2018 Olympiad, Batumi, Georgia!
We are once again attending the Olympiad, this time in beautiful Batumi, Georgia. We will report on the country, the tournament and off course the amazing effort by the junior players from around the world.
Girl Power!
Imagine living in a dream location; tropical climate, delicious food and relaxed Caribbean atmosphere. Surely if that is your every day life, would you be competitive enough for a tournament like the Olympiad? Well you can bet your bottom dollar these girls are! Today we meet with three fascinating ladies, 17-year-old WCM Polina, 15-year-old Trinity and 15-year-old Daijah. Just to give you an idea how tough these women are – Polina plays on board one in the Open team and Daijah plays on board one in the Women’s team.
Meet the next generation.
Throughout the Olympiad we have introduced you to young players up to 18 years of age and even though that is very young, the next generation of players is already on their way! Today we meet 10-year-old Samantha Edithso from Indonesia. Currently rated 1805, she is quickly on her way to become a new face of chess. She has been attracting a fair bit of publicity and you may have already watched the interview that Chessbase India published earlier this week, but we were delighted to have the opportunity to chat to Samantha after another win. We sat down with her and her coach Peter Long.
Playing at the Top!
We can hear you thinking: “What would it be like to play against the top players of the world” and “Surely you have to be older and more experienced to be playing with the legends”. Well, today we get to know one of the teams that has been playing at the top during this Olympiad – Vietnam!
Reignited passions for the ancient game
We all know about Syria, the country that has been in the news for the last few years. Unfortunately, not because it has been going so well, but rather because war has destroyed normality. Within the chess community we find comradery and friendship, and an Olympiad creates a perfect opportunity to find out more about the people from Syria and how chess is an integral part of their world.
An Australian Connection…
You may be wondering how we decide which juniors to interview, as there are so many amazing players walking around? Well sometimes, they just catch our eye, sometimes we have heard or read good things about them and sometimes it is a chance introduction. That was the case in our next story. We met up with the players from Qatar, because they played against Australia in round one , a country we are all familiar with, but don’t know too much about. The very friendly players asked us to take some photos of them as well and the conversation commenced.
Juniors that keep on growing
You may remember that two years ago we interviewed Tagir and his coach from Kyrgyzstan. Their infectious personalities meant we wanted to say hello again this time around. Turns out, chess is booming in Kyrgyzstan and once again do they have juniors playing in both the Open and Women’s team. So on a cloudy morning in Batumi, we caught up with 16 year old Ruslan Sezbekov, 17 year old Begimay Zairbek and coach Talant Mamytov in their hotel lobby and asked them about their dreams.
Making brave decisions for chess
When we do these interviews, we find out amazing stories. We hear about the players perspectives and are provided with a glimpse of what is like for a junior from another country. Imagine what you would do if attending the Olympiad would mean you get an ‘invalid’ on your report card and miss out on scholarships, because you miss the exams? Would you choose school or chess?
Dreams come true for Curacao!
Imagine starting to play chess at the age of 9 years old in 2011 and being crowned the National Junior Champion in 2016 at the age of 14! That incredible story is not only a dream come true, but also the real story of David Pietersz from Netherlands Antilles.
Meet the youngsters from South Korea!
We had the pleasure to meet with the juniors from the Korean Open and Women’s team. Meet 15 year old CM Taehyung Kan, 14 year old Yubin, 14 year old WCM Seyeon Lee and their coach Sanghoon Lee.
Meet the real Queen of Katwe (and other interesting facts)
Today we will start telling you about the more interesting stories behind the pairings and player names. One of these stories is our connection with Uganda. We know about these amazing teams through our Rotary affiliation, where the Rotary Fellowship of Chess has been setting up chess programs at schools with the assistance of fellow Rotarian Christopher Major. And on board 1 they have the one and only Queen of Katwe playing!
5 Reasons to attend the Chess Olympiad
You may be wondering, why have you travelled all the way to Georgia, south of Russia, to attend the Chess Olympiad? You are not an official player, you are not an official arbiter, you are not an official delegate – so why take the time away to go? Well that is easy! Let me tell you why!
Chess Olympics!
In this first edition of the blog, chess coach Alex talks about the origins of the chess Olympics.