European Youth Championships 2007

13-24 September, Sibenik, Croatia

Round 3

The day started like every other day; with a failed attempt by several of the players to go for a run on the beach. It seemed, not surprisingly, that the comforts of the bed far outweighed the health benefits of jogging. Healthy living took another beating at breakfast when a number of the players went for the fat-oozing sausages and bacon with a generous helping of scrambled eggs. To their credit many of the parents and coaches went for a much more frugal meal of cereal, fruit and yoghurt.

Breakfast is always followed by a few shifts of coaching, with each coach in charge of three players. This coaching is supplemented by some individual preparation by the players immediately prior to the game. Since this takes at most three hours in total, there is often enough time for the players to take advantage of the facilities of the resort. Table tennis is the most common choice; with Roy Zhang reigning as the undeniable king of the table, ruining his opponents with a killer forehand.

The game starts at 3:00 in the afternoon and is preceded by a supposedly light lunch. One of the perks of having the championship in a European country is the excellent cuisine, which most of the time manifests itself as an EXCELLENT collection of desserts. After the players overdose on the desserts, it’s a rush to their rooms to look over their notes one last time before their game.

Roy finished first in about 2 hours, having lost due to a devastating King’s Indian which killed his king side. This was followed by some good news from the girls as Amisha and Anjali both won their games. Amisha was actually surprised by an unexpected move in the opening but managed to navigate the complications well to secure a well-deserved win. Anjali played a great game against a Finnish player and capitalised on her opponent’s mistake with complete accuracy.

Peter Williams held his own and drew his game against a strong Spanish player and was rightfully pleased. Craig was out next and had unfortunately lost to Maxim Lugovski from Russia, a strong player. Craig was initially at an advantage from the opening but lost the edge when a sacrifice went awry and he found himself with a significant material disadvantage.
More bad news followed with Subin losing his game as well. Subin tried to take advantage of his space by attacking on the king-side but his opponent was able to defend and proceeded to take control on the rest of the board. This coupled with the serious time trouble for both players made it a tense game.

Peter Roberson finished with a win against a Croatian player, having converted his opponent’s baffling pawn sacrifice with good technique. Callum had the misfortune to play a French player with a grade of 2476 and who was about to receive his GM title. His opponent pulled out a complicated line of the Najdorf which saw Callum lose after an extremely tough fight.
The last result was Katie’s draw against an Azerbaijani player which consisted of a marathon game which lasted almost six hours. Towards the end, Katie was marginally up but in a situation which did not allow for the advantage to be realised.

Overall, not a bad day’s play with 4 out of 9.

Round 3

Cumulative Results