tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24573591744651923072024-03-14T20:04:08.037+02:00The blog of Irina Bulmaga Here you can follow the life of a chess player, author, daughter, sister, friend and travelerIrina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.comBlogger418125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-85598758587359272512024-03-14T18:58:00.006+02:002024-03-14T20:03:35.033+02:00God, I miss Romania!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_qxjTR06U6xrHpdVBWWD8z9OcVyTXyHJDHkW-qgkmgmOUR76RR2Xqg2GJgQw36ZrjnWZyS-EVp1rgrAuii7dx7IjXJINkkEmoAoyjYIkKya6nkXxWwRDSmswuVcGZvPmWO1C894E22JZUcuwmV1do_hBbic7dD3vIOb9BTfzQrEFCFeWCc_kO5qD7pyr/s2040/432565690_440116501701010_5890516395766463383_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2040" data-original-width="1530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_qxjTR06U6xrHpdVBWWD8z9OcVyTXyHJDHkW-qgkmgmOUR76RR2Xqg2GJgQw36ZrjnWZyS-EVp1rgrAuii7dx7IjXJINkkEmoAoyjYIkKya6nkXxWwRDSmswuVcGZvPmWO1C894E22JZUcuwmV1do_hBbic7dD3vIOb9BTfzQrEFCFeWCc_kO5qD7pyr/s320/432565690_440116501701010_5890516395766463383_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>My trip to Reykjavik has started a few days ago with a
stopover in the UK to visit family in a terrible, traditional English town.<br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Every time I come here, I think that living in this place would
be impossible for me. Why? First, because in this lifetime I must fulfill my dream
of living surrounded by magnificent concrete walls while breathing the crisp,
life prolonging, factory infused air. I’m also worried of not being able to get enough
of the occasional dog bite as a form of appreciation for being an exemplary
neighbour, and of course- the best of it all- getting the daily dose of satisfaction
while savouring the famous Bucharest traffic. Once you try it- you’re hooked
for life. You start craving to see people crossing streets at unmarked places, you
miss hearing the unequaled Romanian swearing! It embraces equally all the
members of society! One can never feel discriminated here- no matter of the
skin colour, age, sex orientation or gods they believe in. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMoi8mpxJ8xqvWc2Oz871B812hCwp1iPF1ds2YlGG6IKNgcgnEJw7-JWDgmkjc2xa7YQuLqETb8d-HSWu87f5Y1ocu95tKxyo1zKxHeg6VnOCm-kReYRd-NoPTtKrfJAm2OsKJvegPbN-FDUH1bvsP4Hvy4qEUo07GkMM1xQMEHxrRvpXf_-2dnxNc5Qad/s2000/432626667_600621045612133_8848021421751001960_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMoi8mpxJ8xqvWc2Oz871B812hCwp1iPF1ds2YlGG6IKNgcgnEJw7-JWDgmkjc2xa7YQuLqETb8d-HSWu87f5Y1ocu95tKxyo1zKxHeg6VnOCm-kReYRd-NoPTtKrfJAm2OsKJvegPbN-FDUH1bvsP4Hvy4qEUo07GkMM1xQMEHxrRvpXf_-2dnxNc5Qad/s320/432626667_600621045612133_8848021421751001960_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>In the UK, life is too plain. There’s a depressing lake surrounded
by a natural reservation where I can never find the familiar litter lying
inconspicuously behind bushes. There’s no charm in cycling here either. My natural
talent of looking at the wrong side of the road whenever I try to ensure
passage through a crossroad always fails to bring the much-desired result- they
never swear at me! They just smile. Every time. It’s an abomination! Instead of
the healthy dose of adrenaline rush I’m used to get, I have priority in passage
for my whole lifetime and I don’t get to use neither my health nor life
insurance. What a waste!<o:p></o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAsJE-WZYnMHcqmHeRU9UQ3tK-6quBhpoSnAXLDdddmrUgqdjr1rNzcEhjXXfYNh8bjakD6rdZpn41HbEijJgWmUtJ69XZXWKLbux4MIKhHgztAHFa-vtNpc99qeEpz-SKW19dQ7tRxwhdwOW4PxjYVRp8Tes-YN7_KbBkBZFVTICajA5696VQc_uD_N6/s2000/432866446_1120692332714467_4462595007429086377_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAsJE-WZYnMHcqmHeRU9UQ3tK-6quBhpoSnAXLDdddmrUgqdjr1rNzcEhjXXfYNh8bjakD6rdZpn41HbEijJgWmUtJ69XZXWKLbux4MIKhHgztAHFa-vtNpc99qeEpz-SKW19dQ7tRxwhdwOW4PxjYVRp8Tes-YN7_KbBkBZFVTICajA5696VQc_uD_N6/s320/432866446_1120692332714467_4462595007429086377_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />A castle where no one ever got impaled; two pubs where I never
get the chance to complain about food quality… How do they entertain here? Neighbours
with dogs that never bite; supermarkets with food supplied by local farmers… Don’t
they know about importing from other continents? The only thing about the UK
which makes me feel like at home is the trains. Delays, cancellations- finally
something which is the way it’s supposed to be!<br /><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks God I had to endure it only for 2 days! I leave the
UK completely unsatisfied, and I worry things might continue in same fashion in
Iceland too. Their air carrier didn’t charge me for choosing my seat and they
even offered me to buy a 3 euro coffee! Do they think I don’t know that a good coffee
can never cost less than 6 euros? And what is it with all this leg space?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">God, I miss Romania!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">P.S. To be taken with a grain of salt.</p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-36115407339642496742024-03-11T15:11:00.004+02:002024-03-11T15:26:24.909+02:00A penny for your thoughts - Part 3<p><s><span lang="EN-GB">Wine</span></s><span lang="EN-GB"> Tea
time</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Back at the hotel, I start meeting other
participants. The first day is always the easiest- greeting everybody and not
having to wonder whether your “hi” might break like waves against rocks.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">There’s still plenty of time until the
dinner begins so I decide to do some reading. Sitting by the dreamy window
while enjoying some cups of tea, I listen to my favourite classical music
tracks and immerse myself in the book. I’ve recently discovered an author whose
writing I like so much that I must limit my reading time per day so that I can
enjoy his books for as long as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBqx1MWnE176XP9Lx4_9m7GWaO9aoVK9_122kgtosX5zI6nZLmRjwCIPTAH1yo-huPFQSY4u-3zXk5-TwFnYk4qEAqA-8FAdWeksp7KN58fxaDaOsFL2o4lkwffIQ5oKQGOwMH5GtYolQy_B9-25BMH_JiqErohMAn1i8CBfvZFhzNI5n374hJ9c3Z0PK/s4624/20240223_174951.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBqx1MWnE176XP9Lx4_9m7GWaO9aoVK9_122kgtosX5zI6nZLmRjwCIPTAH1yo-huPFQSY4u-3zXk5-TwFnYk4qEAqA-8FAdWeksp7KN58fxaDaOsFL2o4lkwffIQ5oKQGOwMH5GtYolQy_B9-25BMH_JiqErohMAn1i8CBfvZFhzNI5n374hJ9c3Z0PK/s320/20240223_174951.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-GB">It all started about a month ago when I saw
some advertising of a book named “Mindful Chess” by an author whose name
sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t really say who he was- Paul van der
Sterren. The book’s title was intriguing, so I asked a GM friend whose chess
culture is much wider than mine if he knew him. Do you know the look someone
gives you after you have asked a silly question? I felt like I teleported to
the time I was about 10 y.o. and participated at a lecture by a famous GM. He had
asked me to name all the world champions in a chronological order and I
couldn’t. The look he gave me, followed by a somewhat pitiful smile made me cry
of shame. Well, I know better than crying of shame these days, but I still
couldn’t help feeling as ignorant as back then. I decided to make it right- did
some research on the author and bought the book which I finished in one go. The
plan was to read some pages before going to bed, but… All I can say- I couldn’t
really close an eye that night because of the thoughts the book provoked, and I
woke up the next day feeling deprived of sleep but given a precious gift- new
horizons. Imagine my joy when just some days before coming to Nationals I got
an email saying that another book by Paul was available in English! Moreover,
it was an autobiography, which I thought guaranteed me many pages of delight. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Back to my tea and dreamy window in Eforie
Nord. I opened the book and started reading it while admiring the last rays of
sun. You might wonder why I had not started reading it when I was still at home
if I looked forward to it so much. Well, the answer is – wisdom. As we all
know, it goes hand in hand with ignorance. Jokes aside, I just trusted my
intuition which told me that if I started reading it, I wouldn’t be able to let
it out of my hands and I wanted to save some of the delight for the
championship. I was right, hence the newly introduced rule of reading it for not
more than 30 minutes a day. But don’t get it wrong, the rule was introduced
only AFTER the 1<sup>st</sup> reading session. The moon was shining over the
calm sea when my phone cried for the ‘n’ time “battery low”. I realised that I
must hurry if I want to get any dinner at all. Finally, the time I spent on the
treadmill served for something more than blisters. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8hGNKDUkpmJEWFBTP-jM4oKfdHmqFuhSfSopYBOoKkCcb9IxlbSX8GWek_XrdpBCNkgIyyAX2YRaCY_Y6pQpJgwlGrZ_SPx9tEYhMKGrersahsmt5UiVlXjGdloxWEKvGo5iVTMURGCJmEf9gwBhn8uSfAqeEXTsMnFcUlZYdEb5iw1ohPIQbnyQAVXK/s2048/51201149163_d16698fcbb_k.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8hGNKDUkpmJEWFBTP-jM4oKfdHmqFuhSfSopYBOoKkCcb9IxlbSX8GWek_XrdpBCNkgIyyAX2YRaCY_Y6pQpJgwlGrZ_SPx9tEYhMKGrersahsmt5UiVlXjGdloxWEKvGo5iVTMURGCJmEf9gwBhn8uSfAqeEXTsMnFcUlZYdEb5iw1ohPIQbnyQAVXK/s320/51201149163_d16698fcbb_k.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by David Llada</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB">At the restaurant, I continued sending
“hi-s” here and there on autopilot. Some calamari later, I understood that I
can’t let myself lose touch with reality to such extent again, so the new ’30-minute
reading rule’ was proposed. It wasn’t voted unanimously, but it made sure I got
enough hours of sleep and daily steps.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I even managed to get to the technical
meeting that evening, just in time to find out I’ll start with black. I must
have attracted it upon myself with all those cups of black tea I had by the
window. Guess what else it has attracted, or rather driven away- my beauty
sleep. I comforted myself with the thought that my dark circles will go well
with the board’s squares, and they did, at least for the first few days, but
that’s a story for another time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I promised you to share my thoughts from
the time before the tournament began and here they are. Perhaps, one day,
there’ll be a story on the ones I got throughout the tournament too… However, I
have the feeling I might need a bottle of wine or two instead of the pot of not
black tea I have just finished for that to happen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">THE END.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-56765702070387044182024-03-09T16:41:00.010+02:002024-03-09T17:52:37.903+02:00A penny for your thoughts - Part 2<p class="MsoNormal">The Dolphin</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A large window with a beautiful view over the Black Sea; the
sun caressing the different shades of blue... My mood merges with the scenery,
and I feel somewhat lightheaded and optimistic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRF72_6kRt2n9h3Ynn8G7JRw-Zpiexw-JS1-HRXeFi9hoNbmunZWXjK0zwOQ8WCMCyzQZqoLfUtMn0lHaXL8cYI6R1mq5rz3PrgvLHxIWTAuAuSJZtXWALXiONFNueKlqOJCh0lr_Oqjn18I8au5NaJLSfBJf41HYxHkmXaEPCLno1jXFqCEBeVW6gObN/s4133/20240223_144813.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4133" data-original-width="3160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRF72_6kRt2n9h3Ynn8G7JRw-Zpiexw-JS1-HRXeFi9hoNbmunZWXjK0zwOQ8WCMCyzQZqoLfUtMn0lHaXL8cYI6R1mq5rz3PrgvLHxIWTAuAuSJZtXWALXiONFNueKlqOJCh0lr_Oqjn18I8au5NaJLSfBJf41HYxHkmXaEPCLno1jXFqCEBeVW6gObN/s320/20240223_144813.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">The tournament only starts tomorrow, so there’s a full
afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather and sudden lift in spirits. “Disfrutar
la tarde” comes to my mind and I smile. Sea, sun and dreamy views in wintertime
are some things I’ve grown to associate with Spain. One time, not so long ago,
when I felt the outside cold sneaking into myself, I knew I needed to find a
way of fighting against it. What better way of doing it than learning the warm
language of sun, tapas and siesta? Right. I need to prolong my Duolingo streak
first. Fifteen minutes later I feel content enough to go for a walk. Hm, is it
“caminar”?</p><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eforie Nord is a Romanian coastal town and resort by the
Black Sea. While it usually gets crowded during summer, its streets are almost
empty now. Plenty of national tournaments have been organized here in the last
few years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7yvmHbUWc3gZMhyphenhyphendwxDX9T3AB7gqHDsd3qbkfHzUWWcNIlr9uCKV3y3SGOmZ3edYaCJZ_biG5k8B84YDYemB4wpFPs4I0N3FmowpxuifjFNMGNES_lqel8cJd9f2-SL1V9QtvJGg76lO8jVlPr7F0LjDdQWl0a_xuKCEwGgn0XePftvTnqWNBzMwWSfo/s4624/20240223_152354.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7yvmHbUWc3gZMhyphenhyphendwxDX9T3AB7gqHDsd3qbkfHzUWWcNIlr9uCKV3y3SGOmZ3edYaCJZ_biG5k8B84YDYemB4wpFPs4I0N3FmowpxuifjFNMGNES_lqel8cJd9f2-SL1V9QtvJGg76lO8jVlPr7F0LjDdQWl0a_xuKCEwGgn0XePftvTnqWNBzMwWSfo/s320/20240223_152354.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I enjoy walking along the promenade with the wind playing
with my hair and thoughts. Looking to the horizon, I can’t stop a familiar,
worrying feeling creeping in. What is it? I feel ready for the tournament and
eager to sit at the board again. I’m happy with my room and the nice weather is
a pleasant bonus. While trying to get to the bottom of that feeling, I noticed passing
by a restaurant with a beautiful terrasse where I had countless coffees and others
with friends and family over the years. The place looks like it’s stuck in
time. It hasn’t changed at all since the first time I was there. Was it 2000,
2001? Not sure about the exact timeline, I decided to go in, choosing the table
with the best sea view. Ordering a cappuccino, I think of the time I sat in the
exact same place and saw a dolphin playing in the pinks and oranges of a sunset
a few years back. I remember feeling its joy like it was mine. The worrying
feeling intensifies, and I don’t get it. Why?<br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My thoughts fly to those first years when I came to Eforie
Nord as a child to participate in its traditional summer chess festival. The
playing hall used to be just downstairs. I recall the joy I felt winning
against a 2150 rated player for the first time and the huge ice cream I
got as a reward after. Taking a sip of coffee, I also remember that time when, some
years ago, I quit the tournament after only playing a few rounds. A small part
of my heart broke and had to go to places more serene then. I realize there are
so many things anchoring me to this place. The worrying feeling takes over
completely and I feel a nod in my throat. I know now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was 2 years ago. I was playing in the Nationals here when
the nearby war has started. Its coldness made place for itself inside me and there
are no languages that can make it go away.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps, if I look over the sea, towards the horizon, I could even see it. Afterall, it’s just some 300 miles away. "Don’t think about it! Don’t
think about it? Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it…",<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>echoes in my head like a mantra. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Trying to take another sip of coffee, I realize my cup is
empty. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wonder where the dolphin is.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">(To be continued)</p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-58219214013394964452024-03-08T16:51:00.006+02:002024-03-08T17:28:51.144+02:00A penny for your thoughts - Part 130 and The Giant<div><div><br /><span style="text-align: center;">My largest
suitcase lies wide open in the middle of the living room and I wonder why have
I packed so many things for just 9 days? I remember tournaments where I’d go
with just a cabin bag for two weeks or even a month. It must be the 2 months
break from playing- I no longer know what I’ll feel like wearing and it seems
logical to have a different outfit for each blues, whites or blacks my mood
might throw at me. With half of the wardrobe safely packed I now start
wondering whether I am ready for the tournament. It feels like there are still
things I wish I had done ...</span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWegU6ZbYRkFIbXWlJ7BfsSPW1f_gJXJd_Hq4nMvkZ_5U6NtEP256_VW294lSd8ONvREfBUTyzLVTDjqc8gUuaEI4wdCLThvwxSgNmVNU_KvhRaxGVQjm8AoFYJSJf73vzegFK6fs9NA9j39JqlHKmPxG7NfR_lXYEAEZhd6j2-kT-oJUI7Rtok4Zshgid/s1734/430731307_3734508650101677_6840644157110564307_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1734" data-original-width="1301" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWegU6ZbYRkFIbXWlJ7BfsSPW1f_gJXJd_Hq4nMvkZ_5U6NtEP256_VW294lSd8ONvREfBUTyzLVTDjqc8gUuaEI4wdCLThvwxSgNmVNU_KvhRaxGVQjm8AoFYJSJf73vzegFK6fs9NA9j39JqlHKmPxG7NfR_lXYEAEZhd6j2-kT-oJUI7Rtok4Zshgid/s320/430731307_3734508650101677_6840644157110564307_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>My
30 years are unhappy about me handling this situation.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: center;">25
says I’m crazy to play in the open section when I could have gone for the much
more accessible women’s one. 28 agrees with 25 and adds that the potential 1st
prize could nicely pay another 1,5 square meters of a potential flat. 20 says
the women’s section would be piece of cake and I’m a fool for not playing there
while having as much fun as I wanted. 15 disagrees and yells at all the others
that „30 is the coolest EVER and no one should dare criticising her as she
knows best what to do!”. 18 joins her, adding that there’s nothing better in
this life than „beating” men. 13 feels uncomfortable- money, fun, square
meters, men- are these those things mom meant when saying „You’ll understand
when growing up” ? 8 cries in a corner- she doesn’t want to travel anywhere
without her lucky pink pants and there’s no pink whatsoever in „the giant” ...
