European Junior Chess Championship

The first chess youth championship in Europe was the yearly European Junior Championship for under age 20. It was played from 1971–2002. FIDE officially introduced the European Junior Championship in 1970 at their Annual Congress and so the 1971/72 edition was the first official European Junior Championship. Effectively, they adopted the 'Niemeyer Tournament', held every year in Groningen since 1962, and re-packaged it. For completeness also the winners of this Niemeyer tournament are listed. The first competition for girls was held in 1977/1978.

List of winners

Year Location Boys winner Location Girls winner
Niemeyer Tournament
1962/1963Groningen, NetherlandsNetherlands Coenraad Zuidema
1963/1964Groningen, NetherlandsNetherlands Robert Gijsbertus Hartoch
Denmark Jørn Sloth
1964/1965Groningen, NetherlandsNetherlands Hans Ree
Germany Robert Hübner
1965/1966Groningen, NetherlandsEngland Andrew John Whiteley
Netherlands Hans Ree
1966/1967Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Mikhail Steinberg
1967/1968Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Anatoly Karpov
1968/1969Groningen, NetherlandsGermany Karl-Heinz Siegfried Maeder
Hungary Zoltán Ribli
Soviet Union Rafael Vaganian
1969/1970Groningen, NetherlandsHungary András Adorján
1970/1971Groningen, NetherlandsHungary Zoltán Ribli
European Junior Championship
1971/1972Groningen, NetherlandsHungary Gyula Sax
1972/1973Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Oleg Romanishin
1973/1974Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Sergei Makarichev
1974/1975Groningen, NetherlandsEngland John Nunn
1975/1976Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Alexander Kochyev
1976/1977Groningen, NetherlandsCzech Republic Ľubomír Ftáčnik[1]
1977/1978Groningen, NetherlandsEngland Shaun TaulbutNovi Sad, YugoslaviaPoland Bożena Sikora
Hungary Rita Kas
1978/1979Groningen, NetherlandsNetherlands John van der WielKikinda, YugoslaviaSoviet Union Nana Ioseliani
1979/1980Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Alexander CherninKula, TurkeySoviet Union Nana Ioseliani
1980/1981Groningen, NetherlandsSweden Ralf ÅkessonSenta, YugoslaviaPoland Agnieszka Brustman
1981/1982Groningen, NetherlandsDenmark Curt HansenPanonia, YugoslaviaSoviet Union Elena Stupina
1982/1983Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Jaan Ehlvest
1983/1984Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Valery Salov
1984/1985Groningen, NetherlandsSweden Ferdinand HellersKatowice, PolandHungary Ildikó Mádl
1985/1986Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Alexander Khalifman
1986/1987Groningen, NetherlandsSoviet Union Vassily IvanchukBăile Herculane, RomaniaHungary Ildikó Mádl
1987/1988Arnhem, NetherlandsSoviet Union Boris Gelfand
1988/1989Arnhem, NetherlandsSoviet Union Alexey Dreev
Soviet Union Boris Gelfand		not played
1989/1990Arnhem, NetherlandsSoviet Union Grigory SerperDębica, PolandSoviet Union Svetlana Matveeva
1990/1991Arnhem, NetherlandsNorway Rune Djurhuus
1991/1992Aalborg, DenmarkBulgaria Aleksander Delchev
1992Sas van Gent, NetherlandsBelarus Aleksej AleksandrovHradec Králové, CzechoslovakiaGeorgia (country) Nino Khurtsidze
1993Vejen, DenmarkRussia Vladislav BorovikovSvitavy, Czech RepublicAzerbaijan Ilaha Kadimova
1994not playedSvitavy, Czech RepublicBulgaria Silvia Aleksieva
1995Holon, IsraelBelarus Yury ShulmanZanka, HungaryBulgaria Marija Velcheva
1996Siofok, HungaryRussia Andrey ShariyazdanovTapolca, HungaryGeorgia (country) Maia Lomineishvili
1997Tallinn, EstoniaIsrael Dimitri TyomkinTallinn, EstoniaGeorgia (country) Sofiko Tkeshelashvili
1998Yerevan, ArmeniaArmenia Levon AronianYerevan, ArmeniaGeorgia (country) Sofiko Tkeshelashvili
1999Niforeika, GreeceNetherlands Dennis de VreughtNiforeika, GreeceSlovakia Regina Pokorna
2000Avilés, SpainHungary Adam HorvathAvilés, SpainEngland Jovanka Houska
2001Rion, GreeceGeorgia (country) Zviad IzoriaRion, GreecePoland Iweta Radziewicz
2002Baku, AzerbaijanGeorgia (country) Zviad IzoriaBaku, AzerbaijanAzerbaijan Zeinab Mamedyarova
  1. ↑ In 1976 the tournament was combined with the World Junior Chess Championship. The American Mark Diesen won the event, but Ľubomír Ftáčnik finished second and first European.

