European Senior Team Championship 2024: Three gold medals for England

by André Schulz
5/16/2024 – England won no less than three gold medals at the European Senior Team Championships: in the 50+ and 65+ events and in the 50+ women's competition. The gold medal in the 65+ women's competition went to Germany. | Photos: Lukas Rilej (ECU)

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Going into the final round, three teams - England 1, Hungary and Italy - shared the lead with 12 team points each. Iceland followed one point behind. But as the top teams had already played each other, the battle for the medals became a long-distance duel.

England 1 played England 2 and as expected won 3-1, while Hungary played Slovakia and won 2.5-1.5. Csaba Csiszar scored the decisive point for Hungary on board one. The match between Italy and the Netherlands also ended narrowly in favour of the favourites, 2.5-1.5. Fabrizio Bellia scored the winning point on the fourth board.

The Icelanders made a great effort against their Danish counterparts and won 3.5 to 0.5, but as the three teams ahead of them all won their matches, this did not help Iceland to win a medal. Former World Championship contender Johan Hjartarson continued his winning ways, scoring 7 out of 8 on board one for a performance rating of 2682. He was also the best player of the tournament.

The tiebreak, Olympia-Sonneborn-Berger, decided about the medals. England 1 won gold, Hungary silver and Italy bronze, Iceland came fourth.

Gold for England

Silver for Hungary

Bronze for Italy

England also won the gold medal for the best women's team - the only women's team to take part. They finished 20th out of the 21 teams competing.

Gold for the English women

Final standings 50+

Rk. Team  Tb1 
1 England 1 14
2 Hungary 14
3 Italy 14
4 Iceland 13
5 Montenegro 1 10
6 Slovakia 1 10
7 Slovenia - Kralj 10
8 Netherlands - LSG 9
9 Germany - SV Dinslaken 1923 e.V. 9
10 Scotland 1 9
11 Poland - Polish Amateurs 9
12 Denmark 9
13 Finland - Stadin Hemmot 9
14 England 2 8
15 Netherlands - Zuid Limburg 8
16 England 3 8
17 Czech republic - KHK 8
18 Austria 1 7
19 Monaco 5
20 England - women 3
21 Liechtenstein 3

Games 50+

65+ tournament

In the 65+ tournament the English team, led by John Nunn, went into the final round with a comfortable two-point lead and with a 3:1 victory over Croatia they made sure to win gold.

Gold for England

Silver for Slovakia

Bronze for Slovenia

With a clear 3.5:0.5 last-round-win against Hungary Slovenia finished third.

The best players on board one were Alexander Beliavsky, John Nunn, Lubomir Ftacnik and Rainer Knaak.

Gold for the best women's team went to Germany. They finished 22nd out of 31 teams.

Gold for the women's team from Germany

Final standings 65+

Rk. Team  Tb1 
1 England 1 17
2 Slovakia 1 15
3 Slovenia 1 14
4 France 1 12
5 Germany 12
6 Finland 1 11
7 Sweden 1 11
8 Hungary 1 10
9 Croatia - SESVETE AGROPROTEINKA +65 10
10 Switzerland 1 10
11 Belgium 9
12 France - Normandie 9
13 Switzerland - SG Riehen 9
14 Montenegro 2 9
15 England 2 9
16 Austria 1 9
17 Kosovo 9
18 England 3 9
19 Israel 1 8
20 Germany - SC Kreuzberg 8
21 Scotland 2 8
22 Germany - Women 8
23 Sweden 2 8
24 Finland 2 7
25 Austria 2 7
26 Germany - SV Osnabrueck 7
27 Sweden 3 7
28 Finland 3 - TURKU 7
29 Slovenia - SD Slovenske Konjice 4
30 Finland 4 3
31 Croatia - Mursko Sredisce 3

Games 65+

Links


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