In the under 8’s tournament Noah Rose scored another 2/3 to finish day 2 on 4/6 with Elizabeth Williams following closely behind on 3/6. As the draw began to get much harder for those who had won some of their early rounds, day 2 would prove to be a challenging test for quite a few of the Queensland Juniors. Tuesday the 15 th saw rounds 4- 6 of the under 8 & 10 tournaments as well as the dreaded double round day in the older divisions. In the under 18 division Michael Ostapenko was the only Queenslander to win his first round. The under 10 division was led by Henry Liu and Zeriu Xing on 3/3 with Micah Young only half a point on 2.5/3. In the under 8’s Noah Rose and Elizabeth Williams led the charge with 2/3 after the first day of play, with Adam Dullaway not far behind with 1/3. All seemed to go rather well in the end with 1 round played in the under 16 and 18 divisions and 3 rounds played in the under 8’s and under 10 divisions. Day one saw a lot of upsets as well as some overwhelming looks from some of the under 8’s. Once this was complete the draws were published outside the tournament hall and players were asked to take their seats in the tournament hall, while all parents, coaches and spectators were asked to leave the hall or view from the upstairs gallery area. The opening ceremony commenced around 10am, where we were welcomed and told a little bit about the history of this great tournament, followed by the introduction of the organizers and arbiters. This room is also used as a base for family members awaiting the players to return after each game. Each state has their own analysis room where coaches help the children prepare for their next opponents and for analysing previous games to find possible improvements for future games. Once inside, we lined up to confirm registration, before players, parents and coaches took the chance to explore the tournament hall and analysis rooms. Upon arrival to the venue there were quite a few signs directing us to the correct building. Monday morning, we made our way to Trinity Grammar School where the tournament is being held. Byron and I then went sight seeing around Sydney which was very enjoyable. Byron (along with a few other Queensland juniors) had just competed in the Oceanic Youth Chess Championships in Auckland and flew direct to Sydney to take part in another major chess tournament. Once I arrived in Sydney, I met with Byron Morris who would be in my care for the first half of the tournament. The first day of the trip began with a 4:00am wake up to get ready to make it to Gold Coast Airport for a 6am flight to Sydney. These memories are not all about the chess, but are quite often related to the friends made or fun had in between games – these things all add to the overall experience.

I, like many other Australian chess players, have very fond memories of taking part in this tournament both within my home state, as well as travelling interstate to compete. This event is almost always well attended by keen Queensland Juniors looking to take on their interstate counterparts for a chance to win an age title. There are 12 different classical tournaments that run from the 14th – 22nd of January – with the specific days dependent upon the age group. This year the Australian Junior Chess Championships is being held at Trinity Grammar School, Summer Hill, NSW.

The event runs annually in a different city each year, after bids are put in to the Australian Chess Federation. The Australian Junior Chess Championships was first held back in 1949.

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