chess.com: Stunning the chess world with a 9.5/10 score before losing in the last round, Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo won the World Junior Championship in Gebze, Turkey. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya of Russia won gold in the girls section.

The World Junior Championships (open and girls) were held September 5-15 in the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Gebze, Turkey. The Open section had players from 59 different federations, including 25 GMs and 40 IMs and no less than 30 players rated above 2500.

The top four junior players in the world did not participate: Wei Yi (China, 2742), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland, 2739), Vladislav Artemiev (Russia, 2703) and Jeffery Xiong (USA, 2651). That made Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran, 2649) the top seed in Turkey, and he fulfilled the promise splendidly.

He was the only player on a perfect score after five rounds. After a friendly draw with his compatriot GM Alireza Firouzja, Maghsoodloo scored another four straight wins! This way he secured tournament victory with a round to spare, when he was already two points ahead of the pack.

In round five his opponent was close to a draw, but in time trouble he avoided a perpetual when Maghsoodloo suddenly played a devastating bishop check >>>