Day 1 – Glory Denied!
LauttSK 1 vs. Finnish Champion 2016 MatSK 1
The LauttSK 1 team comprising Jyrki, Ashwin, Pekka, and Petr missed out on qualifying to the Master's division by just half a point. As a team, we punched well above our weight though, and to be honest we surprised ourselves by how well we performed.
Top 8 results of group D (top 4 qualified for Master's):
- MatSK 1 (86½/96)
- OSS 1 (83)
- LprSK 1 (79)
- SSK 1 (66)
- Me-Ra (66)
- LauttSK 1 (65½)
- NurmSK 1 (65½)
- JyS 3 (60)
We begun shakily, getting about 2 points per round for the first 3–4 rounds. But then we got into gear, and by the end of the day we were getting 3½–4 points on every round, except the tragic last round where we only managed 2 points. But such is life. In the end, qualifying for Division 1 was a fair result, given how far we were behind the top 3 (more than 15 points).
Breakdown by players (Group D):
# Player Score Perf. Rank
1 Jyrki 13/24 2002 12
2 Ashwin 17 2091 6
3 Pekka 18 2068 4
4 Petr 17½ 1960 6
We also got 2 major scalps:
- Jyrki beat Sebastian Korman (rating 2393, and overall #1 on Board 1 in Group D)
- Pekka beat Toivo Keinänen (rating 2280, EU under 15 champion, from overall #1 team MatSK1, and best player on 3rd board in Master's division)
Day 2 – Revenge of the Vesely! We were not as sharp as before on Day 2, but did pretty well regardless. We came 7th in Division 1, despite being in the bottom 5 of the group based on average team rating. We even beat our favorite opponent KäpSK 3–1.
Top 8 results of Division 1:
- TammerSh 3 (74/108)
- NurmSK 1 (72)
- Petroskoi (67)
- LahS 1 (65½)
- Äänisen Pojat (60½)
- KSY 1 (59)
- LauttSK 1 (58)
- G 2 (57½)
Though we started pretty well, it became clear around the middle of the day that we wouldn't have a shot at winning. But we played on nonetheless and had some pretty decent results.
The real highlight of Day 2, however, was Petr Vesely's stupendous performance, coming first on board 4, a whopping 3½ points ahead of the next best player! A remarkable return to form.
Breakdown by players (Division 1):
# Player Score Perf Rank
1 Jyrki 7/27 1956 27
2 Ashwin 15 2135 7
3 Pekka 15½ 2068 11
4 Petr 20½ 2163 1
