26-11-2012, 03:39 PM
All back now from an unusually grey and wettish Greece (though still distinctly warmer than Scotland).
Congratulations to the new senior world champion, Jens Kristiansen (Denmark), who outprepared and outplayed the field just enough to edge the event deservedly ... with a big win with Black against Yuri Balashov in the middle perhaps the main reason for his extra half-point at the end ahead of Vaisser and Sveshnikov in Silver and Bronze positions. Alan Borwell, Alastair White, Philip Guilian and myself all enjoyed ourselves (see full results at the CS homepage link to the event). Alastair's result was the highest above his own rating.
Re - another thread, I've certainly no objection to being on "live" boards and feel that, like digital clocks and time increments, they are good for chess - not least for sponsors and the game's public interface. It surely wasn't such a bad advert for Scottish chess to have had my win against the reigning (now ex) world seniors champion, Vladimir Okhotnik, sent live round the world? Albeit chaotic and full of entirely human errors (the most critical, fortunately, made by my opponent)!
And a coaching test for juniors: DON'T turn on an engine and go ruthlessly looking for the game's key positional and tactical turns AND both players' improvements without one!! Good chess brain training, in my view, that can and should be done (at least) for all of one's own won, drawn and lost games.
Congratulations to the new senior world champion, Jens Kristiansen (Denmark), who outprepared and outplayed the field just enough to edge the event deservedly ... with a big win with Black against Yuri Balashov in the middle perhaps the main reason for his extra half-point at the end ahead of Vaisser and Sveshnikov in Silver and Bronze positions. Alan Borwell, Alastair White, Philip Guilian and myself all enjoyed ourselves (see full results at the CS homepage link to the event). Alastair's result was the highest above his own rating.
Re - another thread, I've certainly no objection to being on "live" boards and feel that, like digital clocks and time increments, they are good for chess - not least for sponsors and the game's public interface. It surely wasn't such a bad advert for Scottish chess to have had my win against the reigning (now ex) world seniors champion, Vladimir Okhotnik, sent live round the world? Albeit chaotic and full of entirely human errors (the most critical, fortunately, made by my opponent)!
And a coaching test for juniors: DON'T turn on an engine and go ruthlessly looking for the game's key positional and tactical turns AND both players' improvements without one!! Good chess brain training, in my view, that can and should be done (at least) for all of one's own won, drawn and lost games.