Round 1

Hello all –

This is John Michael’s Dad again. It is 11:23 PM Caldas Novas time, and Day 1 of the 2011 World Youth Chess Championship is in the books. John Michael played his Round 1 game today against Nadar Anand from India. It was a 3 hour 45 minute struggle, and unfortunately John Michael came up short in this game. John Michael's coach said that he played a great game and didn't make any errors at all, but his opponent happened to play a great game as well and fended off all of John Michael's attacks. John Michael fought on to the bitter end like he always does – he has the heart of a champion and never gives in, but his opponent played well and secured the victory. I believe that John Michael is planning on posting his games on this blog when we get back home from the tournament. Round 2 is tomorrow at 3:00 PM Brazil time. In Round 2, John Michael is playing Albert Lu from the United States, a talented player from California. There are 11 United States players out of the 121 in John Michael’s section, so it is inevitable that United States players will face each other at some point.

The tournament hall is huge – it was fairly hectic getting to John Michael’s board when we got to the playing area, but things went well – no problems. The hall is air conditioned, but the waiting area is not – very hot. The tournament seemed to run smoothly today. The United States coaches are great – they really spend a lot of time with each player reviewing their games, which can only help them all improve. Going to try to get some sleep and get ready for another big day tomorrow!

I will try to get some more pictures up soon. Internet is really slow. Pairings just came out for tomorrow, so undoubtedly there are a ton of people accessing the Internet and doing research. I just tried to upload some pictures, but the connection froze. Technology is not the strong suit of Caldas Novas - we even had the power go out in our hotel twice (only for a few minutes each time).

P.S. – John Michael is going to be very busy for the remainder of the trip, so most likely I will be doing most of the posting. Monday is a free day (no games), so I am going to see if John Michael can put up a post then and share his thoughts on the trip.

Mr. Burke