Wed 10 Jan 2007

My Brain Hurts

Returned this afternoon from a two week visit to Canberra playing in a chess tournament (the Australian Open). Didn't win (no huge surprise there), but finished near the top (three way tie for sixth). Was helped somewhat by being paired with the leader (and a good friend) in the last round: a draw guaranteed him outright first, so we made a whole five moves before he offered to split the point. Since I'd played mostly long games in all the other rounds and had drawn with the top seed the previous day, I didn't feel too stupid accepting the charity.

I'm indulging in my chess playing hobby this month. Having finished this tournament, I switch back to computer mode for a week (speaking at linux.conf.au next week) and then to leave there a day early and fly off to Gibraltar, of all places, to play in another strong open tournament.

Despite being a sport that basically involves sitting down and shuffling bits of wood around — I played on one of the top six boards for most rounds, so got to use the nice wooden pieces instead of the plastic sets on boards 7 and below — a chess tournament is surprisingly tiring. Even on the legs, since I tend to stroll around a lot during the four or five hours of each game. And all that thinking! I'm not kidding; my brain hurts.

The tournament was relatively well organised, given their limited budget. Entries were lower than in previous years, but the people competing were all pleasant (not necessarily a given) and the venue was lovely — I really like visiting Canberra. Didn't get the camera out very often, unfortunately, since I was trying to concentrate on playing and it always seemed like a hassle to have to run around snapping photos. The organisers took some photos, though, which are hidden in an odd spot on the website.

For those who might be interested, the bulletins from the event are available and you can play through the games online.

Topics: chess