November 17th - 27th
Caldas Novas, Brazil
World Youth Chess Championship Website
Welsh Players
Nudhara, Nicholas, Alyssa
Alex, Nyasha, James, Shahana, Meg, Stephanie, Tom
Wales Closing Ceremony
There was an official closing ceremony which parents and players were free to attend, my congratulations go to the England delegation who had 2 players Ravi and Yang-Fang who both came 6th in their respective sections.
Our best placing was Stephanie who got 5/9 and came 25th in the Under10 Girls. She will be in that section again next year so I think the Welsh record will be under threat - 7/11 set by Meg in 2005 as an Under 10 Girl !
The coaches and I were very proud of all our players as they all scored in 3 out of the 9 games. We held our own ceremony to celebrate their participation and presented some awards.
Welsh Closing Ceremony
They had all received an official certificate from the organisers and they also received a special medal as a momento for representing Wales.
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| Nicholas with his certificate |
Alex with his medal |
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Stephanie received an engraved pen
for being Wales Top Scorer
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There was a tie in the Daily Coach Awards so John and Ioan had to decide between Nicholas and Tom for an overall winner. Tom was considered the most deserving and received a family cinema voucher.
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Emily was our Top Supporter as she never stopped waving
the flags and couldn't have got Wales any more publicity
from the number of photos that were taken of her.
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Shahana also received a special award from Meg as she showed determination throughout the event. She knew how tough this tournament would be and made the most of the opportunity. The selection process is there to reward those that excel at chess and give them the opportunity to compete against their peers from other countries, but if players are not at a certain level we are careful to try to ensure this will be a positive experience before we allow them to participate.
Our two coaches were also given our appreciation and recieved an engraved pen.
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Ioan |
After I had expressed my congratulations and thanks to the players, parents and coaches, John continued with his own special awards ~ Parent that Improved Most at Chess went to Anita (Tom's mum); Biggest Smile - Emily (Nyasha's sister); Biggest Shoulder to Cry On - Punitha; Biggest Talker of Chess -Ed (Alyss's dad) narrowly beating Tom and Nicholas! Coolest Parent - Lawrence; Most Imaginative Move - Shahana; Best Game - Stephanie.
Please see an album of photos here.
2011 Final Results
John's Final Comments:
I was generally happy with how my group of players performed.
James showed in early rounds that he is a very talented player when he is playing with confidence. Sadly that deserted him in the last three rounds and he finished on 2.5 which in no way reflects his ability.
Alyssa played some competent chess, but a lack of confidence to play out endings to a finish maybe lowered her final score to a useful 3.5 - the same as last year but from two fewer rounds. If she is to return next year and perform better again in the U12's she will need to come better prepared with her openings which are tested here much more than locally and will need to understand the transition between the opening and middle game better.
Nudhara even more than Alyssa needs a set of openings to start games in a way which from the beginning of a game is truly competitive, rather than showing a naivety which will not produce a high score in the U12 event. She can be satisfied with her 3/9 given the standard of the opposition, but will need to do a lot more self-motivated work of her own rather than rely on coaching input if she is to continue to improve.
Nicholas is keen to do well and his work in increasing his knowledge outside of games is something which I wish all the others would attempt to match. He had a very tough draw, and if he does gain selection next year in the same event, I would expect him to do much better. With this year's experience behind him and a keenness to progress and determination to come back from adversity, which got him to a satisfactory 3/9 from a string of lossses which had taken him to 1.5/7, I believe he should do so.
Stephanie was the team's highest scorer on 5/9. She was also playing 'under age'. She plays simple chess very well, listens and responds to advice and is showing a lot of talent. I hope she will build on this over the next 12 months. Many of the girls who will be her opposition next year will readily be getting much better opportunities in the way of professional coaching and playing opportunites against stretching FIDE rated opposition. I hope Wales can somehow provide Stephanie with enough help and opportunites to enable her to come back next year competing for a podium place.
Meg's Final Comment about Shahana:
Shahana played some tough opponents during the tournament. She used a new opening from her own coach which suited her style. She gained in confidence, she remembered to look at her opponents plan as well as her own, and take more time to consider her moves. Her games showed improvement throughout the 9 games and she never gave up in trying to win.
