Un nou 1 Decembrie

    1 Decembrie- Ziua Nationala a Romaniei, ziua in care romanilor de peste tot li s-a  redat tara mama! Desi sunt din "Moldova de peste Prut",  din Chisinau , si cea mai mare parte a vietii mi-am petrecut-o acolo, am amintiri deosebite legate de aceasta zi. Imi amintesc cum inca din clasele primare, in curtea liceului se faceau hore, in care intrau nu doar elevi ,ci si profesori ,fredonand " Hai sa dam mana cu mana/Cei cu inima romana/ Sa-nvartim hora fratiei/ Pe pamantul Romaniei! ". Ce poate fi mai frumos!

     Patriotismul este o notiune foarte vaga si oarecum “demodata” in zilele noastre. Consecinta a globalizarii sau nu, cert este ca tindem sa uitam de unde venim, gandindu-ne doar incotro plecam... Dar, cum spun istoricii:  „Cei care nu-şi cunosc trecutul, nu pot avea viitor!”  Romani sunt pretutindeni, doar ca unii prefera sa-si spuna americani, italieni sau spanioli o data stabiliti in tara respectiva. De ce? Pentru ca le e rusine de tara din care provin? Pentru ca razboaiele daco-romane au fost purtate in zadar? Pentru ca nu am suferit destul de-a lungul secolelor si nu am indurat umilinte indeajuns?  Fiecare are raspunsul sau. Cand abia m-am mutat in Iasi, fiind intrebata de unde eram, preferam sa evit raspunsul, sau sa spun ca sunt ieseanca. De ce? Din cauza prejudecatilor pe care le au o mare parte din romanii “autentici”. Acum insa, imi dau seama ce aberatie e sa-ti negi originea! Da, sunt din “Moldova de peste Prut”, dar oare nu suntem toti romani, nu avem acelasi Stefan cel Mare, o fi avand el vreun frate mai mic tot Stefan dar nerecunoscut si abandonat de parinti?

     Si totusi, ce inseamna aceasta zi de 1 decembrie pentru mine? Aceasta intrebare mi-a trezit curiozitatea, oare ce cred ceilalti despre aceasta zi? Iata cateva raspunsuri: “Pentru mine, nu mai reprezinta nimic...pentru ca nu mai este nimic special in tara asta, care sa te faca sa mai simti ceva. Este o zi oarecare, ca toate celalalte zile ale saptamanei.”, “Pentru mine nu are nici o semnificaţie profundă această zi, mă interesează doar sub aspectul că nu merg la muncă şi pace!”

     1 Decembrie... In aceasta zi imi amintesc de casa si de familie cu un dor si cu o melancolie ce ma face sa nu-mi dau seama de cele cateva lacrimi ce mi se preling pe obraji. Te-ai gandi, “Fetito,daca ti-e atat de dor,ia microbusul si mergi de-ti viziteaza parintii, nu-s decat 154 de kilometri de la Iasi pana la Chisinau!”. 154 de kilometri... Dar cine se gandeste la ceea ce simt de fiecare data cand microbusul opreste la granita, ies cu valiza, mi se cere pasaportul, urc cu valiza inapoi, traversam podul de peste Prut,iar opreste microbusul, iar ies cu valiza... Macar nu mai am parte de “minunata” priveliste a gardului din sarma ghimpata... Dar ghimpii aia provoaca mai putina durere daca nu se vad?

     Iata de ce, atata vreme cat in locul Basarabiei si Bucovinei sta o rana in suflet,  1 Decembrie nu ramane decat un moment solemn, peste a carui semnificatie pluteste o neuitata umbra.

3rd Game of the WWCh

   The 3rd game of the World Women's Championship Final has started. Antoaneta has chosen to play the Chebanenko variation in the Slav defence (she has black today).

Black to move

   The position is still a theoretical one. It was played before by Malakhov,against Bologan yearlier this year,in July. Malakhov played  15...Kh8 in this position. The game continued 16.Ng5-Ndf6 17.Na4-h6 18.Nf3-Ne4 19.Be1-Kh7 20.Qb6 and after a long fight, black even managed to win that game,though the position was better for white,as after changing the queens,the white bishop managed to get on "e5".
   I think both Antoaneta and Anna know this game and they should have done some preparation. I guess this game might be a decisive one, one that might be the crucial one in this match.
   Let's see who's the better prepared one!

