Emily's trip to the 2010 World Youth Championships - by Nam Nguyen

The official website with daily results/pairings: http://wycc2010.chessdom.com/u8-girls/.

10/19
We left our house at 9 am on Mon and by the time we checked into the hotel, it was almost 9 am on Tue in Texas. After 4 flights and a long bus ride, everyone was a little bit tired. Our baggages would not be here until tomorrow. When we arrived in Vienna, someone left an unattended bag right at our gate causing security issue that prevented us from using that gate. After a long delay, we were asked to get on a bus to get into the airport via a bus gate. We ran to our departure gate for Thessaloniki and barely made it, but our baggages did not make the connection flight.

We had a team meeting with the US coaches and delegation. It was the largest US delegation with 104 persons including 40 players and 6 coaches; everyone had high spirit. The US delegation all stayed in this hotel. The U8 and U10 sections would play in this hotel and other sections would be in the Olympic Hall Congress Center, about 10 min walk from here. Emily and 5 other players were assigned to FIDE Senior Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky for coaching.

Emily ate well and could get some sleep. Hopefully, she would be ready for the first game tomorrow.

10/20
Emily woke up at midnight, did not go back to sleep until 2 am, but then slept straight to 10 am. We had to wake her up for breakfast and team meeting. She enjoyed breakfast, lunch, and looked quite ready for the first round. She worked on tactics for an hour after lunch and looked sharp.

She played Alina Beshukova from Russia in the first round. Alina finished 8th in the 2010 European Youth Chess Championships, U8-Girls section. The game took 3 hours and 45 min to finish and it was the last board in the section. We had the game analyzed with her coach. She played well and dominated but missed a few moves to finish it faster. Tomorrow would not be easier for Emily; she would play Gabriela Antova from Bulgaria. Gabriela was the 2010 European Youth Chess Champion, U8 Girl. Emily slept and ate well today. Our baggages with her favorite snacks/milk arrived today.

10/21
Last night, she woke up around midnight and could not get back to sleep until 3 am. We let her sleep until we woke her up at 12:25 pm. She skipped breakfast and the training session with her onsite coach. She had lunch, did 15 minutes of tactics, took a rest, and headed for the game.

She had some positional advantage with even materials but then suddenly made an uncharacteristic blunder and lost the game. It lasted only 1 hour and 30 minutes with 22 moves. I did not understand what happened. Perhaps the still irregular sleep pattern negatively affected her performance.

After the game, we had her game reviewed by an onsite coach. Then she went swimming and had dinner. We forced her to go to bed around 9:30 pm. She still woke up at midnight and had difficulties getting back to sleep.

10/22
We did not let her sleep until noon like we did yesterday; we woke her up at 8:30 am, had breakfast, and attended the preparation session with her coach. She had a few practice games with Anthony, read a book outside in fresh air, and took a nap at 12:30 pm.

We went to lunch at 1:30 pm and let Emily relax after that. She defeated Anezka Drastichova from the Czech Republic in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

After having her game reviewed by an onsite coach, we walked along the beach and had dinner. She enjoyed having dinner with Annie Wang and Joanna Liu, two of her teamates. They went to Joanna's room and played for 10 minutes. She went to bed at 9:30 pm but did not get to sleep until midnight.

10/23
She slept straight until 9:00 am when we woke her up. We had breakfast with Devina's family and then attended a 30-minute training with her coach. We walked to a small grocery store by the marina and purchased some water bottles and drinks. We walked along the beach enjoying fresh air and beautiful weather. We saw Joanna and her dad by the swimming pool. Emily and Joanna played together in the playground until 12:15 pm. We went back to our room so that she could take a short nap. We went to lunch at 1:30 pm and sat with Devina's and Joanna's families. The girls started to enjoy the friendship.

She defeated Shadan Babazadeh from Iran in round 4. The game lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes. She had dinner and went to bed at 9:30 pm.

10/24
For the first time since the trip, she slept soundly and woke up at 8:00 am. She looked very fresh. We had breakfast quickly and went to the tournament hall. There were 2 games today. The 5th-round game started at 9:00 am. She played Dominika Ferkova from Slovakia. She won the game in 1 hour and 30 min. We went along the beach. She played in the playground with Joanna, and then we went back to the room for a short rest. After lunch, she could nap for 30 min and headed for the second game. She played Joanna Swiech from Poland and won the game in almost 3 hours.

10/25
It was the break day. We woke up early around 8:00 am, had breakfast, and took a water taxi to a village nearby. Emily really enjoyed the trip with her new friends Annie, Devina, Joanna, and Angeli. She wrote her blog, played cards with her brother, and played in the playground in the afternoon. She went to bed around 9:30 pm.

10/26
She woke up early, had breakfast, and attended training. We went along the beach and she played with her friends Joanna/Samritha/Devina in the playground. We went back to the room so that she could take a rest. During lunch, she mentioned she was a little bit tired. She had a 15-min nap after lunch. She played Eszter Morvay from Slovakia. Emily lost the game in 3 hours. She failed to find a critical move that could have turned things around to her advantage.

10/27
She woke up early and was a little bit nervous. She was playing WFM Annie Wang, the official US representative in U8 Girls section, and the highest rated U8 girl in the US. She did not have training session today; It was customary that US coaches would not prepare players against their team-mates. Before the trip, I had gathered the games of top players in the section, including Annie's, and went over them with Mike Feinstein, one of her two coaches. I sent an email to her two coaches Mike Feinstein and Eugene Kohnitz to seek advice on the opening she was playing, and went over again with her with help from her brother Anthony. We made one adjustment. She was not allowed to play with the swings in the playground; we just walked along the beach and went to the marina. She played dodge ball with Anthony and other kids in the US delegation for 15 min and went to lunch. She took a 10-min nap, took a shower, and went to the tournament hall. She seemed confident enough to play Annie. She blundered a knight on move 19 and lost the game in 3 hours. In her games so far, she was even or had advantages going into the mid/end games. The problem was not with preparation. It was how to get her to focus on the games and play to her ability.

