Friends across nations

My informal count of the Team USA results so far is Round 1 - 11.5 points, Round 2 – 9.5 points, Round 3 – 8 points, so we are dropping off a little as the competition gets tougher, but still doing creditably well. The inscrutable Justus, as our only #1 seed, is leading by example with 3 points, with Evan and Adarsh both also maintaining a perfect score. Adarsh had a particularly long match last night, somewhere in excess of four hours, coming through with Black after for some reason preparing during the afternoon to play his opponent with White!
Stuart dropped his first half point of the tournament, having to settle for a draw after giving away a won Queen vs. Rook end game by chasing a couple of blockaded pawns on the wing and leaving two others to march towards the queening goal-line in the center. He seemed pretty upset with himself yesterday evening but again, there is still a long way to go, and I just hope that half point does not make a big difference at the end of the week. He was upset with me too, for stating the obvious that he should have won, but we’re friends again now. I finally tried a glass of the local red while waiting for him to finish. I guess like anywhere else, you get what you pay for, and the cheapest cab sav on the shelf was not something I’ll be going back to. If he finishes with a medal, I think I’ll treat myself to something nicer on Saturday night!
Today there is the respite of only one (evening) game, after playing two yesterday, and facing two in each of the two critical days ahead. Friday especially, being rounds 7 and 8, should determine many of the final outcomes. Stuart had a half hour lesson with Armen this morning to help prepare for today’s round. Because of the schedule, this is the only lesson of the week, though we do have the valuable game review sessions after every round.
At lunch time I made a point of seeking out the Venezuelan participants in the Chess Campeona Pan American Youth Project. It was not too difficult when I put my mind to it, given they are all wearing bright blue and yellow jackets with Venezuela on the back! Though Elisa does not speak English, her young teammate at the table was game to give it a go, and her mother, Xiomara, was very friendly and has very good English indeed. Now we just need to find Team Puerto Rico – Danitza and Miguel, where are you??
Steven, August 4th