Chess
GM Pranav Venkatesh wins FIDE World Youth U-18 Open Rapid & Blitz
Pranav won the Rapid event with a score of 9.5/11.
Indian GM Pranav Venkatesh (centre) wins FIDE World Youth U-18 Open Rapid & Blitz.
Indian grandmaster Pranav Venkatesh clinched the gold medal at Tuesday's FIDE World Youth U-18 Open Rapid and Blitz events at the Terme Catez Hotel in Brezice, Slovenia.
He scored 9.5 out of a possible 11. He finished a half point ahead of the rest of the field. FIDE Master Alexander Khripachenko won the silver medal for scoring 9/11. Ukraine's Roman Pyrih bragged about the bronze medal for scoring 7.5/9.
Pranav Venkatesh has become the U18 World Rapid Champion as well as the World U18 Blitz Champion! 🏆
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) December 17, 2024
📷: Šahovska zveza Slovenije (FB)#Chess ♟️ pic.twitter.com/TyyOEJdegN
Top see in top form
Though Pranav, the top seed in the tournament, lost in the last round, it did not affect his gold medal prospect as he won the Rapid event.
He accumulated 19.5/22 to claim the Blitz gold medal, finishing four points ahead of the rest of the field. Dmitry Mochalov claimed the Blitz silver for scoring 15.5/22, and Khripachenko won the bronze medal for scoring 14.5/22.
Pranav capitalized on Khripachenko's positional mistake to win the Rapid gold medal.
He was the sole Grandmaster taking part in the entire event, combining all six categories in both Rapid and Blitz.
He was expected to win them both and he managed to achieve it without any great difficulty.
A total of 47 players including a GM and two IMs took part from 17 countries across the world in the Under-18 Open section of the Rapid event.
The tournament was organized by FIDE and the Slovenian Chess Federation on 14th and 15th December 2024. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move no. 1.
