We are immensely proud of our juniors Nathasha Mekarapiruk (Nina) and Sasinat Tawankanjana (Kate), 15 and 13 years old respectively, who are representing Thailand National Women’s Team in the 45th World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.
What is a World Chess Olympiad?
It is the biggest competition in the world of chess that takes place every two years. All the top players in the world, including World’s No.1, Magnus Carlsen, are representing their national teams at the Olympiad. More than 190 countries have sent their National OPEN and Women’s teams to represent them in the 45th World Chess Olympiad. Each team consists of 5 players. In each round, 4 of the players are playing, while one of them is taking a rest. The tournament is long, 12 days, 11 rounds. Rest is much needed. The teams need to keep their energy and balance until the end.
How did Nina and Kate qualify for the Olympiad?
The players in the Thailand Team are selected through series of qualifying tournaments, which eventually result in a selection of the top 10 players that qualified for a final tournament, organized by the Thailand Chess Association (TCA). In the final, the top 5 players will make it in the team. Kate and Nina were the youngest among the finalists, but they showed consistency and determination. Their hard work has paid off, and now they are living their dream, proudly representing their country in the World’s biggest and most important competition.
Who else is in the team?
Thailand has a young team with a bright future. The top board is reserved for Thailand’s best chess lady, Sarocha Chuemsakul (20). She is from Chiang Mai, and she is a many-times Thailand Champion. Araya Prommuang (17) and Napat Khantree (17) also come from Chiang Mai, a city with so many talented young players. Nina (15) and Kate (13) are looking up to their more experienced colleagues, and working hard to catch up.
As mentioned above, there are OPEN and Women’s teams in the Chess Olympiad. OPEN, not Men, because in chess, women can also choose to play in the OPEN section of any tournament, against mostly men competition. Thailand also has a team in the OPEN section.
The Role of the Coach
The Chess Olympiad is a competition that is played on a Classical (Standard) time control. Each players has 120 minutes for the game, with 30 seconds increment for each move. One chess game can last even more than 5 hours. The games are played in the afternoons, one game per day. The morning is reserved for preparations. On this level, the games of the opponents can be found online. The role of the coach is to carefully analyze the opponents, find their strengths and weaknesses, and to create a suitable preparation plan and approach for the upcoming game.
As a former World Olympiad National Coach, I am happy that I can share my experience and to help the girls to achieve good results, and with that to contribute to the success of the Thailand Chess.
I will report on the results after the Olympiad is finished. Greetings from Budapest!
Go team Thailand! 🇹🇭