Ray Robson: Venue and playing conditions are simply fantastic
Grandmaster Ray Robson from the United States of America joined Susan Polgar in the press center shortly after concluding his game with a draw, thus securing victory for his team against Argentina, Caruana and Wesley So having scored two wins earlier.
Question: Ray, how did your game go today?
Answer: I think it went pretty well at the start;
I was Black, so I was trying to be a little bit solid. We had a
typical Semi-Slav Meran type of position, but then he made a
somewhat strange move, Bishop to b5, and gave up his bishop by
exchanging it for my knight on d7; after that I had the two
bishops, but still it probably was around equal. However, he had
spent a lot of time, so we got to a pretty double-edged position. I
played …f5 and …g5, pushing on the kingside but also making some
weaknesses, and I thought maybe I was better, but I couldn’t find
anything clear in the complications. So, at the end we both had
little time; I sacrificed a piece and gave perpetual check.
Q.: How do you feel so far about this Olympiad? You’re a veteran, you’ve played a number of Olympiads already, despite your young age. How do you find this one, compared to the others?
A.: The organization has been great, I think; the venue and the playing conditions are simply fantastic, security is very tight – which I think is good, to make sure that the event is very professional, and the hotel is nice as well. So far I am really enjoying my stay.
Q.: And how are things going for the US team in general?
A.: So far so good! The first match we won 4-0,
the second 3.5-0.5, though we got a little bit lucky not to lose a
full point; and this match… I don’t know what’s going to happen in
Hikaru’s (Nakamura’s) game (ed: it was a draw in the end), he’s
still playing, but considering the positions we had, we’re
definitely happy with the result – we at least won the match for
sure.
Congratulations for the result so far and best of luck in the remaining rounds.
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