ECTC R7+8: Holland poised to take Gold

8/7/2005 – One round before the end of the European Team Championship Holland is in the lead, a match point ahead of Israel, Poland and Georgia, with the Russians no longer in medal contention. In the women's section Poland leads. The main sponsor is the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. Thing is, the Swedes don't seem to use cars a lot. Pictorial report.

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15th European Chess Team Championship

Remember round six? Israel was dominating the team championship and, after defeating the French team 3:1, had taken the lead by one match point and 2½ board points. But the Dutch team had scored a shock 3:1 victory over Russia and remained in striking position.

In round seven Poland held Israel to a 2:2 draw while the Netherlands defeated Azerbaijan 2½:1½. France defeated Armenia and Georgia beat Ukraine by the same score. Greece scored a 3:1 victory over Romania and, another shocker, Russia lost to Hungary 1½:3½. The result was that Israel and the Netherlands were tied for first, with 12/14 match points each. Israel had 19 board points, as opposed to 17½ for the Dutch team. You can find all individual results of the round here.

Round eight brought a switch in the lead. The Netherlands drew the astonishingly strong Greek team, while Israel suffered their first loss in this event, to Georgia, after Sutovsky went down to Levan in a furious tactical melee.

Pantsulaia,Levan (2510) - Sutovsky,Emil (2674) [D91]
15th European Team Championship (8.1), 06.08.2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3 Be6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.Qb1 Qd5 10.Be2 Bf5 11.Qb4 c5 12.Qxc4 Qxc4 13.Bxc4 Nc6 14.0-0 Rc8 15.Rac1 Na5 16.Bb5+ Bd7 17.Be2 Be6 18.Nd2 b6 19.Bb5+ Kf8 20.Ba6 Rd8 21.Rc2 Bf6 22.Bg3 Kg7 23.dxc5.

25.Bc7 Bf5 26.f3 bxc5 27.a3 Bxe4 28.fxe4 Bd2 29.Rxd2 Rxd2 30.Bxa5 Rc2 31.Bd3 Ra2 32.Bc4 Rxa3 33.Rxf7+ Kh6 34.Bc7 Ra4 35.Be6 Rxe4 36.Bf4+ g5 37.Bf5 gxf4 38.Bxe4 fxe3 39.Kf1 c4 40.Rxe7 Rc8 41.Rxh7+ Kg5 42.Rxa7 c3 43.Ra2 Rc4 44.Bd3 Rh4 45.g3 Rh8 46.Rc2 Rf8+ 47.Ke2 1-0.

France lost to Poland, while both Russia and Ukraine won their matches against Lithuania and Estonia 3:1. This left the following situation before the final round: Holland is in the lead, a match point ahead of Israel, Poland and Georgia, with the former two having higher board points. France is at place eight, Ukraine at nine and Russia – but go look for yourself on the standings table below.

In the women's section the favourites Ukraine lost to Russia in round seven and to Poland in round eight to drop out of contention. Poland and Georgia won both their matches to take the lead for Gold and Silver. Poland is a match point ahead and has 21 board points to Georgia's 19½. Russia and Bulgaria have 20 and 19 board points but are two full match points behind Georgia.

Picture Gallery


The main sponsor of the event is the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo


... but the favourite mode of travel appears to be the electric tramcar


You can also travel in large flat-bottomed barges (in parks)


In contrast: a busy traffic intersection in Gothenburg


You don't believe it? Here's the town center on Saturday at 12:25 p.m.


"Ne'er a car to blight the Summer's proud and greenly spirit" (fake poetry)


