Open de Vins, Naujac sur Mer, the final stretch.

It has been a busy few days. With the football, social engagements and internet unreliability I have not been able to update you on a regular basis.

Face painting is all the rage amongst our local rat-pack of 7 year olds

A tent has been set up next to the lakeside pizzeria so entertain the crowd. This was the France -Germany match which ended sadly for the locals here but half the tent was German or German sympathisers so the yelling was about even.

Of course we had the traditional barbeque on friday night. We are seated with the Bollengier family who contribute three players to the tournament. Roman, the youngest, seated next to Nina will probably make it four soon.

And here we have the Spanish table.

Half the Jackson family who contribute nearly 10% of the total players. 

Then it was our turn to host the rat - pack sleepover.

Saturday Morning I realised that the tournament is nearly over and we had still not been to the Montelivet market which is a "mauvais coup" because one would miss out on..

Arcachon oysters  :D

Francoise found a  novel way to avoid being photographed.

Next we grabbed some local sausages and had to rush back as the round was about to start. The oysters did their job and I won an important game in round 8.

First my round seven game against the number two seed Sjef Rijnaarts. I had the impression that I was a bit better early in the ending but overpressed, waffled about and lost a pawn. Sjef should have taken my rook when it got to c2 on move 44, then play one rook to c1 and the other to c3 and all I can do is wait for him to push his kingside pawns. I haven't checked it yet so am blissfully unaware of the other wins he must have missed. In the end I sleezed a much needed draw.

This set up a must win game against the leader who was half a point ahead of the field. I played the opening a bit too creatively and Manuel exploited my artificial play with the very clever 7....Nb4 which leaves my queenside pieces hanging around stupidly in mid air. I had to play very accurately just to avoid disaster. One example, 13 c3 gets hit by Bc3!!  followed by Qh4+ and takes bishop on g4.
I would still prefer black until he undertook a kingside adventure that led nowhere. After he missed 21Qb5 it was one way traffic. So with this win I set up a last round pairing with Merijn Van Delft, both of us half a point in front.



What can I say in my defense? 10am round, guaranteed equal first with a draw and black against a higher rated opponent. Yes, still wimpy, but at least now I have time to update my blog :-)



So now we wait to see if others can join us on 7 points. With buchholz you never know who is going to take the honours until the lower boards have finished. Very much a lottery. Pics from the weighing coming later.