Afruza Khamdamova won the FIDE World Youth Chess Championship among girls under 14, which is being held in Montesilvano, Italy, on November 12−25, the press service of the Chess Federation reported.
At the world championship, Khamdamova scored nine points in ten rounds, having defeated all her opponents. Regardless of the result in the last round, the Uzbekistani chess player will become the champion of the tournament. The explanation is the defeat of the chess player from Kazakhstan, the only one capable of leveling the score, to Khamdamova. In case of equal points, the result between the competitors will be considered.
The Uzbekistani representative has the second best FIDE rating among 124 opponents after Anna Shukhman from Russia. Notably, Khamdamova missed the first round as she was late for the tournament. She experienced a delay in obtaining a Schengen visa, chess coach Georgiy Shvanov shared with Gazeta.uz. Despite a technical defeat in the first game, she earned nine wins which put her at the top of the table.
Alongside, Uzbekistan was represented by Miraziz Kuziev and Guldona Karimova in the boys under 14 and in girls under 16 categories respectively. Their results exceeded the level of their ratings. Nevertheless, both remained below the medalist line.
Earlier in the history of the country’s youth chess, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2012, under 8 category) and Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2015, under 14 category) won at the World Youth Chess Championships with classical time control. Until now, none of the Uzbekistani girls has been awarded a gold medal at such championships. Thus, Afruza Khamdamova became the first world chess champion in the history of Uzbekistan. Before that, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova and Bakhora Egamberdieva became vice-champions among juniors.
The tournament consists of 11 rounds, each played with a time control of 90 minutes for the initial 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes allocated to the conclusion of the game. Furthermore, 15 seconds are added for each move.