The players' hotel, tall and proud, easy to find from anywhere in Gothenburg


Chess champions and dinosaurs in the Svenska Mässan


The giant book stall of Ari Ziegler


Jacob Aagaard doing his Radio ChessBase broadcast


One of the heroes of the Dutch team: Jan Timman


Dutch player Erik van den Doel, who scored a fine win in round seven


Top Polish GM Robert Kempinski


French team captain Mikhail Gurevich


On the path to Gold? Sergei Tiviakov of the Dutch team


Things not going as planned: Alexey Dreev of Russia


What are we doing wrong? Alexander Motylev, Evgeny Bareev


Seeking divine intervention? Top Dane Peter Heine Nielsen


The bright face of Hungarian chess: WGM Anita Gara

Photos by Jacob Aagaard and Ari Ziegler

Round 8, Men – 06.08.2005

8.1 2 Israel 1½ - 2½ 14 Georgia
1 GM Gelfand Boris 2724 ½ : ½ GM Jobava Baadur 2621
2 GM Sutovsky Emil 2674 0 : 1 IM Pantsulaia Levan 2510
3 GM Smirin Ilia 2652 ½ : ½ GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil 2549
4 GM Avrukh Boris 2652 ½ : ½ GM Janjgava Lasha 2472
8.2 6 Netherlands 2 - 2 17 Greece
1 GM Van Wely Loek 2655 0 : 1 GM Kotronias Vasilios 2587
2 GM Sokolov Ivan 2691 ½ : ½ GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2578
3 GM Tiviakov Sergei 2678 1 : 0 GM Banikas Hristos 2548
4 GM Van Den Doel Erik 2587 ½ : ½ GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2563
8.3 5 France 1½ - 2½ 12 Poland
1 GM Bacrot Etienne 2729 0 : 1 GM Kempinski Robert 2619
2 GM Lautier Joel 2672 ½ : ½ GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2591
3 GM Dorfman Josif 2592 ½ : ½ IM Bobras Piotr 2525
4 GM Fressinet Laurent 2627 ½ : ½ GM Markowski Tomasz 2564
8.4 7 Azerbaijan 2 - 2 10 Germany
1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2682 1 : 0 GM Lutz Christopher 2616
2 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2646 ½ : ½ GM Gustafsson Jan 2614
3 GM Gashimov Vugar 2594 0 : 1 GM Graf Alexander 2605
4 GM Guseinov Gadir 2585 ½ : ½ GM Dautov Rustem 2595
8.5 11 Hungary 1½ - 2½ 9 Czech Republic
1 GM Berkes Ferenc 2619 0 : 1 GM Navara David 2663
2 GM Gyimesi Zoltan 2628 ½ : ½ GM Hracek Zbynek 2591
3 GM Ruck Robert 2546 1 : 0 GM Babula Vlastimil 2604
4 GM Balogh Csaba 2537 0 : 1 GM Stocek Jiri 2592
8.6 8 Romania 1½ - 2½ 15 Serbia and Montenegro
1 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2679 1 : 0 GM Damljanovic Branko 2612
2 GM Istratescu Andrei 2624 ½ : ½ GM Markus Robert 2591
3 GM Nevednichy Vladislav 2583 0 : 1 GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2577
4 IM Lupulescu Constantin 2542 0 : 1 GM Solak Dragan 2557
8.7 25 Estonia 1 - 3 3 Ukraine
1 GM Kulaots Kaido 2570 ½ : ½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2752
2 IM Kanep Meelis 2491 ½ : ½ GM Eljanov Pavel 2639
3 IM Sepp Olav 2462 0 : 1 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2664
4 IM Seeman Tarvo 2405 0 : 1 IM Kuzubov Yury 2535
8.8 21 Croatia 2½ - 1½ 4 Armenia
1 GM Kozul Zdenko 2585 ½ : ½ GM Akopian Vladimir 2705
2 GM Palac Mladen 2566 1 : 0 GM Aronian Levon 2724
3 GM Zelcic Robert 2522 ½ : ½ GM Lputian Smbat 2629
4 GM Dizdar Goran 2518 ½ : ½ GM Anastasian Ashot 2595
