The 5th EU Youth Chess Championships

1-9 August 2007, Mureck, Austria

Round 3

Friday, daybreak.  Just the one. But for a nice change there is water in the air! A blessed relief from the unremitting sunshine of the first few days. The RAPs are finally going to have to earn their keep today, the swimming that would normally keep the Players occupied is rained off. It is going to be hard as it is remarkable how quickly everyone has slipped into a daily routine: breakfast at 08:00 (coffee, cheese, ham & jam) then onto the verandah for the duration of the morning with a short trip to SPAR for more fruit and sweets, lunch at 12:47, off to the venue at 14:30, back at 18:30-ish for a drink on the verandah and dinner at 19:30 before schnapps, darts and Tippit into the wee small hours.  And then before you know it the day breaks again, it is 08:00 and the whole thing starts again. Ever seen Groundhog Day?  So the rain provides a welcome break in the pattern…

Urgent messages from the UK request more details on where we are staying and what the tournament is like…  so I’ll start with the former and this afternoon I’ll get some photos from the tournament hall ready for tomorrow’s report on the latter.  Is that ok?  Can you contain your excitement, can you wait until then?  I hope so…

Guest House Fabiani has hosted the England party for all 4 years that the tournament has been held in Mureck.  Mureck is a small, picturesque town but Fabiani itself is a couple of miles outside the town, on a small road that leads down to a lake and woods – an area that is clearly a popular holiday destination.  The Guest House is a large, chalet style building but the England team fills it – all except one room which the Czech team has booked.  Whilst the bar, dining room and verandah technically remain open to the public (and a few regular locals do turn up at the bar each day) basically the place is dedicated to the England party. To the extent that the dining room is reconfigured into two long tables (one for all the Players, one for the RAPs), the verandah is permanently strewn with Player detritus and chess boards, the chef produces 4 trays of chips for every tray of dumplings… Hence for the duration, it really is a home-from-home.  Alongside the standard accommodation you’d expect of a Guest House, Fabiani comes with impressive professional-standard tennis facilities: two indoor courts and two outdoor clay courts.  There is a table tennis table under cover between the guest house and the tennis courts, and behind that there is a small grass area with badminton net and bike sheds – the bikes are a simple 1 Euro per day to hire!  And being off the beaten track, and with cycle paths starting just 50 yds from the front car park, it feels and actually is a very safe environment.  So the Players are pretty much able to “roam feral” when not studying their openings… its only fair to give them a break some times!

In the meantime, back in front of house, Mark L is teaching Robert to ride a bike.

Round back, frantic badminton and table tennis is played.

And on the Verandah – well, take a look at the photos, we’re running a phone-in competition to see who can spot the most number of different activities being undertaken.  Mind you, you have to correctly name them!   All answers written on £20 notes and emailed to me please…

And now the Chess bit:

There is no messing now, we know the start of Round 3 will be slick and immaculately timed so everyone is on the mark for when the transport to the playing venue commences.  Even in the drizzle a number of Players take to their bikes.  Whatever the means, everyone makes it safely to the venue and the round begins!

After yesterday’s disappointing showing, things don’t exactly start well today either.  Peter, unbeaten in the first two rounds and playing very well, makes a few mistakes and his very strong opponent does not let him get away with it – it’s all over very quickly.  But suddenly the tide seems to turn with a couple of good results going our way: Robert secures a draw to get off the international mark, and Danny confidently secures his 3^rd straight win.  Alex crushes his opponent for a very good win, and James manages to remain focused against his opponent notwithstanding the noise of spectators watching too closely – he wins well!

A long gap then before the next batch of results, but it continues well for England.  In the U14s George O, David and Patrick (off the mark!) all win to match Alex.  Charlie loses.  In the U12s Polly joins Danny with a win, and Joseph, Brandon and George G join Robert with a draw.  Only Megan loses.  So the total points tally for England is 9 out of 14, a real bounce back after yesterday, and most of the Players return to Fabiani on a high…

The full results of Round 3 are as follows:

The draw for Round 4:

The Players’ results to date:

A great total score by England, and four contenders for game of the round!  After much contentious argument, the following two games made it: in particular look out for the pawn push that they have in common, in both cases proving to be extremely powerful moves for the England players: 

Hunt, Daniel [ENG] - Visanescu, Daria (1619) [ROM]
European Union Youth Championships – Mureck, Austria 2007 Under 12 Rd 3
[Annotated by IM Adam Hunt]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ng8 [8...Nd5 is the other move in this position, giving up a pawn for some initiative. It's certainly the way I would play this position! 9.Nxd5 cxd5 10.Qxd5 Rb8 11.Bc4 e6 12.Qc5 Bb7 with unclear play.] 9.f4 Nh6 A very natural move- lucky we looked at it the morning before! [9...f6 is the main move here] 10.Bd3 0–0 11.0–0 d6 12.Be4!?N [12.exd6 has been played twice previously.] 12...Ba6 13.Rf2 Qc7 14.f5!

I really like this move. Danny gives up a pawn to lock in the black bishop. 14...dxe5 15.g4 Qc8? This is clearly a mistake. Some evasive action was required with something like Kh8 and Ng8. 16.Qf3 Rb8 17.Qh3 Now black is just losing a piece. 17...gxf5 18.gxf5 Kh8 19.Bxh6 Bxh6 20.Qxh6 Rg8+ 21.Kh1 Bb7 [21...f6 is necessary] 22.f6 1–0

Bowler, James [ENG] - Terbe, Suzazsanna [HUN]
European Union Youth Championships – Mureck, Austria 2007 Under 10 Rd 3
[Annotated by IM Adam Hunt]

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nc3 0–0 6.Be3 Nxe4 7.Nxe4 d5 8.Bxd5 I think if it had been me, I would have kept the bishop and played something like [8.Bd3 dxe4 9.Bxe4 c6 10.c3] 8...Qxd5 9.Nc3 Qd8 10.Qd2 Re8 11.Bh6 Bh8 12.0–0–0 Bg4 13.h3 [13.Qf4 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 is more controlled and probably better] 13...Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nc6 15.Ne2 Qd5 16.Nc3 Qxd4 17.Qe2 Qf6 18.h4 Nd4 19.Qe4 c6 20.h5 g5 21.Bxg5!? James intended this before he went h5. 21...Qxg5+ 22.f4 Qh6 23.Rhg1+ Kf8 24.Rxd4! Another brave sacrifice! 24...Bxd4 25.Qxd4 Qf6 26.Qe4 Qh8? This is just plain silly. After [26...Qh6 27.Qd4 e5! 28.Qc5+ Re7 black should survive.] 27.Qf5 [27.h6! would have been very strong with the idea of Rg7 and making the queen look silly] 27...e6 28.Qg5 h6 29.Qc5+ Re7 30.Ne4 Rb8 31.Qd6 Rc8 32.Nc5 Ke8 33.Ne4 with the idea of Rg8+ followed by Nf6 33...Kf8 34.f5! 

For the second time in the day!  Black is in BIG trouble. 34...f6 [34...exf5 35.Nf6] 35.Rg6 Rce8 36.Nxf6 Kf7 37.Nxe8 Qxe8 38.fxe6+ Rxe6 39.Qf4+ Ke7 40.Qc7+ Qd7 41.Rg7+ Don't forget the power of f5 in your games!!! 1–0

And finally…

The answer to yesterday’s Brain teaser 2 is: (6 + 2/8) x 4 = 25

Brain teaser 3: A 9 letter word with only 1 vowel.