The U-16 Chess World Youth Olympiad starts this Saturday in the Colombian city of Barranquilla with the participation of 90 teams from 46 countries that will demonstrate their talent on the board.
The Caribbean city will be the first in America to host this competition organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), in which for a week the young chess players will be given.
The scenario of the inaugural ceremony is the Elías Chegwin Coliseumwhere a parade of the delegations, cultural acts that highlight the richness of northern Colombia and an artistic presentation that fuses Caribbean music and dance is scheduled.
The great Moldavo Master Víctor Bologan, on behalf of the FIDE, and the Panamanian José Carrillo PujolPresident of the Chess Confederation of the Americas, They are responsible for the inaugurationin the company of the Colombian authorities such as the Minister of Sports of Colombia, Patricia Duque, and the mayor of Barranquilla, Alejandro Char.
445 athletes distributed in 90 teams will competeeach composed of four members, with the obligation to include at least one woman per team.
The competition will be played under the Swiss system at nine roundswith a time control of 45 minutes per player plus an increase of 10 seconds per play.
With this format the organizers of the tournament seek to guarantee dynamic and strategic confrontations, where mental skill and concentration are key.
Favorite countries
Nations participating countries stand out with quite tradition in this sport as Russia, China, India, Georgia and Belarus, whose teams are favorites to occupy the first places.
By Russia will be the sub-20 world champion, Anna Shukhmanwho, despite competing in the U-16 category, is one of the figures to follow for his experience and talent.
The Indian team will be led by young promises that have stood out in international tournaments.
For its part, China, a country that was crowned champion of the previous edition of the category held in the Netherlands in 2022, will seek to revalidate its title with a group of chess players with extensive experience in this type of tournaments.
Other countries that arrive with options are the United States, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which have confirmed competitive teams.
For Latin America, Colombia, as host, leads with 30 teams, the largest representation of the tournament.
There are also Peru with five teams, Chile and Venezuela with three each, and Aruba, Cuba, Curacao, Ecuador, El Salvador and Puerto Rico with two teams per country.
Nations such as Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia formed their participationBotswana, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, New Zealand, Panama, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Zimbabwe, among others, each with a team.
Colombian delegation
Among the figures of the local delegation are Master Andrés Santiago Garzón and Richard Rueda, who will be accompanied by Juan José Cano, Santiago López, Ghisell Morales, Samuel Toro, Sofía Luna and Briggith Posada.
The president of the Colombian Chess Federation, Weimar Muñoz, declared that he is proud to welcome this contest, which not only puts Barranquilla on the world chess map, but also promotes youth talent and diversity in science sport. “
