World School Teams Online Chess Champion Announced
The FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup 2023, co-organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the International School Sport Federation (ISF), and FIDE Online Arena, took place on May 6 and 7. The tournament showcased the remarkable talent and strategic prowess of 329 schoolchildren from around the globe, competing in the U-15 and U-18 age category tournaments.
On May 6, in the U-15 category tournament, 58 teams representing schools from 24 countries participated. The Harker School from the United States emerged as the champions with an impressive score of 35 points. The New Millennium School from Bahrain secured the second position with 30.5 points, while Doha Modern Indian School Doha from Qatar and the International School Of Beijing from China both scored 30 points, but the Qatari school claimed the third position based on better tiebreak criteria.
Notably, the team results were calculated based on the four best results of the teams’ representatives in the tournament. The outstanding individual performances that contributed to their teams’ success were demonstrated by Dylan Tang from The Harker School and Haresh Kashyap from Doha Modern Indian School Doha, both scoring an impressive 10 points out of 11 games. Following closely, Rohan Rajaram from The Harker School, Le Nguyen Hoang Nhat Dinh from Nguyen Thai Binh Secondary School, and Aleksandrs Karasevics from Cantell School, all scored 9.5 points.
The following day, on May 7, the U-18 age category teams competed. A total of 29 teams from 17 countries participated in the event. Ekpedeftiria Vassiliadi school from Greece claimed the champion’s title with a score of 34.5 points, leaving no room for discussion. Indian School Muscat from Oman secured second place in the tournament with 29.5 points, closely followed by SMK Bukit Jambul from Malaysia with a score of 28.5 points. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, BASIS Chandler from the United States, and SHSID from China secured the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions, respectively.
In the individual standings, the representatives of the Ekpedeftiria Vassiliadi school team dominated the podium. Dimitrios Stoimenidis and Stefanos Magalakis both scored an impressive 9.5 points in 11 games, while Michail Karamichos trailed closely with half a point less. Valentin Nicolas Unhold from Escuela Modelo de Bella Vista achieved a score of 8.5 points and secured the fourth place, but Atharv Bansal from Indian School Muscat and Emils Janis Mierins from Riga Commerce School both scored 8 points, securing the fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
As the FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup 2023 came to a close, the winners will soon be awarded valuable prizes carefully selected to help schoolchildren develop their chess skills. Among these prizes are unique chess sets signed by world-leading grandmasters, access to dozens of masterclasses by the strongest players in the world, and the grand prize—an individual online session with one of the most popular grandmasters, whose name will be revealed soon.
The FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup 2023 was held entirely online on the FIDE Online Arena, the official gaming platform of FIDE that ensures a fair and level playing field for all participants. FIDE and ISF believe that such events provide a rare opportunity for young chess players to compete with their peers from around the world. The recently concluded tournament prominently demonstrated the growing presence of chess in educational institutions. FIDE and ISF express their satisfaction with the collaboration and intend to expand this initiative in the future and aim to facilitate educational institutions around the world to add chess to their curriculum and optional programs.
