WYCC 2012 Poem

In school, we had a rare chance for an extra credit activity in language arts. We were supposed to make a poem about an event. Originally it was assigned before Thanksgiving break to be written about Thanksgiving, but my teacher gave me the option of writing the poem about my tournament. Here is the poem:

The Games Have Begun!

Drowsy from flight

Jetlag sets in

As chess players settle in for the night

The games have begun!

The ambassador comes

Amazing all Americans

The players twiddle their thumbs

The games have begun!

Round 1 starts

Good for USA and me

Wins are off the charts

The games have begun!

Round 2 is done

A loss saddens me

But I must move on and continue the long run

The games have begun!

Third and fourth rounds are won fast

As I am fueled by thoughts of revenge

To put round 2 into the past

The games have begun!

The double day is what I dread

1 win and loss to finish the first half

4 out of 6 as I go to bed

The games have begun!

Rest day comes and goes

 Pizza for lunch and dinner

As time slows

The games have begun!

Round 7 is a scare

Blunder early, but fight back

Mistakes happen, and then I take care

The games have begun!

Two tough games follow

But I stay strong

As the playing field starts to hollow

The games have begun!

Round 10 brings a heartbreaking loss

As my medal chances are shot

I need to finish strong even for a lost cause

The games have begun!

After the tournament is like

A crazy party

It’s all fun and games till the speaker takes the mike

The games have concluded!

-By Vignesh Panchanatham

on my experience at the World Youth Chess Championships 2012

Round 11 and end of tournament

I won my last game against my new friend from Seattle, Bryce Tiglon. After a hedgehog-like position out of the opening, I did a tactic which got me the pair of bishops. Then I did another tactic which won me a piece. I tied for 6th, but tiebreaks were not on my side. I finished just outside of the top ten, number 11 on tiebreaks.

Round 10

Today I played the number 3 seed, of the section, from Russia, Saveliy Golubov. I got a worse position from the opening and then lost a pawn. I lost another pawn and he converted the opposite color bishop endgame. After this loss, I lost my chances at a medal, but I can still have a strong finish if I win the next one.

Round 9

Today I played against my friend from Seattle, Roland Feng. I did a lot of prep and was able to get a better position out of the opening. After a little bit, I converted my advantage into a two pawn-up endgame. I converted that with a little bit of difficulty. At first, when the result was up, it said I drew. That probably gave my dad a scare! After two minutes, the real result came up and he could breathe again. Two more tough rounds to go!

Round 8

Today I played against Olexandr Triapishko, the number one Ukrainian. He was very hard to prepare for as he goes under two names, Alexandr Trjpishko and the name above. In the game, he took a lot of time for the opening, but still got a worse position. In the middlegame, I attacked his king. He tried to do the same, but in doing so he lost a piece. Then I had mate in 2 and he resigned. He was under time pressure the whole game. I continue on with 6/8 with three more rounds to go. 

Round 7

Today I played against a Lithuanian, Matas Samulionis. Out of the opening, a Caro-kann, I made a mistake and got a much worse position with my king exposed. I managed to survive and go into a rook endgame down a piece for two pawns. Since I had complicated the position, he was low on time and made a blunder. I was then able to win. I got lucky, but hopefully I won't need this much luck to win next time. 

Rounds 5 and 6

Today I had an Indian doubleheader match. I played against Nitish Belurkar in the morning for round 5 and Abhimanyu Puranik in round 6. I won against Nitish after getting a good position from my prep. I sacrificed a piece in a tactical middlegame. I got back a rook so I was up and exchange in the endgame. I converted pretty easily. I played on the top ten boards against Abhimanyu Puranik, the top player from India. I got a slightly worse position out of the French Advanced which I needed to defend. I went into a bishop endgame pawn down, but I couldn't save the game. I am going into the rest day with 4/6, but if I stay strong in rounds 7-11, I can medal. We will probably go to Maribor on the rest day only because my dad wants to and then hit the thermal pool at the hotel.

BTW, My brother's team came second in soccer tournament. Go Muthu!

Round 4

Today I played against the number one 11-year old in Slovenia, David Brinovec. After the opening, I sacrificed a knight for two pawns. Then, I got my piece back and simplified into an opposite-colored bishop ending. I won that after marching my king to support my pawn promotion. I have 3/4 heading into tomorrow's doubleheader. If I do well there, I can get back to the top. My brother scored his first goal in a soccer tournament this weekend for Force! At the time of this writing, they have a shot at the finals.

Round 3

Today, I played against Bulgarian David Tsvetanov. In this game, I sacked a pawn for a kingside attack before he castled queenside. I continued my attack there and won the pawn back. Then I did a tactic that forced him to desperado his queen till when I was down a pawn. However, I won an exchange and the pawn back with a passed h-pawn promotion threat. I did another tactic to push my pawn home. When I was analyzing,GM Joel Benjamin said this game was an advertisement for the Nc3 advanced Caro-kann. This prompted me to submit my game for publishing on the Chess Life Magazine.  I hope tomorrow goes just as well as today.

Round 2

Today I played FM Adham Fawzy from Egypt. He sacrificed a piece and doubled his rook and queen on the h-file. I had to move my f-pawn to avoid getting mated but then he retreated his queen to double on the e-file. There I had to sacrifice a rook to not get mated. He was up an exchange and he stopped my pawn from promoting. After that I was lost. Hopefully I do better in the next few games.

World Youth Chess Championship 2012!

I'm playing in U-12 Open section in the World Youth Chess Championship 2012 at Maribor Slovenia.
www.wycc2012.com

Round 1

In round 1, I played a Puerto Rican candidate master. I finished within 25 minutes and 20 moves. My opponent fell for a trap in the Scandinavian so I won a piece. After that I came up to the room and was working on my independent study. Yesterday, after dinner, me and Rayan Taghizadeh had a disagreement about the French Advance. However, when we went up to the room, I showed him many ways one can win for and against the French Advance. During that time, Rayan was using his distraction/entertainment tactics - and it was a lot of fun - Thanks Rayan! The pool here at Hotel Habukak is supposed to be good. I want to try it out soon...