Open de Vins 2016 Round 7

We went to the Montalivet markets again, had a nice swim and bought some very nice food. I did manage to get a quarter of an hour of superficial preparation in but it was no great help. The game itself was my worst for quite a while.

Round 7

My first suspect decision came as early as move eleven when I played 11... Qg4 instead of the natural 11...Bg4. My thinking was that since endgames had gone well for me lately I would swap Queens early. Don't ask me why I changed my mind two moves later. My very next move 14...Bc3 was just a disaster after which good play from a strong young player, Pablo, was enough to make me look like a beginner.

The top seed lost as well so the titled players have all played each other with Antoine Favarel leading on 6.5/7, Pablo Ollier on 6/7, me on 5/7 and Paul Velten on 4.5/7. So now there's just two rounds of target practise left and unless one of us shoots themselves in the foot these should be the final standings. Mind you, all of us have bullet holes in our feet :-) Will keep you informed.

Tonight all of France was watching the Germany-France half final in the  Euro2016 soccer tournament. The atmosphere was very lively with lots of painted faces, flags, cheering and of course drinking. France won 2-0 so German tourists and those that spoke German or could be mistaken for Germans weren't lynched. Phew! 

Doubleroo gastronomic and accommodation review & Round 6

The new accommodation sponsor for the annual wine tournament is the Western Village camping and equestrian centre. While it doesn't have quite the chess family feel about it that Camping La Rochade had, it is nevertheless a nice place to stay. The grounds are very well kept and there is a plethora of activities, especially for kids.  

The office looks like the main bar in Tombstone and has a western themed counter at the reception. All kinds of wild west paraphernalia decorates the walls. 

There is a Main street with familiar names like Wells & Fargo and a Marshalls office (bike rental) and places to tether horses.

Water tower and wind pump.

And of course horses and ponies. They have riding courses, ponies for little kids and rides along the beach and through the forest.

The size of the Camping ground is quite amazing. This is the Indian village with tipi's that sleep eight! 

We are staying in one of there two bedroom mobile homes with bathroom and toilet. Very comfy.

If you are in the area I can definitely recommend this place, especially if you are into horses or Glamping. The bathrooms are spotlessly clean and the facilities are first class. The swimming pool is large and quite nice although with the lake and ocean nearby...

My only reservation is the shop. Two things annoyed me, one has to order croissants ahead of time and they don't stock full cream milk. Not a huge problem, there is a great bakery just a few minutes bike ride up the road in Hourtin and a fridge in our mobile home.

Round 6

I must stop playing total **** in the opening.  Had my opponent played 18. Re5, sacking the exchange I would have been really suffering. Instead he exchanged into a pawn up ending and offered a draw. Since I thought I could probably hold it (Karpov quote), I played on and on move (44.Bd6) he blundered, allowing me to trap his king on h6. 

We spent the evening watching the quarter finals of the Euro2016 football, first in the Bar L'escale which has a brilliant pizzeria next door and you can eat it in said bar. Really one of the best pizzas anywhere. Doubleroo gastronomic review gives it 5 stars, our highest possible rating.

Later amigoes, gotta go exploring :-)

Open De Vins 2016 round 5

I woke up at 7.30am this morning (never a good idea) and walked down to the camping shop to buy some Pain Chocolate. The store opens early and gets a delivery form the local bakery. They had many trays of Croissants, Raisin swirls and Chocolate Pockets but I was unable to buy any as they were all reserved! Apparently you have to place an order. Very annoying.

So on my bike I hopped and made my way to the bakery, only barely avoiding a collision with a pedestrian. As I left I noticed lots of people near the Church so thought I'd go and check it out.

Hourtin is a traditional little town and has a Church in the centre square. In summer it is surrounded by a market with lots of local produce. At least no moneychangers :-)

Fruit and vegie stalls, butchers, cheese sellers, roast chicken, clothes, everything but candle stick makers. Maybe I missed them. 

Lunch was Oysters at the Montavivet markets, which were accessible today, being a Tuesday. We bought some Brebis blue cheese from the Basque region after tasting their offerings, had some Belgian chips and finished off with Arcachon Oysters and some local young white wine.

Unfortunately when we got back our area of the campsite was being trimmed so we had to have Linner (between Lunch and Dinner) with whipper-snipper music in the background.

And what about preparation? Not while I'm on holidays please!

Round 5

After much success with Larsens opening my run has come to an end. There was no problem with the opening and Stockfish gives me an advantage after 11.e4, which is the logical move, continuing to gain space. My artificial play was not disastrous but I had to play 16.Bh3. 17...Ne5 would have finished me immediately but Antoine waited a bit and played it on move twenty where it was even stronger.

Yes, a bad game and my first loss since round two of the Doeberl cup and thoroughly deserved. Less "creativity" is called for in the last four rounds.

So not a great day but they can't all be good. At least the tournament is exciting again for the spectators :-(

Open de Vins, Rounds 3&4 and Carcans plage

There was not a lot of time between rounds so we just went to a beach we had not seen before, Carcans. It is quite  a nice little town and close to Bordeaux but the parking area is a long way to the beach. Montalivet is still my favourite. With Le Pn Sec a close second. Nowthat the schedule is going to be a lot friendlier I plan to show you more of those two weather permitting.

