Winning starts with what you know
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Going into the final round of the European Chess Club Cup, two teams remained undefeated at the top of the standings: Offerspill, with Magnus Carlsen and Raunak Sadhwani on the top boards, and Superchess, the rating favourites with Richard Rapport and Vishy Anand as their two strongest representatives.
The co-leaders were paired up against the very strong Asnieres and Novy Bor, respectively.
Top Choice Repertoire: Play the French Defence Vol.1 & 2
In this two-volume video course former world-champion and startrainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of this hugely complex opening.
In the end, two close matches ending 3½-2½ saw Offerspill beating Asnieres and Novy Bor getting the better of Superchess. Thus, Offerspill won the tournament outright as the only team to go undefeated throughout the event, while Novy Bor were joined by two other squads that reached 12 match points after winning in round 7: Gokturk Chess Sport Club from Turkey and Sentimento Ajka BSK from Hungary.
Novy Bor beat Superchess to grab silver medals | Photo: Niki Riga
In an all-Turkish battle, Gokturk Chess Sport Club beat Turkish Airlines Sports Club to climb to third place in the final standings | Photo: Niki Riga
Shortly after winning the FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career, Magnus Carlsen won his first major team event in Durrës. With 5 out of 6 points, he was the top scorer for his team, and obtained the fourth-highest tournament performance rating in the event — Turkish prodigy Ediz Gurel and Hungarian GM Imre Balog finished with perfect 7/7 scores, while Swiss IM Jacob Sylvan obtained a perfect 5/5.
Also remarkable were the performances by the two Indian players in the Norwegian team, Raunak Sadhwani and Pranav Venkatesh, who both collected 5/7 points. Particularly important was Pranav’s ability to show his best under pressure, as he obtained back-to-back wins in the two final rounds, when the eventual winners drew Superchess and beat Asnieres by the smallest of margins.
Carlsen quipped on X:
Pranav is buddy and buddy is Pranav.
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) October 7, 2023
An ecstatic Magnus Carlsen receiving an individual gold medal for his performance on board 1 | Photo: Niki Riga
Attack like a Super Grandmaster
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM†with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Three other young players also have a lot to celebrate after strong runs in Albania:
Vincent Keymer | Photo: Niki Riga
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | |
| 1 | Offerspill Sjakklubb | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 247 | |
| 2 | Novy Bor | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 233 | |
| 3 | Gokturk Chess Sport Club | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 221 | |
| 4 | Sentimento Ajka BSK | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 215,5 | |
| 5 | Superchess | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 210,5 | |
| 6 | Turkish Airlines Sports Club | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 231,5 | |
| 7 | Asnieres - Le Grand Echiquier | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 228 | |
| 8 | TAJFUN SK Ljubljana | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 222 | |
| 9 | Schachclub Viernheim 1934 e.V. | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 221,5 | |
| 10 | Beer Sheva Chess Club | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 193 | |
| 11 | C' Chartres Echecs | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 193 | |
| 12 | Rishon Lezion A | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 182 | |
| 13 | SK Zmaj | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 169,5 | |
| 14 | Schachgesellschaft Riehen | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 162 | |
| 15 | Elektroprivreda | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 161 |
Replay all games at Live.ChessBase.com
Unlike what was seen in the open, the two co-leaders going into the final round were paired up against each other in the women’s tournament. In the end, it was the Romanian squad of Superchess who prevailed in the confrontation against the Hungarian Garuda Ajka BSK to claim the title.
Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.
Two teams stood a match point behind the leaders after six rounds, but none of them managed to win on Saturday. SP Gaz Ukraine lost to SK Crvena zvezda Data Driven Lab, while TAJFUN SK Ljubljana only managed a draw against Schachgesellschaft Solingen.
Those results left SK Crvena zvezda Data Driven Lab and TAJFUN SK Ljubljana tied in match points with Garuda Ajka BSK in the final standings.
The champions (from left to right): Alxander Motylev (captain), Eline Roebers, Marsel Efroimsky, Dinara Wagner, Nino Batsiashvili and Irina Bulmaga | Photo: Niki Riga
Silver-medallists Garuda Ajka BSK: Csaba Balogh (captain), Teodora Injac, Nurgyul Salimova, Zsoka Gaal, Bella Khotenashvili and Hoang Thanh Trang | Photo: Niki Riga
Bronze-medallists SK Crvena zvezda Data Driven Lab: Jovana Rapport, Adela Velikic, Jovana Srdanovic, Lilit Mkrtchian, Elina Danielian and Stefan Djuric (captain) | Photo: Niki Riga
The clash of co-leaders saw the eventual champions collecting two wins to outscore their rivals, who grabbed a full point on board 2. The heroes of the day for Superchess were Dinara Wagner from Germany and Marsel Efroimski from Israel.
Efroimski had a piece for three pawns, playing black against Zsoka Gaal on board 4.
Black is in the driver’s seat, but still needs to be careful with her king devoid of pawns to defend it. Gaal’s 28.f4 was a crucial mistake, though, as Efroimski confidently replied by 28...Rg3, when after 29.Nf3 Rag8 30.Ng5, getting rid of the tricky white knight with 30...R8xg5 only increases Black’s advantage.
Efroimski showed good tactical awareness to deal with her opponent’s threats and eventually grab the 37-move win that put her team ahead on the scoreboard.
The eventual champions at the start of round 7 | Photo: Niki Riga
Georgian stars Bella Khotenashvili (Garuda Ajka) and Nino Batsiashvili (Superchess) obtained the highest tournament performance ratings in the event, as they played on the top boards for the two teams that became the protagonists in Albania.
Khotenashvili and Batsiashvili both played for the Georgian team that recently won the World Women’s Team Championship which took place in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | |
| 1 | Superchess | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 137,5 | |
| 2 | Garuda Ajka BSK | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 131 | |
| 3 | SK Crvena zvezda Data Driven Lab | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 118,5 | |
| 4 | TAJFUN SK Ljubljana | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 118 | |
| 5 | Monte Carlo | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 130,5 | |
| 6 | SP Gaz Ukraine | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 123 | |
| 7 | Schachgesellschaft Solingen | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 101 | |
| 8 | Gokturk Chess Sport Club | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 99 | |
| 9 | Asnieres - Le Grand Echiquier | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 89 | |
| 10 | Wood Green | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 104 | |
| 11 | MSK Centar Asseco See | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 99 | |
| 12 | Offerspill Chess Club | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 74 | |
| 13 | Rishon Lezion | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 74 | |
| 14 | Galaxias Sports Club | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 62,5 | |
| 15 | Teuta | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 88,5 |
Replay all games at Live.ChessBase.com
