Journey to National Master #2: Canadian Youth Chess Championship U12

Welcome back for the second blog in my journey of becoming a National Master. I will compete in the Canadian Youth Chess Championship (aka CYCC) this time. Coming into the tournament me and my family travelled 6 hours via car. Which resulted in us arriving at 6 pm the day before the tournament. We finally got some rest ate dinner and then we soon dozed off. 

Let me give you guys some background information on the event. The CYCC is a seven-round Swiss tournament held annually in Canada for juniors. For example, since I'm 12 I will be competing in the Under 12 age group. Also, this year the tournament is hosted in Laval, Quebec, starting on July 9th and ending on July 12th.

Day 1 

Well, after getting a quick shower, I went downstairs with my dad and brother to eat some breakfast. I quickly recapped what I was gonna play and saw myself paired against an 1100 in my first round. So yeah I was pretty confident it would be a quick victory. However, the tournament got delayed for a little more than half an hour before finally letting us in. Then, I swear the organizer talked for about another half an hour in fluent French (I had no idea what he was talking about ) and made us watch another inspirational video!? Before we finally started around 11:15. When we should've started at 10. Then this happened...

Round 1

Not much to say other than that I have never won a game on illegal moves. Anyway, smooth victory currently 1/1 fresh mood going into the second round.

Round 2 

Heading into round 2 I realized I would be playing the same opponent in the CYCC as I have played last year. This is the game

Overall, I think I converted pretty well, although I couldn't get any advantage out of the opening.

Anyway, the first day has been pretty good winning two (must-win) games going 2/2. In addition, I would probably play a few higher-rated players tomorrow.

Day 2

Round 3

When I looked at my pairings I was sure it would be another easy W as I was paired against a 1400 Elo opponent, however, it was one of my most heartbreaking losses. Because it was a 160-move marathon I will not input the game but a brief summary about it would be like this. I played decently and out of the opening I built a very decent position and I was up to pawns. Then, I forced a trade but lost a pawn in the process and I was up a pawn in an opposite-coloured bishop endgame. I tried super hard to convert however it was futile as my opponent defended very well making no inaccuracies. However, I blundered my bishop by touching my king and forgetting about the bishop ending up losing as a result. 

Round 4 

After Round 3 I can't even describe how I felt angry, not necessarily maybe ashamed, but I promised myself I would still put up a great fight for my next game. Since what's done is done. 

Here is my Round 4 game...

Day 3 

The schedule is super weird because on the penultimate day, there is only 1 round and there are two games on the final day. Instead of vice versa 2 rounds on the penultimate day and 1 on the final day. Nevertheless, I believe that coming into round 5 this round will be super crucial maybe even having more importance than every round except the final round. 

Round 5

In this up-and-coming round, I will be facing a 1500 Elo opponent who I believe is overrated since he just played one game and got his rating. Btw he also drew 2 below 1100's and won 2 1000's. So I was pretty confident it was going to be a quick stroll in the park and pretty happy with my pairing. This is my game...

Oh my! What a game. It was a very interesting back-and-forth game. I have to admit both sides had many mistakes and inaccuracies but at the end of the day, a win is a win.

Moving on me and my family went to tour the city of Laval, we went to The Museum of Illusions and there were so many cool optical illusions.  Overall I had a lot of fun for the (half rest!?) day. Alas, I will finally be paired with some higher-rated players tomorrow right? Nope, the parings have just come out, and I will be playing another 1500. What can I say?

Day 4 (Final Day)

Nerves are high as we head into the final day of the Canadian youth chess championships.

Round 6

Btw I also played my opponent (this round) in a rapid tournament before and won so I was sure I had a great chance at improving my score from 4 to 5. This is the game...

Round 7 

I was excited and super anxious for the last round because I was playing a familiar opponent I'd won and lost many times against him. However, I lost the game even though it was a back-and-forth well fought game. I miscalculated and things quickly went downhill.

This is the final round game...

Conclusion

All in all, although I didn't do a terrible job, I did way worse than expected first losing a winning game. And then losing again to a 1600, I mean to be fair he did play pretty well. However, I think I mainly underperformed and there is much more room for improvement, especially in my calculation, middlegame strategic thinking, and conversion aspects. Anyway, not every single tournament's going to go your way and that's okay you just gotta continue to work hard for the next tournament to succeed. My CFC rating is projected to lower to 1742. My FIDE will also drop around 51 points to 1689. Thank you to those who finished reading my blog, it means a lot. I'm pumped up on posting one every month or so.

P.S. The following schedule down below will be the upcoming tournaments I'll participate in, in the following months.

Upcoming Schedule

July 19-20 Hart House Summer and Blitz

Aug 12 Toronto Blitz Chess Championship

Aug 31-Sept 2 Toronto Open

Oct 19-20 Toronto Junior Chess Championship