European Team Championship R3+4: Russia!

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European Team Chess Championship R03 + 04: Russia!

Round three

After three rounds at the European Team Championships 2015 only two teams are on perfect 6.0/6 match points in the open section – the top two seeds Russia and Ukraine. Round three witnessed many decisive matches. Magnus Carlsen played his first game of the event and was promptly beaten by Levon Aronian. This ensured Armenia’s victory over Norway. Ukraine beat the defending champions Azerbaijan, thanks to Eljanov’s victory over Mamedyarov. Russia beat Spain as Ian Nepomniachtchi ground out a fine victory over Ivan Salgado Lopez.

The upset of the day was definitely Serbia’s 3:1 victory over Netherlands. Anish Giri and Erwin l’Ami drew against Ivan Ivanisevic and Milos Perunovic respectively. But Loek van Wely went down to Markus Robert, and Ivan Sokolov’s bad form continued, as he lost against Nikola Sedlak.

But first let’s go to the game of the day: Magnus versus Levon!

It’s always a joy to see the World Champion in action

The game began as a slow Anti-Berlin with Magnus having the white pieces. Levon seemed well prepared as he deviated from the Karjakin-Caruana game that took place in February 2015. It was all going calm and slow when suddenly Magnus decided to take a stray pawn on a5. It was not such a great decision, as Levon got excellent play for the pawn, and his pieces stormed towards the white king. The knight on a5 was a sitting spectator while all this action took place on the other side of the board. It was a beautiful game by Aronian with some fine calculation on show.

With this victory Aronian’s Armenia beat Carlsen’s Norway by a score of 2.5:1.5

Ukraine faced the defending champions Azerbaijan. Vassily Ivanchuk was given rest, and on paper the match seemed very well balanced. All boards except for the top one ended in draws. All eyes were on the battle between Pavel Eljanov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Pavel essayed the Catalan, an opening where he has developed quite a reputation after beating Hikaru Nakamura in the World Cup 2015. In this game too he played extremely well, always keeping Mamedyarov under pressure. Finally the Azeri number one blundered, and Ukraine won the match 2.5:1.5.

It seems like a risky strategy for Eljanov’s opponents to play the QGD
and face the Ukrainian’s Catalan! [Picture from Baku World Cup 2015]

The Russians were the favourites against the Spanish team. However, the Spaniards gave the top seeds quite a tough fight. Three boards ended in a draw. Nepomniachtchi didn’t really get any advantage with the white pieces against Ivan Salgado Lopez. But then Ivan decided to play recklessly, sacrificing the h5 pawn for unclear compensation. Ian gobbled the pawn and came out on top.

Ian Nepomniachtchi (the GM under the hood) made sure that Russians won their match against Spain

France against Hungary was a very interesting match. The first and last board ended in draws. Richard Rapport played in his typical unorthodox style to beat Laurent Fressinet. What is amazing about this game is that after just ten moves Richard had a nearly decisive advantage with the white pieces. Would that have happened if he had played 1.e4 or 1.d4? I do not think so! The Bird’s Opening is the way to go!

Richard Rapport is back in business after a slump in form [Picture by Amruta Mokal from Abu Dhabi 2015]

From a rating of 2649 in September 2015, Richie (as he is fondly called) now has a live rating of 2710! This just shows how talented this Hungarian really is.

The extra point that was earned by Rapport was neutralized when Etienne Bacrot beat Zoltan Almasi. It was a Berlin Endgame where the chances were about equal. Bacrot placed his knight on d5, which was a dubious move. Almasi had two options: to take it with his bishop or with the knight. He chose the wrong one and ended up in a lost position within five moves.

Bacrot helped France to equalize the match against Hungary
[picture by Maria Emelianova from the European Club Cup 2015]

The fourth round promised to be very interesting, with the top two seeds Russia and Ukraine facing off against each other.

