3rd World School Championships - Round 5

By That Hum Went!

I am sorry to have to report that I have been severely reprimanded for previous reports, and future reporting is at risk. The lawyers have been busy, drafting writs and injunctions, claim and counter-claim. And that’s just the people on the trip having a go at me (too many damn lawyers), all I said was it was a bit like a holiday but no, clearly I am much mistaken if not literally maligned. So today I shall try to over-compensate, by outlining the gruelling and strenuous (I’m serious) routine for the team managers, coaches, the Players and AHOs. I am not allowed to mention the pool side café or beach bar [watch it – ed.] and am not allowed to exaggerate (I prefer the word ‘emphasise’) so will move, without further ado, straight to The Daily Routine. And I think it may be 5-a-side day, so here’s to the Cock and Bottle!

The pairings come out any time after 10pm local time, depending on when the last games finish. Many of the Players have gone to bed (or at least to their rooms) by then, so the coaches take the chance (I hope) to look up a few of the next day’s opponents in Megabase 2007, the latest database of over 3.5 million games. This enables them, if an opponent has games recorded from previous tournaments, to check out their openings and start to think through their coaching sessions with each of the Players. Meanwhile the AHOs drink beer and wine and become less and less Responsible, culminating inevitably in a “Why did I have those last 5 beers?” moment the next morning …

But let me explain – as with many an England chess trip, it is important to establish, as early as possible, a routine around coaching and matches. There are 3 coaches who, in lethal combination with Partridge Tunneller, form the backbone of the trip. The conscientious and excessively dedicated coaches are: Neil “Damn Nice Doll” McDonald; Adam “Mad Haunt” Hunt (as with previous trips, still not a relation as far as I am aware); and Thomas “Meander Sloth” Rendle. They each have charge over 4 of the Players, and coaching takes place each day with 1 hour slots from 10:00 to 14:00 each day except for Mad who does 09:00 to 13:00 except after Greek evenings (probably anticipating more action than there was) and after double round days (of which there is just the one – yesterday). Keeping up? No? Good, I’ll continue. The coaches then grab a bite to eat before generally helping out on any questions from the Players, playing ping pong or making themselves Scarce. Each of the Players adopts their own routine in the afternoon: some of the younger ones read books or relax in their rooms, the older ones tend to try to sneak a quick beer or two in the bar. But seriously – it is individual time and it is generally split between continued preparation and mental break time. And then 15 minutes before the round starts everyone gathers at the pool-side café for vital administrative updates and the long foot march to the Athos Palace …

Snide though I can be, I must say that I (as do the other AHOs) hold the Players in the highest regard, for the effort and sheer concentration that they apply over the course of a tournament like this. In total, 9 matches of typically 3-4 hours in length over 8 days, with an hour of coaching and at least the same again of individual preparation – trust me, it’s no catrun nor cakewalk or anything like that at all. Ever.

But now the Chess bit:

Round 5, when it finally comes out, looks like a tough draw with half the England players up against FIDE rated opponents, and this time Saravanan is playing the top seeded Russian in the U13. There is just time for 25 minute coaching slots for each Player, the U13s go first because their pairings come out 15 minutes before the U15s. Given that the players have had just a few hours since completing their morning coaching, round 4 matches and getting their games analysed by the coaches, it seems that today it is a constant effort: and for at least one player it will turn out to be pretty much 13 hours back-to-back… but more of that anon.

David Grant is pretty much first out with a win, then comes Saravanan who has lost to the Russian. Then Ed VR secures a draw from a losing position so he is well chuffed, but Patrick loses to take the mood down a bit. Samuel and Lateefah come out at the same time: Samuel has won and Lateefah earned a draw. A half hour later Daniel and George come out at the same time: Daniel has ignored his opponents multiple offers of a draw (one time even followed by “Please?”) to win comfortably, and George wins with “a risky Bishop sack” (don’t ask me, I’m told if you need to understand it you will understand it). Jessica gets – you guessed it, another draw! Leaving just Callum, Joseph and Charlie at the boards. There is a long wait for all three, in fact everyone else goes to dinner. Whilst at dinner Callum and Kick Egg come in: he has lost to his strong Indian opponent, but then Joseph and the Leonine Nuns arrive with smiles: Joseph has finally overcome his opponent, having appeared to be in a losing position!

But wait, I hear you ask, what of Charlie? Indeed, what of Charlie? Dinner comes and goes, various AHOs get mad because the footie is not on the hotel TV and so they meander down to the sports bar in the local town. The clock ticks on, 21:30… 21:45… 22:00… five hours since the start of the game, and still no news. We can only assume that he is still playing! And I may not have mentioned in the Rd 4 report but Charlie’s game in the morning was well over 4 hours long! A few desultory AHOs sit around with beers waiting for the draw that Charlie is holding up. The clock ticks on, 22:15… 22:30… wait, what’s this? A distraught Rice Rhino stumbles into the pool-side bar (I make that 3-nil!) and asks for an intravenous beer. “What happened?” we cry, agog at his state and he was just the spectator! “He won!” cries the happy man before collapsing unconscious, face-down, in a plate of chips. Then in strolls Charlie himself, calm as a cucumber, as if he’s just got up and had breakfast. A standing ovation, well deserved, rounds off the evening nicely!

