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Twice bronze for Germany: youth chess shines in Slovenia!
Germany wins two bronze medals at the European Youth Championships in Slovenia. U12 teams impress with strong performances.
Twice bronze for Germany: youth chess shines in Slovenia!
The ECU European Youth Team Championships for the U18 and U12 age groups in Terme Catez, Brežice, Slovenia were colorful and exciting. From July 11th to 12th, 2025, a total of seven German teams competed and made a name for themselves. Above all, the U12 girls team shone, winning the bronze medal with their strong performance. The selection with WCM Lilian Schirmbeck and Tiffany Tu was successful and proved that the girls can be at the forefront of international competition chessbund.de reported.
Sauerland In addition to the girls, the boys' U12 team also put in a remarkable performance. They also achieved third place after an exciting competition. With players like Tingrui Shen, Anton Belin, Ming Sheng, Konstantin Müller and Yungi Li, who were seeded number one and had an average rating of 2081, the team brought a lot of potential to the games. Their last duel against Turkey ended in a 2-2 draw, despite losing two games in the meantime.
A consistently challenging tournament
The event was characterized by strenuous games and there was no day off, but many participants praised the fun and experiences they had. Head of delegation WGM Tatjana Melamed and coach IM Robert Baskin as well as GM Adrian Mikhalchishin guided the teams through the challenges with a good hand. As in the past, the German Chess Federation provided a strong presence and was represented with a total of seven teams, which underlines the importance of youth work.
A total of 18 European federations took part in the championship, which included both girls' and open competitions. The U12 girls teams played on two boards, while the open competitions were played on four boards. The German U12 team entered the open tournament as the top seeds and impressed not only with their committed style of play, but also with their ability to find the right moves at crucial moments.
Player results
The results after two rounds of play show the exciting performance of the individual players in detail:
| category | name | Points | placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Girls U12 | WCM Lilian Schirmbeck | ½, ½, 1 | 10. |
| Girls U12 | Tiffany Tu | 1, ½, 1.5 | 4. |
| Girls U12 | Zuzanna Sobczak | 0, 0, 0 | 23. |
| Open U12 | Tingrui Shen | ½, 1, 1.5 | 13. |
There was also interesting progress in the U18 category, although not all German teams performed as hoped. The girls' team was well positioned, but had difficulty consistently performing. There were some close results for the boys, but they showed that the teams are on the right track. They also have a lot of potential to learn, such as analyzing the tournament ChessBase illuminated.
Poland dominated the tournament and was able to secure three gold medals - a strong sign for the chess community of this nation. The German teams, on the other hand, achieved respectable positions with their two bronze medals, reflecting good performance development in the youth sector. The next challenges are already around the corner and we are excited to see which talents from Germany will shine next on the international stage, as well as below chess-international.com is to be experienced.