Germany wins the European Championship

by ChessBase
11/14/2011 – Could anything be more dramatic or unexpected? Top seed Russia was never in contention, instead it was other strong teams like Armenia, Bulgaria or Azerbaijan, who each went into the lead. But then tenth seed Germany suddenly started to win, joined the leaders and finished with a clear win on match points. In the women's section it was of course Russia. Updated with games and notes.

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3rd – 11th November in Halkidiki, Greece

The ETCC was a nine-round Swiss, with one open section and one section for the women’s teams. The time control was 90 min for 40 moves + 30 min for the rest of the game + 30 sec increment for every move played starting from the first move. The member countries of the European Chess Union (ECU) had the right to enter one team of four players plus one reserve in the open competition, and one team of four female players and one reserve in the women’s competition. There were 38 teams in the former and 28 in the latter. The games were played in the Olympic Hall Congress Center (1500 sq.m.), within the five-star Porto Carras Grand Resort, which is located in an enchantingly verdant landscape in Halkidiki, Greece.

Round nine report

The tenth seed team from Germany (above left) clinched the title with a 2.5-1.5 win over Armenia, with Georg Meier providing the decisive point by beating Sergei Movsesian. Azerbaijan beat Romania to take second place, while Hungary helped make this the most amazing team championship in a long time by trouncing Bulgaria 4-0.

It’s almost as though the Germans had it all planned. Three of four games in the Germany-Armenia match – between Fridman-Akopian, Sargissian-Gustafsson and Naiditsch-Aronian – ended in draws. The winning German blow was delivered by GM Georg Meier on board two. Meier left Movsesian no chance after the latter went for an inferior variation from the white side of the French Defence. Movsesian attempted to consolidate his position but Black smashed right through, winning a pawn on move 26 and thereafter the game. Certainly a major shock for the higher rated Armenians.

The match between Azerbaijan and Romania threw up two decisive results. Mamedyarov had Vajda in a mating net in 28 moves of a Czech Benoni after Black made unwise overtures with the pawns shielding his own king. The other point was brought by Gashimov, who beat Parligras from black in a Modern Benoni where white started out well but let go all the opportunities available to him. The Benoni family of openings seems to have been lucky for the Azeris yesterday.

But the most astonishing string of wins came from the Hungarian team who inflicted a 4-0 defeat on Bulgaria. Almasi pounced on Cheparinov from black after the Bulgarian threw away a certain draw to pursue winning chances. White was left clutching a lone queen for Black’s two rooks and bishop. Csaba Balogh, playing white, got an advantage without much difficulty against Delchev in a Philidor Defence and converted it successfully. Zoltan Gymesi pulled off a terrific save against Kiril Georgiev, who launched a forceful attack culminating in a Greek style sac on h7. But his plans were derailed by a careless move that sent him from being a convincing exchange up to having an exchange for an active bishop and a passed pawn. Black lost no time in exploiting his opponent’s light square weaknesses and securing the point.

The most high profile victory was that of Peter Leko over Veselin Topalov, who got himself a pretty comfortable position in the Gruenfeld but overstretched – perhaps because of what was happening on the other boards. Leko wrapped up the game in 41 moves. You can replay all the above mentioned games here:

Top results (Open)

