The first match of the season did not go down so well for LauttSK 2. We got ambushed 4–0. When I got home last night, I was tossing and turning in my sleep trying to understand why this happened to us. Surely, it's not because of lack of skill. Is it?
After careful and thoughtful consideration, I concluded that the reason for our demise must have been due to the long and mentally exhausting journey to Raisio. That is, in my professional opinion, the only reasonable explanation for this catastrophe.
The results:
1. Jari Järvelä (2120) – Tero Lehtinen (1875) 1–0
2. Samuli Laato (2082) – Mikko Piippo (1861) 1–0
3. Juha Heino (2067) – Ashwin Kumar (1813) 1–0
4. Martti Ranki (1940) – Arto Heimonen (1657) 1–0
5. Juha Laajo (1794) – Tero Henttonen (1629) ½–½
Tero Lehtinen's opponent seemed to have succeeded at squeezing Tero's position and uncoordinating his pieces, after which I assume his position cracked.
Mikko at some point must have lost a knight in some tactical position. It happens.
My own opponent was a very skilled tactician, and a patient attacker. I think this was my first long game against a 2000+ opponent and it was a good learning experience for me. My game is available online if anyone is interested.
Arto seemed to have stretched his pawns out a bit too far and made it difficult to hold onto them, which his opponent took advantage of later in the game.
However it was not all doom and gloom!
Tero Henttonen was the savior for LauttSK 2. Aside from educating everyone in the car on the Mathematics of Music and Go, he also salvaged the only source of pride for our team yesterday with his draw. It looked like he got into a slightly advantageous opposite bishop endgame. Would be an interesting position to analyze in detail to see if there was a way to force a win.
(Written by Ashwin Kumar)
