You know the feeling. Sunday morning 10:47AM. Waking up from fun lavish saturday night at the pub. One too many beers. A few tequila shooters. Walking that fine line between daze and nausea. Questioning your existence. Toothpaste and peroxide unable to efface that bitter aftertaste.
That’s what happened last Saturday. At home, feeling good about ourselves and enjoying promising positions, we fell down hard against Zukertort Amstelveen.
I had to settle for a non-playing captain role, as fatherhood was threatening to sabotage my chess plans.
On board 2, Rafael was first to finish, in a theoretical position that led straight down to a perpetual. Bitter aftertaste, remember?
Friso got very little with white and had to put on the breaks in a precarious position to avoid a momentous upset. Daan and Anton couldn’t muster up much initiative and had to settle for disappointing draws. Marcos returned to VAS1 for the day. His position appeared suspect to me, and when we received a draw offer, I let him subtly know that he should perhaps jump at the opportunity. It was quite funny to hear that both players thought Marcos was significantly better.
Ramon played beautifully once again and attained a winning position after a mere 18 moves, almost without breaking a sweat. Close to the finish line, a momentary lapse at a (see diagram) cost him the point.
Here, Bxd5 is pretty much lights out. Instead, Rxd5 allowed the cheeky Qc3 after which it was all quite murky. In mutual time pressure, Ramon faltered. Very annoying.
Tex was the lone bright spot on an otherwise underwhelming day. On board 1, he showcased his new “active-chess-Stein-style” attire with black and outplayed his opponent forcibly. At several moments, I saw opportunities to sacrifice material for a devastating attack. His simple retort: “It wasn’t needed, Marc”. Yeah, that shut me up then and there.
Take and Job were facing strong opposition with black. Despite valiant defense, both went down after a long grind. Slightly too passive at critical moments IMO. They’ll be back.
Vic, knowing he had to win to keep our hopes alive, pressed a little too hard, against an opponent made of rubber. He burned too many bridges along the way and was left sinking right in the middle of the Amstel.
Well-played Amstelveen. You showed your class and your experience. Ginger root tea before o
ur next match boys.