New Zealand Open Championship 2019 round 3

Focus on fitness

Since I failed my medical exam for a passenger driving licence three years ago I have been slowly and circuitously working on my health. Being told I was morbidly obese, pre-diabetic and had metobolic syndrome, was unpleasant. I started with a 21day  herbal tea and water fast. That solved the immediate problem. I managed to get my license and avoided the need for medication but it was not a permanent solution.

I will go into more detail on another occasion. Only in the last few months have I made rapid progress. Nutrition is half the solution, exercise is the other half. This has seriously accelerated since this tournament started.

I am sharing a room with a fit young man, newly minted IM Brandon Clarke. On the first day he showed me what to do in a Gym. I now know what reps are, how to use the strange machines and what to do with weights. I never knew it could actually feel good to work out!

Timur Gareyev has been my other motivator, joining me on long brisk walks. We did 8km this morning, including a hike up a mountain.

Todays powerwalk

6am I got a ping from my walking buddy Timur. Otherwise, I may have stayed in bed a little longer.
Its always easier doing these things with someone else. A bit later we were on our way.

Sunrise is the best time to head out for a walk. One is encouraged to walk briskly to make up for the chilly temperature.



It took us about 20 minutes to reach the base of Maungarei, aka Mt Welllington


.
From the peak one gets great 360 degree views of south Auckland.

On the way back we stumbled upon Van Damm park. A lovely little forest oasis next to the rail line. We were not paying enough attention and got a bit lost, so saw some parts a few times 😂

Round 3

Finally a slightly easier game, mainly because I took John seriously, having seen some of his good games. I saw in my pre-game preparation that he might not be familiar with Sicilians so aimed to play it with white. My plan came good when he allowed me to remove his most important piece, the white squared bishop. After that, white's game was easy.

[Event "NZ Ch 2019"]
[Site "Auckland"]
[Date "2019.01.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wohl, Aleksandar"]
[Black "Duneas, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2332"]
[BlackElo "2044"]
[ECO "A01"]
[EventDate "2019.01.14"]

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.c4 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.a3 Bd6 7.d3 O-O 8.
Nf3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Re8 10.Be2 Nf6 11.b4 a6 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nh4 e4
15.d4 Nd5 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.Qb3 Nb6 18.h4 Qe7 19.h5 g5 20.h6 g6 21.h7+
Kg7 22.d5+ Ne5 23.Nxe4 f6 24.Rc1 Rh8 25.f4 gxf4 26.exf4 Nxg4 27.Qf3
Nxd5 28.Nxd6 Qxd6 29.Qxg4 Rxh7 30.Rxh7+ Kxh7 31.f5 gxf5 32.Qxf5+ Kg7
33.Qg5+ Kf8 34.Qh6+ Ke7 35.Qg7+ Kd8 36.Rd1 c6 37.Bxf6+ Ke8 38.Bh5#
1-0

Early evening Brandon and I hit the Gym and I did a few laps in the pool. Later on I took another 4km walk. No half measures 😊