ETCC R09: Russia triumphs with double gold

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The final round

Talent has never been in shortage in Russia, and one might argue that it was no big surprise that a Team Russia that lacked its absolute biggest guns still took first, but that would be to ignore history. While Russia may not lack talent (over 25% of the Top 100 are Russian), neither do they hold have any special claims as the past Olympiads have shown. Though the team came with names that have no shortage of titles and accolades, the key word to describe their results would have to be consistency, with nearly every team member performing as expected or slightly better. It wasn’t a win as a result of any single super performance, it was a win with everyone clinching a point when needed.

Though Hungary could theoretically cause an upset, if they lost they would also miss the
podium, thus a draw suited both teams.

Still, if any of the Russians had to be highlighted, it would be Peter Svidler on board one
with 5.0/8 and a 2800 performance.

Going into the final round, the only team that had any chance of an upset for the gold was
Hungary, captained by Judit Polgar, whose youngest player, Richard Rapport  was also its
brightest star, with a fantastic 2828 performance. Four draws later, they had secured bronze
ahead of several close rivals.

Armenia’s silver medal on the other hand, was very much the result of a few overperformers. The first was a welcome return to form of Levon Aronian, whose 2835 performance was just what the doctor ordered. Of special note also was second board Gabriel Sargissian, whose own 2800+ performance took him into the 2700 club for the first time of his career.

While Levon Aronian's result was one of the best of the tournament, Victor Bologan's performance
was even better with a 2845 TPR

Team pairings and results of round nine (final)

Full pairings and results

Final rankings (after nine rounds)

Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break without lowest result (Khanty-Mansiysk)
Tie Break3: points (game-points)

Women's section

The Russian Women's team relax before the prize ceremony

The jubilant Russian Women's team

In the Women’s event, the Russian team dominated the competition through and through with eight match wins and one draw. Alexandra Kosteniuk did a notable job on board one, but the highest performance was by Alexandra Goryachkina, whose 7.0/8 was worth a 2668 TPR.

Taking silver was Ukraine, led also by their brightest star, Mariya Muzychuk, who also scored
7.0/8,except in her case on board one!  If Russia was the strongest team, Mariya Muzychuk’s
fantastic result has now made her the world no.3, right behind Humpy Koneru and Hou Yifan.

Taking bronze was Georgia, led by their top performer IM Lela Javakhishvii.

Team pairings and results of round nine (final)

Full pairings and results

Final rankings (after nine rounds)

Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break without lowest result (Khanty-Mansiysk)
Tie Break3: points (game-points)

Pictures by Maria Emelianova on the official facebook page of ETCC 2015

Links Official tournament site Download all games in PGN: Open + Women 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.