It is a good 15 minute hike over the dunes to this point. Nina was itching to go in the water and led the way. We only had about half an hour to swim before we had to go back for the afternoon round.

Round 3

I am not a fan of morning rounds and meeting the top seed doesn't usually improve the day...unless one wins :-)

Paul Velten outrated the next three contenders by more than 100 rating points and was the clear favourite. He rattled off the opening moves without any hesitation, following my game with Moulthun Ly from the Churchie international until move six when he "improved" with 6...g6. I still don't quite get it as I played exactly the same plan, kept a slight edge (space) until he blundered badly with 25...f6 and lost shortly after.

Anyway, I am sure that I am misunderstanding something about the position but will wait until someone shows me.

Round 4

This was just a walk in the park. I prefer black by move six and by move ten...well judge for yourself. Looks lost to me. It got progressively worse and by move 19 my opponent just didn't feel like playing any more. Don't blame him.


AFter the game some friends came for a few drinks and it is now after midnight so you'll excuse me I'm sure if I get some sleep. Francoise and I plan to go looking for mushrooms tomorrow morning as the round starts at four in the afternoon, A demain :-) 

Montalivet Markets, Soccer & Round 2

When the tournament schedule was announced it was not known that France would play Iceland in the quarter final of Euro 2016 so before the first round the players were asked if we minded playing an hour earlier. This is absolutely normal here and nobody objected. The repercussions were that we didn't really have enough time to eat oysters at the Montalivet markets because it was packed. Sunday, the first week of July and so on.

Round 2

Once again I tried to be too creative and deserved to go down in a screaming heap but lady luck was with me. of course I had to play the planned 17...Bc4 but at the last moment noticed that white had the clever exchange sac 18.Ne4 with plenty of compensation. much better than the garbage that eventuated. White still had a strong attack but material as well.

30. Bh8 and then 31.Be4 would have put me out of commission. Instead he took the exchange and allowed my two passed pawns to create havoc. I was happy about 59...Nf5 though :-)
 Lucky.

I was one of the last to finish, the only puishment I got for my reckless play attempting to finish quickly so I can watch the football. There was still enough time to eat some dinner before the match. The bar was full of French supporters and I got strange (but friendly) looks when I was the only one cheering Icelands two goals. It may not go so well for me if I cheer German goals in the semi's on Thursday :D If you don't hear from me on Friday you will know why :D :D

Open de Vins 2016 Round 1

So the wine tournament has moved closer to the beach and to a brand new venue. This is the second edition. I missed the first due to our trip up to the Cape.

Round 1.

My opponent was a club member of Naujac sur Mer so instead of just beating him, it was my obligation to teach him something as well :-)

My chosen exam was the Vienna. Every amateur needs to learn that the only acceptable reply is 3....d5

Now I'd love to stay and chat but am being harassed to drive to town to watch the football,
Germany v Italy. Gotta admit, am a Germany fan :-)

Later Amigoes

Bourgogne shopping trip.

Tradition plays a strong part in Burgundy's hedonistic lifestyle so I thought I might take you on a traditional shopping trip. Although there are several large supermarkets in town, the closest being an Aldi less than 5 minutes walk away, today we decided we can do better.

Our route to "Madame Claire's" takes us deep into the hills along picturesque country roads. First we have to cross the Arroux at Toulon sur Arroux, a beautiful little town worth a post on its own but for today just a few pictures will have to suffice.

Next to the bridge we have one of the many stunning old estates that are still residences instead of museums although this would not be out of place.

A few clicks out of town one has to turn left onto a single lane road with no sign to help you find your way. Since it looks more like a driveway it is easy to miss.

Just a bit up the road one comes to an old Iron bridge back over the Arroux.

The river is swelled from recent rains.

After a few more unsigned turns we come to the "town" of Armecy with its three houses.

The centre of town. We did not know which house but we had a one in three chance of getting it right. Our first guess was wrong but unsurprisingly the friendly farmer knew which of the other two houses was Madame Claire's.

I was hoping this was not the way to the front door. Luckily it was not.

Madame Claire was a vivacious, beautiful lady in her 60's who has tended her livestock on this property all her life and according to a local (jokingly) has just recently found out that WW2 is over. I would have loved to take a picture of her hacking our huge rabbit up but thought it a bit unseemly to point my phone at her.

Anyway, here is our shopping, a 5.2kg rabbit, a 3.5kg chicken and a whole heap of farm fresh goats cheese. All for 70 Euro. She threw in the chicken feet for free. They make great soup especially for arthritis.

We didn't need anything from the vegetable patch,

and we had plenty of water.

Mushrooms we had to collect ourselves. Here is the Fungi department. Location a closely guarded secret.

When looking for mushrooms one scans the ground for colour. We were after "girolles".

This fungus is the right colour but not edible to the best of my knowledge. It is an interesting life form though, going through three stages in its life. It flowers, the spores disperse emerge as tiny bugs which congregate, melt and merge, flower....etc.

These sponge mushrooms are edible but not plentiful or amazingly tasty so we let them be. 

Gold! These are Chantrelles in English and what we were looking for. They do get bigger but at this size they are at their crunchy, peppery best.

After this first lot I got collectors fever and stopped snapping. An hour later we were on our way back with plenty for dinner. Never take more than you need.

Thanks for following our shopping, see you soon :-)