I started with 2/2, with two pretty straight-forward wins against lower rated opponents. Usually these early games serve as an illustration of one’s form: if you beat the lower-rated opponents effortlessly and confidently, that normally means that you’re in good form. I did beat them in a confident manner and that gave me a boost for the following games.

In Round 3 I had the first more serious challenge. I played GM Pogorelov, who in spite of his ridiculously low rating of 2362, always motivates himself when playing strong players. It was the same in this game – after a risky opening I managed to get a winning endgame, plus a big time advantage – by move 23 he was already playing on increment time, while I had more than 30 minutes left. And yet he played very tenaciously and I made one slip after another and eventually he held the draw. But I had only myself to blame for this as it shouldn’t really matter how your opponent is playing when you have a winning position.

The draw meant that I’d get another lower-rated opponent in Round 4 and it was WIM Matras-Clement, rated 2254. Quite surprisingly she went for the Tarrasch Defence, something she had never played before. I managed to remember what I had analysed ages ago and I got an advantage out of the opening, resulting in a symmetrical position of white having the pair of bishops against a bishop and a knight for black, with two pairs of rooks. I exchanged all the rooks and proceeded to win a very nice technical endgame, which I was quite pleased with.

The battles with the big guns started in Round 5. I was white again against GM Narciso Dublan. It seems that he wasn’t too well prepared in the opening and I got an advantage, but then I was tempted with a very interesting sacrificial idea on move 19. I went for it, but he defended well and when I should have settled for equality I chose to be ambitious and fight for more, only to face a worse position a few moves later. After mutual imprecisions, the game went to a queen endgame where active play on my part saved me the game.

Round 6 was an exciting struggle with the current European vice-champion, GM Anton Guijarro. I forgot my preparation and was worse in the opening, but the position was very complex and required a lot of calculation. So he made some mistakes and allowed me back in the game, when I had ample compensation for the exchange I sacrificed early in the game. By move 30 we were already down to 2-3 minutes to finish the game (the time control was 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move to finish the game) and as my position was easier to play I got a chance to get an advantage. I missed it and then it was unclear and then with only seconds remaining I went for yet another exchange sacrifice, which I saw it wasn’t entirely correct, but with so little time I didn’t see much else. But he also erred and we started repeating moves, as the position objectively was a draw. Nobody wanted a draw, but I didn’t have a choice and had to repeat, while secretly hoping he’d continue since the only way to do so looked very risky for him. The problem was that I only sensed this, and when he did actually deviate from the repetition (which was a big mistake), I had very little time to see the winning move – which I didn’t. But I had another chance for a big advantage on my next move, only to blunder instead and lose. His gamble paid off, much to my regret, but it was a good fighting game and I wasn’t feeling particularly bad after the game. It gave me more insight into the tension that exists in these high-level games and another proof that the strong players also blunder when put under pressure.

In Rounds 7 and 8 I got FM Garcia del Rey and GM Abergel. While I won against Garcia with white rather easily, after he sacrificed a pawn in the opening and got nothing in return, against Abergel, with black, I was under pressure when he opened the centre. I calculated hard and deep and found a good way to continue, only to be surprised by his nonchalant manner of playing in a position that required a lot of calculation. This led to him blundering in a still unclear position and I won after transposing to a winning rook endgame with my rook behind my passed pawn, which later transposed to a winning pawn endgame.

In Round 9 I had to win in order to win a prize. I was paired white against GM Sumets. Here I must whine a bit – I quite liked the late starting time of the games, every day at 8.30pm, as it gave me a lot of time to think about my strategy and preparation. The games ended at around 1am and then the pairings would come out, not a big problem as there would be plenty of time the next day. However, the organisers scheduled the last round for 9.30am (!!) and when I tried to argue that after the 8th round there is no time at all to rest, see the pairings, prepare and sleep, they came up with some laughable explanation of players having to catch their flights after the round. As it was, the pairings for the last round came out at around 1am, I prepared until 3am, then couldn’t fall asleep and woke up at 8.30am. Quite an abrupt break of the regime and no wonder my state was far from ideal. That was my only objection to the otherwise great event. In the game I pressed for a long time, but the early hour took its toll and I lost control over the position on move 31 when it was me who had to defend to secure the draw. I managed to do that and draw the game.

