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The ETCC is a nine-round Swiss, with one open section and one section for the women’s teams. The time control is 90 min for 40 moves + 30 min for the rest of the game + 30 sec increment for every move played starting from the first move. The member countries of the European Chess Union (ECU) have the right to enter one team of four players plus one reserve in the open competition, and one team of four female players and one reserve in the women’s competition. There are 38 teams in the former and 28 in the latter. The games are being played in the Olympic Hall Congress Center (1500 sq.m.), within the five-star Porto Carras Grand Resort, which is located in an enchantingly verdant landscape in Halkidiki, Greece.
Azerbaijan handed round two’s heroes Greece a 3-1 defeat on the top board in round three, with Mamedyarov and Safarli posting decisive results against Papaioannou and Nikolaidis. On board two, Spain demolished Romania with the same result despite Alexei Shirov crumbling from the white side of an unpleasant Caro Kann against Parligras.
Tournament favourites Russia were held to a draw by lower rated Netherlands after Dutch grandmaster Jan Smeets had a lucky escape against Sergey Karjakin. Playing black in a Slav Defence, Smeets made a careless queen exchange offer on move 29, handing Karjakin a lasting advantage which he failed to convert in the endgame despite having a menacing passed pawn on c6.
The other three games Svidler-Anish Giri, Van Wely-Grischuk and Stellwagen-Morozevich were also drawn.
The Bulgaria-Poland match saw a spirited fight between Veselin Topalov and Wojtaszek Radoslaw on the top board that lasted 88 moves. The players entered a single rook and opposite coloured bishop endgame on move 45 and a long battle for the initiative followed, ending in a well-deserved draw.
Cheparinov and Georgiev were held by Bartel and Macieja respectively and it was Aleksander Delchev on board three who picked up the point for Bulgaria with a spectacular tactical win involving two sacrifices over Miton.
The English team recovered from their 1.5-2.5 defeat to hosts Greece in round two and drew with Armenia.
Rk. |
SNo |
Team | Gms |
+ |
= |
– |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
1 |
3 |
Azerbaijan | 3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
8.5 |
21.0 |
2 |
13 |
Spain | 3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
8.0 |
23.0 |
3 |
2 |
Ukraine | 3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
8.5 |
18.5 |
4 |
1 |
Russia | 3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
8.0 |
21.0 |
5 |
6 |
France | 3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
8.0 |
18.0 |
6 |
10 |
Germany | 3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
7.5 |
17.5 |
7 |
7 |
Bulgaria | 3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
7.0 |
20.5 |
8 |
18 |
Serbia | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
9.5 |
12.5 |
9 |
15 |
Georgia | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
9.0 |
7.0 |
10 |
20 |
Moldova | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8.5 |
13.5 |
11 |
17 |
Romania | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8.0 |
12.0 |
12 |
19 |
Greece | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
7.5 |
14.5 |
13 |
9 |
Netherlands | 3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
6.5 |
17.5 |
Here Russia left no room for doubt with a 4-0 sweep over Romania. Serbia put up a stiff resistance to their stronger opponents Georgia but were overcome 2.5-1.5. GM Nana Dzagnidze saved the day for her team by beating Natasa Bojkovic on board one, while her compatriots Lela Javakhishvili, Nino Khurtsidze and Melia Salome were held by their opponents Chelushkina Irina, Stojanovic Andjelija and Drljevic Ljilja.
Rk. |
SNo |
Team | Gms |
+ |
= |
– |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
1 |
1 |
Russia | 3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
10.0 |
16.0 |
2 |
2 |
Ukraine | 3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
9.0 |
18.5 |
3 |
3 |
Georgia | 3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
7.5 |
20.5 |
4 |
4 |
Armenia | 3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
7.0 |
19.0 |
5 |
14 |
Serbia | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
9.0 |
11.5 |
6 |
10 |
Spain | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8.5 |
15.0 |
7 |
11 |
Slovenia | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8.5 |
8.0 |
8 |
5 |
Poland | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8.0 |
16.5 |
9 |
8 |
Bulgaria | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
7.0 |
19.0 |
10 |
12 |
France | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
7.0 |
14.5 |
11 |
18 |
Czech Rep. | 3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
6.5 |
21.5 |
12 |
9 |
Romania | 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
5.5 |
20.5 |
Pictures on the official ETCC
website are provided by Anastasiya Karlovich,
Tzveta Karavelova and Goran Urosevic.
Choo-CHOO, dammit! Players riding a toy train to the venue
So you used to play for Slovakia?? Armenian comrades Levon Aronian and Sergey
Movsesian
Spectators watching a game (Shirov-Parligras, which Black won convincingly)
GM David Navara (left, trademark smile) leading the Czech team
GM Sergey Karjakin, whose draw with Jan Smeets cost Russia a win against
the Netherlands
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, taking an off in round three
Needs no introduction – GM Viktor Kortchnoi, 80, playing on board two
for Switzerland
GM Nadezhda Kosintseva in the second round against GM Hoang
Thanh Trang of Hungary who proved a match for her and split the point
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk with the Russian flag painted on her fingernail
WIM Drljevic Ljilja of Serbia, who held Georgian IM Melia Salome
The Greeks: WGM Makroupoulou Marina and IM Dembo Yelena
GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan who drew with Greek GM Banikas although
his team cruised to victory
http://photo.chessdom.com/displayimage.php?album=315&pos=107
The Romanian women’s team lead by WGM Alina L'ami (or l'Ami) fell
to Russia
The Armenian women’s team: Elina Danielian, Lilit Mkrtchian, Lilit
Galojan, Maria Kursova
Links
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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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