ETCC R8: Germany upturns tables with win over Azerbaijan

11/10/2011 – And the leader changes again! Germany scored a surprise 2.5-1.5 victory over Azerbaijan, with Arkadij Naiditsch convincingly defeating Teimour Radjabov on the top board. They (the Germans!) now share the lead with Armenia, who outplayed Netherlands. The Russian women moved closer to the title by beating France. Individual board ranking lists are out. Round eight report.

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3rd – 11th November in Halkidiki, Greece

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.

Round eight report

Round eight had plenty of action with the race for the top spot heating up. Leaders Azerbaijan were stopped by Germany thanks to Arkadij Naiditsch’s win against Teimour Radjabov with black. Radjabov tried some early queenside pawn advances in the Reti Opening, which never quite paid off and left Black with a readymade target on the a-file. Naiditsch built up his forces and executed the finish in 50 moves.


The fateful game Radjabov vs Naiditch (with Georg Meier on the next board)

[Event "18th Euro-TCh Open"] [Site "Porto Carras/Greece"] [Date "2011.11.11"] [Round "8"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A09"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2712"] [Annotator "Kruttika"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Aserbeidschan"] [BlackTeam "Deutschland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 f6 4. d3 (4. e3 e5 5. c5 a5 6. Bc4 dxe3 7. fxe3 axb4 8. d4 Nc6 9. O-O Na5 10. Nxe5 Nxc4 11. Nxc4 Be6 12. Nbd2 Ne7 13. Bb2 Nd5 14. Qf3 b5 15. cxb6 Nxb6 16. Nxb6 cxb6 17. Qc6+ Bd7 18. Qd5 Be7 19. Nc4 b5 20. Ne5 Rf8 21. Nxd7 Ra7 22. Qh5+ g6 23. Qxh7 Qxd7 24. Qxg6+ Kd8 25. d5 Kc8 26. Rac1+ Kb8 27. d6 Qxd6 28. Rfd1 Qa6 29. Qg3+ Ka8 30. Qf3+ Qb7 31. Rc6 Rxa2 32. Rd7 Qxd7 33. Rc7+ {1-0 Kramnik,V (2772)-Aronian,L (2786)/Moscow 2009/EXT 2010}) 4... e5 5. b5 a6 6. bxa6 Nxa6 7. g3 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 Ne7 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. Bxb4 Nxb4 12. Qb3 Nec6 13. Nbd2 Qe7 14. Qb2 Ra7 15. Nb3 Rfa8 16. a3 Na6 17. Ne1 Nd8 18. Nc2 Bc6 19. f4 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 c5 {White seems to have solved most of his problems, but plunges back into the defensive:} 21. e4 $6 Nf7 22. Nd2 Nb8 23. f5 Nd7 24. g4 Qd8 25. Rab1 Qa5 26. Nf3 Nd6 27. Kh1 Ra6 28. Qa1 Kh8 29. g5 $6 {What is with Radjabov and pawn pushes in this game? This one too is going to backfire.} fxg5 30. Rg1 h6 31. h4 gxh4 32. Rbf1 b5 33. cxb5 Qxb5 34. Qd1 c4 35. dxc4 Qb7 36. Nb4 Rxa3 37. c5 Nxe4 38. c6 Qxb4 39. cxd7 {Tell us you were not pinning any hopes on this pawn, Radja!} Qb7 40. Kh2 Ra2+ 41. Rg2 Qxd7 42. Nxh4 Rxg2+ 43. Kxg2 {Three extra passed pawns - it is all over now, and has been for a while.} Nf6 44. Ng6+ Kh7 45. Nxe5 Qd5+ 46. Nf3 Ra2+ 47. Kh1 d3 48. Kg1 Qe4 49. Rf2 Qe3 50. Nd2 Qd4 0-1

The other three games in the match between Meier-Gashimov, Mamedyarov-Fridman and Gustafsson-Safarli were all drawn. Mamedyarov had a dangerous looking initiative towards the end with two pieces and two pawns for a rook, but Black’s tricks saved him.