No one seems to know how exactly to handle a crying kid and 20 decides on „I
also don’t like that there are no miniskirts”! 18 wonders where the high heels
are. 25 looks for the hair curling iron. 28 and 16 are searching for the running
shoes.</span><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in;">I pat 8’s back, trying to calm her down and
remember to check if I packed the back pain cream. I have had enough of this packing
party and want to leave. Throwing another grey hoodie just in case it will be cold,
I close „the giant” and drag it to the front door. Just about to open it, I realise
something isn’t right. Turning back, I seek for my reflection in the hallway’s
mirror. Who are those women, and those children? Why don’t I see myself? Looking
more carefully, I realise I see 25 with the hair curling iron, 20 in a
miniskirt, 8 in her lucky pink pants, 18 rocking some high heels, 16 and 28
fighting for a pair of running shoes... They are my reflection. One day, when
I’ll see just one woman when looking in the mirror, I’ll know that my mission
is completed. For now, it's time to go to Nationals!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in;">(To be continued)</span></p>
</div></div></div>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-3103114508708398442024-01-15T13:22:00.003+02:002024-01-15T13:22:29.700+02:00Playlists, dehydration and ghosts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCar0vHq6ECJGfDmGRurVm-17GYT1mjvi2r2VR2Um7AP7sF0pv0VXCDk2bY_Za_GnRu205anIIiJIglz9yLYOzKdZ2J78OIp_dWTRmMXn7E0eddl2mJbTy35RSNOG5q2_Zg8FgneDP55k5K2dlNv2HpolPfkoMi9KQQBlrm9PwNVnTRhWyBoDTwXgmAYFW/s2000/419236809_753521446287025_780580251752301890_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCar0vHq6ECJGfDmGRurVm-17GYT1mjvi2r2VR2Um7AP7sF0pv0VXCDk2bY_Za_GnRu205anIIiJIglz9yLYOzKdZ2J78OIp_dWTRmMXn7E0eddl2mJbTy35RSNOG5q2_Zg8FgneDP55k5K2dlNv2HpolPfkoMi9KQQBlrm9PwNVnTRhWyBoDTwXgmAYFW/s320/419236809_753521446287025_780580251752301890_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;">The
traditional airplane blogging continues in 2024 as well.</span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">Three more
hours to kill, eyes hurting from reading too many chess pages on the phone. It feels nice to reignite a passion. Curious what I was reading? I’ll give
you a clue- a book which has a whole lot of pages and shares secrets of a recent
world chess champion. <br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">An
unpleasant form of dehydration probably caused by caffeine over consumption- now
that’s an actual complain. However, there’s not much I can do about it, as when
in this country I can’t resist ordering too many cups of my favourite energizer.
Another sip of water and another clue. Which country am I returning from? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">New music in
my old headphones and thoughts which jump from one subject to another faster
than my finger hits the ‘next song’ button. Why finding new songs to like is
such a complicated task? I was rather excited when, not so long ago, I discovered
a cool bar with great atmosphere, wine, food, people, playlist (I’m thinking
that I should have rather not used ‘rather’ earlier, but why not confuse you a
bit more?). So the bar, right- the bartender, who was also the waiter and the
owner of the place turned out to be an enthusiastic playlist creator which he
happily shares with random desperate souls. Since then, my newest occupation
has been listening to that 996 songs playlist, trying to perfect my own 664
one. I don’t think 664 is a coincidence and I’m very reluctant right now to
hitting the ‘add to the playlist’ button even though I kind of like this
‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ thing… Decisions, decisions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBTfVGJsIN2I1BDOia0dO0ZK5aqXfYXqtd5WEGldY4Jxoj1wLnTFljxMTKeBR7g6NCFrzYBzoAcgsMi_ohUVailZ-ysIJgnq3BV-fU-kAdY1O6-vEnhyphenhyphenoa1hs1llXj9dC8lITR3xFarL8MH7t5L_XNZLsXeFUR5wcGYz-LRQClz_xBmtL9Szwtzi3ao0L/s2000/414636203_690920156459179_67976105008529489_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBTfVGJsIN2I1BDOia0dO0ZK5aqXfYXqtd5WEGldY4Jxoj1wLnTFljxMTKeBR7g6NCFrzYBzoAcgsMi_ohUVailZ-ysIJgnq3BV-fU-kAdY1O6-vEnhyphenhyphenoa1hs1llXj9dC8lITR3xFarL8MH7t5L_XNZLsXeFUR5wcGYz-LRQClz_xBmtL9Szwtzi3ao0L/s320/414636203_690920156459179_67976105008529489_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />What would
be a chess player’s paradise? A place with countless chess books. Strong
computers. World champions as training partners. A place where invitations to
great tournaments would come every other day. Where there’s a button to push
whenever you want to switch the dreamy mountain view working desk to the ocean
view one. Oh, or maybe it’s the place where men always complain there are too
many chess tournaments with high prizes for women. Hm… Is it reality or
paradise, or part reality, part paradise- I got confused. Blame the next song
in the barman’s playlist for this line of thoughts- ‘Girl, you’ll be a woman
soon’. Now if that made you feel somewhat uncomfortable, unhappy or any other
‘un-’, sorry, that wasn’t my intention, was it? Anyways, let me make it up to
you. The next song in the barman’s playlist is ‘Great balls of fire’. </span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">Now back to
the clues on books and places. I’ve changed my mind, even though there’s been
no ‘Winds of change’ so far in the playlist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">Let’s start
a different subject.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABEvHMyiIiEUOHC1PqoIJ4n7PI8Ye750TwgqP2GfA5zvbOuQI0Aq9jttJVrUYSsJ00ZP2dI-fliFhHA9h4OnzuAuUbu7jwIYDCSdqXPbxqvuN-e6FyY6RrsrqYZKH0J2yfFptiRp8tdsggVFMbUs2-cYAXy3eJaTfdxh4UpS4V4b8XmfG55IatzGD6vBO/s2040/419234915_232094669940734_4505622218330410487_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2040" data-original-width="1530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABEvHMyiIiEUOHC1PqoIJ4n7PI8Ye750TwgqP2GfA5zvbOuQI0Aq9jttJVrUYSsJ00ZP2dI-fliFhHA9h4OnzuAuUbu7jwIYDCSdqXPbxqvuN-e6FyY6RrsrqYZKH0J2yfFptiRp8tdsggVFMbUs2-cYAXy3eJaTfdxh4UpS4V4b8XmfG55IatzGD6vBO/w240-h320/419234915_232094669940734_4505622218330410487_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">2024- a new
year, one which will bring new, exciting things. Hm… In which way? New
tournaments, new experiences, new places perhaps. Would it be so bad if they
would be just the same old ones? Or maybe the old ones before the old ones?<br /> <o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">On a more
serious note, my sketch for this year’s calendar is more or less ready. There
are some new tournaments, some new places, but no new countries so far. A bit
disappointing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">‘Running
from the ghost’ starts playing in my headphones. Is it a metaphor, a sign? To
what? Have I been running? Who’s the ghost? Where to run from it? Maybe to a
country I’ve never been to before. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">Looks like I
have enough food for thought for my remaining flight time and typing with my
eyes semi-closed while trying to coordinate it with constantly hitting the
‘next song’ button is not as easy as I thought. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;">Cheers to a
new year with good playlists, fewer dehydration issues, new paradises and no
more running from ghosts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-42075566950478030232023-10-16T00:09:00.003+03:002023-10-16T11:08:09.425+03:00Spätburgunder Writing<p>A late Sunday night flight from the Women’s Chess Bundesliga and I have suddenly felt like reviving this blog again.
</p><p>Have taken my shoes off, something I don’t do often and I really hope it’s not only me who’s had a long day and stopped paying attention to things other than the music in the headphones and the newly created database with a new opening idea I plan to dwell on after I finish with this writing.
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIYJesU0g-i76VwJtFaivtUDhaboACz0c4oeTLee6aTT5nZ9kQfoz0nVdcOdwuHk4eMYPzM-UA2AXDDuMKQhNyQoYKe5418oMkGQg0_QDzK8vu62oHtxRLFgu0kyKaKQ1nspjJiMTwiS_kJcvQmiIY4X9avD6wXvAwaiDrkbVuSgs6okru4kXSWlnQids/s1000/FB_IMG_1697391166676.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIYJesU0g-i76VwJtFaivtUDhaboACz0c4oeTLee6aTT5nZ9kQfoz0nVdcOdwuHk4eMYPzM-UA2AXDDuMKQhNyQoYKe5418oMkGQg0_QDzK8vu62oHtxRLFgu0kyKaKQ1nspjJiMTwiS_kJcvQmiIY4X9avD6wXvAwaiDrkbVuSgs6okru4kXSWlnQids/s320/FB_IMG_1697391166676.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo by Thomas Marschner)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Right, so the weekend has been a successful one- 2 team wins and 2 individual ones. I am quite content with my play, but that’s not the highlight of this weekend.</p><p>I had a dream last night. Mostly, I dream family and chess related stuff. This one was a very realistic one. I won the World Cup among women and it felt so real that I can still almost believe it. The joy was huge, but not lasting. I felt I won, but nothing really changed. Funnily, I was kind of trying to convince myself about the importance of the achieved- “You’ve got the GM title”, “You’ve qualified for the Candidates”, they all sounded cool, but I still felt empty. I saw people around congratulating me, even saw Magnus- the winner of the overall World Cup celebrating it. It felt very real but not fulfilling. I was surprised, not by winning- by the way I felt after it. Was it not what I wanted the most?
</p><p>7:30 am. Time to wake up and get ready to play some real chess. The game was tough and the match- not easy either, but I pulled off some good moves and won, as the team also did. I could still not shake off the emptiness feeling I got after my dream.
</p><p>A 2h30m drive to the airport and there I was, sharing dinner and chatting with my best friend, who is luckily also my teammate in more than just Bundesliga. The emptiness had slowly started to go away, but I am now left even more clueless than ever.
</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNRr5JkzEjKIBlraEqnN7DBeNIT7JaQqzVd139qWm0g6DQis3GRU-OeX6vsz8dJgVpmHz7SNHT8EMaWgAU56h_uo_tp7xzGivSFBiB1IduVczUPegGfjVO2bO8C3ct2pcpcTcbTpUN7hTGW7OHsglizIsk8WiJV8XUM6Tc6w33WCx539Wrr5DuG7YBmPW/s1600/IMG-20230910-WA0004.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNRr5JkzEjKIBlraEqnN7DBeNIT7JaQqzVd139qWm0g6DQis3GRU-OeX6vsz8dJgVpmHz7SNHT8EMaWgAU56h_uo_tp7xzGivSFBiB1IduVczUPegGfjVO2bO8C3ct2pcpcTcbTpUN7hTGW7OHsglizIsk8WiJV8XUM6Tc6w33WCx539Wrr5DuG7YBmPW/s320/IMG-20230910-WA0004.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>What is it that really makes me happy? It appears it’s not chess results only, as I had always believed. It is good people, straight-forward people, who are not considering twice before speaking their minds. I have realised that I’ve come to a point in my life when I can do really well the polite talking about nothing thing, but I really don’t want to invest time and energy into it. Being 1st in anything in your country comes with certain responsibilities and it might sound like something one really can’t complain about. I don’t. I won’t.
<p></p><p>What do I want? I want to speak my soul out, play chess and be surrounded by true people, at least sometimes.
</p><p>Have booked a mountain house in the middle of nowhere as a vacation after the tournaments season will be over and that is something I really look forward to. I’ve been longing for it for far too long and I actually secretly hope I won’t like it, though my dreams keep reminding me of how blessed I’d be to wake up with the view of the ocean, surrounded by forest, no phone signal, no need of polite talks and just the real me. Something to enjoy or to fear?
