Blog from Durban

Monday 9/29/2014 - Round 11 WINNER!!!

WINNER, WINNER, WINNER, WINNER, WINNER, WINNER, WINNER!!!!!
JUSTIN DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!
There was no way Justin was going to mail this one in and repeat the Chicago Cubs famous cheer, "wait 'til next year"! Yes, it's late September and he really should be back at school but he'd rather be dancing in September... as he fought and fought and fought to defeat the Turkish Empire.
Through more than 30 moves, Justin's opponent, Efe Hakan Ozturk from Turkey had his pawn one space away from queening, but Justin kept defending and fighting to prevent the pawn from promoting. The game took over three hours. Justin now officially has the coveted "plus" or positive score, which means he earned more than half the points possible for this tournament at 6 out of 11! This puts him among the elite in the world of chess. He is now considered to be the #26 chess player in the world in the under 8 section! He now has a world ranking and rating.
Justin officially came in 26th place because of how tiebreakers are calculated. No one has control over where a player is placed on tiebreak points because that depends on how your opponents did and how they did against their opponents, etc... Many other factors go into tiebreak calculations, but for the record, Justin tied with 9 other players with 6 points.
A very vivid silver lining to Justin's performance here in Durban is that every player he faced, Justin was ahead. Yes, he blundered and made mistakes to lose or draw some games, but once and if he corrects those types of mistakes in future games, he could ascend much higher.
Before the round, Justin gave another gift to Leopold from Germany. Leopold was so happy. It was good karma for Justin, but it didn't help Leopold. He lost his round.
Later in the day, someone told Justin they added another 10 rounds to the tournament starting tomorrow. Justin said, "ok, let's do it.". It was getting late but he wanted to play blitz and bughouse with his new friends, but we had to go. Back at the hotel room, he started playing chess online. He doesn't want to leave.
I just think what it will be like if Justin looks these kids up 40 years from now just to say hello and ask for a rematch.
The closing ceremonies were dramatic, colorful, and entertaining with ritual Zulu dancing and the trophy presentations.
In 2015 this tournament will be known as the World Youth and Cadets Championships and will be held in Halkidiki, Greece 10/24 - 11/5. Justin will now need to qualify in the under 10 section by achieving a United States Chess Federation rating of 1900 by March of 2015. He is now at 1753.
If Benjamin wants to qualify, he needs to get to 2050 by March. He is now very far away from that.
Thanks for reading this blog. I'll probably update it from time to time to let everyone know what Justin is up to. For now baseball season is waiting for him back home.

At the uShaka Marine World
At the uShaka Marine World 2
Justin measuring up to an Emperor Penguin
Getting some extra practice
Justin vs. Efe Hakan Ozturk of Turkey, Round 11
Zulu Dancing at the Closing Ceremonies

Sunday 9/28/2014 - Round 10 UPDATE

Justin came tearing out of the playing hall after about two hours and said with concern on his face. "We forgot to give my opponent his gift." " I have it right here", I said hoping this was the worst news he had. Justin's opponent's, Nikhil Magizhnan of India, dad and I had talked after we left our boys in the playing hall. Both of us realized we had forgotten to present each kid with a gift.
The game had finished and Nikhil and his dad had given Justin a gift. I had been keeping Justin's gifts in my backpack so they didn't get smushed in his chess bag like the first few. With team pictures and the novelty of five US kids surrounding Justin's opponent at the board, we had forgotten to take it out. Justin raced across the ICC to the front door and proudly presented his gift to Nikhil.
These silly little gifts are important. Justin's 8th round opponent, Leopold Franziskus Wagner of Germany forgot his gift at the board after his game with Justin that later he was so upset he couldn't stop crying. The arbiter of the Under 8 section, Stuart Ruben, and Leopold's mother came up to me separately the next day asking if I had another gift. I told them I had everything but the bandana. Justin is going to surprise Leopold with another gift at the final round tomorrow.
By the way, Justin's gift bag to his opponents has a small American flag, a red, white, and blue bandana, and 3 pencils. Two of the pencils are different styles of patriotic red, white, and blue. The third pencil is from the Chess Emporium where Justin had his first formal instruction on chess. To improve Justin's chances in his games, I asked Oprah if she could include car keys in each bag... I didn't get a response :)
Oh, yes, back to the actual game. Justin returned to his old ways when he lost or drew earlier in the tournament of not making well thought out decisions. Justin built a lead on his opponent once again, but let it slip away. These mistakes are very common for kids his age, Justin usually doesn't make this many mistakes in such a short amount of time though. By having solid games from beginning to end was how he became one of the best in the US.
I think Justin has been so concerned that his opponents are so tricky because they are the best in the world, that he forgot they are still kids and will make kid mistakes. Justin has played numerous players of all ages far better then these and won. The pressure of being on this level of play maybe heightened his concern of threats in the game that simply weren't there. Every game I would remind him to relax, have fun, and just give his opponent a good game.
Other parents and coaches agree that there's often way more pressure on the parents and coaches than the kids. This may be true, but it's a lot easier for us to say that.
Justin's final round 11 is at 10am Monday. At stake is Justin's final chance to get that elusive positive score. If he does I'll be so proud of him. If he doesn't, I'll be so proud of him. His opponent will be Efe Hakan Ozturk of Turkey. I couldn't find much information about Efe, only that he is 8 years old and wants to finish strong too and he is a pretty good chess player.
Justin is black on board 18.