[Event "18th Euro-TCh Open"] [Site "Porto Carras/Greece"] [Date "2011.11.11"] [Round "8"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Fridman, Daniel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D56"] [WhiteElo "2733"] [BlackElo "2661"] [Annotator "Kruttika"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Aserbeidschan"] [BlackTeam "Deutschland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. g4 Nd7 11. h4 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 c5 13. g5 h5 14. Be2 g6 15. cxd5 exd5 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Qxd5 Na4 18. Rc4 Be6 19. Qe5 Nxb2 20. Qxb2 Bxc4 21. Bxc4 Qe4 22. Be2 Rac8 23. O-O Rc2 24. Qd4 Re8 25. Bb5 Re7 26. Qxe4 Rxe4 27. Ra1 Rb2 28. a4 Reb4 29. Kg2 Rg4+ 30. Kf1 Rgb4 31. Rd1 Rb1 32. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 33. Ke2 a6 34. Bc4 Rb2+ 35. Kf1 Rb4 36. Ne5 Kg7 37. Bxf7 Re4 38. Nc4 b5 39. axb5 axb5 40. Bd5 Rxh4 41. Ne5 Ra4 42. Nc6 Ra1+ 43. Kg2 Rb1 44. Nd4 b4 45. Ne6+ Kh7 46. Nf8+ Kg7 47. Nxg6 b3 48. Nf4 b2 49. Nxh5+ Kh8 50. Be4 Rc1 51. g6 {hastens the draw} ({ This position deserves analysis} 51. Nf6 Rc4 52. Bd3 Rc3 53. Bg6 Kg7 54. Bh7 Rc6 {and White still has a tricky task ahead}) 51... Rc5 52. Nf4 Rc4 53. Bf5 Rc5 54. Bb1 Rc1 55. Bd3 Rc3 56. Bb1 Rc1 57. Bf5 Rc5 58. g7+ Kxg7 59. Bb1 1/2-1/2


Missed a possible win? Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on board three
(with trainer Vladimir Tukmakov in the background)


Any idea what we have in store for you? Aronian, Movsessian, Akopian, Safarli, van Wely, Giri

Meanwhile Armenia handed Netherlands a 3-1 defeat with Aronian and Akopian beating Giri and Sokolov respectively. Van Wely-Movsesian and Stellwagen-Sargissian split the point. Akopian-Sokolov was a staid Ruy Lopez in which White exploited his space advantage to get into a favourable endgame with a protected passed pawn on d5. Aronian-Anish Giri was more dynamic and it was the Armenian’s precise middlegame play that earned him the point.


In round eight Alexander Grischuk played on board one for Russia


Former Ukrainian child prodigy Sergey Karjakin scoring for Russia

Top seeds Russia bounced back with a win over France. Grischuk and Karjakin both had their opponents Bacrot and Vachier-Lagrave resign in the face of imminent checkmate, but France struck back with Christian Bauer defeating Nepomniachtchi. Bauer is leading the board five list with 6/7.


Bulgaria-Italy ended 3-1, with Veselin Topalov beating Michele Godena on board one,
and Ivan Cheparinov beating IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl on board two

Top results (Open)