</p><p>Taking a sip of very dry wine, laying back on my economy seat and diving into the blues in my headphones, I just remind myself that there’s one life and it would be a pity to spend even a split second of it away from that forest house if that’s what I don’t even dare to dream of.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sweet dreams and a successful week!</p><p>
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</p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-79280768692111661592023-06-05T14:09:00.007+03:002023-06-05T15:28:24.828+03:00Silence, Hypocrisy and Disgust<p>Today's post will be about something which has been bothering me for quite a while already. I have been trying to convince myself that I shouldn't write it, that it's not my business, that I'll possibly lose opportunities and invitations to tournaments because of it, but I simply can't keep silencing this voice inside my head.</p><p>It is about the situation in women's chess, the war between Russia and Ukraine, FIDE and top women players.</p><p>To start with the beginning, I have been thinking a lot on which is my position towards players from Russia competing on the international arena since the war between Russia and Ukraine has begun and I have come to the conclusion that as long as they are playing under a neutral flag- I don't have a problem with that. Some say that there should be a sort of anti-war declaration signed by them but my views are not as polarized because I've realized that there might be situations where it can be dangerous for one's life, their families or loved ones and not everyone is ready to take these risks. I have tried to imagine myself in this situation and I've understood that there might be circumstances under which I might have also stayed silent.</p><p>However, in my view, there is a big difference between staying silent and participating in tournaments organized by recognized war instigators (to put it mildly) like Sergey Karjakin. These tournaments looked very much like war propaganda events and it saddened me a lot to see players whom I previously respected or even admired participating there. To my knowledge, there where two such tournaments which were covered extensively by the Russian media and which makes it very easy to access information and photos from these events just by entering some key words in any searching engine. For example, here is a link to a press release from the official site of one of the events: https://chessstars.ru/press-release .</p><p>Here, I will speak only about the women players who participated there. They are: World #4 Aleksandra Goryachkina, World #6 Kateryna Lagno- both from Russia and World #21 Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan- all very strong and accomplished chess players who are well known in the chess world. </p><p>I am not sure what was the message they wanted to send to their fans by participating there, getting photographed smiling next to Sergey Karjakin and shaking hands with him. What I understood was that they endorse in one way or another Karjakin's activity. It shocked me and the more I thought on it- the more it kept upsetting me. </p><p>I expected the same reaction from most of my colleagues and they indeed felt the same way when we discussed it privately. </p><p>Like it or not- it is the right of each individual to choose for themselves and it looked to me like those players did.</p><p>However, I was utterly surprised when FIDE (the International Chess Federation) not only allowed those players to participate in official FIDE events like the World Rapid & Blitz Championships and the Women's FIDE Grand Prix and the FIDE Women's Candidates but also promoted those players as personalities and models for the youngsters to look up to.</p><p>Later, the Ukrainian Muzychuk sisters withdrew from the FIDE Women's Grand Prix tournaments so that the same players could play and even the location of the last leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix was changed last minute from Poland to Cyprus in order to accommodate the same players who participated in the "Karjakin tournaments".</p><p>What conclusion should these things make one draw?</p><p>My conclusion was that FIDE has no problem with any of the upper mentioned facts. Is it ignorance or hypocrisy or something else? Every official in FIDE who had any involvement in these decisions knows better.</p><p>"Sport is out of politics." That's the main argument which Russian sportsmen, officials and fans use when some countries deny the participation of Russian athletes in their events. I can see why one would say that. If that is the case, how participating in tournaments organized by war instigators and smiling alongside them, shaking hands with them is in any way "out of politics"? Perhaps the FIDE officials have an answer for that too.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_YM2NFE8_HewyjXGZjLuiOb7cG9zrCWTifM1waDTftGBUYgTfEs-K4lnx2XMxdy8MScXQ9BFg1Cn8XSXerh1baiFXtxSs_JKEixE35KgDnbB9wX7yMbD_cyu6sh65go4cJ24yDnhSTIUCOnZFzXrqaCwGYnvi97YbCX3sAviXE5w3SC_6QTDryiUHA/s1280/FxIMeJ5WAAUisq-.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_YM2NFE8_HewyjXGZjLuiOb7cG9zrCWTifM1waDTftGBUYgTfEs-K4lnx2XMxdy8MScXQ9BFg1Cn8XSXerh1baiFXtxSs_JKEixE35KgDnbB9wX7yMbD_cyu6sh65go4cJ24yDnhSTIUCOnZFzXrqaCwGYnvi97YbCX3sAviXE5w3SC_6QTDryiUHA/w400-h320/FxIMeJ5WAAUisq-.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />Photo source: https://twitter.com/PHChess/status/1662405612074926080<br /><br />Photo of the "Chess Stars 2022" participants, held in Moscow- 29 Sept -5 Oct 2022</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>As for me, I am disgusted every time I read any news about those players, about FIDE promoting their images as those of great personalities and sportspeople and last, but not least, I am disgusted by the silence of most of my colleagues and about my being silent about it up until now.</p><p>I believe that by ignoring all of these- we are a part of it too, and honestly- I don't like what I see in the mirror after all these months of silence.</p><p>For those of you who feel the same way- is this really the community you want to be a part of?</p><p>What would be the solution? I am not a lawyer- I expected FIDE to have a solution by now and I am deeply disheartened that it's not the case. </p><p>I want to continue playing and promoting chess but it has become very difficult to do so when the situation is the one I've described. I have a hard time finding reasons to keep being a part of FIDE and the chess world under these circumstances. What about you?</p><p>Do you think that what FIDE is doing is right?</p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-11027189809715688612023-01-22T16:13:00.002+02:002023-01-22T16:32:06.944+02:00Make God laugh hard<p>It is a gloomy day in Bucharest but a sunny one in my heart. Why? For no particular reason, it just feels good to be home and be able to focus on what I choose to.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYC9crdFnqPWMA7e3CdvSPj2ioz5wTlPs6hpGJBS4SuUZ96Y3uSI-m8bc4eCfADt3URfDDBLMJI0ynwgkdgeztZ35_-wgdg3bJiVsGmGK610NczL26KI3BlVKkIWQgqo-QMF_EYlHrD4SWYQdGdk_KwuNfQDTEEzTVX_LmawndG9npNacEzRKZ64X9zQ/s4000/20230110_135439.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYC9crdFnqPWMA7e3CdvSPj2ioz5wTlPs6hpGJBS4SuUZ96Y3uSI-m8bc4eCfADt3URfDDBLMJI0ynwgkdgeztZ35_-wgdg3bJiVsGmGK610NczL26KI3BlVKkIWQgqo-QMF_EYlHrD4SWYQdGdk_KwuNfQDTEEzTVX_LmawndG9npNacEzRKZ64X9zQ/w300-h400/20230110_135439.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This year is going to be special and that's not just because I will turn 30, but because I feel ready to move to a new level. I have grown to enjoy chess in a different way than I did before. It's not only a won game or tournament what motivates me and makes me happy these days. It is that twitch of surprise when finding a beautiful move or idea which makes the dopamine rush into the brain! Does it mean I have become addicted to finding beautiful moves? I wish. </p><p>The chess scene is changing fast these days and it is so easy to sort of just go with the flow that I have to constantly remind myself about the things I want for myself even though it sometimes means swimming upstream.</p><p>I am happy with where I am now and I have a clear picture in my head with where I want to be in a few years. Will it make the journey easier? It remains to be seen. Do you know how they say that it's not the final destination but the journey towards it which is important? Perhaps I have started to understand a bit better what my journey is about, as about the final destination- people make plans and God laughs, right? </p><p> I hope that my biggest worry in 2023 will be choosing a resolution from "Make God laugh" and "Make God laugh hard".</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl41HSyOIUBeRRoLsITyARHcrYBK833E-xe4CM5DF4WnKVIuWtPYyWBcdBPF0YaFgGka_KwLqqFLzNX6b21GBLHJDNmR603fITYl-ODjerLJeegpTXKGH_IEd5RYCQZUEBc9xR4AFjPbca21Z9u3M9aYxtlljRKOtdez5RpjqLqceFZSxSGAn5FvNEgg/s960/326448989_647890567027039_4314919833413331017_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl41HSyOIUBeRRoLsITyARHcrYBK833E-xe4CM5DF4WnKVIuWtPYyWBcdBPF0YaFgGka_KwLqqFLzNX6b21GBLHJDNmR603fITYl-ODjerLJeegpTXKGH_IEd5RYCQZUEBc9xR4AFjPbca21Z9u3M9aYxtlljRKOtdez5RpjqLqceFZSxSGAn5FvNEgg/w300-h400/326448989_647890567027039_4314919833413331017_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>I wish you all a peaceful Sunday and a year full of laughs!</p><p><br /></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-85771644007979117762022-06-30T23:47:00.009+03:002022-07-14T19:51:40.515+03:00Summer Night Thoughts<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UiRildKb8hj__MV6DMyQPaaSBpqV4DnISDVlczQQOveOHPyW5INK5FHQVAEfUJUHfDdmRjoGWOMl4LNu6nJcIXitC41lvrXKhO53GoMqBj9llKIEy3hIQib66udm8YVIIXk6A84q0yue6FSE23NsJSqf-O5BfX7duMTfi9dmQRl6jbXNCB3jJrR-Yg/s4046/290247651_557725452755067_5239801139007454384_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4046" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UiRildKb8hj__MV6DMyQPaaSBpqV4DnISDVlczQQOveOHPyW5INK5FHQVAEfUJUHfDdmRjoGWOMl4LNu6nJcIXitC41lvrXKhO53GoMqBj9llKIEy3hIQib66udm8YVIIXk6A84q0yue6FSE23NsJSqf-O5BfX7duMTfi9dmQRl6jbXNCB3jJrR-Yg/w299-h400/290247651_557725452755067_5239801139007454384_n.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bydgoszcz, Poland</td></tr></tbody></table>It is late evening in Poland.<p></p><p>Have been playing a women's round robin tournament for the last week in a city I've never heard of before- Bydgoszcz. It's a little but nice, clean and green city. Have been surprised to hear a lot of different languages while walking around the centre.</p><p>It has been impossibly hot in the last few days and it's been a challenge to just move around from the hotel to the playing hall and back. The results are fine so far- 1 win, 5 draws. It is a free day tomorrow and then 3 more rounds to go... It is interesting how all the participants here are very friendly with one another, but once the games begin- chess recognizes no friendship, well, at least women's chess...</p><p>Perhaps it is the heat's fault that I felt the need to suddenly resurrect my blog. It's not like I felt I had anything smart or important to say, it is perhaps an urge similar to the one Firouzja felt last night when playing bullet until 6 am. 'Bad' habits die hard. </p><p>A lemonade by my side, which I wish was wine gives me a judgmental look, like I'm the most illogical person on earth. "This blog again! What for?". The nice thing about these kind of conversations is that I can end them whenever I please, with another sip- just like that. Not all the questions in life need to be answered. Alireza doesn't need to say why, we know better anyway. I look at the lemonade and I can almost hear it saying "Discipline. DISCIPLINE." </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX84qTAtJsm8mAkCFsr9RFwVH3GOFU7o1VQjzJ2PvmXo4zD8SXmnMo4_eNU5Xb5ECTYtPLWQnsvdj164cBMFcCn-xEXH-GuzO9fCl1Hmj5Pae2qdg36wWZ4k7skAwt8aPCMpJwnuYYfhFrZNM4IJq_Ur3PaD0SVA_3gmKexdZGh_VHAiYuAutGKDZBUg/s1500/252.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX84qTAtJsm8mAkCFsr9RFwVH3GOFU7o1VQjzJ2PvmXo4zD8SXmnMo4_eNU5Xb5ECTYtPLWQnsvdj164cBMFcCn-xEXH-GuzO9fCl1Hmj5Pae2qdg36wWZ4k7skAwt8aPCMpJwnuYYfhFrZNM4IJq_Ur3PaD0SVA_3gmKexdZGh_VHAiYuAutGKDZBUg/w400-h266/252.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I have missed listening to my favorite songs on a dangerously high volume (God bless the headphones!) while just typing whatever crosses my mind. It makes me feel free- like chess does. There are no moves I can't make- there might be a price, I might lose, or win or make a draw, but afterall- it's just a game. "A game which your life is about!"- naughty lemonade... Continuing my line of thoughts, I have recently felt that losing a game is nothing compared to losing your house, your loved ones, your freedom, your rights... <p></p><p>Luckily we don't have to ask anyone's permission when making a move on the board and in this hot summer night I just want to wish you to look at your lives as at a board where nobody restricts you and there are no prices to be paid but your egos.</p><p>"Time to sleep?" For once, the lemonade is right, which doesn't mean I will listen to it or spare it because justice and good reasoning dissolves in the heat of late summer nights. The world acts crazy and it's a disease there are no vaccines against. Luckily, I am a philosopher only when I drink lemonades which I wish were wine. On a regular day, I am Irina- chess player, author, daughter, sister, friend and traveler. </p><p>Cheers to resurrections!</p><p><br /></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-27869018044418764742021-06-03T19:10:00.000+03:002021-06-04T15:18:16.115+03:00Inside Out<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3rj0tdlgIUn5667Wot5OpL4XoxNqSSSRhlzh3llFs1Aw2Zz8cw0iIrpwP-_Jx__Xfa8qx-frHtkzOH-ieqLxl-UDwucxSdvp7-C89CEAljab4ZSKTpF9gE2vKBGI-ATu_HjdnmtC2s6o/s2000/20210527_202411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3rj0tdlgIUn5667Wot5OpL4XoxNqSSSRhlzh3llFs1Aw2Zz8cw0iIrpwP-_Jx__Xfa8qx-frHtkzOH-ieqLxl-UDwucxSdvp7-C89CEAljab4ZSKTpF9gE2vKBGI-ATu_HjdnmtC2s6o/w400-h266/20210527_202411.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo by David Llada)</td></tr></tbody></table>Two weeks
have passed in no time… Do you know that feeling when it seems that 13 days
passed in a heartbeat but, at the same time, it feels that the breath taken to
the next heartbeat took years away from you…?<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Last month,
