Bermuda International Open - Round 4

There's a lot going on at this hotel this weekend. Today there is a bridal show complete with band and a fashion show. Nigel is giving us his Bermudian fashion statement below. Since the fashion show is occurring right outside the playing room the last round has been moved to 4:00 PM. The second time control has been shortened to G/30 so we still will make it to the closing ceremony and buffet dinner. Did I mention that they like to eat and drink at this tournament?

On the top boards we had

GM De Firminian VS IM Ippolito
GM Charbonneau VS GM Ivanov
IM Cummings VS Denis Strenzwilk

The top two boards were drawn. Denis put up a valiant effort but lost to IM Cummings. That leaves Cummings with the only 4-0 score. I don't know the color situation, but if they're right De Firminian would play Cummings. Should be an interesting last round. I would guess the 3.5 has to play for a win otherwise the others might have decisive results and pass him if he draws. This is never a problem I have to deal with, so who am I to say what will happen on those last boards in round five.

Meanwhile in the back of the room.....

That's my opponent in the foreground. He was playing in his first tournament. They gave him an estimated rating of 1310. He knocked off a 1780 in round 2. I eked out a draw against him. Lucky for me he didn't understand the signicance of outpost squares. He stuck a knight on c5, then a move later traded it for my useless knight on a4. A few moves later he puts the queen on c5 then trades it for my queen on b6, undoubling my isolated a pawns. I will post the game with analysis later, because it's very instructional in terms of using outpost squares and keeping the opponent tied up.

This is the band that was playing during round 4. Fortunately they were playing romantic songs and not AC-DC.

Stay tuned for final results. Hopefully I can finally win a game. 1 loss and 3 draws! Ugh!