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After the weekend, you’re back in school. You open the door. You’re hit with thunder-like applause from all your classmates and teachers in the hallways; everyone’s proud of you.
For most teenagers, this fantasy happens only in dreams. But this was 15-year-old Polish IM Jakub Seemann‘s grand entrance after winning the World Youth Championship for players under 16 years old.
In a viral video originally posted on Monday, the camera follows the newly-minted world champion, still wearing his backpack and a navy blue parka, across two floors full of clapping and cheering classmates in High School No. 3 in Zabrze. At the end of his journey, the beaming international master receives a little cake.
@chess” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/@chess?refer=embed” rel=”ugc nofollow noreferrer noopener”>@chess these are some of the very best moments in chess 🫶
The tournament, which went from November 13 to 24 in Montesilvano, Italy, determined individual champions in six categories: Open-18, Open-16, Open-14, Girls-18, Girls-16, and Girls-14.
Scoring 9.5 points across the 11-round Swiss, Seemann finished in clear first in a field totaling 138 players and 71 countries.
Open-16 Final Standings | Top 20
| Rk. | SNo | FED | Title | Name | Rtg | Pts. |
| 1 | 6 | IM | SEEMANN, Jakub | 2417 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 1 | IM | KLIMKOWSKI, Jan | 2520 | 9 | |
| 3 | 7 | FM | COSTA, Leonardo | 2397 | 9 | |
| 4 | 5 | FM | MAKKAR, Rajat | 2452 | 8.5 | |
| 5 | 27 | FM | SAPENOV, Daniyal | 2296 | 8 | |
| 6 | 51 | CM | WAFA, Hamed | 2177 | 8 | |
| 7 | 9 | IM | ASWATH, S | 2373 | 8 | |
| 8 | 24 | IM | KARSTEN, Jan | 2306 | 8 | |
| 9 | 3 | FM | MACIAS PINO, Diego | 2457 | 7.5 | |
| 10 | 15 | FM | PILIPOSYAN, Robert | 2345 | 7.5 | |
| 11 | 23 | FM | BORRMANN, Laurenz | 2309 | 7.5 | |
| 12 | 39 | PIDLUZNIJ, Gleb | 2246 | 7.5 | ||
| 13 | 19 | FM | GASPARYAN, Erik R. | 2320 | 7 | |
| 14 | 31 | FM | SULEIMEN, Ergali | 2285 | 7 | |
| 15 | 2 | IM | KVALOY, Aksel Bu | 2457 | 7 | |
| 16 | 17 | FM | KANOV, Nikola | 2339 | 7 | |
| 17 | 45 | PADHYE, Rohan | 2221 | 7 | ||
| 18 | 16 | FM | ZHAO, Erick | 2340 | 7 | |
| 19 | 12 | FM | MAKRIDIS, Dimitrios | 2357 | 7 | |
| 20 | 8 | FM | MAGOLD, Filip | 2382 | 7 |
(Full standings here.)
He earned gold in style, winning his last game on demand with a nifty queen sacrifice. After winning a pawn, he converted the advantage smoothly.
His countryman and friend, IM Jan Klimkowski, finished second in the same section, while FM Pawel Sowinski struck gold in the Open-14 division. As a result, Poland won the gold medal for overall results.
“We had a little time to prepare for his welcome. I’m shocked that the film turned out so popular on the internet,” said the school’s principal, Magdalena Kaernbach-Wojtas.
It wrapped up an amazing year for Seemann, who won not just the World Championship but the European Youth Chess Championship, becoming the first Polish player to complete such a double since GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek 19 years earlier.
Seemann commented:
“Winning the world championship was a fantastic affair. It’s the fulfillment of dreams and a reward for really hard work! Well, and of course it’s also motivation to keep training. Before the event I didn’t think about the title, I had the aim of concentrating on each game. I wanted to play as well as I could. In the eighth round, I became the sole leader. Then the adrenaline rose and I became stressed about my next moves, but I thought I handled it very well and without any great adventures I kept the lead until the end.”
It’s the fulfillment of dreams and a reward for really hard work!
—Jakub Seemann
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