Final Round 9 - Saturday 27th November
The final round starts at 10am this morning and so it’s the last chance to add that extra point. There have been thunderstorms since yesterday and it’s a lot cooler. Thank you for all the good wishes from home and we will ‘go for it - as we can do it!’
Results Round 9:
John
A good finish which could have been even better.
James seemed to have run out of steam and went from a clear win, a piece ahead, to a loss against an Argentinian.
Alyssa finished the opening somewhat worse against Nudhara’s opponent from the previous round. The Ecuador player missed good opportunities by seeming determined to swap pieces, but in doing so Alyssa pieces became very active picking up pawns and then her opponents Q.
Nudhara was happy enough with a draw against a 1565 Brazilian.
Nicholas played his part in a Dragon Sicilian, various inaccuracies added to the entertainment value. He finally mated the 5th Brazilian he had met on move 40.
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John’s Award Round 7 ~ Nicholas
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Ioan’s Award Round 9 ~ Tom
Meg
This game didn't go so well for Shahana, blundering her queen early on meant for an early finish. This game didn't represesnt her improvement
throughout the tournament.
Round 8 - Friday 25th November
Ioan rallied the players last night to take part in some de-stressing and uplifting table tennis. This really lifted the team spirit as a few players were still dwelling on what they did wrong in Round 7. There were a few serious faces again by morning, but they have to remember they are playing the best players from the other countries, and that the international arena is a huge step up even for the more experienced.
Stephanie is our top scorer and she has a home countries battle, so it will be Stephanie, the British Girls U9 Champion v Akshaya Kalaiyalahan the British U10 Champion. We then have 6 players on 2 ½, James, Tom and Alex, Meg, Alyssa and Nyasha. Nudhara has 2 points despite being ill in the earlier rounds and Nicholas 1½. Nicholas has scored in 2 of his matches in the U14 event but being only a few days older than being able to compete in the U12 section, he is doing admirably in his debut.
Results Round 8:
Coach Comments:
John
3 of my group got on the scoreboard today.
Nicholas’ game was always pretty level but I was pleased he played on against his Brazilian opponent until he had no realistic winning chances.
The battle of the British champions between Akshaya and Stephanie ended in a draw with a likely repetition. The England girl had equalised material from a pawn down and possibly should have carried on when the draw was agreed.
Nudhara’s Columbian opponent missed a chance to win a piece but Nudhara also had winning chances, so a draw was probably a fair result.
James dropped a pawn rather casually but then immediately lost a B which he couldn’t see behind his own knight !!
It seemed a bit harsh for Alyssa to meet a 1870 Columbian at this stage on 2 ½ /7 in the U12 Girls. She misplayed, losing material when her knowledge of the Caro-Kann theory ran out at move 12
I think everyone is in a reasonable frame of mind to go into the last round with hopes of a good finish.
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John’s Award Round 8 ~ Nudhara
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Meg
Shahana played very well in this game, she seemed to have improved alot during the tournament and this game proves this. Her new white opening is suiting her style. Out of the opening she still had an advantage with a good kingside attack planned. She did an interesting knight sac idea which at first looks really good however with deeper analysis this gave the game away. Shahana turned down a draw during the game when she thought she could win which showed her fighting spirit.
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Ioan’s/Meg Award Round 8 ~ Shahana
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Round 7 - Thursday 24th November
A few happier faces this morning after getting over the disappointments of yesterday’s round.
We have Stephanie on 3/6, Nyasha, James, Tom 2 ½, Meg, Alex, Alyssa, Nudhara 2, Nicholas 1 ½. With 70-100 players in each section there are no guaranteed ‘easier’ opponents in the next round just because you didn’t score, your next opponent could just as likely to be higher rated than your last. Every game is an opportunity to play their best chess, and the only bad game is one from which they learn nothing. Going into Round 7 all the players still have a fighting spirit and their determination and attitude are commendable.
Results Round 7:
Coach Comments:
John
Only a marginal improvement on the last couple of days. The Evans boys both suffered avoidable disappointments.
James donated his Mongolian opponent a B then his Q. Nicholas could have avoided a capture sequence by which his Brazilian opponent won a rook.
Stephanie had a straight forward win against her Canadian opponent, but my other two had very lengthy endings.
