ECC 05: Nona virtual winner

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		Obiettivo Risarcimento (2)	2.5	3.5	SOCAR Azerbaijan (1)
1.1	2801	Caruana, Fabiano	1	0	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2756
1.2	2782	Nakamura, Hikaru	0	1	Topalov, Veselin	2784
1.3	2768	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	½	½	Adams, Michael	2752
1.4	2729	Bacrot, Etienne	½	½	Giri, Anish	2758
1.5	2712	Fressinet, Laurent	½	½	Radjabov, Teimour	2717
1.6	2626	Georgiev, Kiril	0	1	Korobov, Anton	2673
2		Ladya (11)	2	4	Malakhite (3)
2.1	2681	Kamsky, Gata	½	½	Leko, Peter	2734
2.2	2598	Timofeev, Artyom	0	1	Shirov, Alexei	2701
2.3	2544	Ibragimov, Ildar	½	½	Malakhov, Vladimir	2696
2.4	2410	Makhmutov, Rail	½	½	Motylev, Alexander	2686
2.5	2351	Sadykov, Ramil	½	½	Lysyj, Igor	2684
2.6	2344	Faizrakhmanov, Ramil	0	1	Bologan, Viktor	2648
3		Odlar Yourdu (7)	2.5	3.5	G-Team Novy Bor (5)
3.1	2632	Sutovsky, Emil	0	1	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	2736
3.2	2614	Durarbayli, Vasif	1	0	Navara, David	2722
3.3	2660	Mamedov, Rauf	0	1	Harikrishna, P.	2725
3.4	2615	Guseinov, Gadir	½	½	Sasikiran, Krishnan	2680
3.5	2624	Mamedov, Nidjat	1	0	Bartel, Mateusz	2636
3.6	2514	Rasulov, Vugar	0	1	Hracek, Zbynek	2638
4		SK Rockaden (20)	0	6	SHSM Nashe Nasledie (6)
4.1	2506	Blomqvist, Erik	0	1	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2710
4.2	2422	Bator, Robert	0	1	Morozevich, Alexander	2731
4.3	2362	Hedman, Erik	0	1	Grachev, Boris	2673
4.4	2348	Engqvist, Thomas	0	1	Dubov, Daniil	2614
4.5	2347	Lokander, Martin	0	1	Popov, Ivan	2627
4.6	2285	Kenneskog, Theodor	0	1	Potkin, Vladimir	2610
5		Haladas VSE (13)	2.5	3.5	Huginn Chessclub (21)
5.1	2572	Ruck, Robert	½	½	Jones, Gawain C B	2664
5.2	2494	Nemeth, Miklos	0	1	Van Kampen, Robin	2637
5.3	2463	Kovacs, Gabor	1	0	Thorhallsson, Throstur	2437
5.4	2414	Nagy, Gabor	0	1	Jensson, Einar Hjalti	2349
5.5	2339	Csonka, Attila Istvan	½	½	Hreinsson, Hlidar	2229
5.6	2241	Pergel, Laszlo	½	½	Teitsson, Magnus	2197

Only the top 5 matches are shown

The top match between Obiettivo Risarcimento and SOCAR was very close. Caruana struck on the first board with a win against Mamedyarov as the player from SOCAR sacrificed two pawns, but was only able to get one back. The Italian player, who continues his meteoric rise and is now only 20 points away from Carlsen, converted in a long endgame that proved the value of a bishop against a knight.

Caruana reaches 2842 rating in the live list

Topalov out-maneuvered the American #1 Nakamura in a long King's Indian Defense. Eventually White obtained some material and also converted in a very long endgame.

Topalov continues with amazing performances

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave used the Scotch against Michael Adams, maybe a funny choice considering today's elections (though MVL claimed it was a coincidence), but he only obtained a draw. Actually all the other games were drawn, except for the last board. Korobov came huge for SOCAR as he vanquished Georgiev in a well played game by white.

