A significant new blitz event showcasing the record-breaking subsequent technology of younger chess abilities in two age classes will launch this month.
The ChessKid Youth Championship kicks off on June 29 with a $15,000 prize fund and guarantees to be a imaginative and prescient of the longer term for chess followers.
The occasion is Chess.com’s premier occasion for younger gamers and provides 24 of the world’s most prodigiously-talented kids a brand new stepping stone into the ranks of the skilled sport.
The road-up is thrilling. Already confirmed for the under-16 class are Turkish chess sensation IM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the newly-qualified youngest grandmaster on the earth who’s awaiting affirmation of his title. Erdogmus can even compete within the under-13 class.
GM Abhimanyu Mishra, the now 15-year-old New Jersey prodigy who in 2021 broke the document to turn into the youngest grandmaster in historical past on the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.
He will likely be joined by two different high American abilities: teenage IM Alice Lee, already a winner of a serious event after she took the Ladies’s American Cup this yr, and IM Andy Woodward, the 14-year-old from Texas who can be awaiting affirmation of his grandmaster title. Lee broke the document final yr for the youngest American-born participant to turn into a global grasp.
From England, there are a number of thrilling abilities who’ve honed their expertise on ChessKid: led by 15-year-old IM Shreyas Royal. The south Londoner is getting ready to breaking GM David Howell’s document for the youngest British grandmaster. He wants yet one more norm and 17 score factors.
Within the under-13 class, England has one other competitor nicely underneath the age restrict: 10-year-old CM Supratit Banerjee. Extra gamers will likely be confirmed quickly.
In earlier years, Chess.com has run the Junior Velocity Chess Championship gained in 2023 by the Indian GM Gukesh Dommaraju, then aged 17. The now 18-year-old’s rise since then has been meteoric.
Gukesh gained the FIDE Candidates event in April to turn into GM Ding Liren’s official world title challenger. He has additionally shot up the world rankings and presently occupies a career-high quantity 4.
ChessKid has additionally beforehand run the ChessKid Youth Velocity Chess Championship, gained final yr by then CM Mendes Aaron Reeve, from Canada. He’s now 12 and has earned the title of FIDE Grasp.
Will anybody emerge from ChessKid Youth Championships and try and observe within the footsteps of Gukesh?
Each title within the line-up might not be instantly acquainted but, however it’s a glimpse into the way forward for chess: these are the children slated to be the GM Magnus Carlsens and GM Hikaru Nakamuras of tomorrow.
The three+1 blitz event begins on June 29 and finishes with a grand closing on June 30. There are two age classes: underneath 13 and underneath 16.
Twelve gamers in every class will likely be cut up into two round-robin teams earlier than the highest two in every group progress to a knockout semi finals stage after which the ultimate two face one another for the title.
The event will start with the Beneath-13 Group 1 round-robin on June 29 at 9 a.m. ET/15:00 CEST. You could find out extra in regards to the occasion right here.
