Indian Players Dominate the World Junior Championships

The World Junior Chess Championships recently concluded in Gaziantep, Turkey. The tournament is open to players who were under 20 at the start of the year, and has two sections: the World Junior Championship and the World Girls’ Junior Championship.

Abhijeet Gupta took first place in the Junior Championship with a 10/13 score, while Harika Dronavalli won the Girls’ Championship with 10.5 points. Both players are from India, as were silver medalists in both sections. It’s the first time both winners have come from the same country.

Indian chess is on the rise – an ascent that began when current World Champion Viswanathan Anand won his own World Junior Championship in 1987. His success dramatically increased India’s interest in chess; while Anand was the first Indian Grandmaster, the country now has 17, and approximately 150 titled players now hail from India.

Russia is still the dominant force in international chess, but both India and China are trying to stake their claim as chess superpowers. Both nations have their strengths: India has a World Champion in Anand, while China has shown great depth in winning several medals at recent Chess Olympiads. It may only be a matter of time before one of these rising powers puts the entire package together to become a dominant force in world chess.