Welcome to the ECF Reports for the European Youth Chess Championships 2006

Round Nine

Top ten finishers Callum and Radha congratulated by Gerry and Krishna

Rain stops play in the morning

The published time for the final round of the tournament was 1pm rather than the usual 3pm. The evening before we were told this had been changed to 11am, at which point coaching schedules were rearranged for earlier shorter slots, with the occasional evening one for the older players. On the day, just as we were getting ready to leave our rooms news came through that the round would in fact begin at noon. The reason given was flooding at one of the hotels in nearby Igalo after the big storm, with a river bursing its banks. Going round to tell our squad of the delay, the typical reaction was “Damn! I could have got another hour’s sleep!” not “Great! I get to prepare for another hour!”

The group meets for a final talk before the round begins with various people being thanked, not forgetting the important function of providing tea each day for the coaches, always performed with a smile by Manu, Vicky, Charika and Vidiya. Talking of which, among the many words of wisdom during this trip was some advice from Gerry’s mother, “When you lose, announce it with a smile. You can kick the cat when you get back to your room later.”

A deserted old town in the rain

Round 9 games and Final Standings

The final day of the tournament was a successful one for our players with 11.5 points out of a possible 15. This time four of the boys were drawn against their room mates in the upper age groups.

Highlights of the final standings are a 5= place for Callum in the U14 boys section, 9= for Radha in the U10 girls and 9= for Yang-Fan in the U12 boys.

Detailed information on the final results is highlighted in the tables – in particular looking at how the players performed relative to their rank, quality of opposition and number of entrants in their category. In the end, the squad scored 54%, playing against opponents from 34 countries. 12 of the 17 players finished in the top half of their groups.

Analysis of players by region (introduced in the Round 7 report) over the course of the tournament shows our players had 153 games, of which 37% were against Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, 31% against eastern European countries and 32% other European countries.

Tournament Director Vladimir Sakotic congratulates Radha and Callum on their top ten finish

ECF coaches Robert Bellin, Andrew Greet, Jovanka Houska, Neil McDonald and Thomas Rendle have given their thoughts on the final games.

Radha (1h50m) started quietly, then her opponent decided to sharpen matters, launching a kingside attack. Radha defended magnificently and used a deep resource to launch a counterattack of her own. Then Radha sacrificed her queen to win material and the game. Marcus (1h25m) saved his best game until last, winning with a direct attack on his opponent’s king.

Samuel (3h20m) had chances for an opening advantage, but instead allowed his opponent to equalise and the pieces were swapped off into a drawn endgame. Saravanan (3h25m) built up an attacking position from the opening and at one point his opponent looked in serious trouble. However, he overreached and was forced into an ultimately fruitless defence. Yang-Fan’s (2h30m) opponent made a mistake in the opening and Yang-Fan sacrificed a pawn for active piece play, finishing with an aesthetic mate.

Sheila’s (1h50m) game was distinguished by the fact that her opponent, in an attempt to surprise Sheila, departed from her usual defence – which she had played exclusively for the last two years – but ended up surprising herself when Sheila uncorked the “Dines Variation” in a well-known position for the Scotch opening. Her Slovakian opponent immediately blundered a piece and Sheila’s conversion was faultless. Amisha (4h30m) drew in a mammoth game against an opponent from Slovenia.

Jessica (3h30m) saved her best chess for the last round. Step by step she outplayed her opponent in logical style, followed by a sharp tactical combination. Callum (3h50m) had a bit of an up and down game. After gaining an advantage, he tried a flashy combination, which had a hole, then was able to outplay his opponent in the endgame. Subin (3h55m) was determined to end the tournament on a positive note and did his utmost to exploit his positional advantage. He almost succeeded, but his opponent just managed to hold the draw.

Selina (4h30m) drew in a long game versus an opponent from Slovenia. Chantal (2h35m) outplayed her opponent for most of the game despite missing some very promising opportunities. Her position remained dominant and when her opponent offered her a draw she accepted under time pressure.