Alyssa failed to convert an extra P in an N ending having earlier been a bit lucky not to lose a piece against her South African opponent. She should have played on and may well have won had she done so.
Nudhara had taken note of my advice about the difficulty of converting R+ P endings and recovered from a difficult position to read R + 3P v R + 4P with all pawns on the kingside. This reduced to R+ e+ f v R v f which should have been drawn, but her Australian opponent was allowed to get her K active enough to win the f pawn and later the game.
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John’s Award Round 7 ~ Alyssa
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She missed out on the coach’s award in Round 3, so for a generally well constructed
draw I’ll be generous this round
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Ioan’s Award Round 7 ~ Meg
Meg
Shahana played a good opening against her Columbian opponent and had a good attack but blundereds the exchange.
Round 6 - Wednesday 23rd November
The rain came down in noisy bucket loads last night (so I am told !) and it’s a much cooler morning. With coaching sessions on schedule, players and parents are relaxed and in the swing of the routine. Tom’s continuing enthusiasm is a morning tonic and it’s great to see he is making the most of his debut, this will be my daughter’s seventh and she now takes it all in her stride.
Results Round 6
Coach Comments:
John
After yesterday’s disaster I had high hopes after a good morning session with each player. Unfortunately we still seem hung over after the rest day.
James picked up an easy win against a Chilean player, but thereafter it was a string of losses. Nicholas got a poor opening – closed Sicilian as black against a Norwegian ( all I had for prep was a single simul game against svidler!)
Stephanie had her worst game so far on the white side of a closed Sicilian against a 1650 Columbian.
Alyssa’s first try at …g6 in a pawn attack against a Caro Kann came unstuck against a German girl.
Nudura had a choice of R or BvN ending a pawn down against a girl from Honduras. I’d have taken the R ending, but she chose the minor piece one, playing it well enough to reach a position which could be held. But her technique let her down at this stage and she also failed to score.
Hopefully we get easy opponents tomorrow.
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John’s Award Round 6 ~ James
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He was a clear winner.
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Ioan
Tom – Got a nice opening position but fortune didn’t favour the brave and his opponent accurately mopped up.
Nyasha – After a long theoretical battle Nyasha came out with a slight advantage. Maybe more experience was needed in converting (or even realizing he had one) the advantage. A draw was again agreed too early when there was plenty of play in the position.
Meg – Her opponent was a little fortunate getting away (just) with misplacing he pieces in the opening. Meg complicated the position but this turned against her when a horrible pin led to her losing material.
Alex – Another 5 hour game. White got a slight edge in a Catalan but Alex defended accurately. There were a number of missed opportunities, including a variation with Q v 3 pawns connected and very advanced. Alex eventually lost.
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Ioan’s Award Round 6 ~ Nyasha
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For good opening play even though I hate draw offers from playable positions.
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Meg
Shahana played a much better game today and she tells me she used much more time to consider the moves. Her game weent downhill in the middle game when she took using a pawn instead of her queen which weakened her king allowing white to attack.
Round 5 - Tuesday 22nd November
I welcomed some rain drops this morning but they came to nothing and it is still as hot and humid as ever. The younger ones seemed to have lost some of their momentum but there was plenty of time for the coaches to get them motivated – if only one of them hadn’t overslept (Ioan !).
After Round 4 we have Stephanie on 3, Tom 2 ½, Alyssa on 2, Meg, Nicholas, Nyasha 1 ½, Alex, Nudhara 1.
The Round was at 3pm again today and I am very pleased to see everyone sitting at their board before 3pm, despite the 15 minute default time. Once play begins only the players and Delegates/Head of Delegation (me) are allowed in the hall, but I discovered that delegations were allowed a ‘Press Officer’ as well, and I have taken the opportunity to allocate the recording of this special occasion to a parent (they are allowed 10 minutes of flash photography, then only non-flash photos from the isles). I will collate the photos from all the parents after the tournament.
Pressman Ed
Results Round 5
Coach Comments:
John
Everyone including myself seemed really flat during the morning coaching session, as if the ‘rest day’ had taken it out of us. Sadly that my suspicion that only Nudhara would score proved correct – she seems to be back to full fitness now after suffering health problems through the earlier rounds.
