Results Summary
Ireland was represented by Mateo Plaza-Reino (U12 Open) and Dayna Fergusson (U12 Girls) at the World Cadets U8, U10, U12 Championships 2016 in Batumi, Georgia. See also full Standings and Results and event website
This is their tournament report.
Day 11
Mateo
In the last game I was sick and I played a horrible match. My game was against a South African guy and I lost. Overall I'm not happy with the way I played because I was winning a lot of the games but ended up losing. I'm delighted I came because I'm winning rating points and because it was a really nice experience. My longest game lasted four hours and a half. I finished the tournament on three points which is less then I expected.
Dayna
Today was the last day of the tournament. I lost against Larisa Covrig from Romania. I was really disappointed because I was a pawn up and had a dominant position. I am happy with how I played in this tournament, but I was hoping to get better results. The competition was much stronger than last year. The top seed won in my section with 10 points. Two girls from India rated 1809 and 1836 took second and third places. Despite losing a few games, I've gained valuable experience and I have learned a few new ideas, which I am looking forward to try out in the next league game with Drogheda chess club!
Day 9 and 10
Dayna
Yesterday I played against Gabriela Feller from Brazil. I tried to surprise her early in the opening with a move she probably wasn't expecting. I drew in a rook vs 2 piece endgame. I was a bit disappointed with the result, because the endgame was slightly better for me. Today I played WCM Ronit Levitan from Israel. She was rated 1880. I managed to win a pawn early in the opening, and I saw a line which I thought was better for me but I found a possible reply, thinking I was worse after it. Later I found that I should have played it. I made a few weak moves and eventually lost the pawn I had won earlier. I resigned when rushing a move and I was very upset.
Mateo
Today I played against an unrated player from Kyrgyzstan. I played very well until the endgame when I accidentally played a few moves in the wrong order and instead of winning I drew. I'm really disappointed that I didn't win. Yesterday I played a Malaysian player, rated 1574 and I lost because of a mistake in the endgame again!!!!! I really hope I win my game tomorrow.
Day 7 and 8
Mateo
Yesterday I played a 1670 player from Lebanon. I unfortunately finished that game very early because I wasn't able to defend myself from a strong attack and he quickly won a piece and three pawns. Today I've played against Xander Leibert from Australia, who is rated 1650. I played very well until I blundered a pawn. I lost on move 35. The draw is out, and tomorrow I will be playing a 1574 rated player from Malaysia.
Dayna
Yesterday I played a tough opponent from Russia. We played what I had prepared in the morning but I didn't manage to remember the line she had gone into. I lost an endgame where she had a bishop superior to my knight. Today I was playing against Shani Almog from Israel. She played very well, but I won a pawn after pinning it to her rook and she was unable to defend it. Tomorrow I'm playing a girl from Brazil and I am hoping for another positive result.
Day 5 and 6
Dayna
In round 5 I played a tough game against Judit Juhasz, from Hungary. She was rated 1896. I made a strategic mistake and I lost.
Today I played Anna Lhotska from the Czech Republic. I got myself into a superior position but I lost focus for a moment and blundered. I was very disappointed. It's a free day tomorrow so I will have a good rest and I'll try to be more focused for the rest of the games.
Mateo
Yesterday I played FM Sedrani Ammar from the UAE, rated 1770. My opponent was very unlucky because when we was completely winning he blundered a piece and resigned.
Today I played an interesting game against Carlos Boulos, rated 1794. At one point I thought I was slightly worse but my opponent made a bad move and he ended up having to force a draw. I am very happy with my result. On Wednesday I will have a very hard game.
The weather wasn't so good today and when I got back to the hotel I was soaked.
Day 4
Ireland had a great day today!
I (Mateo) had slightly easier game against an unrated player from Kazakhstan and I won. I am looking forward to a game against a stronger player tomorrow. It is good to be on one point because if I was on zero points I might have had a bye.
Dayna was playing Sofia Bellahcene from France, rated 1616. Dayna set out a trap early in the game and won a pawn. Later, she won another pawn with a knight fork and her opponent resigned after losing a third. She was very happy with how the game went, considering Sofia was last years European champion U10.
Come on Ireland!
Day 2 and 3
Mateo
Today and yesterday I had tough games against fairly strong opponents. In both I was equal in the middle game but I didn't manage to win in the end. I will keep fighting until I finish this tournament.
Dayna
In round 2 I played a long game against Narayani Adane from India. I drew, but we were both convinced after a quick endgame analysis that I had taken a draw after playing the winning move.
Today I won against a very friendly girl from South Africa. I managed to create an isolated d-pawn, and captured it later in the endgame.
Day 1
We had a tough day today. Mateo was playing Faddey Mochalin from Russia and was outrated by 600 points. He played an exciting match which lasted four and a half hours but eventually lost. I was playing Parnian Ghomi from Iran and was outrated by over 400 points. She was under serious time pressure and as I tried to maintain the pressure I rushed a couple of moves and lost. Hopefully tomorrow's rounds will go better.
Travel day
Our trip started in the early hours of Monday morning, when we met up in Dublin airport. We flew to Budapest, and had a lovely time sightseeing. We played a few games with a member from the English delegation. We arrived in Batumi after a long journey and we are all excited and ready for the games tomorrow. The draw is not out yet, but it looks like we will be outrated by strong opponents.