James (2h45m) had a quiet positional struggle, eventually showing that he understood what was going on better than the opponent and brought home the victory with some very precise play. Thomas (3h45m) and Ankush had a very interesting game, with Ankush attacking like mad in his usual style. Thomas managed to keep his cool to emerge with some structural advantages in the middle game. In desperation Ankush sacrificed a piece. Although this was unsound, Thomas failed to find the best defence.

The game between Li and Simon (3h20m) had a very positional opening. Simon treated it as a “caveman attack”, embarking on an interesting and aggressive plan which ultimately backfired. As the game became complicated, Simon overlooked one or two resources, with Li coming out on top.

Notes to table
Seed. Position at start based on FIDE rating
Players in section. Total entrants in section
Number of seeded players. Total of FIDE rated players in section
Titled players. FM, IM, WFM, WIM
Score. Points scored over 9 rounds
Score (%). Percent of possible points
Position (points). Often equal
Position (tie break). Ordered within equal points by tie-break calculations
Number of rated opponents. Number of rated opponents played
Rated opponents average rating. Measure of strength of opponents
Games as white. 4 or 5 out of 9

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony started at 8pm in a packed hall with the surprising glitz of the Herceg Novi majorettes to get proceedings underway. The top five in each category were awarded with a trophy and goody bag, the next five got certificates (picked up afterwards). ECF President Gerry Walsh presented some of the trophies in his capacity as Deputy President of the European Chess Union. Once more it was striking how the Russians, former Soviet Union states and eastern European countries dominated the prize giving.

The location for the ceremony had to be changed from the castle to one of the playing halls due to the inclement weather. Nevertheless, come 9pm the rain had held back to allow for an impressive firework display on the sea front, finishing this memorable event in style.