The Baker's dozen... the 13 Under 8 section kids from the USA
Yes, I'm actually here
Justin vs. Nikhil Magizhan of India Round 10

Saturday 9/27/2014 - Round 9 UPDATE

Justin apparently had no patience today for what he did to himself yesterday in his draw to the top German player in 4 hours and 15 minutes.
Today Justin jumped out to a slight advantage over his Russian opponent Konstantin Dubinenko. First, as Justin explains it, Konstantin blundered a pawn on move 17 after spending 14 minutes contemplating that move. Two moves later Konstantin saw a way to win his pawn back. However Justin saw it a different way thinking, fine take my pawn and I'll take your knight.
On move 22, the Russian got creative by forking Justin's bishop and queen with a pawn that was protected by another pawn, but really that was his final and fatal mistake according to Justin. Justin then moved his bishop to put Dubinenko's king in check. Since the king was now trapped, Konstantin had two choices... lose his queen or resign. His decision was to lose the queen. From there Justin forced the rest of the game and cruised to a win and his 5th point of the tournament. This was Justin's quickest game of the tournament, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Don't look now or get too excited, but Justin has scored in the last three rounds and is now in positive territory. That means he has 5 points in 9 rounds. With 2 rounds remaining, if he can gain one more point, he will have accumulated 6 out of a possible 11 points which is more than half, and a positive score. This is considered to be a very successful tournament and would also catapult Justin from virtual anonymity to the elite status in world rankings.
I've been asked about language barriers. With the exception of the two Americans and one South African, Justin's other six opponents mostly spoke zero English. Surprisingly, some of the adults that accompanied them, a parent or coach, spoke at least a little English. When issues arise during a game, the clock is usually paused and an arbiter (called a tournament director in the US) is called over to settle any disputes.
If a player wants to offer a draw to his opponent, he makes an "X" sign with his two index fingers. Then the other player may deny the offer by nodding no or just making his next move. If the draw is accepted then they shake hands and the game is over.
And now a word from our sponsors... please make sure you visit our sponsor page and let them know you heard about or were reminded about them from www.justinchess.com/sponsors
Also, we need big sponsors (or a bunch of little ones). Justin and his brother, Benjamin, travel to various tournaments throughout the year in Orlando, Nashville, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, and all over Arizona. There are major tournaments along the East coast we just couldn't make it to. Last year, in Orlando, Benjamin tied for second place among all fourth graders in the US. He failed to qualify for this World Tournament but he sure tried hard.
If you know of anyone who would want the extra publicity or be a benefactor, this would be a very positive, wholesome, and satisfying activity to support. Contact Robert Friedlander at helpjustinwin@gmail.com
Next up, round 10 brings Nikhil Magizhnan from India. This kid is simply talented. He already has the international title of CM - Candidate Master. This is the first step to other titles, like Justin's coach, Benjamin Finegold, is a GM - Grand Master. By the numbers, Nikhil is ranked #2 in India, #6 in Asia, and #18 in the World.
India has emerged as a powerhouse in the world of chess. There are numerous Grand Masters from India. Right now it seems they are all trying to help Nikhil figure out a way to beat Justin.
Justin is white on board 12.
His final round on Monday starts at 1am in Arizona, 3am in Chicago, and 4am in the East.
Go get 'em Justin!

