Winners across all age groups of the WFCC Online Solving Challenge for Youth 1st round were:

• Classical: Maksim Kharitonov ahead of Nikita Ushakov, Danila Pavlov and Viktoriya Kharitonova
• Blitz: Danila Pavlov ahead of Maksim Kharitonov, Daniel Dumitrescu and Grigory Filin

all with 100% scores (Maksim & Danila were the quicker). There were 34 solvers in each discipline.

Age group winners were:

More details are published in Competitions >> Solving and at http://www.ihandicap.mobi/oscy/

Highlights of Challenge 1 were the success of the Kharitonov family (which featured three 100% scores) and the most welcome presence of World Champion Danila Pavlov who, in the Blitz round, rattled off 20 correct solutions in 7 minutes. Africa were well represented by solvers from Morocco and Nigeria; with Youssef Kozizi achieving a great score in the Blitz and Lovelyn Agbo so determined to complete the Blitz round that she went to the trouble of downloading a replacement browser in place of her mischievous Chrome version.

Technically, nearly everything went according to plan, with almost all obstacles overcome. The Blitz scoring system worked particularly well. The strength of the strongest was much higher than expected (with many at WCSC level), so problems in future challenges could be made a little tougher.

OSCY Challenge 2 will be held on Sunday 10/3/2024 at 12:30 (your Local time).

Brian Cook, OSCY Director

Since 2007, our community has been marking January 4^th as the International Day of Chess Composition, inspired by an article from 155 years ago, where chess composition was declared a kind of art. Today we are doing it in the contemporary spirit, launching the 1^st WFCC Online Solving Challenge for Youth (OSCY).

The 1^st OSCY unites efforts of very different generations. You may see here the OSCY video promotion made by the young Anirudh Daga, who also contributed to some elements of design.

And here is the Press Release text by our senior member Brian Cook, the heart and soul of the whole project:

As the WFCC announce their new bi-monthly Online Solving Challenge for Youth (OSCY), never has there been a better time for young chess players from 5 to 21 years old to test their skills at chess problem solving. It isn’t unusual to find that those who have taken the plunge converting their modest FIDE ratings into much higher solver ratings, earning norms and titles in the process. Free of the need for detailed knowledge of openings and strategy, their exceptional tactical skills have flourished with astonishing results. Rather than solving/composing a fast evolving web of typical threats & traps set by/for their opponents, solvers are generally confronted with a few won positions (often composed by GMs of Chess Composition) of greater complexity and/or featuring an unusual concept. Greatest of the many success stories in this regard are GMs of Solving:

Danila Pavlov – 21 year-old 3 x World Champion and No.1 (rated 2820 for solving, 2361 by FIDE), Ural Khasanov – 17 year-old World No.5 (solving at around 1000 rating points higher than he plays), not to mention 14 year old Anna Shukhman, World No.1 for women.

Full OSCY details are provided at the tournament website along with  much of what needs to be known by beginners PLUS World Champion coaching and, except for <€10 for coaching, it’s all FREE. See the WFCC Announcement.

As Online and @Home solving has become more popular (at both grass-roots and elite levels), a smooth pathway is emerging from informal to the many rated/physical tournaments at which titles are earned. So, please give OSCY a try and avoid missing out on what may be your personal chess paradise.

NOTES:

1. Unusual pieces such as ‘nightriders’, ‘grasshoppers’, etc are not indulged in OSCY. They remain strictly for the ‘fairies’
2. For anyone pressed for time – the home of our QuickStart Guide

Solvers’ ratings as of January 1^st 2024 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
8 tournaments of the 4^th quarter 2023 are included: 21^st Greek Chess Solving Championship 2023, 32^nd Kedainiai Cup 2023, 38^th Open Swiss Solving Championship 2023, 4^th Branko Babic Memorial 2023, 28^th Belgian Solving Championship 2023, 32^nd Henk Hagedoorn Memorial 2023, Solving Championship of Romania 2023, 8^th Greek Chess Solving Cup 2023.
Ranking of the top ten solvers (unchanged): 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2820.30, 2. Georgy Evseev (FID) 2747.29, 3. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2715.44, 4. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2678.75, 5. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2649.49, 6. John Nunn (GBR) 2629.68, 7. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2616.38, 8. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2575.00, 9. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 2574.54, 10. Marko Filipović (CRO) 2564.95.
Largest five gains: junior Alexandru Mihalcescu, ROU (+29.23), Wouter van Rijn, NED (+21.86), junior Ioannis Kollias, GRE (+13.70), Martynas Limontas, LTU (+12.42), Jakub Marciniszyn, POL (+12.34).