First time arbitrating a chess tournament
In October last year, I got my national arbiter license, my motivation was to try to understand more about tournament rules, but right after I was invited to be an arbiter in the national championship. At the time it was very bittersweet because qualifying for the national championship was one of my main goals last year and I failed at that.
But at the end of the day, it was a really good experience, I enjoyed watching the games, I played a lot of blitz, and got to know a little more about that part of my country (where the tournament was held).
The tournament took place on the island of Santo Antão, in Ponta d’Sol.
Apart from the second day, it was one round per day, and the rounds were at 19 hours so we had the whole day to explore the island.
We had the pleasure of having FIDE’s president attend the closing ceremony, and I received my first Fide Arbiter norm from him.
This experience was great not only because I got to understand more about chess tournaments but also because it was a fun chess vacation, where I got to relax, play, and study a lot of chess. This year I’m even more motivated to be at this tournament but this time as a player. It’s going to be a long year of hard training and hopefully, I can qualify for it.