World Seniors And World Youth Champs
One of the delightful features of chess is that it can be enjoyed at any age; a fact amply illustrated by two recently completed tournaments.
The World Youth Championships took place in Caldas Novas, Brazil, from 17-27 November, and the World Senior Championships ran from 14-27 November in Rijeka, Croatia.
For the purposes of the World Senior Chess Championships, 'senior' means born in 1951 or earlier for men, and 1961 or earlier for the separate women's event. Both competitions were 11-rounds Swiss.
World Senior Champs IM Vladimir Okhotnik and WIM Galina Strutinskaya
The top men's standings:
| Name | Elo | Nat | Pts | TB | ||
| 1 | IM | Okhotnik Vladimir | 2427 | FRA | 9.0 | 52.5 |
| 2 | GM | Komljenovic Davorin | 2451 | CRO | 8.5 | 54.5 |
| 3 | GM | Timoscenko Gennadij | 2483 | SVK | 8.5 | 52.0 |
| 4 | GM | Vaisser Anatoly | 2555 | FRA | 8.0 | 54.0 |
| 5 | GM | Kurajica Bojan | 2532 | BIH | 8.0 | 51.5 |
| 6 | GM | Cebalo Miso | 2446 | CRO | 8.0 | 49.5 |
| 7 | GM | Rajkovic Dusan | 2416 | SRB | 8.0 | 47.5 |
| 8 | GM | Balashov Yuri S | 2443 | RUS | 8.0 | 47.0 |
| 9 | GM | Hulak Krunoslav | 2480 | CRO | 7.5 | 51.0 |
| 10 | GM | Kovacevic Vlatko | 2482 | CRO | 7.5 | 50.5 |
| 11 | IM | Zhelnin Vladimir V | 2430 | RUS | 7.5 | 50.0 |
| 12 | GM | Chernikov Oleg L | 2402 | RUS | 7.5 | 50.0 |
| 13 | GM | Jansa Vlastimil | 2478 | CZE | 7.5 | 49.0 |
| 14 | GM | Suba Mihai | 2458 | ROU | 7.5 | 47.5 |
| 15 | IM | Leskovar Mario | 2316 | ARG | 7.5 | 47.0 |
| 16 | FM | Mishuchkov Nikolai M | 2418 | RUS | 7.5 | 47.0 |
| 17 | IM | Lederman Leon | 2267 | ISR | 7.5 | 46.5 |
| 18 | IM | Pritchett Craig W | 2343 | SCO | 7.5 | 45.0 |
| 19 | IM | Wittmann Walter | 2269 | AUT | 7.5 | 43.0 |
| 20 | GM | Rashkovsky Nukhim N | 2517 | RUS | 7.0 | 51.5 |
The top women's standings:
| Name | Elo | Nat | Pts |
TB | ||
| 1 | WIM | Strutinskaya Galina N | 2277 | RUS | 8.5 | 49.0 |
| 2 | WFM | Melashvili Nino | 2106 | GEO | 8.0 | 48.0 |
| 3 | WGM | Saunina Ludmila | 2274 | RUS | 8.0 | 51.5 |
| 4 | GM | Gaprindashvili Nona | 2360 | GEO | 7.5 | 48.5 |
| 5 | WIM | Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe | 2152 | IND | 7.5 | 45.5 |
| 6 | WGM | Fatalibekova Elena | 2285 | RUS | 6.5 | 43.5 |
| 7 | WGM | Khmiadashvili Tamar | 2166 | GEO | 6.5 | 43.5 |
| 8 | WIM | Miednikova Swietlana | 2165 | RUS | 6.5 | 43.5 |
| 9 | WIM | Bilunova Rimma I | 2151 | RUS | 6.5 | 42.0 |
| 10 | WFM | Lopatin Olga | 2091 | GER | 6.5 | 38.5 |
At the other end of the age spectrum, the World Youth Championships were split into age ranges of Under 18,16,14,12,10 and 8. There were separate Open and Girls competitions, all of them 9-round Swiss events.
The packed playing hall at the World Youth Championships
The top standings in the Under-18 Open event were:
| Name | Nat | Pts | TB1 | ||
| 1 | GM | Ter-Sahakyan Samvel | ARM | 8.0 | 43.0 |
| 2 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | RUS | 7.0 | 37.5 |
| 3 | IM | Debashis Das | IND | 7.0 | 36.0 |
| 4 | Stany G A | IND | 7.0 | 33.5 | |
| 5 | Kozganbay Erken | KAZ | 6.5 | 33.0 | |
| 6 | IM | Zhou Yang-Fan | ENG | 6.5 | 32.5 |
| 7 | Graf Felix | GER | 6.5 | 32.5 | |
| 8 | IM | Mammadov Zaur Fazahir Oglu | AZE | 6.0 | 35.0 |
| 9 | FM | Rosen Eric S | USA | 6.0 | 33.5 |
| 10 | WGM | Cori T. Deysi | PER | 6.0 | 32.5 |
The full list of winners:
| Event | Winner |
| Under 18 Open | Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel (ARM) |
| Under 18 Girls | Meri, Arabidze (GEO) |
| Under 16 Open | Jorge, Cori (PER) |
| Under 16 Girls | Ziaziulkina, Nastassia (BLR) |
| Under 14 Open | Kirill, Alekseenko (RUS) |
| Under 14 Girls | Goryachkina, Aleksandra (RUS) |
| Under 12 Open | Murali, Karthikeyan (IND) |
| Under 12 Girls | Abdumalik, Zhansaya (KAZ) |
| Under 10 Open | Zhu, Yi (CHN) |
| Under 10 Girls | Alexandra, Obolentseva (RUS) |
| Under 8 Open | Liang, Awonder (USA) |
| Under 8 Girls | Bibissara Assaubayeva (KAZ) |
Awonder Liang, winner of the 2011 Susan Polgar World Foundation
Open for Boys (pictured) is now the World Under 8 Champion
Pictures from the World Senior Championship website, the World Youth Championship website and Susan Polgar's chess blog.
