11/18/2023 – Flashy games were seen on the top boards of both sections in round 6 of the European Team Chess Championships. In the open, England obtained a clear 3½-½ victory over the Netherlands to join Germany in the lead. Romania and Serbia are sharing third place, a match point behind the co-leaders. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, France became the sole leader after beating the top seeds from Georgia. | Pictured: Michael Adams, who turned 52 years old on Friday | Photo: Mark Livshitz
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Mastering piece setups in various pawn structures and transitioning to a dominant middlegame, this course equips you with the insight and flexibility to outmanoeuvre your opponents in the Closed Catalan.
At the European Team Championship, Vitiugov has played in all six rounds, scoring two wins and four draws for a 2773 Tournament Performance Rating. The English team, now tied for first place with Germany, obtained a convincing victory over the Netherlands in round 6, with Vitiugov grabbing a remarkable 26-move win over Jorden van Foreest.
Van Foreest vs. Vitiugov
After thinking for 13 minutes, Vitiugov correctly played the powerful 19...f4 pawn break. The idea is that 20.exf4 can be replied by the devastating 20...Nxf4
Van Foreest, who had a strong run in the first five rounds, noticed that the only way to keep the game going was by accepting the sacrifice with 21.gxf4, and after 21...Rxf4 White cannot deal with his opponent’s multiple threats — i.e. ...Qd7-g4, ...Qd7-h3 and ...Bg7-d4.
White’s defences collapsed rather quickly, as the Dutch grandmaster resigned five moves later with the following position on the board.
Let Toptrainer Sokolov show you the ins and outs of middlegames. This course is about the catalan structures vs. semi-slav/triangle setups
Game over.
David Howell and Luke McShane also collected full points in the prelude to a crucial match against the strong German squad.
Nikita Vitiugov during the second round | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Germany faced the second seeds from Romania on the top board. Vincent Keymer defeated Richard Rapport in a sharp encounter (which was also the first individual defeat for a member of the Romanian team). Draws were seen on boards 2 and 3, while Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu — who represented Germany between April 2014 and April 2022 — evened the scored by beating Dmitrij Kollars on board 4.
Romania are now tied for third place with Serbia, who drew with Armenia in round 6. Alexandr Predke scored for Serbia, while Shant Sargsyan scored for Armenia.
Game analysis by Robert Ris
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nf63.d4Nxe44.dxe5Bc54...d55.Bc4Nxf26.Bxf7+Kxf77.Qd5+Kg68.Qxc5Nxh19.Nc3h610.Nd510.Qc4d511.Nxd5Nc612.Be3Kh713.Nf6+1-0 (13) Erigaisi,A (2712)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2771) Chess.com INT 2023
10...Re810...d610...Kh711.Qd4Kh711...d612.Bxh6!?gxh6?12...Kxh613.Qe3+13.Qf4+?g513...Kg613...Kh714.Ng5+Kg815.Qf4Rf816.Qh414.0-0-0d615.Qd3+Kh616.Nf412...Nc6!13.Qf4Rf813...gxh6?14.Nf6+14.Qg4Kxh615.Qh3+Kg616.Qg4+Kh617.Qh3+=13.0-0-0!13.Nf6+??Qxf613...Re613...Nc614.Qe4+14.Nf6+??Qxf614...Kg715.Qg4+Kh815...Kh716.Nf6+15...Kf716.Rf116.Qg6Re717.Ng5‼17.Nf6Qf817.Nxe7Qxe717...hxg518.Nf6Qf819.Qh5+Kg720.Qh7#14.Nf6+Kh814...Rxf615.exf6Nf216.Re1!16.Qxf2?Qxf6-+16...Nc617.Qf4d618.f7Bd719.Re8Bxe820.Qf5+Kg721.f8Q#14...Kg715.Qg4+Kh816.Qg615.Nh4!15.Qf4?Qf815...d616.Qf4!Kg716...Qf817.Ng6+17.Qg4+Kh817...Kf818.Qg8+Ke719.Nf5#18.Ng6+Kg719.Nf8+19.Nf8+Kh819...Kxf820.Qg8+Ke721.Qg7#20.Qg8#1–0