Standings after three rounds

Full board results of round three

Highlights from Daniel King

Round four

The biggest battle of round four was the duel between the top two seeds of the event, Russia and Ukraine. The Russians came out on top with a score of 3:1. Svidler was able to beat Ivanchuk and Nepomnaichtchi got the better of Areshchenko.

Marshall or Closed Ruy Lopez? Svidler makes a finally consideration before going for the former.

With this victory, Russians are the sole leaders in the open section with 8.0/8 match points. France drew their match against Serbia. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored a victory but Edouard Romain lost to Milos Perunovic. Azerbaijan team led by Mamedyarov crushed Turkey 3.5:0.5. The highly interesting battle was the one between England and Armenia.

Aronian came with full confidence after his victory over Magnus Carlsen in round three

What? I am playing the white pieces?!!

Michael Adams was able to show some high quality chess in the Berlin with the white pieces to overcome Aronian. Gabriel Sargissian, who is famed for being an amazing team player, beat David Howell.

The most consistent team player: Gabriel Sargissian

Nigel Short is not having a great time in Iceland, and lost to Hrant Melkumyan

Gawain Jones pulled one back for the team and the match ended in a 2:2 draw

Ferenc Berkes turned out to be the hero for his team
as he beat Gajewski and ensured a 2.5:1.5 victory for Hungary

Baadur Jobava played a beautiful positional game to get the better of Ivan Saric

Baadur Jobava – Ivan Saric

It’s White to play. How did Baadur stay true to his creative genius tag even in this sedate position?

Standings after round four

Full board results of round four

Highlights from Daniel King

Women Section

In the women’s section there are three teams that are clearly a notch above the rest. They are Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. In the third round Ukraine and Georgia were paired against each other. It promised to be a well-matched duel. Nana Dzagnidze has always kept the Georgian boat afloat with her scintillating performances recently. In her game against Mariya Muzychuk, however, she fell short and was beaten convincingly. It was a game where the World Champion dominated from the start right until the very end.

Mariya Muzychuk is sending out strong signals to her future World Championship
opponent that she is in excellent form.

Anna Muzychuk (right) drew her game against Bela Khotenashvili

The Georgians were trailing 1.5:0.5 in the match but Lela Javakhishvili…

…and Nino Batsiashvili (left) steadied the sinking ship with two wins, and helped Georgia win the match

That’s the best part about the Georgian team – every player rises to the occasion when it is required to do so! In the fourth round Georgia would face Russia and it was interesting to see who would come out ahead. If Russians were unable to stop them, then it’s very likely that the team led by captain Davit Jojua would become the European champions.

In the third round Russians beat Italy with a score of 3:1. While the score was expected, Valentina Gunina’s loss to Marina Brunello was not. On the fourth table French ladies played really well to score a 4:0 victory over Netherlands.

The Dutch team tried hard but went back empty handed

Standings after round three

Full board results of round three

Round four

The most important match was definitely the clash of titans Georgia versus Russia. The Georgian women have shown over and over again that they are capable of beating the strongest possible opponents. In the third round, in spite of their top board Nana Dzagnidze losing to Mariya Muzychuk, they won the match 2.5:1.5. But today they had no such fortune. The Russia women came out in an aggressive frame of mind and trounced the Georgian team 3.5:0.5! Only Dzagnidze was able to draw her game. Apart from her everyone else lost.

Aleksandra Goryachkina won her game against Meri Arabidze

Valentina Gunina won against Nino Batsiashvili

Kateryna Lagno got the better of Bela Khotenashvili

Two teams who have been doing very well are the French and Romanian women. They both are on 7.0/8. France will face Russia in the fifth round while the Romanian team takes on Ukraine. In a way Russia have become the favourites to win the title thanks to beating Georgia. But they still have to face Ukraine. We can look forward to some exciting stuff in the women’s section.

Standings after round four

Full board results of round four

Pictures by Hrafn Jökulsson on the official facebook page of ETCC 2015

Links Official tournament site Download all games in PGN: Open + Women The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.