it seemed that all I could only wish for was coming true! I finally got a so
much desired invitation to a Women’s FIDE Grand Prix tournament- it meant I
would compete against the strongest ladies in the World! It meant a lot to me-
I saw it as sign of recognition for all my efforts of the last years, of my
whole life actually… The pandemic was the one to make this happen- some players
in the circuit could not make it to Gibraltar and I was asked to replace one of
them. The night after I found out about this possibility, I was so excited I
could no sleep at all! I remembered reading some months ago that the Gibraltar
Festival wouldn’t be taking place because of the pandemic and instead, they
would host the last leg of the Women’s Grand Prix and I was thinking to myself
“How lucky those players are! How I would wish to be amongst them!”. I didn’t
even dare to share this thought with anyone else, so imagine my surprise and
excitement when learning I could actually be a part of that!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even though
my participation was under question for quite a long time, I started to prepare
for the event. I knew most of the opponents I’d have to play against, with some
of them I had played for many times already. I was the 11<sup>th</sup> rated
player in a field of twelve- I knew it would be a tough run, as much was at stake-
2 spots at the Women’s Candidates were to be disputed among the ‘regulars’ of
the circuit. That meant that I could expect big, long fights only. I was fine
with that, after all- that was all I wished for too…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6UHpxPzk1-I4s2_tSJ8JXYGLkVfSEj23YGkWXcZbpn7qRaWErdzKsFESUe6tbTBhrLAUVN8xjh5cvksyerOGDtIJqr2qy4gIpXTPadPVVejyjiOGCojqVWG5THcc1zn17f3Hb7JPEMiP/s2000/r_20210523_wgp_gibraltar_R2_008-33+Irina+Bulmaga+ROMANIA+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1307" data-original-width="2000" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6UHpxPzk1-I4s2_tSJ8JXYGLkVfSEj23YGkWXcZbpn7qRaWErdzKsFESUe6tbTBhrLAUVN8xjh5cvksyerOGDtIJqr2qy4gIpXTPadPVVejyjiOGCojqVWG5THcc1zn17f3Hb7JPEMiP/w400-h261/r_20210523_wgp_gibraltar_R2_008-33+Irina+Bulmaga+ROMANIA+crop.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo by David Llada)</td></tr></tbody></table></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Looking
back to those few weeks which preceded the tournament, I can’t help thinking-
what did I do wrong? Of course, I didn’t have the experience of competing in
such events and one could expect a so-so performance from me after a quite
long, forced break from competing, but why that bad? I mean- if checking my
games- I had 3 decisive advantages- one +8, one -13 and one mate in 3 out of
which I scored just 0,5p… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nothing
less than a disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There are a
few things I think contributed to this result the most.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One- I had
some previous engagements I could not postpone, so I had to try finding a
balance between preparing for the tournament and completing those other things
so I ended up quite busy those weeks before Gibraltar. I didn’t see it as a
problem at the time, as it felt really good to have many things to do after a
year of ‘hibernation’ but I might have got to that burnout point without being
aware of that…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Two- after
having lost the first two rounds- both of them in completely winning positions,
I was disappointed and I got into a vicious circle of having bad mood thus bad
sleep and prepared too much, worrying and questioning myself on every occasion,
unnecessarily tiring my brain even more. It wasn’t something I realized then,
because maybe I could do something to change that, but looking back at it- I
couldn’t even watch a movie during the whole tournament- all I could think was
chess. Who would have thought that’d be a bad thing, right?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WPPvVV4O6L8EVkVAfh5ZwGbS1YuEbF9c-Rv9TllEiXOPr49GDjCgkGNr1mJAvhsBDixjsAC0kFR3mvPzLNrh1xlO9APjshANM1BiqgxieebQoh_bdzrwPfLx-OzbV6Fxr-IPZG4_bhv7/s2048/51201722399_54161ab9ce_k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WPPvVV4O6L8EVkVAfh5ZwGbS1YuEbF9c-Rv9TllEiXOPr49GDjCgkGNr1mJAvhsBDixjsAC0kFR3mvPzLNrh1xlO9APjshANM1BiqgxieebQoh_bdzrwPfLx-OzbV6Fxr-IPZG4_bhv7/w400-h266/51201722399_54161ab9ce_k.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo by David Llada)</td></tr></tbody></table></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am not
trying to find excuses, I felt physically fine- I enjoyed a lot the venue and
the organization but it seems to me that I just completely lacked the
experience of how to deal with these kind of tournaments- all the things which
could go wrong chess wise and psychologically, all unfortunately did.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I can’t
help feeling disappointed but I also think there’s a bright side to this story-
I was brutally pointed out to the things I do wrong, I got to experience this
kind of tournament which I dreamed of for years and when there’ll be a next
time- I will know what to expect. I also hope that this will be the needed
wakeup call before a season full of tournaments- a call to remind me what is
really important for me in life and what makes me happy- playing chess!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPvF-Dgxv4rUpgm1CBolGrT2pfdhoOv-DoUnbsnb9lhFmiqkqiZTIqwDa1kRQsoZnWeRlA9fzfgo6C8LjIQKDre9KWD-0wz5FPtot_WtW9WHyTUx_ZCR5ttjlqWdLSjsctJEqDoh-u4Ax/s2048/20210531_105349+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1692" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPvF-Dgxv4rUpgm1CBolGrT2pfdhoOv-DoUnbsnb9lhFmiqkqiZTIqwDa1kRQsoZnWeRlA9fzfgo6C8LjIQKDre9KWD-0wz5FPtot_WtW9WHyTUx_ZCR5ttjlqWdLSjsctJEqDoh-u4Ax/w330-h400/20210531_105349+%25283%2529.jpg" width="330" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-78269679053035305462020-10-27T23:55:00.007+02:002020-10-28T01:12:49.137+02:00The Old Man's Handshake<p><span style="font-size: large;">Inspiration is not an often guest these days, while
being stuck at home once again…</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn4g0_ehhV1ZZEI-DKClqsE-j8xQvS57VxRo9NvBTjDAKhp3SZ1-2THSgHuXnUmbt1vV4ncbC9o2M9Ok_WRN_eBBUbu6A6lWfChcmw4E-1wT0jBFl9R_8CoLEr0d8elineZvsrDtvYaAn/s2048/20200922_125141.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn4g0_ehhV1ZZEI-DKClqsE-j8xQvS57VxRo9NvBTjDAKhp3SZ1-2THSgHuXnUmbt1vV4ncbC9o2M9Ok_WRN_eBBUbu6A6lWfChcmw4E-1wT0jBFl9R_8CoLEr0d8elineZvsrDtvYaAn/w240-h320/20200922_125141.jpg" title="Hotel Anibal, Linares" width="240" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The mechanism of my posts coming to life used to be:
play a tournament, come home, rest some days, get on a plane again (preferably on
a window seat, with my huge and not so pretty looking headphones on). That was
the moment I liked to sketch my posts the most- in those few hours in the air! To
get at least a taste of that ‘in the air feeling’ I had to find those dusty headphones,
pour myself a glass of Merlot and lay back on the chair… With a little exercise
of imagination, I can almost hear the stewardess asking if I want a cheese or
ham sandwich. “Chess please, oh cheese I mean, a tomato juice and a glass of
dry red wine!”. That was exactly how my trip to Spain started last month.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I know, I was meant to write about my ‘German League’
experiences first, but the on ground inspiration had a different plan, so let
it be Spain!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">To start with the beginning, I was one of those who has
taken every occasion to travel and play chess during this ‘pandemic’ period.
Call it risky or not, I felt my health was being damaged more if just staying
another few months at home, so when the opportunity came to play in the “Division
de Honor” in Linares (!), I didn’t think twice and took it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve been to Spain only 3 or 4 times before and all were
either short stays or so long ago that nearly forgotten (except that tapas bar
in La Linea- see the “The Life of a Chess Player” posts for details <a href="http://irinabulmaga.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-life-of-chess-player-part-1.html">Link to the post</a>
). Being so excited, I even planned my trip so to arrive 2 days early. When
landing in Malaga and coming out of the airport to wait for my bus I was
already a happy person! Yes, I was happy to have had 2 different 2h flights, to
wait for another 2h for the bus and then to travel for another 5h with it to my
destination! If you think that’s sarcasm, just ask the stewardess for a wine
refill and think it over!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Malaga airport is like a dear friend to me, as the
only times I used it were on the trips to my beloved Gibraltar tournament. The
first thing to do after picking up the suitcase was to order a “cortado” and feel
like the luckiest person ever while sipping it!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6F_2MdVLuNREHIG2w4nRGbquNrARA_R8mLxXRQgwEAEH7HwHr8KeTTwAHi-QdEcmzUWuF1zJBnpiAzm7TRiTg71VvapnKnWOg_-nRdKD0-WdYCYgToPCeeY8mtm8QZwVLgbiO-JRI2L4/s2048/20200922_130119.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1843" data-original-width="2048" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6F_2MdVLuNREHIG2w4nRGbquNrARA_R8mLxXRQgwEAEH7HwHr8KeTTwAHi-QdEcmzUWuF1zJBnpiAzm7TRiTg71VvapnKnWOg_-nRdKD0-WdYCYgToPCeeY8mtm8QZwVLgbiO-JRI2L4/w320-h288/20200922_130119.jpg" title="Winners of the Linares super tournament" width="320" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Linares is a small city in the Andalucía region, but
one full of chess tradition. Every chess player knows about it because of the ‘all
stars’ tournament used to be held there for many years in a row. My excitement
was even higher when realizing I’d be staying at the chess hotel which hosted
Kasparov, Karpov, Ivanchuk and all the other ‘legends’! As one of my teammates later
noted, “You could be sleeping on the bed Garry did!”. I am not sure this is a
thought people usually share, but blame it on the ‘on ground inspiration’…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The tournament started with a surprise. While having
lunch with my team, I was told I’d probably face only 2 or 3 women out of the 7
games… I wrongly assumed it was a women’s board I had to play on, but the rules
were so that the one lady in the team could actually play on any board. I was
not sure if those were good or bad news…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVZQw_1XOkiP6No2GsPNiD6RQOewhxKmgTjl2k2iR8zsiwEmznAM1yD00WMAvZWYNabSbRFOIknZqKpSn81IN2dTTmOoQEEZc-ssdpQmbcKudDNe6YL8-7FpBUxw5Xa_onfhWYLm-J175/s1566/120141643_2681401108837578_5259473048236483262_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1566" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVZQw_1XOkiP6No2GsPNiD6RQOewhxKmgTjl2k2iR8zsiwEmznAM1yD00WMAvZWYNabSbRFOIknZqKpSn81IN2dTTmOoQEEZc-ssdpQmbcKudDNe6YL8-7FpBUxw5Xa_onfhWYLm-J175/w400-h266/120141643_2681401108837578_5259473048236483262_o.jpg" title="The Fuchsia Jacket" width="400" /></span></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Won the 1<sup>st</sup> game vs an IM with some
inspired play. In the second round I had the black pieces vs a GM. Confused my
lines and got a ‘classical’ worse Rauzer position. I remember thinking during
the game how could I get into that position, after playing my whole life
exactly how my opponent did… But, I was wearing my fuchsia jacket, I was
falling in love with Spain more and more every day and I felt there were no
problems I could not cope with! My opponent started playing uninspired, I on
the other hand was more precise than ever and got to a winning 3 on 3 pawn
endgame. Then, in the hit of the battle, I took my jacket off and spoiled it…
Draw. I’m not superstitious, these are just perfectly logical facts. <o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Later, at dinner, everyone was trying to cheer me up- “It
was not so easy!”, “You played really well, it happens”, “Don’t worry!”…
Finally, they convinced me it was just an accident and I was joking again. I
must say that I always knew that Spanish people were friendly and opened, but the
first time I experienced it was in Linares! Even though not all my teammates
spoke English, the atmosphere was great every day! We were having all the meals
together except breakfast (‘Garry’s bed’ was too good of a companion) and no
language barrier could stop us from talking! How many interesting life stories
I discovered there! Even after I lost 3 games in a row (all long fighting games
vs strong opponents, but anyway- ‘long castling’ is never nice) nothing
changed. Well, almost nothing. I remember that evening, at dinner, the team’s
captain- a man in his 70s came from the bar with a glass of whisky. Nothing
strange so far, until he stopped next to me and offered me the glass saying “The
best whisky!”. I knew it was time to start winning again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The team’s goal was to keep our spot in the League
(two clubs out of 8 were going down). We were not doing well and with just 2
rounds to go, our only chance was to win both matches, one vs the lowest rated
team and the other one vs one of the strongest…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVjsk2eXw3nEZGQXbmeNLjAULdI6d_FPKzXSqEiz4yoNaewvjm_NtIw_jAp3H-9UjPmF0x_EPS_dVAAjwVCrV8znEIYI2BzQhUOUW7qtD-aVRi-rzR_JEu0qF3jgV96KcYsFiL7tNDxuN/s1566/120457973_2686136611697361_215827700226545305_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1566" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVjsk2eXw3nEZGQXbmeNLjAULdI6d_FPKzXSqEiz4yoNaewvjm_NtIw_jAp3H-9UjPmF0x_EPS_dVAAjwVCrV8znEIYI2BzQhUOUW7qtD-aVRi-rzR_JEu0qF3jgV96KcYsFiL7tNDxuN/w400-h266/120457973_2686136611697361_215827700226545305_o.jpg" title="Last round's match" width="400" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the next day I finally won and the score was
5,5-0,5. Step 1 completed! During the dinner after, everyone was calculating
who and how should play… I would have had black vs a GM I played once before,
many years ago. The captain told me “Draw is fine tomorrow”. I said “OK” and on
the next day I played the Najdorf. Had a fine game and won in style! The team
won 4-2 and we kept our spot in the “Division de Honor” (always liked how it’s called!)
