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Travel and opening ceremonyOur travel took us nearly 2 days, but in the end , after queueing in Russia everywhere, we reached our destination. Tired but happy and full of expectations. We were given great Russian hospitality and our tutor and hostess is a young Russian girl, Aljona. Everyone is so cheerful and ready to help. The opening ceremony was held on an ice skating ring. It was exciting and colourful, a mix of modern lights and traditional Russian dances. Even president Medvedev made a speech via teleconference.
Round 1Unfortunately we had a tough draw pairing against 4 young Belarussian GMs. We were still fighting while Guernsey lost 4-0 against Estonia. But unfortunately we lost 4-0 an hour later. Alan built up a very strong position, worrying his GM opponent very heavily. We could see him shaking and he was short of time, but at the end his experience came through and he defeated Alan, and the last fighter Paul went down with a blaze of glory. Tomorrow we will play against Libya, and Guernsey are playing the United Arab Emirates.
Round 2We were drawn against Libya in round 2. Tito takes a rest day and leaves the Jersey Polish team to face Libya. Marcin playing in his first olympiad game for Jersey chose his favorite sokolsky opening. He came out of the opening in an even position but missed a knight fork on move 25 and went on to lose. Paul was holding his game and then won not one but two pawns against his opponent but could not move his fingers fast enough to press the clock and lost on time. Alan had a good position but went astray trying to win the game and let his opponent take the initiative and lost. Krzysztof missed a winning move and after that there was only a draw. This was not good enough for the team so he tried to play for a win. He missed the critical line in a tricky ending and also lost. Libya 4 Jersey 0. The good news is we are no worse than Guernsey. Next opponents Chinese Taipai so looking for our first win.
Round 3With the pressure building on us to get our first match or even game point we were slightly nervous facing a young looking Chinese Taipei team. However our worries were soon put to rest when Krzysztof cleverly won a piece relatively early in the match and soon dispatched his opponent. Meanwhile Alan started to look worried in an inferior position on board one whilst Marcin blundered a pawn in his game keeping us all on a knife's edge. Luckily Marcin fought back brilliantly, not only regaining the pawn but then crushing his opponent when the two rooks proved to totally outplay his opponent's queen. Sadly Alan went down on board one despite some last minute endgame trickery leaving Tito to decide the result on board 3. In a very tight position Tito had a decent space advantage on the queenside and once his opponent tried to push in the centre too hard he was punished with some fine play from Tito. The final result 3-1 to Jersey our first match win and looking good compared to Guernsey who could only manage a half point in their match. We now face the red dragons in round 5, Wales should be a tough nut to crack but with morale on a high note we're ready for the challenge.
Round 4In round 4 we faced a strong Welsh team and soon found yourselves under pressure. Krzysztof grabbed a pawn in his opening but was ultimately made to pay when an inaccuracy caused him to return the pawn plus several more besides. Meanwhile Paul playing on board 2 was holding his own but found a slightly dubious plan which weakened his kingside and this eventually became a problem in time trouble when the pressure began to show and cost him a piece in a tactical exchange. Tito was looking very drawn on board 3 whilst Marcin was playing another fine game on bottom board. With the top two boards lost Marcin put in an excellent performance manoeuvring his knight to infiltrate his opponent's weak kingside to secure a full point. To all intents and purposes it looked a dead draw on board 3 but Tito started to tire and first blundered a pawn and then more seriously locked in his bishop making the defence even harder. Some persistent play from his opponent paid off and Tito had to resign after some 5 hours play. Congratulations must go to Marcin currently on an excellent 2/3 - he is handling the pressure on the board well but struggled off the board and was asleep before 10pm!! Today we face the Kenyans and naturally we hope to slay the lion kings!
