03-08-2014, 08:24 AM
Bo. 52 Scotland (SCO) Rtg - 119 Mozambique (MOZ) Rtg 3½: ½
52.1 GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 2394 - WIM Vilhete, Vania Fausto Da T. 1832 1 - 0
52.2 WFM Bamber, Elaine 2077 - Namaela, Malena Cidalia Rafael 0 1 - 0
52.3 Roy, Ali 1913 - Malenda, Ana 0 1 - 0
52.4 WFM Groves, Carey 2027 - Castro, Neusa Aridas De 1467 ½ - ½
Round 1 - not quite zero tolerance
The captain’s meeting revealed a few quirks to watch out for. The clocks have no move counter so the 30 minutes are only added after all time has elapsed on the clock. No help for time trouble addicts. FIDE’s preferred time control of 40 moves in 90 minutes then 30 minutes added with 30 second increments is more or less standard these days. Arbiters are to step in and declare a draw on five-fold repetition. Back at the hotel our team meeting discusses key points including deciding that players have a free choice on whether to accept or offer draws.
Arriving at the venue 25 minutes before the first round, it becomes clear that five airport-type security frames are insufficient to cope with hundreds of teams. Queues snake round the building on a bright clear day. Remarkably, despite the prospect of mass double defaults for lateness, the crowd is patient. Surely carnage would have broken out if this was, say, a cage fighting event. At 3pm hundreds of players are still nowhere near their board and start is delayed.
Eventually a five minute countdown delivered through an ear splitting PA and we’re off and running. The hall is a massive open plan space, in all 3D, roped into several sectors. Huge posters advertising the event, displaying the flags of the participating nations and an intense staring man, adorn the walls and are seen throughout the town. Tokens added to accreditation passes indicate who is in play and who is out to soak up the atmosphere. The majority of the women boards are in an annexe with a lower roof off to one side. Top half v bottom half pairings lead largely to mismatches with the odd moment of glory. Second seeds China are in the same area as Scotland and ruthlessly dispatch the IBCA.
Joy had a miserable afternoon. She followed progress on line and couldn't believe how badly the team was playing. It seemed only Keti would prevent the whitewash. Farcically although the moves were correct the organisers had inverted the order so board 1 was showing the board 4 players. Cue texts from family members to team telling them to develop their pieces tomorrow.
3...Bd6 against the Ruy Lopez has a poor reputation for good reason. By move 7 Ali’s opponent jettisoned a knight without compensation. Ali stayed focused and crashed through on the kingside. Elaine has turned up in uncompromising mood. Her Scandinavian turned out to be a very good type of Caro-Kann. Normally ...h5 would be weakening but here it was the start of quick expansion on the kingside that allowed rapid transfer of the heavy artillery towards White’s king.
Keti started patiently with a Grand-Prix/Closed Sicilian but quickly decided to push d4 turning it into a type of Open. Omitting f5 tempted her opponent into pushing f5 herself but it created holes. A careless recapture on e5 allowed Keti to win two pieces for a rook and the end was in sight. So 3-0, the match secured and a great start for the team.
For the less developed countries, ratings should be taken with a pinch of salt. On bottom board Carey faced a lowly rated girl who stayed solid against the Pirc and avoided any serious mistakes. Having secured more space, Carey over-extended with ...e4 and was fortunate that her knight, that sought adventures on d3, remained on the board. Having passed move 30 (no agreed draws allowed before then) White offered and Carey wisely said “play a move”. After some language confusion White produced a losing blunder! Under the cosh for some time a relieved Carey decided to accept the draw.
Players can ask the captain whether they can accept to which captains can reply “Yes”, “No” or “Decide for yourself”. So, hypothetically, if asked what should I do? Answering No would indicate that Black can play for a win. It would have been surprising for Carey but risks her failing to see the only move that is winning and potentially ending up worse! So 3.5-0.5 and job done. On to the much more challenging Belarus (seeded 40) in round 2.
52.1 GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 2394 - WIM Vilhete, Vania Fausto Da T. 1832 1 - 0
52.2 WFM Bamber, Elaine 2077 - Namaela, Malena Cidalia Rafael 0 1 - 0
52.3 Roy, Ali 1913 - Malenda, Ana 0 1 - 0
52.4 WFM Groves, Carey 2027 - Castro, Neusa Aridas De 1467 ½ - ½
Round 1 - not quite zero tolerance
The captain’s meeting revealed a few quirks to watch out for. The clocks have no move counter so the 30 minutes are only added after all time has elapsed on the clock. No help for time trouble addicts. FIDE’s preferred time control of 40 moves in 90 minutes then 30 minutes added with 30 second increments is more or less standard these days. Arbiters are to step in and declare a draw on five-fold repetition. Back at the hotel our team meeting discusses key points including deciding that players have a free choice on whether to accept or offer draws.
Arriving at the venue 25 minutes before the first round, it becomes clear that five airport-type security frames are insufficient to cope with hundreds of teams. Queues snake round the building on a bright clear day. Remarkably, despite the prospect of mass double defaults for lateness, the crowd is patient. Surely carnage would have broken out if this was, say, a cage fighting event. At 3pm hundreds of players are still nowhere near their board and start is delayed.
Eventually a five minute countdown delivered through an ear splitting PA and we’re off and running. The hall is a massive open plan space, in all 3D, roped into several sectors. Huge posters advertising the event, displaying the flags of the participating nations and an intense staring man, adorn the walls and are seen throughout the town. Tokens added to accreditation passes indicate who is in play and who is out to soak up the atmosphere. The majority of the women boards are in an annexe with a lower roof off to one side. Top half v bottom half pairings lead largely to mismatches with the odd moment of glory. Second seeds China are in the same area as Scotland and ruthlessly dispatch the IBCA.
Joy had a miserable afternoon. She followed progress on line and couldn't believe how badly the team was playing. It seemed only Keti would prevent the whitewash. Farcically although the moves were correct the organisers had inverted the order so board 1 was showing the board 4 players. Cue texts from family members to team telling them to develop their pieces tomorrow.
3...Bd6 against the Ruy Lopez has a poor reputation for good reason. By move 7 Ali’s opponent jettisoned a knight without compensation. Ali stayed focused and crashed through on the kingside. Elaine has turned up in uncompromising mood. Her Scandinavian turned out to be a very good type of Caro-Kann. Normally ...h5 would be weakening but here it was the start of quick expansion on the kingside that allowed rapid transfer of the heavy artillery towards White’s king.
Keti started patiently with a Grand-Prix/Closed Sicilian but quickly decided to push d4 turning it into a type of Open. Omitting f5 tempted her opponent into pushing f5 herself but it created holes. A careless recapture on e5 allowed Keti to win two pieces for a rook and the end was in sight. So 3-0, the match secured and a great start for the team.
For the less developed countries, ratings should be taken with a pinch of salt. On bottom board Carey faced a lowly rated girl who stayed solid against the Pirc and avoided any serious mistakes. Having secured more space, Carey over-extended with ...e4 and was fortunate that her knight, that sought adventures on d3, remained on the board. Having passed move 30 (no agreed draws allowed before then) White offered and Carey wisely said “play a move”. After some language confusion White produced a losing blunder! Under the cosh for some time a relieved Carey decided to accept the draw.
Players can ask the captain whether they can accept to which captains can reply “Yes”, “No” or “Decide for yourself”. So, hypothetically, if asked what should I do? Answering No would indicate that Black can play for a win. It would have been surprising for Carey but risks her failing to see the only move that is winning and potentially ending up worse! So 3.5-0.5 and job done. On to the much more challenging Belarus (seeded 40) in round 2.