Chesscampeona On the Move; Preparing for the World Youth Chess Championship

A World Youth Chess Championship is one of the most important tournaments a young chess player can ever aspire to attend, therefore preparing for one is important. Preparation for "World," as it is called, is difficult because you have to be prepared to play the best international players in your category. 

In my first World Youth Chess Championship in Greece 2010, I was informed 2 months prior to the tournament that I had made the American team. Therefore I had little time to prepare but my team and I made the very best of it. We studied games of the top-rated people in my category and made changes and additions to my repertoire.

 

Since the day we decided to go to the 2013 World Youth Championship, my team and I developed a plan after evaluating my game. We determined the areas in which I needed to improve and divided my time to attend to each of those areas.

Then we decided to play practice games with strong players. In the past two weeks I have played three games against two international masters. These practice games have really helped me to visualize the areas I need to fine tune. Unlike last year, we are not studying new things. We are just fine-tuning everything I already know. 

So what do you need to do to prepare for World? 

1. Evaluate your game!

2. Plan

3. Act

4. Have fun!

As the days draw nearer for my trip from the United States to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, I will keep you informed of my progress. I hope in the near future, someone who is reading this article will also qualify to this important tournament! 

Here is a game I played in my first international tournament where I won my Woman Candidate Master title and the gold medal for the U.S when I was 9 years old. Before this tournament, my team and I followed the same steps to prepare for this tournament.