WYCC Round 1

         We arrived in the United Arab Emirates on December 16. Yesterday was a very easy and quiet day. I explored the campus, played some basketball, and did some of my independent study. There are eleven rounds in the World Youth Chess Championships. This year was different from previous years. There are three morning games this time, an extra one on Christmas Eve, and the rest day is after the eighth round, not after the sixth.      

Today was, and will, probably be the most chaotic day at the World Youth. At breakfast, the lines went all the way to the dorms! My dad and I didn't even go for lunch. Instead, we got an interesting Subway lunch. The sandwich was chicken tikka, not one of the normal subs. The round was originally supposed to start at 3 PM, but eventually got moved to 5 PM since many of the arbiters had not arrived. We went to the round at about 4:30. When we arrived, there was a mob standing around the doors. We waited, and waited, and waited for the round to start. Eventually it started at 6 PM.
          My opponent was Kurrupu Supun from Sri Lanka. We got into an opening which I didn't know that well, but I started attacking. I opened up the king-side and won a piece. From there, it was a quick and easy endgame conversion.
          You can check my pairings at this site:http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=UAE.Check under U14 Classic. Round 2 is tomorrow at 3 PM. I hope the breakfast line is shorter!