World Junior Championship

[Leonard Barden]

Nearly half-way, and the gold medal is drifting away from David Howell,who has conceded four draws to lower-rated opponents in six rounds and is a point behind the favourite Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who shares the lead on 5/6.
Howell is seeded 4, and seeds 1,2,3,5,6,and 7 are all ahead of him.

[Ben Purton]

Do you ever focus on anything positive he does...

[Carl Hibbard]

Do you ever focus on anything positive he does...

I took Leonard's post as a general comment rather than a criticism, but then I would never question his thoughts

[Leonard Barden]

Do you ever focus on anything positive he does...

Will this do? (Guardian, 8 August)
David Howell, 18, triumphed with an unbeaten 9/11, seven wins and four draws, in the British Championship at Torquay. The teenager from East Sussex is already the youngest ever UK grandmaster and is now the second youngest British champion after Michael Adams, who won the title at 17.

Howell rode his luck in some games, notably in round two when Mark Hebden missed an instant win, but overall his total was an impressive performance which suggests he can improve to join Adams and Nigel Short at the top of the game.

Howell first hit the headlines at the age of eight when he beat the grandmaster John Nunn in a speed game, a world age record. At nine, he became the youngest to qualify for the British Championship final tournament and three years later, he drew a speed game against the then world champion Vladimir Kramnik. He took his A levels early and has improved rapidly for the past year. In 2008 he was beaten in the final round of the world junior (U20) championship and he will try again for the title at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in October.

[John Upham]

Leonard,

Would it be possible to detail the records of the English players who have competed in the World Junior Championships since its inauguration.

I realise that this is almost worthy of a book in itself but I'm sure your recollections will be well worth reading!

I am aware of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Juni ... ampionship at the very least.

[Leonard Barden]

Leonard,

Would it be possible to detail the records of the English players who have competed in the World Junior Championships since its inauguration.

That would need somebody with access to the BCM from 1951 onwards.....

[John Saunders]

Leonard,

Would it be possible to detail the records of the English players who have competed in the World Junior Championships since its inauguration.

That would need somebody with access to the BCM from 1951 onwards.....

Yes, OK, I get the message. There's just one snag - I can't be bothered. I suggest John Upham pops down to the National Chess Library in Hastings and does the necessary research himself.

[Leonard Barden]

John
You have written the words I tactfully only implied...

[John Upham]

OK, no problem. I was hoping to find out who the English (male and female) entries were for each year : that was all.

[Richard Bates]

I went once! In fact to one of the ones referenced in the Wikipedia article! Bit disappointed it failed to pick up my crucial contribution in handing over most of my share of preparation time to Harriet

On topic it's a little bit early to judge that anyone's prospects of Gold are "slipping away" IMO. 13 rounds is one hell of a long slog, stamina has to play a part, and the situation could easily look very different in a couple of rounds. And, as usual, 3 good last rounds will put anyone in the mix. Perhaps my year was a bit unusual, but the winner managed to play a field not much stronger than myself (finishing on 6), and the silver medallist had to make a somewhat unlikely recovery after losing to me in round 2!

[Leonard Barden]

The problem is that this is a vintage year, with probably more 2600+ players than in any previous World Junior. And all these 2600s are in the top group, and David has yet to meet any of them. So he will have a tough run-in. And a slow start in the World Junior probably means an inferior tie-break at the end. Of course it's not impossible, but pretty difficult.

Vachier-Lagrave, who won Biel this summer, is possibly the first 2700+ to compete. Even without Carlsen and Karakin the event is very strong-the fact that is that 1990 was a vintage year for the birth of strong grandmasters and they only have this year and next to win the title. Last year, when Howell missed the title in the final round, was significantly weaker.

It's quite a contrast, all these elite GMs trekking out to Patagonia. with 1981, when the World U16 was played in Argentina and it was clear that it would be weak. So we managed to raise funds to send Conquest with Kottnauer as his coach, the East Europeans didn't play, and Stuart won the gold medal despite breaking his arm shortly before the tournament.

[Alex Holowczak]

1990 was a vintage year for the birth of strong grandmasters

Something must have gone wrong for me, then.

On the bright side, Howell being able to spent time with Short for this fortnight must be a good thing in the long-run.

[Matthew Turner]

Looking at the field it was always going to be difficult for David and now it looks to be even more difficult. At an event like this draws kill you and it might have been better if David had dropped a full point early on so that he could have some easier (relatively speaking!) games. I still think David can come back and be well in contention after 10 rounds, but as Leonard points out he still has all the big seeds to play and he could face some tough final rounds.

[Matthew Turner]

Just noticed David won round 7 so he is a point off the lead in 4th place and just half a point behind the top seed.

[John Saunders]

Looking at the field it was always going to be difficult for David and now it looks to be even more difficult. At an event like this draws kill you and it might have been better if David had dropped a full point early on so that he could have some easier (relatively speaking!) games. I still think David can come back and be well in contention after 10 rounds, but as Leonard points out he still has all the big seeds to play and he could face some tough final rounds.

Yes, your point about draws is well made. As you say, early losses can be better! Two years ago at the same event, Ahmed Adly of Egypt lost his first game but then won seven on the bounce. He then lost two games in a row. That would have finished most players, but he came back to win the last three games to take the title. 10/13, +10, =0, -3. He was only rated 2494 at the time. Of course, this year's tournament is stronger but there were four 2600+ rated players that year. The key thing is to finish well.