Justin buying gifts for his family
Justin playing soccer with the UAE chess team
Justin playing soccer with the UAE chess team (2)
Justin with his new soccer buddies from the UAE, including his round 7 opponent, Gheith Al-naimi
Justin vs. Konstantin Dubinenko from Russia in Round 9

Friday 9/26/2014 - Round 8 UPDATE

Justin approached this game with renewed vigor. He knows that every move, every calculation needs to be perfect. Here was the #1 kid from Germany, a major country, and Justin was completely unphased.
I watched most of this 4 hour 15 minute match from the stadium seats. It was such a far distance from the board, I could only rely on hand motions of the players to determine where the pieces were. I would usually take my video camera and zoom in, but electronics are not allowed anywhere in the playing hall.
This was the longest game Justin had yet in this tournament. It ended in a draw with each player having a king and a rook left. Justin accepted the outcome and, as usual, as we were walking back to the bus to go back to the hotel, I asked him what he did right and what he did wrong. "I think I should have taken his knight with my rook instead of my queen", he said. Of course I had no basis for what he meant, I just asked him how long did he take to consider the move. He said about three minutes. That seemed reasonable to me.
At the game review with GM Finegold, Justin replayed the game. What actually happened was that Justin had his opponent so well beaten, it wasn't even close. Justin was closing in on Leopold's cornered king with a rook, a queen, and a knight (that's the horsey looking thing). The only protection Leopold's king had was also a queen, rook, and knight, but they weren't in good positions.
Leopold moved away his rook for some unknown reason, leaving the knight open for Justin to take, which he did. Instead of taking this knight with a lower valued rook, Justin took with his queen which Leopold took with his queen and Justin took Leopold's queen right back. With the queen's off the board the game was now much harder for Justin to win.
There were other opportunities for Justin to win that he didn't take advantage of, but the main theme was that Justin had this game won and didn't. At least he got the half point for a draw and stayed even for the tournament at 4 points out of a possible 8.
This was the first time Justin said he was really disappointed in himself. Win or lose he always took it in stride. This one just didn't sit well with him. This was also the first time I actually legitimized Justin's presence in this tournament to myself. When you look at the level of competition, cost, distance, time, personal toll (which is huge) and other factors. I constantly ask myself, is this really worth it? Can he really compete with these people? When I saw how far ahead Justin was in the games he lost or drew, the real answer is Justin belongs here and is scaring the rest of the world. Whatever it takes is what it's going to take to keep him here as long as he wants to.
And while I'm at it, Justin wouldn't be here without you. You are his supporters, friends, and competition. The chess community that plays him regularly has tournament tested him. You are the ones who made him this tough to represent the US. You are all here with him and he wouldn't be here without you.
Next up, you would think Justin might get an easier draw against a lesser opponent, but now he faces his first Russian in Konstantin Dubinenko. The Russians are historically the most powerful chess country on Earth. This should be an epic matchup reminiscent of Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1972.
Justin is black on board 18.

Justin making friends
Justin with his new friends
Justin with his lifeguard buddies
Justin with Coach GM Finegold
Justin vs. Leopold Franziskus Wagner of Germany Round 8