Nicholas in his words played ‘terribly’. Actually it was only an indifferent opening, but more playing fxg3 to open a file for his rook when hxg3 was correct, which gave his Brazilian opponent a relatively easy win on a bad day at the office.
Alyssa’s Polish opponent caught her out with a Leningrad Dutch, but sensible play gave her the advantage till she got her bishop trapped on the kingside.
James had been prepared largely for a Dragon Sicilian but picked up enough in about 3 minutes during his coaching session to set up a nice position against a 1885 Columbian. He miscalculated a mid-board exchange and was probably lost when he overlooked a mate in 1 !
Stephanie was playing as high as board 6 but her Indian opponent got revenge for her compatriot’s loss on the previous day.
So my only scorer today was Nudhara, who gained two pieces by good play, and then proceeded to return them unnecessarily till she had only a b-pawn left which she did queen !
Nudhara gets my award for today for saving me for being sacked !
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John’s Award Round 5 ~ Nudhara
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For saving the coach from being sacked.
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Ioan
Alex – Another of Alex’s perfect games where I can’t suggest improvements.
Meg – Frustrating day at the office for Meg. Visually she was clearly on top but the breakthrough just wouldn’t come. When the blunder eventually came Meg was in combination mode and didn’t take a simple material advantage. When her opponent got on top in a R + P endgame she was kind enough to offer a draw.
Nyasha – Got his theory slightly wrong and allowed his opponent to equalize. Most of the pieces came off and it was a clear draw.
Tom – On great form at the moment and matched his opponent all game despite a big difference in ratings. Tom persuaded himself he was worse in an endgame when he was probably equal and one inaccuracy lost him the game.
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Ioan’s Award Round 5 ~ Alex
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For his flawless game.
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Meg
Shahana's game lasted 2 hours today and taking more time showed in her game. She played the opening accutrately then fell into her opponents trap. She got distracted by winning a pawn and forgot to look at her opponents threats and plan - this lesson will be learnt through experience.
Day Off – Monday 21st November
A well deserved rest day for all the players and their families to enjoy the facilities together. The coaches should also take the opportunity to get some R & R but the pairings are already out for tomorrow so I expect their dedication and enthusiasm will mean the databases have to be searched first. Swimming, sunbathing, shopping, football, table tennis and actually resting were some of the choices today.
Round 4 - Sunday 20th November
All the players full of enthusiasm we have some tough draws this afternoon. Alex is still to get off the mark in the toughest section but he is experienced and good enough to know he will score when he finds his level.
The parents and coaches are vital in supporting their children as one moment it can be the best feeling in the world when you’ve got a result, but the worst when it doesn’t go to plan. The parents are doing a great job and they are taking turns to congregate in the waiting area to wave the Welsh flag in pride as soon as one of our players finishes. I am told that some of the other delegations are jealous of our team spirit : )
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Ian supporting Nicholas
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Parent Waitng area
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Nyasha's biggest fan
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Results for Round 4
Coach Comments:
John
The second round today and not any time to do the specific prep.
Stephanie’s Schliemann again worked a treat, this time against a 1678 Indian who sacked a piece only to fall into a whirlwind of pieces heading towards her king.
Nicholas won 2 pieces for a rook quite early in a Dragon and converted his advantage nicely against a Brazilian.
Nudhara played the black side of a Guiano Piano well but gave up 2 B’s for 2 N’s and in a fairly level position had her Q pinned to her K. 1-0 to the German opponent.
James fought back well in a dodgy position in a c3 Sicilian, and got to a drawn R + P ending. Sadly he found out the hard way what he hadn’t learnt well enough in a Cathedral School coaching session and lost against his Australian opponent.
Alyssa probably also dropped ½ point. She’d out played her opponent and was a pawn up with a good position. The advantage was much less at the finish, but still a P ahead she could hardly have lost and should have certainly played on to score the full point.
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John’s Award Round 4 ~ Nicholas
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Nicholas’s first win at this level gets the coaches award of the round.
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Ioan
Alex – Got off the mark with a very convincing win – Alex didn’t put a foot wrong.
Tom – Played very well and taught me a thing or two but couldn’t get an advantage against an opponent that out rated him by 300 points (difficult against the Ulra Bong Colle system). After the analysis it was noticed that Tom missed winning a pawn. Eventually the game fizzled out to a draw.
