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Scotland (David Findlay, Alastair White, Alastair Dawson, Stephen Hilton) are seeded 13th out of 18 teams in the over-50s section. This now includes the 4 women teams.
With Russia 1 not appearing. the home team Lithuania 1 are the favourites with GM Rosentalis on top board the only 2600+ player at the event. England 1 have a useful team, too, with GM Plaskett on 1 and Euro Senior Champion GM Arkell on 2.
We nearly had a problem on the first day as serious transport problems led to Steve arriving a dat late! However FIDE co-operated by being unable to start the tournament at the scheduled time, meaning we avoided a possible forfeit. However we had to play the 4th seeds in he first round:
Round 1: Scotland 1 - 3 Russian Women
Against an experienced team of 4 WGMs, we did well to manage a couple of draws on the middle boards after surviving serious pressure in lengthy endgames. David sadly lost on time after a misunderstanding about the time controls, albeit from a difficult position, while Steve played well enough but was understandably very tired after 2 days en route to the venue.
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Round 2:
Lithuania3 0.5 - 3.5 Scotland
A decent score against the lowest-graded team. David won quickly with a sacrificial attack against his opponents king; the two Alastairs also weighed in somewhat later with further wins, and Steve's opponent played well to hold the draw.
Tomorrow we play another of the Lithuanian teams, much stronger this time, who for some reason have their lowest-graded player on board 1.
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Round 3
Scotland 1.5 - 2.5 Rositsan ir Maccabi Lithuania
My IM opponent made short work of beating me, but the other three games were not without interest. Alastair D's opponent was over-confident and overestimated his chances in a very sharp line: it was agreed a draw in a position where we certainly weren't worse - in fact Alastair might have done even better if he had found all the moves analysed later over the board. Steve had the better of a rook ending; however he allowed his opponent too much acivity and had to settle for another draw.
Meanwhile on board 1 the complications started around move 2 and it was a complete mess from start to finish. David looked to be in some trouble but somehow managed to hang on. Eventually it was agreed drawn, still with a scary position on the board.
A narrow defeat but against the 6th seeds it wasn't too bad a result.
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Round 4:
New Zealand 1.5 – 2.5 Scotland
David kept up his record of never having played an endgame, winning in 23 moves. I needed a bit longer (34 moves) to overcome ‘former’ Scot Helen Milligan. Helen admitted that she had been nervous playing for the very first time against her birth country.
Steve once again had the better of a rook ending but eventually had to settle for a draw, while Alastair D for once overlooked something and went down to his first loss. Never mind, Scotland had beaten New Zealand, something they don’t often do in other sports.
Unsurprisingly we will have a tougher draw tomorrow against a fairly strong Latvian team, the 8th seeds.
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Some Background information:
Vilnius surprised me (and no doubt others too) by proving to be a vibrant, attractive European capital. It has one of the largest ‘old town’ areas in Europe, with lovely baroque architecture and many imposing churches, hotels, museums and government buildings. The Lithuanians are very proud of their heritage, and have made enormous progress in rebuilding the country since recovering their independence from the Soviet Union.
For convenience we are staying just across the road from the playing venue, which is the town hall. The Radisson Blu Astorija is just about the best hotel in town, but that can sometimes have its down side, too. For David and Alastair D it was having a room above the popular nightclub which fortunately only functions at weekends. For myself and my wife it was having a room almost next door to the President of the upper diet of the Japanese Parliament, and various other dignitaries and hangers-on, who were on an official visit to discuss economic development. So we had security guards stationed in the corridor 24/7, and at various times hordes of men (and women) in black suits and dark glasses whose function can only be guessed at.
Like most other European capitals Vilnius is full of up-market expensive shops selling fashions, leather goods, and jewellery (amber seems to be the particular local speciality). But the plentiful and varied restaurants are surprisingly affordable and we have had quite a time of it sampling the local cuisine and the local beers. The local delicacies include various kinds of sausages and dumplings, so it is not a place to come if your aim is to lose weight.
The weather has been kind to us too, with clear blue skies much of the time and it is warm enough to go out at night in short sleeved shirts.
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Just to say thanks to Alastair for his illuminating daily reports and congratulations to the team on a good start!
It is a pity that there is only one match on live boards for each tournament but the results are reported quickly.
For those of us who are "regulars" in senior events, we do appreciate having reports of each day's matches :-) Best wishes to all in Lithuania, Alan
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Round 5:
Scotland 2 – 2 Latvia
My opponent ‘won’ a rook and three pawns for bishop and knight, but the activity of my pieces more than compensated. I then set a devilish trap which he fell straight into, giving me a winning sacrificial attack. My best game for some time – but you may have to wait for the next issue of ‘Scottish Chess’ to see it.
Steve miscalculated and lost a piece - despite getting some compensation it wasn’t enough.
Alastair D had a decent position and offered his opponent a draw, which was politely refused. But like many before him, his highly rated opponent had underestimated Alastair, who promptly proceeded to outplay him comprehensively and win.
David’s opponent had perhaps heard of his fear of endgames. With his first endgame looming, he offered a draw which was also refused. However this time there was no ‘happy ending’, and when David failed to hold we just missed out on a famous victory.
However a draw against Latvia was a very good result – we are definitely punching above our weight.
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Good luck in your big match v supernation Norway tomorrow.
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Round 6:
Norway 2 – 2 Scotland
This was always likely to be a close match against the team just above us in the seedings. My good form continued with a successful King-side attack and a win in 29 moves. Soon after Alastair D’s game was agreed drawn in a fairly blocked position.
David was a pawn down and in a lot of trouble again but somehow managed to salvage a draw. That left Steve who was a pawn down in a very technical rook ending. At the critical moment he lost the thread a bit and allowed his opponent a winning tactic.
Another drawn match and another decent result. However we expect to be up against it tomorrow when we play 5th seeds Moldova.
