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Few surprises in round 1

As usual in Swiss tournaments, there is a relatively large difference in playing strength between the opponents in the first round. Most of the higher ranked players also won according to plan, although a few got away with a mere scare. However, David Nesse from Norway managed to catch a draw against Gustav Törngren and a draw was the result also between one of the favorites Platon Galperin from Ukraine and Benedikt Briem from Iceland. The only real clash came in the game between Victor Muntean and IM Jakob Leon Pajeken from Germany. Muntean played an opening inspired by Awonder Liang’s victory against Levon Aronian in the recently concluded USA Championship.

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Welcome to 9th Uppsala Young Champions

For the ninth time we invite some of Europe’s greatest talents under twenty years of age. Each edition of the tournament has been a little better than the one before, and this year’s is no exception, where among the 40 participants there are two grand masters and eleven international masters.

The organizers Uppsala School Chess Society and Uppsala Chess+ Academy have the ambition to take chess to a new level, and this applies not least to the breadth with which we want to give a wonderful experience of our game. Therefore, we not only try to create the best conditions for the players during the days in Uppsala, but also offer spectators livestreaming so you can follow your favourites.

And there are many favourites. First of all Francesco Sonis from Italy, who just finished fourth in the JVM on the same score as the winner, but of course also the other grand master Felix Blohberger from Austria, who is a familiar face in Uppsala. Add eleven players over 2400, where it is easy to “name drop” players like Platon Galperin from Ukraine, Elham Abdrlauf from Norway and last year’s winner Vignir Vatnar Stefansson from Iceland. You understand that this is going to be an exciting event. Even Siem van Dael, who won the tournament two years ago, probably wants to fight for the victory.

From a Swedish perspective, it is nice to see that the majority of our young talents are playing, with Kaan Küçüksarı as the main contender. One idea with the tournament is of course to give the home players the chance to measure themselves against the cream of the junior elite in Europe.

Welcome to Uppsala and/or to our live broadcasts!

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VavaChess from India visits Uppsala

Vaibhav Chopra, known Youtuber with the channel Vava Chess , was this year specially invited to Uppsala Young Champions. It was actually the first time he was at a “real” chess tournament to film and it was very nice to welcoming him as our guest Here are some of the clips he posted from Uppsala:

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Will Milton Pantzar win this year?

IM Milton Pantzar has participated in Uppsala Young Champions several times and has come in both bronze and silver place. But he still lacks a victory and this year is his last chance, is it Milton’s turn to win?

Here, Milton comments on a game (in Swedish) from this summer’s Grandmaster tournament during Uppsala Chess Festival. Have fun!

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Siem van Dael back to defend his title!

Last year, somewhat surprisingly, the Dutchman Siem van Dael won the Uppsala Young Champions after an exciting event. He excelled during the tournament, among other things, by trying strange first moves with white (both 1.a4, 1.h4, 1.a3 and 1.h3 were played) but also of course because he played good chess.

Now we are happy that van Dael is coming to Uppsala again for this year’s edition. It will be exciting to see if he can repeat last year’s results.