Nyasha – Got caught out by an opening trap (which I comforted him by explaining I had fallen for the same trap). A very quick loss but it won’t happen again.
Meg – A role reversal from the previous game where Meg’s opponent swapped pieces off when she had more space. Meg defended very well but her opponent eventually gained the initiative and fell to a tactic at the end.
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Ioan’s Award Round 4 ~ Alex
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Neither coach could suggest improvements to his game.
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Meg
Shahana had a full point bye - but remember she wouldn't get this unless she was playing in this event ! It will probably mean she will get a harder opponent tomorrow.
Round 3 - Sunday 20th November
This is the double round day and play starts at 10am for Round 3. Everyone was up for the buffet breakfast, and there is a reasonable choice of delicious food to keep everyone happy at mealtimes.
Results for Round 3
Coach Comments:
John
A double round day and my lot very sensibly got their morning game over within 3 hours.
Alyssa cam out smiling in 50 minutes, having picked up her Bolivian opponents queen in only 16 moves, with N’s devastatingly arriving on d6 and c6.
The Ecudaor team may be hating Stephanie, who for the second time in a row took her opponent apart with ease.
Nudhara got a descent position as white in a Scheveningen Sicilian, but miscalculated a series of exchanges which left her South African opponent a piece ahead with no way back.
James played really well against a Peruvian with a 1700+ grade, and was in control throughout, his only mistake was taking a draw by repetition in a position which was a technically won ending – even so a smashing result.
Nicholas had his second FM in a row. This time a South African, again he gave as good as he got, and despite overlooking the loss of a pawn, the opposite coloured bishops were acting in his favour. Looking for a draw when he was probably winning, he sacrificed a B for a perpetual check that wasn’t and lost a game when again he’d played a lot of good chess.
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Coach Award Round 3 ~ James
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For a really well played game against a higher rated opponent and at least getting the draw
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Ioan
Alex – After long long game Alex eventually lost a Q + P endgame. A really difficult loss to take after having an early advantage.
Tom – After forgetting our prep and blundering a pawn on move 5 ish of a Sicilian Kan Tom played some really nice chess which took his opponent by surprise – very nice game after move 5.
Nyasha – Played a very nice game in a Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. He was about to checkmate his opponent (that was crying and not looking at the game) when Nyasha possibly left his Queen en-pris – which fortunately his opponent missed.
Meg – Let a lovely opening position pass by exchanging pieces when she had a space advantage. Her opponent was then on top but inaccurate play eventually led to a draw when Meg was probably winning.
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Coach Award Round 3 ~ Tom
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For his win against his highest opponent to date.
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Meg
Shahana played another good opening but missed a very good move - however it was a complicated calculation and her opponents counterattack got the better of her. From this game she needs to learn to look for threats and for a reason why her hers don't work as in this game her bishop and knight were both attacking f7 except she had a pawn on d5, she saw the clever d6 but didn't follow it through.
Round 2 - Saturday 19th November
Another hot day high 30 C’s and the coaching sessions have been organized. The initial plan is for John to look after Alyssa, Nudhara, Stephanie, Nicholas and James. Ioan will have Alex, Tom, Meg and Nyasha. These are the selected players and will each have scheduled morning coaching sessions on the 3pm round days, and then game analysis later in the day. We also have Shahana, Nudhara's sister playing in the Under 10 Girls section and Meg will help her with her game prep.
To give a little more incentive the coaches will award one player with their Coach Award of the round who will wear a special badge during the next game, the award may be for a good game or just some good play. The player with the most awards at the end of the event will win a prize.
The analysis looks tough but the players and coaches have to make the most of it !
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Punitha (parent sat down), Nudhara, Nicholas (players), John, Ioan (coaches)
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Coach Comments:
John
By the end of Round 2 all my brood had got off the mark - amazing !
I'd allowed myself 1 1/2 hours respite at the start of the round, but by the time I had got back to the tournamnet hall Nudhara had done what I had told her to - get into an ending and out play her Brazilian opponent. A pawn ahead at the start of this was a big help.
James also won. He accidently sacrificed the exchange in a Dragon Sicillian, but found a nice combination to recover material, and won the resulting K and P ending against a competant Argentinian.
