2015 Australian Junior - Day 1

The first day of the 2015 Australian Junior Championships was both a hectic, and rewarding, exercise. Five sections started today, Under 18, Under 16, Under 10 and Under 8 Open's, and the Under 10/8 Girls. The events all got off to a good start (with minimal crying in the younger age groups), and everything ran on schedule.
Canberra Grammar School is the venue, and so far has been an excellent facility. The playing halls are quite spacious, and there are analysis areas for the plethora of chess coaches that have descended on the tournament. The school has opened its canteen for the tournament, and with plenty of space, the players have enough to keep them occupied between rounds.
The older age groups played their first round today, while the younger sections got in 3 rounds (with a 60m+10s time control). Each event is 9 rounds, so the younger players only have 2 more days to play.
The main event is the Under 18 section, and today's round went according to script (ie top half beat bottom half). Nonetheless there were some interesting games, with board 1 and board 2 producing attractive finishes. With a small field of 14 players, and the rating spread between top and middle not that great, there should be tough games in almost every round.
Full results from the event, as well as all the bells and whistles, can be found at www.ajcc.org.au. Live coverage of the top boards from the Under 18 and 16's is also available from this page.


Chen,Pengyu - Koh,Cedric [D35]
AUS jr U18 Open Canberra (1.2), 17.01.2015