Is this 1992?
Garry Kasparov's rise to the top was meteoric and at his very first attempt he managed to become World Champion, the youngest of all time. In over six hours of video, he gives a first hand account of crucial events from recent chess history, you can improve your chess understanding and enjoy explanations and comments from a unique and outstanding personality on and off the chess board.
Russia took gold medals at the open section of the European Team Championships for a fifth time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union — the USSR won in 1989 and Russia won the next time the event took place, in Debrecen 1992. While Garry Kasparov was the leader of that team, Peter Svidler was the one on first board the next three occasions Russia got gold. The eight-time national champion was not part of the line-up this year though, as a renewed squad took over.
The Ukrainians, who were co-leaders until round eight, ended up in second place. Surprisingly, they never got gold at this event, and this is the second time they take home silver medals. The last time they did was precisely in 1992, when none other than Vassily Ivanchuk was their first board. Ivanchuk, a player known for taking team events very seriously, played all nine rounds and scored 5½ points, getting the seventh highest rating performance in Batumi.
England took third place and — yes, you got that right — they also got bronze back in 1992! The English went on to get their only gold in the next edition, played in 1997. Needless to say, Mickey Adams was in the line-up both times. Much like Ivanchuk, the 47-year-old from Truro collected 5½ points after playing all nine rounds. In Debrecen, twenty-seven years ago, Adams got the third best rating performance, below FIDE Master Vladimir Kramnik and world champion Kasparov.

The 2019 winners — Alexander Riazantsev, Maxim Matlakov, Kirill Alekseenko, Dmitry Andreikin, Nikita Vitiugov, Daniil Dubov and Alexander Motylev (captain) | Photo: Twitter account of the Russian Chess Federation
The final round
|
Ukraine |
13 |
2 |
: |
2 |
11 |
Croatia |
|
|
Russia |
13 |
2½ |
: |
1½ |
10 |
Poland |
|
|
Germany |
11 |
1½ |
: |
2½ |
12 |
England |
|
On top board, the Croatian team proved they did not get to face the co-leaders in the last round by mere coincidence, as they drew Ukraine in a hard-fought match. The last game to finish was tense-packed, as Ivanchuk could not break Ivan Saric's fortress in an endgame with queen and pawn versus rook and pawn.
Ukraine vs. Croatia
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nf3 dxc4 6.Na3 0-0 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Nxc4 a5 8...Be6 9.b3 Bd5 10.Bb2 a5 11.Rc1 a4 12.bxa4 b6 13.e3 e6 14.Nfd2 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Nd5 16.Qb3 Na5 17.Nxa5 Rxa5 18.Nc4 Ra6 19.e4 Ne7 20.Rfd1 9.e3 Be6 10.Qe2 a4N 10...Bd5 11.Bd2 e6 12.Rfc1 Qe7 13.Be1 Rfd8 14.a3 h6 15.Qc2 11.Bd2 Bd5 12.Rfc1 Qc8 13.Be1 Rd8 14.a3 h6 15.Rc2 Qe6 16.Rac1 Be4 17.Rd2! Bd5 18.Rdd1 Ne4 19.Qf1 Ng5 20.Nxg5 hxg5 21.h3 21.Nd2!? Bxg2 22.Qxg2= 21...g4 22.hxg4 Qxg4 23.Nd2 e5 24.e4 Ba2 25.d5 Nd4 26.f3 Qd7 27.Bf2 c6 28.Bxd4! exd4 29.Ra1 Bb3 30.Nxb3 axb3 31.f4 cxd5 32.e5 Qg4 33.Rd3 Bf8 33...g5 34.Bh3± Qh5 35.Kg2 Rac8 36.Bxc8 Rxc8 37.Rad1! Rc2+ 38.R1d2 Bc5 39.Qf3 Qf5 40.Re2! Qe4 40...Bxa3± 41.Rxb3 Bc5 41.Rdd2!