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Chess Life Online 2008 February Josh Blogs From Moscow: Part II
Chess Life Online 2008 February Josh Blogs From Moscow: Part II | Josh Blogs From Moscow: Part II |
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| By IM Josh Friedel | |
| February 19, 2008 | |
Josh Friedel at the Aeroflot Open. Photo Gerald Morton
I thought I was playing fairly well up until today. I pushed as Black in round one but was unable to win. I won a smooth game in round two and in round three somehow pulled out a win from a dead even ending. All my opponents in rounds 1-3 were in the 2375-2400 range. 1641 1642 In round four, I drew a crazy game against GM Georgi Kacheishvili, a somewhat familiar opponent as he plays in the US sometimes, and we’ve met twice already with one win for each. 1643 This time we drew an amazingly complex game, where first I was close to winning, and then he was on top, but eventually it petered out to a draw. Today I lost as black against tough Russian GM Evgeny Vorobiov. 1644 It was a somewhat unusual Queen’s Indian, and right when I thought I was sort of OK I blundered a queen for rook and piece outright. Then I got some counterplay, only to blunder it away later. The conditions at Aeroflot are quite different than those at the Moscow Open. The hotel is much more upscale and bigger, and there are numerous options for food, at least five inside the hotel and many more close by, plus several shops. At the Moscow Open there was a market, one restaurant at the hotel, and that was pretty much it. It is hard to believe it is even the same city. Coat checking isn’t as insistent here, however. Though whenever I eat with Ms. Zenyuk, she asks if I’d survive without my coat throughout the meal. I have to get her to stop reading these things. Hopefully this one will be boring enough. In any case, I’d say this site is quite a bit better, though the tournaments are both quite strong. It is a different experience playing only people within 100 points or so of your rating all tournament, as usually those are the people you never play. I like it personally, as I feel the games are closer, though it’d be nice to get the crack at the occasional 2600. Anyway it just passed 1:30 AM here, so I should probably get some rest. I hope the news in my next report will be better! |