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Last update: Friday August 10, 2007 10:30
Wednesday, the day of the penultimate round. Breaks. A lot of sleepy faces at breakfast. Or maybe that’s just a freak of perspective from inside my own eyeballs. Must take a photo to check. There is some heated debate at breakfast about whether or not it rained in the night, but Cath loses (33 – 2) and we all agree today’s going to be another “Phew, what a scorcher!”
So what’s it like out there? I hear you ask. What, you mean I haven’t made it clear already? Ok, here’s a little picture tour of Mureck.
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Pretty, isn’t it?
And another thing. We apply the classic “Are you a chess genius?”
test to Neil McDonald:
“Neil, are you left or right handed?”
“Not sure” he replies, thereby passing with flying colours.
Coaching goes on as usual.
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And now the Chess bit:
We’re still living on the high from Round 6 when we scored 10 WINS and 4 DRAWS. Yesterday was tough as a result, but we find ourselves going into the penultimate round with half a dozen players still in a position to go for honours.
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The RAPs and other spectators wait on the grassy knoll behind the playing hall.
After their games, the Players go through all the moves with their coach in the infamous Analysis room, located underneath the playing hall.
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So here is a summary of the day’s play from Guest Editor, GM Neil McDonald:
Megan won again to complete four blunder free rounds to raise her score from 0/4 to 3.5/8. Peter had a very gritty game in which he defended resolutely to secure a draw. Then Zzzz … I think… Robert Zzzz Zzzz ..Joe…. Zzzz …Did he? Really? Zzzz Zzzz Zzzz
WE INTERRUPT THIS SERVICE ON ACCOUNT OF THE FACT THAT THE GUEST EDITOR HAS FALLEN ASLEEP. NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED SHORTLY
Yours truly, Daring Intrepid Reporter Extraordinaire, is back!
Nuff said. Robert had a satisfactory draw in his game. Joseph had some good chances but was unable to convert for a win so settled for a draw. George G had a bit of a mare, got off to a bad start and never recovered – a loss. Brandon had been neck-a-neck but in a complicated position he lost the thread and was beaten in the end game.
Then Alex came out of the playing hall, having won in fine style. His opponent was so impressed by Alex’s play that he watched the post-game analysis in rapt admiration, interspersed with an occasional exclamation in Slovenian from his mother! Then David suffered time trouble and his opponent was able to use his own time to chip away at David’s otherwise strong position, and go on to win.
Polly erupts from the playing hall – could be a win! Knowing Polly, could be a loss!! But in fact it is good news, she has won well – see game of the round below. Then James is mated at the end of a very long game. Patrick played a blinder – “faultless” in the words of his coach – until the wrong choice of move not only let his opponent back in, but let them back in ahead.
That left Danny in the U12s, and George O and Charlie in the U14s. Danny played a daring sacrifice line which somewhat perturbed his opponent (and frightened the pants off me). He then threw more wood onto fire by introducing his own additional sacrifice which also somewhat perturbed his opponent (and frightened the pants off his coach). But it gave him a very strong position which he was able to go on and convert for a fine win. He is now joint leader of the U12s, with one round to go…
Charlie reached a position with an interesting material imbalance, but failed to break up his opponent’s queen side at the correct moment. He was eventually worsted in the end game. That left only George O, who was forced to play a very quiet game by his opponent, and whilst short on time eventually found the right combination to break out and create some movement. Unfortunately, one weak pawn move then let his opponent in for the kill – such is chess. He is still in the hunt for a placing tomorrow though!
| England Player | Col | Opponent | Ctry | Rating | Eng Result |
Total Points |
|
| U14 | Alexander Galliano (2076) | B7 | Tim Janzelj | SLO | 1850 | 1 |
5 |
| George O’Toole (1965) | B2 | Alijosa Tomazina | SLO | 1989 | 0 |
5˝ |
|
| David Grant | W6 | Bence Szabo | HUN | 2131 | 0 |
4 |
|
| Charles Hierons | B12 | Denes Nemeth | HUN | 2035 | 0 |
3 |
|
| Patrick Stevens | W15 | Zsofia Edes | SVK | 1831 | 0 |
3 |
|
| U12 | Joseph Quinn (1768) | W10 | Dominik Sedonja | SLO | 1706 | ˝ |
4 |
| Daniel Hunt (1754) | W2 | Peter Salido | BEL | 1864 | 1 |
6˝ |
|
| Robert Bowler | B17 | Florian Penz | AUT | 1503 | ˝ |
3 |
|
| Brandon Clarke | B7 | Daria-Ioana Visanescu | ROM | 1619 | 0 |
4 |
|
| Megan Cleeves | W18 | Elke Carola Huber | AUT | 1431 | 1 |
3˝ |
|
| George Galliano | B11 | Julius Rauramaa | FIN | 1598 | 0 |
3˝ |
|
| Polly Lambert | W13 | Timon Kunej | SLO | 1615 | 1 |
4 |
|
| U10 | Peter Andreev | B9 | Szuzanna Terbe | HUN | 1400 | ˝ |
4˝ |
| James Bowler | W4 | Jakub Pulpan | CZE | 1728 | 0 |
5 |
| Section | England Player | Col/Bd | Opponent | Country | Rating |
| U14 | Alexander Galliano (2076) | W5 | Martin Schnegg | AUT | 1931 |
| George O’Toole (1965) | W3 | Toms Kantans | LAT | 1928 | |
| David Grant | B10 | Spela Kolaric | SLO | 1827 | |
| Charles Hierons | W17 | Vihtoro Immonem | FIN | 180 | |
| Patrick Stevens | B16 | Roberta Messina | ITA | 1829 | |
| U12 | Joseph Quinn (1768) | B10 | Ioana Gelip | ROM | 1600 |
| Daniel Hunt (1754) | B1 | Mark Lapidus | EST | 1821 | |
| Robert Bowler | W16 | Andrej Laposi | SLO | 1700 | |
| Brandon Clarke | W11 | Jacob Sauer | AUT | 1634 | |
| Megan Cleeves | B14 | Nicola Ganev | BUL | 1454 | |
| George Galliano | W13 | Maria Serbanescu | ROM | 1564 | |
| Polly Lambert | B12 | Dominik Sedonja | SLO | 1700 | |
| U10 | Peter Andreev | W9 | Karoly Genda | HUN | 1500 |
| James Bowler | B6 | Peter Urbanc | SLO | 1500 |
| Section | The Player | Rd 1 |
Rd 2 |
Rd 3 |
Rd 4 |
Rd 5 |
Rd 6 |
Rd 7 |
Rd 8 |
Rd 9 |
Total |
| U14 | Alex | 1 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
| George | 0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
|||
| David | 1 |
0 |
1 |
˝ |
˝ |
˝ |
˝ |
0 |
|||
| Charlie | ˝ |
0 |
0 |
˝ |
˝ |
1 |
˝ |
0 |
|||
| Patrick | 0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|||
| U12 | Joseph | 0 |
1 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
˝ |
||
| Danny | 1 |
1 |
1 |
˝ |
˝ |
1 |
˝ |
1 |
|||
| Robert | 0 |
0 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
˝ |
|||
| Brandon | ˝ |
1 |
˝ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|||
| Megan | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
˝ |
1 |
1 |
|||
| George | ˝ |
0 |
˝ |
0 |
1 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
|||
| Polly | ˝ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|||
| U10 | Peter | 1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
˝ |
||
| James | 1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|||
| TOTAL | 7 |
5˝ |
9 |
5˝ |
7˝ |
12 |
6˝ |
5˝ |
Lambert, Polly [ENG] - Kunej, Timon (1650) [SLO]
European Union Youth Championships – Mureck, Austria 2007 Under 12 Rd
8
[Annotated by Tom Eckersley-Waites]
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nf3 cxd4 this is a little premature, as it allows white to put a knight on c3 before black is ready for it. 6.cxd4 Bg4 7.Be2 Bxf3?! giving white the bishop pair with gain of tempo can't be right. 8.Bxf3 Qd7 [8...Qxd4?? 9.Bxc6+ wouldn't be too bright.] 9.Be3 g6 10.Nc3 Bg7 11.d5! thematic and strong - black is now really struggling. 11...Ne5 12.Be2!
this is the move that makes 11.d5 really effective, as it has 2 threats that force black to move the queen again. 12...a6? [12...Qd8 13.Bd4 Kf8 is pretty disgusting, but at least black can make a game of it.] 13.f4 game over. 13...Bh6 14.Bd2 1–0
And finally…
Brian teaser 7 – What is the longest word which can be made from the top line of a standard keyboard? Answer rather appropriately is ‘typewriter’
Brian teaser 7a – We (Danny Hunt) have found another 10 letter word on the top line of letters on a standard keyboard. You may have better.
Brain teaser 8 – Keyboard again – The sentence secretaries used for speed practice which included every letter of the alphabet.