Scene of the closing ceremony

Hello from the Herceg Novi majorettes

Gerry Walsh presents trophies

Once the chess if over, pizza time

	Return
	Tuesday 19th September 2006
	Round Nine Top ten finishers Callum and Radha congratulated by Gerry and Krishna Rain stops play in the morning The published time for the final round of the tournament was 1pm rather than the usual 3pm. The evening before we were told this had been changed to 11am, at which point coaching schedules were rearranged for earlier shorter slots, with the occasional evening one for the older players. On the day, just as we were getting ready to leave our rooms news came through that the round would in fact begin at noon. The reason given was flooding at one of the hotels in nearby Igalo after the big storm, with a river bursing its banks. Going round to tell our squad of the delay, the typical reaction was “Damn! I could have got another hour’s sleep!” not “Great! I get to prepare for another hour!” The group meets for a final talk before the round begins with various people being thanked, not forgetting the important function of providing tea each day for the coaches, always performed with a smile by Manu, Vicky, Charika and Vidiya. Talking of which, among the many words of wisdom during this trip was some advice from Gerry’s mother, “When you lose, announce it with a smile. You can kick the cat when you get back to your room later.” A deserted old town in the rain Round 9 games and Final Standings The final day of the tournament was a successful one for our players with 11.5 points out of a possible 15. This time four of the boys were drawn against their room mates in the upper age groups. Highlights of the final standings are a 5= place for Callum in the U14 boys section, 9= for Radha in the U10 girls and 9= for Yang-Fan in the U12 boys. Detailed information on the final results is highlighted in the tables – in particular looking at how the players performed relative to their rank, quality of opposition and number of entrants in their category. In the end, the squad scored 54%, playing against opponents from 34 countries. 12 of the 17 players finished in the top half of their groups. Analysis of players by region (introduced in the Round 7 report) over the course of the tournament shows our players had 153 games, of which 37% were against Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, 31% against eastern European countries and 32% other European countries. Tournament Director Vladimir Sakotic congratulates Radha and Callum on their top ten finish ECF coaches Robert Bellin, Andrew Greet, Jovanka Houska, Neil McDonald and Thomas Rendle have given their thoughts on the final games. Radha (1h50m) started quietly, then her opponent decided to sharpen matters, launching a kingside attack. Radha defended magnificently and used a deep resource to launch a counterattack of her own. Then Radha sacrificed her queen to win material and the game. Marcus (1h25m) saved his best game until last, winning with a direct attack on his opponent’s king. Samuel (3h20m) had chances for an opening advantage, but instead allowed his opponent to equalise and the pieces were swapped off into a drawn endgame. Saravanan (3h25m) built up an attacking position from the opening and at one point his opponent looked in serious trouble. However, he overreached and was forced into an ultimately fruitless defence. Yang-Fan’s (2h30m) opponent made a mistake in the opening and Yang-Fan sacrificed a pawn for active piece play, finishing with an aesthetic mate. Sheila’s (1h50m) game was distinguished by the fact that her opponent, in an attempt to surprise Sheila, departed from her usual defence – which she had played exclusively for the last two years – but ended up surprising herself when Sheila uncorked the “Dines Variation” in a well-known position for the Scotch opening. Her Slovakian opponent immediately blundered a piece and Sheila’s conversion was faultless. Amisha (4h30m) drew in a mammoth game against an opponent from Slovenia. Jessica (3h30m) saved her best chess for the last round. Step by step she outplayed her opponent in logical style, followed by a sharp tactical combination. Callum (3h50m) had a bit of an up and down game. After gaining an advantage, he tried a flashy combination, which had a hole, then was able to outplay his opponent in the endgame. Subin (3h55m) was determined to end the tournament on a positive note and did his utmost to exploit his positional advantage. He almost succeeded, but his opponent just managed to hold the draw. Selina (4h30m) drew in a long game versus an opponent from Slovenia. Chantal (2h35m) outplayed her opponent for most of the game despite missing some very promising opportunities. Her position remained dominant and when her opponent offered her a draw she accepted under time pressure. James (2h45m) had a quiet positional struggle, eventually showing that he understood what was going on better than the opponent and brought home the victory with some very precise play. Thomas (3h45m) and Ankush had a very interesting game, with Ankush attacking like mad in his usual style. Thomas managed to keep his cool to emerge with some structural advantages in the middle game. In desperation Ankush sacrificed a piece. Although this was unsound, Thomas failed to find the best defence. The game between Li and Simon (3h20m) had a very positional opening. Simon treated it as a “caveman attack”, embarking on an interesting and aggressive plan which ultimately backfired. As the game became complicated, Simon overlooked one or two resources, with Li coming out on top. Notes to table Seed. Position at start based on FIDE rating Players in section. Total entrants in section Number of seeded players. Total of FIDE rated players in section Titled players. FM, IM, WFM, WIM Score. Points scored over 9 rounds Score (%). Percent of possible points Position (points). Often equal Position (tie break). Ordered within equal points by tie-break calculations Number of rated opponents. Number of rated opponents played Rated opponents average rating. Measure of strength of opponents Games as white. 4 or 5 out of 9 Closing ceremony The closing ceremony started at 8pm in a packed hall with the surprising glitz of the Herceg Novi majorettes to get proceedings underway. The top five in each category were awarded with a trophy and goody bag, the next five got certificates (picked up afterwards). ECF President Gerry Walsh presented some of the trophies in his capacity as Deputy President of the European Chess Union. Once more it was striking how the Russians, former Soviet Union states and eastern European countries dominated the prize giving. The location for the ceremony had to be changed from the castle to one of the playing halls due to the inclement weather. Nevertheless, come 9pm the rain had held back to allow for an impressive firework display on the sea front, finishing this memorable event in style. Scene of the closing ceremony Hello from the Herceg Novi majorettes Gerry Walsh presents trophies Once the chess if over, pizza time