The Thailand Youth Championship for 2023 finished yesterday, after 5 days of chess battles. Our team counted a record number of 23 juniors. After the tournament, 4 of our players can proudly call themselves Thailand Champions, while 14 of the players won awards.
The championship went great for Kate, Proud, Gavin and Daisy, who become Thailand Champions in their respective categories. Kate repeated her last year’s success in G12 category, winning the championship with a perfect 7/7 score! Proud won her second champion title, this time in the G10 category (last year in Ayutthaya she won the G08 category). Gavin (U10) and Daisy (G08) won their first titles on their first ever championship! They had never before played any classical time-control tournament.
In the U08 category for boys, JJ showed a great progress and his newly found attitude toward the games landed him in second place, winning the 1st Runner-up trophy. Well done JJ! In the same category Chin and Haru ended up tied for 4th and 5th Runner-up, with the medal going to Chin. Aden (U06) played his first tournament and he got the 3rd Runner-up medal.
Ava (G10) and Panerai (G08) won the 2nd Runner-up trophies in their categories, completing the amazing score of our girls on the tournament – three Champion titles and two 2nd Runner-ups.
In the U10 category where Gavin won his first Champion title, Keith also showed remarkable improvement and won the 3rd Runner-up medal. For the rest of our juniors in that category this was their first classical tournament, and we want to congratulate them for their well-played games and fighting spirit. Well done Ray, Tod and Ruud!
In the U12 category Anda showed a great improvement and won the 2nd Runner-up trophy. He is getting closer to a champion level each day and next year he will be a true contender for the title. Our other boy, Tod had his first tournament too, and he can be very proud of the way he fought and the games that he played.
In the U14 category Pac won the 2nd Runner-up trophy, while Rafael got the 3rd Runner-up medal. In the U16 our champion Dhi had a rough tournament after a long absence due to school exams. He landed on the 3rd Runner-up spot, a result that doesn’t match his level, but it is an objective reality considering the situation. We had 3 first-timers, Taemin, Daniel Gunn and Palm, who did well and are eager to play more tournaments and to improve their levels.
Finally, after the very good performance in the Thailand National Championship, that finished a day before the Thailand Youth Championship, Pine did not had enough energy for the exhausting 2-rounds per day tempo. His level and concentration dropped significantly and he wasn’t able to fight for the title. He landed on the 4th Runner-up spot.
We would like to thank the Thailand Chess Association for the excellent organization of the event. Big thanks to our wonderful and supportive parents community for sending the children for a 5-day long tournament. The experience, confidence and motivation that comes with it are priceless. Thank you all!
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