European Teams: Ukraine catches Russia

England still with a chance

Four matches will decide which squad takes home the gold in the open section of the European Team Championships. Ukraine and Russia are sharing the lead on 13 points, while England are on sole third place with 12. Armenia, Germany and Croatia still have a theoretical chance of sharing first place, as they stand two match points behind the leaders and the final round pairings make it possible — albeit highly unlikely — for 13 points to be the winning score.

At first glance, it seems like Ukraine have it easy, as they face the 15^th seeds from Croatia while Russia are paired up against the 3^rd seeds from Poland. Nonetheless, we must point out that the Polish team did not have a great run in Batumi, only making up for lost ground in the last two rounds after a haphazard performance throughout. At the same time, finishing the event with a win over the favourites would be a great way to redeem themselves...and maybe even get a place in the podium.

On the other hand, the Croatian team should not be underestimated, as they have collected wins over France and Spain, and have drawn the defending champions from Azerbaijan. Also, the squad led by Ivan Saric was the only one capable of taking down Israel, who drew six out of their eight matches in Batumi so far.

Finally, on board three, two of the teams that have impressed the most in the tournament will fight to reach the podium. Germany only lost their undefeated run in round eight against Ukraine, while England beat Armenia and drew Russia in their last two outings. It must be noted that the experienced leaders of both teams — Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Michael Adams — have been showing great poise on board one.

Azerbaijan are out of contention, while Armenia still have a chance | Photo: Official site

Since we last reported after round six, Daniil Dubov played what GM Daniel King suspects to have been the game of the year. The Russian faced Germany's Rasmus Svane, and out of a Queen's Gambit Declined used a bold novelty on the eighth move:

A dynamic weapon against the QGD - 5.Bf4

This DVD concentrates on the increasingly popular 5.Bf4 variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined and gives White a dynamic and aggressive weapon against Black's set-up.

8.0-0-0 signals White will be looking for an attack on the kingside! And that is precisely what Dubov did. The amount of astounding manoeuvres the Russian found are almost uncountable. While a rook down, the 23-year-old chased the king from its post on the kingside all the way to a3! This is how the game came to an end:

Dubov had to see beforehand that the nice-looking 36.♗b3 wins here, as any other move would give Black a large advantage. White has mate-in-five in fact, and Svane allowed his rival to show it over the board — the game concluded with 36...♝d7 37.♕c1+ ♚xb3 38.♕c2+ ♚a3 39.♕a2#.

Grandmaster Daniel King analysed the game in full:

This victory was not enough for Russia to take down Germany, as Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu showed great tactical alertness to defeat Nikita Vitiugov on board one. This meant Ukraine and England were now a point behind the Russians, as both teams got deserving wins over the Czech Republic and Armenia in round seven.

Germany vs. Russia - Round 7

In the penultimate day of action, the top two seeds — Russia and England — were finally paired up against each other. On board two, Vitiugov bounced back from his loss against Nisipeanu with a victory over Luke McShane, but Mickey Adams saved the draw for the Englishmen as he inflicted Dmitry Andreikin's first loss of the tournament. Adams used his trademark patient style to get into a rook ending a pawn to the good, and duly converted it into a full point:

Power Play 16 - Test Your Rook Endgames

The aim of this DVD is to provide you with the practical skills and knowledge that you will need to play a rook and pawn endgame. Based on his own playing experience, Grandmaster Daniel King reveals what is essential knowledge, saving you time in your studies. The Power Play series is suitable for anyone looking to improve their chess, but also provides ready-made lessons and exercises for a trainer.
Running time: 5 hours

Andreikin's 55...e4 was the last decisive mistake. After 56.fxe4 ♚xg4 Black's king is cut out from the action by the rook on f8 and White's passer on the e-file is unstoppable. 

England vs. Russia - Round 8

In the meantime, Ukraine got the better of Germany. This match-up could have ended in a draw, however, as Svane lost a second sharp game in a row, although this time he had a considerable advantage before the tables turned in Vladimir Onischuk's favour:

Master Class Vol.2: Mihail Tal

On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.

Try your own variations on the diagram above!

Once again the German youngster is a rook up in a crazy struggle. The only winning move in the diagrammed position was 34.♕e3, but we cannot blame Svane for not being able to assess — with the clock ticking down shortly before the time control — that Black's attack after 34...♜h3+ is not winning. The key variation after the check went 35.♔g2 ♛g3+ 36.♔f1 ♜h1+ 37.♘g1 ♝h3+ and 38.♔e2, with no mate for Black.

Instead, White opted for 34.♖e2 and after 34...♝g4 faltered decisively with 35.♖f1. Onischuk quickly played 35...♝xf3+ 36.♖xf3 ♜xf3 37.♕d2 ♜f1+ with mate-in-two on the board.

Ukraine vs. Germany - Round 8

Standings after Round 8 (top 10) - Open

...40 teams

Games from Rounds 7 and 8 - Open

All games available at Live.Chessbase.com

Russia still ahead in the Women's

Much like in the open section, the Russian women's team is the only undefeated squad in its category. The winners of the last two editions continued with their strategy of letting Olga Girya play all her games with Black while making sure that Valentina Gunina always has the white pieces when in the line-up.

In round seven, the team led by World Championship challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina (currently on 5½ out of 8 and undefeated) got a commanding 4:0 victory over Poland. The next day, however, they were down on the score board against Armenia, as Anna Sargsyan took down Gunina on board four. Kateryna Lagno came to the rescue though, as she converted an ending with rook and bishop versus rook against Siranush Ghukasyan:

Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play

Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.

The Armenian had defended this theoretical endgame for almost thirty moves, but faltered in the diagrammed position. She needed to play 107...♚e8 instead of 107...♚c8. Lagno did not let this opportunity go to waste and forced her opponent's resignation five moves later: 108.♔d6 ♚b8 109.♖b7+ ♚c8 110.♖a7 ♜b1 111.♖g7 ♜b6+ 112.♗c6 1-0.

Armenia vs. Russia - Round 8

Naturally, Russia are the favourites to win it all, as they will face the tenth seeds from Turkey in the last round. On second board, the two local teams — Georgia and Georgia 2 — will face each other, while Azerbaijan and Armenia will also be fighting to reach the podium.

Georgia beat Azebaijan in round seven | Photo: Official site

Standings after Round 8 (top 10) - Women's

...32 teams

Games from Rounds 7 and 8 - Women's

All games available at Live.Chessbase.com

Links

• Official site
• Round 1: Denmark and Austria stun favourites
• Rounds 2-3: Three leaders per section
• Rounds 4-5: Russian squads climb to the top
• Round 6: Russia take the sole lead