Euro Youth - Budva

[Mike Scott]

Not looked at any of the games, other than one posted by Phil, but I bet most games have been decided by one small mistake - one weak move in a critical position. I emphasis the word small - just remember that the margins between victory and defeat are so small; they are not impossible to overcome. Keep the focus, keep the determination (I know easier said than done) and the results will come.

Enjoy the rest day!

[Jonathan Edwards]

Sorry about the lack of posts made... The Internet here has been really dodgy and often cuts out, so I'm currently using the wifi in a cafe on my phone.

Here's Caitlin and Anna's well fought draw from the previous round:

[pgn]d4 d5 c4 dxc4 e4 Nf6 e5 Nd5 Bxc4 Nb6 Bb3 Nc6 Nf3 Bg4 Ng5 Bxd1 Bxf7+ Kd7 Be6+[/pgn]

The accommodation, on the whole, has been really good (perhaps the repetitive food has been the only downside) and is located close to the venue. Everyone has been finding the chess difficult with the standard being so high. There have been some really close fought games that came down to the smallest mistakes - as Mike pointed out earlier. It's hard to talk about all the cases, but for example: Vagif achieved his highest win ever on the day before the rest day and continued to play extremely well yesterday... He was completely winning against a 1604 in a French defence with the white pieces, but unfortunately blundered after 4 hours of play... For those of you who know Vagif, his patience in Budva has been very promising.

Spirits remain high and we're hoping today will be our best day yet! Although, I feel for Caitlin who is playing Monica today as it's never nice having to play players from your own team who you're really good friends with (nevermind two in a row!).

[Andy McCulloch]

Today the team score will be above 50%, 7.5/14. Well done. Somewhat ironic that the last match to finish is the all Scotland clash, Caitlin V Monica.

[Calum MacQueen]

What a day!

Heaviest scoring yet with 7.5/14

Wins from Vagif, Kai, Euan, Anna, Ali and draws for Leo, Shivan, Miguel as well as a hard fought draw between Monica and Caitlin. It came down to rook vs bishop.

Hopefully we can continue this form, only a few rounds left. Keep it up!

[Clement Sreeves]

The team is finishing very strongly! Right on the back of their best day, yesterday was the second highest scoring day! Wins for Kai, Murad, Jamie, Caitlin, and especially a first and well deserved win for Stuart, who has been up against players rated hundreds of points above his grade every game. But he is a very tough competitor, and proved that yesterday. Draws from Daniel, Miguel and Ali (who is still on a strong 50%, I know from experience that this is not an easy feat!).

Good luck to everyone for the final round today!

[Calum MacQueen]

+1 Clement, especially nice to see Stuart and Jamie bag the full point.

One round left, straight through 14/14!

[Calum MacQueen]

Last round finished now with some more positive results.

Vagif won in jig time as did Euan, Jamie, Daniel and Shivan. Draws to Murad and Anna.

Looks like the girls have done the best with Ali scoring the most points and Anna with the highest rating gain, well done to you all though on a hard-fought tournament against the best in your age group. It ain't easy out there.

Can't stop some of the players, straight back and onto Dundee at the weekend! Not even close to chessed out.