Thursday 9/25/2014 - Round 7 UPDATE

After a disappointing two rounds on Wednesday and a long layoff, Justin finally got back into the win column. He was so happy. I was proud of him but reminded him not to get overconfident. Going into this game Grandmaster (or GM) Finegold told Justin that this player was not very good by world standards. It was a win nonetheless and that's what Justin needed.
In the last update, I noted Justin was always happy. After this win, Justin's demeanor would make Pharrell Williams look sad :) This was like Ferris Buehler all over again. The hotel concierge asked Justin, by name, "Justin, Justin, how did you do today?"
We saw the Laundromat guys from down the street in the hotel lobby, "hey Justin did you win?" by the way, they are from Ghana, and I had told them how Justin was cheering for Ghana in the world cup a few years go and he would often have Ghana as his team when played video game soccer.
A cab driver yelled out his window from the street as we were walking from one hotel to the other (the US team is staying in two hotels) "Hey Justin, how did you do?" "I won," he said. (Yes, this actually happened) Justin turned to me and said "who was that?" I think it was a driver we had asked earlier in the trip about cab fares to various places.
As if there isn't enough pressure on Justin to do well, it seems that a different wait staff in the restaurant comes up to him each day and says, "please win one for me today, Justin."
He truly enjoys being around his teammates. The other parents and I were commenting that it's a shame that they have to play against each other.
Looking ahead, Justin's reward for winning round 7, is in round 8, he get's to play Leopold Franziskus Wagner from Germany. By the numbers, Leopold is #1 in Germany, #6 in Europe, and #13 in the World. I'm glad I'm not playing...
He has a lot prep work in the morning. GM Finegold has already been hard at work calculating strategies for Justin.
Justin is white on board 13.

A beautiful day in Durban
Game prep with GM Finegold for Round 7
Justin with Round 7 opponent Gheith Al-Naimi of UAE
Some of the US Team Members
Watching live how the top US Team members are doing

Wednesday 9/24/2014 - Rest Day and Preview

Justin's rest day brought a lot of rest. I had all these plans to take him to these tourist places with some of the other families.
He also wanted to play in the blitz tournament, which many of you may remember as the 5 minute game of chess Justin played for his fundraisers.
Instead he slept... I felt bad because I didn't realize how tired he was. He slept past one in the afternoon. This caused him to miss the activities we had planned. However, since there is only one round per day from now on, we will try to do some touristy stuff in the next few days.
Missing the blitz tournament was probably a good thing too because it makes you move fast. Justin lost his last two games because he was moving before thoroughly thinking through his move.
Later in the day Justin told me why he so tired. He stayed up until 3am on skype with mom.
After lunch we walked down the promenade on the beach, stopping at what Justin thought was a locker room to change into his bathing suit. He walked in like he owned the place, but was abruptly stopped by a man in a lifeguard outfit. It turns out this was the main lifeguard center of the Bay Beach.
I was still a few yards (or meters) away because Justin likes to run and my job is to carry everything. I couldn't hear anything because the wind and waves were very strong today. Apparently upon seeing Justin's USA chess shirt and hat, the lifeguard alerted his crew upstairs that he had a celebrity and invited him to play chess with them.
"We have the top chess player on the beach, let's see how you do against him" the lifeguard said. Justin said, "ok".
The beach was pretty much closed anyway because there was a warning of "Blue Bottles" which is a stinging jellyfish. They show up near the beach when the wind is blowing in a certain direction. People could still swim, but hardly anyone wanted to.
Durban beaches dotted with bluebottles
8 year old Justin sat down with the champion lifeguard and just like "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" after an hour or so and two games later the lifeguard looked like "a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone!" All he could do was smile and laugh. His buddies took some pictures to post just to razz him some more.
Justin is making friends everywhere he goes. His smile never leaves his face. Even the top Grandmaster coaches have noted that no matter how he does, he's not upset. He just keeps smiling. The hotel staff really brighten up when they see him too. They run their hands through his hair and say "how is Justin today?"
At dinner there was a long line. While waiting, we talked to a family from Uzbekistan, while families from Belarus, Namibia, and Bolivia were nearby. In front of us was Justin's round 4 opponent, Khaled Saqr Khalifa from the United Arab Emirates, with his dad and teammates. the boys laughed and played until it was our turn to be seated.
In the buffet line, a Lithuanian girl from the teen section helped Justin put food on his plate. Next to our table, a couple of kids from China let Justin watch them play video games on their cell phones.
After dinner, in the lobby of the hotel, Justin waited his turn to play in pick up games of chess against players from all over. In one game a Ugandan player was playing against a player from Norway. In another part of the lobby was a couple of players from Belgium vs. a couple of German players in a game of Bughouse, which is played on two boards at the same time.
Some of Justin's USA teammates came by and wanted to play with him. I remind Justin he needs to get a good night's sleep. He reluctantly leaves all the action and goes to the hotel room. There he spends about an hour preparing for his round 7 opponent Gheith Alnaimi from UAE.
As I'm writing this, off in the distance, the East African sun is coming up now. I can't quite make it out but it appears the dim light behind the clouds show an elusive message saying "Go Justin, Go!"

