Tuesday July 27

Today I tried a risky tactic away from the chess board. I had decided the night before that if I woke up early enough I would take the train to Lausanne. Like clockwork, I woke up in plenty of time. Bern was only ½ hour away and trains left every ½ hour. If I missed one train, another would come by and I still would only be a few minutes late to my game. I went to Geneva on the off day, so there was no rush then either. This time, Lausanne is an hour away and trains leave every hour. I can’t miss a train or I will be real late for my game. The first train to Lausanne was at 6:35. Another downside was that I had to skip the nice hotel buffet which didn’t open until 6:30. Once in Lausanne, I found the return train I needed left at 12:27 PM. If I make this train, I should be back in Biel around 1:30 PM. If I miss it, I won’t get back until 2:30 PM. Since I know I will have Black against a higher rated opponent, I really don’t want to spot him time as well. Not to mention that it’s somewhat rude to be that late for the game. I got into Lausanne at 7:38 and started heading south. Remembering my previous experience in Biel, I went back to the train station to check a map they had on the wall. South was correct for going to the lake. Lausanne is near the north shore of Lake Geneva, with Geneva at the southern tip. I also found an Olympic museum and some Olympic training facilities. By 11:15 I was ready to go back, but I was still at the lake and the uphill walk was too long to make the 11:27 train. The pain in my leg has spread to my lower calf which has actually made things better since it is spread over a larger area. I decided that I couldn’t head out again and make sure I made the train so I bought another USA Today to read while waiting and for the ride back. I found out that the Indians had finally broken their 0.500 hex and were now +1. Inspired by this and the sweet memory of last round’s victory, I too moved to +1 by beating an IM[1] with Black!

Side Note: After the game, I started walking back to the hotel thinking mostly about the game and not where I was going. When I looked up, suddenly I was in unfamiliar territory again! Now I only went two blocks past the normal turn, but its frustrating that after this amount of time that I am still struggling with going back and forth between the hotel and the playing site.

Sunrise on the lake as taken from the train

Lake Neuchatel as taken from the train

Lake Geneva as seen from Lausanne

Through an opening in the trees

An old castle turned into a hotel.

 


[1] FIDE International Master, a title I could never hope to achieve.