Sorry for being so late,but o.t.o.h.. I have been busy with a tooth which has got the big treatment at the dentist and it is fiine now and on top of this I have to consider a higher blood pressure.But yesterday my heart was meassured and it was fine !

Otherwise things are ok here, and it is a joy to have Hannah around,also as she is working from home in these times ! The country is gradually opening up and we shall see.... Soon the Candidates are comming up ! Any predictions from you ?

I sincerely wish you and Maria shall have a splendid weekend and that you are keeping the good spirits here under the pandemic ! We are.

I predict the candidates will be won by Giri, Caruana or Nepomniachtchi, in this order of chances. Unfortunatelly I'll be busy with some legal research and writing, but will do my best to follow the games.

Yes we are off and while writing Caruana, seems to be winning after a long tough fight today.So Caru is deep in the running now and I dont think we could have wished for a much better start !

Thank you,for the Easter wishes.It was a fine time and so I hope for you !

Your predictions seem to come through and I sincerely hope you will find a way to cope with your obligations and the Candidates !...

My very friendly doctor who knows me very well has given me a pill for the bloodpressure. I have quite some high hopes in it !

It is a blooming spring time we are experiencing now and we are oblige to enjoy it before the cold returns on wednesday :).

What a treat to have none less than the WC in the stduio today,nest pas !?

It was indeed a very instructive marathon between Caruana and MVL and what better treat to think of than having Carlsen commenting it! So Fabi got his opponent in a well prepared 25 moves opening which showed us all how important is the development in spite of being 3 pawns down (and even a knight later on). What a game!

Thank you for the kind wishes. After some dark&rainy days, great sunshine and even warmth today. But indeed they say next month is going to be bleak, rainier than usual and probably cold. Not my cup of tea.

Well,I was just goint to write you and then you came first :)

Here it is sunny and very cold, compared to the season.But it suits me fine and I went to the local store this morning, to lay some bets on the classic bike race "Liege-Bastogne-Liege which I am really looking forward to,also as they are on break in Yekaterinenburg today.

And I am afraid it was a significant better day at the office for Nepo than Giri who seemingly played a brilliant game vs Caruana who rather surprisingly is out of the running.But according to sportmansship and the importance of particularly this tournament, I did´nt approve of Wang Haos resignment in a position which wasn´t 100% lost.Even in the studio they couln´t find an easy win.What do you think ?

I hope you cope best possible with the bleak weather if has started.And are enjoying life as much as possible.

Here things are ok/fine and soon I´ll have my first vaccine,but today the line is too long. Patience,like in chess is aguired ;)

My father passed away some weeks ago,which is fine because he was suffering in a home from dementia.But it also means I had had some contact with 2 halfsiblings (due to the heritage).It was some 35 years ago I met them for the first and only time,so a very pleasant meeting/talk over the phone,that may continue some other time!

I did go over Wang Hao-Nepomniaschtchi game and, what can I say, Nepo was a pawn up...you mean that White should have tried for more for a draw? I guess a few more moves would not have hurt, yeah, but I don't know...maybe he saw much earlier what I couldn't and decided it's not worth to prolong it. Anyway, indeed, quite a bit of a surprise with Fabi out of contention. As about Grischuk and MVL...the first hasn't been solid of late, and the latter, most probably a confirmation of his form betraying on him. So it's all between Nepo and Giri, well well...I wonder what Carlsen has to say about it.

Thanks for your condolences. I hope the old man has found a peaceful place.

And yes congratulations to Nepo.Already looking forward to November.A little bit more than half a year.We may need this to put some sunshine into this dark month,n´est pas ?

I hope Nepo will be more samurai than sumo,but we shall see for ourselves ;)

Take care and enjoy your day.For the moment the games look surprisingly interesting !

See you up the road.

Quite cold at my place this morning, minus one Celsius. But in a few days we'll jump to 20. It pays to live in a moderate climate, the ups and downs protect us from boredom :)

I see Magnus has won the preliminaries for New in Chess Classic, an online event. Some short draws in the last round though, which made David Howel a bit nervous.

Yes Magnus and Hikaru should bode for a classic final.

And I am shure you are right that there are more high class tournamnets here during the pandemic.Also due to Magnus´ instigation and influence,which perhaps can´t be appreciated enough ! So kudos the the brave young(just turned 30)norwegian.

All is well/ok here and on wednesday I´ll have my first vaccine ! So hopefully going to town in the near future.Ill give you one guess.Do I miss it ? ;)

Hope all is fine in Yasi and wish you both the best of weekends !

The broadcast with David Howell as hilarious, with as much emphasis on chlii peppers and karaoke as chess. How did no one choose Dont Stop Believing by Journey as their song?! Anyways, The chess board was so small I had to put on reading glasses to see the pieces.

Sunshine & warm enough, but starting this evening they say...oh well, you never know actually. Finished most of the writing requirement, so I have more time.

I started to play chess against grand master strength on Fritz 16'th 'easy' feature, which is pretty cool, as I can take back my last move, or simply taking my time forever with the next move - Fritz never complained about waiting ;) Still makes you wonder how deep the GM strength has to be, imagine I was on the brink to losing no matter how much time I took for my move (while for 'him' it was just a few seconds) - I don't include here taking back the move, that's another matter - but even in those instances I was mostly down in less than 30 moves. What does it take to get there, I wonder? What else than a big talent and a huge amount of work? Of course, passion for the game.

Thanks for dropping by,as always good to hear from you.

Here its greyish spring, hoovering between cold and warm, somehow the way I like it oposed to you ;)

Great to hear you have finished the writings.So you have more time.And do you also open more op as a country as we have here in Scandinavia ? I sincerely hope so.My god I am longing to see friends for a beer and a longer konversation downtown ! Interesting to follow your experience with Fritz and the chess as such.And you ask what it takes to get there and mention some of the right reasons to improve and getting significantly stronger.I´ll add : to work smart.Find the right coach/mentor and the right material.Books videos and so forth.

Still some of the weekend left and tonight we gonna have some special spanish dish in the oven and later watch an english crime series.Really spoiled we are tonigt :)

Enjoy my friend and say hello to Iasi and Maria from me !

Hugs.

Unfortunatelly the flight to Munchen was cancelled by the aviation company, this meaning that we had to cancel the trip to Germany in June. They didn't invoke Covid, but "operational reasons". At least I could get all the money back, including for the cancelled accomodation. Oh well, we're going to go instead on a road trip within northern Transylvania, and a bit in Hungary too (Eger), in that period.

Sorry I am so late in my response ): But now i am back.Here on this great sunny day.Just your kind of weather !

Hope things are going well on your part in Iasi.Here we are enjoying the holiday and the end of the football season,especially the big game tonight,also called the final.In Champions Leaque, between Manchester City and Chelsea which looks like an even game which anyone of the teams could win. Though the bookies have MC as a clear favourite.I am rooting for Chelsea (as the underdog and because of my bets :).Do you have some personal preference ?

The bitcoin tournament has escaped me,but I am shure we soon will see alll the great names in action again. Hannah has alreday had two fine days on her new job and after the summervacation, she will go fulltime pr 1st of August.But we enjoy each others company ,so...no problem !

Some fish and home made pommes in the
oven is the menu for the final.With a greek salad,off course ;)

Hope you both will stay healthy and enjoy life as much as possible,workwise as well. Sp please give hugs to Maria too and yourself as well !

See you up the road.

Oh well, I guess Chelsea made you smile a bit. And a certain Carlsen surely gave more than a smile upon winning the FTX Crypto Cup :)