So it is overall a relaxed England party that heads off to bed, tonight’s winner being Charlie who gets to eat just the toppings off a real pizza (in the pool-side café) rather than take pot luck in the all-you-can-eat buffet. With 7½ points out of 12, and an aggregate total of 33½ points out of 60, we are maintaining a strong performance comfortably above the 50% mark.

The results of Round 5 are as follows:

The draw for Round 6:

No Eng v Eng pairings again which is great. Both Lateefah and Samuel are on boards 3 in their sections, with Lateefah taking on her second WFM of the week…

The Players’ results to date:

Apologies, the more eagle-eyed amongst you [more likely just those with the stamina to get this far in the report – ed.] will have noticed that the following table was wrong in the reports for rounds 1 to 3, mainly due to what is known in the trade as a “cut’n’paste” error. This has now been cornered and cuffed, so what you see now should be what is says on the tin.

Two best bits from Round 3:

Koufos, Aristidis vs Sathyanandha, Saravanan
World Schools Chess Championships, U13B, Halkidiki, Greece 30.04.2007
Annotated by GM Damn Nice Doll.

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.Bd3 "Tarrasch must have turned in his grave" said Saravanan "everyone knows you must develop your knights before your bishops. 3...c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.0–0 e6 7.Nbd2 Bd6 8.e4? White has no right to attack when he has played such a passive opening. 8...cxd4! The refutation of White's last move as if.. 9.c4 [9.cxd4 Bxf3! 10.Qxf3 (10.Nxf3 dxe4 wins a piece) 10...Nxd4] 9...0–0 Full of youthful vigour, but 9..dxe4 10.Nxe4 e5 was the suggestion of Saravanan's old and dull trainer, who likes to have an extra centre protected passed pawn - rather than fireworks on the king-side. 10.cxd5 Ne5 11.Bc2 exd5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Be4 Nf6 14.Bxb7 Rb8 15.Be4 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 Bh3 Black has smoothly converted his extra pawn into a strong king-side attack.

18.Re1 Bb4 19.Re2 f5 [19...Rb6! was more more decisive, when Tom Rendle predicted the game would be over in four moves. After the game move it is all over in three moves but that wasn't Saravanan's fault.] 20.Ng5 d3 21.Re3? [21.Re5 and White can still fight.] 21...Qxg5+ 22.Kh1 Qg2# White played in unambitious style but Super-Saravanan livened the game up with his attacking prowess! 0–1

Franklin, Samuel (1905) vs Khatoev, Eduard
World Schools Chess Championships, Halkidiki, Greece, 30.04.2007
[Hunt, Adam]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.d4!? More usual is Bg2 4...exd4 5.Qxd4 Be7 6.Bg2 0–0 7.Nh3 Nc6 8.Qd2! I like this move, preparing b3 and Bb2 8...d6 9.0–0 Be6 10.b3 Ng4?! I don't think the black knight really belongs on e5. Having said that, it isn't easy to suggest a constructive plan for black here 11.Bb2 Nge5 12.Nf4 Bf7 13.Ncd5 Bg5 14.Qc2 Qc8 15.h4 Bh6 16.Bh3 g6 17.Nf6+ Kh8 18.N4d5 Bg7 19.f4 Bxd5 20.Nxd5 Nd7 21.Bxg7+ Kxg7 22.Qc3+ Kg8 23.h5 Qd8 24.h6 Nf6 25.e4 fxe4 26.g4 Ne8 27.g5 Kf7 28.Rae1 Ne7 29.Be6+ Kxe6 30.Rxe4+ Kd7 31.Rxe7+ Kc8 32.Qh3+ Kb8 33.Rd7 Qc8 34.Ne7 A very nice win by Sam, who later described it as one of his best games ever! 1–0

And now, featuring a new brand of introduction:

******** Great Chess Moments from History ********

And finally, Kids Korner!

"It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men." (Tartakover)

Facts For the Memory

Pawn Promotion

In the 15th century, promotion to allow more than one queen was considered improper (don’t anyone tell Callum) because it symbolized adultery. In Spain and Italy in the 17th century, the Pawn could only be promoted to the rank of Queen. In France and Germany, promotion was limited to any piece which had been lost. In some countries a player could promote a pawn to an enemy piece so as to force stalemate. The current law in pawn promotion was established at the first international tournament in 1851.