Meanwhile, Alyssa had travelled to a different continent to donate a piece to Cosima Keen from England, as early as move 12. Sadly afterwars she found she could have won a pawn at move 8.
Stephanie got off the mark with a Schliemann Ruy Lopez which clearly took he Ecuadorian opponent by surprise.
Nicholas had a ding-dong battle with an FM from Libya. In a typical King's Indian he was getting massacred down the k-side, but sacrificed a piece for 2 pawns to get his Q-side P's moving. He lost, but post game analysis found some amazing lines where he gave up Q + B to avoid mate but have pawns on a7 and b7 which might have held.
All in a good day and everyone can go into the double round day with some cofidence.
Round 2 Results
Stephanie - won
James - won
Alyssa - lost
Nudhara - won
Nyasha - drew
Nicholas - lost
Megan - won
Tom - won
Alex - lost
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John’s Award Round 2 ~ Stephanie
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Stephanie's Schliemann gets my coaches award
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Ioan
Nyasha: After wasting a few moves in the opening Nyasha’s opponent was on top and got an attack going. Nyasha defended very well using all his pieces (possibly a lesson from yesterday). His opponent then blundered a pawn but shortly after offered a draw because Nyasha was short of time. Nyasha ‘chickened out’ and accepted.
Tom: Possibly influenced by the choice of this mornings coaching session Tom sacrificed a piece purely to keep his opponents piece in the centre (why do I inspire dodgy sacs when starting to work with someone ?!). He kept the initiative and won nicely J
Alex: Has one of the brutal 5 hour losses that shouldn’t of been today. We’ve all been there and it’s the worst thing that can happen at the chessboard. Alex had a nice position, blundered a pawn and had to defend a difficult Q + P endgame for hours.
Meg: After an opening ending in an equal endgame. Meg probably played the best moves in every position to win the game. Very accurately placing pawns on the correct colour squares was pleasing to see after her Round 1 disappointment.
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Ioan’s Award Round 2 ~ Tom
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I was very pleased that they had all showed something in their games that they had learnt in Brazil. It was difficult to choose between Meg and Tom. I am a big fan of ‘simple’(some would say boring I would say accurate) chess so maybe I should give it to Meg (loved 18…h6) but Tom’s was a crowd pleaser and showed a lot of what he’s learnt being here, so Tom gets it (just!).
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Meg
Shahana played a good opening and her notation was excellent. During the middle game she offered a draw which was a good try but her opponent realised that she had just made a blunder. From this game she should learn to always look at the threats yolur opponent has.
Round 1 - Friday 18th November
With all players settled into their accommodation they were all up and excited about the day ahead. The draws were surprisingly published in the early hours (considerering player lists weren’t complete at 11pm last night). This meant a welcome opportunity for more focused prep on the tough line-up today. All our players are in the bottom half of the draw so that this meant the Swiss System gave them all a challenging first round. Play started at 3.30pm (5.30pm GMT) today following a short Opening Ceremony that consisted of some badly translated speeches. All the players are in one big playing hall, this thankfully has quiet air conditioning, good lighting, cold water on tap, and I’m told enough toilets so that there won’t be queues like last year. Meg was playing the Number 2 seed on the Digiboards on the hall stage. They are hoping to have live games from the top 1 or 2 boards of each section – they didn’t work today.
Play has started for approximately 1200 players from 78 countries !
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| Playing hall |
Coach Comments:
John
James played the opening really well, and in the early middle game inexplicably missed a winning combination having spotted 2 moves earlier. He found some really nice ideas, but was unlucky to lose to an attack with Q, N, B almost from nowhere which his Turkish opponent didn’t deserve to win.
Stephanie misplayed a couple of moves in quick succession, losing a pawn. Although she tried hard her Mexican opponent played some outstanding technical chess to convert her advantage.
Nudhara as black missed out on a developing move at the end of the opening, and her Peruvian opponent’s Qe4 threatened mate on h7 and a loose N on c6. She was unable to recover.
Nicholas had the strongest opponent amongst the younger players, a 1937 from Croatia. His opponent got the better of some early middle game opponents to win a P, but Nicholas hung in and eventually retrieved the position in a double N ending, where at one stage he may have even been better. He came out of the playing hall beaming having achieved a very credible draw.
