As I entered the Dewan Tunku Chancellor hall at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Tronoh, Perak a surge of excitement filled my body. Over 300 players from all over Malaysia had come to represent their state in the National Youth Chess Championship (NYCC). Although this was my first NYCC, I knew that it was definitely going to be a special one.
The term break had just begun. My family and I were busy preparing for our trip to Tronoh as there was an extremely long drive awaiting us. Even though it was a Saturday, the jam was insane. After being stuck on the road for nearly 5 hours, we had reached our hotel in Kampar. The long and grueling journey made us want to hit the hay.
I had woken up extremely early the next day to prepare for the competition. Although my opponent was a strong player, I was determined to win and tried my very best to identify his weakness. After a delicious breakfast in a local restaurant, we had a 20 minute drive to UTP. Upon reaching the university, I was truly flabbergasted. As I walked through the university, I could see a behemoth of a library filled with what seemed to be an endless supply of books to feast my eyes upon. In addition to this, I could see two sports cars with different logos and epic designs which were used by the Malaysia F1 racing team. However, what seemed to be the most stunning to me was the sheer size of the hall.
“Check your pieces, check your clock, black player starts the clock and white player makes the first move. You may start round 1. Good Luck!” exclaimed FIDE president - Akhramsyah Muammar as he opened the first round. As the hall became pindrop silent, I could feel the intensity grow. Different players waged war on the chess board and fell into deep thought. My game was going just as planned. After a grueling 2 hours, game 1 of the first day had finished in my favor.
I walked out of the room in a proud, confident manner as I started analyzing my game with my friends. And just as fast as it had started, day 1 had finally come to an end. It was a long and tiring day filled with mixed emotions but my effort did not go in vain. I was rewarded by my parents with delicious, fresh seafood in a famous local shop in Tanjung Tualang. Day 2 went in similar nature to Day 1, but since it was filled with alot more rounds, my brother, his friends and I were drained as each game took more and more of our energy.
Soon, we were on the last day of this truly special tournament. I had managed to make so many new friends, train with such strong players from different states all around Malaysia and learnt new techniques and styles that I have never before had the chance to do. Although this tournament had ended just as quickly as it had started, the memories I made there will never leave my heart. And with my upcoming National Challenger Tournament, this NYCC experience which I had during this term break has truly inspired me to work harder, dream bigger and to continue on my chess journey. My term break this year was filled with heartfelt memories, fun moments and some delicious food! To all Tenbians who are reading this, I hope your term break was just as special as mine.
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