+- d3? 41...Rxd2 42.Rxd2 b6 42.Rxe4 Rxd2+ 43.Kh3 dxe4 44.Qxe4 Bg1 45.Kg4! Bf2 46.f5 gxf5+ 47.Kxf5? 47.Qxf5 Rc2 48.e6 fxe6 49.Qxe6+ Kh8 50.Qe5+ Kh7 51.Qe4+ Kh6 52.Qe6+ Kg7 53.Qxb3 47...Bc5 48.Kg4 48.Qxb7?! Rxb2 49.Qc8+ Bf8± 48...Rxb2 49.Qxd3 Bxa3 50.e6! Rf2? 50...fxe6 51.Qg6+ Kh8 52.Qh6+ Kg8 53.Qxe6+ Kf8 51.Qd8+ Kg7 52.e7 Bxe7 53.Qxe7 b2 54.Qxb7 Re2 55.Kf3 Rd2 56.Qb6 Kg8 57.g4 Rc2 58.g5 Rc6 59.Qxb2 59.Qxc6 b1Q= 59...Re6 60.Kf4 Kh7 61.Kf5 Kg8 62.Qd4 Kh7 63.Qd8 Kg7 64.Qb8 Rg6 65.Qc8 Re6 66.Qd8 Rg6 67.Ke5 Re6+ 68.Kd5 Rg6 69.Qe7 Re6 70.Qb4 Kg8 71.Qb2 Kh7 72.Qb8 Kg7 73.Qd8 Rg6! 74.Ke5 Re6+! 75.Kf5 Rg6 76.Qa8 Re6 77.Qa1+ Kh7 78.Qd1 Kg7 79.Qh5 Rd6 80.Qe2 Re6 81.Qd2 Kg8 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
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Ivanchuk,V | 2686 | Saric,I | 2667 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.1 |
Bosiocic,M | 2619 | Volokitin,A | 2627 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.2 |
Moiseenko,A | 2635 | Stevic,H | 2570 | 0–1 | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.3 |
Brkic,A | 2600 | Onischuk,V | 2616 | 0–1 | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.4 |
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While Saric defended that position, the Russians had already won their match against Poland. Three balanced games finished in draws, but Kirill Alekseenko was the key figure for the eventual champions, as he took down Kacper Piorun on board three.
Russia vs. Poland
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 0-0 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qd3 Nxc3 10.Ng5 10...Ne4! 10...Qxg5?! 11.Bxb7 Nxa2 12.Bxa8± 11.Nxe4 Nc6 12.0-0 a5N 12...f5 13.Nc3 Nb4 14.Qd2 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Nc6 16.Rad1 Qf6 13.Rfd1 d6 14.f4 h6 15.Qc3 Qe7 16.Nf2 e5 17.e3 Rfe8 18.d5 Nb4 19.f5 Bc8 20.g4 Bd7 21.a3 Na6 22.b4 h5 23.h3 23.gxh5 Bxf5 24.e4 Bd7= 23.bxa5 bxa5 24.e4 Qg5= 23...hxg4 24.hxg4 g6 25.e4 Kg7 26.Rd3 Qg5 27.Rb1 Rh8 28.Qd2 Qxd2 28...Qh4 29.Rh3 29.Rxd2 axb4 30.axb4 Nb8 31.Rdd1 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
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Andreikin,D | 2741 | Duda,J | 2734 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.5 |
Wojtaszek,R | 2748 | Vitiugov,N | 2732 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.6 |
Alekseenko,K | 2674 | Piorun,K | 2643 | 1–0 | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.7 |
Dragun,K | 2584 | Dubov,D | 2699 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.8 |
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Other player who came from having a good outing on the Isle of Man — like Alekseenko — gave England match victory over Germany. David Howell outplayed Daniel Fridman in a complex queenless middlegame to get his team the bronze medals. The Germans had a great performance until round seven, when they drew Russia, but consecutive losses against Ukraine and England relegated them to ninth place.