8.9 24 Lithuania 1 - 3 1 Russia
1 GM Rozentalis Eduardas 2567 ½ : ½ GM Svidler Peter 2738
2 GM Sulskis Sarunas 2535 0 : 1 GM Dreev Alexey 2698
3 GM Kveinys Aloyzas 2510 ½ : ½ GM Motylev Alexander 2675
4 IM Sakalauskas Vaidas 2473 0 : 1 GM Timofeev Artyom 2661
8.10 16 Denmark 1½ - 2½ 22 Slovenia
1 GM Nielsen Peter Heine 2668 ½ : ½ GM Beliavsky Alexander 2599
2 GM Schandorff Lars 2519 0 : 1 GM Pavasovic Dusko 2566
3 IM Palo Davor 2519 ½ : ½ GM Mikhalchishin Adrian 2526
4 GM Hansen Sune Berg 2568 ½ : ½ IM Borisek Jure 2509
8.11 26 Macedonia 2 - 2 18 England
1 GM Georgiev Vladimir 2532 1 : 0 GM McShane Luke 2625
2 GM Nedev Trajce 2530 ½ : ½ GM Speelman Jonathan 2549
3 GM Jacimovic Dragoljub 2438 0 : 1 GM Gormally Daniel 2557
4 IM Kizov Atanas 2418 ½ : ½ GM Pert Nicholas 2493
8.12 29 Sweden 2 1 - 3 20 Sweden 1
1 GM Karlsson Lars 2472 ½ : ½ GM Agrest Evgenij 2592
2 IM Olsson Anders 2416 0 : 1 GM Hellsten Johan 2582
3 FM Carlsson Pontus 2394 ½ : ½ GM Berg Emanuel 2539
4 Lindberg Bosse 2359 0 : 1 GM Hillarp Persson Tiger 2511
8.13 19 Switzerland 2½ - 1½ 13 Bulgaria
1 GM Korchnoi Viktor 2615 ½ : ½ GM Georgiev Kiril 2666
2 GM Pelletier Yannick 2603 ½ : ½ GM Cheparinov Ivan 2634
3 GM Gallagher Joseph 2544 ½ : ½ GM Spasov Vasil 2551
4 GM Jenni Florian 2494 1 : 0 Rusev Krasimir 2426
8.14 33 Austria 1½ - 2½ 28 Norway
1 IM Neubauer Martin 2468 0 : 1 GM Johannessen Leif 2543
2 IM Pilaj Herwig 2425 0 : 1 GM Lie Kjetil A. 2472
3 IM Lehner Oliver 2428 ½ : ½ IM Elsness Frode 2440
4 IM Lendwai Reinhard 2416 1 : 0 IM Nordahl Helge 2423
8.15 23 Spain 3 - 1 35 Turkey
1 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2624 ½ : ½ IM Atakisi Umut 2437
2 IM Lopez Martinez Josep 2507 1 : 0 IM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2430
3 IM Perez Candelario Manuel 2504 1 : 0 FM Erturan Yakup 2311
4 GM Del Rio Angelis Salvador 2470 ½ : ½ Esen Baris 2301
8.16 38 Luxemburg ½ - 3½ 27 Iceland
1 IM Bakalarz Mieczyslaw 2423 ½ : ½ GM Stefansson Hannes 2579
2 IM Berend Fred 2374 0 : 1 IM Kristjansson Stefan 2459
3 Wagener Claude 2273 0 : 1 IM Thorfinnsson Bragi 2448
4 Weber Jean-Marie 2262 0 : 1 IM Gunnarsson Arnar 2438
8.17 34 Sweden 3 1 - 3 30 Finland
1 GM Brynell Stellan 2484 0 : 1 GM Nyback Tomi 2571
2 Ong Kezli 2371 ½ : ½ IM Sammalvuo Tapani 2441
3 Tikkanen Hans 2316 ½ : ½ IM Karttunen Mika 2409
4 FM Olsson Linus 2352 0 : 1 IM Nyysti Sampsa 2344
8.18 32 Ireland 2½ - 1½ 31 Italy
1 GM Baburin Alexander 2523 ½ : ½ GM Godena Michele 2522
2 IM Kelly Brian 2504 1 : 0 IM D'Amore Carlo 2463
3 IM Collins Sam 2413 0 : 1 FM Bruno Fabio 2425
4 IM Orr Mark 2305 1 : 0 IM Contin Daniel 2393
8.19 39 Wales 2½ - 1½ 36 Scotland
1 FM James David 2213 ½ : ½ GM McNab Colin 2451
2 Kett Tim 2192 ½ : ½ IM Shaw John 2449
3 Trevelyan John 2196 1 : 0 Grant Jonathan 2273
4 Spice Alan 2175 ½ : ½ FM Upton Timothy 2250
8.20 40 Cyprus 1 - 3 37 Belgium
1 Antoniou Antonis 2198 0 : 1 IM Dutreeuw Marc 2361
2 Kassinopoullos Doros 2094 0 : 1 IM Van Der Stricht Geert 2400
3 Kyriakidis Thrasos 2144 1 : 0 IM Claesen Pieter 2384
4 Klerides Paris 2224 0 : 1 FM Docx Stefan 2310

