European Championship: Frederik Svane and Maksim Chigaev lead with 4.0/4

by André Schulz
11/12/2024 – After four of eleven rounds only two players still have a perfect score at the European Championship in Petrovac, Montenegro: Grandmaster Frederik Svane (pictured) from Germany and Grandmaster Maksim Chigaev, who was born in Russia, but now plays for Spain. Half a point behind follow 18 players with 3.5/4 each. | Photo: Frederik Svane during an interview with ChessBase (in German)

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After three rounds ten players still had a perfect score and in round four these ten players faced each other. Three of these five top games ended in a draw: Ivan Cheparinov and the young Turkish grandmaster Xagiz Kaan Erdogmus shared the points, as did Yahli Sokolovsky (Israel) and Robert Hovhanissyan (Armenia), and Daniel Dardha (Belgium) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania). The two games with German participation were both decided but the "German team" only drew this "match" - Frederik Svane won against Nikolas Theodorou but Matthias Bluebaum lost against Maksim Chigaev.

Frederik Svane (right) greets Nikolas Theodorou

Frederik Svane is the second German grandmaster in the top ten U20 players in the world, after Vincent Keymer, and he continues to make a name for himself after his sensational performance at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, where he won gold for the best performance on board 5. Svane's game against Greek Grandmaster Theodorou was rather one-sided: In a Sicilian middlegame Svane won an exchange and converted without much trouble.

Svane, Frederik26541–0Theodorou, Nikolas2612
EICC 2024
Petrovac11.11.2024[Schulz,A]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 0-0 7.d4 a6 The main line is 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 d5 9.e5 Ne4 10.Nc3 8.Bxc6 dxc6 9.Qc2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Bg4 11.Nbd2 Nd7 11...e5 12.Nxe5 Qxd4 13.Ndf3 Qb4 14.Bd2 Qb6 15.Be3 Qc7 16.Bc5 Rfd8= 0-1 (45) Nilssen,E (2184)-Fawzy,A (2522) Bhubaneswar 2024 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 e5 14.Be3 exd4 15.Nxd4
White has a slight plus in the centre. 15...Qe7 16.f4 Nf6 17.Bf2 Rfe8 18.Nf3 After 18.e5 Nd5 Black's knight found a strong and secure spot on d5. 18...Nxe4?! 18...Nh5 19.g3 Bf8 20.Kg2 Qc7 21.Rac1 19.Ng5 f5 20.Qb3+ Kh8 21.Nf7+ Kg8 22.Nh6+ Kh8 23.Nf7+ Kg8 24.Nd6+ Qe6 25.Nxe8 Qxb3 26.axb3 Rxe8±
White is an exchange up, but still has some work to do to convert his advantage. 27.Rad1 Kf7 28.Bd4 Bxd4+? Exchanging bishops makes things easier for White. 28...Bf8± 29.Rxd4 Nf6 White welcomes the exchange of rooks. 30.Rxe8 Kxe8 31.Kf2 Ke7 32.Kf3 h5 33.Kg3 Nd5 34.Kf3 Nf6 35.g3 Ke8 36.Rb4 b5 37.Rd4 Ke7 38.Rd1 Nd5 39.Re1+ Kf7
40.g4 hxg4+ 41.hxg4 Nb4 42.g5+- White is winning: g6 and c6 are weak and White's king is ready to intrude into Black's position. Nd5 43.Rh1 Kg7 44.Rc1 Nb4 45.Ke3 Kf7 46.Rf1 46.Kd4 Ke7 47.Kc5?? Nd3+-+ 46...a5 47.Rh1 Kg7 48.Kd4 Kg8 49.Rd1 Kf7 50.Ke5 Nd5 51.Rh1 Kg7 52.Rc1 Nb4 53.Rd1 Nd5 54.Rxd5 cxd5 55.Kxd5 Kf7 56.Kd6
1–0

Maksim Chigaev (right) greets Matthias Bluebaum

But Matthias Bluebaum, the 2022 European Champion, did not fare so well against Chigaev. In an Italian, Chigaev, who had White, decided to castle queenside and then launched a successful attack against Bluebaum's king.

