The 1995 European Championships took place in Zagan, a 'specific nook in Poland' according to the bulletin! The Scottish contingent consisted of Jonathan Rowson (Boys U-18), Heather Lang (Girls U-18), Eddie Dearing (Boys U-16) and Mark Condie (Coach). We flew to Berlin airport, then went by train to Zagan, a perilous journey involving several changes. Arriving in Faust, we spent several minutes trying to work out the German for 'Where is the train for Zagan?', only to receive the reply 'Ich weiß nicht' ('I don't know') from everyone we asked. Finally, the train was located, and everyone was happy. (Later we found out that the English, Irish and Welsh had gone by bus, and had been held up at the border, taking 10 hours for a journey which took us only 3½)
When we arrived in Zagan, we were stunned to find that someone had been sent to meet us (a rare occurrence, if previous experience is anything to go by), and we were ferried by minibus to the tournament office for accreditation. The organisers had recruited several pupils from the local school to act as interpreters - an excellent idea which allowed us to communicate and let them practise their English. The accommodation turned out to be hotel-like (happily the 'boarding school dormitories' mentioned in the invitation did not materialise), but the chess players had to share the building with some soldiers from the Polish army, whose base was situated just down the road.
We ate in a separate restaurant, 15 minutes walk from the accommodation, and en route to the tournament hall. Having experienced the cuisine of several World and European Juniors (eg. 'Chicken Grandmother', 'Cauliflower a la brain' and 'Wasps nest'), we had prepared ourselves for the worst, but the food turned out to be 'pleasant', and once Jonathan had learned the Polish for 'vegetarian' there were no problems. We even managed to negotiate the Eastern European breakfasts, which usually consisted of a basket of bread and a plate of unappetising pieces of cheese or meat. Fortunately, on a previous expedition to Poland Mark had learned the word for 'scrambled eggs', and we managed to supplement our bread ('shleb') supplies by 'borrowing' some from the Dutch.
The chess was played in the palace, a magnificent building complete with moat and courtyard. The playing hall itself had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and an inlaid wooden floor. The Poles had even managed to arrange the rows of tables so that no one had a 'leg' in the middle of their game! The tournament ran very smoothly, with computerised pairings which went up on the notice boards 10 minutes after the last game finished. Refreshments were provided in the form of a packed lunch, and a kiosk selling coffee, tea, juice etc was opened in the analysis area just outside the playing hall.
So, on to the results. Jonathan's medal-winning performance has been well documented in his article, but what of the other two? Heather had a good tournament, staying on 50% or +1 for most of the way, mainly against FIDE-rated opposition. She won her last two games to finish 10th= on 6½/11, but it is still unclear whether this will be enough for a full FIDE rating or a partial, as either the January or July list could be used to rate the tournament. Whatever happens, she still performed to around 2125, and was pleased to finish in the top ten.
Eddie played well for most of the tournament, beating DeVreught, the reigning European U-14 Rapidplay champion and playing a nice queen sacrifice in the game given below. He slipped to 50% after a last round loss to last year's silver medallist, but he gained rating points from the tournament, and will be able to play in the same age group in 1996.
The closing ceremony took place in the tournament hall, where an orchestra had replaced the tables. The organisers had publicised the event well : there were posters or stickers in most shop windows, and large banners outside the palace. The amount of interest in the tournament became apparent : a television camera in the hall had been linked to a monitor and speaker outside, and around 100 local worthies who could not get in to see the prize giving live had turned up to watch! Jonathan was presented with his medal on stage amidst the hoards of snapping photographers, as the orchestra played a pleasant tune. Outside, an old lady approached him, said something in Polish, and presented him with a little bunch of flowers from her garden. A touching gesture!
The return journey was eventful. The organisers provided a bus to take some of the teams to the airport, and some to the railway station in Berlin. It was an hour late, then was delayed at the border, which resulted in the Dutch missing their train and having to wait 12 hours for another. Meanwhile, the Scots and the English discovered an 'Eat all you can for 20DM' offer in a restaurant at the airport. Having missed breakfast, and with the whole afternoon to while away, we made sure the establishment ran at a loss!
Overall, the tournament was well organised and the chess players were made to feel welcome. The community seemed to support us : the day after we arrived, we asked for directions to the tournament hall from a passer-by, who went right out of his way to take us there. The Poles have every right to be proud of their chess : two of the four gold medals up for grabs were won by the home nation. Hopefully, some of this enthusiasm will now be seen in Scotland : the club for leading juniors being set up by the SCA is certainly a step in the right direction.
