GM Pentyala Harikrishna became the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the World Junior Championship when he drew a tense final round game against the pre-tournament favourite GM Ferenc Berkes of Hungary after a long 50-move encounter. In a dramatic final round on the last day of November, the world under-18 champion Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland played a sparkling game and turned king maker. He downed Zhao Jun of China, one of the overnight joint leaders. Harikrishna, the other joint leader, drew immediately to win the prestigious world junior title.
Harikrishna scored 10 points, half a point more than the rest in the 71-player field. "It was my career-best result," pronounced Harikrishna who would be gaining around 15 Elo points from this event. It was his second world title. Harikrishna had earlier won the World U-10 championship at Menorca, Spain in 1996.
Harikrishna came looking for a victory in the final round. He opened with 1.g3 and his strategy was clear. Better a little surprise than be surprised in the last round. The Hyderabad player won a pawn on the 18th move but play was clearly headed for an opposite colour bishop ending. Berkes, the top seed had nothing to gain in this game except that it was a prestigious clash between the top two seeds. Also, Berkes was the room mate of Petrosian who had a chance for the title. Berkes defended the pawn down ending well and drew in 50 moves in a rook and opposite colour bishop ending. Harikrishna made sure Zhao Jun resigned against the world under-18 champion Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland before offering and getting a draw in his game.
"I played mainly the English opening or some side variations," said Harikrishna while speaking to the press. "At Calvia I learnt from GM Elizbar Ubilava (Indian trainer) how to approach and prepare for a game. Playing in the same team with Anand gave me big confidence," said the new 18-year old world junior champion.
About his ambition, he said, "I would like to reach 2650 very soon and look at improving my rating towards the 2800 mark. He is looking for a sponsorship as his old one (2000 to 2004) with a Bangalore based IT major expires in December this year. Harikrishna was accompanied by his father and spoke to his mother and grandfather on the telephone immediately after winning the title.
Harikrishna won seven games and drew six including his final round encounter. He remained the only undefeated player. "I was solid and played fast," Harikrishna said. Ubilava had told him to play fast and he followed it with rewards as he put his opponents in time pressure in the Anand style.
Harikrishna snatched the lead with 5/5 and relaxed a little with just plus two (5/8) from the remaining eight rounds. He was joined in the lead by Petrosian (round seven) and Zhao (round 12). His wins against Zhao in round three and Petrosian in round five were the crucial factors in his clinching the title.
Asked if Wojtaszek did him a big favour by defeating Zhao Jun, Harikrishna said, "(exploding into laughter) yes, I think I owe him a treat!" The Polish player sacrificed a rook for bishop on the 13th turn and won two pawns and converted that in a nicely executed ending.
Harikrishna said he prepared for this event with IM Sundararajan Kidambi. They used the Internet to bridge the distance between Hyderabad and Chennai. They used the Internet Chess Club (www.chessclub.com) to prepare.
Tigran Petrosian of Armenia enjoyed an overwhelming advantage against Iran's Moradibadi. Needing a win in the ending to tie for first place, Petrosian slipped and drew for a shared second place. Defeated star Zhao Jun who completed his GM norm and title won the bronze medal. Tigran Petrosian said he was born a month after his legendary namesake died and his parents picked on that name.
Among Indians in the boys group was GM Koneru Humpy, a former world junior girls champion herself. She started as the 14th seed and finished tenth after playing some nice games. Her performance helped Harikrishna indirectly as she crushed the top seed Berkes of Hungary and also lost to Harikrishna. Humpy did not take quick draws and was the big entertainer for the audience who surrounded her boards.
National U-17 champion, Deep Sengupta had a big string of victories in the middle of the tournament that earned him a 10-game grandmaster norm. His victims included Iljin (Rus), Mateusz (Pol), top seed GM Berkes and third seed GM Alekseev (Rus). His eleventh round pairing against Harikrishna was averted by the introduction of a special rule. Under this, players from the same federation would not be paired in the last three rounds in the upper 50% of the draw. Deep, a former world under-12 champion lost the next two games but won the final round for a ninth placing. A great performance for one who started as the 24th seed.
It took seven rounds to be completed to find a sole leader in the Girls section. Anna Ushenina of Ukraine wrested lead with 6/7 but lost the very next round to top seed Korbut. From round eight until round 12 it was the top two seeds, Paehtz and Korbut matching each other in wins and draws to stay in joint lead. Only the last round separated the duo.
