Biel is certainly a pleasant place to be in the end of July, particularly during a spell of warm weather at the start of the tournament. This was a trip down memory lane for me, I have played in Biel a couple of times before, but in the distant past, I remember my first appearance in 1991 which was a great learning experience, I had a fine time hanging out with Larry Christiansen and Ulf Andersson, although my final score was not very substantial. My most recent visit was also some time ago for the FIDE Interzonal back in 1993, where I even won 5 games in a row, this took place before one of my fellow competitors this time Richard Rapport was born!
My tournament was more related to snakes and ladders than chess, as draws were rare, by the end I was not too sure what to make of it. Most of the damage was done with consecutive White losses in rounds 3 and 4, there my self destruction of a great position against Eljanov was mirrored with his even worse slip up in the last round in the return fixture.
I have a lot of chess coming up in the remainder of the year and hope I might manage a bit more solidity and consistency.
Back in Biel
Written by:Michael Adams
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