Star David Howell To Face Four Young Prodigies Simultaneously In Next Kids vs. Stars

Kids vs. Stars will return for its fifth edition on July 9, starting at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CEST / 10:30 p.m. IST. This time, world-class commentator GM David Howell will take on four young prodigies to try to keep the stars' win streak running.

Representing the kids are IM Marco Materia, FMs Supratit Banerjee, Megan Paragua, and WFM Bodhana Sivanandan. The four kids will come together and play against Howell in a clock simul—that is, all at the same time!

Howell will have the White pieces on all boards and play with a 65+15 time control. The kids will all play as Black with a 15+15 time control and pile up to try to bring down their grown-up opponent.

Chess is probably the only sport where kids can be more intimidating than adults. In Kids vs. Stars, fans can appreciate the incredible talent of the new generation of players and watch them give established professionals a run for their money.

In the last edition of Kids vs. Stars, content creator GM Daniel Naroditsky emerged victorious against the youth. Naroditsky went up against only one of the current team of kids—Sivanandan, who was joined by IMs Alice Lee, Aron Mendes, and FM Tani Adewumi.

In the edition before that, GM Anish Giri took on another set of four talented kids, also defeating them to defend the honor of the Stars. That time, he beat IMs Lee and Ryo Chen, and GMs Shreyas Royal and Andy Woodward.

Now, another set of talented youngsters are joining forces to try to bring the first victory to the Kids in the clock simul format. New to Kids vs. Stars is the 16-year-old from France, Materia, who boasts an impressive 2493 classical rating; Supratit also join the event for the first time after a tremendous run in the ChessKid Youth Championships Under-13 section, where he finished the group stage in first place; Paragua, who already won a game in a previous edition of Kids vs. Stars, is returning to try to repeat the feat; and England's youngest-ever Olympian, Sivanandan, rounds out the field.

Will Howell hold his own against these four young prodigies, or will the kids overpower their experienced foe? Tune in to our Twitch and YouTube channels to enjoy the live broadcast with expert commentary by FM Mike Klein and GM Ben Finegold, and find out!

Who do you think will win the fifth edition of Kids vs. Stars? Let us know in the comments below!