GM-elect Yagiz Erdogums defeated FM Henry Tudor in the final of the Cheskid Youth Championship 2024 for players aged 13 and under. The Turkish phenom was the clear favorite to win the tournament, but Tudor ended the regular match in a 2-2 draw before Erdogums won in extra time with a commanding 2-0 victory.
The under-16 division, which will feature several grandmasters and a swimmer who, at age 10, became the world’s youngest IM, begins next weekend. July 6th, 9am ET / 6pm CEST / 6:30pm IST.
Knockout Bracket
Semi-finals: The favorite wins and advances to the finals
The single-elimination matches were best-of-four (i.e. the first player to score 2.5 points) with a time limit of 3+1. The two players who had placed first in their groups the previous day won the semi-finals.
Erdmus 3-0 Mendes
Erdmus won the first round in a crushing 3-0 victory, winning the first game with an isolated queen pawn and position exploiting the weak f5 square.
The second game was a ray of hope for Mendes, as he looked to blow Erdmus off the boards multiple times with the French defence, but the teenage GM-elect managed to hang on and eventually secure the win.
Mendes came close to winning the second game, but Erdgüms was not going to take it easy that night!
The score for Erdgüms is now 2-0. pic.twitter.com/0FC8MGPVMu
— Chess24 (chess) June 30, 2024
The Turkish prodigy won his third title and advanced to the final.
Tudor 4-2 Radzimski
The match was pretty close, at least early on, with Tudor leading, then losing control late, but barely holding on again.
Tudor was leading 2-1 after the third game and could have ended the match had he found 43…Rh8! as time expired, but he resigned a few moves at the crucial moment.
With the score at 2-2, the match was again in a draw, but the drama didn’t last long as Radzimski made a series of moves in the wrong order, leaving his queen dangling in mid-air.
Henry Tudor has been gifted the Botez Gambit and now all he needs to do is draw with White! pic.twitter.com/egDlnzLyR2
— Chess24 (chess) June 30, 2024
Tudor won the final game and advanced to the final with only a draw with White.
Final: Tudor goes into extra time, Erdgums wins 2-0
The final was incredibly close, especially considering the difference in ratings, with Tudor winning a crucial final time to send the match into overtime, but Erdogums’s dreams of a comeback were dashed afterwards.
The Romanian player started well in the early stages of the match, fighting evenly in a time scramble in game one, but a tactical error with his queen cost Tudor the match, but he bounced back in game two when his opponent missed a knight in another scramble.
The Goats lost their first game today, so the score is tied! pic.twitter.com/QLgvOi1J2F
— Chess24 (Chess24.com) June 30, 2024
Discovered by Erdmus 23. Bxh6! In the third game, it was a great combination to end the game.
However, Tudor got the win as required by successfully executing a combination of their own, taking the game into extra time with the score at 2-2.
Erdmus pulled away in the tiebreaker and won both games. In the first game, the white queen on d2 was left unprotected allowing two Bulldozer moves, resulting in the adoption of the tactical theme “LPDO” (Loose Pieces Drop Off). 29…Bxg4! and 30…Bxh3!.
In fact, Erdogums won two titles this weekend: after competing in the round robin tournament the day before, he went on to become the first junior to win Bullet Brawl, which adds up to the $1,500 he won in the ChessKid Youth Championship and the $400 he won in Bullet Brawl.
He will also take part in next weekend’s under-16 tournament, but will face much stiffer resistance. Other young stars competing in that tournament include:
The ChessKid Youth Championship is Chess.com’s premier event for the next generation of chess elite. Two sections, ages 13 and under and age 16 and under, will take place from June 29 to July 7. All games will be played under a 3+1 time limit and there is a prize pool of $15,000.
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