Your own in the boards: how our national team won the Chess Olympiad

The U16 World Chess Olympiad in Barranquilla ended with a confident victory for the Russian national team, which brought to Colombia the strongest team in the history of the tournament. For the first time, four grandmasters competed in the same team at the youth level. Ivan Zemlyansky, Savva Vetokhin, Artyom Uskov and Anna Shukhman did not lose a single team point, winning all nine matches. This is the absolute record of the tournament. It is impossible not to note the smooth performance of the Russians, thanks to which they managed to insure their colleagues on the national team: Vetokhin and Uskov scored 8 points out of 9 possible, Zemlyansky – 7.5, Shukhman – 7.

Justified the status

In September 2024, the FIDE Council lifted the ban on the performance of youth national teams and teams of athletes with disabilities from Russia and Belarus. In July of this year, the organization's board disbanded the women's national teams that will participate in the November World Team Championship in Linares. The U-16 team, which brought together some of the most talented juniors in the world, became our first team to perform at the international team start after a long break.

Before the tournament, coach Alexander Ryazantsev warned that there are often unpredictable results at the youth level, and our main rivals from India, China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan represent a formidable force. In practice, it turned out that way. Yes, China (4-0), Uzbekistan (3.5-0.5) and the second national team of Kazakhstan we beat confidently (3.5-0.5), but with India and the first Kazakh team it turned out to be a serious fight.

"It's always difficult to maintain the status of a rating favorite," Alexander Tkachev, executive director of the Russian Chess Federation (RSHF), told Izvestia. — And despite our stellar line-up, there were intense matches. First of all, I am talking about the confrontation with India and Kazakhstan. And it's not just about the close score, but also the content of the parties. I had to be nervous. I would also like to mention the super-convincing victory over China. Yes, we regularly beat China at the national team level, but I don't remember doing it with a dry score. This generation has a really good future. In addition to talent, I would like to mention the competent work of the best coaches in our country. In July 2023, the FSHR decided that the national team's coaches - Rublevsky, Potkin, Ryazantsev, Nayer, Sakaev, Matlakov — would start working with 12-1-year-old boys and girls. Two years have passed, and we see a concrete result of this well-organized activity.

Zemlyansky and Uskov won their games with the Indians. Vetokhin drew, and Shukhman lost to Sherly Pratamesh. But Anna won a very important victory with Kazakhstan-1. Zemlyansky also won his game, but Uskov lost to Alan Petukhov (but Artyom won the other eight games). In both matches, our team prevailed with a score of 2.5-1.5, securing the championship title.

The second place was taken by the national team of Uzbekistan (seven wins — two losses), the third — by the second team of Kazakhstan.China and India rounded out the top 5. The national team of Belarus, which also played for the first time in the team tournament since 2021, became the sixth.

"Congratulations to the Russian team and all the fans on an outstanding achievement," said Andrey Filatov, President of the Russian Football Federation, in a conversation with Izvestia. — In Colombia, our guys won the first gold after a long period of restrictions, and this result is absolutely deserved. During this time, a whole galaxy of bright and strong chess players under the age of 16 has appeared in our country, and the purposeful work of the Federation with them, involving the most experienced coaches and the support of athletes, is bearing fruit. For the first time in the history of the Under-16 Olympics, our team consisted exclusively of grandmasters who conducted the entire tournament at the highest level.

Tickets to the Superfinal

Before that, our youth national team won the Under-16 Olympics in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017 years.

— This is another bright victory of our young chess players. We can rest assured — brilliant grandmasters have a reliable shift. As always, the country is proud of our chess school. Congratulations to the winners, the coaching staff, as well as the Russian Chess Federation represented by its president Andrey Filatov on a worthy success! — Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, the head of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS.

For such a long—awaited success, the young guys will receive an invitation from the Russian Football Federation to the main tournament of the domestic calendar - the Superfinal of the Russian Championship, which will be held in September-October.

— The federation's leadership decided to allow the entire team to the Superfinal of the Russian Championship, — continued Alexander Tkachev. — The boys will play in the open tournament, Anya will play in the women's tournament. The guys need to grow, and we provide them with all the opportunities for this. Let them continue to improve.

The executive director of the Russian Football Federation also answered the question whether these juniors could already apply for a place in the first national team.

— The potential of the guys is huge, but how ready are they here and now to join the first national team, if the Olympics were, say, in a month? You need to think carefully here. At the same time, I would like to note that the Men's World Olympiad will be held in a year, approximately in early September 2026. So the guys have another 12 months to prove themselves in adult tournaments. Ivan Zemlyansky, for example, recently qualified for the World Cup, the same Superfinal, where everyone will have a very serious test. Everything is in their hands," Alexander Tkachev assured.

But the women's World Team Championship will be held in November this year in Linares.

— Anya Shukhman is in the extended squad to prepare for the tournament and is highly likely to perform in Spain, — said the executive director of the Russian Chess Federation.

It should be noted that the captain of the team was the titled Russian chess player Evgeny Tomashevsky, who in January 2025 was appointed to the post of senior coach of the Russian youth national team.