Sozonov Award for 2021

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. Since 2019, the Sozonov Award is issued in two age categories: from 10 to 13 years (inclusive) and from 14 to 16 years (inclusive).

In 2021, the Sozonov Award was presented for the seventh time. Applications for participation in the award competition were accepted from December 28, 2021 to January 28, 2022, the results were announced on February 2, 2022.

32 applications were received for participation in the competition, of which 20 were received in the age category of 10-13 years, 12 were received in the age category of 14-16 years. Boys made up 75% of the participants, while girls made up 25%.

For 2021, the Sozonov Award was awarded to the winner in the age category from 10 to 13 years (prize amount – 15,000 hryvnias) and to the winner in the age category from 14 to 16 years (prize amount – 15,000 hryvnias). In each age category, three runners-up were also determined, the prize money for the runners-up was 3,000 hryvnias each.

On March 3, 2024, the chess players, who were honored for 2021, met the founder of the Sozonov Award Olena Boytsun to discuss their dreams and aspirations.

 

The results of the 2021 Sozonov Award competition

Age category from 10 to 13 years

Winner

Toktomushev Teimur

Teimur Toktomushev

(Kyiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 13 years, CM)
Trainers: Omelja A., Korobov A.

Teimur Toktomushev studies in the 6th grade of the Specialized School No. 57 with an advanced study of the English language (Kyiv). He repeatedly took part and won prizes in school and district Olympiads in Ukrainian language and mathematics. Teimur plays for Benfica football club (team born in 2009) as a central midfielder. Visits the Center for Creative Technologies “TUMO”. He plays chess at the “Tovarysh” chess centre with coaches Anton Korobov and Artem Omelja, has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports. Teimur was the winner and prize-winner of international and national tournaments, in particular, the Champion of Ukraine among boys under 12 years old in 2021.

“

Our son, Teymur Toktomushev, won the Award named after Evgeniy Sozonov of the UCF “Chess for Children” at the end of January 2022. We were expecting the award ceremony, which was supposed to take place online due to the COVID-quarantine.

But the war started, I was in a state of despair from everything that was happening in our country. And at that time I received a call from a team member of the Foundation, who said with anxiety in the voice that despite the war in the country, the Foundation will pay the Award to all winners and runners-up. This was unexpected good news! I was very happy with this call, which in the chaos of military events and evacuation reminded me of peace and that life goes on.

I want to thank the Foundation for the fact that they exist and continue to support children’s chess under any circumstances. It is the only Foundation in our country that conducts such a competition.

Personal thanks to Olena Boytsun for her love and care for young chess players! I wish the Foundation prosperity in a peaceful Ukraine!

“

Nurzad Iryna

mother of Teimur Toktomushev

Runners-up (10-13 years)

  • Karvatskyi Oleksii (Domazhyr village, Lviv region)
  • Petrenko Maryna (Berezivka village, Zhytomyr region)
  • Rudenko Taras (Poltava)

Oleksii Karvatskyi

(Domazhyr village, Lviv region, age at the time of receiving the award: 11 years, CM)
Trainer: Grabinsky V.

Oleksii Karvatskyi studies in the 5-A class of Lyceum No. 38 of Lviv City Council, his favourite subjects are mathematics and computer science. In addition, he studies at the IT Step Academy school and the Soroban school of mental arithmetic. He has been playing chess for 6.5 years and has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports. He attends the Children and Youth Sports School “Debut” (Lviv), where he trains with Volodymyr Grabinsky. Oleksii is a multiple winner and prize-winner of children international and all-Ukrainian chess tournaments, in particular, in 2021 he won the Championship of Ukraine in the under-12 category in blitz and rapid. The boy is also fond of playing football and table tennis.

Maryna Petrenko

(Berezivka village, Zhytomyr region, age at the time of receiving the award: 12 years, CM)
Trainer: Dumansky Y.

Maryna Petrenko studies in the 7th grade of Zhytomyr City Lyceum No. 25. Her favourite subjects are algebra, computer science, physics, history of Ukraine, world history, chemistry, and fine arts. In addition, the girl studies applied mathematics, C# programming and the Polish language. Marina has been playing chess for 7 years. She is training at the Children and Youth Sports School No. 2 in Zhytomyr with Yaroslav Dumansky. She was the winner and prize-winner of children chess competitions of various levels. In 2021, she fulfilled the norm for a Candidate for Master of Sports of Ukraine in chess.

Taras Rudenko

(Poltava, age at the time of receiving the award: 10 years, CM)
Trainer: Ryabenko Y.

