15-09-2011, 05:08 AM
Round 4- 3 and a half points which was probably fair although we could have got a bit more. We have got our days nicely in a planned routine now. 09.45- Physical excercises (yes, parents and me as well !) led by June Underwood who is a fitness instructor. Nothing too heavy, stretching, circuit training, jogging, skipping etc. 10.15- Coaching- Alan does prep for today's game on a 1 to 1 basis, through to lunch at 1 and after lunch. I take 2 at a time and work through chapters of an excellent endgame book I have that was recommended to me by Iain Swann when we were at the Czech open, Peter Woods found me a perfect 2nd hand copy. It's a classic- Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky. Games yesterday...Kai-levellish position until he managed to infiltrate with Q,R,B and win quickly. Jamie was going along fine until trapped by his opponent and blundered. His general play in his last 3 games is fine and deserves better results. Cristina-same old story-desperate time trouble-blunders. Monica- rock solid position, time tight but so was opponent's -draw agreed. Hamish lost in a wild Q,R and Pawn endgame. He is another whose results do not reflect his overall play. Murad- Always comfortable on the white side of a Sicilian but couldn't quite find enough to take full point-draw. Andrew-Played really well again and this time rightly got the win his play so far has merited. Totally controlled game. Carl- It was decided that he had black against such a tough opponent that the Sicilian Dragon would be trotted out and he gave it a right go, losing eventually in 4 hours. Anna- solid early, went astray positionally, typically dug in and got back level again only to lose in a tricky knight and pawn endgame against a more experienced opponent who knew exactly how to win it after 4 hours. Anna's endgames are weak but I am working on it. Ali- have to confess I didn't see this as she was playing in another building but drew after 3 hours. We have some fair chances of some decent points in round 5.
Robin.
Robin.