The 18TH NATO Chess Championship is taking place from September 2nd to 8th 2007 in the Gendarmerie Schools Command in Beytepe, Ankara (Turkey). The tournament follows the structure laid down by the Regulations of the International Military Chess Committee (IMCC) and is a seven-round individual Swiss tournament, with the four highest-scoring players from each country counting towards the team score. All employees of a participating nation’s Defence Department are regarded as potential team members (civilians included). Teams will consist of a maximum of eight people: one captain, one team official and six players.
Dress code: according to the rules "formal Service uniforms are to be worn at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the final banquet and when otherwise authorised. The wearing of the combat dress uniforms is discouraged during official functions. Civilian clothes may be worn when chess games are in progress."
A group photo of participating teams and officials
The teams march into the playing hall – Olympic style, but with a
smarter step
The German team, headed by a lady (IM Elisabeth Pähtz, third from right)
Formal start of round one, with second seed Lorenz Drabke of Germany, rated
2416, facing Neset Daler of Turkey, rated 2029
Top seed Private First Class (and IM) Elisabeth Pähtz, Germany, rated
2457, facing First Lieutenant Rytis Ermalis, Lithuania, rated 2039 (Elisabeth
won)
Colonel Harm Theo Wagenaar, Netherlands, rated 2121, faces Second Lieutenant
Huseyin Ince, unrated, playing for Turkey
The setup in the playing hall in the Gendarmerie Schools Command in Beytepe
Elisabeth Pähtz vs Captain Devrim Alaslar of Turkey, rated 2143 (Private
Pähtz won)
In her third game Elisabeth drew against Mateusz Sypien of Poland, so that after three rounds there were fourteen players at the top of the cross table with 2½/3 points.
| No. | Sd. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts | BH. | BH. | SB. |
| 1 | 10 | Mateusz Sypien | 2205 | POL | 2½ | 8½ | 4½ | 4,75 |
| 2 | 5 | Vytautas Vaznonis | 2315 | LIT | 2½ | 8 | 4½ | 4,25 |
| 8 | Abel Carrascoso | 2214 | SPA | 2½ | 8 | 4½ | 4,25 | |
| 9 | Zygmunt Pioch | 2209 | POL | 2½ | 8 | 4½ | 4,25 | |
| 13 | Wouter Van Rijn | 2203 | NET | 2½ | 8 | 4½ | 4,25 | |
| 6 | 1 | Elisabeth Paehtz | 2457 | GER | 2½ | 7½ | 4½ | 3,75 |
| 7 | 7 | Michael Bon | 2245 | FRA | 2½ | 7½ | 4 | 4,00 |
| 8 | 11 | Frederic Giua | 2204 | FRA | 2½ | 7½ | 4 | 3,75 |
| 9 | 2 | Lorenz Drabke | 2416 | GER | 2½ | 7½ | 3½ | 4,25 |
| 10 | 4 | Mark Helbig | 2334 | GER | 2½ | 7½ | 3½ | 4,00 |
| 11 | 32 | Douglas Taffinder | 2078 | USA | 2½ | 7 | 4 | 3,25 |
| 12 | 12 | Saturnin Skindzier | 2203 | POL | 2½ | 7 | 3½ | 3,25 |
| 13 | 6 | Philipp Mai | 2300 | GER | 2½ | 6½ | 3½ | 2,75 |
| 14 | 64 | Samuel Echaure | 0 | USA | 2½ | 6 | 2½ | 2,75 |
Let's be honest – were you thinking that this wisp of a girl was not a real soldier? That this slender young thing with the IM title in chess and a Junior World Championship title to her name, had never seen the inside of an army barrack, had never held a gun in her hand? Then you are mistaken, and we have photographic evidence to prove it.
Yep, that's her, Elisabeth in camouflage at her unit
During basic training, where she did the full G.I. Jane thing
Can you spot the 2457 chess player? No? Well that is precisely the point
Ready to defend her country and all of Europe: IM Elisabeth Pähtz,
right
Believe us, she knows how to use it! So, people, you don't want to mess
with this girl. If she offers a draw, take it. And under no circumstances should
you grin inanely if you manage to win.
Elisabeth Pähtz is 22 and was trained from early childhood by her father, Grandmaster Thomas Pähtz (the name, often written "Paehtz", is pronounced "pay-ts", to rhyme with "gates"). At the age of nine she won her first German championship in the under-11 age group. In 1999 she became Germany's women's chess champion, in 2002 the youth world champion of the under-18 age group and in 2004 junior world champion of the age group 20-and-below.
Elisabeth at nine, playing in the under 11 national championship
Playing against one Garry Kasparov at a trade fair in 1999
