2 September 2015
World U20 Championships, round 1
Both highest rated players in the girls tournament lost their starting games.
The first round of the World U20 Championships was played in the Ugra Chess Academy. There are 110 participants from 39 countries – 62 in the open event and 48 in the girls event.
Most rating favorites won their games in the open section, except the Peruvian grandmaster Jorge Core (2637, #2), who lost as Black to the Brazilian candidate master Vitor Carneiro (2405). Russia's Mikhail Antipov (2538, #8) won as Black against Indian IM Akash (2382). Russian women champion Aleksandra Goryachkina (2497) won as Black against Kazakhstanian FM Chingiz Sekirbay (2272).
The girls section started rather sensationally – both rating favorites, WGM Medina Warda Aulia (2417) and WGM Dinara Sadaukassova (2409) lost their games to WFMs rated below 2200. Russia's highest seed played WIM Alina Bivol (2321, #8) drew as Black with her compatriot WFM Vlada Sviridova (2125). Yet, with 12 more rounds to go, starting upsets should have little influence on the final outcome.
