Weird and unprofessional start of the tournament. Registration took place from 14h00 to 15h00, tourney would start at 15:30. On arrival we had to fill out a form, while we already had pre-subscribed online. You 'had' to sign it, but no signature from me - no contracts today.
After that, it was announced the tournament would start 20 to 30 minutes later, because some players were stuck in traffic. Kind, you think, but for all those that put in an effort to be on time, like we did, are not taken seriously. Furthermore, the microphones didn't work.
You would think the organization would've tested all beforehand. Nope.
On 16:13, 43 minutes too late, the tourney finally started.
Even worse - the coffee was tepid!
Though it took quite some energy not to be put off by the annoying situations, it didn't effect my game. Against a kind opponent, elo 2201, I played the opening much better. To rush with your queen-pawns that quickly in the Sheshnikov is incorrect, and I proved it. I was winning a full pawn, with no compensation for black, if I would've taken with my pawn, instead of with my bishop, which was a mistake. My opponent played quite correctly.
Though I tried some tricks and treats, and I missed one beautiful, but hard to spot escape, he killed me off in style.
A loss to start with is not the best, but I'm happy with my play. Ruud played a very nice and compromising game, but wasn't rewarded in the end as well. Pieter had what I would call an 'easy loss'. He didn't create chances with the white pieces, his opponent didn't make a mistake, so he lost gerauschloss.
Let's keep the form and something of the zen-state I'm in, and the points will flow.