Notes

The main source of reference is indicated beneath each year's entry.

1962/63 - Groningen, Netherlands - (January 1963) - One of the earliest junior international tournaments held at Groningen under the sponsorship of tobacco firm T. Niemeyer. The event was later informally recognised as the European Junior Championship and later still, adopted by FIDE as the official contest. In this edition, there was a strong showing from the Benelux countries, but England's Keith Richardson (7 points), a student at Durham University, managed to take a good second place, after the Netherlands' Coenraad Zuidema (7½). There followed three players on 5½; E. C. Scholl, E. W. R. Abbing (both Netherlands) and P. Ostermeyer (West Germany).

Boys U-20 - 1. Coenraad Zuidema (NED) 2. Keith Richardson (ENG) 3. Eddy Scholl (NED)
--- CHESS magazine No. 430, Vol. 28 p. 193

1976/77 - Groningen, Netherlands - (December 21, 1976 - January 5, 1977) - The event was shared with the contest to determine the World Junior Champion, that particular title going to the top placed player overall, namely Mark Diesen (see World Junior Chess Championship). Ľubomír Ftáčnik finished top European player and therefore took the title European Junior Champion. Tied for 4th-8th places were Daniel Campora from Argentina, Leslie Leow from Singapore, Marcel Sisniega from Mexico and Evgeny Vladimirov from the USSR. Also in the chasing pack - Ian Rogers (AUS), Krum Georgiev (BUL), Attila Groszpeter (HUN), Jonathan Mestel (ENG), Petar Popović (YUG), Reynaldo Vera (CUB), Murray Chandler (NZL) and Margeir Petursson (ISL). Jonathan Speelman (ENG) played one game and was then disqualified, following protests from other countries that England had more than one representative. Of course, his entry had been previously ratified by FIDE.

Boys U-20 - 1. Mark Diesen (USA) 2. Ľubomír Ftáčnik (CZE) 3. Nir Grinberg (ISR)
--- British Chess Magazine No. 5, Vol. 97 p. 222

1977/78 - Groningen, Netherlands - (December 20, 1977 - January 5, 1978) - Taulbut of England won the event on tie-break and the result was also good enough to earn him the IM title. In close contention for a place in the first three were, 4th O. Foisor (ROM) and sharing 5th-8th places, A. Groszpeter (HUN), D. Goodman (ENG), K. Mokry (CZE) and T. Upton (SCO).

Boys U-20 - 1. Shaun Taulbut (ENG) 2. Sergey Dolmatov (USSR) 3. Krum Georgiev (BUL)
--- British Chess Magazine No. 3, Vol. 98 p. 114

1978/79 - Kikinda, Yugoslavia - (January 21 - February 1, 1978) - Among the competitors were last year's champion Bozena Sikora of Poland, the promising 15-year-old Soviet Nana Ioseliani, and the Yugoslav Junior Champion, Dusica Cejic. 14-year-old Swede Pia Cramling beat the second placed Klimova, but was too erratic to join the leading group.

Girls U-20 - 1. Nana Ioseliani (USSR) 2. Eliska Klimova (CZE) 3. Viorica Ilie (ROM)
--- British Chess Magazine No. 3, Vol. 98 pp. 117-118

1978/79 - Groningen, Netherlands - (December 21, 1978 - January 5, 1979) - Sponsored by the Gasunie Company for the fourth successive year. The players found the organisation and playing conditions to their liking. World Junior Champion, Sergey Dolmatov was tipped to win, but was edged into second by home favourite John van der Wiel, a 19-year-old law student. Third placed James Plaskett (ENG) looked like he might catch the leading pair, but lost to Margeir Petursson (ISL) in round 11.

Boys U-20 - 1. John van der Wiel (NED) 2. Sergey Dolmatov (USSR) 3. James Plaskett (ENG)
--- British Chess Magazine No. 2, Vol. 99 pp. 72 - 75

1986/87 - Groningen, Netherlands - (December 1986 - January 1987) - The winner Ivanchuk began with 5 straight wins, and gave early notice of his natural talent. In the last round, he drew with Blatny (CZE) and this allowed home nation representative Piket (NED) to leapfrog into second place by beating Ninov (BUL). Ivan Sokolov (BIH) took a share of 3rd-5th places. There was a lower than normal entry of 30.

Boys U-20 - 1. Vasily Ivanchuk (USSR) 2. Jeroen Piket (NED) 3. Jacek Gdański (POL)
--- British Chess Magazine No. 2, Vol. 107 p. 69

See also

References

  • Whyld, Ken (1986), Chess: The Records, Guinness Books, ISBN 0-85112-455-0
  • List of winners and complete standings on Italian Chess Federation website: European U20 Chess Championship, European U20 Girls Chess Championship
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