Bo. 3 Azerbaijan Rtg
1½:2½
 10 Germany Rtg
1.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2781
0-1
 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2712
1.2 GM Gashimov Vugar 2757
½-½
 GM Meier Georg 2659
1.3 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2733
½-½
 GM Fridman Daniel 2661
1.4 GM Safarli Eltaj 2630
½-½
 GM Gustafsson Jan 2633
Bo. 4 Armenia Rtg
3:1
 9 Netherlands Rtg
2.1 GM Aronian Levon 2802
1-0
 GM Giri Anish 2714
2.2 GM Movsesian Sergei 2710
½-½
 GM Van Wely Loek 2686
2.3 GM Akopian Vladimir 2681
1-0
 GM Sokolov Ivan 2646
2.4 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2671
½-½
 GM Stellwagen Daniel 2627
Bo. 17 Romania Rtg
2:2
 5 Hungary Rtg
3.1 GM Lupulescu Constantin 2657
½-½
 GM Leko Peter 2720
3.2 GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian 2650
0-1
 GM Almasi Zoltan 2707
3.3 GM Vajda Levente 2584
1-0
 GM Berkes Ferenc 2705
3.4 GM Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula 2553
½-½
 GM Balogh Csaba 2662
Bo. 7 Bulgaria Rtg
3:1
 22 Italy Rtg
4.1 GM Topalov Veselin 2768
1-0
 GM Godena Michele 2548
4.2 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2650
1-0
 IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2475
4.3 GM Delchev Aleksander 2629
½-½
 GM Brunello Sabino 2575
4.4 GM Georgiev Kiril 2666
½-½
 IM Rombaldoni Axel 2459
Bo. 1 Russia Rtg
2½:1½
 6 France Rtg
5.1 GM Grischuk Alexander 2752
1-0
 GM Bacrot Etienne 2714
5.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2763
1-0
 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2710
5.3 GM Morozevich Alexander 2762
½-½
 GM Fressinet Laurent 2700
5.4 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2730
0-1
 GM Bauer Christian 2641
Bo. 12 Czech Rep. Rtg
2½:1½
 18 Serbia Rtg
6.1 GM Navara David 2724
½-½
 GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2636
6.2 GM Laznicka Viktor 2703
½-½
 GM Solak Dragan 2629
6.3 GM Hracek Zbynek 2628
½-½
 GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2563
6.4 GM Stocek Jiri 2600
1-0
 GM Perunovic Milos 2576
Bo. 14 Poland Rtg
2:2
 19 Greece Rtg
7.1 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2705
½-½
 GM Banikas Hristos 2620
7.2 GM Socko Bartosz 2635
½-½
 GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2621
7.3 GM Bartel Mateusz 2653
½-½
 GM Halkias Stelios 2593
7.4 GM Miton Kamil 2622
½-½
 GM Nikolaidis Ioannis 2554
Bo. 21 Slovenia Rtg
3:1
 26 Switzerland Rtg
8.1 GM Beliavsky Alexander G 2617
½-½
 GM Pelletier Yannick 2581
8.2 GM Lenic Luka 2634
½-½
 GM Korchnoi Viktor 2567
8.3 GM Borisek Jure 2541
1-0
 IM Kurmann Oliver 2451
8.4 GM Skoberne Jure 2533
1-0
 IM Forster Richard 2458
Bo. 13 Spain Rtg
3:1
 27 Latvia Rtg
9.1 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2705
½-½
 GM Miezis Normunds 2547
9.2 GM Shirov Alexei 2705
½-½
 GM Sveshnikov Evgeny 2514
9.3 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2609
1-0
 IM Neiksans Arturs 2502
9.4 GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2568
1-0
 GM Starostits Ilmars 2456
Bo. 16 Croatia Rtg
2½:1½
 20 Moldova Rtg
10.1 GM Stevic Hrvoje 2612
½-½
 GM Bologan Viktor 2665
10.2 GM Saric Ivan 2648
1-0
 GM Iordachescu Viorel 2648
10.3 GM Palac Mladen 2580
½-½
 GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2621
10.4 GM Brkic Ante 2605
½-½
 IM Vedmediuc Serghei 2465

Armenia and Germany are now leading the pack with 13 match points each and will face each other in the ninth and final round. They are followed by Bulgaria and Azerbaijan on 12 match points each.

Top standings after eight rounds (open)

Rk.
SNo
 Team
Gms
  + 
  = 
 – 
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
TB4
TB5
1
4
 Armenia
8
6
1
1
13
21.0
132.0
335.8
99.0
2
10
 Germany
8
6
1
1
13
20.0
143.5
355.3
107.0
3
3
 Azerbaijan
8
5
2
1
12
20.0
146.5
366.8
109.0
4
7
 Bulgaria
8
5
2
1
12
18.5
145.0
333.0
108.5
5
5
 Hungary
8
4
3
1
11
19.0
132.0
306.0
99.0
6
17
 Romania
8
5
1
2
11
19.0
124.0
270.5
98.5
7
1
 Russia
8
5
1
2
11
18.5
141.0
322.0
104.5
8
12
 Czech Rep.
8
3
4
1
10
17.0
138.5
287.3
106.0
9
9
 Netherlands
8
4
2
2
10
16.5
144.5
294.8
110.0
10
21
 Slovenia
8
4
2
2
10
16.5
140.5
287.5
107.0
11
14
 Poland
8
3
3
2
9
19.0
128.5
298.5
96.5
12
6
 France
8
3
3
2
9
17.5
144.0
307.0
109.0
13
19
 Greece
8
4
1
3
9
17.5
133.0
265.8
107.5
14
13
 Spain
8
4
1
3
9
17.0
145.5
305.0
110.5
15
22
 Italy
8
4
1
3
9
16.5
132.5
250.8
107.0
16
16
 Croatia
8
3
3
2
9
16.0
140.5
274.3
106.0

Women's section

There were no surprises in the women’s section as the Russian ladies cruised past France and extended their lead to two match points over nearest rival Poland. Nadezhda Kosintseva playing white on board one crushed Sophie Millet’s Schliemann/Jaenisch Defence without much ado and led her team to a 3-1 victory.


