World Youth Begins Again!

     This year, the World Youth is in Durban, South Africa. We had an uneventful flight to London and then from there to Johannesburg and then from there to Durban. We are staying at the Maharani Hotel. We have a great room, and the food here is at least better than Dubai.
     The tournament itself is actually very well organized. The buses to the playing hall are frequent and on time. The pairings were posted quickly and accurately. The playing hall was amazing! It was spacious and provided us with water and decent boards. However, only the top ten boards are broadcasted through DGT. The opening ceremony started when the round was supposed to, but that was still better than Dubai. There were many speeches and Zulu warriors actually did a dance. It took forty-five minutes and the round eventually started at 4:45. Overall, this World Youth is much better than the last, so far...
     In the first round, I played an Australian, James Kay. He was rated about 1660 FIDE. I played the French and won a pawn quickly. I made some inaccuracies, and allowed him to equalize. He also didn't play correctly and I was able to retain my advantage. I sacked two pawns so I was one pawn down, but got a huge attack. He couldn't defend and I won soon after.