1.d44Nf6462.c48g6113.Nc33d5113...Bg74.Nf30-05.e4d66.Be2e57.0-0Na68.Be3c69.h3exd410.Nxd4Re811.Bf3Nc512.Qc2h613.Nb3Nh714.Rfd1Qh415.Rxd6Nxb316.axb3Be517.Rd3Ng518.Qd1f519.Bxg5Qxg520.Qd2f421.Kf1Be6½-½ Keymer,V (2717)-Rapport,R (2752) EU-Cup 38th Durres 2023 (7.1)4.Nf313Bg7105.h450-0456.cxd513 D90: Grünfeld: 4 Nf3 Bg7 sidelines.Nxd5117.h522c53:238.hxg67 White has an edge.8.dxc5Nxc39.bxc3Qxd1+10.Kxd1Rd8+11.Bd2Na68...hxg6119.Bh6329.dxc5Nxc310.bxc3Qxd1+11.Kxd1Rd8+12.Bd2Na69...Nxc31:2910.bxc36 Qc1 is the strong threat.Bxh6611.Rxh64Kg74612.Qd22:26cxd42:4413.cxd42:12Nc611:0914.Rh41:44 Repels Nxd4. Qh6+ would be deadly.Qa511:5215.e412:51
Hoping for d5.15...f6N28:4315...Rd8=Predecessor:15...Rd816.Qxa5Nxa517.Kd2f618.Bd3g519.Rh2Bg420.Rah1Rh821.Rxh8Rxh822.Rxh8Kxh8½-½ Shlyakhtenko,R (2401)-Erdos,V (2571) Biel HTO 56th 2023 (3)16.d5!±13:46Qxd2+2:0717.Kxd25Nd81:5318.Bd311:20e52:3019.Rah16:43Nf71620.Rh7+6:38Kg83221.Bc4!8 Black must now prevent d6. White is much more active. The black rooks are badly placed.Rd82821...Re8±22.Ne1?3:3022.Nd4!+- d6! would kill now.b523.Nxb523.Bxb5exd424.Kd3Rb822...Rd6!=8:5923.Nd359 With the idea Bb3.Bd75024.Nc58:42Rc8!2:0525.Nxb75:29Rb61926.Na518 Strongly threatening Nc6!Rc534
Dodges Nc626...Rb4!?27.d6!2:56Rxd6+5:4528.Ke3!42 White wants to mate with Rh8+.Rxc4!6:2129.Nxc44Ra612
56.exf552Nxf51357.Ra22:06e41:5158.Raxb237Don't play58.Rbxb2Rd4+59.Ke2exf3+60.Kxf3Nh4+61.Kg3Nf5+62.Kh2Kh658...Rxb2+2:5359.Rxb27exf3760.gxf38 KR-KNKf62:3261.Rb6+11Kg51:0462.Ke26Ne72:3363.Re68Nf59 Threatens to win with ...Nd4+.64.Ra62Ng3+4:0165.Ke35Kf5966.Ra81:34Ke52567.f4+1:37Kf64068.Kf34Nh55269.Ra516Kf72:1070.Ra7+48Kf6971.Kg42:05Don't do71.Ra6+Kf572.Ra3Ng773.Ra5+Kf6+-71...Ng7772.Ra6+2Kf71:1073.Rb62:55Ne61074.Kf30Nf8?5974...Ng7+-75.Ke4Nh575.Rb7+0Ke61276.Ra70Kf63877.Ke40Ke61178.Ra6+0Ke73279.Kd50Kf7880.Rd60Ke71081.Ke5?081.Rb6+-Intending Rb7+ and mate.Kf782.Rc681...Kf7?2981...Nd7+=82.Rxd7+ Deflection82.Kd5Nf6+83.Kc6Kf782...Kxd783.Kf6Kd684.Kxg6Ke785.f5Kf886.Kf6Ke882.Rf6+18 White mates.Ke78
Women’s: France sole leaders after beating Georgia
France entered the women’s tournament as the sixth seeds, and have been showing a remarkable level during the first six rounds in Budva. With Deimante Daulyte-Cornette on the top board, the Frenchwomen grabbed four convincing 3½-½ victories, drew with Azerbaijan in round 4, and now collected a 2½-1½ win over the top seeds from Georgia.
Daulyte-Cornette and Pauline Guichard grabbed the two wins that gave the now sole leaders overall victory over the formidable Georgian squad. Guichard showed great calculation skills to beat Lela Javakhishvili with black on board 4.
Javakhishvili vs. Guichard
Guichard spent 14 minutes (and was left with 16 minutes for 20 moves) before correctly playing the astounding 20...Nfg6, ignoring the threats of 21.dxe7 and 21.Qxf7+, as was seen in the game.
Javakhishvili’s decision to give the check from f7 turned out to be the game’s decisive mistake (21.dxe7 was the way to go). The refutation was played rather quickly, as Black had prepared 21...Kd7 22.dxe7 Qe3+, and the Frenchwoman’s attack is quicker.
There followed 23.Rf2 gxf2+ 24.Qxf2 Rxg2+, a sequence that Guichard had surely foreseen when she played her 20th move!
Now Black simplifies into a winning endgame: 25.Kxg2 Nf4+ 26.Kf1 Qxf2+ 27.Kxf2 Nxd3+, with a devastating knight fork.
The Indian chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi with an ELO of over 2700 (June 2023) is one of the best 20 players in the world. For the first time, the sympathetic top player presents himself in a video course. Let a world-class player show you tactical moti
France will face Bulgaria in Saturday’s seventh round. Bulgaria defeated Azerbaijan in round 6, thanks to Nurgyul Salimova’s win with black on board 2. Salimova qualified to the 2024 Women’s Candidates in the latest edition of the FIDE World Cup.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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