Germany vs. England
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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 dxc4 7.Ne5 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Bxc5 10.0-0 Nd5 11.Ne3 Bxe3 11...Nc6 12.N3xc4 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bd4 14.Nd3 12.Bxe3 Nxe3N 12...b5 13.a4 f6 14.Nf3 b4 15.Rfc1 Nc6 16.Nd2 Na5 17.Bc5 13.fxe3 c3 14.bxc3 Na6 15.Rab1 Rb8 16.Rf4 f6! 17.Nd3 b5 18.c4 Bd7 19.Rd4 bxc4 20.Rxb8 Nxb8 21.Rxc4 Rc8 22.Rb4 Na6 23.Rb7 Rc7 24.Rb2 Kf7 25.Bb7 Nc5 26.Nxc5 Rxc5 27.Be4 Rc7 28.Kf2 h6 29.Rb8 e5 30.Bd5+ Be6 ½–½
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Nisipeanu,L | 2656 | Adams,M | 2694 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.9 |
McShane,L | 2682 | Bluebaum,M | 2643 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.10 |
Fridman,D | 2637 | Howell,D | 2694 | 0–1 | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.11 |
Jones,G | 2688 | Svane,R | 2592 | ½–½ | 2019 | | 22nd ETCC Open 2019 | 9.12 |
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Individual medals - Open
Gold medallist on board two Berkes Ferenc from Hungary got the best rating performance of the event, scoring an undefeated 5 out of 7 in Batumi. Two other players that stand out in these lists are Daniil Dubov, who not only performed well but also played enterprising chess from start to finish, and Alexei Shirov, who got gold on board three and proved that his strong showing at the Grand Swiss was not a chance occurrence.
Ever since the Kasparov-Kramnik WCh match (London 2000) players with the white pieces have been breaking their teeth biting on the Berlin Wall in the Ruy Lopez. The situation from White’s point of view has become precarious – ducking it is equivalent to capitulation, because in all alternative variations to the Berlin endgame White gives up from the start on the struggle for an opening advantage. White has to find ways to crack open Black’s defence. There is hardly any other grandmaster of his class who is as well known for his uncompromising and creative play as the Latvian Alexei Shirov.
Board 1 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
GM |
Andreikin Dmitry |
2741 |
Russia |
2817 |
5,5 |
68,8 |
8 |
2 |
GM |
Aronian Levon |
2758 |
Armenia |
2790 |
5,0 |
62,5 |
8 |
3 |
GM |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2686 |
Ukraine |
2771 |
5,5 |
61,1 |
9 |
Board 2 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
GM |
Berkes Ferenc |
2667 |
Hungary |
2844 |
6,0 |
85,7 |
7 |
2 |
GM |
Kuzubov Yuriy |
2636 |
Ukraine |
2767 |
4,0 |
66,7 |
6 |
3 |
GM |
Vitiugov Nikita |
2732 |
Russia |
2749 |
4,5 |
64,3 |
7 |
Board 3 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
GM |
Shirov Alexei |
2664 |
Spain |
2781 |
6,5 |
81,3 |
8 |
2 |
GM |
Halkias Stelios |
2530 |
Greece |
2781 |
5,5 |
78,6 |
7 |
3 |
GM |
Volokitin Andrei |
2627 |
Ukraine |
2748 |
4,5 |
64,3 |
7 |
Board 4 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
GM |
Dubov Daniil |
2699 |
Russia |
2805 |
5,5 |
78,6 |
7 |
2 |
GM |
Onischuk Vladimir |
2616 |
Ukraine |
2760 |
6,0 |
75,0 |
8 |
3 |
GM |
Jones Gawain C B |
2688 |
England |
2713 |
5,5 |
68,8 |
8 |
Final standings (top 10) - Open
1 |
1 |
|
Russia |
RUS |
9 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
224,5 |
22,5 |
2 |
8 |
|
Ukraine |
UKR |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
236,5 |
22,5 |
3 |
2 |
|
England |
ENG |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
219,0 |
22,5 |
4 |
5 |
|
Armenia |
ARM |
9 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
13 |
222,5 |
22,5 |
5 |
15 |
|
Croatia |
CRO |
9 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
187,0 |
19,0 |
6 |
4 |
|
Azerbaijan |
AZE |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
197,5 |
20,5 |
7 |
6 |
|
Spain |
ESP |
9 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
184,5 |
22,0 |
8 |
9 |
|
Germany |
GER |
9 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
180,0 |
18,5 |
9 |
13 |
|
France |
FRA |
9 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
169,0 |
20,5 |
10 |
12 |
|
Czech Republic |
CZE |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
166,0 |
19,5 |
...40 teams
All games from Round 9 - Open
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Third straight gold for Russia in the Women's
Talking of 1992, that was also the first time a separate event for women was in place. Back then, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan reached the podium. The Russian team did not get into the top three until they got bronze medals consecutively in 2003 and 2005. From then on, however, they have pretty much taken over — they won six out of the last seven editions, only finishing second in 2013, when they were upset by Israel in round two.
