English Chess Federation

4th European Union Youth Chess Championship U14, U12 & U10

Mureck, Austria, 8-17 August

Day Four

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Saravanan Sathyanandha is now leading the U12 section with the only 100% record.

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8:57a.m. Most of the Team Mates are in the coaching room. They have been up for an average of 0.6 hours. Happily the coaching room is back and dedicated to Boggle, for Team Mates and Coaches alike. Not really, in fact not at all. Ok, two of the Coaches are hard to tell apart but on the whole the three coaches are the tall, adult ones and the Team Mates are the small, childlike ones. Simple really. But worthy of more than just a cursory glance methinks. What do you think? Time for the by-now traditional “Focus on the Coaches” episode? No? Ok, here goes then…

Yep, for all their faults [DON’T go there – ed] which are easily apparent especially as I make them up and post them on the worldwide interwebby, there is no upside to the Coaches, thus proving that not every cloud has a silver lining. Note that the converse never was true, as not all silver linings have clouds. Think of the silver lining to the wrappers for sticks of chewing gum.

But I digress as my thoughts skitter harmlessly amongst the rotting detritus of ‘O’ Level Home Economics [Just sussed it: with “skedaddle” yesterday and skitter today you think you are ahead of the game as it is only day 4 so there are 5 reports still to write. Well, I won’t have it – ed]. And as Reggie and CJ once said: “We didn’t get to where we are today.”

So, the Coaches. Under the watchful eye of Mr Chips [which one is that and what does the other one do whilst the first one is watching? – ed], the Coaches are triumvirate, at least in number. For security reasons, let’s refer to them by their allotted serial numbers: Coach #18, Coach #27 and Coach #9. Suffice to say that #18 is “Wary”, #27 is “Here I am” and #9 is… good question, too soon to tell!

And like Ernie, their lot is not an easy one. For a mere trifle they give up their lives for 11 days to live like students and work like workaholics. I’d need a load of money as well. But I guess for them, such a rise in living standard is worth fighting for. The average day-in-the-life-of-a-Coach goes something like this:

07:59 am: form rambunctious queue outside dining room waiting for the 08:00am start of the all-you-can-eat-for-free buffet breakfast.

08:59 am: push plate away with huge sigh of regret and dash for the 09:00am start of Team Mate coaching, comprising 4 x 1-on-1 coaching sessions of one hour each.

12:59 pm: cut short final coaching session to dash to dining room for the all-you-can-eat-for-free buffet lunch (and it is delicious).

02:59 pm: push plate away with huge sigh of regret and wonder if attending the start of today’s round, scheduled for 15:00 and two miles away, is out of the question.

02:59 pm: conclude that it is, retrieve plate and continue with lunch.

03:59 pm: arrive at playing hall just in time to start reviewing coachees games as they finish.

06:59 pm: form rambunctious queue outside dining room waiting for the 07:00pm start of the all-you-can-eat-for-free buffet dinner.

08:59 pm: mysteriously disappear just 10-15 minutes before the pairings for the next day’s round appear.

Repeat from 07:59 am ...

Actually, when it is laid out so clinically before you, you start to wonder if a mere trifle is not a little generous. Indeed,

according to the thesaurus they have little, if anything, in common. Ok, the ‘r’ and the ‘e’. But that is all.

In all seriousness, when it comes to the coaching, the best thing I can do is repeat Callum’s eloquent words at the end of his commentary on his Game of the Round in Round 3: “an impressive piece of opening preparation. Cheers Adam!” It is particularly pleasing for both Coach and Team Mate when the preparation pays off so directly and immediately, however it is not always the case. Remember that whilst the coaches research the next round opponents to see what openings they play, the opponents can likewise look up our Team Mates and will be working with their coaches (second rate compared to ours I’m sure, but not to be under-estimated) to determine strategies for wrong-footing the Team Mate.

