Ukrainian prodigy Illya Nyzhnyk becomes youngest GM at 14

Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010


Hi Everyone,

Ukrainian Grandmaster Illya Nyzhnyk

Talented Ukrainian prodigy is now the world's youngest Grandmaster at the age of 14. Illya Nyzhnyk fulfilled his third and final Grandmaster norm at the just-concluded Groningen Chess Festival. The tournament ran from December 21-30, 2010 at the Sportcentrum Rijksuniversiteit & Hanzehogeschool in Groningen, Netherlands. The Festival is traditionally organised around Christmas and has continued for the last  47 consecutive years.


The Festival consisted of Open A with the prize fund of 6500 EUR, Open B (1700-2200 elo, 2000 EUR), Open C (U1800 elo, 1000 EUR) and Groningen Compact, a five-round swiss event. You can check the official website here..


The final standings saw a six-way tie for the first place with GM Dejan Bojkov eventually winning the title on tie-break.


Top-20 final Standings


1. Bojkov, Dejan GM BUL 2542 6.5 2631
2. Nyzhnyk, Illya IM UKR 2535 6.5 2671
3. Bluvshtein, Mark GM CAN 2587 6.5 2606
4. Brandenburg, Daan IM NED 2515 6.5 2639
5. Ernst, Sipke GM NED 2590 6.5 2628
6. Van Kampen, Robin IM NED 2454 6.5 2627
7. Andriasian, Zaven GM ARM 2585 5.5 2540
8. Prohaszka, Peter GM HUN 2536 5.5 2550
9. Gupta, Abhijeet GM IND 2600 5.5 2550
10. Rotstein, Arkadij GM GER 2538 5.5 2551
11. Lobzhanidze, Davit IM GEO 2496 5.5 2471
12. Grover, Sahaj IM IND 2432 5.5 2475
13. Bok, Benjamin IM NED 2458 5.5 2390
14. Baklan, Vladimir GM UKR 2613 5.5 2502
15. Naroditsky, Daniel FM USA 2425 5.5 2474
16. Van Oosterom, Chiel IM NED 2426 5.5 2398
17. Baghdasaryan, Vahe ARM 2303 5.0 2474
18 Werle, Jan GM NED 2578 5.0 2466
19 Romanishin, Oleg M GM UKR 2534 5.0 2437
20 Nijboer, Friso GM NED 2583 5.0 2423


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