A very rough surf on the North Beach pier
Bay Beach sandcastles with the North Beach pier in the background
Justin on a very windy pool deck in Durban
Justin with the Ethekwini Municipality Lifeguard crew at Bay Beach
Justin taking 'em to school

Tuesday 9/23/2014 - Round 6 UPDATE

Justin once again had a very solid plan going up against a weakened Number 2 in the US. The only problem, according to Coach Benjamin, is that Justin is only 8 years old. He's just not seeing the whole picture and makes kid mistakes.
In this game, Justin had a big lead on his opponent, more than the last game, and simply gave it away.
Tomorrow, 9/24, is an off day. Maybe Justin will swim in the ocean again.
Round 7 will bring another player from the United Arab Emirates, Alnaimi Gheith. Justin will be black on board 20.

Justin vs. Andrew Tang from Texas in Round 6

Tuesday 9/23/2014 - Round 5 UPDATE

Justin was really in good spirits going in to round 5. He was coming off a 2 game win streak and heading into a game that he felt very confident about. He knew how his opponent would play and was well prepared to make "book" moves deep into the game.
I tried to keep him focused in case his opponent, Pham Quoc Phuc Vo from Viet Nam, strayed from what Justin knew. Even though the game went according to plan, Pham made a mistake that Justin recognized. Instead of punishing Pham for that mistake, Justin tried to compensate for it by introducing a new line of moves that weren't particularly bad but were unnecessary and took Justin off of his game. These extra unnecessary moves by Justin gave the game away.
This was a tough loss because if Justin had just stayed with what he knew, he would have cruised to a win.
Round 6 will give Justin an unusual pairing. He will now face Andrew Tang from Texas. Andrew and Justin attended the same chess camp in Tucson last summer. Andrew, however, was in a much higher rated group.
Andrew is the second highest rated player in the US for this age, but is having a disappointing tournament so far. He also tied for first place with Justin's first round opponent, Arthur Guo, in the Pan Am games near Mexico City this past summer. Arthur took first in that tournament and Andrew took second place based on tiebreaker points.
Justin is black on board 18.

Tournament playing floor at the ICC
Justin vs. Pham Quoc Phuc Vo of Viet Nam in Round 5

Monday 9/22/2014 - Round 4 UPDATE

With his first win under his belt Justin was in good spirits Sunday night.
With only one round Monday at 4p, I let Justin stay up a little later. Some of that time was spent preparing for his round 4 opponent.
Monday morning I wanted to take his mind off of chess for awhile so after breakfast and a pregame meeting with coach Benjamin we went to play catch near the beach. I figured 20 minutes or so would be good then we would go back to the hotel room to rest and have lunch.
Justin asked if he could put his feet in the Indian Ocean. Having never been there I said ok.
A few minutes later I focus on Justin playing with other kids. There's Justin chasing waves and falling down fully clothed and completely drenched, shorts, long sleeve shirt, and his brand new blue USA Chess hat. He was smiling and laughing. I knew this, oddly enough, was something he needed to do.
I didn't bring my camera, but I'm sure you can imagine the wet goofy smile. He was out there for about an hour.
As we were walking back, he asked a lot of kid questions so I explained to him what a riptide was and that South Africa has shark nets to keep people safer.
After showering and a very quick lunch, he arrived at the ICC about 20 minutes before round 4 started. Even if you are late by 15 minutes, you may still play. After that though it is an automatic forfeit.
Khaled Saqr Khalifa was waiting for Justin at their board. Today he was on board 17. The higher the board number, the higher up the standings the players are. Justin started on board 1, then board 26 because of his first round loss, then 25 for round 3.
This game could be a little tricky because Khaled's coach is also his dad. This means as a federation's coach, he may stand right at the game board during the game. Certainly the player is not allowed to be helped in any way. Even in the stadium seats surrounding the main gaming floor, there is multiple security personnel watching for anyone with a camera, cell phone, or other electronic device.
Each section of the floor has arbiters or tournament directors as they're known in the US. They watch everybody and settle disputes during the game. There was never a concern as Khaled and his coach/dad were perfect participants and never even made eye contact. Khaled's dad had other games to watch from his other students too. The approved coaches are allowed to be on the floor, watching games to argue for their player if a rule or procedure has been breached.
Khaled is from the United Arab Emirates and doesn't speak any English, so Justin knows he needs to make absolutely clear any procedural issues he may have and understand what issues Khaled may before he makes his next move. That's pretty tough for either 8 year old to have to deal with, but they do fine.
Justin, playing as black, jumps out to a slight lead in the beginning and is able to continue that lead through the middle game as Khaled is confused as to where he should move next. Whatever plan Khaled had for the game has been thwarted by Justin's counter moves.
As the game winds down, Khaled is down big. He can only maneuver his remaining pieces into a position to force a stalemate, which means a draw. Khaled offers a draw to Justin about a dozen times. Justin wants no part of that and finishes the game by checkmate and wins his second straight game.
Up next in round 5 for Justin is the Viet Namese national champion Pham Thien Phuc Vo. Justin will be white on board 11. There are two rounds today.
An interesting side note, A previous Viet Namese national champ, Phap Quoc Nguyen, played Justin's older brother, Benjamin, in the Las Vegas Chess Festival's Youth Tournament in June 2014. In the final round they played for first place and a new computer. Benjamin won and said later that Phap was the nicest player in the tournament. Phap now lives in Las Vegas and is trying to get on to the US team for next year.

