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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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
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.g3d54.Bg2Be75.Nf30-06.Qc2The main variation of the Catalan Opening is6.0-0dxc4Or6...c6is often played.7.Qc2a68.Qxc4b59.Qc2etc.6...c6After6...dxc47.Qxc4a6White can play8.Bf4with good results.7.0-0b68.Nbd2c58...Bb79.e4Na610.a3c5is quite solid for Black.8...Nbd79.b3Bb710.Bb2c511.dxc5bxc5leads to the game by a different move order.9.dxc5bxc510.b3Bb711.Bb2Nbd712.cxd5Several times12.Ne5has been played.12...exd5
This gives Black the famous hanging pawns in the centre. Engines rate the chances as equal.13.Rad1Re814.Nb1Bf815.e3Rc816.Nc3Qa517.Qd2Qa6The threat was17...--18.Nxd5Qxd219.Nxf6+Nxf620.Rxd2gaining a piece.18.Rfe1c4The machine already gives an advantage here.19.Bf1Nc520.Nd4Nce421.Qc2Nxc3Black executes his idea of playing on the queenside somewhat imprecisely.More precise was21...Qb6!?with the idea of22.--Necessary is22.Na4Qa5with pressure on the queenside for Black.22...cxb323.axb3Nxc324.Bxc3Ne4-+22.Bxc3Ne423.Rb1h524.Ba1h425.f3Nc525...Nd6=26.bxc4hxg326...dxc427.Bxc4brings the white bishop into play.27.hxg3Qh628.Qf2Ba6In this phase the game tips in White's favour.28...dxc4!?29.Bxc4Rc7with the idea of Ne4. Black has counterplay for the lost pawn.29.cxd5Bxf1Better was29...Re5!?with the intention of playing Rh530.g4Rxd530.Qxf1
30...Qg5?Qxg3 is not a real threat.30...Re5was still the better option.31.e4Nd3The idea that the knight is impossible to capture because of perpetual check proves to be a chimera. The white king can escape.31...Qxg3+32.Qg2Qxg2+32...Qf433.Nf5g634.Rbd1+-33.Kxg2with a clearly better endgame for White.32.Qxd3Qxg3+33.Kf1Qh3+34.Ke2f534...Qg2+35.Kd1+-35.Kd2Bd636.Bc3This gives the white king access to the escape square c3.fxe437.fxe4Bf4+38.Kc2Rxc3+One last attempt...39.Qxc3Rc840.Nc6Qg2+41.Kb31–0
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.
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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.
García vs. 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.
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