World University Chess Championship

Wang Yue and Batkhuyag Munguntuul top seeded

As Chessdom.com informed a few months ago, the International Federation of University Sports has awarded the 11th World University Chess Championship to the Swiss University Sports Federation. The academic chess club Réti will organize the event in Zurich, Switzerland, from 5th to 11th September.

27 nations and about 100 players (men and women) will participate in the contest which will take place in Zurich, Switzerland.

The men’s competition is stronger than ever, featuring 11 grandmasters and almost 20 international masters. The big favourite is 23-year-old Wang Yue from China. With an Elo rating of 2716 points he is the first super grandmaster to participate in a World University Championship. He is the highest-rated Chinese player ever and in May occupied place 8 in the overall international ranking. After suffering a few set-backs since then, he will try to win again in Zurich in order to re-establish himself as one of the World’s top ten players.

His most dangerous rivals are the Russian Igor Lysyj (Elo 2631) and his compatriot Pavel Ponkratev (Elo 2604). In the last championship in Novokuznetsk, two years ago, Lysyj won the silver medal. The host delegation consists of five players headed by international masters Oliver Kurmann (Elo 2449) and Julien Carron (Elo 2380).

In the women’s competition Russia, Georgia and Mongolia traditionally feature the strongest players. Top seed is the 23-year-old Mongolian Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Elo 2421) who has already played on the first board for Mongolia in the last three chess Olympiads. Among the nine women grandmasters in the field she is the only one who carries the international master title among men as well. She is studying in Russia and is the winner of the Russian women’s blitz championship 2009. Just like their male compatriots, the two Swiss entrants Monika Seps (Elo 2184) and Maria Heinatz (Elo 1923) will need a special exploit to fight for a place among the first ten.

In the nations’ competition (combined results of men and women) Russia is the favourite. But Mongolia, Serbia and Iran also feature very strong delegations, and thus an exciting race is guaranteed to take place.

All details about the World University Championship can be found at the Chessdom.com preview and the official website.

Participants men

1 GM Wang Yue 2716 CHN
2 GM Lysyj Igor 2631 RUS
3 GM Ponkratov Pavel 2604 RUS
4 GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 2585 IRI
5 GM Markos Jan 2566 SVK
6 GM Popovic Dusan 2564 SRB
7 GM Nikolov Momchil 2552 BUL
8 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2547 KAZ
9 IM Papin Vasily 2521 RUS
10 GM Megaranto Susanto 2516 INA
11 IM Miljkovic Miroslav D 2510 SRB
12 IM Benidze Davit 2508 GEO
13 IM Toufighi Homayoon 2501 IRI
14 IM Sulashvili Malkhaz 2498 GEO
15 IM Roganovic Milos 2497 SRB
16 GM Ismagambetov Anuar 2492 KAZ
17 IM Jurcik Marian 2484 SVK
18 GM Swinkels Robin 2483 NED
19 IM Khmelniker Ilya 2483 ISR
20 IM Kuderinov Kirill 2481 KAZ
21 FM Golizadeh Asghar 2481 IRI
22 IM Pruijssers Roeland 2462 NED
23 Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan 2460 MGL
24 IM Burg Twan 2449 NED
25 IM Kurmann Oliver 2449 SUI
26 Nadj Hedjesi Balind 2426 SRB
27 IM Klimov Anton 2421 RUS
28 IM Nestorovic Nikola 2420 SRB
29 FM Pacher Milan 2417 SVK
30 IM Alavi Sayed Javad 2413 IRI
31 IM Purnama Tirta Chandra 2400 INA
32 IM Panjwani Raja 2395 CAN
33 FM Hoffmann Paul 2382 GER
34 FM Kukov Velislav 2381 BUL
35 IM Carron Julien 2380 SUI
36 Botvinnik Mikhail 2360 ISR
37 FM Kuipers Stefan 2354 NED
38 Ma Yu 2336 CHN
39 Erdene Ganzorig 2330 MGL
40 FM Akkozov Berik 2328 KAZ
41 FM Poobalasingam Peter S 2326 ENG
42 FM Hindermann Felix 2323 SUI
43 FM Otte Marijn 2303 NED
44 Gaehler Marco 2292 SUI
45 Munkhgal Gombosuren 2289 MGL
46 Pitra Andika 2283 INA
47 Wyss Jonas 2258 SUI
48 Surya Wahyudi 2233 INA
49 Viela Andre Filipe Folha 2223 POR
50 Horvath Laszlo 2200 HUN
51 Costa Joao Guerra 2171 POR
52 Kalugampitiya R S 2095 SRI
53 Fernando S K Akila 2053 SRI
54 Koggala W S V K 2026 SRI
55 Kumar Vedantha 1983 ENG
56 Herath H M L Y 1884 SRI
57 Emefiele Onyisi 0 NIG
58 Orgil Gantumur 0 MGL

Participants women

1 IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2421 MGL
2 WGM Tsereteli Tamar 2384 GEO
3 WGM Kovanova Baira 2376 RUS
4 WIM Severiukhina Zoja 2341 RUS
5 WGM Stojanovic Andjelija 2337 SRB
6 WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2321 MGL
7 WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma 2311 INA
8 WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2308 IRI
9 WGM Guramishvili Sopiko 2298 GEO
10 WIM Kharashuta Ekaterina 2298 RUS
11 WIM Drljevic Ljilja 2273 SRB
12 WIM Borosova Zuzana 2266 SVK
13 WIM Melekhina Alisa 2265 USA
14 WGM Paridar Shadi 2264 IRI
15 WIM Hoolt Sarah 2245 GER
16 WIM Fuchs Judith 2232 GER
17 WFM Cheremnova Tamara 2225 RUS
18 WIM Yanjindulam Dulamsuren 2224 MGL
19 WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh 2218 IRI
20 Zhang Ying 2218 CHN
21 WFM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan 2216 KAZ
22 Lkhamsuren Uuganbayar 2206 MGL
23 Djukic Sandra 2198 SRB
24 Van Nies Pauline 2191 NED
25 WIM Seps Monika 2184 SUI
26 Lestari Baiq Vina 2177 INA
27 WFM Davletbayeva Madina 2168 KAZ
28 WFM Hegarty Sarah N 2057 ENG
29 Naydenova Yordanka 1925 BUL
30 Heinatz Maria 1923 SUI
31 WCM Kadek Iin Dwijayanti 1889 INA
32 WCM Liyanagedara L G A 1844 SRI
33 Rajapaksha Ashanti K. 1790 SRI
34 Ferreira Ana Margarida 1789 POR
35 Dale Hannah 1759 ENG
36 De Silva Himeshi 0 SRI
37 Gunawardena Shanila 0 SRI