(Photo credit to the organizer of Carnaval Open)
It was a cold winter day, but we decided to go there, as we do annually. “There” is at Quebec, in a big community centre, for the Quebec Carnaval Chess tournament, where chess players battle to the death. But the directors don’t want them to soil the floor, so the battle takes place on a chess board instead.
I left school at noon and my dad picked me up. We hit the highway, and several minutes later, I dozed off because I didn’t have much to do. I was cramped in a small place for the two-hour trip.
We arrived at Quebec and then searched for our hotel. It was just beside the famous Hotel le Concorde, with a circular bistro-bar Ciel (Sky in English) at the highest floor of the building, in which the floor gently rotates so that we can get a bird’s-eye view of the city. Obviously, the floor rotates very, very slowly, otherwise seatbelts should be provided to avoid clients flying into orbit. We chose a nice and quiet hotel. There, we unpacked and rushed to the community centre, because the first round was going to start.
The tournament started with pleasant and relaxing atmosphere:
Ding-dong! The church next to the building rang. “7 PM now, everyone, please start your clocks!” the director said. In the first round, I played against John and the game finished very late, around 10 PM. It was cold outside and I almost froze on the spot. We returned to our hotel and I ate a small avocado salad before going to sleep.
The next day, I woke up and went down to the first floor of the hotel for breakfast. It was a hearty breakfast. Scrambled eggs, a croissant, orange, toast and peanut butter, juice and coffee (not for me) were served. My stomach was full and I went back to our room and checked who I was playing against. I was playing against GM Alexandre, the top player of this tournament! I was so glad I could play against a grandmaster, but I felt sad when I thought about the result of the game as he would surely beat me.
But it is boiling inside of each single player:
“Start your clocks!” the arbiter said. I managed to defend an attack on my king and transposed to a rook endgame. He had one pawn up and that was enough for him to win. I lost, but not as horribly as I had imagined. I rested between the second and third round. I had lunch, then I went back to the hotel for a power nap. Dring! The alarm went off and we went to the playing hall.
“Shake your hands and start your clocks!” said the arbiter. I shook the hand of Benoit. The game was slow but decisive as the first round, with a small tactic that I managed to find, which allowed me to win the game. I returned to the hotel, ate dinner and prepared for the next day’s game, against Joe.
The next morning, while I went down to the breakfast room, my mom told me the pairings for the next round had changed and that I was playing against Olivier, a good friend of mine. I was pretty shocked, assuming that all my preparations yesterday were ruined and now I had around 10 minutes to prepare against him. I quickly ate my breakfast, prepared my openings and then went to the community centre. “Round 4, please shake your hands and start your clocks.” I didn’t have time to prepare against what he played, so I improvised until he made a mistake. I gained the advantage, and slowly pushed it home to get a full point. This was one of the most crucial rounds in the tournament. I was happy and surprised that I managed to win, because against strong players I try to outplay them in the opening or unleash a strong attack against them. That’s only one of my strategies to beat higher-rated people.
Kenta VS me:
Analyzing with smily Kenta:
I ate a sandwich and I dozed off in the car, as we already checked out of the hotel. When I got up, I noticed my eye was swollen and I had no clue what caused it. I kept applying cold water to it and it gradually became better. Last round was against Marc, in which I played the decisive move in the endgame. I got 4 points out of 5!
The delicate moment before last round:
At the end, just before leaving to return home, the arbiter told me that I would get 550$ as a prize. Nice! I was very pleased and satisfied with my result in this tournament. Before, the first time I stepped in the tournament hall, I didn’t feel like I was going to perform so well.
Here ends my wonderful stay in Quebec. I will go back next year, and aim for the same result as I did this time!
Two Gaps met under a piece of flower:
You can’t predict me:
Mathiew is on fire:
On DGT board:
