for the next generation of the chess elite. The two sections, for players under 13 and under 16, take place June 29-July 7. All games are played with the 3+1 time control, and the prize fund is $15,000.
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