Inside warmth

    Sometimes life is simply good and there's nothing you can say about it.
    Did you ever have the feeling that everything's too good to be true? Well, I guess the answer's yes. It's the same way for me. It's a very nice feeling to be happy about the way you feel. I have rare moments when I'm so indulgent with myself. We use to think that something bad should surely happen if everything's fine, like the silence before the storm and we don't enjoy our few moments of beatitude and we stop even noticing them at some point. Why to be happy if something bad is going to happen at some point anyways? That's actualy the reason! There's no point in worrying about  the uncertain character of the future, we don't live in the future, there might be no future at all. I have an anti-depression recipe that usually works for me. I ask myself if the things are as bad as they look like and if they can be fixed. If the answer is yes then I fix them, if the answer is no- why to worry, I make myself comfortable with a big cup of cappuccino and I say to myself that better times will surely come :)
   I like this "safe" happiness, not the "I'm so excited!" one or the "Yesssss! I won!" one (well,I can't deny that I enjoy them too). The point is that this kind of happiness is a balanced one, it doesn't involve adrenaline and endorphins splashing in one's brain; it's a feeling of warmth, one that comes from inside of you, one that you want to share :)
   Why not to be a little sun from time to time?

WWCh Final in Khanty

   The final of the World Women's Chess Championship has started today. I don't think that anyone could predict that we'd see Antoaneta Stefanova and Anna Ushenina disputing the title. With all the favorites being knocked-out one by one in the first games, they were the two most stable and cold-blooded ones. Here are some photos from the official site of the event.

   Antoaneta tried to surprise Anna, changing her beloved Slav and playing the Bogoliubov variation instead. Anna played very unconvincingly and got a completely lost position, but Eti missed her chance when she played 31...f5 instead of giving a check on "h1", followed by 32... Qxh2 with a decisive advantage. Here's the game:

Antoaneta Stefanova

Anna Ushenina

   There are 3 more games to follow and if I would be to make a bet, my guts would suggest me Stefanova. Well, but considering the fact that women's chess is a very unpredictable phenomenon everything can happen...

    So, let's just hope for some interesting games and let Caissa choose her new queen ;)
   

First exams at University

   I had an amazing weekend! I was very stressed with my first exams at the University... I was worried that I won't manage to pass them. Maths applied to economics and accounting seemed to be the scariest ones. To my big surprise they didn't turn to be that bad! I guess my night learning and coffee marathons were helpful :))) It's such a relieve to know that my sleepless nights weren't in vane :))) So, I can finally focus on chess again now ;)

   I will be playing in the Bundesliga next weekend and then I'll play an open in Timisoara. I am very excited about both of them. Bundesliga is always very cool. I meet my friends, relax and do the thing I love the most- play chess. There's completely no pressure. I think that I play better in team championships. I don't know why, maybe because I feel very comfortable in the teams in which I play ;)

   I've been following the WWCh. I think that we'll see an interesting fight in the final. Both Stefanova and Ushenina have shown very good chess so far.

   I have such a good mood that I'm even wearing a pink blouse, though pink has never been among my favourite colours :)

xoxo from Iasi ;)

Tears of joy and sorrow in Khanty

    The quarter finals are over too, not without some surprises and drama.

     The lucky ones who advanced to semifinals are Ju Wenjun, Harika 
Dronavalli, Antoaneta Stefanova (all of them winning today's tie-breaks) 
and Anna Ushenina.

   All the photos are from the official site (http://chess2012.ugrasport.com/?cat=9).

   After yesterday's "miracle" come back, Harika has valorized the 

chance given to her and won the tie-break against Zhao Xue, winning

 the first game and making a draw in the 2nd one.

   Marie Sebag's nerves didn't resist and she lost the first game against

 Antoaneta Stefanova, though she had a piece up and a completely 

winning position at some point. 

   Ju Wenjun also won the tie-break against another Chinese- Huang Qian.

   The games had so many mistakes, it was impossible to predict 

anyone's win. It's been shown for one more time that women's chess

 is more of an emotional game than of a logical one. I think that this 

KO system is not very objective and maybe it would be better if the 

World Women's Champion would be decided in a match format.

   All these being said, I can't wait for the tomorrow's games and I

 hope we'll see some interesting chess!

Round 4. Results

Click on the score to view the game
Name	G1	G2	R1	R2	r3	r4	B1	B2	SD	Tot
Round 4 Match 01
Sebag, Marie (FRA)	1	0	0	0						1
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)	0	1	1	1						3
Round 4 Match 02
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)	½	½	½	½	½	1				3.5
Huang, Qian (CHN)	½	½	½	½	½	0				2.5
Round 4 Match 03
Kosintseva, Nadezhda (RUS)	½	0								0.5
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)	½	1								1.5
Round 4 Match 04
Zhao, Xue (CHN)	½	½	0	½						1.5
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)	½	½	1	½						2.5

May the strongest win!