!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the final dinner, everyone was very happy, though
if to compare to the other evenings, not much was changed- we were all talking
& laughing like we were doing the whole tournament! The captain was a bit
late. When he arrived, he approached me, and just shook my hand with a smile
looking directly into my eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The feeling was overwhelming; I remember it like it
was yesterday… I felt like I was given the handshake for which I longed for so
many years when remembering the man who taught me how to play chess- my
grandfather.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This experience is priceless to me and all I can add
is “Thank you, Spain!”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-44791892724888479612020-10-17T21:52:00.003+03:002020-10-17T22:14:47.388+03:00The Leagues Dispute<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">With the most discussed topic of these days being
whether chess players should be able to play in more than one National Team
Championship, I thought to begin a new series of posts which are to describe my
experiences playing in Leagues all across Europe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I consider myself a lucky chess professional. Over the
last 10 years, I have played for clubs in many countries, among them Germany,
UK, France, Turkey, Greece and many others, including my own- Romania. I have
met different people with all kind of values and traditions, each unique in
their own way. I like to think about it as of a ‘University of Leagues’. Each
‘course’ had its ‘good’ or ‘bad’ professors and they all have taught me valuable
lessons!<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is very difficult for me to understand the idea
behind the FIDE President’s statement that chess players should be forbidden to
play in more than one League…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Photo from The Polish Extra League, Krakow, 2020" border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1449" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDkD27YtM7KrdgDs5tgSiMiJfq3X6WBU_whCXtvL0dJx0B3-ChwHWqunKhdh-fsFlhUXxhvwkufJejDevWCh4an7j3qmXM4x6xyheBflWd5Fjt9V6DRQ6jazhlqSSaZ33GQQhTU6RDPHc/w400-h266/DSC_2348.jpg" title="Photo from The Polish Extra League, Krakow, 2020" width="400" /></div><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It feels strange to even have to explain it, as it
seems rather obvious that this idea is totally unfeasible. While it makes sense
in sports like football, hockey, handball, where the season is divided in
matches to be played all year long, every week or so, in chess- a League has
from 7 to 11 rounds usually. These games are being played during the
same amount of days. Therefore, the math is very simple- if a League has 9
rounds- there are 9 days of competition. Many professionals play in a few
Leagues during a year in order to make a living, as 10 days of work out of 365
are obviously not enough. Let’s say you have 3 or 4 leagues, that would mean 36
days of work- still not enough, right? That’s why there are official
tournaments like Individual and Team National, Continental and World
Championships where if one’s good enough, he can represent his country and add
another 40-50 working days to his calendar. Ok, it makes for 86 pay days. What
about the other 280? Well, everyone has his own approach- one plays a
commercial tournament per month, where he earns money only if playing well,
others prefer to train hard and play less but aim for the ‘jack pot’ in the
higher mentioned official events.<o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">If one is lucky enough to be from a country with chess
tradition, he might hope for some support from the National Federation, of
course, if he’s good enough to be in the Top5 of the country… 95% of the chess
players (or even more) do not make this category and the countries which
support the chess players seriously can be count on the fingers anyway… This
means that if you’re not top 5-10 (best case) in Russia, USA, China and maybe a
very few others you have to find a way to make a living with aprox. 86
‘certain’ pay days per year… While no one has been complaining about it because
sport is sport and we all understand that not being an Olympic one, we have to
do with less funding than other sports it is absolute non sense to make it even
worse for the average professional chess player. 86 pay days per year is very
little but if you make it 46 then it will become an amateur and elite sport
only… Is this what FIDE wants? I am utterly puzzled by this idea… <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But enough with numbers and unnecessary explanations,
this series of posts is meant to describe funny, sad, inspiring and disappointing,
but all invaluable experiences which I got by playing in Europe’s biggest and
smallest Nations Leagues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Course 1- Germany<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">To be continued…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-76291044899942072732020-10-08T09:30:00.004+03:002020-10-08T09:43:08.099+03:00D, My Friend<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">10
000 feet above the ground, I gaze through the window to only see dark clouds
and little lights somewhere far... Everything seems so insignificant from above...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A
Russian ballad starts playing in my headphones; it’s a sad but somewhat hopeful
one. The lyrics are touching and I feel tears building up slowly in my eyes. The
heart starts trembling and no strange faces I make can stop those tears... But
it’s dark, the lights are far, I can let it be...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uXzp_uCO8zY" width="320" youtube-src-id="uXzp_uCO8zY"></iframe></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There
are so many things I like that’ve started to make me feel this way lately,
since... <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">While
at a nice beach, while playing some English Attack variation, while hearing a
joke, while having a beer with friends, while reading a nice poem, while
thinking what opening to choose late in the night, while feeling the Spanish
sun...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
can only give in to this sadness, I don’t even want to fight it. I just try to
pick up crumbles from the so many memories and remember every bit of them,
trying to relive them again, and again, and...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some
bad turbulences start. It was stormy when the plane took off.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> I am not scared, I haven’t been for a long
while now... I have had a good life and death is not something I fear of. I
think of it as of an always present companion. Every now and then, when I feel
like having a heart full conversation and there are no friends around, we talk.
It can be calming, even enlightening sometimes... Maybe we’ve even become
friends? Perhaps... I never judge you, we have understanding and respect, I
enjoy our conversations- isn’t it the recipe for friendship?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">We
sometimes briefly touch each other- as a sign of mutual appreciation. There are
times I even feel like hugging you, just to let you know all will be fine and
you’re not alone, but... There are hugs you only think of... Who knows what
“they” would think of it? Not that it matters, not to me at least... <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The
lights are coming closer and you’re slipping away...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I
am so calm, powerful... I am not alone and I feel hope again. And that’s always
been how you’ve made me feel...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Until
next time dear companion, dear friend, D...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-19633493739029839322020-05-21T17:21:00.000+03:002020-05-21T17:47:16.692+03:00The Story inside a Story (III)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAYo7V-9STxLMIMuX5AeEeQnnQqhXK8Ab02V4eLo6MOfxsaJJocA6qTT0nLQaQe07dJmOWcCUiaywW-0GDCy1k8OxXDNiDfhyjgDLLbp-HMcGRsb8wwiZUJgoXuSBIQ3JsDuytum9Pnso/s1600/123.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="444" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAYo7V-9STxLMIMuX5AeEeQnnQqhXK8Ab02V4eLo6MOfxsaJJocA6qTT0nLQaQe07dJmOWcCUiaywW-0GDCy1k8OxXDNiDfhyjgDLLbp-HMcGRsb8wwiZUJgoXuSBIQ3JsDuytum9Pnso/s400/123.png" width="231" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Was
eagerly waiting for my roommate to finish her game. She had had a technically
winning position for about 2 hours already, but it wasn’t that trivial to
convert it. Between my trips upstairs- to check her game, contemplating the
idea of putting my high heels on and desperately trying to force the shi**y engine
on my phone show if my opening idea was good or not- I was lucky enough not to
get involved in any other social interactions… Finally, it was a relief when I
saw my roommate approaching with a smile, as that meant she won and was in a good
enough mood not to try bailing on the party (it required quite an effort to
convince her join me). Meanwhile, I decided I didn’t ‘deserve’ to put on my
fancy high heels, after all, the brain should know I wasn’t happy with its
performance and what better way of doing that than make the looks suffer, right?
Perfect logic!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">We
headed off to dinner, it was just about to begin. The atmosphere was nice-
round tables with beautiful arrangements, some cool music playing in the
background, nicely dressed Woman Grand Masters, who wouldn’t have any problem
passing as models… I suddenly started to regret that high heels decision… The
feeling didn’t last for too long though, as I saw some friends making us signs
to join their table, which we happily did.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
waiters started to move around us offering wine and bringing the appetizers.
Continuing that day’s ‘wise’ series of decisions, I saw myself taking a sip of dry
red wine… The thing about this kind of dinners is that you can never know how
many glasses you had, as they are constantly filled, without you even noticing…
By the time the main dish came, I was already deep buried in my thoughts,
completely ignoring everything which was happening around. “Hey, what’s wrong?
You’re not hungry?”, my roommate tried to bring me back to reality. “Emm… No,
I’m just eating, slowly…”, I said looking around. Another ‘wise choice’. I saw
my opponent happily laughing at the nearby table showing his friends something
on his phone. Of course, my brain assumed the worse “He’s showing them how he
won today…”, and I fell into the thinking about the game abys again…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Irina,
do you want to play in the first game of the ‘Battle of Sexes’?”, the captain
of the Women’s Team asked me. She was sitting right next to me at our table.
“Well…”, and I had again that twitch and lagged with my answer... “I am a bit
underwater, start without me and I’ll join the next game”. Being an experienced
lady and a strong player, she said: “Come on, don’t think too much of your game
and let’s have some fun, it will distract you!”. “Sorry, I don’t feel like it…”.
Apparently, I was on an unconscious mission to completely sabotage that day…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
“Battle of Sexes” started. Everyone was following it with interest except me…
The unfortunate neighborhood with my opponent was not letting me think of
anything but the game I lost. “Irina, let’s go to our hotel, you’re not
enjoying yourself here…”, said my roommate. It came like a saving rope which I
happily grabbed. So, we left from the event which I was dreaming to participate
at for years…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XmHQJC2ADQy91suE_2q9Td8ZWu8M-LQR43wfCJt0IrTekcYOU8hxXn4T9sJIPGtwFkVd0S4UO_wDtAMjJ8X1CZc35d7Yc0TSiM_nS9Cldj_Di9eRP_amBqk9DhW4j74yajOWTFZPzNf9/s1600/20191011_143445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XmHQJC2ADQy91suE_2q9Td8ZWu8M-LQR43wfCJt0IrTekcYOU8hxXn4T9sJIPGtwFkVd0S4UO_wDtAMjJ8X1CZc35d7Yc0TSiM_nS9Cldj_Di9eRP_amBqk9DhW4j74yajOWTFZPzNf9/s320/20191011_143445.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the best roommate ever- IM Ekaterina Atalik</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">After
a silent, 15 min walk down to our hotel, we were about to enter it, when I saw
that the Italian restaurant on the corner was still opened. “Let’s have a last
glass of wine and some dessert maybe- my treat!”, my offer was too tempting, so
my roommate didn’t protest. We were the only clients. A handsome, hype waiter
came to us in a cheerful mood, asking “So, how are you, ladies tonight? Want to
have some drinks?”. Not looking in the menu, I said “2 glasses of Pinot Grigio
please, one white and one rose”. “Excellent choice! Anything else?”. “I would
also like a dessert, what do you suggest?”. “Let me bring you my favorite
dessert, I am sure you will like it!”. “Ok”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
don’t remember what we were talking about, I suppose I was trying to justify my
bad mood, not knowing that it was about to… But let’s not jump ahead.
Everything at its time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
waiter came saying: “This will be the best tiramisu you’ve ever had!”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I curiously took it- it was looking nice
indeed, but how can a tiramisu surprise me? Took the first bight. “Mmmm… It is
amazing! There’s some very familiar taste, but I don’t know, what is it with,
banana?”, I said. I am not sure how I could still distinguish the ingredients
after all the wine I had… “I was sure you’d like it! It’s a banana and Nutella tiramisu!”.
It was the best dessert I ever had in my life. I finally started to relax and
feel better… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Left
the place in great mood. As we decided to take a bye on the next day and to go
visit the monkeys, the late hour wasn’t an issue. By the time we got back to our
room, it was well after midnight. I threw all my bags on the floor and started
to take of my boots, when I suddenly realized that something was missing… “I
think one bag is not here…”. “There’s the bag with the heels…”, “Here’s your
minibar bag…”, my roommate started to go through them. “Where’s the one with
the money and passport?” “It’s missing…” “But you payed at the restaurant, so
you had it on you… It’s probably still there!”. We hurried back to the
restaurant to only see no lights at all. It closed. “Well, the tiramisu was
worth it!”, I said. “But you won’t be able to fly back home without your
documents!”. “No worries, I met some Romanians at the tournament’s venue, they
work there, one is that ‘wardrobe guy’, remember? I’m sure they’ll find a job
for me as well…”. My roommate was shocked by my not caring at all. “Ok, let’s
inform the reception, maybe they have the contact of the restaurant’s stuff”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Back
at the reception, I saw some chess players around a chess <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kzItC6BkFb7zDGrbypRIbfyEDK3xwrX78Y-ZmV5aPcqILtiYIo1KouKXwM_Q35GEsVOKNbPmU2AbS3aR2Tr7Cuy8YdSDH8c5Lu7XZCJT7kvPTvlNB89_Ctdw0S8d_QQThgGmS2ahb9Rv/s1600/20200118_133504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kzItC6BkFb7zDGrbypRIbfyEDK3xwrX78Y-ZmV5aPcqILtiYIo1KouKXwM_Q35GEsVOKNbPmU2AbS3aR2Tr7Cuy8YdSDH8c5Lu7XZCJT7kvPTvlNB89_Ctdw0S8d_QQThgGmS2ahb9Rv/s320/20200118_133504.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The famous, owl bag</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
board analyzing
something, and having some drinks. “Hey, how are you, could I join you?”, I
asked. “Sure! Irina, didn’t you lose your bag? Someone from the Italian restaurant
brought it, asking if anyone recognized it and I remembered noticing you had a
very funny owl bag some days before… He left it at the reception!”, said one of
the chess players at the table. Heading to the receptionist’s stand, I saw my
roommate already holding my ‘owl bag’… “Fiuf…There are still good people in
this World”, she said continuing: “Ok, let’s go to sleep, enough adventures for
today!”. But I had another plans, I wanted to see what was there being analyzed
on the chess board… Because I have chess in my veins and no lost game, no
missed party or lost bag will ever change it! All I needed to remember that
was a banana tiramisu at the right time…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-67304146086662405862020-05-17T13:56:00.001+03:002022-02-08T00:20:15.451+02:00The Story inside a Story (II)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The most awaited
Open of the year! Why so? The Gibraltar Festival is a place where professionals
meet amateurs, where ‘Elite’ meets ‘the ordinary’. Where else would you see GMs
like Hikaru Nakamura or Veselin Topalov hanging around in the lobby’s bar,
taking on blitz challenges? There are tournaments for any level there, as well
as lectures from Top players, quizzes, parties- and all for the ones who love
chess and in such a unique location like the Rock of Gibraltar! It’s nothing less
than 11 days of chess paradise!</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Xa1BxsjVFCeutDZ0Ygeq8OvgLoD_KrDcm7UqRaiT2-zT-Aft_of77EU-SHtfYXGoEy_THYpmCKlZspUb-SHDuXFzzmfBoIzX5-69uQHRciKORALLIq1JErC-1b-4vxFkNdry_LINqqDf/s1600/IMG-20200126-WA0009.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="777" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Xa1BxsjVFCeutDZ0Ygeq8OvgLoD_KrDcm7UqRaiT2-zT-Aft_of77EU-SHtfYXGoEy_THYpmCKlZspUb-SHDuXFzzmfBoIzX5-69uQHRciKORALLIq1JErC-1b-4vxFkNdry_LINqqDf/s320/IMG-20200126-WA0009.jpg" width="155" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This year
was the 2<sup>nd</sup> time I participated and I was looking forward <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">to it from
the minute the previous edition ended! It was definitely no disappointment- I
was playing interesting games vs strong players, I was sharing the room with my
best friend, finally got time to see the famous monkeys, as well as the old
town… The highlight of it all had to be my first participation in the already
traditional “Battle of Sexes” – an event where a team of Top Grandmasters played vs a team of Top Woman Grandmasters, in a relaxed & fun atmosphere, after a
fancy dinner. I remember that day as it was yesterday!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was having
a so-so performance until that point, winning against the lower rated opponents
and losing against the higher rated ones. My problem was that I felt tired
after what had been a very busy Autumn and Winter… I was forcing myself to
prepare for the games, even though I had no will for it whatsoever… To describe
the extent of my state- in the first day, over dinner, after I won my game vs a
lower rated opponent, I told my roommate “I think I am either going crazy or
finally having a break through!”, “What do you mean?”, she asked suspiciously. “Well,
just don’t laugh-but today I became one with the pieces on the board, I was
seeing everything and I think that if to check the game with engines, they will
show my calculation to have been perfect!”. “Come on, Irina, don’t make me
worry about you!”. “No, you don’t understand, it was like a new Wolrd opened to
me and I got such a pleasure from playing, which I can’t compare to anything!”,
I proudly added. “And how was it to become one with the pieces, anything in
particular I should know about?”, my roommate sarcastically replied.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Back to the “Battle
of Sexes” day, somewhere in the middle of the tournament. We went off the bus
that was taking us to the round day by day. Had to walk for about 3 more minutes
to the venue. There was a round to be played before the so much awaited ‘party’.
