What results should I expect?
Junior tournaments overseas tend to be very strong. Each country sends some very good players and some for experience.
In the lower age divisions, when many players do not have FIDE ratings, players are listed alphabetically. This can lead to some random pairings. In the first few rounds your child might play someone who is going to get a medal, or they might play a player around their own level.
It is sensible to not stress over how your child is going relative to another Australian player – after 11 rounds it tends to even out. Unless your child is a superstar, don’t be stressed if they lose multiple games in a row – it is very common. Even if they are a superstar in Australia they will be playing superstars from other countries.
If your child achieves a score of more than 50% they have done well. 50% is often an excellent score. Most Australians tend to score in the band between 3.5 out of 9 and 5.5 out of 9. A score of more than that can be achieved by our top players in an age group.
If they score less than that, they will still have achieved excellent experience by playing the sort of tough opposition they might not get at home. Indeed, all children in these events begin to realise what can be achieved by children their age.