Pregame prep with Coach Benjamin
Justin vs. Khaled Saqr Khalifa of UAE Round 4
Red Carpet Goofball

Monday 9/22/2014 - Round 3 UPDATE

Like Justin, Dihan just had a draw in round 2 and he was hungry for a win. Justin played as white this game.
South Africa naturally has the largest number of participants with the US being second in Justin's section. So we thought Justin would play a South African or US player every other round. So far, that's true.
Preparing for Dihan was very difficult because there was nothing we could find about his style of play. This could be good because it might mean he is an inexperienced player. It could also be bad because he could surprise Justin with something he is not ready for.
Time to go. A win for Justin would mean he would be even for the tournament so far with 1.5 points out of a possible 3 points after round three. In many tournaments a reasonable goal is to get a positive score. This means, for this tournament, earning at least half of the possible points, 6 out of 11. This is not your average tournament though. This is as good as it gets. These players are among the best in the world. Each had to qualify through their home country's standards.
Justin realizes after the first few moves, he clearly has an advantage and may be the superior player. Remembering coach Benjamin's football game analogy, Justin doesn't assume anything and presses on to win in under 2 hours... his quickest game yet. Justin has just won his first game in a world competition!
It is a tradition to give a gift to your opponent before each round from your home country, which Justin has been doing. Dihan gave Justin a nice South African bracelet and key chain.
Round 4 on Monday brings another top player from his respective country in Khaled Saqr Khalifa from the United Arab Emirates.

Justin vs. Dihan Ouwencamp of South Africa in Round 3
Gifts from Dihan
Game review with Grandmaster Finegold

Sunday 9/21/2014 - Round 2 UPDATE

The second round found Justin to be a little jetlagged still. He was lethargic and not super energetic as usual. This worried me as he was about to set the tone for the rest of the tournament. There was no way he could let down after putting up such an incredible effort in round one against the world's best.
Janez Paternoster... there wasn't much we could find about his style of play, just one of the best if not the best in Slovakia.
Benjamin Finegold, A Grandmaster and Justin's coach here in Durban, explained if you are winning a football game 49-0 in the 4th quarter and throw an interception for a touchdown, does that mean you lose the game? "Of course not," Justin replied.
"Then what happens if you are crushing your opponent in chess and you make a mistake?" Benjamin asked.
"You could still lose the game," Justin said.
"This is why chess is such a tough and more so an emotional game. You could be cruising along sweeping up pieces from your opponent and BAM, one wrong move and you are toast!"
As for Justin's second round game, He and Janez went quite a while with neither player taking a piece. Justin started to move in and had a plan. Then Janez surprised Justin with an unexpected Knight move to the center of the board.
Justin thought he could counter by "pushing a pawn" which simply means to move one of his pawns forward one space. He later realized he should have taken one of Janez's pieces to loosen up the congestion in the center of the board. Instead, Justin's pawn push "locked up" the center with neither side being able to adequately advance pieces or open up a line to the other side.
This locked position led to a trading of pieces by the two players eventually leading to a draw. This means both players earn one half point.
Justin's coach's analysis after the game revealed Justin had an excellent chance to get ahead and win if he had broken up that logjam in the center.
Either way Justin got his first scoring game in the World Youth tournament, which made him feel good because it legitimized his standing as belonging in such a prestigious tournament.
Next up for round 3 is Dihan Ouwencamp from South Africa.

