A Chess Saga

     2017 is already here and it has brought loads and loads of snow in Bucharest... (yep, Bucharest is my new home now!).

     While most of the "normal" people had to return to their normal schedule and go to work, I'm taking advantage of the privileges of being a chess player, staying comfy at home, drinking tea and planing the calendar for this year... 

     2016 was definitely an interesting year! There were many ups and downs, but somehow, more ups come to my mind, which is a good thing...

     I hope that 2017 will be at least as good as 2016!

     November & December were some veeeery full months for me! I think that I've never played so much chess! There were more or less successful tournaments, but I've understood that it can't be healthy to play so much if you want to think of yourself as of a professional.

     I hope to play less in 2017 and if possible- better! :)) Why not, right?

     I've achieved the "so much wanted" 2400+ Elo again, though I try not to overthink it. After all, chess is not about ratings and this 2400 doesn't either feed me or warm me any better than 2395... 

     I hope that I'll be able to make the necessary adjustments this year so I would start playing better chess, that's the main goal (besides buying a sofa and a TV for the new "hommie" :)). 

     These being said, here's a little timeline of the last "chess months":

Calimanesti, Romanian League, beginning of November, smiley face

late November, Kings' Tournament- vs GM Mihail Marin (my face as expressive as ever!)

Again a very friendly Irina, this time vs GM Vlad Jianu

Romgaz Open- very late November- again a "happy" face

     

My mood at the beginning of December!

Wining 3 National titles (Rapid, Blitz and Solving) right after the beginning of December deserved a smile!

Finally a happy face and a week break from chess!

Vandoeuvre, France, first half of December- happy face goes on!

End of December, Austria, right before the last 3 "very successful" rounds (0,5p/3)

     I will finish on this positive note, the face I had after those 3 rounds got no official record!

xoxo from Bucharest :) 

20 years to go

     I am again in Romania and it feels... almost right.
     I've been inactive for quite a bit- this past month wasn't easy at all and the reason is the World Junior Championship- the last one for me.
      I took the 5th place, though I was leading the tournament for some rounds. One may think that it was just another tournament- one of the so many others I've played- but it was a special tournament for me- one where many ideas, hopes and tries to prove myself met. There's no point of hidding my disappointment- anyone who understands a professional chess player can see it easily- I did my best at the time and though there might be some things I'd change now- I couldn't have done more.
     An important period of my life has just ended- 20 years have passed in no time at all and it's time for asking myself what's next. What do I want to do now? What is the plan? I am still not sure about the answers and a serious thinking is ahead. There are no hopes, no plans and no ideas, no things I want and nothing I want to try- but there will be... sooner or later. It depends only on me. In fact, who can know better than myself which direction is the right one for me?
     They say that the biggest mistake in chess is to have no plan- "It's better to have a bad plan than no plan at all." The only thing is that we're not talking only about chess here.
     I have about 2 and a half weeks of finding "the plan", of doing all the necessary calculation and estimating the final position after all the possible variations.
     Looking in retrospective- these 20 years were good. God, I'd be a liar if I'd say I'm not happy of the way I lived- it's just that so many "what if" attack me... though I guess there's nothing strange or out of common in this.
      What to say more?

      "There are twnety years to go
       And twenty ways to know..."




xoxo from Romania I guess ;)