I started my usual (for that days) talk “I have no wish to play today at all, I
am mentally tired, I would rather stay on the terrace and watch the seagulls
with…” Twitch! In shock, I realize that I’m lagging, as my face has some kind
of involuntary 2 sec. movement… “You see, I start having twitches- even my body
is protesting!”. In that moment, I noticed that Vasyl Ivanchuk turned his head
back, as he was apparently walking ahead of us and gave what looked to me like
an understanding smile…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I came to
the round late with what must have been a totally bored </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRF6yp87Mu7NuGvPC67xaEEpKavMXtIxwqCz6F5fbzsRrKEnZ8KGcJFsx1uo2z_dUm98mcM2byXvh8k69SF8qwyHeULd3beePXu8TQsVT3AfyR7wgnEtqf6OqRUxc57NGecxx4ODvHhDuc/s1600/99010814_2755723031221218_7037888107357667328_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRF6yp87Mu7NuGvPC67xaEEpKavMXtIxwqCz6F5fbzsRrKEnZ8KGcJFsx1uo2z_dUm98mcM2byXvh8k69SF8qwyHeULd3beePXu8TQsVT3AfyR7wgnEtqf6OqRUxc57NGecxx4ODvHhDuc/s320/99010814_2755723031221218_7037888107357667328_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">look, placed my 3
cotton bags under the table (yes, one with the heels for the party, one as a ‘minibar’-juice,
water, nuts, chocolate, and the other with usual women nonsense stuff) and
played 1.e4. My opponent was a young 2650+ GM. He played a very dubious line in
the Sicilian, one which I had recently scolded one of my friends about, because
“How can you, as a GM, not know that there’s an easy way to get a
significant advantage here!”. Having these words in my head, I was taking my
time in making the so well-known to me moves “What does my opponent want? Does
he think I’m a total patzer?”. When time came for me to make the last important
move of the variation, which I knew very well and could blitz it out at any
time of day or night, I thought “Well, I’ll play it, then he will suffer for the
whole game to make a draw and probably will and that will be it…”, sounded like
a convenient scenario for me. Only that I started to feel ‘one with the pieces’
again and a ‘forgotten memory’ came back to me. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITI-Bogzdo20pVZOPcNVQsU7t1Pr6q-UMF1kE-GaXvcsvj5kdncR65xEm5LjgQQ4RT84zUBJyGUvyKuUixYJ7Sshu3Y3EwSMOZduTaC_S3y9N6L3dNxfgQ6-CNWnp659enwC7NCbr6OBG/s1600/FB_IMG_1571171083024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1439" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITI-Bogzdo20pVZOPcNVQsU7t1Pr6q-UMF1kE-GaXvcsvj5kdncR65xEm5LjgQQ4RT84zUBJyGUvyKuUixYJ7Sshu3Y3EwSMOZduTaC_S3y9N6L3dNxfgQ6-CNWnp659enwC7NCbr6OBG/s320/FB_IMG_1571171083024.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
“Hm, I think I recently
analyzed a very interesting idea here- I play a dubious move, but at the most ‘human
like’ reactions, black is totally busted, although the position looks like
strategically lost for white at first glance…”. It was like someone on my
shoulder was whispering to me “Play it, it’s your chance-take it…”. How could I
resist that? For a second or two, I imagined the face of that friend whom I
scolded when he’d see my move, but it wasn’t a reason good enough, the temptation
was too high… So I played it. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
My opponent replied with one of the ‘human like’
moves. I was very happy as I remembered one by one every move I had to make… Only
that the thinking process was taking a bit too long and when I finally got to a
winning position I had no time at all and blundered some mate in 2.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was very
upset about the outcome and uncertain, was I winning, was I not, did I remember
correctly my analyzes, or did I confuse it with another line? Why didn’t I just
play the safe move? Uncertainty is the worst a chess player can face after a
game, that’s why we usually rush to our rooms the moment the game is over, to check
it quickly with the computer. But, I had to stick around the venue for the
party… I sat at some table in the lobby, fetching myself a beer and trying to
figure out where I missed the win… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTZGkPAMsQ3KQPBilscrd1Emib_Uwjcpw2Sragwln0WMALCrPcnqcTOoP0l0v6OiJzCjbrqTlbFpQnXEIBxIUAke-8mJywBCZbNDmEpBoVIYPX7UNh99mwoVMnwsW5m4z_PtI8_NOg9A1/s1600/20200126_165630.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTZGkPAMsQ3KQPBilscrd1Emib_Uwjcpw2Sragwln0WMALCrPcnqcTOoP0l0v6OiJzCjbrqTlbFpQnXEIBxIUAke-8mJywBCZbNDmEpBoVIYPX7UNh99mwoVMnwsW5m4z_PtI8_NOg9A1/s320/20200126_165630.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I imagine I
wasn’t ‘wearing’ my most friendly look when a friend of a friend approached,
obviously in very high spirits. “Well, maybe she can cheer me up a bit”, I
thought. “Heeey, how are you darling, I saw you lost a bad game…”. “Well, I don’t
think…”. “But let’s better not talk about it, tell me your news, are you still
with that boyfriend of yours, and by the way, how are things with the
federation going on?”, she said, hitting one by one all the sore spots… Our
discussion continued in the same manner and at some point, when I felt I could
not take it anymore, I asked the question that a 200 points higher rated
player usually avoids to ask, so one won’t think he’s arrogant- “And how is the
tournament going for you, how many points do you have?”. “Oh, 4,5/6- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so winning today vs a GM, but finally
missed a perpetual, so I drew…”. Not expecting this answer at all and
remembering my own 3/6, I said “Oh, congrats, you’re doing very well!”, “Indeed,
considering that I quitted professional chess some years ago…”. That talk could
not have gone any worse… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">(To be continued...)</span></span></div>
<br />Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-48723097358096770422020-05-16T00:13:00.000+03:002020-05-16T00:48:22.658+03:00The Story inside a Story (I)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Once, not so
long ago, there was a time when planes were flying and I with them- from
tournament to tournament, from city to city, from country to country… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpOzVgjBg3yxGKhSg6OJzEJM8cF-OcqZ62nSUTRUGm3OY_7_YSRrAWeZKU0an6q6wo_D36iFSnsuf4i_zbWChzY6ULQijXwReVKDmR_HcnoZLQrrESheljXf5C3rEsRlZdDhYMkO-mrhK/s1600/20200503_191703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpOzVgjBg3yxGKhSg6OJzEJM8cF-OcqZ62nSUTRUGm3OY_7_YSRrAWeZKU0an6q6wo_D36iFSnsuf4i_zbWChzY6ULQijXwReVKDmR_HcnoZLQrrESheljXf5C3rEsRlZdDhYMkO-mrhK/s320/20200503_191703.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Croatia, Serbia,
Romania, Germany, Montenegro, Moldova, Monaco, Isle of Man, Georgia, Poland, Russia,
Emirates, Belgium, Spain, Gibraltar- that’s how my last September to March
looked like… That’s how my life looked like for the last 10 years or so... I
think I have never been stranded home for such a long time- 2 months and
counting… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I remember
myself complaining during the last tournaments I played that I’m too tired,
that I really need a break and that I miss “normal” life. Now I have so much
normal life that I don’t know where to run away from it! Where, where? At home!
Quarantine!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">After more than
2 months of self-isolation, I can make a thorough analysis of how it went by.
Went, right! Today- it is the first day of “freedom”! Today I could go anywhere
but I’m celebrating it by staying home! Isn’t it original?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Phase 1-
Provisions!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">As almost
every (in)sane person- when the pandemic started, the first thing I did was to
buy all kind of carbohydrates- flour, cans, juice, chocolate, alcohol… Although,
to be honest, I didn’t need them, I’m from the category which has an extra
bottle or box of anything at home, just in case- I still have some cheap
bottles of pre quarantine disinfectant…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Phase 2-
Chill, darling!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigU88Wrm1b8luY3xl3ETetCqxiM5HbyiB2Kg7QHsdr0Mc1KVCWR-2mRzVsmSKizRSBgs9p2X5ua4G3get0xgEYN6_Oj0fKuqr2lfqj1DP05S0dShsWYMo9DyU0uH7hDt0CbNSfOA1ogo27/s1600/20200417_153953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1031" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigU88Wrm1b8luY3xl3ETetCqxiM5HbyiB2Kg7QHsdr0Mc1KVCWR-2mRzVsmSKizRSBgs9p2X5ua4G3get0xgEYN6_Oj0fKuqr2lfqj1DP05S0dShsWYMo9DyU0uH7hDt0CbNSfOA1ogo27/s320/20200417_153953.jpg" width="206" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I found
myself ready to survive half a year without getting out of my place, I started
to ask myself “Do I really want to survive it?”, “Do I want a life like this?”…
To get away from these questions, I started to occupy myself with only the things
I liked and missed while at tournaments- read novels, listen to music for
hours, watching TV series and cooking shows, sleeping 12h, learning “Deutsch”
(yeah, I take great pleasure in learning it for already 10 years or so, but stubbornly
not speaking under any circumstances)… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Phase 3- Sweeten
your bitterness!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">After
exhausting all Netflix’s cooking shows, I felt I was a ‘chef’! Every day, I had
a new kind of breakfast: pancakes, avocado toasts, banana & cereal
biscuits, endless ways of cooked eggs… Then I started making new and new
desserts: banana bread, sweet potato brownie, tiramisu… And here is where the story
inside the story begins! <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktLXm4MvlrN8CPXZlzc3RJhvQC-FeRuBVH_-_Z9SmL9EzHuywHQTwqKyEZs5VmAaGPeOovQuGrIloeofq7MM0j0-EjmY3blYwffcfEox6vSUoy2Frg0r_DFyGyFAs4emmby8tMLIjOWpM/s1600/Breakfast.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="1095" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktLXm4MvlrN8CPXZlzc3RJhvQC-FeRuBVH_-_Z9SmL9EzHuywHQTwqKyEZs5VmAaGPeOovQuGrIloeofq7MM0j0-EjmY3blYwffcfEox6vSUoy2Frg0r_DFyGyFAs4emmby8tMLIjOWpM/s320/Breakfast.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tiramisu-
the easiest and tastiest dessert!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s take a
plane and travel back in time- January 2020- Gibraltar.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">(To be continued...) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-31811160776123160522020-03-06T11:15:00.001+02:002020-03-06T11:21:22.555+02:00In(di)visible Dust<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Days come
and days go... </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WyaIjEI-eljsE_7bwAhrTPqJnmgrN83goWmPcLL_-SWROqhou6RHdMRHu_3tSigF0x7wj1Reww6VBGasd5t2DFDg5Np4VVcuIu4143tT2Mi4hAlwQw0J2DHxvYyuAYcSJ0AQKdI7kplR/s1600/20200306_111104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1393" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WyaIjEI-eljsE_7bwAhrTPqJnmgrN83goWmPcLL_-SWROqhou6RHdMRHu_3tSigF0x7wj1Reww6VBGasd5t2DFDg5Np4VVcuIu4143tT2Mi4hAlwQw0J2DHxvYyuAYcSJ0AQKdI7kplR/s320/20200306_111104.jpg" width="277" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We live,
work, love, hate and the years pass one by one leaving wrinkles on our faces; noticing
them in the mirror, we only become more desperate in making sure to have tried
all the pallet of experiences and emotions... We want to look at our reflections
and have a likeable explanation for all the small faults... If the explanations
are not good enough, one can always ‘erase’ the memory the wrinkle stands for. Right,
erasing memories is as easy as that nowadays! Isn’t it funny how we’re so
desperate to live, to experience, just to become even more desperate later,
trying to make all the signs of it go away!</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">However,
the problem lies in the fact that it’s not the ‘surface’ faults that make us
ugly and old... </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It’s more
and more often that you see someone so beautifully ‘wrapped’- sparkling with beauty
and intelligence, even warm hearted and humble and you’re so thrilled to
discover that ‘beauty’, thanking the </span>Universe for having sent a ‘bright’ soul into
your way for a change!<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There are 3
ways the situation can progress...</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The ‘shiny’
soul is a true diamond... You bath in its sparkle and beauty and it feels sooo
good... There’s no bigger pleasure and sense of fulfilment in this World! You
even feel like you borrow some shine yourself, blinding the other people with
it, therefore proudly making and wearing new wrinkles...</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Another
possibility is that you yourself get blinded by the shine and it’s well known
that one who can not see with his eyes will ‘see’ in other ways... One might
discover the wrinkles of his own soul; what can be more painful than that- to
suddenly be aware of all the ‘ugliness’ within when there are ‘diamonds’
shining all around...</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What if the
‘diamond’ turns to be a fake though? Do you continue your ‘treasure hunt’? Is
it worth seeking light when all it can do is just blind? Isn’t it better to
teach yourself that ugliness is actually the true beauty?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjp7dc4wTpYfITExlr51bp7ArhvpnsWOgAKhVRLOvK0FGDdfj87vESfIJAkF-70JKnzOtSU0hhAY_j-1pE64juEcSOeUjxwYTMuHwM9Kih7ejlkpcI3oJRHE8D-ZMQ0rSY8QCQP8SHSUuv/s1600/kimberlite-diamond-mantle-rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="544" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjp7dc4wTpYfITExlr51bp7ArhvpnsWOgAKhVRLOvK0FGDdfj87vESfIJAkF-70JKnzOtSU0hhAY_j-1pE64juEcSOeUjxwYTMuHwM9Kih7ejlkpcI3oJRHE8D-ZMQ0rSY8QCQP8SHSUuv/s320/kimberlite-diamond-mantle-rock.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I sometimes
think that diamonds are also the happiest all black and dirty, happily disguised
into a piece of ordinary rock. No one wears a dirty rock, but how many diamonds
end up in captivity? </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Eternity
you might say... Diamonds ‘live’ forever! I would always choose to be a rock,
one that could be easily broken into a thousand pieces, but all those little
pieces would be free, even if torn into invisible dust!</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There’s
nothing a diamond can be envied for... To be a prisoner of THIS World forever,
to shine and blind the ‘hopeless’ or the ‘hopeful’, is it really a life to
choose?</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Everyone is
free to give his own answer, as long as they haven’t traded shine for freedom...
Or was it the other way?</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-175521710893822402020-01-04T20:27:00.000+02:002020-01-04T20:32:52.713+02:00A Russian Story- Part 4<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The
‘F’ Word</span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQ1vVJDpNsyoOFYONXtkYNB3EyRgEj7HHasHq_U1xpAS4AFAsG4SovAgf1ZgK3jikfzmL4idMntUgj9SHkH_T08xNSKXcdqLx3lAsIQBAahRXThW7J8CamdkgxPijqIqI1-hv8ybBu3bI/s1600/IMG-dcf324e8c7185b858496d723f6fc90c0-V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="778" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQ1vVJDpNsyoOFYONXtkYNB3EyRgEj7HHasHq_U1xpAS4AFAsG4SovAgf1ZgK3jikfzmL4idMntUgj9SHkH_T08xNSKXcdqLx3lAsIQBAahRXThW7J8CamdkgxPijqIqI1-hv8ybBu3bI/s640/IMG-dcf324e8c7185b858496d723f6fc90c0-V.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lifetime 'relationship' with chess...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">„Why are your hands trembling?”, my roommate
asked. It reminded me of a somewhat similar conversation some weeks before. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">While being at the European Blitz and Rapid Championships
in Monaco, someone asked me how I could be so calm when playing on the top
boards. I remember answering with a satisfied smile that there were no reasons
to be nervous as long as I was not spending a cent out of my pocket, I could
only gain- either experience or both money and experience... Moscow didn’t feel
even like a fake smile.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Still, the ‚trembling hands’ managed to win
the 1st game of the last day in a really nice style vs Muzychuk Mariya. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Breathing became harder and harder...</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The first loss of the tournament followed.
