Caleb Levitan sets new record in Spain

JACK MILNER

Caleb Levitan’s individual performance broke the South African record for any South African of any age or gender in a world competition. This gifted eight-year-old finished 11th in the world on points at the tournament that ran from 3 to 15 November.

His twin, Judah, also improved his position as he started the championship in 122nd place, but had broken into the top 100 in the world by the end.

The Levitans were two of three South Africans who participated in the tournament. They earned their places after winning in their age-group at the South African Junior Closed Chess Championships earlier this year.

The tournament in Spain comprises 135 children from 86 countries. It is played over 11 rounds, which is a far cry from the African Youth Chess Championships that the boys won in August, first because of the size of the field, and second because the level of play is far higher.

An average game lasted about three hours, with one of their games – against Russia – going on for more than four and a half hours.

The boys delivered strong individual performances, and they secured positive results against the best of India, Australia, Chile, Lebanon, Slovakia, Indonesia, Spain (twice), Argentina, France (twice), Bosnia, and Jamaica. Both boys finished well ahead of their initial seedings, and their results were the best South African team performance of any age group for the tournament.