All My Yesterdays

I FIRST played at Mariánské Lázně, the spa town formerly called Marienbad, in 2019, when I scored +4=2-3 in the open for a rating performance 116 elo below my Fide of 1943 (I actually did slightly better than this in that one of my wins did not count for my tournament rating performance as it was against an unrated).

In the following year, and subsequently, I played in the seniors (50+), in 2020 scoring +4=2-3 for a rating performance 62 elo below my Fide of 1854.

There was no Mariánské Lázně chess festival in 2021 (covid), but in 2022 I scored +4=3-2 for a rating performance 161 elo above my Fide of 1825.

In 2023 I scored +5=1-3 for a rating performance 58 elo above my Fide of 1895.

In 2024 I scored +4=2-3 for a rating performance 90 elo above my Fide of 1736.

Last year I scored +3=3-3 for a rating performance 41 below my Fide of 1946.

TAKEAWAYS

1. I have only once failed to win more games than I lost, and that was last year when a last-round defeat meant I finished with an equal number of wins, draws and losses.

2. I have had three relatively good tournaments (playing above my rating) and three relatively bad ones (playing below my rating).

3. In my three relatively good tournaments I scored an average of 103 elo above my rating, while in my three relatively bad tournaments I scored an average of  73 elo below my rating, which may help explain why I have generally favourable memories of playing in Mariánské Lázně.

4. My Fide rating has fluctuated rather a lot!