10/28
She seemed determined to win the remaining 3 games. She played Elena Badzgaradze from Russia in round 9. Yesterday, Anthony and I tried to come up with a system that helped her avoid blunders. 2 years ago, I had a set of 7 questions for her to ask herself; that seemed to work until this tournament. We came up with a simpler scheme. After the opponent's move, she had to remember Tue/Wed. "T" in Tue stood for "Threats" and "W" in Wed for "Weakness". Before her move, she had to remember Mon/Tue/Wed. "T" in Tue stood for "Tactics", "W" in Wed for "Weakness" (any weakness after her move), and "M" in Mon for "Move" (opponent's next move). We played 2 quick games with her applying the scheme, and she played fine quickly capilalzing on my bad moves. We also went over basic strategies on open file/diagonal, space advantage, weak pawn. lining up Rook/Bishop against opponent's King/Queen, and mobilizing pieces...

She played solidly, used tactics to win a pawn, and defeated the Russian in 4 hours. After the win, her standing moved up to 11th.

Her team-mate, Annie Wang, lost a game where she had clearly won and dropped out of the race for a medal. Annie's standing was 5th coming into the last round.

Medal contenders in the US team included:
U10 Open
Jefferey Xiong: 1st
Cameron Wheeler: 4th

U12 Open
Kayden Troff: 1st

U18 Open
Steven Zierk: 2nd

10/29
She played the second seed of the tournament, Saina Salonika with FIDE rating of 1342 from India. The game came down to Knight/Pawns end game with Emily's slight advantage in position. She could have opened up the King side, and brought the King out in order to win the game. However, she chose to play conservatively and the game ended with a draw. Her standing remained 11th after the game. The organizger made an announcement that they would give prizes to top 8. Emily was playing board 6 against Olga Badelko from Belarus tomorrow. A win would put her in 5th through 11th place, depending on the outcome of boards 1-7. Being in the top 8 would make her very happy. She was alert and energetic coming into the game knowing that she would fight to get to the top 8.

10/30
10 am: the last round started.

11:45 am: the 3rd board finished with an upset; Mahapatra Adyasa from India (7 pts) defeated Assel Serikbay from Kazakhstan (8 pts). The result was unfavorable to Emily. She could be only 6th through 11th with a win.

12:10 pm: Emily came out with a win. What a relief to us!!! Now, just had to wait on the results from boards 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7.

12:35 pm: board 2 was done with the result favorable to Emily. Eszter Morvay from Slovakia (8 pts) defeated the European Champ Gabriela Antova from Bulgaria. Emily secured 10th place or higher.

12:45 pm: board 1 finished with no upset. Yunshan Li from China defeated Aydin Ismayilzada. Emily moved up to 9th place or higher. We would need only 1 favorable result to move her up to 8th place.

12:50 pm: board 6 finished. Her team-mate Kaavya Ramesh lost to Ekaterina Goltseva from Russia. With Kaavya's loss, Emily could only be in 7th through 9th.

1:20 pm: board 5 was done. Annie Wang, Emily's team mate played White against Dominika Ferkova from Slovakia. Emily had played both and Annie was much stronger than Dominika. A win from Annie would help Emily secure 8th place or higher. A win from Dominika would also help Emily get 8th place or higher. Annie came out of the room with a sad face. She drew the game. NO!!! Emily could only be in 8th or 9th place.

Board 5 had finished earlier and I missed the result. I came to the Canadian delegation and asked for the result. It was unfavorable to Emily; Andrea Botez (6 1/2 pts) from Canada lost to Zantye Riddhi (7 pts) from India. With that, Emily would be in 9th place.

4:00 pm: the official results came out. Emily finished in 9th place. I had hoped that I made mistakes calculating the results, but that did not happen. She was very sad for being very close to getting a medal. We told her that finishing 9th in the World Youth Chess Championships was quite an accomplishment. She was OK later. She played soccer and made crafts with other kids in the US delegation.

6:00 pm: the closing ceremony started. They gave cups to 1st-3rd place finishers, and medals to 4th-8th place finishers. Emily finished 9th and just missed the medal by tie-breaks. She had 7.5 pts, same as her team mate Annie Wang who finished 6th. She played blitz and bughouse with Annie, Joanna, and her brother Anthony after dinner.

10/31
We took the 1:45 am bus to the airport. Our flight was at 4:50 am out of Thessoloniki to Zurich, New York, and then Austin. We were very happy with the trip. It was a great honor and opportunity for Emily. She gained a lot of experience playing chess with top players her age around the world. She also exchanged gifts and learnt more about the cultures and places where her opponents were from. She received from her opponents a lot of post cards and brochures about their cities. We wished we had brought some Austin post cards with us. Emily just brought bracelets with USA's on them to give her opponents.

Finishing 9th in the World Youth Championships was a great accomplishment for her. We would like to thank her coaches Mike Feinstein and Eugene Kohnitz for working on her chess skills, and the Austin Chess Community for continuous support before, during, and after the trip.

Hopefully, Austin would be able to send more young talents to the World Youth Chess Championships in the near future. Austin had the talents, the healthy environment, and the wonderful support from schools and parents.