ECC 02: Demolitions and Surprises!

2014 European Club Cup This mega swiss tournament brings together the top teams from the top leagues in Europe to compete for the European Club Champion title. Most teams have reinforcementes specifically for this event, while others send their local players that have served them throughout the seasons. Many 2700+ players are participating in the event. The tournament is a seven round swiss system that coincides with the Bilbao Grand Slam Finals, for which we will have separate reports. Tha matches in the Open section will be six-on-six, while on the Women's section will be four-on-four.

Open Section

1		SHSM Nashe Nasledie (6)	1	5	SOCAR Azerbaijan (1)
1.1	2710	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	0	1	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2756
1.2	2731	Morozevich, Alexander	0	1	Topalov, Veselin	2784
1.3	2662	Dreev, Aleksey	0	1	Adams, Michael	2752
1.4	2673	Grachev, Boris	½	½	Giri, Anish	2758
1.5	2614	Dubov, Daniil	0	1	Radjabov, Teimour	2717
1.6	2610	Potkin, Vladimir	½	½	Wang, Hao	2730
2		Obiettivo Risarcimento (2)	5	1	Grantham Sharks (48)
2.1	2801	Caruana, Fabiano	1	0	Roberson, Peter T	2403
2.2	2729	Bacrot, Etienne	½	½	Rendle, Thomas E	2392
2.3	2712	Fressinet, Laurent	½	½	Purton, Ben J	2142
2.4	2626	Georgiev, Kiril	1	0	Murphy, Hugh W	2148
2.5	2585	Vocaturo, Daniele	1	0	Varnam, Liam D	2123
2.6	2522	Dvirnyy, Danyyil	1	0	Willis, Rupert	0
3		Malakhite (3)	4	2	Huginn Chessclub (21)
3.1	2777	Karjakin, Sergey	½	½	Jones, Gawain C B	2664
3.2	2789	Grischuk, Alexander	½	½	Van Kampen, Robin	2637
3.3	2734	Leko, Peter	1	0	Thorhallsson, Throstur	2437
3.4	2701	Shirov, Alexei	0	1	Jensson, Einar Hjalti	2349
3.5	2696	Malakhov, Vladimir	1	0	Hreinsson, Hlidar	2229
3.6	2684	Lysyj, Igor	1	0	Teitsson, Magnus	2197
4		SPB (4)	4	2	Minsk (15)
4.1	2755	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	½	½	Zhigalko, Sergei	2677
4.2	2742	Vitiugov, Nikita	½	½	Zhigalko, Andrey	2584
4.3	2663	Movsesian, Sergei	½	½	Kovalev, Vladislav	2532
4.4	2694	Matlakov, Maxim	½	½	Teterev, Vitaly	2501
4.5	2641	Efimenko, Zahar	1	0	Meribanov, Vitaly	2395
4.6	2638	Khairullin, Ildar	1	0	Nikitenko, Mihail	2226
5		SK Dunajska Streda (19)	1	5	G-Team Novy Bor (5)
5.1	2459	Petenyi, Tamas	0	1	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	2736
5.2	2459	Varga, Zoltan	0	1	Navara, David	2722
5.3	2491	Bokros, Albert	½	½	Harikrishna, P.	2725
5.4	2434	Czebe, Attila	½	½	Laznicka, Viktor	2675
5.5	2408	Meszaros, Michal	0	1	Bartel, Mateusz	2636
5.6	2357	Csiba, Dominik	0	1	Hracek, Zbynek	2638

Only the top 5 matches are shown

Today's news of the day was certainly the pairing between SHSM, one of the strong Russian teams, and SOCAR, the traditional powerhouse from Azerbaijan. With a rating gap of only 75 average rating points the match could technically go to either side, but no one could have predicted the 5-1 blowout that SOCAR administered on to SHSM. Mamedyarov was quickly in trouble against Nepomniachtchi on the top board, but the Azerbaijani player somehow turned the tables around quickly and won. Topalov demolished Morozevich in the queen endgame and things did not improve for SHSM after that.

None of the other top match-ups were as close on paper, and although some where actually closer on the board, all of the top teams ended up taking their match points and we had few surprises. Tomorrow's match-up of the day is surely SPB vs. Obiettivo Risarcimento, pairing numbers four against two. SOCAR gets the relatively easy pairing of Oslo Schakselskap while Beer Sheva and Malakhite could go to either team, though Malakhite is certainly favorite.

