2023 Australian Junior Chess Championship Report

In January 2023, a group of 28 kids and their families travelled to Melbourne to participate in the Australia Junior Championship.

20 of the players ranked in the top 20 in their age group.

Some of the kids also did very well at the Australian Junior Problem Solving

Competition.

It was a great experience for our chess kids to travel together ever since COVID

stopped national events 2 years ago. They enjoyed friendship, games and

many other fun things in Melbourne.

As a group, JZMC has made great progress over the years and I look forward to more stories and achievements next year!

From Ethan:

I was very excited to see my chess friends and Jilin, but I knew I couldn’t be too ecstatic.

We had two great weeks over there, exploring the wonderful Melbourne and analysing my games. I was very happy overall to see my rating go up even though I thought I had quite a  bad tournament point score. 

I realised that it's more of the experience than the rating. 

I would like to thank everyone's parents, those who gave us a lift, as well as my wonderful chess teacher Dr Zhao and Jilin. 

That is me now, played between two choices like a lion in a cage.  There are plenty of more ‘addicting’ games than chess such as video games; and I currently of my own right, I need to practice more chess than the other blue screen light option.

I believe that chess is way more than just a simple 64-square board with black and white squares; chess is a ‘game’ where players become the general of their game.and they are responsible for their choices. But sometimes you fail. You fail your own men. But that grit that you find in you tells you to get back up. Chess is a game. Chess is a lesson. Chess is the life.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Arbiter and everyone else who helped develop the tournament; AJCC and the Oceania Zonal.

There is a force that controls all your decisions. It influences how you think and feel every moment you're alive. It determines what you will do and what you will not do. It determines how you feel about anything that occurs in your life. That force is your beliefs.- Jack Robbins.

From Ethan’s family:

This was the first time Ethan attended AJCC as well as for Zonal, it was long planning. From the day that we heard it from his Chess teacher Jilin, we (me and Ethan) were both excited.. 

Although Ethan had played a few chess tournaments outside Sydney, I was still anxious of the two weeks away from home, it was fortunate that there were other families from JZMC going too, many of them I knew of, it made it much easier, I had tips from other parents regarding the accommodation, transport, eating places, to group T-shirts, as well as coaching camp by Jilin (and lovely Cameron, Brandon)  just for these kids to prepare for AJCC.

This year AJCC was more than I expected, it was well organized, the place was spacious with places for the siblings to run and parents to chat, even the canteen lady was helpful and lovely, Peter who behind all these had done such a wonderful job. 

I really appreciated the allocated analyzing room, it was private however energetic. Brandon had put great efforts in helping the kids getting their next game ready, as well as helping them look into the games whether they lost or won. Ethan commented that Brandon had the latest chess software to find opponents' games.

Although still had the jet lag from the overseas trip, Ethan had fought hard and played all his games slowly ( Thank you Jilin), he learned from many interstate chess players with higher rating or more experience , he knew what he should improve on after the tournament.

After Ajcc, us and three other Chess families along with coach Jilin and Cameron, enjoyed a long night at the Australian Open. It was the highlight of my trip, seeing the world's top tennis players, with years of hard training, win or lose, just trying their best, one ball at a time, one game at a time.

It was time for the Oceania Zonal, and it was getting tough for families who had been there for over a week, I was homesick, Ethan’s little sister was tired of waiting around the school, most of all Chinese new year was during that time too, But looking around, there were so many positive energy around me, Jilin had been encouraging us and always been a great leader we can rely on, beautiful parents of Daniel, Benji, Jonny, Michael, Ben (and many more) were so supportive and made me (and Ethan, Eva) felt like their extended family. When one of the boys felt down after a game, other boys helped him to get up and ready for the next fight. You really could see their beautiful friendships and trust shone through. 

Ethan’s coaches played in the Zonal and that made him feel humbled, how wonderful he could do tournaments with his coaches! He also met players he knew before from QLD, WA, SA and chatted with them, many of them were at the higher level, and that gave him more motivation to be like them.

The venue was a lovely one for Zonal and again seeing Peter running off his feet to make sure everything was running smoothly, making us feel so fortunate to be part of this  tournament. 

Although Ethan was disappointed by getting 3.5/ 9 at Zonal, he managed to checkmate or draw three CMs, it helped to improve his rating which surpassed his goal. Ethan had shown resilience and perseverance throughout the tournaments  that I hope he can carry through in life.

It was an unforgettable experience, Ethan and I were lucky to have the opportunity , doing what he loves most, with much supports to attend both Ajcc and Zonal. It was a valuable  journey which helped us grow and connect, connect as mother and son, connect with other chess families, with coaches and players.