Sozonov Award for 2015

Award named after Evgeniy Sozonov is a private national annual award. It was established by Olena Boytsun in 2013 with the aim of supporting talented children aged between 10 to 16 years old, who show good results in both chess and school studies.

In 2015, the Sozonov Award was presented for the third time. Applications for participation in the award competition were accepted from October 26, 2015 to December 7, 2015, the results were announced on December 28, 2015.

29 applications were received for participation in the competition, of which boys make up 48% of participants, while girls – 52%.

For 2015, the Sozonov Award was awarded to one winner (amount of the prize – 10,000 hryvnias). In addition, ten runners-up were awarded (the amount of the prize – 1000 hryvnias each) and a special diploma was issued in the nomination “Master”.

The results of the 2015 Sozonov Award competition

Winner

Scherbak Yaroslav (Svalyava, Zakarpattia region)

Yaroslav Scherbak

(Svalyava, Zakarpattia region, age at the time of receiving the award: 13 years, CM)
Trainers: Kryshtofori A., Rakhmangulov A.

Yaroslav Scherbak studies in the 8th grade of comprehensive school No. 1 in the city of Svalyava, his favourite subject is mathematics. He has been practising chess for 6 years under the coaches of Attila Kryshtofori and Andrii Rakhmangulov, and holds the title of the Candidate for Master of Sports of Ukraine. In 2015, Yaroslav became the silver medalist of the Ukrainian under-12 chess championship and a participant in European and world championships, he repeatedly won international tournaments in Ukraine and abroad. He is fond of learning English and reading classical literature.

Update from 2023: Yaroslav is studying in the 4th year of the Faculty of International Economics and Marketing of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, majoring in International Economics.

Runners-up

  • Alekseenko Yuliya (Kharkiv)
  • Berdnyk Mariia (Kharkiv)
  • Hryshchenko Kamila (Kramatorsk)
  • Komarenko Dmytro (Kyiv)
  • Manzhos Artem (Kovel, Volyn region)
  • Milovzorova Nadiia (Kyiv)
  • Mosesov Danyil (Lviv)
  • Shvets Viktoria (Khmelnytskyi)
  • Yuryk Rostyslav (Kamianka, Cherkasy region)

Yuliya Alekseenko

(Kharkiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 12 years, CM)
Trainer: Holov O.

Yuliya Alekseenko studies in the 6th grade of secondary school No. 64 in Kharkiv, her favourite subjects are Ukrainian language and literature. She is a multiple participant and prize-winner of subject Olympiads, student competitions. She has been playing chess for 5 years, and has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports. Yuliya attends the Children and Youth Sports School No. 3 (Kharkiv), where she trains with head coach Oleksandr Holov. Yuliya is a winner and prize-winner of chess championships in Ukraine in various age categories. In 2015, she took 2nd place at the Ukrainian Blitz Championship in the under-12 category. She is fond of reading chess literature.

Mariia Berdnyk

(Kharkiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 13 years, CM)
Trainer: Holov O.

Mariia Berdnyk studies in the 8th grade of Kharkiv Specialized School I-III degrees No. 156, her favourite subject is biology. She studies the German language outside of school. She has been playing chess for 7 years, and has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports. Mariia trains at the Children and Youth Sports School No. 3 in Kharkiv with head coach Oleksandr Holov. She is a champion and prize-winner of championships of Ukraine among girls in various age categories. Mariia won 1st place in the Championship of Ukraine among girls under 12 years old in classical chess. In addition to chess, the girl attends the swimming section.

Kamila Hryshchenko

(Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, age at the time of receiving the award: 13 years, 1st rank in chess according to the Ukrainian system)
Trainer: Kornitskiy A.

Kamila Hryshchenko studies in the 8th grade of secondary school No. 10 in Kramatorsk, her favourite subject is algebra. She has been playing chess for 7 years with coach Andriy Kornitskiy at the O. Momot Regional Chess Club in Kramatorsk, has the 1st rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system). She is a champion and prize-winner of the Ukrainian chess championships among girls in various age categories. In 2015, Kamila took 2nd place at the Classical Chess Championship of Ukraine among girls under 14 years old and at the Rapid Chess Championship of Ukraine among girls under 14 years old. The girl is fond of music and studies in a piano class at a music school.

Dmytro Komarenko

(Kyiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 15 years, 1st rank in chess according to the Ukrainian system)
Trainer: Grinev V.

Dmytro Komarenko studies in the 9-A class of secondary comprehensive school No. 83 in Kyiv, his favourite subjects are history, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics. He has been playing chess for 5 years, and has the 1st rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system). He attends the Chess and Drafts School “Avangard” under the coach Valerii Grinev. Dmytro is a multiple participant and prize-winner of various levels of children chess competitions in Ukraine. In addition to chess, the boy attends the swimming section. He is fond of assembling and programming LEGO Mindstorms robot models, and is interested in the principles of electrical appliances.

