Daily Bulletin — Day 2

Friday, 15 May 2026 — Round 1  •  South African Delegation  •  17th African Youth Chess Championships  •  Entebbe, Uganda

Dear players and parents,

Round 1 is in progress as this reaches you. Delays in the first round of a tournament are common — registration, late arrivals, last-minute pairings. The two routines below apply from now through Round 9. Read this while your child is playing, and share it with them after the game.

Today — What Now

• Round 1 is under way. Round results and Round 2 pairings will follow on WhatsApp once the round is complete.
• After your child's game: bring the scoresheet to the drop-in spot near reception.
• Tonight: early dinner, water, sleep early.
• Round 2 begins at 09:00 tomorrow — a tight turnaround after a late Round 1.

Today's Focus — Two Routines That Will Save Points

For the rest of the tournament, build two habits. Both are simple. Both will save more points across the remaining rounds than any opening preparation:

• A pre-round routine — before you sit at the board.
• An in-game routine — used on every single move.

Pre-Round Routine — 10 Minutes of Tactics

Athletes warm up before competing. Chess players should too. A cold brain misses tactics in the first 10 moves of any game — and those first 10 moves often set the tone for the rest of the game.

In the 45 minutes before each round starts, find a quiet spot and spend ten minutes solving tactics on Lichess.

How to do it:

• Go to lichess.org/training on your phone (free, no account required).
• Solve puzzles at your own rating level — not above, not below.
• Stop at 10 minutes. More than 20 will tire you before the game.
• Last 5 minutes before the round: put the phone away, drink water, walk to the playing hall.

The puzzles wake up the part of your brain that spots forks, pins, skewers, and back-rank tricks. The same patterns are about to appear on your board.

In-Game Routine — The Blunder Check

"The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made."
— Savielly Tartakower

Most points lost at youth level are not lost to bad strategy. They are lost to single-move blunders — moves played in five seconds that hang a piece or walk straight into a tactic.

The fix is a three-step routine, used on every move:

STEP 1. Choose your move.
Decide what you want to play. Calculate. Pick the move.

STEP 2. STOP. Do not play it yet.
Sit on your hands for ten seconds. Do not touch the piece. Do not write anything.

STEP 3. Ask: what can my opponent do in response?
Look for their CHECKS, their CAPTURES, and any new THREATS they can create against you. Only then play the move.

Used on every move from now onwards, this habit will save you at least one game across the remaining rounds. For some of you, several.

Every Round — Four Things to Get Right

• Be at your board five minutes before the round. Default time is 30 minutes — do not test it.
• Phone is OFF and out of the playing hall. The arbiters will enforce this. Do not be the delegation that forfeits a game on a phone violation.
• Shake your opponent's hand. Say good luck. It costs nothing and steadies your own nerves.
• After your game: come to the drop-in spot near reception. Bring your scoresheet.

For Parents

From Round 2 onwards, the drop-in spot near reception is the best place to find me face-to-face. Once your child has walked into the playing hall and the round has started, come down the hall and I will be there for the duration of the round.

For Round 1 today: I will be at the drop-in spot from now until the last SA game finishes, then available there for players bringing their scoresheets.

Tomorrow at a Glance — Saturday 16 May, Rounds 2 and 3

Tomorrow is the first double-round day: Round 2 at 09:00, Round 3 at 15:00. Tomorrow's bulletin will focus on managing energy between the two games. Tonight after Round 1: hydrate, eat properly, sleep early.