25 Player World Youth Squad Set
November 4, 2009
A 25-player squad for the World Youth in Antalya, Turkey is getting ready to leave for the tournament, which begins a week from today, on November 11. Coaches include IM Armen Ambartsumian, FM Aviv Friedman, GM John Fedorowicz, FST (Fide Senior Trainer) Michael Khodarkovsky and GM Sam Palatnik. Michael Khodarkovsky, the head of delegation, told CLO, "Our experienced and dedicated coaches will be working tirelessly to help kids to achieve their goals."

Cl4kOctober.jpgThe participants include  eight-year-old Tanuj Vasudeva, who was featured on the cover of the most recent Chess Life For Kids and is currently the youngest FIDE Master in the world! Tanuj's coach, Ted Castro also recently confirmed that Tanuj broke the record for the youngest FIDE Master ever, and he is currently processing the Guinness Book of World records application. Tanuj also scored a perfect 9-0 in the Pan-Am Youth so he will definitely be one to watch. Many other stars dot the participant list, including current Cadet Champion Andrew Ng and reigning Denker Champ, Abby Marshall. Abby, who wrote about winning the Denker in November's Chess Life, will also be contributing a preview of the event to Chess Life Online.

Aviv Friedman told CLO, "This year is a bit of a transition year, with many new kids going, and some of our best players staying home (Robson, Arnold, Melekhina - to name a few).  The timing of the event when many students are busy with finals, and cannot take time out of school, played a part in the team's composition (more so than in previous years). Still, such experiences are what will help the youth team's next generation excel. Without mentioning any names (or jinxing anyone :)), we also have some hopefuls even in this transition year. Wish us luck (and skill) !"

Follow the action on the official website, check CLO for updates and also look for the Chess Life Magazine story by GM John Fedorowicz.


USA World Youth Squad

USA VIGNA LIZA U-8 Girls
USA WANG ANNIE U-8 Girls
USA ZENG WINSTON U-8 Open
 USA ADELBERG DAVID 2158 U-14 Open
USA KRISHNAN VARUN 2061 U-12 Open
USA LIAO SIMONE U-10 Girls
USA LIN DACHEY 1759 U-10 Open
USA MATLIN ANNA 1866 U-14 Girls 
USA NG ANDREW 2113 U-16 Open
USA PAMATMAT JAROD 2008 U-12 Open
USA SHEN ARTHUR 2033 U-12 Open
USA BROWN MICHAEL 2037 U-12 Open
USA VASUDEVA TANUJ U-8 Open
USA HE TOMMY 1673 U-10 Open
USA CHAWLA ALISHA U-8 Girls
USA ROZOVSKY DANIEL U-14 Open
USA FINNEY STUART 1985 U-14 Open
FM USA GETZ ALEC 2234 U-16 Open
USA GUREVICH-GRIGORIEV DANIEL 1942 U-12 Open
USA KATS ALENA U-14 Girls
USA PALAKOLLU SAMRITHA U-8 Girls
WFM USA MARSHALL ABBY 2171 U-18 Girls
WCM USA CHIANG SARAH 1674 U-12 Girls
USA CHIANG JONATHAN 1623 U-10 Open
USA ROBINSON DARRIAN U-16 Girls