Report on the Asian Youth Chess Championships, 2023.

The 25th Asian Youth Chess Championships were held at the Al Ain Convention Centre, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, from 13th to 21st December, 2023. The Chess Festival comprised as many as 36 individual Chess tournaments for different age group in different time formats. The event was inaugurated on 13th December, 2023 and declared closed on 21st December, 2023, by Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nehyan, President of Asian Chess Federation. The Championships were held under three categories, Rapid, Blitz and Standard (Classical) Formats for 12 sections, i.e. U-8 Girls, U-10 Girls, U-12 Girls, U-14 Girls, U-16 Girls, U-18 Girls, U-8 Open (Boys and Girls), U-10 Open (Boys and Girls), U-12 Open (Boys and Girls), U-14 Open (Boys and Girls), U-16 Open (Boys and Girls) and U-18 Open (Boys and Girls) sections.

The Rapid Championships were held on 13th December, The Blitz Championships on 18th December and the Standard (Classical time) Championships from 13th to 21st December. The Rapid Championships held on 13th December were dominated by Indians, who secured 9 Individual Medals and 11 Team Medals from 12 tournaments. In the U-8 Girls section, Indians bagged all three medals. A. S. Sharvaanica, Kiyana Parihar and Divi Bijesh bagged the Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively. In the U-14 Girls section Saparya Ghosh won the Gold while Sherali Pattnaik secured the Silver. In the U-16 Girls, Cera Dagariya scored a Bronze for India. The U-18 Girls Rapid event was won by Bhagyashree Patil, who bagged the Gold.
In the U-8 Open section, Muhammad Shayan Naushae Ibrahim won the Gold while Aarit Kapil secured the Silver.

The Rapid Team Medals were awarded on the basis of the performance in the above events. India won Team Gold in 8 sections out of 12, i.e. U-8 Girls, U- 12 Girls, U-14 Girls, U-16 Girls, U-18 Girls, U-8 Open, U-10 Open and U-18Open sections. In the U-10 Girls & U-14 Open sections, India secured Silver
Medals while in U-12 Open event, India bagged the Bronze.

In the Blitz Championships held on 18th December, too, the Indians performed brilliantly, bagging 3 Individual Medals and 10 Team Medals from 12 tournaments. A.S. Sharvaanica, Pratitee Bordoloi & V. C. Nivediata won Gold Medals in U-8, U-10 & U-12 categories respectively. In the 12 tournaments of Blitz Championships, India won Team Gold Medals in U-8 Girls,U-10 Girls sections, Team Silver Medals in U-12 Girls, U-14 Girls, U-16 Girls, U-18 Girls, U-8 Open,U-18 Open sections and Team Bronze Medals in U-10 Open & U-14 Open sections. The Standard or Classical events were also dominated by

the Indian players who won 7 Individual Medals and 10 Team Medals. In the U-8 Girls (Standard) section, Kiyana Parihar won the Individual Gold while A. S. Sharvaanica was awarded the Individual Silver.In the U-10 Girls, Aadya Rangnath won the Individual Bronze. In the U-16 Girls, Keerthi Ganta secured an Individual Bronze for India. In the U-18 Girls, G. Tejaswini won the Individual Silver Medal. Aarit Kapil won the Individual Silver Medal in the U-8 Open category. Harsh Suresh bagged the Individual Gold in the U-16 Open Category.

In the Six Standard (Classical) categories, The Indian Teams were awarded all Six Team Gold Medals in Six Girls categories, i.e. U-8 Girls, U-10 Girls, U-12 Girls, U-14 Girls, U-16 Girls & U-18 Girls. In the Six Open Standard categories, India won Three Team Silver Medals, in U-8 Open, U-14 Open & U-18 Open sections. India also bagged One Team Bronze Medal in U-1

Open Category. For the overall best performance in the entire 25th Asian Youth Chess Festival, which was conducted in a total of 36 tournaments, Indian Contingent was declared ‘The CHAMPIONS’.