My Journey at the All-Girls Chess Tournament: A Story of Challenges and Growth

From April 12th to 14th, I attended the 2024 KCF (Kasparov Chess Foundation) All-Girls Chess Tournament held in Chicago, Illinois. 512 players from 34 states attended this tournament, separated by 6 sections: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18.

I played in the U16 section, and entered the tournament ranked 10th in a field of 71 players. Before the tournament, I knew that I had to play well and focus as I was missing a day of school and spending my weekend solely on chess. I also knew that I would face many underrated opponents throughout the games, so I couldn't let down my guard when playing.

In my first round, I played Ibukunoluwa Kolawole from NY, rated 677. Even though she was rated more than 1000 points lower than me, I still found it difficult to win as it took me three hours and endless calculation to transpose my position into a winnable endgame.

On the next day, I faced 1233 rated PA player Anastasia Catelli, and we played the Sicilian Defense. After the first opportunity of a tactic, I eventually found a winning move and ended up with an extra piece on the board. These two first rounds taught me that I would be facing many talented players that were severely underrated.

I remember checking my phone and noticing my name at the top of the pairings list, even though I wasn't the top player. I saw that I was playing NY WIM Iris Mou in the third round, boasting a rating of 2307. Immediately I realized that this would be a tough game, and that I had little chance of winning or even drawing. After calming myself down and entering the game with a positive mindset, I gave up a pawn for free and Iris quickly converted the position into a winning queen-pawn endgame. Although the result was expected, I knew that I had tried my best in the game and gave it my all. After the tournament was finished, I noticed that USChess had posted my game with Iris on the report! I learned a lot from the annotations listed on the little board.

After the third round, I felt a little bit down because I realized I was down a point and I haven't faced many of the top players, but knew the next few rounds would be less challenging compared to playing Iris. I played Erica Burton from NY, rated 1274 in the fourth round. I hit some calculating challenges, but ended up winning after a long endgame.

In the fifth round, I was paired with NY Rose Morden with a rating of 1658. She was the hardest opponent after Iris as she defended really well even though we were both low on time. Even though I won the exchange in the middle game by trapping her rook, I wasn't able to convert my position into a winning game in the end. I felt like I could have pushed harder in some places and made more efforts to find a way to win.

Going into the last round of the tournament, I knew that I was required to win in order to place in top ten. I got paired with 1440 rated Emily Tai from NY. Even though her rating was lower than mine, I was a bit hesitant about being too confident for the last game as she drew a 1900 in her second round, which is a statement for sure that she was underrated. When playing Emily, I tried to launch a fierce attack, opposite of my usual style of play, and it worked! I was really impressed with myself for trying something new in an actual game with high stakes, and I won a queen pawn endgame up a few pawns. Although I wasn't expecting to place very high I was surprised as I exceeded my initial ranking and clinched 6th place with a score of 4.5/6, tying with 3rd.

After not playing in an all-girls tournament for a while, I enjoyed the supportive environment and the collective spirit of the tournament. I got to meet many new people that I've never talked to before, and seeing such a large amount of female chess players inspires me. I aspire to return next year, and play in the challenging U18 section with more experience and hopefully excellent results!