The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
The idea was the brainchild of William Ritson-Morry, who organized the 1951 inaugural event to take place in Birmingham, England. Subsequently, it was held every two years until 1973, when an annual schedule was adopted. In 1983, a separate tournament for girls was established.
The first championship was an 11-round Swiss-system tournament. In subsequent championships, the entrants were divided into sections, and preliminary sectional tournaments were used to establish graded finals sections (Final A, Final B, etc.). Since 1975 the tournaments have returned to the Swiss format.
Originally the winner of the open tournament was awarded the title International Master if he had not already received it. Currently the winner receives the Grandmaster title, and the second and third-place finishers receive International Master titles .
The winner of the girls' tournament receives the Woman Grandmaster title, and the second and third-place finishers receive the Woman International Master titles . In the Open section, two winners - Zaven Andriasian (2006) and Abdulla Gadimbayli (2022) have earned the GM title directly by winning the event. In the Girls section, five winners - Shen Yang (2006), Vera Nebolsina (2007), Nataliya Buksa (2015), Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2018), and Polina Shuvalova (2019) have earned the WGM title directly by winning the event.
The youngest winner was Joël Lautier, who won the 1988 edition event at age 15, a record that still stands.
Four winners – Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand – have gone on to win the World Chess Championship.
World U-20 Championship
{| class="sortable wikitable" ! No. !! Year !! Location !! Champion !! Winning country |- | 1 | 1951 | Coventry/Birmingham
| 2 | 1953 | Copenhagen
| 3 | 1955 | Antwerp
| 4 | 1957 | Toronto
| 5 | 1959 | Münchenstein
| 6 | 1961 | The Hague
| 7 | 1963 | Vrnjačka Banja
| 8 | 1965 | Barcelona
| 9 | 1967 | Jerusalem
| 10 | 1969 | Stockholm
| 11 | 1971 | Athens
| 12 | 1973 | Teesside
| 13 | 1974 | Manila
| 14 | 1975 | Tjentište
| 15 | 1976 | Groningen
| 16 | 1977 | Innsbruck
| 17 | 1978 | Graz
| 18 | 1979 | Skien
| 19 | 1980 | Dortmund
| 20 | 1981 | Mexico City
| 21 | 1982 | Copenhagen
| 22 | 1983 | Belfort
| 23 | 1984 | Kiljava
| 24 | 1985 | Sharjah
| 25 | 1986 | Gausdal
| 26 | 1987 | Baguio
| 27 | 1988 | Adelaide
| 28 | 1989 | Tunja
| 29 | 1990 | Santiago
| 30 | 1991 | Mamaja
| 31 | 1992 | Buenos Aires
| 32 | 1993 | Kozhikode
| 33 | 1994 | Matinhos
| 34 | 1995 | Halle
| 35 | 1996 | Medellín
| 36 | 1997 | Żagań
| 37 | 1998 | Kozhikode
| 38 | 1999 | Yerevan
| 39 | 2000 | Yerevan
| 40 | 2001 | Athens
| 41 | 2002 | Goa
| 42 | 2003 | Nakhchivan
| 43 | 2004 | Kochi
| 44 | 2005 | Istanbul
| 45 | 2006 | Yerevan
| 46 | 2007 | Yerevan
| 47 | 2008 | Gaziantep
| 48 | 2009 | Puerto Madryn
| 49 | 2010 | Chotowa
| 50 | 2011 | Chennai
| 51 | 2012 | Athens
| 52 | 2013 | Kocaeli
| 53 | 2014 | Pune
| 54 | 2015 | Khanty-Mansiysk
| 55 | 2016 | Bhubaneswar
| 56 | 2017 | Tarvisio
| 57 | 2018 | Gebze
| 58 | 2019 | New Delhi
| 59 | 2022 | Cala Gonone
|60 |2023 |Mexico City |Marc'Andria Maurizzi
|61 |2024 |Gandhinagar |Kazybek Nogerbek
|62 |2025 |Petrovac, Budva |Pranav V
|63 |2026 |Greater Caracas |TBA |TBA
World Women U-20 Championship
{| class="sortable wikitable" ! No. !! Year !! Location !! Champion !! Runner-up |- | 1 | 1982 | Senta
| 2 | 1983 | Mexico City
| 3 | 1985 | Dobrna
| 4 | 1986 | Vilnius
| 5 | 1987 | Baguio
| 6 | 1988 | Adelaide