Shirov won a game and his victory coupled with Bologan's on the last board was sufficient to give Malakhite the victory over Ladya.

Novy Bor continues the hunt with a narrow victory over Odlar Yourdu. SHSM smashed the SK Rockaden, though somewhat expectedly. Meanwhile the Islandic team of Huginn Chessclub gives a surprise on board five by beating Haladas VSE from Hungary.

Rk	ID	Team	Fed		Games	+	=	-	Pts
1	1	SOCAR Azerbaijan	AZE		5	5	0	0	10
2	3	Malakhite	RUS		5	4	1	0	9
3	5	G-Team Novy Bor	CZE		5	4	0	1	8
4	6	SHSM Nashe Nasledie	RUS		5	4	0	1	8
5	15	Minsk	BLR		5	4	0	1	8
6	21	Huginn Chessclub	ISL		5	4	0	1	8
7	2	Obiettivo Risarcimento	ITA		5	3	1	1	7
8	4	SPB	RUS		5	3	1	1	7
9	7	Odlar Yourdu	AZE		5	3	1	1	7
10	11	Ladya	RUS		5	3	1	1	7

Round Five Games

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Women's Section

1		Rishon Letzion (3)	0	4	SHSM Nashe Nasledie (8)
1.1	2331	Efroimski, Marsel	0	1	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2543
1.2	0	Madivani, Maka	0	1	Girya, Olga	2476
1.3	1957	Vardi, Shlomit	0	1	Kashlinskaya, Alina	2433
1.4	1937	Federovski, Adi	0	1	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	2431
2		Batumi Chess Club "Nona" (4)	2.5	1.5	Ladya (2)
2.1	2566	Dzagnidze, Nana	½	½	Galliamova, Alisa	2472
2.2	2507	Khotenashvili, Bela	½	½	Zatonskih, Anna	2469
2.3	2464	Melia, Salome	½	½	Atalik, Ekaterina	2421
2.4	2426	Batsiashvili, Nino	1	0	Zaiatz, Elena	2401
3		Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo (5)	3.5	0.5	Ugra (1)
3.1	2663	Hou, Yifan	1	0	Ushenina, Anna	2481
3.2	2551	Muzychuk, Anna	½	½	Pogonina, Natalija	2482
3.3	2540	Lagno, Kateryna	1	0	Kovanova, Baira	2399
3.4	2516	Cramling, Pia	1	0	Guseva, Marina	2352
4		SC Bad Konigshofen (6)	4	0	Herzliya Chess Club (7)
4.1	2467	Paehtz, Elisabeth	1	0	Len, Irina	2133
4.2	2457	Mkrtchian, Lilit	1	0	Yakovleva, Tatiana	2047
4.3	2373	Savina, Anastasia	1	0	Lian, Marina	1871
4.4	2261	Schoene, Maria	1	0	Haitovich, Avital	1891

Nona keeps gathering important wins, and this time their narrow victory against Ladya virtually gives them the tournament victory. They have two rounds left, and one against the strong team of SHSM who trails them by 1.5 match points, but one of their other rivals is Rishon Letzion, and short of a miracle Nona should take at least that match and win the tournament.

Monte-Carlo finally showed what they are made of and smashed Ugra, at least trying to get on the podium. Both of the Israeli teams, as usual, were easily overwhelmed by their opponents.

Standings

Rk	ID	Team	Fed		Games	+	=	-	Pts	MatPnt
1	4	Batumi Chess Club "Nona"	GEO		5	5	0	0	10	10
2	8	SHSM Nashe Nasledie	RUS		5	3	1	1	7	7
3	5	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	MNC		5	3	0	2	6	6
4	2	Ladya	RUS		5	3	0	2	6	6
5	6	SC Bad Konigshofen	GER		5	2	1	2	5	5
6	1	Ugra	RUS		5	2	0	3	4	4
7	3	Rishon Letzion	ISR		5	1	0	4	2	2
8	7	Herzliya Chess Club	ISR		5	0	0	5	0	0

Round Five Games

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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.