IM Sophie Millet of France (right) in her game against Nadezhda Kosintseva

[Event "18th Euro-TCh Women"] [Site "Porto Carras/Greece"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "8"] [White "Kosintseva, Nadezhda"] [Black "Milliet, Sophie"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C63"] [WhiteElo "2546"] [BlackElo "2386"] [PlyCount "109"] [WhiteTeam "Russland"] [BlackTeam "Frankreich"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. d3 fxe4 5. dxe4 Nf6 6. O-O d6 7. a3 Bg4 8. Qd3 Qd7 9. Nc3 Be7 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nd5 O-O $2 {This can't be good, as we can see in the predecessor game.} 12. Bxc6 (12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Qb3 Qe6 14. Nxe7+ Kf7 15. Qxe6+ Kxe6 16. Nf5 Bg6 17. Nd4+ Ke7 18. f4 Ned7 19. e5 Nd5 20. Bxd7 Kxd7 21. e6+ Ke7 22. f5 Be8 23. Bg5+ Nf6 24. g4 a5 25. Rad1 a4 26. Bh4 h6 27. Ne2 Ra5 28. Nf4 c6 29. Nd3 Rg8 30. c4 Ra6 31. c5 dxc5 32. Nxc5 Ra5 33. Ne4 Rb5 34. Rf2 Rh8 35. Rfd2 h5 36. Nc3 hxg4 37. Bxf6+ gxf6 38. Nxb5 cxb5 39. hxg4 Rh4 40. Rd4 Bc6 41. R1d2 {1-0 (41) Silva Sanchez,C-Szmetan,J/Fortaleza 1975/EXT 2002}) 12... bxc6 13. Nxe5 Qe8 14. Nxc6 Nxd5 15. Qxd5+ Bf7 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Bg5 Qe8 18. Qd4 Qc6 19. Rfe1 Rab8 20. Bd2 Qc4 21. Bc3 Qxd4 22. Bxd4 a6 23. b4 Rfe8 24. Re3 Rb5 25. c4 Rbb8 26. c5 dxc5 27. Bxc5 Rbd8 28. Rae1 Bc4 29. f4 Rd2 30. Kh2 Red8 31. f5 Rc2 32. Rg3 Rdd2 33. Be3 Re2 34. Rd1 Rc3 35. Rd8+ Kf7 36. Rd7+ (36. Bc5 {with the mate-in-one threat 37.Rf8# would have won a full rook. But of course White is still winning.}) 36... Ke8 37. Rxc7 Rexe3 38. Rxe3 Rxe3 39. Rxc4 Rxa3 40. Rc7 Kf8 41. e5 Rb3 42. f6 gxf6 43. exf6 Rxb4 44. Rxh7 Rb6 45. g4 Rxf6 46. Ra7 Rf2+ 47. Kg3 Ra2 48. h4 a5 49. h5 a4 50. h6 Kg8 51. Kh4 a3 52. Kh5 Kf8 53. h7 Rh2+ 54. Kg6 a2 55. Rxa2 1-0


IM Anna Muzychuk playing for Slovenia. Despite her team’s loss to Romania
Anna is leading the board one list with 7.5/8 and a rating performance of 2775


Team Ukraine in 3-4 place: Kateryna Lahno, Anna Ushenina and Inna Gaponenko


Turkish talent WIM Kübra Öztürk, rated 2239, who has scored 5.5/8 with a 2433 performance

Top results (Women)