Funnily enough, it came while playing against a friend. I made a very difficult
to understand move at some point. It was so bad, I had absolutely no chances
after... I was very disappointed, very... The only consolation was the fact that
I was still on the 3rd place and I would have white in the last 2 games, as
they had to level me the colors.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The first white was a quick draw. Thought it
was wise to ensure myself a prize and also have some time to rest before the
last, decisive round.</span></span><br />
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the end, I might have had too much time...
It is still difficult to dig in all the „why-s” and „if-s”. I was never before
so close to such an outstanding result, but all must happen for the 1st time,
right? </span></span></div>
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Got white indeed against Pogonina, an opponent
I have already played against before. She had half point less than me. I played
badly, she played well, I lost...</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is difficult to describe how I felt
afterwards, when realizing a win would guarantee me a tie for the 1st place and
a tie break which even if lost would leave me on the 2nd place, with 30k in my
pocket... </span></span></div>
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I guess it is enough to say that a sleepless
night followed, one where every decision was analyzed and doubted. </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the spirit of my trip’s motto, I think I
will keep the conclusions to myself this time.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Time to move on now.</span></span><br />
<span lang="RO" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-81047933524354164192020-01-03T19:12:00.000+02:002020-01-03T19:33:52.880+02:00A Russian Story- Part 3<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Chinese Wall</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjheruzKxUsMTI1jtMrutxAVbyhyphenhyphenli7EuN2q2xXto2EhJ7DgbWuUoocP4zxUUhZH8nN-E_jbknHVa_xeNyhJCcpmhFL6jsJvJyUKx-IIHlRdgfcxktwsoWR_HMW9Crq8Mdo-T40fEBiYBsG/s1600/20200102_173417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjheruzKxUsMTI1jtMrutxAVbyhyphenhyphenli7EuN2q2xXto2EhJ7DgbWuUoocP4zxUUhZH8nN-E_jbknHVa_xeNyhJCcpmhFL6jsJvJyUKx-IIHlRdgfcxktwsoWR_HMW9Crq8Mdo-T40fEBiYBsG/s400/20200102_173417.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Maria Emelianova, my edit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The 2<sup>nd</sup> day culminated with me trying to
break through the ‘Chinese Wall’, Lei and Tan, against both with the black
pieces. The game against Lei was one which I’ll probably have nightmares about
for a long time... I played some aggressive line, thought I had a good
position, but my opponent was actually the one playing very well. Lost a pawn
and went for an endgame with some drawing chances. My opponent couldn’t find a
plan to convert her advantage but neither did she want to settle for a draw...
It was her time to blunder a pawn, but a very important one this time. I won
another pawn a few moves later. Liquidated to a totally winning N vs B endgame,
my pawn could just become a queen had I realized my king was to make a sprint
to the 2<sup>nd</sup> rank rather than trying to win all the pawns... Draw.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Norwegian TV was there, they were probably
expecting me to win- to be the sensation of the day... They asked for an
interview anyway. Smiling to the camera while planting my nails deep into my
palms was not the worst preparation for the next game against yet another
Chinese.</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGajbZaCGWbfHpP294Yr4tz_AZ1WM4cX4YUpzlkFkLvP2BWNgloyyttEMMV3z0WRHyQLBkABTx1vpRxA7UCKHxwmxSBKKWwwrEOEBEim3Yojivvd8UFsuIl3hUAC5bLtFWk38IOduI1s_/s1600/80585398_1035928283433637_6620489214003773440_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1200" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGajbZaCGWbfHpP294Yr4tz_AZ1WM4cX4YUpzlkFkLvP2BWNgloyyttEMMV3z0WRHyQLBkABTx1vpRxA7UCKHxwmxSBKKWwwrEOEBEim3Yojivvd8UFsuIl3hUAC5bLtFWk38IOduI1s_/s400/80585398_1035928283433637_6620489214003773440_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lei - Bulmaga</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The game vs Tan was the last one for the day. I was
hoping to somehow survive it and just go for dinner. After some 15 moves, I
totally disliked my position, it was the result of my making the 2<sup>nd</sup>
move of my calculation instead of the 1<sup>st</sup> one... I was tired,
emotionally and physically. Made quite an effort and outplayed my opponent
despite everything. Saw that I could win a pawn and there would be no real
threats she could make vs my king, but noticed that I can take the same pawn in
a different way and force a draw, she’d have nothing better than to go for a
perpetual. Didn’t think about it twice and a draw it was. Unfortunately, I did
not realize how big my advantage would be in the other variation...</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">I was still sharing the lead with Lei, though wasn’t
sure how to feel. From one point of view, I was really disappointed I couldn’t
bring to the logical end so many games, especially the one vs Lei. From another
point, I never played so well in my life anyway... </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">“The 3<sup>rd</sup> day will be the decisive one!”.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">(To be continued)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-11054902575979477432020-01-02T15:51:00.000+02:002020-01-02T18:26:51.458+02:00A Russian Story- Part 2<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Breathing Exercise</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsuUF3o0abuFyMbEd89RzMthKaq8O-40WIcfxfG-x1t2I4v2abZjX3chSBDJoubhG8UueCV_pLbvK6JKmNUO2mDxtqceXxPbjt45Jh9cwjlpybP3Gaya7t_szWgnVdzq5wdoi95T-LPBf/s1600/20200102_173523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="636" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsuUF3o0abuFyMbEd89RzMthKaq8O-40WIcfxfG-x1t2I4v2abZjX3chSBDJoubhG8UueCV_pLbvK6JKmNUO2mDxtqceXxPbjt45Jh9cwjlpybP3Gaya7t_szWgnVdzq5wdoi95T-LPBf/s400/20200102_173523.jpg" width="352" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Maria Emelianova (my edit)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Woke up to a good mood and some bad weather. “Four
rounds today- would be nice to start with a win!”. All the non chess thoughts
were forgotten.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Won the first game in style, slowly outplaying my
opponent in an equal endgame. Won the 2<sup>nd</sup> game with some uninspired
attack which proved to be good enough... The 3<sup>rd</sup> game was a roller
coaster- had a terrible position, but a lot of time, which in the end turned to
be the decisive factor- 3/3. In the 4<sup>th</sup> game I used an old but
mighty weapon, my opponent had a hard time in the opening, went for a slightly
worse endgame which I slowly but steadily won- 4/4. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">I could not even imagine such a good start! It wasn’t
only about the result itself, but about the overall quality of the games as
well. I made no blunders, my brain would produce plans quickly, I was very
inspired in my opening choices... Those were all good signs.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A dinner at a nice Georgian restaurant followed.
“Tomorrow will be more difficult...”. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The next morning, scrolling through the news I was
reading “Irina Bulmaga of Romania in the lead with a perfect score...” Some
supportive messages started to come as well- most of them written in a very patriotic
style- “Hai Irina! Hai Romania!”.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The 2<sup>nd</sup> day was more difficult indeed. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Made a draw in the 5<sup>th</sup> round after playing very
well with the black pieces. Outplayed my opponent but ran quite low on time and
let it slip. Made a move with just one second on the clock, nearly had a heart
attack when realising it, but managed to simplify everything and draw.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">When looking at the pairings of the 6<sup>th</sup> round,
saw ‘Koneru’ next to my name. “What do you think?”, my roommate asked. “Pff, Petroff...”
While sitting at the board I contemplated the possibilities... “You can start
the game now!”, the arbiter said bringing me back to reality- 1.e4- e5. “F***
everyone!" was the motto of my coming to Moscow, right? – 2.d4. Got a winning
position after barely making 10 moves and went on to convert it successfully. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">I won against the number 3 in the World, and as it
would turn out later, the future Champion...</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHJISwN0mfwWpUgqdGNfzjOryGGFzmxsVaoFkjXkm6g37GMCQPRM9VkN0I6gc7o-XbPAU5tYkKSAZpfXI6Au49rNZRF5Z0E56m6lvjn10_SZeQ9prZAQic9JrELjMnYfvaw3c66rKT8XV/s1600/20200102_173434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHJISwN0mfwWpUgqdGNfzjOryGGFzmxsVaoFkjXkm6g37GMCQPRM9VkN0I6gc7o-XbPAU5tYkKSAZpfXI6Au49rNZRF5Z0E56m6lvjn10_SZeQ9prZAQic9JrELjMnYfvaw3c66rKT8XV/s400/20200102_173434.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Maria Emelianova (edited by myself)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">What a dream it would be to start competing against
all these top players fighting for the crown! I proved I can win against them
in rapid, in blitz… Will I get a chance to do so in classical chess?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Breathe Irina, breathe!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">(To be continued)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span lang="RO" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-87741839687394713052020-01-01T22:47:00.001+02:002020-01-01T22:47:35.094+02:00A Russian Story- Part 1<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Don’t cry for me, Romania!</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pDoOrNbhqGtn0X9Qqo6Z8bYwVb4Q5KJLA-hwZKfzNWrr6Bz4jOsidWdrVQzbYLr-p4HXvJ-gMGlzKLrWGtKTIh-DndGCCA0lVnbv4zlX9SaPkPWXpqzRxWNqhxRYHYRydtdXFmi8P2Ez/s1600/78688166_2565015876914953_2829957468912615424_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="878" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pDoOrNbhqGtn0X9Qqo6Z8bYwVb4Q5KJLA-hwZKfzNWrr6Bz4jOsidWdrVQzbYLr-p4HXvJ-gMGlzKLrWGtKTIh-DndGCCA0lVnbv4zlX9SaPkPWXpqzRxWNqhxRYHYRydtdXFmi8P2Ez/s400/78688166_2565015876914953_2829957468912615424_n.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Photo by Maria Emelianova</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">To
go, not to go, to go?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Moscow...
World Rapid and Blitz Championships. I had promised myself to play this time.
Watching the live transmission from St. Petersburg 2018 I cursed myself at
least a dozen times for not being there; promised myself to play after
finishing 8th at the European Blitz Championship in Monaco once again...</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>„I must go then.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pDoOrNbhqGtn0X9Qqo6Z8bYwVb4Q5KJLA-hwZKfzNWrr6Bz4jOsidWdrVQzbYLr-p4HXvJ-gMGlzKLrWGtKTIh-DndGCCA0lVnbv4zlX9SaPkPWXpqzRxWNqhxRYHYRydtdXFmi8P2Ez/s1600/78688166_2565015876914953_2829957468912615424_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">„Dear
Irina,/ Unfortunately...”- a great start of the answer I got from the
Federation about my upcoming trip to Moscow... „They don’t believe in me, maybe
I should not go after all...”. It is a bit funny how being young, one doesn’t
believe in himself even though people keep telling him how capable and talented
he is. A few years later though, things tend to change- no one seems to believe
you’re capable of any progress, while your belief in yourself grows
exponentially day by day... „F*** everyone, I will go!”.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A
few clicks later, I was registered in the tournament and had a ticket.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRBVjJHXPfMYfT8jMd2TkkIEM-LaW-ogkjlQXjs-qjSG5I1DpLaNtqWop_Ne9yI23mLp9fBhs2sRsMcKv9BIscpjcYmZkIqcj2iNebcHWOrTaoebejr70LfOmjTQSxL0v9esAl1hQw2OL/s1600/81216711_782352368908111_4822336795448442880_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRBVjJHXPfMYfT8jMd2TkkIEM-LaW-ogkjlQXjs-qjSG5I1DpLaNtqWop_Ne9yI23mLp9fBhs2sRsMcKv9BIscpjcYmZkIqcj2iNebcHWOrTaoebejr70LfOmjTQSxL0v9esAl1hQw2OL/s320/81216711_782352368908111_4822336795448442880_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a><span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">There’s
a sort of going back to my childhood every time I come to Russia. Why? Well,
even though I was born in an independent Moldova, the Soviet reminiscences were
still there. People had a hard time forgetting the horrors of War but also the
little guilty pleasures borrowed from Russia stayed in Moldova until nowadays. Eating
„sirniki” , „borodinski” bread and „borshi” are to this day my biggest pleasures.
That’s why I always have mixed feelings coming here, it’s like being able to
have all I wanted as a kid without the need of any adult consent!</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Any
guesses on what I did on my first evening after landing in Moscow? Had some
„borshi” of course! With a full stomach and a warmed heart, I went to bed.
