After 4 rounds, Hong Kong’s delegate to the Youth World Championship U8, James Kwong Wing Ki, is showing strong performance: with 3 points out of 4 games James is number 20 out of 136. Today rounds 5 and 6 will be played.

Daily updates are on the WYCC site.

From Hong Kong we tried to interview James and his supporting family for an interim update.

Question 1: How does James feel?

James feels very excited to have this invaluable opportunity to play with those strongest chess player from the world in his age category. In addition, he also has good moments playing with those players from England And Scotland who stay in the same place, Hotel Arena, a 5 minutes walk from the 2 tournament venues,  Hotel Habakuk (where U8 play) and Hotel Dras (for the rest of the age categories).

Question 2: How is the environment?

The environment in Maribor is excellent. Here is a photo taken in the city with 2 female arbiters there. Lovely weather and not too cold. People are very nice too.

James in Maribor with Two Lady Arbiters

Question 3: excited that Kasparov will visit?

James is of course very excited about the coming of Kasprov. We heard that he will be here for 3 days. Hope we will have the opportunity to take a photo with him or even chat with him.

Question 4: Were you preparations in Hong Kong useful or is it all different here at the top?

We think the preparation was to provide a solid base for James as far as possible.  I hope this trip is a chess learning journey for James which will open his eyes to the chess world.

Question 5: We wish you good luck in the second half of the tournament. Any message for your friends at home?

We hope that we could share this wonderful experience and hi Miguel, hope you will be the next one to go.