Round 8, Women – 06.08.2005

8.1 3 Ukraine 1½ - 2½ 4 Poland
1 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2478 0 : 1 IM Radziewicz Iweta 2447
2 IM Lahno Kateryna 2498 1 : 0 IM Socko Monika 2465
3 IM Gaponenko Inna 2439 0 : 1 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2402
4 IM Vasilevich Tatjana 2393 ½ : ½ WGM Zielinska Marta 2410
8.2 1 Russia 1½ - 2½ 2 Georgia
1 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2516 0 : 1 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2509
2 IM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2471 ½ : ½ IM Lomineishvili Maia 2420
3 IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2477 1 : 0 IM Dzagnidze Nana 2438
4 IM Galliamova Alisa 2453 0 : 1 IM Arakhamia-Grant K. 2423
8.3 11 Bulgaria 2½ - 1½ 13 Greece
1 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2501 ½ : ½ IM Dembo Yelena 2428
2 WGM Voiska Margarita 2328 ½ : ½ WGM Botsari Anna-Maria 2297
3 WGM Djingarova Emilia 2277 1 : 0 WGM Makropoulou Marina 2287
4 WGM Velcheva Maria 2274 ½ : ½ WIM Fakhiridou Ekaterini 2272
8.4 14 Slovenia ½ - 3½ 7 Armenia
1 WGM Muzychuk Anna 2364 0 : 1 IM Danielian Elina 2433
2 WIM Kaps Darja 2319 ½ : ½ IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2447
3 WIM Krivec Jana 2270 0 : 1 WIM Aginian Nelly 2324
4 WFM Rozic Vesna 2192 0 : 1 WIM Galojan Lilit 2223
8.5 10 Romania 3 - 1 15 Israel
1 IM Peptan Corina-Isabela 2411 1 : 0 IM Klinova Masha 2384
2 WGM Olarasu Gabriela 2306 ½ : ½ WGM Borsuk Angela 2342
3 WGM Bogza Adina-Maria 2325 ½ : ½ WGM Igla Bella 2299
4 WIM Calotescu Ana-Cristina 2273 1 : 0 WIM Vasiliev Olga 2202
8.6 12 Netherlands 1½ - 2½ 6 Serbia and Montenegro
1 GM Peng Zhaoqin 2405 0 : 1 IM Maric Alisa 2415
2 IM Bosboom-Lanchava Tea 2363 ½ : ½ WGM Bojkovic Natasa 2386
3 FM Schuurman Petra 2266 ½ : ½ WGM Prudnikova Svetlana 2370
4 WIM Muhren Bianca 2269 ½ : ½ WGM Chelushkina Irina 2330
8.7 19 Spain 1 - 3 21 Lithuania
1 WGM Calzetta Monica 2282 0 : 1 WGM Ciuksyte Dagne 2341
2 WIM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina 2262 0 : 1 WIM Zaksaite Salomeja 2237
3 WIM Hernandez Yudania 2234 1 : 0 Limontaite Simona 2095
4 WIM Llaneza Vega Patricia 2180 0 : 1 Daulyte Deimante 2195
8.8 9 Germany 3 - 1 16 Sweden 1
1 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2421 ½ : ½ GM Cramling Pia 2494
2 IM Kachiani-Gersinska K. 2416 1 : 0 WIM Johansson Victoria 2218
3 WIM Nill Jessica 2323 1 : 0 WFM Pavlovskaia Evgenia 2174
4 WGM Trabert Bettina 2291 ½ : ½ Andersson Christin 2168
8.9 22 Switzerland ½ - 3½ 5 Hungary
1 WGM Lematschko Tatjana 2205 ½ : ½ IM Madl Ildiko 2382
2 WCM Wilson Alexandra 2056 0 : 1 IM Vajda Szidonia 2392
3 Roelli Corinne 2001 0 : 1 WGM Gara Anita 2372
4 Svendsen Hannelore 1775 0 : 1 WGM Lakos Nikoletta 2313
8.10 17 Czech Republic 2½ - 1½ 25 Turkey
1 IM Jackova Jana 2386 1 : 0 WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre 2155
2 WIM Cedikova Katerina 2262 0 : 1 WFM Topel Zehra 2081
3 WIM Sikorova Olga 2232 1 : 0 WIM Cinar Corlulu Nilufer 2038
4 Kulovana Eva 2137 ½ : ½ WFM Bayrak Asli 1967
8.11 18 England 3 - 1 24 Sweden 2
1 IM Houska Jovanka 2342 1 : 0 Jiretorn Eva 2134
2 IM Lalic Susan 2362 1 : 0 Hansson Susanne 2110
3 WIM Richards Heather 2150 1 : 0 Agrest Inna 1984
4 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2156 0 : 1 Frisk Ellinor 1991
8.12 23 Iceland 0 - 4 8 France
1 WGM Ptacnikova Lenka 2204 0 : 1 IM Sebag Marie 2438
2 Thorsteinsdottir Gudlaug 2132 0 : 1 WGM Milliet Sophie 2321
3 WIM Gretarsdottir Lilja 2046 0 : 1 WGM Lallemand Roza 2287
4 Fridthjofsdottir Sigurl 1963 0 : 1 WIM Muller Anne 2169
8.13 20 Croatia 4 - 0 26 Austria
1 WGM Medic Mirjana 2268 1 : 0 WFM Kopinits Anna-Chr. 2124
2 WIM Sargac Rajna 2242 1 : 0 WFM Horvath Maria 2039
3 WIM Macek Vlasta 2211 1 : 0 Sommer Sonja 2053
4 WIM Jelica Mara 2191 1 : 0 Nagy Laura 1933

