By Sheila Dines

The trip to Austria was phenomenal. From the moment the aeroplane lifted off my vibes told me that it was my turn to win. I had this strange feeling that I was going to do really well and maybe make history. As we approached Graz airport, I sat looking down at the fields below feeling excited and apprehensive, wondering what the 10 days would be like.

The coach ride from Graz to Murek took just over 1 hour and gave the opportunity to see some of the Austrian countryside. Our hotel was just outside Murek and it really was fabulous. Wow!! I thought as we entered the premises and my team mates seemed just as impressed as myself. The people at the hotel were very friendly and the food was very good. It was fun trying to order food in a different language. The hotel had it’s own tennis school with outdoor and indoor tennis courts kept in peak condition. We were allowed to use the tennis courts which gave a good contrasting break from the chess.

Now about the chess:
Each day there were structured coaching sessions and end of game analysis for every team member. These sessions were enjoyable and proved to be very beneficial. The hotel and staff were very supportive in transporting us daily to and from the tournament hall. The tournament hall was very spacious, cool and comfortable. There were no restrictions to spectators so there were many people moving about quietly and watching the games at close quarters. Everyone was very friendly. I soon grew accustomed to the routine and enjoyed the tournament so much that the 10 days seemed to fly by.

I remember all of my games, especially the last game because I knew then that with skill and good fortune in this last game I could win the European Union U12 Girl Champion title.

The game was against the number 3 seed Hungarian boy, Andras Veszpremi. One of his team mates, a girl named Erdos Boglarka seeded number 4, was also in a position to win the girls trophy. I’d previously played her in round 3 with a drawn result. The situation at the last round was; if Erdos and I both lost, Erdos would take the title and gold trophy on the tie break rule of sum of opponent’s scores. My last game lasted almost 4 hours and finished with a knight and pawn ending in a drawn position where neither player could make progress. We finished fairly equal on time with minutes to go. Erdos lost her game so my draw was sufficient to win the title and gold trophy.

This fulfilled an ambition I’ve nurtured since I first began to play tournament chess and words cannot explain my feelings in achieving it. That evening we all celebrated at the hotel and everyone including the hotel staff made a fuss of me. The hotelier gave me a CD with photo’s of the celebrations and I made a short speech thanking everyone for their help and support in making this one of my most memorable tournaments. I felt so proud to have been selected as part of the team to represent England and to be bringing the gold trophy home for England.

The next morning the sadness of packing and making ready to leave was lifted by the suggestion of a last minute search for snakes by the lake. We were fortunate to find a snake and I managed to take a picture of it. The coach arrived early afternoon to take us to Graz airport. The hotelier and staff all came out to see us off. It was sad to leave but I was pleased in the knowledge that I was leaving with the title and trophy. I’m now looking forward to representing England again.