11/15/2023 – No more teams have perfect scores in either section of the European Team Championships. In the open tournament, Armenia joined Germany and Poland in the lead thanks to a 3-1 victory over Israel. In the women’s tournament, Germany joined Azerbaijan and France thanks to a 2½-1½ victory over Hungary. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen scored his third win of the event, as he helped Norway to grab 2 match points in their match against Finland. | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Dominate the Open Catalan: Unlock key strategies and dynamic plans for a lifetime repertoire!
€49.90
Keymer misses big chance
Co-leaders Germany and Poland faced each other in round 4 of the European Team Championship. Games lasting 32 and 30 moves finished drawn on boards 2 and 3, respectively. On board 1, Germany’s Vincent Keymer had white against Radoslaw Wojtaszek, while on board 4, Poland’s Szymon Gumularz had white against Dmitrij Kollars.
Keymer had a queen for three minor pieces in an entertaining position which engines evaluated as clearly better for White.
Keymer vs. Wojtaszek
Wojtaszek blocked the check along the d3-h7 diagonal with 29...Ne4, surely after having calculated a potential 30.f3, making use of the pin.
As it turns out, the f-pawn push was the best way to keep White’s advantage, since after 30.f3 Rc3 31.Qd1 Bc5+ it is safe to play 32.Kf1, and Black will have trouble coordinating his pieces.
Analysis diagram
Perhaps Keymer saw ghosts in his calculations or simply thought this was not the best way to make progress, as he played 30.Rd1 in the first diagrammed position, allowing 30...Rh5, conceding the initiative.
Only here did White go for 31.f3, but after 31...Bxh2+ 32.Kf1 Bc6, Black continues to be the one calling the shots by threatening to gain the queen with ...Bc6-b5.
Keymer was forced to play 33.Rb1, and then Wojtaszek got to play the good-looking 33...Rf5, both pinning the f3-pawn and unpinning his own knight!
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
A couple more tactical manoeuvres by the Polish ace prompted his opponent to simplify into an equal rook endgame, which led to a 48-move draw.
On board 4, it was Gumularz who got winning chances — albeit in a tricky endgame — but that game also ended in a draw. With draws on all four boards, the two teams that entered the round as co-leaders lost their perfect scores, allowing Armenia to catch them in first place.
Germany versus Poland | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Armenia defeated Israel with wins on the top two boards, where Haik Martirosyan beat Maxim Rodshtein and Hrant Melkumyan defeated Ori Kobo. Melkumyan, who also won in round 2, made the most of a mistake by Kobo in a rook ending with 2 pawns versus 1.
Kobo vs. Melkumyan
White could have kept his drawing chances with 69.Kg3 here, preventing Black from playing 69...Kf5 due to 70.Rf1+, and White will either grab the pawn on f7 or greatly improve his rook by playing Rf1-f6. In this line, it is likely that Melkumyan would have played some other move with his rook, continuing to shuffle his pieces while looking for a way to break through.
However, Kobo instead faltered with 69.Kf3, giving way to 69...Kf5 70.Ra5 Re5 71.Ra7 Kg6, and the g5-pawn will fall.
Every player must develop the necessary classical knowledge of technical manoeuvres. With this video course I give you the essential knowledge for your own practice.
Melkumyan captured the pawn on the next move and went on to collect a 90-move victory.
Armenia versus Israel | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Seven teams stand a match point behind the three co-leaders, including Croatia, Greece and Italy, three teams that obtained upset wins on Tuesday!
Most notably, Croatia defeated the top seeds from Azerbaijan, with wins for Ivan Saric and Marin Bosiocic compensating for Ante Brkic’s loss to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on board 2. Meanwhile, Greece beat Spain and Italy got the better of France.
As for Norway, which came from losing twice in a row against lower-rated opponents, they bounced back with a 3½-½ win over Finland. Magnus Carlsen grabbed his third victory of the event, as he defeated Toivo Keinanen with the black pieces.
IM Robert Ris analyses Magnus Carlsen’s third win in Budva
Much like in the open, the women’s championship saw the two teams that had won their first three matches drawing their direct encounter in round 4, allowing a third squad to join them in shared first place.
In this case, co-leaders France and Azerbaijan each grabbed one match point. Gunay Mammadzada (Azerbaijan) and Mitra Hijazipour (France) obtained individual victories, and draws were seen on the remaining two boards.
Like Keymer in the open, French representative Pauline Guichard missed a chance to give her team overall victory. While Keymer’s missed winning line was not obvious, though, Guichard’s mistake was rather difficult to understand.
Guichard vs. Mammadova
Despite having a queen and a pawn for a rook, White needs to be careful not to fall for a knight fork or a sudden mating attack. Here, for example, some calculation is needed to realize that 67.Kg4 or 67.Kh4 are effective ways to deal with Black’s immediate threats while keeping the advantage.
Let Toptrainer Sokolov show you the ins and outs of middlegames. This course is about the catalan structures vs. semi-slav/triangle setups
However, after spending a bit over 30 seconds considering how to proceed, Guichard went for 67.Qe6, simply giving up her knight to 67...Kxf3.
The ensuing position is drawn, as the rook and knight are ready to capture the c-pawn and successfully deal with any tricks put forth by her opponent. The draw was signed on move 85.
France versus Azerbaijan | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Germany and Hungary entered the round sharing third place a match point behind the leaders. Naturally, they were paired up against each other. Wins by Elisabeth Paehtz and an in-form Josefine Heinemann gave the Germans overall victory — thus, they are now sharing first place with 7/8 points.
In round 5, Azerbaijan will face Germany, while France will play Armenia, who obtained a convincing 3½-½ victory over Switzerland on Tuesday.
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.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
Videos by Mihail Marin: Najdorf Variation with 6.f4 and Nico Zwirs: Italian ‘giucco pianissimo’. ‘Lucky bag’ with 45 analyses by Edouard, Ftacnik, Gupta, Pelletier and others. Update service with over 50,000 new games for your database!
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
€34.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
.jpeg)
