ASTANA – Kazybek Nogerbek, a 20-year-old chess player from Kazakhstan, triumphed over 13 grandmasters (GM) to win the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Junior Chess Championship 2024, held from June 2 to 13 in Gandhinagar, India, reported the Kazakhstan Chess Federation’s press service.
Kazybek Nogerbek. Photo credit: chessnews.info
This year, the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship Under 20 years (U20) brought together 123 participants, including 13 GMs and 28 international masters (IMs).
Nogerbek scored 8.5 points in 11 rounds, finishing on better tiebreaks than GM Emin Ohanyan from Armenia. The Kazakh prodigy secured the gold medal and received a ticket to the World Cup, a significant step towards vying for the world champion title in the candidates tournament. GM Luka Budisavljevic from Serbia took the bronze medal with eight points.
Divya Deshmukh, a 18-year-old IM from India, won the Girl’s section with an undefeated score of 10 points.
Only three of Kazakh chess players claimed this title – Darmen Sadvakassov in 1998, Dinara Saduakassova in 2016, and Zhansaya Abdumalik in 2017.
In 2023, Nogerbek won both the rapid and blitz titles in the World Youth U18 Championship. He formally held the title of IM, but during the World Junior Chess Championship, he was officially confirmed as a GM by the FIDE Council.
