Ahmed Adly of Egypt was leading the World Junior championship in Yerevan by a full point after eight rounds with a very impressive 7/8 score. Two rounds later he's a half-point back and still on 7 points. Tut-tut! The new leaders with 7.5 are unheralded local boy IM Grigoryan, Russia's Popov, and top seed Wang Hao of China. The official site is here and there are even live games.
Here's a diag from Adly's crushing win over Laznicka in round 8. White to play. A rather one-sided diagram I admit, but the finishing maneuver is cute in how totally helpless Black is to stop it. 26.Bf4! and other than losing half his material there is nothing Black can do to prevent Bd6 with Qf8+ (or Qg7+) and Nh6 mate. The game finished: 26..Rc8 (26..Ncd4 27.Nxd4 cxd4 28.Rxe6! fxe6 29.Qg5+ Kf8 30.Bd6+! Ouch.) 27.Bd6 Ncd4 28.Qg7+ 1-0. Unfortunately for Egypt's favorite sun (god), Adly lost to Wang Hao and Popov in the next two rounds.
This is a strong field for an event that has been on the wane over the years (Mamedyarov's curious devotion to the event notwithstanding.) Its age limit of 21 is woefully outdated and has been for over a decade. Few top juniors bother to show since these days they are often in the top 20 well before they reach 21. But the world junior title still means invitations and some prestige, apparently, because there are several strong GMs playing in Yerevan. Stellwagen, Wang Hao, and Laznicka are all over 2600. India's Negi has received a lot of attention and many prestigious invites but still made the trip. He currently has six points.
Maybe I'm hallucinating, but from the diagram position, does Ne7+ win too? Anything takes, then Rxe6 and, as far as I can see, black has to lose at least a queen, with (most probably) imminent mate.
Hmm. Upon reflection, I see that Rxe7 guards g7 when Rxe6 is answered by fxe6, and so my beautiful variation falls flat. Tant pis...
How can Adly be "7/8" after 10 rounds? Did he miss rounds 9 and 10?
No, just forgot to cut the "/8". Still on 7, that should have been.
Pharaoh is no longer fallen!
In a stupendous Laskeresque finish, Adly won his last three(!) games to win the 2007 World Junior Championship by 1/2 point over Ivan Popov.
Adly did not play a single(!) draw in the entire 13-round tournament, going +10 -3 =0, perhaps setting records for both wins and losses by the winner of a World Junior Championship.
Adly lost his first game, then won 7(!) straight games, then lost back-to-back games, and then finished with three huge clutch wins in Rounds 11, 12, and 13.
Congratulations to GM Adly for this great achievement!
Yep, Adly won big, and in bunches. He seems to have a perfect style for a Swiss System tournament. He did finish ahead of some serious players, who are already making an impact.
For a country of its size, Egypt boasts few sporting achievements. Adly's accomplishment might earn him a lot of publicity in the Egyptian media. He might also find a lucrative place on the Arab circuit, and get sponsorship $$ from Dubai.
I guess that Adly's rating will be over 2500 after this....
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Final Standings after Round 13
1 21 GM Adly Ahmed 2494 EGY 10.0 2492
2 11 GM Popov Ivan 2539 RUS 9.5 2515
3 1 GM Wang Hao 2643 CHN 9.0 2527
4 10 GM Andreikin Dmitry 2555 RUS 9.0 2512