Eventually I shared 7-17th place, and with only 10 prizes I needed two more Bucholz points to get into the top 10. Nevertheless I had a great tournament, winning more than 10 rating points and showing play of a very good overall quality. Together with my successful play during the last 4NCL weekend, this result again brought my rating in the region of 2500.

In my post How to Win Opens (https://www.alexcolovic.com/2014/04/how-to-win-opens.html) I analysed four players who are very successful in open tournaments. It was no surprise for me that two of those players who played here won the tournament – GMs Fedorchuk and Delchev – congratulations to both, as it was a very demanding and incredibly strong tournament with 30 GMs and 22 IMs participating. Their way to the top was quite different – Fedorchuk started with 6/6 and finished with 3 draws, while Delchev had a great finish with 2.5/3, beating GM Agdestein in the last round.

I will now use the next several weeks first to rest and then to prepare for the biggest chess event of the year, the Olympiad in Tromso, Norway. The work of the chess players is never done, there are always variations to analyse, things to think about, psychological nuances and approaches to develop.

I am also very much looking forward to the Stavanger tournament, the first round starting on 3rd of June. It should be another great tournament and another chance for “the rest of the world” to try to give the World Champion a run for his money. Should be fun!

So to keep my readers busy, here are a few photos of the beautiful beach in Arenal (the name Llucmajor is the name of the municipality, I’m actually in Arenal. If you go from Palma eastwards, following the coast, adjacent to Palma is Playa de Palma and adjacent to Playa de Palma is Arenal).

Our first match was against Guildford 2 and the match didn’t run as smoothly as we hoped. In fact, we were lucky not to lose – my win against GM Flear with white was just enough to draw the match. The game started as a rather tame Queen’s Gambit, but curiously enough it got complicated once the queens got exchanged! The moves 15, 16 and 17 took me more than one hour and as the complications began I didn’t have much time, less than 15 minutes to reach move 40. I was lucky that he started to play moves that avoided the most complex lines and this led to his pieces becoming loose. He was also spending masses of time and on move 22 he was already in trouble, his blunder on the same move only quickened the end. An important win as it gave me more self-confidence ahead of the match with the superteam of Wood Green.

I was black against GM Laznicka in the match with Wood Green. He chose an unambitious line in the Queen’s Gambit Exchange and I had no problems in the opening. In the early middlegame he started to put his pieces on the kingside in order to advance there, but I had enough counterplay in the centre, I really liked the centralised position of my pieces on move 19: Bg6, Nf6 and Ne6, Bd6, Re8 and Rd8 and Qa6. Quite unexpectedly he blundered on the next move, allowing me to penetrate with my rook to e2. But he kept his cool and avoided immediate loss. We both entered time-trouble at that time and the lines were complex as I was trying to limit his counterplay based on g5, f5 and f6 when the outside knight on h4 would prove useful. At this moment he offered a draw and as time was running out I accepted. A very good result for the team, a draw with black, but unfortunately we lost several games after that point.

In the last round we needed to win to secure the 4th spot and we won comfortably. I was white against FM Sowray and he went for his usual Leningrad Dutch. I was well prepared and went into the endgame with an exchange operation that I had analysed in my preparations. The endgame was difficult for black as he had a lot of pawn weaknesses. He didn’t manage to create counterplay and I won a scholarly game.

A very good result for me, 2.5/3 and a repeat of the team’s 4th place. It was a very pleasant time spent at the Hinckley Island Hotel, the team atmosphere was at the highest level and I’m already looking forward to next season! After all, after two years finishing 4th, it’s time we moved upwards!

In the decisive match for the title, Guildford demolished Wood Green 6-2 and defended their title. Well done for the Guildford team, whose success started with the win of the French GM Edouard against GM Hammer and was sealed with GM Vachier Lagrave’s win over GM Adams, both wins with the black pieces. It is a rare thing to see the French helping the English win something.

As always, everything was organised at the highest level. The Hinckley Island Hotel is confirmed as the venue for the next season, so it’s more good times ahead!