[above, l-r — Sharon Daniel, Stephen Whatley, Lauren Weaver, Shlok Verma in Round 2]

Round 3 saw the delegation scoring 13, which was commendable given the tough competition we have in Prague. On a positive note, we have two players on 3/3 [1] and they will play on the live boards. Nishchal Thatte is playing board 2 in the U8s and Jacob Yoon is on board 2 for the U10s. In total, we have 14/28 players with a score of 50% or more after round 3.

With 6 rounds to go, other players might also pick up. I know I am being optimistic, but that is the best thing to be in a tough competition like the European Youth.

Notable winners (who played against higher seeds) were Ranesh Ratnesan, Jonathan Pein and Shlok Verma and we had nice wins from Anita Somton, Aditya Verma, Ximan Mao and Nilomi Desai.

There were some excellent draws, which gave great joy on Day 3. Alex Golding, James Golding, Stephen Whatley, Sharon Daniel, Jake Holton – all played excellent chess and shared points with opponents 200 to 400 grading points above them. Lauren Weaver and Victoria Sit shared points in an all-England encounter. We now have almost everyone having opened their account, and gearing up for giving their best.

It was extremely hot in Prague yesterday, but today we have had some light showers, which has made the weather excellent. Food remains an issue, especially if one is a vegetarian – they are looked upon as if they have arrived from a different planet! I myself am a vegetarian and, after eating salads at breakfast, lunch and dinner, I get the feeling I have attained Nirvana. Having said this, the dessert and fruits are excellent. The hotel rooms are very spacious and there are tennis courts, a swimming pool, table tennis and the option of walk in a Japanese garden when you feel the need to de-stress from the chess.

Please follow and encourage our players on the live boards

— Anand Verma