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DAY 2 AT THE SIYC

Day 2 was rather eventful, with unexpected losses mixed with some tough wins. 

Adrian was the first to go down, then Sam. Mitchell managed a planned draw as his opponent didn't know how to navigate the intricacies of the Queen's Gambit and exchanged pieces to a draw.

In the afternoon, things turned for the better after I reminded them to slow down. Nicholas won his second game through sheer grit, zeroing his opponent through the crosshair in the endgame for a nice checkmate.  Adrian won through a neat sacrifice which got him the exchange and won with a backrank mating motif netting a piece but the opponent allowed the checkmate. Sam took the game in stride and ground down his opponent Jarrel who blundered towards the end of the 2nd hour.

Hopefully they will all settle in and let their talent shine through in the games tomorrow.



To lose a game in 8 moves then struggling till move 40 is not my idea of a game. I have stressed time and again knowing the lines to avoid any such mishaps, but I guess it does take a loss to truly jolt the mind to do something about memorising opening lines. Hopefully, they will recover in time.
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