Watch That Hot Pawn

The problem with an Olympiad is that you're always surrounded by some of the most gorgeous women. So, when you're the new young buck, and you can't wait for that Bermuda party that everyone seems to be talking about, you'll grab just about anything. Even hottie pawns! But when you're in a Sicilian, you really shouldn't be grabbing anything. Grab something else.

Seriously, IM George Xie might be just a tad nervous or just placing too much pressure on himself to do well. I’m sure the skipper would have had a good heart-to-heart talk with him this morning to sort that out.

As for me, well, I just go grab a beer.

Who knows what happened yesterday? The bloke who sat next to me certainly did. It seemed like he was in pain. I sat there thinking to myself, "Gee, I'm glad I don't have his ELO". Sometimes, knowing too much chess just makes life that much harder, I think.

Going down again, this time against a weaker opposition, seemed to hit the boys hard. Except for the captain and David, I didn't see any of them later last night. I'm guessing the other guys just wanted some quiet time on their own, to rest, to reflect. While myself and the other two find our way to the nearest Irish pub and join members of the Irish team for a couple, listening to some old fellow named Ronan Drury (or was it Drury Ronan, I can't remember) sing folk songs and about a hundred other covers.

A little while later the women's Shannon Oliver popped in. After her loss to a stock-standard hack, she, too, needed some cheering. Laughter and banter was exactly what everyone needed. The Irish guys delivered a drubbing to Luxembourg and so were in a particularly good mood and were excellent company.

So far, I've not really caught up with all the girls together and their captain. Their meetings are still deep behind the Dresden Wall. Actually, come to think of it, it's probably a good idea for them to come out with the guys for one big pow-wow, just a modest team wide bonding session. Chill out, relax, share a few, swap ideas, whatever. Then again, not being a player, without pressure, and still on my vacation, that’s easy for me to say.

I hope our readers back home will come join me for some live blogging today. It’s been decidedly quiet over the first couple of rounds. But since tomorrow is a Sunday, I expect a few late night owls to stay on for a bit. The teams could do with a little psychic energy.