Siberian qualifier.

Well, I'll share my impressions too :-)

I had to prove the theorem that global warming had no impact on the Siberian Federal District. :-) It started with the fact that, waking up on January 3rd, I was pleasantly surprised by the temperature outside. The promised -20 looked strange... -37 was what the thermometer showed outside the city. Driving on the highway in such weather is not a good idea; my brain wanted to choose the option of a warm bus for 330 rubles, but it wouldn't be very interesting, especially since I had to meet Ivan and his wife, and a stern Chelyabinsk resident at the train station. So, I raise my right hand, dismissively lower it, and say, "Oh well..." and set off. :-)

I meet the arrivals. We stop by Kostya's place. My poor car has never carried so many large, well-fed passengers in such numbers and over such a distance, so it whined, puffed, probably swore, and refused to go. Despite this, we made it to Barnaul quite easily, in good company. Pizeg is a good car, thanks to him! :-)

Barnaul greeted us with somewhat more cheerful weather; it was clear that we had arrived in the south! :-) The only thing was that the issue of our base of operations had not yet been resolved. The 7-star "Altai" hotel did not satisfy our aristocratic aspirations and evening plans, so we decided to look for a more suitable option. Soon, a 3-room apartment was found, which quite satisfied us with its interior.

A logical train of thought and well-thought-out evening plans suggested that the path to the doorstep should lead through a store like "Maria-Ra," with a mandatory visit to its wine and spirits department. :-) The evening was spent in lively discussions about the rules, tomorrow's games, and even a draw took place. Dust finally indulged in some spirits that evening, which he had denied himself during all the New Year holidays; in general, the evening smoothly transitioned into the morning. :-)

The morning started around 11. We played at the club. Of course, few people really believed in the Napoleonic plans of 2 games a day, but everyone diligently tried to bring them to life. However, the deadlines of 224 and 227 indicated a difficult situation in the tournament table after 5 rounds. ;-) My opponent, for some inexplicable reason, did not appear at the specified place at the specified time, which did not upset me much, because I could finally see what a CM (presumably, "Combat Mage") was like, and not just any CM, but one behind Dirty and Mike. It immediately became clear that there was nothing complicated or sophisticated in these templates, but it was somehow boring to play; I don't have any romantic feelings for randomness, not at all.

At that time, a signal arrived about the imminent arrival of Dreamcatcher at the club and his opportunity/desire to take up my time with a game. So, I didn't understand whether we were playing this as a fun game or whether it was counted as a tournament game instead of Nikolai; it doesn't matter. The point is that the game was interesting, the opponent moved the pieces quickly, and if it weren't for his affairs, the game could have been exciting. Because already in the second week, contact was made through an adjacent secondary town (oh my god, that's what I'm talking about)), near which stood a blue Valerka, who had just defeated a group of Unicorns, with the desire to grab Pandora and a Dweller. Kost.D., and from the darkness, Ivor attacked with all his might, and they had to run away. But Expert Logistics and boots, a hidden stash of angels, 3 dwellings on Archers, and 1 Swordsman gave good chances to continue the fight for the treasure. But Yura had to go, and as it turned out, after being unpleasantly bitten by Snipers, he offered a draw, which I agreed to with honor, because I had already received the desired pleasure from the game, and now I had the opportunity to watch the completion of large-scale battles on other boards, and Yura went home. :-)

The club itself, of course, did not leave the most pleasant impressions. Its visitors, as well as its manager, aka the administrator, did not surprise me much, but being in this island of computer life cannot be called a pleasant pastime. After finally finishing the games and recording one, we went home. Along the way, or not quite, we stopped by an Uzbek cafe, where their shurpa quite satisfied my unpretentious taste. The wine and spirits department was decided not to visit that evening, and upon arriving home, we tried to play two more games, because the poker chips found turned out to be unavailable for purchase due to the ongoing celebration of the Holy Russian New Year at the seller's department. ;-)

I played with Vanya, aka Vanya, and Pivaser. Well, there's nothing to say in my defense. I think I lost because of the Cherkess, and "my favorite" randomness helped, and the opponent didn't give me reason to hope for incorrect moves. Shakti is a nasty one. Especially when he takes a tier 3 consultant from an adjacent secondary town, from which it's not far to me. I still tried to fight. Even against a setup in which, in the very first week, Shakti got an air book, and in the next two, an earth book and all the good stuff in stats, it was possible to somehow fight, to beg. But begging was extremely bad that day. A huge number of hives were emptied, and only 2 of them had 6 geese, which resulted in 45 geese, I think. :-( I barely found a DD in the last of ten emptied Pandoras, and then a Utopia, oh my god, a minimal one with a relic for 1000 per day. With such a setup, all that remained was to hope for gross mistakes or inexperience from the opponent, but not from Ivan, so I had to stop dragging the cat by the tail, and the final game was pointless.

Then there was poker, blitz, spirits if desired, and watching the final.
In principle, the games showed skill, and the winners were clearly worthy of being selected. Kostya was unlucky that he immediately faced Tazar from Mike, but, I think, he wasn't too upset either, although I wouldn't refuse to bring a set of chips home. ;-)

The morning in the south of the Siberian Federal District greeted us with a real South Siberian frost, in which products of the Japanese auto industry refused to start (to my surprise). It wasn't that cold. Previously, Pizeg could handle -30 without preheating, but apparently, it was affected by the fact that it had been standing for two days, and the battery had frozen; it was enough to turn the starter normally only once, it started to catch, but to turn it normally the second time, there was clearly not enough charge, and in order to still get home that evening, we had to perform a lot of maneuvers of various kinds. During which, in addition to dad's maneuvers, a new heroic term was discovered - "women's maneuvers." :D
In the end, everything ended well; my horse was washed, at this time the battery was charged, after which it clearly perked up and started with half a turn. We went, jump-started the second masterpiece from the land of the rising sun, and headed home. We said goodbye, took pictures for history, which said that the First club tournament in Siberia can be considered a success. Hooray to the organizers and its participants!!! Hooray!
We got home normally. The only thing is that I regretted sitting behind the wheel with such a square head from lack of sleep, alcohol, and the computer - it's definitely a "women's maneuver." :D Yes, I lost my phone somewhere, and most importantly, the SIM card with all the contacts. But in general, this misunderstanding did not affect my mood; everything went great. The company gathered was friendly, no one stood out from it, everyone was cheerful and in a good mood! New friends and acquaintances appeared. The tournament took place, we talked, played Heroes, moved chips and figures! Everything was as it should be! :smile54:

P.S. I express special respect to the stern Chelyabinsk man who overcame a considerable distance and still attended this tournament!!! :smile20: : Now we know that they are not in vain praising their city throughout the country! ;-)

Guys, here are the photos - http://files.mail.ru/C28S1S, and there are even a couple of videos there; don't judge us too harshly; everyone was there to relax! :smile13: