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Round
6
Meet the coaches (4): Thomas Rendle
Thomas has just finished the first year of a degree in physics at Warwick University. He was awarded the IM title in June this year after gaining his final norm at the Easter Coulsdon international tournament. This is his second time as an ECF coach, having been at the World Schools in Greece in 2005. It was only two years ago that he was competing himself in the U18 category of the European Youth Championship when it was held down the road from here in Budva. Thomas shares a room on this trip with his former coach, Neil McDonald. “It’s a lovely place to spend ten days, with glorious weather and an excellent team spirit among the players” comments Thomas on this trip. His advice to juniors? “Always go over games with a stronger player or the computer, not neglecting the ones you lose.” Thomas plans to travel around Europe for strong tournaments in which to play so that the I in his title might become a G..
IM Thomas Rendle
Thomas with fellow coaches Robert Bellin, Andrew Greet, Jovanka Houska and Neil McDonald have given their thoughts on the Round 6 games.
Round Six games
The heavens opened and the sea got rough during the morning in a surprising change in the weather. It was also a stormy day for the England players, who emerged collectively with just seven points. Seven players were on one of the top ten boards in their section. Once more the length of game appears in brackets after each player`s name in hours and minutes, based on the time elapsed between the 3pm start and when they reported to base camp on the terrace
Radha (2h20m) came somewhat worse out of the opening, but fought hard; a swift and brutal counter attack won her the game. Marcus (3h) recovered well from a bad opening to get chances, but a couple of mistakes in time trouble cost him the game. Apart from a short period during the time scramble, Samuel (3h40m) outplayed his opponent in a mammoth 90 move game. Saravanan (2h50m) was very well prepared for the French Defence and destroyed his opponent’s pawn centre, creating a passed pawn which he exploited in exemplary style to record another victory. Yang-Fan (2h5m) had the advantage in a very double-edged position and it only took one slip for the game to swing his opponent’s way.
Sheila (3h50m) dictated events against her Russian opponent for most of the game, declining the offer of a draw to go for full points. It proved a long game in which the tables were turned against her decisively in the last moments. Amisha (4h10m) had a long hard game in which she was second best against a WFM titled player. Jessica (3h40m) gained a strong positional advantage playing against the Queen’s Gambit, but unfortunately she missed the chance for a very strong sacrifice, and as a consequence had to struggle to gain a draw, which she achieved with good defensive play.
Callum (1h35m) had a good win in which he demonstrated superior knowledge of the opening. He quickly got a slightly favourable position with black pieces, whereupon his opponent, feeling the pressure, made a serious slip-up. Callum jumped right on this and won quite easily. Subin (3h55m) had a crazy game in which he won his opponent’s queen for two pieces after about 20 moves. But then technical problems proved enormous and he only managed to clinch a win after a long end game.
Selina (3h45m) had a long hard game in which she eventually succumbed to her strong Hungarian opponent. Chantal (4h) emerged with a positional advantage from the opening. Whilst she had some chances to increase this advantage, in the end the game fizzled out into a draw. James (4h10m) lost against a highly rated FM. Tactics did not work for Ankush (3h50m), with no compensation for an early pawn sacrifice.
Thomas (1h) prepared well and his opponent went down a dubious line. Thomas had a solid advantage when his opponent blundered his queen, resulting in a short game. An unusual opening very early on went wrong for Simon (2h40m) and he did not get a chance to get back into the game. Li (3h45m) was beaten by an Armenian IM-titled player rated 2463 in a complicated tactical game.
There is now an Annotated Games page where you can see a selection of England games from this tournament.
My
European Trip
By Radha Jain
This is my first European I have gone to, and to say the least, I’ve loved it. The people are extremely friendly and the venue is beautiful. My games have been tough but I have learnt a lot of things from them. For chess is like a story. You must know all three parts (the beginning, middle and end). You can’t have a brilliant opening but not know how to end. The middle is like the juicy filling, full of tactics, combinations and excitements. I would recommend chess to anyone, any age. Even though I might not go again I have loved to represent England U10G. Thank you.
Yang-Fan gets ready to prepare for his game as black
Callum with some last minute checks
Simon works out his options
Curious incidents
Round 1. Samuel discovers a boy has locked himself in the toilet during the competition. After checking whether or not this is his opponent he reports this to an arbiter, who arranges a rescue operation, although FIDE rules do not allow for Samuel to regain the lost time.
Round 2. James draws back the curtain to discover he has spent the night with a bat, who proves a handful to evict even in daylight.
Round 3. Amazement as the lift in the Plaza hotel arrives when summoned and stops at the destination without several thoughtful pauses on the way.
Round 4. Radha checks her e-mail on a convenient computer terminal, only to be told it is being broadcast on the large MonRoi screen in front of the seated audience.
Round 5. Quan buys some amazingly cheap chess software at the shop, but discovers that the content is not what was written on the package.
Round 6. Maggie points out that her swimming costume is on top of a palm tree, beyond the reach of a hotel maid’s broom handle. The story goes that it blew off the window ledge when hanging out to dry.
And talking of swimming, locals were undeterred after dark by a fearsomely stormy sea.
