Another day, another FM

My section has 154 kids playing in it. Six of those kids hold the title of FIDE Master (FM), and in the first two rounds I've played two of them.  So much for having easy pairings in the early part of the tournament...

What? 1. ... c5?  So much for my preparation...

After defeating the co-champion from the Pan American Youth Festival in round 1, I was rewarded by having to face the Indian U-9 National Champion, Guha Mitrabha.  My Dad and I looked on the Internet and found several of his games.  In a half-dozen games as black, he played the Caro-Kann, and a particularly strange line.  With Steven, I prepared several variations against this opening, all of them leaving me with a very comfortable position.  Imagine my surprise when he answers 1. e4 with the Sicilian Defense.  All I could do was laugh to myself, thinking about the hours I wasted in preparation.  In the end, I managed to beat my second FM of the tournament, so I wasn't too upset about the lost time.  Tomorrow I play a boy from Hungary who also has won both of his games.  Only 27 (out of 154) players still have a perfect score, and the competition will just keep getting tougher and tougher.