Chess Team Experience - 18 Aug 2013

Posting by Xian Jin


That's me, the 3rd player on the left row! It was my first time participating in a chess team event, and I was very excited. My team and I represented our school in the 33rd Astro Merdeka Rapid Open Team Chess Championship on 17 and 18 August. Each team must have four players.  I was surprised at the number of participants, at least 400 people from different age groups.

 Before the match, I was very nervous about making mistakes in the competition. I had to read the rules from time to time because I have trouble remembering them.

What's different in this competition was that we initiated the participation on our own. We formed our own team and handled all the procedures by ourselves. At first, there was some misunderstanding over the procedures but at last we agreed and were happy with our playing positions. 

There were nine rounds altogether. After the first match, we lost. But we didn't give up hope. The next round, our team leader won. We encouraged him and that gave us some confidence. The next round, we won. Everyone was so happy. During the breaks, we talked about school, the competition and discussed our mistakes. We had a lot of fun.

The next couple of matches, and the day after, went on smoothly. Winning or losing is not the most important thing but I was grateful to be able to compete.

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