But even where the coaching appears not to have benefited the Team Mate in the immediate next round, it is hugely beneficial to and appreciated by the Team Mates: stories are legion [“Legion”? Bit poncy – ed] start again …stories abound of Team Mates going on to successfully use a line, trap or novelty learnt through just such coaching but a year or two later! So it is never a wasted effort – let’s hear it for the Coaches! And that #27 is not bad at tennis either.

Ding! Ding! Seconds out, Round 4 (So now the chess bit):

As you know, Round 4 is the first to feature an Eng vs Eng pairing. But it also features Team Mates on both Boards 1 and 2 of the U12 section (Saravanan and Victor respectively) and Board 2 of the U14 section (Callum). So quite a big day then! And it shows – there are no games finishing quickly today. If it wasn’t for the incessant rain then the loitering RAs could have gone for a nice long stroll and leisurely window shop (window shopping only because out here the shops all shut from lunchtime onwards on a Saturday – how quaint!). As it is, only Mr Chips on his bicycle and #18 (dangerously) on foot brave the trip to Mureck outwith the safety and comfort of the Fabiani taxi.

From a Coach’s perspective it seems after an hour or so as if there isn’t going to be much to celebrate, but then a number of Team Mates are able to turn the tables on their opponents [Literally? Is that allowed? – ed] so an overall score of 6½ out of a possible 11 points is actually a very good outcome, although Callum losing on board two in the U14 section is a big disappointment for all. But Ed gets off the mark with a good win, and both Saravanan and Victor win! So Saravanan is now the only U12 with a 100% score of 4 out of 4, and Victor is second as the only U12 just a half-point behind. Looks like an Eng vs Eng match on Board 1 tomorrow then!

The Team Mates’ results for Round 4:

NOTE: Whenever there is an Eng v Eng pairing then the total points possible is reduced by one as the two Team Mates between them can only ever amass a single point, whereas against separate opposition then clearly there would be 2 points on offer.

The Team Mates’ results to date:

The game of the round is:

The game of the round is Victor’s excellent win over the number 2 seed in the U12 section:

Jones,Victor (Eng) - Visentin,Lorenzo (ITA)
EU Youth Champs (U12), 12.08.2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 I think the England camp has decided that it likes this move after this game and Callum Kilpatrick's Rd 3 win! 6...e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.g4!? h6 9.Rg1 Nc6 10.Be3 Qc7 11.Qe2 Bd7 12.0-0-0 0-0-0?! This feels wrong. Black's priority is not to get his king out of the centre, but to exchange some pieces. Consequently ...Na5 or ...b5 look better. 13.f4 [13.h4 looks a bit better, intending g5 without conceding the e5-square and the possibility of an f5 lever.] 13...h5? 14.gxh5?! [14.g5! looks natural and is good. 14...Ng4! (14...Ne8 15.g6 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 fxg6 17.Qe3 is virtually winning for white.) 15.Nxc6 Bxc6 16.g6! (16.Bd2 d5! 17.h3 (17.exd5 exd5 18.h3 d4 19.hxg4 dxc3 20.Bxc3 Qxf4+ 21.Bd2 Rxd2 22.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 23.Rxd2 h4 is probably better for black.) 17...d4 18.Nb1 d3 19.cxd3 Bxe4+ 20.Nc3 Bxd3 21.Qf3 Bc5 22.Rg2 Bf5 23.hxg4 Bxg4 24.Rxg4 hxg4 25.Qxg4 feels a little better for white, an assessment backed up by Fritz.; 16...Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Bf6 18.gxf7 Qxf7 19.f5 and white is, again, virtually winning.] 14...Nxh5 15.Qf2 Rdf8 [15...Na5 16.Nf5 Nxb3+ 17.axb3 exf5 18.Nd5 is another line demonstrating the attacking resources in white's position.] 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.Bb6 Qd7 18.Rd3! I like this move - a generally useful move that prepares to use the rook on either side of the board. 18...Rh6 19.e5 d5 20.Ne2 Kb8 21.Nd4 Rc8 22.Nxc6+ a move that to me felt wrong, but perhaps it is the most accurate if correctly followed up. [22.f5 feels most natural, and 22...Ba4 23.fxe6 fxe6 24.Bxa4 Qxa4 25.Qf7 feels better than similar positions that can be reached later in the game.] 22...Qxc6 23.Rc3 Qe8 24.Ba4 [24.Rxc8+! Qxc8 25.f5 Rh8 26.Qd4 is the way to play.] 24...Qf8 25.Rxc8+ Qxc8 26.Bb3 Qc6 27.Be3 Rh8 28.f5! the move to keep the initiative. 28...Ka8 29.Rd1 Rf8? 30.Qf3 Rh8 31.fxe6 fxe6 32.Kb1 Qe8 33.c4! and black's position is starting to crumble. 33...dxc4 34.Bxc4 Rf8 35.Qg2 Kb8 36.Qe4 Bd8 37.Qd4 and it's all over - white's attack will win material. 37...Kc8 38.Rc1 [38.Qc5+! Bc7 39.Bxe6+ Qxe6 40.Qxf8+ is a little quicker, but one can forgive lapses in time-trouble when one has a winning position!] 38...Bc7 39.Bb3 Rf7 40.Qa7 Qb5 41.Qa8+ Kd7 42.Rd1+ Ke7 43.Bg5+ Nf6 44.exf6+ gxf6 45.Qc8 Qf5+ 46.Ka1 fxg5 47.Qxc7+ Kf8 48.Qc3 g4 49.Qh8+ and black resigned. A very nice game - white played sensible attacking moves, put his pieces on their best squares and kept his initiative until black made a final error on move 29. 1-0

