Round 8

Pitched battle

Today was a battle for the fans, that nearly wasn't one. I was black against a strong player and thought I should play solidly. Part of this strategy was to offer an early draw. My attempt to be sensible. To my relief, my opponent was in a fighting move.

After 8...Nd4 black is already better and when the offer came back, on move 13, it was already way too late. The Great of the game was a two-result affair. Black came close to drawing at some stages, but finally the a pawn was going to promote.

After the game, at about 7.30 pm I managed to get my third swim in eight days in. Summer didn't really impress this year. Below is random picture of the park in Hourtin. The lake is just beyond the treeline.

Round 8

 [Event "26th Wine tournament"]

[Site "Hourtin"]

[Date "2024.07.05"]

[Round "8"]

[White "Colin, Vincent"]

[Black "Wohl, Aleksandar"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteElo "2311"]

[BlackElo "2332"]

[ECO "C55e"]

[EventDate "2024.06.29"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.Nc3 d6 6.a3 O-O 7.h3 Be6 8.Bb5

Nd4 9.Ba4 Nxf3+ 10.Qxf3 c6 11.Bb3 Bxb3 12.cxb3 Nd7 13.b4 Re8 14.O-O 

Nf8 15.Be3 Ne6 16.Rad1 Bf6 17.Rd2 g6 18.b5 Bg7 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Rc2 

Qd7 21.h4 Rf8 22.Qh3 f5 23.Ne2 d5 24.Bc5 Rf7 25.Rfc1 fxe4 26.dxe4 d4 

27.Bb4 c5 28.Be1 Rc8 29.Qd3 Qa4 30.b4 Rfc7 31.Qc4 Kf7 32.bxc5 Qxc4 

33.Rxc4 Rxc5 34.Rxc5 Rxc5 35.Rxc5 Nxc5 36.f3 Nd3 37.Bd2 Bf8 38.Nc1 

Nb2 39.Bb4 Bxb4 40.axb4 Ke6 41.Kf1 Kd6 42.Ke2 Kc6 43.g3 Kb5 44.f4 

exf4 45.gxf4 Kxb4 46.f5 gxf5 47.exf5 d3+ 48.Kd2 Kc5 49.Kc3 Kd6 50.Nb3

Na4+ 51.Kd4 a6 52.Nd2 Ke7 53.Ne4 d2 54.Nxd2 Kf6 55.Ke4 Nc3+ 56.Kf4 a5

57.Nc4 a4 58.Kg4 Nb5 59.Kh5 Nd4 60.Kh6 Nxf5+ 61.Kxh7 Nxh4 62.Kg8 Ng6 

63.Na3 Ne7+ 64.Kf8 Ke6 65.Nb5 Nf5 66.Na3 Nd6 67.Nc2 Nb5 68.Ke8 Kd6 

69.Kd8 Kc5 70.Kd7 Nd4 71.Na3 Kb4 72.Nb1 Nb5 73.Kc6 Nc3 74.Nd2 a3 75.

Nf3 Ne2 76.Ne1 Kc3 0-1

Last round, I'm white, half a point ahead of my opponent. Any score will do. I'll end the tournament peacefully if possible, unless the offer comes too late. % rating points is nothing to be sneezed at 😁