Adventures in Portugal
12/8/2015 – Grandmaster Timur Gareyev loves challenges. He once played against 33 players blindfold simultaneously and he likes to travel the world for adventure. At the 9. Figueira da Foz Open in Portugal that took place from 21. to 28. November he enjoyed the surroundings and won with 8.5/9. But his most dangerous adventure came after the tournament.
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By Timur Gareyev
Figueira da Foz is a welcoming place with an incredible beach and wonderful food. I enjoyed the warm weather and used the chance to do lots of walking and even soccer on the field adjacent to the playing venue.
Timur Gareyev enjoys the Portuguese food and the relaxed atmosphere
After winning three games in a row, I was paired against second seed Krzysztof Jakubowski. I managed to outplay Krzysztof in the opening and later had an extra pawn in the endgame.
As the tournament progressed I increased my lead over the rest of the field but until the last round Krzysztof managed to stay only half a point behind.
It is not easy to achieve a big victory without some luck. In my game against GM Dragan Paunovic I had this luck: the game was over before he even had a chance to complete his development.
In round eight I played and won against GM Kevin Spraggett from Canada, a former World Championship Candidate.
After the game, Spraggett congratulated me and apologized for what had happened between us earlier. I did not take the incident personally and took the opportunity to get to know Kevin after the tourney concluded.
But wait… This was an important victory but I still had to win my game against Sousa in the last round because Krzysztof was only half a point behind.
The closing ceremony
However, my luck ended when I enjoyed the festive atmosphere downtown where I wanted to celebrate my tournament victory. Somehow and for whatever reason a group of gypsies decided they did not like me. Suddenly, and with people all around me, I had to defend against a gang of people attacking me. I managed to escape the first attack in a reasonable good condition but later, when I left downtown, the gang caught up with me again and this time things became much worse…
The following day I woke up in the local hospital. I was able to function just fine but all of a sudden looked unusually “pretty”.
The media heard about the incident and Portuguese news asked for an interview which made me surprisingly “famous”. When I travelled to Porto and Lisbon in the next couple of days, cab drivers, hotel managers, and random people in the street would go: “Oh, wow, you are that chess champion, I am sorry about what happened.”
At the airport a tourist group I met was travelling to Brazil. A couple of guys came up and said they liked chess and saw me on TV. Which led to another memorable picture.
Figueira do Foz, Final Standings
| Rk. | Name | Pts. | TB1 |
| 1 | GAREYEV Timur | 8,5 | 50,0 |
| 2 | JAKUBOWSKI Krzysztof | 7,0 | 49,5 |
| 3 | PETKOV Vladimir | 6,5 | 51,0 |
| 4 | DÂMASO Rui | 6,0 | 46,5 |
| 5 | PAUNOVIĆ Dragan | 5,5 | 49,0 |
| 6 | DIAS Paulo | 5,5 | 48,0 |
| 7 | STOPA Jacek | 5,5 | 47,5 |
| 8 | KUKOV Velislav | 5,5 | 43,5 |
| 9 | PIASETSKI Leon | 5,5 | 42,5 |
| 10 | GUERREIRO Nuno | 5,5 | 41,5 |
| 11 | SPRAGGETT Kevin | 5,0 | 54,0 |
| 12 | VASSALLO BARROCHE Mauricio | 5,0 | 49,5 |
| 13 | SOUSA Andre Ventura | 5,0 | 47,0 |
| 14 | ROMANISHIN Oleg | 5,0 | 46,0 |
| 15 | PINHO Paulo | 5,0 | 41,0 |
| 16 | PAIVA Henrique | 5,0 | 40,0 |
| 17 | MIGALA Andrzej | 5,0 | 38,5 |
| 18 | ADAMS Philip | 5,0 | 38,0 |
| 19 | SANTOS Antonio P | 4,5 | 46,5 |
| 20 | OLEA Liliana | 4,5 | 38,0 |
... 33 participants (Source: chess-results)
Any chance that Spraggett hired those gypsies?
Kevin Spraggett has forfeited any right to tell people to be quiet during his games. Shushing not allowed by GM Spraggett.
Timur, it's much safer in Kansas. Congrats on your victory, and your safe return.
Wow, what a story. So glad you made it back alive. You just can't be too careful these days. There are snakes lurking everywhere-not just in Portugal.
Just a small note: for a while now, CB News is using the German way to indicate ordinals in some articles. In English the correct is 9th and not 9. And the city name is Figueira da Foz, the article mistakenly uses "de Foz" and "do Foz".
Ouch. Take care please Timur! The chess world is a better, brighter, more joyous and colourful place with you in it. :-) Best wishes.
i am sorry for what happened to you. i wish i could read a more detailed story of what happened to you. anyway i m happy such a talented player is safe and okay now. thank you for your great report.
I wish to congratulate you for winning the tournament, but even more so for the report. This is one of the best articles I've read on this website and is up there with some of Nigel Short's best writing.The description of the incident with Spraggett followed by the gypsy assault was very entertaining. I hope that you're feeling much better.
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