During the last 5 rounds of the Candidates I was playing myself on the very beautiful island of La Palma. It was a small tournament, excellently organised by “El Grande” Isidro Cruz, whom I’d like to thank for all the effort he put in.

Honestly speaking, I was worried how I would play after a prolongued period of inactivity. My main concern was how my head would be working. In order to decrease the chances of “malfunction” I did some training before the tournament. Eventually it didn’t amount to much, but I did string several days in a row when I was doing some calculational work for at least one hour.

I have often written how this type of work is the hardest for me. The brain has grown out of the habit of continuous analytical work and protests when it is forced back again. The secret is to persevere, in spite of all the uncomfortable hours spent trying to visualise a position or solve a study. An embarassing truth: on more than one occassion I have spent almost an hour on a position unable to solve it.

So with some trepidations in my heart I set out on a long journey. When I arrived, this is what welcomed me. A majestic ocean sunset.

Additionally, I arrived two days before the tournament. This was very important, primarily to rest, because the tournament had a very tough schedule of 7 rounds in 5 days. This meant 2 double-round days and a very early last round game (at 9am).

Double-round days and morning rounds have always been some sort of a curse for me. I don’t remember winning two games in a day, ever. It never mattered who I played or the position I got – the maximum has always been 1.5/2, though in the vast majority of cases it was less.

I think the reason for this is the fact that I grew up in times when it was unthinkable to play more than 1 game per day. So I got used to giving it all during that one game. With the introduction of shorter time controls and 2 rounds per day I didn’t manage to adjust so I often would lack the energy for the two rounds. Often a problem can be the previous round when I wouldn’t be able to rest before the morning game.

With all these factors still present, it is no surprise that I scored 1.5/2 on the double-round days and coupled with a draw in the last (morning) round my total of 5.5/7 only sufficed for second place (shared, but second on tie-break). You can see the final standings here.

Generally speaking I was pretty happy with my performance and how my head worked. I was seeing the small tactics quickly and clearly and was feeling comfortable at the board. My best game was from Round 4, not surprisingly a single-round day. Playing with Black was a young local FM.

In retrospect, the tournament was just ideal. The place (Canary Islands!), the result, the atmosphere, my state of mind, all the pieces of the puzzle fit in just perfectly. I wish I have more tournaments like this one in the future!