Round 5The round 5 match against a strong Kenyan side did not start too well when Marcin found himself being severely cramped on the kingside and was soon in a positionally lost game. Tito missed a chance in his game to win a pawn and instead simplified into a dead level position. Having faced two long games previously we decided it made sense to take a half point early on. The match result was looking bad for us though when Paul lost a pawn in an attempt to snare his opponent's queen but then put up a brilliant fight by creating a complex position. The complexity paid off when his opponent failed to spot a temporary queen sac and suddenly Paul was back on top. Paul went on to win quickly after another blunder from his dazed opponent. With the match finely balanced Alan was left battling it out on board one which initially looked like a dead drawn rook and pawn endgame. However having reached the time control Alan found a beautiful plan which pressured his opponent and won a pawn. Showing us all a masterclass in technique Alan went to convert it to the full point to give us a narrow victory over Kenya. More importantly the whole team has now scored at least one win each and we are feeling more confident going into the second week. Everyone was over the moon about today's performance and on Monday we will be tested by a tough Barbados side in round 6.
Day off
Round 6Round 6 saw us drawn against Barbados. Tito was resting so again we fielded “Poland 2” for this encounter (Russia have five teams playing). Paul wished his team members Pozdrowienia ( good luck) and it had the desired effect. Paul Playing his second Pelikan looked to be holding the draw despite being a pawn down but walked into a mating net. 1-0 to Barbados. “Yolkey pawlky”. Marcin accepted the Pawn in a morra gambit and then sacrificed Rook for Knight and 2 pawns. After a complicated middlegame he swopped everything off to be pawn up in the king and pawn endgame. Still his opponent would not resign but after 80 moves the victory was secured. Meanwhile Alan played a blinder on board 1 gradually outplaying his opponent and ending up with 2 queens. Krzysztof was looking good on 2 and looked as though he had the better position early on However the resultant rook and pawn ending was an easy draw. Jersey 2.5 Barbados 1.5 a fine victory. Guernsey finally scored a win beating the Seychelles on bottom board by the narrowest of margins 2.5 - 1.5. The Team now has 6 points but are up against Peru (ranked 37) in round 7. Bring on the Grand masters as we fear no-one.
Round 7We were all fired up and ready to play after our fine win the day before. With Marcin resting we played our strongest team. However Peru were confident and rested their top board. So Alan was black against a strong GM and he went wrong in the opening and soon lost. 1-0 to Peru. Tito looked like he was holding his own on board 4 but lost a pawn and the game. Paul fought hard again getting into time trouble and causing his captain some anxiety but simplified into a Rook Knight and 4 pawns verses Rook bishop and 4.After several more moves of manoeuvring a draw was agreed. Krzysztof was confusing his young GM opponent with his Knight moves but ended up in complicated Rook and bishops of opposite colour endgame. Best Play could have secured a draw but a couple of inaccuracies let his opponent in. Peru 3.5 Jersey 0.5. Our faithful Captain Chris handed over the arm band to Paul as he had to leave us the next day. We celebrated in the traditional style drinking vodka and playing Blitz. A big thanks to Chris from all the team. And yes Guernsey lost again.
Round 8Alan was up against a real heavyweight on board 1 today and that is not just his 2490 rating we are talking about. He sacrificed a pawn in the King’s Indian and looked as though he might be getting a good attack but Mr Heavy IM hit him a mighty blow and despite losing an exchange/rook was the one on the offensive, and went straight for the white king. Meanwhile Marcin suckered his opponent into one of his prepared lines, having told his captain the day before that this as what he intended to play! He was soon a queen for Rook bishop and pawn and the mighty queen (the one on the board not Marcin, he’s more like Rocky) was too much for his opponent. Another fine victory for our top scorer and the match finely balanced at 1 all. Krzysztof was in a line similar to what Paul played the previous day and despite trying hard was unable to obtain an advantage and took a draw by repetition. Tito started well but allowed his opponent to win an exchange but then managed to grab a pawn. There were good chances to draw especially as his opponent was in time trouble but a small error meant he could not get his king into play and black returned the rook for bishop and forced the last piece off the board leaving a won king and pawn ending. We lost 2.5 to 1.5 but as we were outgraded on all boards it was another fine performance from the team. Guess what Guernsey won, 2.5 1.5 against Papua New Guinea!! So they are catching us up.