Bo. 1 Russia Rtg
3:1
 12 France Rtg
1.1 GM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2546
1-0
 IM Milliet Sophie 2386
1.2 GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2526
½-½
 WGM Maisuradze Nino 2315
1.3 IM Gunina Valentina 2514
½-½
 WGM Guichard Pauline 2305
1.4 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2451
1-0
 IM Collas Silvia 2287
Bo. 5 Poland Rtg
2½:1½
 18 Czech Rep. Rtg
2.1 GM Socko Monika 2479
½-½
 WGM Kulovana Eva 2297
2.2 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2326
1-0
 WGM Nemcova Katerina 2276
2.3 WGM Majdan Gajewska Joanna 2386
1-0
 WIM Havlikova Kristyna 2285
2.4 WIM Toma Katarzyna 2297
0-1
 WIM Olsarova Tereza 2232
Bo. 3 Georgia Rtg
3:1
 8 Bulgaria Rtg
3.1 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2516
½-½
 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2531
3.2 IM Javakhishvili Lela 2475
½-½
 WGM Videnova Iva 2297
3.3 IM Khurtsidze Nino 2440
1-0
 WGM Djingarova Emilia 2309
3.4 IM Melia Salome 2392
1-0
 WGM Nikolova Adriana 2286
Bo. 2 Ukraine Rtg
3:1
 6 Hungary Rtg
4.1 GM Lahno Kateryna 2549
½-½
 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2446
4.2 IM Ushenina Anna 2463
1-0
 IM Madl Ildiko 2399
4.3 IM Gaponenko Inna 2435
½-½
 WGM Gara Ticia 2375
4.4 IM Muzychuk Mariya 2460
1-0
 IM Gara Anita 2340
Bo. 14 Serbia Rtg
1½:2½
 4 Armenia Rtg
5.1 IM Bojkovic Natasa 2396
½-½
 GM Danielian Elina 2507
5.2 WGM Chelushkina Irina 2276
0-1
 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2469
5.3 WGM Stojanovic Andjelija 2280
1-0
 IM Galojan Lilit 2383
5.4 WIM Drljevic Ljilja 2273
0-1
 WGM Kursova Maria 2315
Bo. 11 Slovenia Rtg
1:3
 9 Romania Rtg
6.1 IM Muzychuk Anna 2557
1-0
 IM Foisor Cristina-Adela 2418
6.2 WGM Krivec Jana 2291
0-1
 WGM L'ami Alina 2364
6.3 WGM Srebrnic Ana 2219
0-1
 WIM Bulmaga Irina 2334
6.4 WIM Rozic Vesna 2263
0-1
 WGM Voicu Jagodzinsky Carmen 2300
Bo. 7 Germany Rtg
2½:1½
 19 Croatia Rtg
7.1 WGM Michna Marta 2382
½-½
 WGM Golubenko Valentina 2293
7.2 WIM Ohme Melanie 2361
1-0
 WIM Franciskovic Borka 2280
7.3 WGM Levushkina Elena 2307
1-0
 WIM Saric Kristina 2255
7.4 WIM Hoolt Sarah 2286
0-1
 WIM Jelica Mara 2234

Top standings after eight rounds (women)

Rk.
SNo
 Team
Gms
  + 
  = 
 – 
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
TB4
TB5
1
1
 Russia
8
7
1
0
15
22.5
143.5
395.8
107.5
2
5
 Poland
8
6
1
1
13
21.0
140.5
356.0
106.5
3
2
 Ukraine
8
6
0
2
12
20.5
139.5
343.5
102.5
4
3
 Georgia
8
6
0
2
12
20.0
147.5
359.0
109.5
5
12
 France
8
5
0
3
10
18.0
136.5
293.5
102.0
6
4
 Armenia
8
4
2
2
10
17.0
141.5
291.8
104.5
7
7
 Germany
8
4
1
3
9
18.5
127.5
292.8
96.0
8
18
 Czech Rep.
8
3
3
2
9
17.0
138.0
289.3
101.5
9
15
 Israel
8
4
1
3
9
17.0
128.0
263.0
93.5
10
8
 Bulgaria
8
4
1
3
9
16.5
143.0
282.3
107.5
11
21
 Austria
8
4
1
3
9
16.5
108.5
199.5
87.5
12
9
 Romania
8
4
1
3
9
15.0
145.0
254.8
107.0

With only one round left and 15 match points in the kitty, the Russian women’s third title in this event is nearly assured. Poland, who have 13 points, are followed by Georgia and Ukraine with 12 match points each.

Pictures on the official ETCC website are provided by
Anastasiya Karlovich, Tzveta Karavelova and Goran Urosevic.

Links

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