Report from Sardinia by WGM Alina L'Ami
Belief in lucky and unlucky omens has always been a universal part of our
psyche. Like it or not, many of us believe in signs of good fortune and
imminent misfortune, from the greatest leaders of the world to… chess
players (I reckon you won’t try to deny it). Since good things seldom
comes in pairs but bad fortune never walk alone, it is kind of natural that
many of us are hopelessly obsessive wit luck. Whether you are the tormented
type or a very down-to-earth fellow, I suspect you are all ‘forcing’
luck into your friends’ lives by using the common good luck wishes.
Ferry trip from Civitavecchia to Olbia –
not simple to reach Sardinia from Romania
At the harbour a gigantic replica of the famous
V-J Day Times
Square kiss
So many countries, so many customs... I’ve always considered the
theatrical jargon “break a leg” to be one of the most original
good luck wishes, until I recently came across with the Italian version:
“In bocca al lupo”, literally meaning – into the wolf’s
snout! Not sure about the expression’s etymology though; it might
be an incentive to go ahead with the most dangerous endeavors. In any case,
if you don’t want the wish to rebound upon you, you should definitely
answer “Crepi il lupo”, ad litteram – may the wolf crack!
There are no wolves or any other dodgy animals in Sardinia, but there is
a special guardian looking over the entire Porto Mannu’s bay: a bear!
Don’t worry, it won’t chase you, since the wild creature is
actually ... a huge rock, which resembles the aforementioned species. That
explains the name given by the locals to this region: “Capo d’Orso”
(the bear’s cape), the place which hosted a beautiful chess tournament
– Porto Mannu 2013.
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The beautiful residence hotel in Porto Mannu
Curious by nature, the first thing that had to be ticked on my to do list
was exploring this gigantic bear shaped stone, literally reaching in the
bear’s snout (in bocca all ‘Orso). It proved to be good enough
for a successful and enjoyable tournament, although the millenary rock would
hardly crack to avoid any sudden bad luck?
The bear of Porto Mannu up close ...
... and a view from under its belly
Our intrepid author Alina L'Ami climbs a bear
in Sardinia
No matter how satisfied I was for my own enrichment, being it cultural,
emotional or chess wise, my attention has been inevitably dragged to the
fierce struggle for first place. After a hazy start of the tournament, the
fight gradually became a shoulder to shoulder combat between the Italian
talent Axel Rombaldoni and his former trainer, Mihail Marin.
Italian talent IM Axel Rombaldoni
Romanian GM Mihail Marin, playing (and beating)
Arianne Caoili
The Romanian grandmaster won the direct encounter, but Axel fought back
with a series of brilliant tactical wins and scored one point after another,
without any draws at all until the last round (which happened to be against
yours truly!). Eventually, the youth impetus prevailed over experience with
only one Bucholz point in the final tiebreak. But for Axel, more important
than having one more won tournament in his portfolio, was securing the GM
title, with his third and final norm.
French GM Fabien Libiszeewski, who was beaten
by ...
... Alex Rombaldoni in a beautiful tactical
encounter
Top final standings (5.5/9 or higher)
The winners with their trophies: Mihail Marin,
Axel Rombaldoni and Fabien Libiszewski
The great performance of the Italian (who reminds many of Tom Cruise, the
Mission Impossible guy) was not necessarily connected with a Spartan life
style. On the contrary, Axel found the perfect balance between leisure and
hard work, which is easier said than done, especially in a place like Porto
Mannu! That’s because in this chess player’s paradise, one will
surely get trapped in the escapeless deadlock, between Scylla and Charybdis…
on the horns of such a dilemma, what would you choose: chess without any
distractions or the irresistible beach life? How could one focus when the
nature is calling for you?!
Another interesting participant, Arianne Caoili (above), is an extraordinary
and very intelligent young lady who is working as a consultant for government
clients. She is an expert in economics and travels more than Levon himself!
She has the option of getting a PhD in Economics at Oxford, but rather likes
her current job and all the travel involved.
The beauty of the venue had a redoubtable competitor: besides the challenging
playing times there were free lectures pursued with fervor by many of the
participants, to the injury of the sun or the sea… There was no other
option when the lecturer’s name is (no kidding!) Levon Aronian, who
was also officially working as a second to his girlfriend...
Arianna's second Levon Aronian (!) delivers
a morning lecture to a packed audience
A view of the beautiful tournament hall
Top seed GM Jonathan Rowson from Scotland
GM Raj Tischbierek, editor-in-chief of the
German magazine 'Schach'
Bughouse competitions could be enjoyed in the evening, there was a round
by round betting game on the tournament results (called… Toto Mannu),
games were followed by friendly analysis over a beer (or two!) with the
opponents – a real diversity of activities and the perfect ingredients
for a typical delicious Italian recipe. For the professionals and results
seekers, the accelerated swiss pairing system until round seven was a true
motivating factor to fight till you drop for the beloved norms.
Evening fun: bughouse chess with Levon, Arianne,
Jonathan and organizer, Yuri Garrett
Jonathan Rowson asking for silence during the
bughouse actions
As for myself, besides the chess factor, I was delighted to deepen my knowledge
of the lovely Italian culture. There is hardly anything that can entice
your senses more than the old Italy, with its dizzying flavors of basil,
garlic and tomatoes, with its parmesan pasta and desserts that lure you
into the dolce far niente… even if you’re not a gourmand yet,
you would surely become one here!
The tournament winner (sans five-day beard)
with organiseer Yuri Garrett and
sponsor Stefano Lupini, who was also an active correspondence chess player
Jubilation: Alex and Juri celebrate the win
and Alex's GM title
But what impressed me most was the small team of organization. Just a hand
of people succeeded in creating from the rather heterogeneous chess community
a true chess family! Just one small example to support my conclusion: it
took me half an hour of kisses and goodbyes before I managed to jump into
my taxi.
Wonderful hosts and generous sponsors of the
tournament: Alessandra Ariotto and Stefano Lupini
The wolves or the Sardinian bear may not always keep their mouths open
for the fulfillment of the typical Italian wish but I feel that Alessandra’s
and Stefano's arms will permanently be wide open to welcome you!
