European Senior Team Championship

[IMarks]

BSW/DBAG 3 0 SCO 4

That bad Scrabble hand is one of the German railways teams (organisation sides may enter). After yesterday's disappointment it was good to get back on track (yep, that's a pun) with four convincing wins. The games ranged from Raj's quickie to Phil's marathon, but they all count.

Things were much better on the noise front today, with the arbiters quick to stamp out any incipient rumbustiousness.

[IMarks]

Big Celtic derby tomorrow: Cymru v Alba.
Can't wait.

[Alan Borwell]

Keep up the good work today against Wales :-) Noise has always been a problem at this event in Dresden with constantly opening and closing of doors with noisy bookstall just outside The hotel venue is far from ideal.

[IMarks]

Cymru 2½ Alba 1½

Looked for a long time like it was heading for 2-2 until Raj’s position became so blocked that the draw was inevitable. So bragging rights to our southern cousins – until next time.

The noise situation has improved, although, as Alan says, it seems to be a feature of this venue. To confirm that my post of the other day wasn't an excuse, one of the local players said yesterday, 'It's always like this here'. Pity, because the organisation has been excellent otherwise.

[Alastair White]

Last year we beat the Welsh but ended up finishing below them after getting a tough draw in the next round. Hopefully this year it will be the other way round. With Wales, and England 2 and 3, all having tough draws a good win would get you back into the top half and a great result and a chance to pass some of those. Good luck, guys!

[Alan Borwell]

A pity about yesterday, but as Alastair says a good last round result should secure an above ranking finish. I assume the event is being played in the same two rooms as before, which increases traffic via bookstall! Next year it will be in Croatia in early April where hopefully Scotland will have several teams participating.
Good luck today =)

[George Murphy]

Only a short sprint to the finishing line now. Make a Bolt for it. No sayin' where you might end up. Go for it!
Per ardua ad astra!

[IMarks]

SCO 1½ Helsinki 2½

Not the way we wanted it to finish, but another cracking win by Raj. Phil drew, and Alastair and I played for nearly 140 moves to try to save the match, but no dice.

The noise issue reared its ugly head again today as arbiters sat around while heated discussions took place in the playing hall. (We only used the big conference hall this year.) Perhaps noise isn't such a big deal with German arbiters. It should be.

We finished 53rd, ten places below our 43rd seeding. Sounds pretty bad, but there were so many possible permutations from the teams/results around our position that it could have been 40-something. Winners were Israel, and Italy, with whom we drew in round one, finished 5th.