Dinner ends on a note of serious concern. The fax machine sputters and whirrs into life, spitting out the pairings for Round 5 - but eagle-eyed Sathy, Master of the Sellotape, is nowhere to be seen! It is down to Mark Fabiani who spots the ejected paper to bring it over to the diners. With great care and not an over-abundance of confidence, Mr Chips and Mr Quinn set about trying to craft two equal length strips of tape with which to post the pairings on the wall: with great care because anything less than perfect will ruin the synchronicity of the Master’s work. Just as the last piece of paper hits the wall, the Master returns to the dining hall. Mr Chips and Mr Quinn throw themselves on his mercy for having had the audacity to presume they could emulate his poster-ability. For his part, the Master claimed he had been phoning Senthuran who ended with a very good 4 out of 7 in the U16 section at the British Championships that are currently on-going in Swansea. Well done Senthuran! Nevertheless, and putting aside any thoughts he might have had about popping the champagne corks and getting legless to celebrate, the Master inspected the handiwork of Mr Chips and Mr Quinn and, but for a minor sideways adjustment to the U14 section pairings, pronounced himself satisfied. A huge sigh of relief from all and then I slid unconscious under the table…

In any event, the pairings for Round 5 confirm what we already knew: Board 1 in the U12 section is Saravanan vs Victor. Their Coaches (#9 and #18 respectively) agree that tomorrow they will do their coaching in separate rooms so that there can be no chance, deliberate or otherwise, for them to overhear, see or in any other way pick up any clues as to the opposition’s plans. It is all very 007!

Pairings for Round 5:

And finally, for my younger readers…

Message from Prtrchess@hal.con on Fri, 5 May 2006 03:29:22 EDT

To: XXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Certificate

How did you know that!!? It was one of the industry's most closely guarded secrets. E.S.Transport were concerned that the association with a snail as managing director could be poor imaging. It was made public some months ago that E.S. was handing over control to a younger brother. This is actually not true BUT there is to be a gradual change of direction and a relaunch. I have been commissioned to design a new livery/slogan etc. You should have already seen some lorries with a more colourful livery.

We have a 'brainstorming' session later today on various ideas. SLIME (the Shelly Livery Initiatives Monitoring Executive) hope to short list ideas today. It is all very exciting!

Peter

***** End of Message *****

Interesting Fact #4:

“Brain” is an anagram of “Brian” which is the name of the snail in The Magic Roundabout.