Round 9We were extremely confident going into Round 9 against Mali one of the weakest teams we would face. Apart from their reserve board who had won 5 out of 5 the rest of the team looked weak. Marcin on 4 out of 7 would have a tough game but the rest of the team looked forward to an easy ride. How wrong could we be? Marcin was holding on board 4 but his opponents strength finally overcame him. Paul thought he could complicate it against his opponent winning a pawn at the expense of an attack on his king. Not fearing the attack he complicated further sacking a rook to win 2 pieces but his opponent sacked back on h7. Paul was oblivious to the attack not realising that his opponent had mate in 3 on move 18. “Yolkey pawlky”. Well apologies to giving you all watching on line a heart attack but the luck of our tutor Aliona was smiling upon us as Paul’s opponent made a check on h5 the relief of the spectators must have been great and Paul would not give his opponent another chance and went on to win. Meanwhile Tito had also underestimated his opponent and had a worse position but fought back to get a draw. The score was tied at 1.5 all and Alan was playing a Bishop of opposite colour ending. “Yolkey Polkey “ We were not so confident of the win now. The Mali captain offered a draw which Paul promptly turned down. Alan dug in deep to find a plan and when his opponent failed to play h5 he soon outplayed him to score The win. Jersey 2.5 Mali 1.5 and Guernsey lost again. The gods were indeed smiling on us today.
Round 10We were drawn against Nigeria. The date 1/10/10 Chris Tandy’s Birthday and guess what it was 50 years to the day that Nigeria gained independence from the UK. Our opponents turned up in fighting mood complete with battle fatigues. Boy did we know we were up for a fight. Our opponents all played so quickly that they were gaining time on the clock. Tito lost a piece in the opening and went down. Marcin looked to be holding comfortably on board 4 and lost a pawn. Krzysztof was getting a cramped position but felt comfortable. His opponent was gaining more and more time. But Krzysztof held out for a draw. Paul was happy with his opening play but became fixated on “winning” a pawn and went wrong around move 20. He was still fighting at time control and probably should have drawn but went wrong again and lost. Our luck from the previous day had deserted us. This left Nigeria 2.5 to 0.5 up with Marcin still playing a rook and pawn ending a pawn down but his opponent could do nothing but watch the pawns get swapped off and the draw was agreed. Well we lost to Nigeria on their great day and we know those guys will always remember where they were and who they played against on their 50th anniversary. Our dream of 10 points and a top 100 place looks shattered, and this was made more difficult when we found out that even though we had lost our next opponents were to be a strong Thailand team. Even so we will try our best. Guernsey went on to win so are now only 2 points behind us going into the last round. We were down but not out and the Jersey flag was being carried high around the Stadium and we have the Girlie photos to prove it. The good news is that with his draw Marcin has secured a Candidate Master title irrespective of his final round result.
Day Off
The final Round 11The final round started at 11.am an early start for chess players. The day started brightly with Marcin turning up with a policeman’s hat. Where and why please don’t ask. The draw was not kind to us and we faced the might of Thailand. Still the “Poland 2” team were not to be overwhelmed and as the middle games approached things were looking good. Marcin was a pawn up on board 4 after playing one of his favourite openings. Paul was the white side of a Sicilian Najdorf and his king side attack looked menacing. Krzysztof had a solid position with the black pieces but we could not tell from his Poker face expression if he was happy with this or not. Alan was definitely holding his game on board one. Things were looking good. But wait what’s this time trouble approaches, Marcin gets a Knight trapped and sacrifices the exchange. His opponent gets both rooks on the seventh game over. Paul is in time trouble still looking for the win and feeling confident he realises his queen is about to be trapped. Yolky polkey, his opponent now has two powerful bishops and sacrifices on g3. 2-0 to Thailand. Krzysztof should have taken pawns and kept attacking but started going backwards has let his opponent get a powerful passed pawn, it’s too strong and all of sudden most of the pieces fall. 3-0 Alan has lost 2 pieces for the rook his position does not look good and worse he has 10 seconds left on the clock. It looks like a whitewash. What’s this rook takes pawn check, opponent forced to take Alan now has queen against queen knight and bishop, but he also has a draw by repetition. A well earned draw. The Tournament is over we only managed 8 points and Guernsey equalled our score by beating Ghana in the last round. Both Peter Rowe and Marcin achieved Candidate master titles well done to both of them.
The Closing Ceremony
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