5 9 GM Meier Georg 2558 GER 8.5 2536
6 12 GM Pashikian Arman 2534 ARM 8.5 2521
7 3 GM Rodshtein Maxim 2615 ISR 8.5 2521
8 18 GM Negi Parimarjan 2514 IND 8.5 2505
9 5 GM Jones Gawain C. B. 2567 ENG 8.5 2475
10 34 IM Jojua Davit 2434 GEO 8.0 2532
11 2 GM Stellwagen Daniel 2639 NED 8.0 2529
12 17 IM Romanov Evgeny 2515 RUS 8.0 2484
13 28 IM Gupta Abhijeet 2470 IND 8.0 2453
14 19 IM Corrales Jimenez Fidel 2513 CUB 8.0 2427
15 7 GM Amin Bassem 2561 EGY 8.0 2420
16 6 GM Khairullin Ildar 2567 RUS 8.0 2375
17 25 IM Grigoryan Avetik 2489 ARM 7.5 2534
18 16 IM Gopal Geetha Narayanan 2520 IND 7.5 2505
19 4 GM Laznicka Viktor 2610 CZE 7.5 2505
20 13 IM So Wesley 2531 PHI 7.5 2498
21 27 Ashwin Jayaram 2478 IND 7.5 2450
22 22 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. 2492 IND 7.5 2446
23 8 IM Vovk Yuri 2561 UKR 7.5 2404
24 26 IM Brandenburg Daan 2483 NED 7.5 2369
25 40 IM Simonian Hrair 2405 ARM 7.5 2360
26 15 GM Howell David Wei Ling 2527 ENG 7.0 2492
27 53 Khamrakulov Dzhurabek 2357 UZB 7.0 2488
28 62 Kulakov Viacheslav 2261 RUS 7.0 2483
29 29 IM Melkumyan Hrant 2469 ARM 7.0 2459
30 24 IM Rohit Gogineni 2491 IND 7.0 2445
31 23 IM Banusz Tamas 2491 HUN 7.0 2396
32 56 Pancevski Filip 2340 MKD 7.0 2379
33 48 FM Benidze Davit 2365 GEO 7.0 2377
34 30 IM Kaplan Sasha 2466 ISR 6.5 2480
35 14 IM Ragger Markus 2528 AUT 6.5 2474
36 36 IM Llaneza Vega Marcos 2426 ESP 6.5 2463
37 50 Kalashian David 2361 ARM 6.5 2453
38 31 IM Sanikidze Tornike 2455 GEO 6.5 2432
39 32 IM Margvelashvili Giorgi 2451 GEO 6.5 2431
40 42 FM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel 2389 ARM 6.5 2385
41 43 FM Bregadze Levan 2388 GEO 6.5 2376
42 61 Hovhannisyan Robert 2273 ARM 6.5 2367
43 20 IM Feller Sebastien 2513 FRA 6.5 2357
44 44 Hambardzumian Yuri 2387 ARM 6.5 2356
45 46 Hayrapetian Ovik 2374 ARM 6.5 2345
46 33 Nigalidze Gaioz 2440 GEO 6.5 2335
47 47 FM Nithander Victor 2367 SWE 6.5 2241
48 51 Priborsky Jan 2359 CZE 6.0 2431
49 60 Molner Mackenzie 2308 USA 6.0 2430
50 64 Galic Ivan 2255 CRO 6.0 2410
51 54 Pileckis Emilis 2349 LTU 6.0 2398
52 37 FM Bulski Krzysztof 2421 POL 6.0 2383
53 75 Gevorkian David 2149 ARM 6.0 2372
54 55 FM Fusco Leonardo 2341 ARG 6.0 2336
55 35 IM Hungaski Robert Andrew 2432 USA 6.0 2310
56 41 Arun Karthik R. 2391 IND 6.0 2283
57 63 Mamikonian Tigran 2257 ARM 5.5 2453
58 59 FM Arngrimsson Dagur 2323 ISL 5.5 2420
59 67 Vandenbussche Thibaut 2205 BEL 5.5 2410
60 66 Mijovic Stefan 2228 MNE 5.5 2397
61 68 Alvarez Ramirez Miguel Angel 2204 MEX 5.5 2362
62 49 Nasri Amin 2364 IRI 5.5 2354
63 45 Abhishek Das 2383 IND 5.5 2306
64 58 FM Kjartansson Gudmundur 2324 ISL 5.5 2288
65 38 IM Ibarra Chami Luis Fernando 2416 MEX 5.5 2262
66 74 Garcia Cardenas Pablo 2149 CHI 5.0 2442
67 77 Vlashki Nino 2077 BUL 5.0 2376
68 52 Alaguzov Maxat 2358 KAZ 5.0 2364
69 72 Javakhadze Zurab 2167 GEO 5.0 2349
70 57 Vovk Ilja 2325 EST 5.0 2307
71 80 Lovik Lasse Ostebo 2025 NOR 5.0 2305
72 70 Ter-Karapetian Alexi 2187 GEO 5.0 2275
73 65 Momeni Ebrahim 2249 IRI 5.0 2252
74 76 Vardanian Haik G. 2118 ARM 5.0 2208
75 78 Tamazyan Haik 2072 ARM 4.5 2428
76 69 Shamieh Mahmoud 2203 LIB 4.5 2337
77 73 Suttor Vincent 2164 AUS 4.0 2252
78 79 Zemouli Issam 2067 ALG 3.5 2251
79 71 Zvarik Martin 2187 SVK 3.5 2228
80 39 IM Gerzhoy Leonid 2415 CAN 1.0 2227