Diary from the Tromso Olympiad – Day 5

Round 5

 

Our opponents in round 5, Latvia, are much stronger than Ecuador. Still it did not have to end badly.

 

Davor Palo drew Shirov, when he did not manage to create any real pressure with White. HERE

 

Allan Stig Rasmussen did not escape the opening before he was dead lost. White did not perform the best possible kill, but it was good enough, as Allan was also an hour down on the clock after the opening, with only 20-30 minutes left to make another 15 moves. See the game here.

 

I got a good opening and things just kept getting better. Then I played a bit ineffective. In the end (move 22-23) I decided on a tactical operation I believed to be winning. But instead it lost immediately. I never saw it coming. Very sad. Actually, I should have been thinking prophylactively, but just didn’t. Not for one second did I consider what his idea was. I was threatening his pawn! This is what happens when you are not playing very often. It is called “being out of practice.”

 

Jakob Vang Glud was in big trouble on board 4, but his opponent blundered his extra pawn, letting Jakob away with a draw.

 

3-1. Very disappointing.

 

Elsewhere Andrew Greet made us proud.

6 thoughts on “Diary from the Tromso Olympiad – Day 5”

  1. Tough break for sure – I followed your game live and was sure you were going to make Black suffer for a very long time with 24.Nd3. Perhaps all is not lost – you can put this game in a book some day!

  2. Michael Bartlett

    The 23 Kh1 line suggested by stockfish looked good. You had such a great advantage on the queenside. Did you feel you over-estimated the power of his black knight? Certainly giving up the dark squared bishop seemed to allow him to infiltrate better. Bear in mind I am an amateur so feel free to disregard the comment and question if I am talking nonsense.

  3. Michael Bartlett

    I always find whenever I start creating tactical situations in a game where I have the edge, it backfires on me. I’ve had my fair share of Ng4 moments. I did pick up your 2nd Edition of Understanding Chess Tactics and am reading it with another excellent book called ‘A course in chess tactics’ by Gambit. Good luck for the next round. I bet it is beautiful out there. Wish we could have been making that documentary.

  4. “Being out of practice” is quite a strong description of the experience of the gap between knowledge and practical ability. Experienced players in the field of knowledge often experience that, also in other fields than chess. The paradox seems to be that in order to have practical success one has to have the ability to be superficial sometimes….

  5. @Vandros
    I should maybe be a bit more detailed. Basically I was thinking about the wrong things in the critical moment. This is clearly a case of not being used to play enough. When I played four tournaments in a row in 2012 I experienced more systematic and focused thinking after a few tournaments. If I had played more this year, I would definitely do the right things more often and not have lost this game in this way. I am certain of it.

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