Taras Rudenko is studying in the 5th grade of the Poltava Secondary School of I-III Levels No. 26 of the Poltava City Council. His favourite subject is mathematics. He has been playing chess for 6 years, has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports of Ukraine. He attends the chess club “Olympus” (Poltava), where he practises with coach Yurii Ryabenko. Taras is a multiple winner and prize-winner of children chess championships. The boy is fond of learning foreign languages: he attends private lessons in English and German, and additionally studies at the Happy English School. Besides chess, Taras likes swimming.

Age category from 14 to 16 years

Winner

Biletskiy Danylo (Kyiv)

Danylo Biletskiy

(Kyiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 16 years, Master of Sport of Ukraine)
Trainer: Nikolaev L.

Danylo Biletskiy is studying in the 11th grade of the Technical Lyceum of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”. Shows high results in subject olympiads, in particular, he got prize places in city olympiads in physics and mathematics. Danylo is also working on improving his English. Danylo has been playing chess for 9 years, he trains at Chess and Drafts School “Avangard” with coach Nikolaev Leonid. He has the title of Master of Sports of Ukraine, was a multiple winner and prize-winner of all-Ukrainian and international competitions. In his free time, Danylo likes to play basketball and he graduated from an art school with a degree in fine arts.

Update from 2023: Danylo entered the university and he is studying in the 1st year of the Faculty of Physics of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, majoring in Physics.

“

I would like to thank Olena Boytsun for her essential support of Ukrainian chess, even in these difficult times. Chess is wonderful, but, unfortunately, in Ukraine, as a chess country, this sport is far from at the highest level of development. In children chess, we compete on the world stage, but adults have problems. Many boys and girls give up chess, not seeing prospects for development in Ukraine. Award named after Evgeniy Sozonov is not only about money, it’s like a thank you for your efforts, for your long journey both in chess and in education or creativity, and maybe in another kind of sport. It gives you motivation to work further and, most importantly, for the benefit of our country. To be honest, I was filled with emotions when I found out that I had won the award. It’s worth it.

“

Danylo Biletskiy

Runners-up (14-16 years)

  • Lomakina Anzhelika (Mykolaiv)
  • Lutsko Artem (Kyiv)
  • Petrovskyi Vadym (Mukachevo)

Anzhelika Lomakina

(Mykolaiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 14 years, CM)
Trainer: Semenov V.

Anzhelika Lomakina studies remotely in the 9th grade of the OPTIMA Education Center (Kyiv), her favourite subject is mathematics. In addition, she studies English and German in depth. She has been playing chess for 10 years. She attends the Mykolaiv Regional Children and Youth Sports School “Regional Chess and Checkers Club” named after Mykola Vasyliovych Shelest and has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports of Ukraine in chess. The girl is trained by Semenov Valerii. In 2021, Anzhelika took 1st place at the Ukrainian Classical Chess Championship in the under-16 category. The girl is interested in studying IT technologies and is studying at the IT Step Academy.

Artem Lutsko

(Kyiv, age at the time of receiving the award: 15 years, CM)
Trainer: Nikolaev L.

Artem Lutsko studies in the 10th grade of the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 208 (Kyiv), his favourite subject is mathematics. He also attends a maths club. He has been playing chess for 6 years and has the title of Candidate for Master of Sports of Ukraine in chess. He attends the Chess and Drafts School “Avangard”, where he trains with Nikolaev Leonid. Artem is a multiple winner and prize-winner of all-Ukrainian and international chess tournaments. In 2021, he took 1st place at the Ukrainian Rapid Championship in the under-18 category and 2nd place at the European Classical Chess Championship in the under-16 category.

Vadym Petrovskyi

(Mukachevo, age at the time of receiving the award: 15 years, CM, Master of Sports of Ukraine)
Trainers: Ovsejevitsch S., Efimenko Z.

Vadym Petrovskyi is studying in the 9th grade of the Mukachevo specialised school of the I-III degrees No. 16. His favourite subjects are algebra, geometry, English, and physical education. Took part in school and district Olympiads. In 2021, he won the school Olympiad in computer science. He has been playing chess for 8 years, has the title of Master of Sports of Ukraine and Candidate for Master FIDE. He trains at the Mukachevo Chess Club “32/64” with coaches Serhii Ovsejevitsch and Efimenko Zakhar. Vadim repeatedly became a prize-winner and winner of Ukrainian championships in various categories. In 2021, he took 1st place at the Ukrainian Rapid Championship in the under-14 category and 1st place at the Ukrainian Blitz Championship among adults. Besides chess, Vadim also does TRX gymnastics.