Bo. 10 Germany Rtg
2½:1½
4 Armenia Rtg
1.1 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2712
½-½
GM Aronian Levon 2802
1.2 GM Meier Georg 2659
1-0
GM Movsesian Sergei 2710
1.3 GM Fridman Daniel 2661
½-½
GM Akopian Vladimir 2681
1.4 GM Gustafsson Jan 2633
½-½
GM Sargissian Gabriel 2671
Bo. 3 Azerbaijan Rtg
3:1
17 Romania Rtg
2.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2781
½-½
GM Lupulescu Constantin 2657
2.2 GM Gashimov Vugar 2757
1-0
GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian 2650
2.3 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2733
1-0
GM Vajda Levente 2584
2.4 GM Guseinov Gadir 2636
½-½
GM Marin Mihail 2534
Bo. 5 Hungary Rtg
4:0
7 Bulgaria Rtg
3.1 GM Leko Peter 2720
1-0
GM Topalov Veselin 2768
3.2 GM Almasi Zoltan 2707
1-0
GM Cheparinov Ivan 2650
3.3 GM Balogh Csaba 2662
1-0
GM Delchev Aleksander 2629
3.4 GM Gyimesi Zoltan 2652
1-0
GM Georgiev Kiril 2666
Bo. 21 Slovenia Rtg
1:3
1 Russia Rtg
4.1 GM Beliavsky Alexander G 2617
½-½
GM Svidler Peter 2755
4.2 GM Lenic Luka 2634
0-1
GM Grischuk Alexander 2752
4.3 GM Borisek Jure 2541
0-1
GM Karjakin Sergey 2763
4.4 GM Skoberne Jure 2533
½-½
GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2730
Bo. 9 Netherlands Rtg
2½:1½
12 Czech Rep. Rtg
5.1 GM Giri Anish 2714
½-½
GM Navara David 2724
5.2 GM Van Wely Loek 2686
½-½
GM Laznicka Viktor 2703
5.3 GM Smeets Jan 2615
½-½
GM Hracek Zbynek 2628
5.4 GM Stellwagen Daniel 2627
1-0
GM Stocek Jiri 2600
Bo. 6 France Rtg
1½:2½
13 Spain Rtg
6.1 GM Bacrot Etienne 2714
½-½
GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2705
6.2 GM Fressinet Laurent 2700
0-1
GM Shirov Alexei 2705
6.3 GM Istratescu Andrei 2627
½-½
GM Salgado Lopez Ivan 2621
6.4 GM Bauer Christian 2641
½-½
GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2609
Bo. 16 Croatia Rtg
1:3
14 Poland Rtg
7.1 GM Stevic Hrvoje 2612
½-½
GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2705
7.2 GM Saric Ivan 2648
½-½
GM Socko Bartosz 2635
7.3 GM Palac Mladen 2580
0-1
GM Bartel Mateusz 2653
7.4 GM Brkic Ante 2605
0-1
GM Macieja Bartlomiej 2616
Bo. 19 Greece Rtg
1½:2½
22 Italy Rtg
8.1 GM Banikas Hristos 2620
½-½
GM Caruana Fabiano 2727
8.2 GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2621
½-½
GM Godena Michele 2548
8.3 GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2600
½-½
IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2475
8.4 GM Halkias Stelios 2593
0-1
GM Brunello Sabino 2575
Bo. 8 England Rtg
1½:2½
2 Ukraine Rtg
9.1 GM Adams Michael 2734
1-0
GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2775
9.2 GM Short Nigel D 2698
0-1
GM Eljanov Pavel 2691
9.3 GM Jones Gawain C B 2635
½-½
GM Moiseenko Alexander 2715
9.4 GM Pert Nicholas 2563
0-1
GM Efimenko Zahar 2702
Bo. 26 Switzerland Rtg
1½:2½
11 Israel Rtg
10.1 GM Pelletier Yannick 2581
½-½
GM Sutovsky Emil 2696
10.2 GM Korchnoi Viktor 2567
½-½
GM Roiz Michael 2651
10.3 GM Gallagher Joseph G 2500
½-½
GM Smirin Ilia 2670
10.4 IM Kurmann Oliver 2451
0-1
GM Postny Evgeny 2640

Final top standings after nine rounds (open)

This big win over Bulgaria moved the Hungarians into third place, which they took from the fancied Armenians by the smallest of margins: half a board point. Top seed Russia finished fifth, which must have been a big disappointment for the players and their fans.

Rk.
SNo
Team
Gms
  + 
  = 
 – 
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
TB4
TB5
1
10
Germany
9
7
1
1
15
22.5
183.0
154.50
142.0
2
3
Azerbaijan
9
6
2
1
14
23.0
181.5
139.75
140.5
3
5
Hungary
9
5
3
1
13
23.0
167.5
117.25
128.0
4
4
Armenia
9
6
1
2
13
22.5
172.0
117.25
132.5
5
1
Russia
9
6
1
2
13
21.5
174.5
123.50
134.0
6
9
Netherlands
9
5
2
2
12
19.0
180.0
118.25
140.5
7
7
Bulgaria
9
5
2
2
12
18.5
187.5
122.50
146.0
8
14
Poland
9
4
3
2
11
22.0
159.0
95.25
124.0
9
17
Romania
9
5
1
3
11
20.0
163.5
87.00
135.0
10
13
Spain
9
5
1
3
11
19.5
183.0
108.50
142.0
11
22
Italy
9
5
1
3
11
19.0
164.0
91.25
135.5
12
18
Serbia
9
5
0
4
10
22.0
152.0
77.50
123.0
13
15
Georgia
9
4
2
3
10
22.0
140.5
71.25
116.0
14
11
Israel
9
4
2
3
10
20.0
170.5
93.25
131.0
15
2
Ukraine
9
4
2
3
10
19.0
172.0
90.25
132.5
16
12
Czech Rep.
9
3
4
2
10
18.5
178.0
97.50
139.5
17
21
Slovenia
9
4
2
3
10
17.5
185.0
101.00
144.0

Video report on round nine


Women's section

There was a tiny possibility that Poland could catch the Russians, who had been leading from the start. But all hopes were smothered when the first seed team dismantled Austria 3-1. Poland drew Armenia, and tied in the final table with Georgia, which defeated Romania.


