Stavanger SKU participated with five players in the National Youth Championship, which was played in Skien on 17th to 19th November, 2023.
FM Shazil Shehzad (2291) was the pre-tournament favorite in the A group (17-19 years), but lost two games in a row in Saturday and had to settle for second place with a score of 5/7. It's not always easy being the favorite!
FM Shazil Shehzad (left) finished second in the A group. (Photo: Anniken Vestby)
The D group (12 years) had two participants from Stavanger. Alina Shehzad (1441) performed above her expected rating performance and got a respectable 9th place with 5.5/9. Hugo Chun Rong ended 15th with 5/9.
The E group (11 years) also had two participants from Stavanger. Sophie Damiano (1373) exceeded expectations and ended up in second place with a score of 7.5/9 and a very impressive TPR of 1752. Unfortunately, Sophie lost to an unrated player in the first round, but recovered nicely and beat the eventual tournament winner in their head-to-head encounter.
Sophie Damiano (on the left) finished second in the E group. (Photo: Tanja Kveim)