Standings Men / Women

Rk. Team TB1 TB2
1 Netherlands 13 19.5
2 Israel 12 20.5
3 Poland 12 20.0
4 Georgia 12 18.0
5 Greece 11 19.0
6 Czech Republic 11 18.5
7 Serbia Montenegro 11 18.5
8 France 11 18.0
9 Ukraine 10 20.5
10 Germany 10 18.0
11 Croatia 10 18.0
12 Azerbaijan 10 17.5
13 Russia 9 18.5
14 Sweden 1 9 18.0
15 Hungary 9 17.0
16 Slovenia 9 16.0
17 Armenia 8 19.0
18 England 8 18.5
19 Romania 8 16.5
20 Switzerland 8 16.5
21 Norway 8 15.5
22 Macedonia 8 15.5
23 Estonia 8 15.0
24 Denmark 7 17.5
25 Finland 7 16.0
26 Sweden 2 7 15.5
27 Lithuania 7 15.0
28 Iceland 7 15.0
29 Spain 7 15.0
30 Ireland 7 15.0
31 Bulgaria 6 16.0
32 Austria 6 15.0
33 Belgium 6 14.5
34 Luxemburg 5 13.0
35 Turkey 5 12.5
36 Italy 5 12.0
37 Sweden 3 5 11.0
38 Scotland 4 11.5
39 Wales 4 10.5
40 Cyprus 0 3.0
Rk. Team TB1 TB2
1 Poland 14 21.0
2 Georgia 13 19.5
3 Russia 11 20.0
4 Bulgaria 11 19.0
5 Romania 10 19.5
6 Armenia 10 19.0
7 Germany 9 19.0
8 Lithuania 9 18.0
9 Serbia Montenegro 9 17.5
10 Ukraine 9 17.0
11 Greece 9 17.0
12 England 8 18.5
13 Hungary 8 17.5
14 Czech Republic 8 17.5
15 Netherlands 8 17.0
16 Spain 8 16.5
17 Israel 8 15.0
18 Slovenia 8 15.0
19 France 7 16.0
20 Sweden 1 7 14.5
21 Turkey 6 16.0
22 Croatia 6 13.0
23 Switzerland 6 10.0
24 Sweden 2 4 10.0
25 Iceland 1 7.0
26 Austria 1 6.0

15th European Chess Team Championship

Download all the games in zipped PGN – Tournament report links
Men
R1m
R2m
R3m
R4m
R5m
R6m
R7m
R8m
R9m
All
Women
R1w
R2w
R3w
R4w
R5w
R6w
R7w
R8w
R9w
All
Reports
Rep.1
Rep.2 Rep. 3
Rep.4
Rep.5 Rep.6
Rep.7
Rep.8 Rep.9
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  • Official web site
    The organisers have promised to broadcast between 24 and 32 games live each day. This means that between 6 and 8 whole matches will be covered.

  • Radio ChessBase
    IM Jacob Aagaard will provide live interviews and analysis of the games, starting each evening at 20:30h CEST. You can follow live games and listen to the commentary in the broadcast room of the Playchess.com server.