One of the big lessons I learned after my first chess olympiad (way back in 2000), is that my BS did not work against serious players. Dodgy openings, sad swindling attempts, hopeless piece sacrifices aren't going to fly against players who really understand how to play chess. So I knuckled down, tried to learn more about where my pieces really belonged (on the board it turns out) and was rewarded with a nice solid 6/9 (+3=6-0) at the 2002 Olympiad.
I realised I should have passed some of this wisdom onto the lower rated members of the Street Chess Canberra team, who are currently playing in Hong Kong. Today was another tough day, losing 3 matched, but finally getting on the board with a 3-3 draw in round 8. Frustratingly for the team, 3 of the losses have been 2.5-3.5. So while 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' applies here, narrow losses of this kind do remind me of my own early Olympiad experience.
The player who did best today was Matt Radisich, who score 2.5/3 on Board 6. But as you can see from the following game, maybe it was better for him not to be told to play solid, boring chess. While 3. ... f5?! in the Italian could be described as 'brave' it seemed to absolutely confuse his opponent, who tossed a piece in the opening. But as this event has shown, having a winning position, and having a winning result isn't always the same thing, so well done to Matt for avoiding any banana peels in what was a very long game.
Zhen,Andrew - Radisich,Matt (1758) [C50]
FIDE WRBTC 2026, Hong Kong, (8.30), 18.06.2026
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