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The games were played on the Tornelo.com server, with a time limit of 25+5. In Berlin and in Thessaloniki the players sat in front of the electronic board "Supreme Tournament 55" from Millennium. With the help of LEDs the board shows the moves of the opponent, which allows you to play online without having to look constantly at a computer screen – however, you have to glance at the screen occasionally to check the clock or to offer or to accept a draw.
The ECU played in its office in Saloniki, team Berlin played in the "Haus des Familienunternehmens" in the center of Berlin, directly at the Brandenburg Gate. Thanks goes to the "Foundation Familienunternehmen" for providing these beautiful rooms and to the Emanuel Lasker Society for arranging this contact.
The line-up of the teams promised exciting games:
Board 1: FM Dr. Joachim Wintzer 2274 - GM Adrian Mikhalchishin 2455
Board 2: Ralf Schnabel 2228 - Sarkhan Gashimov 2348
Board 3: FM Jürgen Brustkern 2226 - Gunnar Bjornsson 2130
Board 4: Ralf Gebert-Vangeel 2057 - IM Eva Repkova 2303
Berlin played with White on boards 2 and 4, the games were supervised by International Arbiter Tania Karali in Thessaloniki and International Arbiter Bernhard Riess in Berlin.
IA Berhard Riess
After a minor technical problem had been resolved, the games started shortly after 4pm CET. FM Brustkern from team Berlin was the first to win: He defeated Gunnar Bjornsson with Black in 32 moves to give Berlin the lead.
Jürgen Brustkern
The other three games were all decided in the blitz phase. GM Mikhalchishin equalised for the ECU after FM Dr Wintzer lost on time in a lost position. On board four FM Repkova scored for the ECU, but Gashimov failed to secure the match for the ECU, when he lost on time after an exciting game.
Dr. Joachim Wintzer
In the end, both sides were satisfied with the 2:2 draw – not least because this event proved once again that hybrid chess can be played without any problems under competitive conditions and will certainly earn its place in the tournament calendar in the future.
