European Championship: Sarana, Shevchenko and Dardha on the podium

Korobov goes all-in

The 2023 edition of the European Championship came to an end on Monday in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia. Three players aged 25, 20 and 17 reached the podium, with Alexey Sarana (Russia), Kirill Shevchenko (Romania) and Daniel Dardha (Belgium) grabbing gold, silver and bronze respectively, after eleven gruelling rounds with no rest days in the schedule.

Sarana and Shevchenko entered the final round as co-leaders, and safely decided to sign a 7-move draw. Similar short draws were seen on 7 out of the 10 top boards. For the co-leaders, it was a matter of waiting to see who out of the twelve players who entered the round a half point back would manage to catch up with a final-round win.

A Complete Black Repertoire against 1.Nf3 & 1.c4

This video course offers you a complete, clear repertoire for Black against the moves 1.Nf3 and 1.c4. The recommended variations are easy to learn and not difficult to remember, but also pose White serious challenges.

When all was said and done, only Daniel Dardha managed to collect a full point to tie for first place with 8½ points. Dardha defeated long-standing sole leader Anton Korobov with black after the latter overpushed in a balanced position. The Ukrainian player, a fighter at heart, had the best tiebreak score among the large group of players who finished on 7½/11, a full point behind the winners.

Twelve players ended the event on 8/11. Alexander Donchenko (Germany) and Ediz Gurel (Turkey) were the two participants who joined this group by winning their games on Monday. Gurdel, an IM born in 2008 and rated 2454, upset Velimir Ivic on board 16 to become the lowest-rated player who finished with 8 points. The youngster remarkably qualified to play in this year’s FIDE World Cup.

Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (Greece, 2520 Elo) finished fourth and gained 33 rating points

Special prizes

Top juniors (under 20)

1. GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2610), 8.5 points
2. IM Ediz Gurel (TUR, 2454), 8 points
3. GM Volodar Murzin (FIDE, 2554), 7 points

Top seniors (over 50)

1. GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2674), 7.5 points
2. GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR, 2664), 7.5 points
3. GM Michele Godena (ITA, 2446), 6.5 points

Top women

1. WGM Jolanta Zawadzka (POL, 2391), 6.5 points
2. IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2438), 6.5 points
3. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2576), 6 points
4. IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2388), 6 points
5. WIM Adela Velikic (SRB, 2329), 6 points
6. IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2362), 6 points

Vasyl Ivanchuk beat Mahammad Muradli to finish on 7½/11

Korobov had an extra pawn against Dardha in a position with queens and opposite-coloured bishops. However, he also had the more vulnerable king.

Black is threatening to build a strong battery — with his queen in front of the bishop — on the c7-h2 diagonal. Thus, this is high time for White to prioritize safety by forcing a queen swap via 33.Qe4 Qd6 34.Qe8+ Kg7 35.Qe5+.

3.h4 against the King's Indian and Grünfeld

It's a great idea to take Grunfeld and King’s Indian players out of their comfort-zone right from the start! Let’s go 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 first and now play 3.h4!?

Instead, Korobov went for 33.Be4, which is not a losing move but one that leaves White struggling to find ways to defend against his rival’s dark-squared dominance. The Ukrainian lost the thread soon after, and his 17-year-old opponent took his chance to reach the podium of the championship.

Daniel Dardha

Donchenko also won with black, as he saw his opponent Constantin Lupulescu misplaying a King’s Indian Defence early in the middlegame. White resigned in the following position.

29...Qg3 was the elegant final move of the game. The white queen has no place to go, as the rook is now attacking her from h8, while after 30.Qxg3 Nxg3 there is no way to prevent checkmate on h1.

Alexander Donchenko

Final standings

...484 players

All available games - Round 11

Replay games from all rounds on Live.ChessBase.com

Links

• Official site
• European Chess Union
• Full technical information on Chess-Results