| 7 | 1989 | Tunja
| 8 | 1990 | Santiago
| 9 | 1991 | Mamaja
| 10 | 1992 | Buenos Aires
| 11 | 1993 | Kozhikode
| 12 | 1994 | Matinhos
| 13 | 1995 | Halle
| 14 | 1996 | Medellín
| 15 | 1997 | Żagań
| 16 | 1998 | Kozhikode
| 17 | 1999 | Yerevan
| 18 | 2000 | Yerevan
| 19 | 2001 | Athens
| 20 | 2002 | Goa
| 21 | 2003 | Nakhchivan
| 22 | 2004 | Kochi
| 23 | 2005 | Istanbul
| 24 | 2006 | Yerevan
| 25 | 2007 | Yerevan
| 26 | 2008 | Gaziantep
| 27 | 2009 | Puerto Madryn
| 28 | 2010 | Chotowa
| 29 | 2011 | Chennai
| 30 | 2012 | Athens
| 31 | 2013 | Kocaeli Province
| 32 | 2014 | Pune
| 33 | 2015 | Khanty-Mansiysk
| 34 | 2016 | Bhubaneswar
| 35 | 2017 | Tarvisio
| 36 | 2018 | Gebze
| 37 | 2019 | New Delhi
| 38 | 2022 | Cala Gonone
|39 |2023 |Mexico City
|40 |2024 |Gandhinagar
|41 |2025 |Petrovac, Budva
|42 |2026 |Greater Caracas |TBA |TBA
Medal table As of 2025 (62 men and 41 women)
Details by year
The main source of reference is indicated beneath each year's entry.
1951 – Coventry and Birmingham, England – (July) – Eighteen players played an 11-round Swiss-system tournament. Borislav Ivkov dominated the tournament with an undefeated 9.5-1.5, 1.5 points ahead of the second-place finisher. Also-rans included future leading grandmasters Bent Larsen (6.5–4.5) and Friðrik Ólafsson (5.5–5.5).
Boys U-20 – 1. Borislav Ivkov (YUG) 2. Malcolm Barker (ENG) 3. R. Cruz (ARG)
--- Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, pp. 269–70. .
1953 – Copenhagen, Denmark – (July) – Twenty players began play in each of two sections, with the top four from each section advancing to the championship final. Oscar Panno and Klaus Darga tied for first in the final with undefeated 5.5-1.5 scores, with Panno taking the title on Sonneborn–Berger points. Former champion Ivkov and Olafsson tied for third and fourth place with even scores, with Ivkov finishing third on tiebreak. Larsen tied for fifth-eighth place with the remaining players at 2.5–4.5, finishing last of the eight finalists on tiebreak.
Boys U-20 – 1. Oscar Panno (ARG) 2. Klaus Darga (FRG) 3. Borislav Ivkov (YUG +Championship Final Results12345678TotalO. PannoArg.X1/2111/21/2115.5K. DargaBRD1/2X1/211/21115.5B. IvkovY01/2X1/21101/23.5F. OlafssonIS001/2X01113.5J. PenroseEng1/21/201X01/202.5D. KellerCH1/20001X102.5J. SherwinUSA00101/20X12.5B. LarsenDk001/20110X2.5 --- Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, pp. 270–71. .
1955 – Antwerp, Belgium – (July) – There were 24 players in total, comprising an original entry of 23, plus an additional player from the home country to make a more manageable number. The competitors were split into three groups of eight; the representatives of USSR, Argentina and Yugoslavia (the top three teams at the 1954 Olympiad) were seeded into separate groups, and the remainder allocated their group randomly. The top three finishers of each group plus the highest scoring fourth place then went forward to a final ten player all-play-all contest. Surprise casualties at the group stage were John Purdy (Australia) and Ciric (YUG). In the final, future world champion Boris Spassky gave up just two draws to score 8–1, the also-undefeated Edmar Mednis scored 7–2, and Miguel Farre of Spain scored 6.5–2.5. Future grandmasters Lajos Portisch (HUN) (5.5–3.5) and Georgi Tringov (BUL) (5–4) finished fourth and fifth.
Boys U-20 – 1. Boris Spassky (USSR) 2. Edmar Mednis (USA) 3. Miguel Farré (ESP)
--- British Chess Magazine No. 9, Vol. 75 pp. 262–65; Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, p. 272. .
