At the recent 2017 World Youth in Brazil, Oak Park's Arthur Xu earned the silver medal in the Under 10 competition. With the World Cadets beginning this week, also in South America, Arthur and his supportive family were kind enough to share thoughts with the ICA website.

Arthur became the USA's U10 Official Representative ("OR") when Eric Li became the "Personal Rights" designee from winning a Gold medal in the Pan America Youth in July. As a result of this designation, Arthur received training from GM John Fedorowicz as assigned by US Chess.

Arthur's thoughts on the event:  Before I went to Brazil I thought I could have a really good chance to get Top Three.

"Because I worked hard on chess in the summer break I felt very confident at the tournament.

"When I won a game I felt optimistic toward getting a medal. When I drew or lost a game I worked through my games with my coaches and found out I needed to prepare my openings in better ways.

"The last round was critical, so I felt pretty nervous. But I tried to calm myself down and focused on the game instead of thinking about the medal.

"In general, it's a fun tournament although sometimes it's very intense."

Arthur's family contributed: "To compete at the WCCC 2017 is a valuable life experience for both the parents and players.

"As parents who do not play chess at all, what we could do is to support him unconditionally, in all aspects.

"Though Arthur felt confident for getting a medal before going to Brazil, we did not set such an expectation of him. We simply wanted him to do his best and play each game well.

"When he lost or drew a game we encouraged him to stay calm and keep confident. He was not happy about one game he drew and thought he could have won with some material advantages. We told him to get over the emotion and focused on next game. It's a tough competition, but it's so nice to meet the parents and kids from all over the world who love chess.

"We are very grateful for the support GM John Fedorowicz, GM Vladimir Georgiev, and GM Mesgen Amanov gave to Arthur in the tournament. Their commitment to coaching and guiding was greatly appreciated. "

At the WCCC 2017 top four boards played on the second floor and the rest played on the main floor in the playing hall.