Maxim Matlakov is 2017 European Individual Champion

Round nine

There is a Persian proverb that states “a job is done by he who finishes it”. The proverb may not be applicable to every complex human activity but it is quite applicable to chess. Any drama, or up and down swing during a tournament, especially an open tournament, always comes down to the race that takes place in the last two or three rounds, where those in contention for the coveted seat in the World Cup try to give their best to ensure a ticket to Georgia.

After a crucial win in round eight, David Howell played it calm and conceded a quick draw against Russian Demchenko in round nine. On the other hand, things got pretty gloomy for the Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov against Russian Maxim Matlakov when his opening adventure went wrong and Matlakov got a very good version of a Stonewall. Things went downhill from there, and the Russian essayed a central breakthrough and got a much better queenless middlegame. Matlakov went on to exploit white’s weakness on f4 and won a pawn on f3. I wonder how many times Cheparinov kicked himself for this poor game.

Ivan Cheparinov vs Maxim Matlakov

In spite of a scare in round nine, Cheparinov finished strong and came in 5th place with 8.0/11

After a near disastrous start with two losses in his first three games, the aggressive Georgian GM Jobava scored win after win. In round nine his victim was none other than another British GM Gawain Jones. Jones, known for being aggressive himself, should have felt very patriotic as he opened his game with the English system 1.c4. Jobava’s seemingly solid reply with c6 turned into a wild opening battle. In the ensuing bout Jobava always seemed in his element and made several strong and energetic moves. In an already much better position for black, Jones blundered a queen exchange for two rooks which would have led to an immediate checkmate and had to resign in only twenty-five moves.

Gawain Jones vs Baadur Jobava 

After a 1.0/3 start, Baadur Jobava scored seven straight wins

This win put Jobava among the handful of players with 7.0/9, half a point behind the sole leader David Howell. Among these players was a familiar figure from previous reports: The sensation of the event indeed, IM Arman Mikalyan, who went on to score yet another victory against David Anton Guijarro. Probably angry after his loss against Howell on the eighth round, Anton Guijarro played overly optimistic and Mikaelyan punished him convincingly to clinch a succulent GM norm and a most coveted +5 score after 9 rounds! A feat deserving of praise from this apparently non-professional but very talented Armenian!

Igor Klevko and Eteri Kublashvili were the official photographers of the event

Final round

The European championship finished on Saturday June 10th in the Belorussian capital Minsk. The last two rounds saw a dramatic turn of event for players, who wished to be among the 22 lucky guys to qualify for the 2017 World Cup in Georgia. Also, things were quite tense on the top boards with only two players with 8.0/10, Jobava and Matlakov, playing each other for the coveted first place, while players with 7.5/10 could catch them should the leaders draw.

Having turned his Swiss gambit into a massive success by winning seven games in a row, Baadur Jobava had already secured a seat in the World Cup and all that was left was the tough task of winning his eighth game in a row and the title. He knew that a draw would only give him second or third place as his tie-break was worse than his opponent, Maxim Matlakov who had a solid and impressive performance and had been among the leaders throughout the entire tournament.

One cannot fault the fighting spirt of Baadur Jobava (right) who came to the last round ready to do battle with co-leader Maxim Matlakov (left) with no compromises

The flamoboyant Georgian went for broke with a Ponziani that eventually ended up becoming a form of reversed Phillidor. The Russian, who knew a draw should suffice to win the title played overly cautiously and in a somewhat benign position, Jobava started to complicate matters in his favor. On move 38 Matlakov made a decisive mistake which could have given Jobava good winning chances. Unfortunately for the Georgian, he missed his chance on the 40th move, after which the material was liquidated and a draw agreed. Thus, Maxim Matlakov became the 2017 European Champion.

Baadur Jobava vs Maxim Matlakov

The Russian played solidly and consistently throughout the whole event and won a whopping 17 points to sit on 2724 FIDE rating. The Russian now has his eye on invitational events, hoping to prove his strength and abilities in the future.

2017 has been a great year for young Vladimir Fedoseev. The Russian won the Aeroflot Open and he just recently crossed 2700. After a strong start, the ultra-aggressive Russian lost back-to-back games in rounds five and six to drop down to only +1 after six rounds. However, ambitious and confident, Fedoseev scored five consecutive wins against five GMs to score an overall 8½/11 against 10 GMs and and IMs. The third place (tied for first in fact) was a deserved achievement for this young man. A power to be reckoned very soon among the elite!

In his last round game, he beat former Top 10 player Dmitry Jakovenko to eliminate the latter from the World Cup.

The Russians are coming! A true success for them in the European Championship! Vladimir Fedoseev made a magnificent recovery after a terrible stumble mid-tournament, losing rounds five and six, and finished in third.

Vladimir Fedoseev vs Dmitry Jakovenko

WGM Olga Girya was the best female performer an nearly scored a GM norm

While qualifying for the World Cup was a certainty for the top winners, the question was about the others. 22 spots might seem like a lot, until one remembers the sheer depth of the event. With only 8.0/11 one could guarantee a spot while 7½/11 was leaving it very much in the hands of the Tiebreak Gods, where some would be blessed with a spot in the World Cup, and some would be left following it from home.

Some preferred to force the pace rather than let their spot depend on such a lottery, though this backfired more often than not such as this game where Kovalenko fell to the hands of in-shape and experienced Daniel Friedman.

Igor Kovalenko vs Daniel Fridman

Finally, there were others we must not forget in this tournament:

13-year-old WFM Bibisara Assaubayeva scored a solid 11-round IM-norm, facing five grandmasters and four IMs, and earned a whopping 140 Elo points as a result. Since this is a FIDE continental event, this norm is worth double! This young lady has big dreams!

13-year-old WFM Bibisara Assaubayeva

Three Armenian IMs, Baghdasaryan, Martirosyan, and Hakobyan, also won their last round games to score GM norms. Given that two of these three IMs are under 18, the Armenians were delighted to see  fuel being prepared for the future Olympiads for their national team!

15-year-old FM Andrey Esipenko from Russia scored a double GM norm as well

Final standings

Links

• Official tournament site
• Complete tournament results (Chess-Results)
• All games in PGN or Replay them directly here (many analyzed)

You can use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.