Czech Extraliga: 102 match streak comes to an end

by André Schulz
12/5/2018 – It was quite a series: 102 matches in a row without a loss by the team of Novy Bor in the Czech League (the 'Extraliga'). Last Sunday, this incredible series ended in defeat. Aneta Vignerova, Miss Czech Republic 2009, opened the competition Moravská Slavia vs Labortech Ostrava. | Photos: Vladimir Jagr

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But what a streak!

The team of Novy Bor is actually the long-time favourite in the Czech Extraliga but they suffered a setback last Sunday in the 4th round of the 2018/19 season. Although they were almost a full strength — P. Harikrishna and Vidit were absent, but the other top players Nikita Vitiugov, David Navara, Markus Ragger, Krishnan Sasikiran and Victor Laznicka were there — the league champs were surprisingly defeated by the team "Vystaviste Lysa nad Labem", led by Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov.

For Novy Bor, this was the first defeat after 102 matches in a row in the Czech Extraliga — an incredible series.

It turns out the team did yield a handful of draws during the streak, but it's still impressive

As in the Bundesliga, eight boards are played in the Czech Extraliga. In this fateful match, seven games ended in a draw, and the lone decision came on the first board where Ponomariov defeated Vitiugov.

 

lysa vs bor

Ruslan Ponomariov faces Nikita Vitiugov (right, adjacent to the wall) | Photo: Radim Borůvka

The famous Czech model Aneta Vignerova made an appearance for the ceremonial first move for Bartolomiej Heberla. Vignerova became 'Miss Czech' at the age of 21 and took part in the Miss World competition of 2009.

The players of the match Moravská Slavia vs Labortech Ostrava looked forward to a nice visit as Aneta Vignerova opened the competition

Standings after Round 4

Rg. Team  TB1 
1 GASCO Pardubice 12
2 Vystaviste Lysa nad Labem 10
3 1. Novoborsky SK 9
4 SK ZIKUDA Turnov 8
5 Siesta Solution Unichess A 6
6 SK DURAS BVK Kralovo Pole 6
7 Beskydska sachova skola 4
8 Labortech Ostrava 4
9 Moravska Slavia Brno 3
10 Siesta Solution Unichess B 3
11 SK Slavoj Poruba 1
12 Slavoj Cesky Tesin 1

All games Rounds 1-4

 

Correction, December 7: Grandmaster David Navara informs us that there were "about 10 drawn 4:4" matches during the streak, adding, "nevertheless, this is (or was) an extraordinary series!"


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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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