The dominant Russian team at work in the final round

Top results (Women)

Bo. 1 Russia Rtg
3:1
21 Austria Rtg
1.1 GM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2546
½-½
IM Moser Eva 2448
1.2 IM Gunina Valentina 2514
1-0
WIM Kopinits Anna-Christina 2276
1.3 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2439
1-0
WFM Newrkla Katharina 2131
1.4 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2451
½-½
WFM Novkovic Julia 2089
Bo. 4 Armenia Rtg
2:2
5 Poland Rtg
2.1 GM Danielian Elina 2507
½-½
GM Socko Monika 2479
2.2 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2469
0-1
WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2326
2.3 IM Galojan Lilit 2383
1-0
WGM Majdan-Gajewska Joanna 2386
2.4 WGM Kursova Maria 2315
½-½
WGM Szczepkowska-H. Karina 2379
Bo. 12 France Rtg
3:1
2 Ukraine Rtg
3.1 IM Milliet Sophie 2386
1-0
GM Zhukova Natalia 2427
3.2 WGM Maisuradze Nino 2315
½-½
IM Ushenina Anna 2463
3.3 WGM Guichard Pauline 2305
1-0
IM Gaponenko Inna 2435
3.4 WGM Leconte Maria 2282
½-½
IM Muzychuk Mariya 2460
Bo. 9 Romania Rtg
1½:2½
3 Georgia Rtg
4.1 IM Foisor Cristina-Adela 2418
0-1
GM Dzagnidze Nana 2516
4.2 WGM Cosma Elena-Luminita 2335
½-½
IM Javakhishvili Lela 2475
4.3 WIM Bulmaga Irina 2334
1-0
IM Khurtsidze Nino 2440
4.4 WGM Voicu-J. Carmen 2300
0-1
IM Melia Salome 2392
Bo. 15 Israel Rtg
2:2
7 Germany Rtg
5.1 IM Klinova Masha 2316
1-0
WGM Michna Marta 2382
5.2 WIM Porat Maya 2299
0-1
WIM Ohme Melanie 2361
5.3 WIM Efroimski Marsel 2230
0-1
WGM Levushkina Elena 2307
5.4 WIM Vasiliev Olga 2305
1-0
WIM Hoolt Sarah 2286
Bo. 18 Czech Rep. Rtg
1:3
8 Bulgaria Rtg
6.1 WGM Kulovana Eva 2297
½-½
GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2531
6.2 WGM Nemcova Katerina 2276
½-½
WGM Videnova Iva 2297
6.3 WIM Havlikova Kristyna 2285
0-1
WGM Voiska Margarita 2328
6.4 WIM Olsarova Tereza 2232
0-1
WGM Nikolova Adriana 2286
Bo. 11 Slovenia Rtg
2½:1½
14 Serbia Rtg
7.1 IM Muzychuk Anna 2557
1-0
IM Bojkovic Natasa 2396
7.2 WGM Krivec Jana 2291
1-0
WGM Chelushkina Irina 2276
7.3 WGM Srebrnic Ana 2219
0-1
WGM Stojanovic Andjelija 2280
7.4 WIM Rozic Vesna 2263
½-½
WIM Drljevic Ljilja 2273

Final top standings after nine rounds (women)

In the end the Russian ladies had won all but one match (which they drew against against Poland in round six) and chalked up three match points more than their nearest rivals. Poland and Georgia had 14 match points each, but Poland had half a board point more and thus took Silver.

Rk.
SNo
Team
Gms
  + 
  = 
 – 
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
TB4
TB5
1
1
Russia
9
8
1
0
17
25.5
177.0
165.50
137.5
2
5
Poland
9
6
2
1
14
23.0
178.0
133.25
138.5
3
3
Georgia
9
7
0
2
14
22.5
181.0
134.00
139.0
4
2
Ukraine
9
6
0
3
12
21.5
180.0
110.50
138.0
5
12
France
9
6
0
3
12
21.0
172.5
107.50
133.5
6
8
Bulgaria
9
5
1
3
11
19.5
175.5
100.00
135.5
7
4
Armenia
9
4
3
2
11
19.0
182.0
104.00
139.5
8
7
Germany
9
4
2
3
10
20.5
161.5
86.50
125.5
9
15
Israel
9
4
2
3
10
19.0
164.5
85.00
125.5
10
11
Slovenia
9
4
2
3
10
19.0
146.0
74.50
119.5

Links

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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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