European Ch: A long list of leaders

Number 135 in front, for now

Israeli GM Tal Baron is currently atop the standings at the European Individual Championship in Skopje. After winning his fourth round game on board 23, he has the highest tiebreak (opponents' rating minus the lowest) score among the 19 players with 3½ points. Of course with seven round still to go at this stage, it means little. With so many strong players, and a lot riding on reaching the top 22 places (for World Cup qualification), it's no surprise that the leaders are cautious.

Trophies are nice, but a ticket to Khanty-Mansiysk is the bigger prize | Photo: Patricia Claros

On the third day of the European Championship, many of the games ended drawn on the top boards. Of the 19 games between players with two points, twelve ended with the point shared. Among them was the game of top seed Vladislav Artemiev, who wound up lucky to escape with a move repetition draw from a Caro-Kann against Samvel Ter-Sahakyan. 

The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2

The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.

White played 24.♗c2 in this position, which, while not a bad move, did not pose as many problems for Artemiev as 24.gxh6 gxh6 25.♖g2 with the idea of playing Rg3 and doubling rooks on the g-file.

Instead, it was Aremiev who doubled rooks and Ter-Sahakyan bailed out:

32...♚h8 33.♕e3 ♚h7 34.♕d3+ etc.

Ter-Sahakyan and Artemiev, first of two handshakes | Photo: Patricia Claros

Among the winners was Sergei Azarov, who managed to win this rook ending against Nils Grandelius: 

Chess Endgames 8 - Practical Rook Endgames

Rook endings are amongst the most frequently encountered endgames there are, and so your training effort will be quickly repaid in the form of half and full points. Knowing even a few rules of thumb and key methods makes life a great deal easier and provides a guiding light even in complex positions. This DVD focuses on the important themes which are to be found in common rook endings.

It was a less technical victory in Ivan Cheparinov vs Sebastian Maze:

Magic of Chess Tactics 2

FM Claus Dieter Meyer has put under the microscope a comprehensive fund of topical and timeless games / fragments. On video Hamburg GM Dr. Karsten Müller has outlined corner points of Meyer's work and created 14 tests plus 10 interactive test sets.

In this position White just played the careless 32.♗b4. After 32...♜c2 the Frenchman gave up immediately. No matter what he does with the queen, there follows 33...♛xg5 with with devastating mating threats.

Cheparinov is in the 3½ score group | Photo: Patricia Claros

Lucas van Foreest worked his way up the leaderboard with a win against Aleksandar Indijic.

The younger brother of Jorden van Foreest shocked his opponent here with 34.♗h6. Black responded 34...♞h5 (34...♜b7 was forced) and was getting mated after 35.♛g8+.

GM Daniel Fernandez looks at a few more highlights of the round:

Click or tap a game in the list to switch!

Results of Round 3 (top 10)

Commentary webcast

In round four, Artemiev adopted a very patient strategy against Lucas van Foreest, accepting a slightly passive position with White, exchanging pieces when needed and waiting for an opportunity. It eventually presented itself in the form of a chronically weak and backward c-pawn in the Black camp. 

Chess Endgames 3 - major piece endgames

The third part of the endgame series tackles queen endings, rook against minor pieces, queen against rook and queen against two rooks. Queen endings are not nearly as mysterious as they appear at first sight. Knowing a few rules of thumb and principles will make things very much easier for you.
Over 7 hours video training.

Black can possibly survive this by just defending and staying put, but after van Foreest's 40...♜a4 41.♖xc6 ♜xc6 42.♖xc6 ♚g7 43.♕c2 Artemiev's better major piece coordination gave him a strong edge.

Van Foreest's c-pawn was felled like a tree...in the forest | Photo: Patricia Claros

The lone IM among the leading pack is the 17-year-old Russian Semyon Lomasov who beat one of his trainers, veteran GM Mikhail Kobalia. It was another major piece ending, but this time, there was no drawn out technical conversion required.

Lomasov went for the throat with 27.h5! and Kobalia needed to activate his rook along the 5th rank in defence. But his effort to trade queens instead went down in flames: 27...♛c6 28.♕f7! gxh5 29.♕xh5+ ♚g8 30.♖e7 and Kobalia resigned.

GM Daniel Fernandez examines the other key highlights of the round:

Click or tap a game in the list to switch!

Results of Round 4 (top 10)

Commentary webcast

All available games

Standings after Round 4 (top 30)

Andre Schulz contributed reporting

Links

• Official site
• Round 1-2: Start of the European Championship in Skopje
• Full results (Chess-Results)