Sleeping proved to be a difficult task though- uneasy thoughts were assaulting
my brain „I will show them it was a mistake not to support my coming here!” ,
„What if I play badly?”, „Why do I always have to prove something?”, „Will there be
a Romanian flag next to me tomorrow?”, <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>„Maybe
it was better never to leave home...” </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A
little tear made it’s way to the pillow... </span></span><span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span lang="RO" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">They
say Moscow does not believe in tears... Romania, do you?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
(To be continued)</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-68722349502768785082019-11-21T14:28:00.001+02:002019-11-26T15:21:39.991+02:00The IOM Chronicles- Part 3<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Manly Smiles</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"> The free day
proved to be a very enjoyable one- it was the last sunny day on the island…
Visited two castles, bought some souvenirs, took a lot of photos and also had some
time to think about what was going wrong and how to make things get better in
the second half of the tournament. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRajoHkwwtaSkZ8e2KSMj2Vbr9_iLTqxH1cF7__fiU9uFGVZ4UYEqG_E3nYbbkGdj74TVstxZV46oyEWRhE12rFb9-EV_7Bf1dh3AMU114bN4ndp6OcEriA9YP4oNXR7eq9jz105oOr4sX/s1600/IMG-96826ad3e99a4da012ab70aa9cc56c35-V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="778" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRajoHkwwtaSkZ8e2KSMj2Vbr9_iLTqxH1cF7__fiU9uFGVZ4UYEqG_E3nYbbkGdj74TVstxZV46oyEWRhE12rFb9-EV_7Bf1dh3AMU114bN4ndp6OcEriA9YP4oNXR7eq9jz105oOr4sX/s640/IMG-96826ad3e99a4da012ab70aa9cc56c35-V.jpg" width="308" /></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"> As a small
incursion into the story- I really like travelling, no matter of the means of
transport, airplane, train, bus- as long as I have a cozy sit by the window and
some headphones, I really don’t mind. During these trips I usually get a lot of
ideas, some of them later coming to life here…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"> I felt like
giving this explanation because for the most of the ‘serious’ chess players, a
rest day spent on buses from a town to another and from a castle to another is
just a big waste of valuable energy. It was not the case for me… I came back to
Douglas with a big dose of inspiration and an even bigger appetite (for both
chess & food)! So, a dinner with some teammates and friends came very
handy. When the waiter asked for our orders I couldn’t resist the temptation of
ordering duck, not well cooked- rare! A teammate asked if I was sure, suggesting
I’d take it medium, but no- I wasn’t ‘chicken’ anymore, I was in mood for some
blood!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> W</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">ent to
bed in good spirits, looking forward to my next day’s game with white.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"> Sitting at
the board confidently I knew it was just the right time to improve my
tournament’s position. Went all in and got winning chances quite quickly,
but- ‘chicken’ or ‘duck’- it just wasn’t meant to be… Sacrificed a piece incorrectly,
played on for like 4 hours, but just to resign at the end… My opponent shook my
hand giving me an almost guilty smile. I turned tomato red, felt some tears
coming to my eyes, but quickly remembered I was not 10, not even 20 anymore,
pulled myself together and smiled back, gathering my belongings from the table
one by one… Chocolate, nuts, juice, cola and a heavy sigh…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGf9lYGJAqEn9vtSJ9FSrfu7yY3dGC3HFCOmAWcNTUFL9XVh3p3j_ZErPglLr84lwWtHhAv0tP5e99G4uTAgKkSZNpO-BaYm16mYXkBC-0lfnt6JPC0vlvMm4IB3eUi0Eb6fUm8ti_nRjA/s1600/IMG-06229025453e5237c40aef786e393877-V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 18.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="778" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGf9lYGJAqEn9vtSJ9FSrfu7yY3dGC3HFCOmAWcNTUFL9XVh3p3j_ZErPglLr84lwWtHhAv0tP5e99G4uTAgKkSZNpO-BaYm16mYXkBC-0lfnt6JPC0vlvMm4IB3eUi0Eb6fUm8ti_nRjA/s400/IMG-06229025453e5237c40aef786e393877-V.jpg" width="193" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGf9lYGJAqEn9vtSJ9FSrfu7yY3dGC3HFCOmAWcNTUFL9XVh3p3j_ZErPglLr84lwWtHhAv0tP5e99G4uTAgKkSZNpO-BaYm16mYXkBC-0lfnt6JPC0vlvMm4IB3eUi0Eb6fUm8ti_nRjA/s1600/IMG-06229025453e5237c40aef786e393877-V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The evening
wasn’t the nicest one- my roommate lost as well and even the jokes we tried to
pull off were not triggering even a smile… The toughest was the feeling that
everyone felt sorry for you. But as a friend told me- I am vaccinated- after
last Olympiad's 5 losses in a row, it is very difficult to take me down, I have
learned to draw my energy from despair, though it’s definitely not a skill I’d
like to use too often…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Four more
games. While the ‘mating’ hope never dies, I decided to put on the ugliest dress
for the next round- in a sign of protest- against the winning manly smiles and
the forced ambitions adjustments…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A woman in a
state of despair is a dangerous thing, even in chess… Won two games in a row,
felt a shy flame of hope again… </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The first
castle we visited on the free day was one mostly used as a prison and as a place
of torture. Well, my play in the Grand Swiss can be described also as a "prisoner’s" one- when I’d just see a ship out of my cell’s window, a black flag would be
risen…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Another 2
losses followed- the last two… in that tournament… this year…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">It was time
to go back to my cell, until I’d see another ship which would maybe set me free or maybe
not…</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-60295908441405474722019-10-22T04:46:00.000+03:002019-10-22T05:01:43.970+03:00The IOM Chronicles- Part 2<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">‘Chicken’
who Dreams</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QIOVYIYF64mciWm5UkfAz2X9v2ujXhWw_eQmeRQXADR_fQaCU_VBn7dmQ-TcdOePTYNSdm6edVyoZenHwJH20IC_Z9JLwickna3Nw6x1rxFUjWf4th6ZlgGKW73YT9Wbsp3jqsWn5f-r/s1600/IMG-b0d7ebc34ac51f7db2c14fc2d122c7a9-V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QIOVYIYF64mciWm5UkfAz2X9v2ujXhWw_eQmeRQXADR_fQaCU_VBn7dmQ-TcdOePTYNSdm6edVyoZenHwJH20IC_Z9JLwickna3Nw6x1rxFUjWf4th6ZlgGKW73YT9Wbsp3jqsWn5f-r/s320/IMG-b0d7ebc34ac51f7db2c14fc2d122c7a9-V.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The island
is asleep, am I too? Is it a bad dream or is it the end of a chapter and the
beginning of another?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">While
players are either celebrating or drowning their sorrows I’m trying to look
back on how it was when it’s not even really over…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">It was most
certainly a very tough tournament but one where there were so many lessons to
be learned!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Lesson 1-
never make experiments in the first rounds! It is very important to have a good
start, as it boosts your confidence! A dull draw with the white pieces vs a
200p higher rated player is not a shame- it is a strategy! I started with be
black pieces in round 1 and decided to go for a complex and interesting
position rather than trying to exchange one piece after another… Was it correct,
was it not? The standings are probably the best judge…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Another
black in the 2<sup>nd</sup> round came as unexpected as it only could. Have
tried to prove myself that the lesson was learned and played some very solid
chess in order to keep the position equal up to around move 35 but just to
spoil it with 2 blunders in a row in the time trouble… </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">“Irina, pull
yourself together! All will be fine!”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_mIEsqL06U1RhtClI99xE2cpwtUjnNdihVsOJqIjYLIDKJHkwj19huQ1vIyvo66QUYDmDO0mw04xR1scokwz4mDCCUbmJ46gWwSItq0wOEAkgrL8wAtwvkUrIBWTdHxDTRMF2C-5ifom/s1600/72262921_3083643984983071_235899373630783488_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A very much
awaited white in the 3<sup>rd</sup> round against yet another 2600+. “And what
should I do know?” Any sane professional would tell you to go for a draw after
2 loses in a row, but… I am a player- it is written in my DNA to believe in
myself and in my chess- why else would I come here? A big advantage after the
opening- doubted myself, made a few slow moves- a bad evaluation and… another
loss- the 3<sup>rd</sup> one in a row. That hurt a bit, or maybe even more,
though I made sure that the makeup would not show it to the World and to myself
either…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Not an easy
win against a lower rated player followed, but a win is a win.</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_mIEsqL06U1RhtClI99xE2cpwtUjnNdihVsOJqIjYLIDKJHkwj19huQ1vIyvo66QUYDmDO0mw04xR1scokwz4mDCCUbmJ46gWwSItq0wOEAkgrL8wAtwvkUrIBWTdHxDTRMF2C-5ifom/s1600/72262921_3083643984983071_235899373630783488_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 18.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1439" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_mIEsqL06U1RhtClI99xE2cpwtUjnNdihVsOJqIjYLIDKJHkwj19huQ1vIyvo66QUYDmDO0mw04xR1scokwz4mDCCUbmJ46gWwSItq0wOEAkgrL8wAtwvkUrIBWTdHxDTRMF2C-5ifom/s400/72262921_3083643984983071_235899373630783488_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo by Maria Emelianova)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">White in
round 4 vs an opponent I lost to earlier this year- another 2600+. Played some
inspiring chess up to some point, when I lost my advantage and had to be very
resourceful in order to maintain the balance. Fought hard, he made a mistake
and I got again a big advantage- a totally risk free endgame. He offered a
draw. I believe that was the critical moment of the whole tournament. I had
reached the time control, got the 50 minutes- calculated, evaluated, realized
that I can play for 2 results… but again- I doubted myself… Thought about the
lunch I had skipped, the diner I would miss, the caffeine trembling hands, the temptation of the first
positive result vs a higher rated opponent and I just couldn’t make myself
continue. I was chicken- took the draw. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Lesson 2- A
bad plan is better than no plan at all! If you’ve got a strategy- follow it,
don’t change it, as it only creates confusion and eventually bad decisions will
arise… If you decide you’re in for big fights- fight until the end! If you want
to be chicken- be so from move 1 to 151, from round 1 to 11… You can not be
Jeanne d’Arc up until move 20 and then suddenly decide you’re afraid of fire…
The chicken who dreams is ought to be punished - another loss followed…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">At least 6
rounds had already passed and a rest day was scheduled.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">‘Chicken’
wanted to be Jeanne d’Arc so badly, still… </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">(To be
continued)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-79442408477989303532019-10-17T12:27:00.000+03:002019-10-17T14:48:21.065+03:00The IOM Chronicles- Part 1<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A
Cabin Bag of Hopes</span><br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFU6igmapY_UCRdDIuoxsUnd6V1rDWNLY7d_ZJ9AS5t3dxReDg0zkFKU-FwMl-yzi8GTOhSe7ppQ5RK1yRuLKhnRZ13L2SAv1fkox3gs7HHCCQfS9MFCjGPpooMmspMjwTHsiNR5wo7vG/s1600/72985129_2791129787585751_1466136431368863744_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFU6igmapY_UCRdDIuoxsUnd6V1rDWNLY7d_ZJ9AS5t3dxReDg0zkFKU-FwMl-yzi8GTOhSe7ppQ5RK1yRuLKhnRZ13L2SAv1fkox3gs7HHCCQfS9MFCjGPpooMmspMjwTHsiNR5wo7vG/s400/72985129_2791129787585751_1466136431368863744_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(photo credits: John Saunders)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">To start
with the beginning, I have a special place in my heart for the Isle of Man-
came here last year for the first time and it also happened to be my first
participation in a super tournament. I started with 2 draws vs 2700+ players
and had an overall successful event, which was definitely very pleasing… Having
had such a great time here last year, I expected nothing less from the 2019
edition.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">It is actually
an honor to be a part of this great chess celebration and these are no big
words! Yes, it is a celebration- of chess, of brilliant games, of great fights
and inspiring personalities! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">While
preparing openings and new ideas for the tournament I was both very optimistic
and enthusiastic! What to say? My mind was in IOM much before I myself got
carried here by a plane full of grandmasters. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kduysfDsZ_MQb1oDDA8a8lwSQV8nLRw5rZxkLRaHwNmHu9gAdV5YbutKBrEuzTEpVsKbQIs2XAec65BNm7V-B2Ixvt4c5KRW4cnpUpY7jI6927khysrc-asKFpckzDz3TLAuEOBZBT1y/s1600/20191009_140414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kduysfDsZ_MQb1oDDA8a8lwSQV8nLRw5rZxkLRaHwNmHu9gAdV5YbutKBrEuzTEpVsKbQIs2XAec65BNm7V-B2Ixvt4c5KRW4cnpUpY7jI6927khysrc-asKFpckzDz3TLAuEOBZBT1y/s320/20191009_140414.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dreamy window view...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The first
worrying bell rang just after the plane landed and everyone was waiting for
their baggage to be fetched… I had none and it was not because it got lost- I
got so carried away by my whole being enthusiastic about the chess I’m going to
play here that I did not bother to take too many things for the 2 weeks on the
island- just packed my cabin bag, thinking that I’m coming here to impress with
my chess rather than looks and there the second bell rang- "Is my cabin bag too
small for the high hopes?".</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A taxi drive
along the promenade and a diner in the favorite Italian restaurant later I
forgot about any bells at all…</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kduysfDsZ_MQb1oDDA8a8lwSQV8nLRw5rZxkLRaHwNmHu9gAdV5YbutKBrEuzTEpVsKbQIs2XAec65BNm7V-B2Ixvt4c5KRW4cnpUpY7jI6927khysrc-asKFpckzDz3TLAuEOBZBT1y/s1600/20191009_140414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Walked
around Douglas with my roommate on the next day, telling her "This is the best
place for coffee, that one for lunch…" and so on. I must say that I really
enjoyed the role of the guide- it made me feel like I belong here, at this
tournament… Did the 3<sup>rd</sup> bell ring here? No, it didn’t… Or did I
maybe miss it?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Unpacked my
cabin bag later, taking my time while thoroughly sorting out all my hopes… "I
will win against 'a' 2650 player in the 1<sup>st</sup> round, Magnus will make
a draw and then I’ll play him in the 2<sup>nd</sup> round…", yeah- I was very
thorough.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;">The
day ended with me lying in the bed with my headphones rhythmic whisper<span style="font-size: small;">- </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"Whatever it takes </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ya
take me to the top, I’m ready for </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Whatever
it takes</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">‘Cause
I love the adrenaline in my veins</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I
do what it takes</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Always
had…”</span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">(To
be continued) </span></span></span></div>
<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2457359174465192307.post-70263110977659930582019-09-17T22:06:00.000+03:002019-09-17T22:06:10.190+03:00No Place for Regrets<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHbMrkQ9c3ZKsCeabgsZdsZMaqTqc9Wp4rJqrvVgw2rjjQe3s0WrtvMueQ06KLHKP6qAMNtMV4wtWVxbnJzvoiMwxBammc-I5avsVtyNYO0VdhgaHgevE9mCkBhV2GvVJJ8qMaJaC-D65/s1600/irri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="529" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHbMrkQ9c3ZKsCeabgsZdsZMaqTqc9Wp4rJqrvVgw2rjjQe3s0WrtvMueQ06KLHKP6qAMNtMV4wtWVxbnJzvoiMwxBammc-I5avsVtyNYO0VdhgaHgevE9mCkBhV2GvVJJ8qMaJaC-D65/s400/irri.jpg" width="266" /></a> I had the dream to travel the World... I had the dream to win a contest... I wanted to win an Olympic Medal, to become a WGM, an IM... I dreamed of falling in love... I still dream of becoming a GM...<br />
<br />
10 000 meters above the sky, music in the headphones, a glass of wine after a tough weekend, 3 more hours to kill, isn't it the perfect moment for some meditation?<br />
<br />
Looking back, I'm certain that all the dreams come true once you have the courage to believe and follow them! It may sound very cliché like, but how can I not believe in it when all I wished for came true- one way or another...<br />
Living on the "believe in your dreams & in yourself endlessly" mode has become a lifestyle for me.<br />
<br />
I lost a game to a much lower rated, 62 yo WGM some weeks ago. Lame!!! But to be honest, in a sadistic way, I was even happy... People who dedicate their lives to their passions no matter what inspire me! I dream of surviving the age of 62, still loving chess and playing it competitively! That's why when losing that game I was happy for my opponent- happy for a whole sleepless night...<br />
<br />
People who live their lives for someone else are a mystery to me. Love and things you do out of it are indeed a tricky matter... Once you sacrifice your own happiness for let's say your family's financial situation you don't make them by any means happier. They may not understand it right away, but the price is too high- you burden them with your sacrifice. They have to be happy for 2...<br />
One can continue this line of thinking or try to work up a theory against it, but still, my position is that there shouldn't be a place for 'unhappily spent years or lifes'...<br />
<br />
I respect people who follow their dreams "because" and "despite" and "no matter what" and I live my life as there's no other! There are only dreams and there's no place for regrets!Irina Bulmagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12198523494570926203noreply@blogger.com1