Brno, Czech - Day 1 and 2

Day 1 - Moving into the safe house.

Just realised I've not updated this blog in ages, so thought it's about time to post more hedonistic ramblings and flood peoples' timelines.

I'm staying with Andrew Burnett and Peter Constantinou in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, in what we assume is some kind of drugs storage / gang safe house (The main lock of the door locks three times, and there's seven other bolt locks on the door!).

We arrived yesterday and sorted dibs on beds, then me and Andy headed to the local Albert supermarket. We bought some bread and cheese, tried to buy some cigarettes, got told we couldn't buy cigarettes from the counter we were at, got some packets of cigarettes thrown at us, then headed back to prepare for the first game.

We got wildly lost trying to find the venue, resulting in a breakdown of group camaraderie. After much tutting and Peters elvish scouting, we eventually phoned a taxi. All three of us won our games, so we returned to the accommodation tired but chuffed.

Day 2 - Braveheart Re-enactment.

We awoke to find the draw for the day posted online - Me and Peter were to clash wood (Steady now) on board three. The shared bedroom was split down the middle, with a serious penalty applied for spying on the other persons preparation. The atmosphere was tense - every so often Peter or Myself would shout over a ridiculous move or series of moves, then pretend to laugh at how improbable it would be to appear on the board, yet secretly gauge the other persons subliminal reaction. 

We grabbed a light lunch then headed to the venue. Andrew was playing against a Welsh guy on board five, with an Irish person doing battle on board four. We jested about a British invasion, the Czech's didn't find it quite so amusing. 

The arbiter declared the games to begin, and the mind war started. Me and Peter have spent a lot of time analysing different opening idea's and strategies, so for the first few moves we both spent extra time trying to trick the other person into something they didn't know. The battle was intense - Knights we're neighing, bishops were bashing, and rooks were... rooking. We were the last game to finish, with a draw being the result. We met up with Andy and the Irish guy at the pub next door, entertained the bar staff with our terrible Czech, then headed back to the safe house.