10.12.09 LAST ROUND UP Well I'm home now and back to cooler weather (!?) and work in the fair city of Aberdeen. The VIII World Chess Federation Tournament in Benidorm was a wonderful experience. I have never competed in such a strong tournament as this and on the international stage. So 4 out of 10 was a good outcome considering some fellow players had suggested that I would be lucky to get 2. I had an international rating performance of 1722 which is 321 points higher than my Scottish grade and I will now have an international grade.
More importantly I have smashed my fundraising target. I still have to add my £100 and an excellent £80 donated by the Benidorm Scots, well done lads, and some other verbal pledges need to be redeemed. . Also John Clifford has already raised over £800 and will definitely pass his £1000 target. between us we will have raised almost £2000. Quite an achievement.
I would like to thank all those who have donated to K4K during my campaign. This site will be open for a couple of months so you can still donate towards K4K.
BIG THANKS AGAIN TO ALL
7.12.09 FINAL DRAW BAGS 100 FOR K4K! I draw Belgium Denis Achen for my last round and sacrifice a pawn for activity on the Q side. I have the better position but my opponent offers me a draw. The tournament hall is very hot and I´m not 100% so I accept although post match analysis shows I should have played on. Anyway I finish the tournament with a score of 4 out of 10. Given the strength of the tournament this is an achievement. I finish with a rating performance of 1722. Cant wait for next year.
6.12.09 UNWELL BUT STILL BATTLING. Round 8 and this tournament gets tougher and tougher. My opponetnt Jose Pastor is a builder from Benidorm with excellent English. He tells me about the impact of the credit crunch on work in Spain. He then crunches me big time in a line of the Sicilian Defence. I lose a piece by force and resign. Ok so far I have 3 points out of 8 but, considering the opposition who all out grade me, this is an achievement. I have 1 more round to play as I have taken a bye (draw) in the last round in order to catch my flight home. Given my tummy this will be welcomed. With 3 wins and 1 draw this means I will be donating 80 pounds to K4K. So another win or draw will make it a round 100. Here´s hoping. Meanwhile fellow fundraiser John Clifford won his last match so he will be giving another 20 pounds. Well done John!
5.12.09 BRUCIE BATTLES SPANISH TUMMY & TOUGH OPPONENT. Alas I have picked up something in Spain but don´t quite know what it is but my tummy is not in the best of shape. Unfortunately I lost this one against Carlos Vazquez but it was probably my best game. I sacrificed a pawn in the opening and had my opponent in all sorts of trouble but he fought his way out of it to win the endgame in a grueling 47 move game. There are now three rounds to go and I have 3 points so I still aim to break the 50% mark which is possible. This is a very tough tournament though.
4.12.09 BOUNCING BACK BRUCIE TAMES VIKING CHALLENGE! In the sixth round I face Henning Harestad once a Norwegian Junior Champion and i finally stop the rot. Henning plays the Sicilian Defence but gets involved in some premature tactics and I deliver a nasty little combination with Knight and Bishop. Henning will be faced with losing a pawn and with his Kings´position in tatters. He resigns in just 16 moves! Another 20 pounds for K4K. An impressive display today by Team Scotland. You can follow our exploits by going to the Chess Scotland website and clicking on ´Benidorm Scots´. Henning is a wonderful chap and I buy him a beer after the match.
3.12.09 WALLACE BLUNDERS IN WINING POSITION! My opponent is another Spaniard Enrique Raslual. I outplay him completely in the opening and have a passed pawn about to Queen. He Plays a move with his Queen and I push my pawn to the Queening square missing the checkmate in one against me!! Chess is the cruelest game in the world. Today I have drawn a Norwegian player rated about 1800. I mean to win.
2.12.09 WALLACE FALTERS IN SHARP TACTICAL BATTLE BUT BREAKS TARGET! Still in the top half of the draw I face a vetran female Spanish player Senora Pilar Rodriguez Carbalo. I make an inaccurate move in the opening which eventually leaves me 2 pawns down. I struggle on but am clearly lost. However Team Scotland perform better overall. Connor Woods wins putting him on 3.5 out of 4 with good prospects. The tournament is only really getting going now but I should face a weaker opponent in the next round.
However the 500 pounds fund raising target has been reached and I am delighted about that and I´m sure more money will be raised.
