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[pos]3r1k2/2q3pp/3rBp2/p4Pb1/3PQ3/2P1R2R/P5P1/7K w - - 0 32[/pos]
Peter - you may have to wait until the next issue of the magazine for games and analysis. But here's a position from my second round game:
32.Rxh7! Bxe3 33.Bb3! and Black cannot prevent mate...
33...Rd5 34.Rh8+ 1-0.
Qe6 mate is next move.
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Round 7:
Scotland 1 – 3 Moldova
We were always going to be up against it today, against 3 IMs and an FM and no titles of any kind on our side. And yet we were not without our chances. Steve battled away in a King’s Indian with no success, and I had a decent game – at one point I had a forced draw, but didn’t see it and eventually got ground down in a rook ending with level material but an inferior pawn structure.
To Alastair D’s credit, he tried hard to win against his IM opponent but coldn’t break through – still a draw was a decent result under the circumstances. David found himself in an ending again – in fact he was two pawns to the good but his IM opponent showed how to draw it with good technique.
So we had to content ourselves with a couple of draws – hopefully we will get an easier match tomorrow.
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Doug really well guys keep up the hard work !
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Round 8:
England2 3 – 1 Scotland
A bad day at the office. I settled for a quick draw against my higher-graded opponent. Steve faced down a Benko Gambit but decided he wasn’t going to make any progress so also settled for a draw. So far OK.
Alastair D’s Benoni left him with a cramped position and in trying to break out he got rather tangled up and lost first material and then the game. Meanwhile David’s opponent had castled queenside in an exchange Queens Gambit, and commenced an all-out attack on the King’s side. Ultimately it would prove decisive.
After all that we are now one place below our seeding for the first time; a win against the Lithuanian women tomorrow would take us back up again but we are taking nothing for granted – they have already shown that they are somewhat better than their gradings would suggest...
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In the race for medals;
Lithuania 1 are set to take the over-50s title. Tomorrow they play Latvia needing just a draw – I confidently predict a peaceable outcome. England 1 will be second if they beat the Latvian women, while another Lithuanian Team (Rositsan ir Maccabi) should be third.
In the womens medal Russia are strong favourites with Latvia having just an outside chance if they can beat England 1. However Nona Gaprindashvili’s Georgia are already out of the running
In the all-play-all over-65s, St. Petersburg lead Russia by 1 point. Tomorrow St Petersburg play the Dutch needing a win to be sure of the title, while Russia have what looks like an easier task against England I who haven’t won a match.
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Round 9:
Scotland 2.5 – 1.5 Lithuania Women
On paper perhaps not a great result against the second-bottom team, but a win is a win. Steve was first to finish with a draw. David had a fairly convincing victory , and Alastair D’s game was agreed drawn. I may have been slightly better but also agreed to my opponents draw offer in order to make sure of the match.
Elsewhere the results went well for us, so we finished equal 10th on points, and 12th on tie-break, one place above our seeding. That’s a decent result.
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In the race for the medals, my prediction of a peaceable outcome between the Baltic neighbours proved to be very wrong. The home team in the over-50s, Lithuania 1, deployed their top board 2603-rated Rozentalis for the first time (!) in the match against Latvia and won 3.5-0.5 to win the title by a convincing margin. England 1 were second, and with the third-placed Lithuanian team losing 4-0 to yet another team from the home nation, the Russian Women were able to sneak into the bronze medal position by thrashing yet another Lithuanian team 4-0.
The Russian Women put daylight between themselves and the rest to win the Women’s title.
In the over-65’s, St.Petersburg won their last match and so were the winners by one point. Russia won their last match 4-0 against the Dutch but were undone by an earlier draw against the Austrians. Latvia were third.
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Scotland sneaked just ahead of New Zealand on tie-break! My thanks to the Scots for driving me home to St Andrews and leaving me at the door of my hotel. Where I was upgraded to a suite overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course, due to overbooking. Life can be very good!