Alyssa’s inexperience in a main line Classical Indian eventually showed going one then two pawns down. A technical error by her Mongolian opponent saw a big momentum swing so much that at the final …Aly missed simple check winning a R, instead she played a move which gained her fighting ½ point from a lost position.
We were maybe unlucky to come up against some competent opposition on all boards, and all our players played creditably in this round, generally deserving more than they got.
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John’s Award Round 1 ~ Nicholas
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For a draw against tough opposition in his first WYCC game
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Ioan
Alex didn’t find an active plan after a decent opening. His classy opponent slowly improved his pieces and won fairly comfortably.
Tom played a new opening to him, very well. He didn’t panic when his opponent started to press. Tom kept his advantage most of the game but failed to capitalize due to poor time management. This is the first time that Tom has played this time control.
Nyasha was on the back foot from the opening. He didn’t find a plan and slowly got ground down.
Meg had a 5 hour game and her opponent was very lucky. Meg could not have been closer to a result after a lot of interesting play.
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Ioan's Award Round 1 ~ Meg
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Meg gets the award because apart from one poor pawn move she wasn’t
out classed by the number 2 seed at all, and deserved at least a draw.
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Meg
Shahana finished within an hour and was outplayed by her WCM opponent from Kazakhstan. She was influenced by her opponents quick play and also needs to slow down to ensure her notation is accurate.
Results for Round 1:
Arrival Day – Thursday 17th November
After an overnight flight to Sao Paulo, then a 1 ½ hour flight to Goiania, and a 2 ½ hour bus journey we were all very glad to arrive at our hotel.
We are staying in the main hotel Thermas diRoma and the playing hall is only a road crossing away.
I am glad we got our choice hotel by booking early, as a few delegations were allocated other hotels and they didn’t know until they arrived. The check-in was quick and straight forward despite there only being one young man that could speak English. My only problem was that Ioan, my coach, had not been allocated a room ! We were sent by taxi around a few hotels searching for his room or the organizers but to no avail, we couldn’t find either ! Therefore he is having to put up with me for a night or two.
The hotel is lovely, the rooms are clean, air-conditioned and have fridges. The double rooms have a double bed and 2 singles so there is room to spread out. The four-person room had voice controlled air-conditioning (although I’m not sure what language!). The hotel rooms are arranged in blocks and there are numerous swimming pools of varying types all with hot water.
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| Stephanie outside hotel |
Pre-Tournament
This years World Youth was going to be held in Caldas Novas,Goiania, Brazil. Wow !
The Junior Selection Committee met in April and decided to offer 17 players from Wales the opportunity to represent their country.
9 players accepted the challenge and so the Welsh team consisted of:
Open U18 – Alex Bullen
Open U16 – Tom Thorpe
Open U14 – Nicholas Evans
Open U12 – Nyasha Katsande
Open U10 – James Evans
Girls U16 – Megan Owens
Girls U12 – Alyssa Wang
– Nudhara Yusuf
Girls U10 – Stephanie du Toit
By special permission from the Junior Director Shahana Yusuf, Nudhara’s sister is also playing in the Girls U10.
The organization started straight away as I wanted to try to ensure we got our choice of accommodation. With rooms booked and flights arranged by July, the chess preparation also started. We are very fortunate that International player John Thornton has volunteered his services again this year, and also FM Ioan Rees, Welsh International and past junior representative will also be coaching. The players were assigned their coach and given a 6 month prep-diary to fill in either by hand or on-line. They were free to contact their coach for advice and coaching as they wished. The team had access to a World Youth Discussion Forum which was used to exchange information.
With vaccinations complete, passports valid, Reals ordered and team shirts sorted - we thought we were ready to go…then we had one final last minute panic. When one of our team confirmed their flight 3 days prior to departure, they were told parents travelling alone with their child would need special legal consent from the other parent! The organisers did not reply to e-mails or answer the phone, so with no time to organise anything official, we did our own consent forms, then of course, when we arrived in Brazil it was a smooth quick process through passport control and nothing was said!
Susan Owens - Head of Delegation Wales (AKA=-Meg's Mum/Webmaster/WCU Girl's rep)