11/13/2023 – After two rounds in the open section of the European Team Championship, six teams are sharing first place with 4/4 match points: Germany, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Poland and Israel. Among the six teams standing a match point behind is Austria, who stunned Norway despite Valentin Dragnev failing to make the most of an advantageous position over Magnus Carlsen. In the women’s section, Azerbaijan, France, Poland, Spain and Serbia are sharing the lead, with Spain joining the leading pack after beating the top seeds from Georgia. | Photo: German Chess Federation
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YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
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Austria upset Norway, Israel upset Spain
Most round-2 top-board matches were closely contested affairs, with Germany, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Poland and Israel grabbing a second consecutive match win to go into the third round sharing the lead with 4/4 match points.
In all the matches featuring the now co-leaders, a single win tipped the balance in their favour. The heroes for each winning squad were Vincent Keymer (Germany), Maxime Lagarde (France), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands), Velimir Ivic (Serbia), Mateusz Bartel (Poland) and Evgeny Postny (Israel). Out of these six teams, only Israel defeated an opponent with a higher rating average: Spain.
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
As usual, most eyes were put on Magnus Carlsen’s game, despite Norway having drawn their first match. In the end, the Norwegians suffered an upset loss against Austria, who scored the deciding victory on board 4, where Felix Blohberger defeated Lars Oskar Hauge. Shockingly, Carlsen was inches away from losing his game against Valentin Dragnev. The former world champion, let us not forget, comes from suffering two losses against much lower-rated opponents in the Qatar Masters.
Alexandr Predke, Robert Markus and Velimir Ivic (Serbia) | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
Hungary versus Germany | Photo: German Chess Federation
Five teams grabbed back-to-back wins in the first two rounds of the women’s championship: Azerbaijan, France, Poland, Spain and Serbia.
The Serbians have the lowest rating average in this group, and they joined the lead by upsetting Armenia in round 2, with Tijana Mandura scoring a 19-win over Maria Gevorgyan on board 4 — the latter was over-optimistic when she played 7.f4 in the following position.
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.
Mandura realized that her opponent’s pawn push was suspicious and spent almost a half hour before playing the accurate 7...Bg4. The Serbian’s conversion was not flawless, but she nonetheless managed to score a quick win that gave her team a crucial victory.
Serbia versus Armenia | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Even more surprising was Spain’s win over the top seeds from Georgia. Marta García and Ann Matnadze won their games on boards 1 and 4, respectively, to take down the favourites.
García’s passed e-pawn was the key factor in her victory over Bella Khotenashvili.
Playing the ugly-looking 26...Bc8, to deal with the passer, was necessary here. After 26...Kh7 27.e6, on the other hand, there was no stopping White’s initiative, as García showed good technique to make the most of her positional edge until getting a 48-move victory.
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.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
If you're looking for a dynamic alternative to the Slav, Queen's Gambit Declined, or other mainstream systems, the Chigorin Defence offers exactly what modern tournament players need.
Michael Kotyk presents a complete repertoire after 1.e4 e5, built around creative ideas, surprising move orders, and practical weapons designed to catch your opponents off guard.
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