Durban, South Africa, September 19th – 30th
 Oskar Hackner Oskar Anton learnt the basics of chess when he was younger, but he really became fascinated by the game of chess in the Autumn of 2008 when he was 12½ years old. He played his first tournament a year later, and has made a great progress during the past 5 years. He came third at the British Chess Championships U14 in 2010 and has won the British Championship title at U15 (joint) in 2011 and U16 (joint) in 2012. Oskar Anton has been a member of the National Junior Chess Squad and has enjoyed playing at the Gibraltar Junior Chess Festival 2011 and 2012 and during a junior squad trip to Poland in October 2012. He came joint 1st at the National Junior Chess Squad Championships U16 in 2012. Oskar Anton has represented England at the World Junior U16 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey, August 2012, World Youth Chess Championships 2012 in Maribor, Slovenia and the European Youth Chess Championships 2013 in Budva, Montenegro. He has also played in the Gibraltar Chess Festival (Masters) in January 2013, the World Amateur Chess Championships in Crete in May 2013, the main tournament of the British Chess Championships 2013 and in Reykjavik Open 2014 in Iceland in January. He also enjoys playing in the 4NCL and the Sheffield and Yorkshire Chess Leagues. Oskar Anton is home educated. His other interests include reading, languages, water sports and skiing – both slalom and cross–country. He wants to thank all those who have supported his chess as this is his great passion and he is very much looking forward to playing at the World Youth Chess Championships 2014 in Durban, South Africa. |
 Amy Hoare Amy has played chess competitively since she was 7 and qualified for the National Chess Junior Squad at the Under 11 trial. Since then she has travelled widely with her chess, competing in Guernsey, the Czech Republic, Holland, Poland, Italy, Turkey, Montenegro and Slovenia. Amy is the current British Women’s Champion, English Ladies Champion and British Under 18 Girl Champion. Other highlights include: playing in the London Chess Classic (Women’s International Invitational), the Under 16 Olympiad in Istanbul and the European Youth Team Championships in Slovenia. Amy also enjoys mentoring the Sussex Girls under 11 Team who achieved 1st place in 2012. She is passionate about all sports and represents her school in hockey, netball, tennis and rounders. Thanks go to everyone who has supported and encouraged Amy with her chess, in particular: GM David Howell, Jonathan Tuck, IM Lawrence Cooper, Sussex Junior Chess, Horsham Chess Club and Farlington School. |
 Chantelle Foster Following qualification at the England U11 trials, Chantelle joined the National Chess Junior Squad and has participated in chess trips to Flanders, Wales, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Dubai. She has represented England previously in the European Youth Chess Championships in Georgia in 2010 (U14 girls), Bulgaria in 2011 and Prague in 2012 (U16 girls) and competed for the Faber-Gilbert Cup (U18 girls) in Dublin in 2011 and Daventry in 2012. Chantelle has played in The British junior championships each year and is the British U16 Girls Champion. She is a black belt in karate and enjoys training on the dojo several times a week and teaching lower graded juniors and adults alike. She plays netball and badminton regularly for Aylesbury High School. In 2013 Chantelle represented England at the World Youth Chess Championships in Al Ain and is very much looking forward to competing at this year’s World Youth in Durban. Chantelle would like to thank everyone who has helped her to improve as a chess player. |
 Adam C Taylor Adam started playing chess at school when he was 9 years old. He has represented England at several Major Tournaments and is now the U16 English Youth Champion. This year, after taking his GCSEs, he is looking forward to taking part in the Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow. Adam plays Board 1 for Manningtree ‘A’ who won the Suffolk League for the first time in many, many years and also plays for the Anglian Avengers 4NCl Team who yet again narrowly missed out on promotion to Division 1. In addition to chess, Adam enjoys rugby, badminton, table tennis and cricket. He also follows Formula One and is a big Lewis Hamilton fan. He’d like to thank all those people who have helped him to improve his chess, in particular GM John Emms, GM David Howell, The Knights Chess Group, Suffolk Chess Association and players, Manningtree Chess Club, various members of the Anglian Avengers Squad (you know who you are!!) and of course, his Mum. |
 Stephen Whatley Stephen has just completed his first year as a chess scholar at Millfield school in Somerset. He has played in a number of International tournaments and is looking forward to representing England at the world Youth Chess Championships this year in South Africa. Stephen enjoys Taekwondo when he is not playing chess being awarded his black belt in 2011. He is the current holder of the Gibraltar Junior Sports Award 2013. |
 Harry Li Harry would like to thank the Grammar School At Leeds, Alwoodley Chess Club, Leeds Chess Association, Yorkshire Chess Association and all individual members for their huge time and support. Harry started playing chess when he was 3, and it has been a keen interest for him. |
 Dion Huang Dion is 12 years old, and he learned to play chess when he was 7, from the nearby Redbridge Chess Academy. After two years, he won the Essex Under 10 Championship and soon became Board 1 both for his school and Essex U11 chess teams. He won the 2012 UK Chess Challenge Southern Gigafinal U11 Ultimo. Dion would like to thank Westminster Under School, Ilford Chess Club, RCA and Ron Franklin, Ivor Somers, Pascal Evans, Justin Baptie, Yangfan Zhou and Mark Hebden for their kind help and support. Dion attends Westminster Under School in London. |
 Nugith Jayawarna I am 11 years old. I started playing chess at the age of 7 at my first Primary School (Canon Burrows CofE) chess club, with Graham Andrews who was our coach. My greatest achievements in chess are coming Runner-up in the 100th British Chess Championship U11 (2013), 3rd in the Young Talents Tournament (U12) held in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic, and runner-up in the U12 (2014) National Junior Squad Championship. I would like to thank my coach Graham Andrews, who has helped me immensely over the course of the last few years and has been a big part of my chess career. I would also like to thank Steve Mason, Bill O’ Rourke, Brett Lund and the Lancashire Chess Association for supporting me to further my chess. Tameside Juniors and Heywood Chess Clubs have also been a big part of my career. Finally I would like to thank my family (especially my Dad) for supporting and encouraging me in many ways and giving me the opportunity to taking part in many different tournaments across the country. Away from Chess I’m actively involved in physical sports; cricket, football and basketball. I attend Heyes Lane Primary School. |
 Joshua Altman Candidate Master Joshua Altman is the youngest master ever in the UK. Now 10, he’s a seasoned professional chess player who has competed in hundreds of tournaments around the globe. He appeared recently in the UK documentary “Child Genius” and was featured on the “Lorraine” show, where he shared his passion and grit for the “long” game. Joshua says he’s just a kid who wants to become a great citizen of the world. He’d like to thank his mum. You can follow Joshua on Twitter @kid_chess |
 Ilya Misyura Ilya wants to thank Westminster Under school for all the support it has given him and particularly his teacher Mr Evans who inspired him and believed in him from the beginning and GM Julian Hodgson for his help during chess club sessions. |
| Coach – GM David Howell |
| Coach – GM Mark Hebden |
| Coach – IM Lorin D’Costa |