Their fourth round win over Georgia proved crucial, as the local squad finished only one match point behind. In the last day of action, the Russians were categorical against Turkey, scoring a clear 3½:½ victory.
The Russians had a scare in round eight, when they drew Armenia in a highly tense match. Armenia, however, could not reach the podium, as they were defeated by Azerbaijan in the final round. The Azerbaijani squad got bronze...like they had done in 1992!
|
Russia |
14 |
3½ |
: |
½ |
11 |
Turkey |
|
|
Georgia 2 |
10 |
1 |
: |
3 |
13 |
Georgia |
|
|
Azerbaijan |
12 |
2½ |
: |
1½ |
11 |
Armenia |
|
In this 60 minutes video GM Nadezhda Kosintseva offers White a repertoire to counter the Löwenthal Variation.

The top three boards of the Russian team finished undefeated | Photo: Official site

Nana Dzagnidze and Lela Javakhishvili led the Georgian team | Photo: Official site
Individual medals - Women
Georgia's Nana Dzagnidze got the highest rating performance among the women in Batumi, scoring 7 out of 9 on board one. Nevertheless, the most surprising individual result was achieved by Armenia's Anna Sargsyan (b. 2001) — with a 2312 rating, she collected 7 out of 8 points, thus achieving a 2626 rating performance. Meanwhile, 56-year-old Pia Cramling is still going strong, as she scored 8 out of 9 on Sweden's top board.
The "Mega" is the database every serious chessplayer needs. The database contains 7.6 million games from 1500 to 2018, in highest quality standard, full of top level analyses and completely classified.
Board 1 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
GM |
Dzagnidze Nana |
2502 |
Georgia |
2639 |
7,0 |
77,8 |
9 |
2 |
GM |
Cramling Pia |
2462 |
Sweden |
2621 |
8,0 |
88,9 |
9 |
3 |
IM |
Mammadzada Gunay |
2427 |
Azerbaijan |
2565 |
5,5 |
68,8 |
8 |
Board 2 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
GM |
Lagno Kateryna |
2549 |
Russia |
2597 |
6,5 |
81,3 |
8 |
2 |
IM |
Peptan Corina-Isabela |
2371 |
Romania |
2586 |
6,5 |
81,3 |
8 |
3 |
IM |
Javakhishvili Lela |
2457 |
Georgia |
2472 |
5,0 |
62,5 |
8 |
Board 3 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
WGM |
Girya Olga |
2476 |
Russia |
2547 |
4,5 |
75,0 |
6 |
2 |
IM |
Matnadze Ana |
2383 |
Spain |
2488 |
6,0 |
75,0 |
8 |
3 |
IM |
Skripchenko Almira |
2403 |
France |
2466 |
5,0 |
71,4 |
7 |
Board 4 |
Rk. |
|
Name |
Rtg |
Team |
Rp |
Pts. |
% |
Games |
1 |
WIM |
Sargsyan Anna M. |
2242 |
Armenia |
2626 |
7,0 |
87,5 |
8 |
2 |
IM |
Arabidze Meri |
2398 |
Georgia |
2571 |
6,5 |
81,3 |
8 |
3 |
IM |
Mammadova Gulnar |
2369 |
Azerbaijan |
2532 |
6,5 |
81,3 |
8 |
Final standings (top 10) - Women's
1 |
1 |
|
Russia |
RUS |
9 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
16 |
256,0 |
26,0 |
2 |
2 |
|
Georgia |
GEO |
9 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
257,0 |
25,5 |
3 |
5 |
|
Azerbaijan |
AZE |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
230,0 |
22,5 |
4 |
3 |
|
Ukraine |
UKR |
9 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
12 |
173,5 |
19,0 |
5 |
14 |
|
Netherlands |
NED |
9 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
12 |
144,5 |
19,5 |
6 |
8 |
|
Romania |
ROU |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
184,0 |
22,5 |
7 |
13 |
|
Armenia |
ARM |
9 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
181,5 |
20,5 |
8 |
10 |
|
Turkey |
TUR |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
168,5 |
19,0 |
9 |
9 |
|
Georgia 2 |
GEO |
9 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
178,0 |
19,5 |
10 |
7 |
|
Hungary |
HUN |
9 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
151,0 |
17,0 |
...32 teams
All games from Round 9 - Women's
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