Oleg's idiosyncrasy!

I couldn't help but enjoy Oleg Badmatysrenov's ritual at the start of every standard chess game during the Penang Heritage Open chess tournament 2023. He would meticulously arrange his pieces on every square in their initial positions, sometimes arranging one or two of his opponent's too, and often delaying his first move for several minutes as he pondered to calm his mind or collect his thoughts. The ritual worked for him as he won the tournament to become the latest Penang Open champion!

His journey was, however, not without pitfall. In the eightth round, he lost to our up-and-coming local Fide Master, Poh Yu Tian.

Position after 25...d5

[Event "15th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2023 (Open)"] [Site "St Xavier's Institution, Penang"] [Date "2023.12.22"] [Round "8"] [Board "1"] [White "Badmatsyrenov, Oleg"] [Black "Poh, Yu Tian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2399"] [BlackElo "2405"] [PlyCount "0"] [EventDate "2023.12.18"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "MAS"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. a4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. a5 a6 8. Be2 O-O 9. d3 b5 10. axb6 a5 11. Qd2 Nxb6 12. Qf4 Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Nfd7 15. Qh4 Ne5 16. Bd1 Nc6 17. Bh6 e6 18. Qf4 a4 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Nb5 e5 21. Qd2 Qe7 22. c3 Rfb8 23. Be2 Na5 24. Qe3 Nb3 25. Rad1 d5 26. exd5 Nxd5 27. Qe4 Nf6 28. Qf3 Ra6 29. Na3 Na5 30. Rd2 Rab6 31. Rb1 Rb3 32. Re1 Rxb2 33. Rxb2 Rxb2 34. Qa8 Qc7 35. c4 Qb6 36. Nb5 a3 37. Bf1 a2 38. Ra1 Nh5 39. Nc3 Qb4 40. Rxa2 Rxa2 41. Nxa2 Qd2 42. Nc1 Qe1 43. Ne2 Nb3 44. Qa3 Nf4 45. Qb2 Qxf2+ 46. Kxf2 Nxd3+ 47. Ke3 Nxb2 48. Nc3 Na5 49. Ke4 Nbxc4 50. Be2 f6 51. Na4 Nd2+ 52. Kd3 Ndb3 53. Ke4 Nd4 54. Ba6 Nab3 55. Nb6 Ne6 56. Bc8 Nbd4 57. g3 Ng5+ 58. Kd5 Nf5 59. Kxc5 Nxg3 60. Nc4 Nf5 0-1