Artem Manzhos

(Kovel, Volyn region, age at the time of receiving the award: 11 years, 1st rank in chess according to the Ukrainian system)
Trainer: Cherniak O.

Artem Manzhos studies in the 6th grade of the National Secondary School “General Education School I-III Level No. 13 Collegium”, his favourite subjects are mathematics, physical education. He is a multiple winner of the school and city stages of the mathematics Olympiad, participant and prize-winner of student mathematics competitions. He has been playing chess for 5 years, and has the 1st rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system). Artem trains at the Children and Youth Sports School named after E. Kondratovych (Kovel) with coach Olena Cherniak. He is winner and prize-winner of chess championships in Ukraine and abroad among boys in various age categories. Artem attends the football section at school, likes to play table tennis.

Nadiia Milovzorova

(Kyiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 11 years, 2nd rank in chess according to the Ukrainian system)
Trainer: Nikolaev L.

Nadiia Milovzorova studies in the 6th grade of specialised school No. 14 with in-depth study of the German language, her favourite subjects are mathematics and the Ukrainian language. She is repeated winner and prize-winner of school and district stages of mathematics and Ukrainian language olympiads, participant and prize-winner of student creative contests. She has been playing chess for 5 years, and has the 2nd rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system). She attends the Chess and Drafts School “Avangard” and trains with Nikolaev Leonid. Nadiia is a multiple participant of children chess competitions in Ukraine of various levels. In addition to chess, Nadiia is engaged in rhythmic gymnastics and has a 2nd category. She is also fond of swimming, painting and sings in the school choir.

Danyil Mosesov

 (Lviv, age at the time of receiving the award: 13 years, CM)
Trainers: Romashov A., Zheladinov V.

Danyil Mosesov studies in the 7th grade of secondary specialised comprehensive school No. 93 in Lviv, his favourite subject is mathematics. He has been playing chess for 5 years, has the title of Сandidate for Master of Sports. He trains at the Children and Youth Sports School “Debut” in Lviv with coaches Anton Romashov and Viktor Zhelyandinov. He is a winner and prize-winner of chess championships in Ukraine and abroad among boys in various age categories. In 2015, Daniil took first place in the international chess tournament (Zamost, Poland). In addition to chess, he attends the squash section and swims.

Viktoria Shvets

(Khmelnytskyi, age at the time of receiving the award: 12 years, 1st rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system)
Trainer: Razin V.

Viktoria Shvets studies at the Khmelnytskyi specialised school of the 1st degree No. 30, her favourite subjects are Ukrainian language and literature, drawing. In addition, she is engaged in deepening her knowledge of the English language. Viktoria took part in subject school Olympiads, creative projects and competitions and became a prize-winner of stages of international competitions (“Kolosok”, “Kangaroo”, “Greenwich”). She has been playing chess for 4 years, and has the 1st rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system). Viktoria trains individually with coach Razin Vadym. She is champion and prize-winner of children chess competitions among girls in different age categories. She is fond of dancing, athletics and drawing.

Rostyslav Yuryk

(Kamianka, Cherkasy region, age at the time of receiving the award: 11 years, 2nd rank in chess according to the Ukrainian system)
Trainer: Khomenko K.

Rostyslav Yuryk is studying in the 6th grade of the Kamian Secondary School No. 1, grades I-III, his favourite subjects are mathematics, computer science, foreign languages, the basics of health, history, and the Ukrainian language. He has been playing chess for 5 years at the Kamianka Children and Youth Sports School. He trains with Khomenko Kostyantyn, has a 2nd rank in chess (according to the Ukrainian system). Rostyslav is the winner and prize-winner of all-Ukrainian and local chess tournaments of various age categories. He also attends the judo section, a music school named after P. I. Tchaikovsky in the piano class, the beading club in the children’s house of creativity, and he is a member of the “Storm” dance group (modern choreography).

Special nomination “Master”

Kirill Shevchenko

 (Kyiv, age at the time of receiving the diploma: 14 years, MF)
Trainer: Baklan V.

Kirill Shevchenko studies in the 9th grade of the “Dominanta” school, his favourite subject is the history of Ukraine. He has been playing chess for 9 years, has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports and Master FIDE. He works out individually with coach Baklan Volodymyr. He is a winner and prize-winner of championships of Ukraine among boys in various age categories, international tournaments. Kirill has significant chess achievements and is aiming for a professional chess career and entry into the National Olympic Chess Reserve.

The ceremony of awarding the 2015 Sozonov Award

On October 29, 2016, in the social club “Frat” (Kyiv) the awarding ceremony for the winner and prize-winners of the Award named after Evgeniy Sozonov in 2015 was held. The award ceremony was hosted by the founder of the Award Olena Boytsun in the format of a talk show, and all participants had the opportunity to talk about themselves, their studies and hobbies.

More photos are posted on the Chess For Children Foundation’s Facebook page here.