Several months ago, I received an e-mail from Mr. Alex Relyea inviting me to participate in the first-ever U.S. Girls Junior Closed Championship. After verifying with the United States Chess Federation that the information was accurate, my father asked me if I wanted to compete in this event.
I said yes, he told me I was going to New Hampshire! So my mom, who is my official chaperone, and I began packing our bags!
New Hampshire is an entirely different world from Texas. The weather was great compared to our 100 degree summers. It was so green!
The morning of the July 17, we had a drawing of numbers that positioned us for this round-robin event. I was number two. During the drawing, we were given a personalized letter from one of the U.S. senators of New Hampshire.
I knew what this tournament meant, but when I received the letter from the U.S. senator, and I personally met the 10 girls that would participate in the tournament, it hit me! An hour or so after the drawing, the event started.
This was the 2014 U.S. Girls Junior Closed Chess Championship!
The tournament participants:
I had the 7th-lowest rating of the 10 girls, so I had nowhere else to go but up!
We played two games per day for four days and on the fifth day we played the final round. All the boards were broadcast live on the Internet!
In the first two rounds, I defeated both of my opponents: Alexandra Wiener and WFM Jennifer Yu.
By now, I was in first place and I maintained the lead throughout most of the tournament. In the third round, I suffered my first lost to WCM Apurva Virkud.
It was a painful loss, because it seemed that I had done every possible blunder in the opening to lose the game. In the fourth round, I defeated WFM Kimberly Ding followed by a fifth-round loss to Carissa Yip, in a game where I was leading by position!
They say the hardest game to win is a won game; whoever said that was right!
In the sixth round, I defeated WFM Akshita Gorti. At the end of the round, I noticed I was the only girl with four wins! Most of the other girls had two wins and a lot of draws.
In the seventh round, I drew with Alice Dong, and I am so thankful for that draw because I dropped a pawn in the opening and played 50-plus moves without getting that pawn back. I fought tooth and nail.
In the eighth round, I drew WFM Maggie Feng in a tight locked game.
Entering the final round, there was a four-way tie for first place. Two of the four players who were tied would face each other in the last round.
I faced Becca Lampman of Washington. She is the nicest person you will ever meet! I was going for the win but a blunder equalized my position and I had to settle for a draw. All four of the girls who were tied for first place drew the final round with 5.5 points.
I felt sad and disappointed thinking I would come in third place at least.
The organizers went to the fifth-place winner to hand her the cash prize, then the fourth-place winner, followed by the third-place winner. They mentioned the second-place winner and by now I was really sad thinking I had not even made the top five!
Suddenly they announced, "And the winner of the 2014 Girls Junior Closed Championship, and the winner of the $10,000 scholarship to the University of New Hampshire in Manchester -- and hopefully an invitation to the U.S. Women's Championship -- is Claudia Munoz!"
I cried! I was in shock, happiness, and disbelief. I was totally unaware that on tiebreakers I had won because I had the most wins!
I was handed my plaque and diploma as well as $1,250. Pictures were taken with the organizers and tournament directors.
I thank the organizers of this important event, Alex Relyea and Nita Patel, and the friendly tournament directors, Kenneth Ballou and Matt Phelps.
Last but not least, I thank Dean J. Michael Hickey, the Dean of the University of New Hampshire and its beautiful campus.
1. Do not focus on your opponent's ratings. Ratings do not play, people do!
2. Believe in yourself! You are someone important!
3. Never give up in a game, even if you blunder!
4. Do not worry where you start on a tournament, focus on what position you will finish instead.
The chess summer of 2014 -- unforgettable!
Here is a key game from the tournament. Enjoy!