Einar Jensson scored an interesting win against Shirov

Topalov helped SOCAR steamroll SHSM

Caruana's Italian team makes steady progress

Standings

Rk	Team	Fed		Games	+	=	-	Pts	GamPnt
1	Obiettivo Risarcimento	ITA		1	1	0	0	2	6
2	Minsk	BLR		1	1	0	0	2	6
3	Schachgesellschaft Zurich	SUI		1	1	0	0	2	6
4	Cercle d'Echecs de Bois Colombes	FRA		1	1	0	0	2	6
5	SOCAR Azerbaijan	AZE		1	1	0	0	2	5.5
6	G-Team Novy Bor	CZE		1	1	0	0	2	5.5
7	Odlar Yourdu	AZE		1	1	0	0	2	5.5
8	Beer Sheva	ISR		1	1	0	0	2	5.5
9	Ladya	RUS		1	1	0	0	2	5.5
10	SK Rockaden	SWE		1	1	0	0	2	5.5

Round Two Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Women's Section

1		SHSM Nashe Nasledie (8)	2.5	1.5	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo (5)
1.1	2540	Gunina, Valentina	0	1	Hou, Yifan	2663
1.2	2543	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	½	½	Muzychuk, Anna	2551
1.3	2476	Girya, Olga	1	0	Lagno, Kateryna	2540
1.4	2431	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	1	0	Cramling, Pia	2516
2		SC Bad Konigshofen (6)	1.5	2.5	Batumi Chess Club "Nona" (4)
2.1	2467	Paehtz, Elisabeth	½	½	Khotenashvili, Bela	2507
2.2	2457	Mkrtchian, Lilit	½	½	Melia, Salome	2464
2.3	2373	Savina, Anastasia	½	½	Batsiashvili, Nino	2426
2.4	2261	Schoene, Maria	0	1	Mikadze, Miranda	2242
3		Herzliya Chess Club (7)	1.5	2.5	Rishon Letzion (3)
3.1	2133	Len, Irina	0	1	Efroimski, Marsel	2331
3.2	2047	Yakovleva, Tatiana	0	1	Madivani, Maka	0
3.3	1871	Lian, Marina	1	0	Vardi, Shlomit	1957
3.4	1891	Haitovich, Avital	½	½	Federovski, Adi	1937
4		Ugra (1)	2.5	1.5	Ladya (2)
4.1	2481	Ushenina, Anna	1	0	Galliamova, Alisa	2472
4.2	2482	Pogonina, Natalija	½	½	Zatonskih, Anna	2469
4.3	2352	Guseva, Marina	1	0	Atalik, Ekaterina	2421
4.4	2327	Shadrina, Tatiana	0	1	Zaiatz, Elena	2401

This certainly does not seem to be Monte Carlo's tournament as they have now lost two games in a row. Despite a victory by Hou Yifan with the black pieces against Valentina Gunina, Olga Girya took apart Kateryna Lagno while Ekaterina Kovalevskaya beat Pia Cramilng. With a draw on board two the match between Monte Carlo and SHSM went to the Russian team.

Despite Hou Yifan's best efforts, Cercle d'Echecs
de Monte-Carlo lost their second in a row

Nona squeezed out a win against the German squad of SC Bad Konigshofen while in the Russian match-up of Ugra vs. Ladya it was Ugra that came slightly ahead thanks to wins by Ushenina and Guseva.

Nona leads by tiebreaks, but the tournament is young

Pogonina held Zatonskih to a draw in the 2.5-1.5 win by her team, Ugra

Standings

Rk	ID	Team	Fed		Games	+	=	-	Pts	MatPnt	GamPnt
1	4	Batumi Chess Club "Nona"	GEO		2	2	0	0	4	4	5
2	8	SHSM Nashe Nasledie	RUS		2	2	0	0	4	4	5
3	6	SC Bad Konigshofen	GER		2	1	0	1	2	2	5
4	1	Ugra	RUS		2	1	0	1	2	2	4
5	2	Ladya	RUS		2	1	0	1	2	2	5.5
6	3	Rishon Letzion	ISR		2	1	0	1	2	2	3
7	5	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	MNC		2	0	0	2	0	0	3
8	7	Herzliya Chess Club	ISR		2	0	0	2	0	0	1.5

Round Two Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos by Manu de Alba from Bilbao's Facebook site

Links Official tournament site All Games in PGN All Women Games in PGN 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.