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2000 World Youth Chess Championship
Westchester Students Excel in 2000 World Youth Chess Championships
October 2000.
A total of 777 young chess players from around the world competed in the 2000 World Youth Championships held in Oropesa del Mar, Spain.
Prominent among these were several Westchester students.
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Hikaru Nakamura of White Plains, NY, barely missed winning the bronze medal in the Boys under 14 section, scoring 8-3
and finishing fourth on secondary tiebreaks. This was the best result of the entire U.S. contingent. Hikaru scored 6 wins and 4 draws, losing only to Yue Wang, the 1999 World under 12 Gold Medalist.
Hikaru, at age 12, is the highest rated U.S. player under
13, and the second highest under 16! His USCF rating is 2422, and his October FIDE rating is 2356. He shall be awarded the FIDE Master title at the next FIDE congress.
In September, Hikaru won the New York State Action Championship, defeating GM Joel Benjamin. More Articles about Hikaru.
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Dmitry Schneider of Hastings on Hudson, NY,
finished 5th In the Boys Under 16 section, scoring 7.5-3.5. Dmitry, at age 15, is the highest rated U.S. player under age 16. His USCF rating is 2473, and his FIDE rating is 2394.
In September, Dmitry tied for first (with GM Joel Benjamin and former Westchester student IM Danny Edelman) in the New York State Championship at Saratoga Springs, NY.
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In the Boys Under 12 section, Dmitry's brother Igor Schneider got off to a slow start but rallied to score 6-5. Igor, at 2158, is the second highest rated U.S. player under age 13.
Also in this section, Noah Belcher of New York scored 4.5 points.
In the Girls Under 12 section, Laura Ross finished 8th (tied for 5th), scoring 7.5-3.5. Laura, at 1889, is the top-rated U.S. girl under 13. Shirley Ben-Dak, of Fleetwood, NY, scored 4.5 out of her
first 6 games, but faded afterwards to finish at 4.5 points.
In the Girls Under 14 section, Hunter student Annie Weiss scored 5 points.
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Other USA players who competed include the following:
In the Boys under 16 section, Vinay Bhat of California finished 15th (tied for 8th), scoring 7-4. Vinay, now 16 and rated USCF 2477, is the top age 15-16 player in the U.S.
In the Boys Under 14 section, New Yorkers Lev Milman and Christopher Belcher scored 4.5 and 3.5 points respectively.
In the Boys under 12 section, Max Enkin of Boston finished 26th , scoring 6.5-4.5.
In the Girls Under 16 section, Cindy Tsai, of Gainesville, FL, finished 15th with a score of 6.5-4.5.
Katie Robert-Hoffman of Colorado and Anna Levina of New York both scored 6-5, tying for 27th on equal tiebreaks!
In the Girls Under 12 section, Yelana Gorlin of Illinois finished 15th with 5.5 poimts.
In the Girls Under 10 section, Alisa Melekhina of Philadelphia finished 17th with 6 points. Luisa Livschitz of Michigan finished 26th with 5.5 points.
The U.S. team was coached by GM Gennady Sagalchik of Brooklyn, NY, and by FM Aviv Friedman,
a former instructor in the summer chess camps conducted by NSCF Executive Director Sunil Weeramantry.
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