Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash

Introduction

I can’t believe this is blog post number 39! What would you like to see in blog 40? Drop a note in the comments or contact me via the form on this blog.

Today, I share an update on my experience in the Veterans World Cup 14. The first World Cup I participated in was VWC 13, and to my surprise, I made it to the finals. You can read more about that journey in a previous blog.

The Veterans World Cup attracts many highly experienced and rated players. In Veterans World Cup 14, I competed in the following groups:

Preliminary round Veterans World Cup 14

• ICCF Veterans World Cup 14 pr. 25
• ICCF Veterans World Cup 14 pr. 56

In Group 25, I finished 9th out of 11 with 1 win, 3 losses, and 6 draws. In Group 56, I ranked 8th out of 11 with 2 wins, 7 draws, and 1 loss.

I had hoped to achieve a score of 6.5 instead of 5.5 in Group 56, but the chess gods had other plans. With just one loss, I narrowly missed advancing to the semifinals.

This experience highlights how competitive these tournaments are—nuances matter, and so does your thought process on details and options.

Highlight Game Against Paolo Salati - Last Game in pr. 56

In my last game in Group 56, I faced Paolo Salati. Paolo is a 65-year-old retired gentleman from Parma. He expressed his excitement about our match, noting that this was our first time playing against each other. He wished me a great tournament and hoped for an interesting match.

Paolo Salati, an Italian chess enthusiast, has made notable contributions to the chess community. Paolo’s dedication to the game is evident and he earned his CCM title in 2018, played 117 tournaments as ICCF correspondence chess player.

Paolo’s kind words and sportsmanship made the game even more enjoyable. Here’s how our match unfolded.

Superbly played by Salati. While he played 6 strong moves, I made 3 mistakes and 2 inaccurate moves.

He clearly outplayed me and well deserved the first place in Preliminary round Veterans World Cup 14 pr. 56, moving forward into the semi-finals. I applaud his success!

My last game in ICCF Veterans World Cup 13 Semi-Final 9 is still running. Hopefully I can turn it into a win, which might boost me from rank 15 of 15 to rank 10. But that’s a different story for the ChessPunks and Senior Chess Improver community.

Amici Sumus

See you in the next weeks, when I will share some more tournament results. If you enjoy my insights, consider supporting me with a virtual coffee! ☕️ Or a beer? Either way 😎 - Your support fuels me to continue sharing valuable content.

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