Sunday morning, waiting to start
Justin and Janez looking confident

Saturday 9/20/2014 - Round 1 UPDATE

Justin played nearly 4 hours and gave Arthur a really good game. His coaches in Arizona said Justin played really well. After the game, I asked Justin if he knew what he did right and what he did wrong. He said at one point in the game, he retreated his bishop back 2 squares and then on his next move retreated that same bishop back 2 more squares, which wasted a move. He should have moved it back 4 squares on the first move. Arthur also made mistakes but Justin was unable to capitalize on them.
Next up for Justin is Janez Paternoster from Slovakia. So now Justin goes from the number 1 player in the US to what I believe is the number 1 player in Slovakia.
There are 2 rounds on Sunday. I'll try to keep you up to date. The internet at the ICC (International Convention Center) is very weak.
Go Justin Go!

Final USA Team Meeting
Pretournament dinner
The Tournament Hall at the ICC
Show 'em where you are from.
Justin's electronic board and clock with Arthur Guo
Ready for Round 1

Saturday 9/20/2014

Well if this ain't tough enough.... Justin's first round opponent is .... Arthur Guo. Undisputed number 1 in the world. He has more first place finishes than I can count. This summer he won the Pan Am games near Mexico City. He comes to the World Tournament ranked and rated #1.
Justin is playing as white. Arthur is black. All I can say is Arthur has a very nice family from Georgia. I got lots of pictures but I forgot the cable to send them at the hotel. Don't worry, Justin is much better prepared than I am.
Cool and confident little Justin is stepping up to the world's plate. He is on board #1. That means he is involved in the top game in his section. His game is being broadcast by the electronic board he's playing on to another part of the International Convention Center. The chess clock he is using is plugged into the board for accurate timing. Only the top 10 boards in each section are electronic.
You can follow the game by clicking on this link: http://www.2014wycc.co.za/open-08.html
You can find the results by clicking on this link: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr144241.aspx?lan=1. He is in the boys open U8 section.
As it stands now Justin is tied with Arthur. Arthur's king looks safer, but Justin is starting to attack that defense to expose Arthur's king. They are on move 20. Here we go...

Friday 9/19/2014

Here is the first update. The first picture is at the Johannesburg airport. The second picture is on the patio of Justin's new favorite pizza joint in Durban. The 3rd and 4th pictures are from Justin's hotel room.
Justin arrived in South Africa after playing numerous video games and watching countless movies on the plane. All of this entertainment is included with his coach ticket. The flight took 2 days from Scottsdale to JFK in New York to Johannesburg to Durban.
Justin met a few people from other countries. Some recognized him from his You Tube interviews and said they were honored to meet him. In typical humble Justin fashion, he said there are a lot of other players here. To which the others replied, "yes, but they are not you". Justin blushed and went on talking about something else.
After arriving on September 17th, he basically slept all of September 18th. He did do a few chess tactics just to stay fresh.
His hotel room is on the 23rd floor overlooking the Indian Ocean.
The night of the 18th he ate his favorite chicken and pineapple pizza with an orange Fanta. Still with jetlag, he couldn't fall asleep until the early morning hours.
Now the 19th has arrived... one day before the World Youth Chess Championships begin. Players are arriving every hour from all corners of the Earth. Everyone seems anxious but guarded. Because of all the internet traffic with players and coaches making last minute preparations, the Wi-Fi is very slow to nonexistent. Justin seems to take everything in stride to this point.