05-08-2014, 12:55 PM
Round 3 - winning at the seventh attempt
Br. 56 Denmark (DEN) Elo - 52 Scotland (SCO) Elo 1½:2½
35.1 WFM De Blecourt, Sandra 2122 - GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 2394 0 - 1
35.2 WFM Guindy, Esmat 2074 - WFM Bamber, Elaine 2077 0 - 1
35.3 WFM Frank-Nielsen, Marie 1969 - WFM Groves, Carey 2027 1 - 0
35.4 Olsen, Miriam F 2019 - WFM Durno, Joy 1862 ½ - ½
Meals at the Olympiad are all “koldtbord” (buffet style). A modest though tasty breakfast is served in the Viking Hotel whilst lunch and dinner require a five minute stroll across to The Edge Hotel, appropriately situated next to the harbour. Berthed nearby can be seen all sorts of vessels from the Norwegian Coastguard to cruise liners. I was surprised to see, flying under the flag of the Cayman Islands, a ship with a helicopter perched on the stern.
The Edge is catering for a large number of teams including the Russian elite. After initial chaos and long queues players have settled into their routines and mealtimes are sociable affairs exchanging the news of the day. John Shaw declared it the best food he’d known at an international team event. As a man who has returned from previous trips with salmonella and weighing only eight stone he might have set a low bar. However I can confirm the food is really fine and not just the “chess players menu” that has blighted previous competitions. The chef has a recipe book with 1001 ways to prepare salmon (fish is invariably the best main course) but there is normally enough choice for even fussy eaters.
After seven attempts Scotland at last defeated the Danes in a Women’s Olympiad. Showing great resilience and determination the team bounced back to ease past a team just 4 places lower in the rankings. However the day did not start promisingly. Carey saw ghosts in a Pirc when her opponent played dxc5. Thinking the normal recapture with her knight would lead to the loss of a piece she took with the d-pawn and came under pressure as White seized space in the centre. Defending grittily she gradually nullified the pressure before disaster struck and she missed a Rxd7 trick. Joy spent 45 minutes early on in a Catalan. Black equalised as Joy danced around the first two ranks with her queen searching for the optimal square. Nifty footwork and the position opened up with her g2 bishop becoming a monster. One chance to win a pawn by hitting the d5 bishop with e4 passed by in a flash during time trouble and the game ended sedately with perpetual check.
Elaine’s prepared 2.b3 against the French was a smart choice with her opponent looking immediately uncomfortable. Black attempted to play simple positional chess whilst Elaine infiltrated down the h-file.
Maximising activity at the expense of her pawn structure, Elaine’s threats became overwhelming as Black’s pieces sat on awkward squares. 1.5 all and it was left to Keti to decide the fate of the match. First it swung her way as her King’s Indian took control of the dark squares then it swung back to White when Keti missed the beautiful idea ...Rxe6 f4 ...Nc6 with the idea of ...Nd4. Eventually White tried to win a Queen ending pawn up but allowed a stalemate which Keti missed. With a crowd circling the board Keti blundered mate in 2 and in return White checked on the wrong square allowing Keti to interpose with check and win the resulting pawn ending. Phew, all’s well that ends well!
Br. 56 Denmark (DEN) Elo - 52 Scotland (SCO) Elo 1½:2½
35.1 WFM De Blecourt, Sandra 2122 - GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 2394 0 - 1
35.2 WFM Guindy, Esmat 2074 - WFM Bamber, Elaine 2077 0 - 1
35.3 WFM Frank-Nielsen, Marie 1969 - WFM Groves, Carey 2027 1 - 0
35.4 Olsen, Miriam F 2019 - WFM Durno, Joy 1862 ½ - ½
Meals at the Olympiad are all “koldtbord” (buffet style). A modest though tasty breakfast is served in the Viking Hotel whilst lunch and dinner require a five minute stroll across to The Edge Hotel, appropriately situated next to the harbour. Berthed nearby can be seen all sorts of vessels from the Norwegian Coastguard to cruise liners. I was surprised to see, flying under the flag of the Cayman Islands, a ship with a helicopter perched on the stern.
The Edge is catering for a large number of teams including the Russian elite. After initial chaos and long queues players have settled into their routines and mealtimes are sociable affairs exchanging the news of the day. John Shaw declared it the best food he’d known at an international team event. As a man who has returned from previous trips with salmonella and weighing only eight stone he might have set a low bar. However I can confirm the food is really fine and not just the “chess players menu” that has blighted previous competitions. The chef has a recipe book with 1001 ways to prepare salmon (fish is invariably the best main course) but there is normally enough choice for even fussy eaters.
After seven attempts Scotland at last defeated the Danes in a Women’s Olympiad. Showing great resilience and determination the team bounced back to ease past a team just 4 places lower in the rankings. However the day did not start promisingly. Carey saw ghosts in a Pirc when her opponent played dxc5. Thinking the normal recapture with her knight would lead to the loss of a piece she took with the d-pawn and came under pressure as White seized space in the centre. Defending grittily she gradually nullified the pressure before disaster struck and she missed a Rxd7 trick. Joy spent 45 minutes early on in a Catalan. Black equalised as Joy danced around the first two ranks with her queen searching for the optimal square. Nifty footwork and the position opened up with her g2 bishop becoming a monster. One chance to win a pawn by hitting the d5 bishop with e4 passed by in a flash during time trouble and the game ended sedately with perpetual check.
Elaine’s prepared 2.b3 against the French was a smart choice with her opponent looking immediately uncomfortable. Black attempted to play simple positional chess whilst Elaine infiltrated down the h-file.
Maximising activity at the expense of her pawn structure, Elaine’s threats became overwhelming as Black’s pieces sat on awkward squares. 1.5 all and it was left to Keti to decide the fate of the match. First it swung her way as her King’s Indian took control of the dark squares then it swung back to White when Keti missed the beautiful idea ...Rxe6 f4 ...Nc6 with the idea of ...Nd4. Eventually White tried to win a Queen ending pawn up but allowed a stalemate which Keti missed. With a crowd circling the board Keti blundered mate in 2 and in return White checked on the wrong square allowing Keti to interpose with check and win the resulting pawn ending. Phew, all’s well that ends well!