Home Page 
Chess Life Magazine 2014 May Claudia's Journey to India: Finishing Strong
Chess Life Magazine 2014 May Claudia's Journey to India: Finishing Strong | Claudia's Journey to India: Finishing Strong |
|
|
| By Claudia Munoz | |
| October 21, 2014 | |
 I am back on U.S. soil after having spent 16-days in
India competing in the World U20 Girls' Junior Chess Championship! In my last
article I described my performance up to the halfway point of this 13 round
tournament and our day off in Mumbai, so I will start my account from the 8th
to 13th rounds! STRONG FINISH As I sat down for the 8th round I decided to look at the second half of this event as an entirely separate tournament, a six round tournament to be specific and mentally that really helped me. In the following six rounds I faced representatives of France, Belgium, India, China, Russia and Hungary, scoring three wins, two draws with only one loss against Hungary. With this strong second half I finished the tournament with 6 of 13 points while increasing 75 FIDE rating points as 11 of my opponents were higher rated than me, some by more than 300 points. FACING HEALTH ISSUES During my 10th round win against WFM Parveen Hilmi of India, I was sneezing and I felt body chills.
7670
A thermometer
purchased at a local pharmacy confirmed that I did have a slight fever. My body
was sore. I did not share this on my official website or to my social media
followers. I slept earlier and the following day my coach limited my preparation
session to one hour so that I could get additional rest prior to my game with Karina
Azimova of Russia (FIDE 2063), which ended in a draw. Afterwards I took some
medication and went back to bed. When I woke up the follow day I felt ready and
it was noticeable when I played Manli Lui of China (FIDE 2039) scoring my
fourth win in the event.
7669 COMPLETING SCHOOL ASSIGNMENTS DURING THE TOURNAMENT I have always been an honor roll student as I am currently a member of the National Honor Society, I say this to credit the fact that I am a straight "A" student. About half of the girls attending this event were college students while the other half were high school students like me. This event is a 13-round event. After doing the math I have missed 15 school days which included two days travel time each way along with the jet lag recuperation. One month ago my parents informed our school about this trip and we received full cooperation, however I am still responsible for turning in my assignments. During the tournament I worked several hours a day on school assignments. Keep in mind I also had at least two hours of coaching preparation. So my trip was not dedicated to sightseeing except for the official rest day. My 4th round game lasted close to six hours, so adding school work and coaching preparation there went at least 10 hours of my day. I ask that reader consider this every time a scholastic player competes oversees before hurtful comments are made. MORE AMERICAN REPRESENTATION IS NEEDED I was also amazed to learn that I was only the second American girl to participate in this event in the last 4 years. Why do so few American girls participate in this type of International tournament? Some would say finances is the greatest obstacle. I overcame that with an online fundraiser on my website www.claudiamunoz.com that activated 49 people to sponsor me with over $3,000 dollars in one month. My parents paid the difference so my mother could accompany me. 
One thing is for certain,
if we as Americans want to become serious international contenders, we must
face other countries on their home turf and not just once a year. During this
event I competed against 5-opponents that have represented their countries in
the Olympiad, as a 16-year old teen, I never had that opportunity here at home,
I had to travel abroad to do that and I realized that as Americans we can
successfully compete overseas. So how can we achieve this? I have several ideas
that I will be commenting on in the next couple of weeks in my website on this
issue.
SPECIAL THANKS I thank Relyea Chess for having organized the 2014 U.S. Girls' Junior Chess Championship that allowed me to represent the United States in this World U20 Girls Junior Championship. Organizers are an essential part of American chess. I also thank Franc Guadalupe as well as the United States Chess Federation for their support. I thank Jennifer Shahade for inviting me to share my trip with the CLO's readership. Last but not least I thank my 49 sponsors who dared to "click" on my PayPal button in my website. I created a FB Sponsor's Page for them where we all shared our thoughts several times a day becoming a close knit community. I thank the organizers who helped us with our VISAS with the Indian Consulates in Houston and New York, we appreciate their hard work. I thank my parents for supporting my dreams and aspirations. I am so blessed in having them in my life.
So what is next for me? I will become a
National Master, I will become a FIDE Master and I will play in the United
States Women's Championship in St. Louis. I am on a mission and whether I win,
lose or draw, I will enjoy each step I take!
 Pictures Courtesy of Claudia Veronica Munoz of www.claudiamunoz.com 2014 U20 GIRLS' CHESS RESULTS 2014 WORLD JUNIOR CHESS RESULTS OFFICIAL SITE OF WCM CLAUDIA MUNOZ |