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