Chigaev, Maksim26051–0Bluebaum, Matthias2654
EICC 2024
Petrovac11.11.2024[Schulz,A]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.Nc3 0-0 6.a3 d6 7.h3 7.Be3 Be6 8.Nd5 Bxd5 9.exd5 Nb8 10.a4 c6 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.Ba2 Nbd7 13.0-0 d5 1/2-1/2 (122) Firouzja,A (2767)-Carlsen,M (2832) Paris 2024 7...a5 Black has scored well after 7...Be6 and 7...a6 8.Be3 Be6 9.Ng5 Bxc4 10.dxc4
10...Nb8?! The engines propose 10...Nd4!? 11.Bxd4 exd4 12.Qxd4 Nd7 13.Nf3 Bf6 14.Qe3 Bxc3+ 15.bxc3 15.Qxc3 Nc5 16.Nd2 Re8= 15...Re8= 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.h4 c6 13.0-0-0 Qc7 14.g4 Nc5 15.Rhg1 Rab8 16.f4 16.a4!? 16...exf4 17.Bxc5 dxc5 18.e5 Nd7 19.Nf3 Rfd8?! 19...f6!? 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Qe6+ Rf7 22.Ne4 Ne5= and if 23.Nfg5? Black has Bxg5 24.Nxg5 Qe7-+ 20.e6 Nf8 20...fxe6 21.Qxe6+ 21.exf7+ Kxf7 22.Rde1 Bf6 23.Ne4 Bd4 24.Nxd4 Rxd4 24...cxd4 might have offered more chances, e.g. 25.h5 Kg8 26.g5 Kh8+- White still has a strong attack, but Black did not lose a pawn. 25.g5 Kg8 26.h5 Qf7 27.c3 f3
27...Rdd8 28.Qg4 Re8 29.g6+- 28.Nf6+ gxf6? 28...Kh8 29.Qxf3 Rdd8 30.Qh3 was more stubborn though White still has a promising attack. 29.gxf6+ Kh8 30.Qxf3 Rd6 30...Rdd8 31.Rg7+- wins the queen. 31.Qg3 Rxf6 31...Rbd8 32.Re7+- 32.Qxb8 Qxh5 White is an exchange up and keeps the attack. 33.Kb1 Qf7 34.Qe5 Ng6 35.Qxc5 Rf5 36.Qd4+ Kg8 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Re7
1–0

Standings after 4 rounds

Rk Name Pts  Tb1 
1 Svane, Frederik 4 0
2 Chigaev, Maksim 4 0
3 Deac, Bogdan-Daniel 3,5 0
4 Fedoseev, Vladimir 3,5 0
5 Mamedov, Rauf 3,5 0
Hovhannisyan, Robert 3,5 0
7 Cheparinov, Ivan 3,5 0
8 Romanov, Evgeny 3,5 0
9 Indjic, Aleksandar 3,5 0
Blohberger, Felix 3,5 0
11 Muradli, Mahammad 3,5 0
12 Dardha, Daniel 3,5 0
Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan 3,5 0
Petrov, Nikita 3,5 0
15 Sokolovsky, Yahli 3,5 0
16 Maurizzi, Marc`andria 3,5 0
17 Svane, Rasmus 3,5 0
Hakobyan, Aram 3,5 0
19 Gurel, Ediz 3,5 0
Samunenkov, Ihor 3,5 0
21 Bluebaum, Matthias 3 0
22 Can, Emre 3 0
23 Koelle, Tobias 3 0
24 Gumularz, Szymon 3 0
25 Theodorou, Nikolas 3 0
26 Bjerre, Jonas Buhl 3 0
Motylev, Alexander 3 0
Ivanisevic, Ivan 3 0
29 Saric, Ivan 3 0
Vitiugov, Nikita 3 0
Sjugirov, Sanan 3 0
Yilmaz, Mustafa 3 0
Sedlak, Nikola 3 0
34 Asadli, Vugar 3 0
Alexakis, Dimitris 3 0
36 Gazik, Viktor 3 0
37 Kollars, Dmitrij 3 0

...388 players

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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