Chesscampeona on the Move; Do Not Take Your Chess Club for Granted

It just seemed like yesterday when I was sharing with you about my adventures to the World Youth Chess Championship 2013 in the United Arab Emirates. I remembered sharing with you that chess can take you to foreign countries, when I found out that I had qualified once again to this important tournament. The 2014 World Youth Chess Championship will be in Durban, South Africa! That is a long way from home but closer to all the exotic animals I only watch on documentaries!

 

Last year, I remember sharing with your how I qualified to the World Youth Chess Championship by winning a qualifying tournament, the All-Girls National Championship, but there are many other ways to qualify.

 

Me and Garry Kasparov!

The rules by which you can qualify are on the United States Chess Federation website, and there are many ways to punch your ticket.

I encourage you to check them out each year and set up a plan to qualify!

This year I qualified a different way, by rating. The official list of players that qualified for the United States of America is 181 names long! I qualified in the Girls Under-18 section, and there will be nine other American girls just in that one section alone.

Maybe you can envision your name appearing one day! It all starts with one dream.

After coming back from the United Arab Emirates last year, I continued to play in both of my chess clubs, the Dallas Chess Club and San Antonio Chess Club. As the months went by I gained and lost rating points, but before I knew it, I received an email from the United States Chess Federation congratulating me for having qualified to this year's event. Now I didn't do anything out of the ordinary other than play at my local chess club and yet I still qualified. That's because the United States Chess Federation has designed a qualifying system where all you need to do is go to a rated tournament at your local chess club to gain rating points and qualify. You do not have to travel 100 miles to a big tournament to qualify. You can do it at your local chess club!

Therefore, here is some advice based on what my family and I have done that will help you qualify to a World Youth Chess Championship.

1. Sit down with your family and plan. Just like it is important to have a plan of attack on the chessboard it is also important to have a plan to reach your goal. If you are looking to qualify to a Would Youth Chess Championship, here is where you sit down, look at the qualifications, and plan to qualify.

 

 

2. Take every game that you play seriously. The United States Chess Federation has given you the opportunity to represent the United States of America around the world and all you need to do is take every move that you make on the board seriously.

3. Have fun! Enjoy the road to qualifying. Enjoy every time you sit on the board to play as you are making memories. Remember that going to a World Youth Chess Championship can give you hands on experience to learn about new cultures.

 

 

Your ticket around the world may be a little closer to home than you think, therefore don't take your chess club for granted. I hope to qualify with you in the 2015 World Youth Chess Championship!

These two games I played on ChessKid didn't count toward qualification, but I did take them seriously, and I did have fun!

Congratulations to MahoganyMouse, who did qualify for the King of Fast Chess Finals!