1957 – Toronto, Canada – (August) – Only twelve players from eleven countries competed in a round-robin tournament. William Lombardy won all eleven games, becoming the only player ever to achieve a perfect score in this tournament.
Boys U-20 – 1. William Lombardy (USA), 11/11 2. Mathias Gerusel (FRG), 9 3. Alexander Jongsma (NED), 8.5 +123456789101112TotalW. LombardyU.S.AX1111111111111M. GeruselBRD0X11011111119A. JongsmaNed.00X1/2111111118.5V. SelimanovU.S.S.R001/2X11/21111118R. CardosoPhl.0100X01111/2116.5R. HallerodSwe.0001/21X1/211/21/21/21/25F. JobinCan.000001/2X011114.5J. AldreteMex.0000001X01114T. MakelainenFin.000001/201X1/21/213.5B. RabinowitzS.A.00001/21/2001/2X1/21/22.5I. BahgatEgy.000001/2001/21/2X1/22P. BatesCan.000001/20001/21/2X1.5 --- Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, pp. 273–74. .
1959 – Münchenstein, Switzerland – (July–August) – Twenty-six players from all the populated continents competed. Bobby Fischer and Vlastimil Hort, the talented fifteen-year-old who had finished second in the Czechoslovak championship, were not present. The players were divided into three preliminary groups, with the top four finishers from each group competing in the "Final A", a round-robin. Bielecki won with 8.5/12, two points ahead of the second-fourth-place finishers.
Boys U-20 – 1. Carlos Bielecki (ARG) 2-4. Bruno Parma (YUG), David Rumens (ENG), Josif Stefanov (BUL)
--- Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, p. 274. .
1961 – The Hague, Netherlands – (August–September) – Twenty-nine players competed. Raymond Weinstein of the United States had also registered, but was ruled too old to compete. The top three finishers from each of four preliminary groups qualified for Final A. Hort competed this time, scoring 4/6 to tie with three others for first place in Preliminary Group B. Unfortunately, he finished fourth on Sonneborn–Berger tiebreak, so did not qualify for Final A. Final A saw a battle between two future grandmasters, with Bruno Parma of Yugoslavia, who had tied for second the year before, beating Florin Gheorghiu in their individual game and edging out the latter by a half-point (9/11 to Gheorghiu's 8.5). The third-place finisher, Kuindzhi of the Soviet Union, scored 8 points. He beat both Parma and Gheorghiu, but lost to the last place finisher, Thomson of Scotland, who scored only two draws against the rest of the field.
Boys U-20 – 1. Bruno Parma (YUG) 2. Florin Gheorghiu (ROM) 3. Alexander Kuindzhi (USSR)
--- Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, pp. 275–76. .
1963 – Vrnjacka Banja, Yugoslavia – (August–September) – Thirty juniors competed in each of five preliminary groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the A Final. Once again a player who had finished second two years before became the champion, although not without difficulty. Gheorghiu of Romania and Janata tied for first with 7.5/9 scores, with Gheorghiu winning their individual game. They finished three points ahead of the third-place finisher, future grandmaster Bojan Kurajica of Yugoslavia. The match called for the tie to be broken by a four-game match, but this finished with four draws. Because Gheorghiu had the superior Sonneborn–Berger score, he was declared the champion.
Boys U-20 – 1. Florin Gheorghiu (ROM) 2. Michal Janata (CZE) 3. Bojan Kurajica (YUG)
--- Kažić, B.M., International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, Pitman Publishing, 1974, p. 277. .
1965 – Barcelona, Spain – (August–September) – Twenty-eight juniors competed in five preliminary groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the A Final. In Preliminary Group A, future grandmasters Vladimir Tukmakov and Raymond Keene tied for second with 2.5/4. Their Sonneborn–Berger scores were identical, and they had drawn their individual game, so they drew lots to break the tie. Tukmakov drew the right number to advance to the Final A. There, experience again proved helpful, with Kurajica, who had been third in Vrnjacka Banja, scoring 6.5/9 to nose out Hartoch and Tukmakov by a half-point. Future World Championship candidate Robert Hübner of West Germany finished with an even score.
Boys U-20 – 1. Bojan Kurajica (YUG) 2. Robert Hartoch (NED) 3. Vladimir Tukmakov (USSR)