1.12.09 REALITY CHECK FOR WALLACE AS HE DRAWS THE TOP SEED! After yesterdays heroics I am on board 28 and facing another Spaniard, Amedeu Gino Alegret , the tournament´s top seed! To put this in perspective I am way down the order as I have no international grade and am considered a rookie. There are 320 players in the tournament and 160 boards. So I am up with the leading players. I have Black and play the Nimzo Indian defence to Alegret´s d4 which gives up the Bishop Pair for active play with my Knights. Alegret provides me with a lesson in flawless chess and although there are no dazzling tactics he gradually takes over the game and I am in a lost position. I resign at move 31. Alegret wishes me luck for the next round.
Team Scotland had some notable achievements. Young Gary Gillespie won his game putting him on 2.5 points and he remains unbeaten. Meanwhile vetran Paul McDonald had the honour of playing on board 1. His game, along with the next three boards, was displayed on the public live games screen and was also live on the internet. Paul played a gruelling 4.5 hour marathon of over a hundred moves but eventually lost to a resourceful opponent. He had 2 minutes left on his clock. All of Team Scotland now have points after 3 rounds but with 7 rounds to go things are about to get serious!
30.11.09 WALLACE WOWS IN STUNNING SECOND ROUND VICTORY!! After the near debacle of yesterdays round I am tied against Erik Andreu Sos a 16 year old rising star from Spain. He has a 1901 FIDE rating and I am sure I will come down to earth with a bump. Erik plays insipidly in the opening and after just 15 moves is in trouble. I play aggressively and hit him with early tactics which has him struggling to find descent moves.On move 19 I bring my Queen into the action an it´s all over bar the shouting. Eric is forced to resign just 6 moves later when he will be checkmated by force. Another 20 pounds for K4K. This could be an expensive week but then again I could win some big money. Aberdeen´s John Clifford also wins so he will be donating as well.
29.11.09 CONTROVERSY IN ROUND 1! I take my place at Board 158 for round 1 of the VIII WCF tournament. My opponent does not turn up. After 1 hour of waiting I approach the arbiters and am awarded the full point. Twenty pounds for K4K. Afterwards fellow team member and Scottish youth internationalist Conner Woods overhears the arbiters discussing a player not appearing on board 153. This is suppossed to be me! I am called over by the arbiters and I am told that I now lose the point. I plead that the lettering on the tie sheet is so small that I have mistaken 158 for 153. Myself and Connor vigerously protest the deduction of the point. The arbiters agree that the confusion was genuine and award me the point. A close shave but no actual chess played. Powder will be kept dry for the second round today.
24.11.09 CASTLEHILL CHESS CLUB donate £50. Many thx to CH Chess club for their generous donation of £50. This makes the £500 target within reach!
17.11.09 If only it could be like this in Benidorm! Kronsteen wins but McCadam resigns. That would be £20 for K4K
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZWDxnXJI-s
Latest News 16.11.09: 'Team Scotland's Vetran Player Outpledges Bruce Wallace'
Aberdeen's John Clifford, Chess Arbiter and vetran tournament winner, has pledged £10 for every draw, £20 for every win and £30 for every Checkmate for K4K!! 'I'm taking a chunk of the 64,000EUROS prize fund so I'm happy to donate a bit extra than Bruce' said John.
OK so I'm joining in £10,£20 and £30 it is!
I'll be competing in the VIII World Chess Federation Tournament in Benidorm which starts on 27th Nov which is Kilts for Kids day. On St.Andrews day I'll be celebrating by facing an opponent in the fourth round of the tournament. The prize fund for the tournament is 65,000 EUROS! If I do well, and I mean to, I could bring home a tidy sum. I'm pledging any winnings to CHILDREN 1ST Kilts for Kids day. If I dont win any prize money I'm going to donate £10 for every game I win or draw. If I checkmate any opponent during the tournment I'll donate £20. So Kilts for Kids is guarenteed a healthy donation.
here is the K4K website: http://www.children1st.org.uk/index.php?page=136
Why not join me in raising cash for CHILDREN 1ST Scotlands leading children's charity. You can either make a one off donation or follow my quest for glory by checking daily results on the tournament home page and match my donations.
I'll be updating this page daily from Spain so I will be able to keep people up to speed on my progress.
WISH ME LUCK!