Dearing, SCO (2060) - Levkov, FRM
European Boys U-16, Zagan, 1995
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 Bg7 5.Ne2 f5 6.Nf4 O-O 7.h4 c5 8.c3 d6 9.h5 Nc6 10.hxg6 hxg6 11.Bc4 Qg5 12.Nd2 Re8 13.Qb3 Qf6 14.O-O-O Na5 15.Qa4 Qd8 16.dxc5 Bd7 17.Bb5 Bxb5 18.Qxb5 a6 19.Qe2 Rc8 20.Nf3 Rxc5 21.Nd5 Rc8 22.Rh4 b5 23.Rdh1 Rc5 24.Qd3 Nc4 25.b4 Rc8 26.Nd4 Nb6 27.Nxf5 Nxd5 28.Nxg7 Rxc3+ 29.Qxc3 Nxc3 30.Nxe8 Kf8 31.Kd2 Na4 32.Rh8+ Ke7 33.Nf6 Qxh8 34.Nd5+ Ke6 35.Nf4+ 1-0
Lang, SCO (1850) - Luks, POL (2200)
European Girls U-18, Zagan 1995
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 (I didn't know which line of the
Lopez my opponent played, but from looking through her previous games I
had concluded that she was a bit of a hacker, and likely to play a sharp
line. I knew that 4.c3 is the best move, but I didn't know any further
than 4... f5 or 4... d5, both of which looked a bit frightening to someone
who had not prepared anything special. So I decided to chicken out.) 4.d3?!
Nge7 (Sigh of relief - if I am about to be hacked off the board, surely
the knight is more menacing on f6.) 5.Be3 Bb6 6.O-O Ng6 7.Nc3 Nce7?
(What's this? My opponent has spent a lot of time shifting her knights
around for no apparent gain, so I decided to break in the centre. Even
though I have taken two moves to play d4, I am still ahead in development,
and my king is safe.) 8.Bxb6 axb6 9.d4 c6 10.Be2 exd4 11.Nxd4 d5?! 12.exd5
(Now what? If 12... cxd5, Black's pawn structure is a joke, and after
12... Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.Bf3 intending 15.Re1+ is very pleasant for White.)
12... O-O (Giving up a pawn, but getting the king to safety and
hoping for a happy hack down the kingside in the middlegame.) 13.dxc6
bxc6 14.Re1 Qc7 15.Qc1 Bb7 16.Bd3 Ra5 17.Qe3 h6 18.Qg3 Qd8 19.Bxg6 Nxg6
(I wanted to push my f-pawn at some point, but before this could have
been met with ...f6 or ...f5. Now, the N on g6 will be en prise if this
is tried, and we are also one piece closer to an endgame.) 20.Nf3 (It
is important to keep the black rook out of g5. Althouth this piece returns
to d4 in two moves time, it does so with tempo, and at a time when White
is more ready to play f4.) 20... Qf6 21.Rad1 (Intending 22.Ne4,
with tempo, then 23.Nd4 and 24.f4) 21... Qf5 22.Nd4 Qc8 (If 22...
Qf6 trying to hold up f4, 23.Ne4, and the Queen has no sensible square
to go to.) 23.f4 Rd8 24.f5 Nf8 25.Re5 (I really wanted to play 25.f6,
but 25... Rg5 is a 'reasonable' reply! After the move played in the game,
relatively best is 25... Rxe5 26.Qxe5 Nd7, intending ...Nf6. Black succeeds
in nullifying the attack, but remains a pawn down.) 25... c5 (The
black rook is now cut off from the crisis on the kingside.) 26.f6
(Clearing a square for the white knight, which is beginning to resemble
an octopus.) 26... Ng6 27.Nf5 Rxd1+ 28.Nxd1 Kh7 29.Nd6 Qd8 (29...
Qc6 30.Re7 Qd5 31.Ne3) 30.Re8 Qxf6 31.Nxb7 Qd4+ 32.Ne3 Rxa2 33.Rd8 Qxb2
34.Rd1 (Calm defence : black hasn't enough for the piece, and still
has a weak king.) 34... Ra3 35.Qf2 Rc3 36.Nd6 Qa2? (Spotting the
subtle threat to f7, but...) 37. Nb5 (Oops! The errant black rook
finds itself trapped by the two white octopuses [octopi?!]) 37... Rxe3
38.Qxe3 Qxc2 39.Qd3 (Black decided that to play on a rook down was
pointless, so) 1-0