Double Gold For Azerbaijan At World Juniors

The 2022 World Junior Chess Championships were resounding successes for Azerbaijan with IM Abdulla Gadimbayli winning the open section and WGM Govhar Beydullayeva grabbing gold in the girls' section. The event, which was for players 20 years old and younger, finished on Saturday in Sardinia, Italy.

Both Azerbaijani players further confirmed their talent, after they performed very well in the European Individual Chess Championship earlier this year in Slovenia. There, Beydullayeva got the best score among all women participating, while Gadimbayli scored high enough to qualify for the next FIDE World Cup.

In this year's World Juniors, held at a holiday resort in Cala Gonone, Sardinia, Gadimbayli edged out four other players on tiebreak to win the tournament with an undefeated 8/11. Hungary's GM Adam Kozak got the silver medal, having only a very slightly worse tiebreak, while Georgia's IM Nikolozi Kacharava got bronze.

It was a bitter disappointment for Kozak, who had entered the final round with a half-point lead over the field and needed only a draw for the title, but he failed to hold an inferior endgame:

The top seed was an already well-established name in the chess world: GM Andrey Esipenko, who famously beat GM Magnus Carlsen in the 2021 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, also remained undefeated in Sardinia but drew one more game and finished half a point below the top group.

His game with Gadimbayli was an important one as Esipenko got a winning position and could have finished it off with a nice tactic, but he missed it:

Gadimbayli, who gained the GM directly for his victory, called the 11-round tournament "hard" and "stressful." This can also be seen from the length of his games, which had an average of 49 moves. Another key game for him was in the ninth round, where he managed to win in a very drawish endgame as his opponent, who would end in third place, went for the wrong plan:

For Gadimbayli, who was the 18th seed in the tournament, it was already his second world championship title, after winning the under-eight championship 12 years ago. He has one title national championship of Azerbaijan as well, which he won in 2018.

"We've done well! It's a fantastic result for Azerbaijan" - World Junior Champion Abdulla Gadimbayli.

⬇️ Watch the interview ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IBgSo1mAXw

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) October 23, 2022

 World Championship U20 | Final Standings (Top 20)

As the fourth seed in the girls' section, Beydullayeva's victory was less of a surprise. Despite losing her final game, she won the tournament on tiebreak, ahead of Kazakhstan's WIM Assel Serikbay as both finished on 8.5/11. The bronze medal went to another Kazakh player: WIM Meruert Kamalidenova.

"It was my childhood dream to become world champion," said Beydullayeva. "Every year I participated in World Youth Chess Championships, but I didn't have medals. In the previous two years, it was just held online, but it was not a classical format. I became world champion there, but it was online, so it was my first time ever to become the world champion under 20. I am very happy!"

Here's Beydullayeva's win from the ninth round, which saw deep preparation from both players:

🇦🇿 WGM Govhar Beydullayeva is the 2022 World Girls U20 Champion! 👏

"It was my childhood dream", says the 19-year-old Azeri player, who learned chess at the age of 4 and gradually progressed to represent her country in many youth events, winning several medals. #YouthChess
<1/2> pic.twitter.com/BAr40UBo3R

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) October 22, 2022

Girls World Championship U20 | Final Standings (Top 20)

The 2022 World Junior Chess Championships took place October 12-22, 2022 at the four-star Palmasera Resort in Cala Gonone, Sardinia, Italy. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from the first move. Draw offers before 30 moves were not allowed.