ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
All's well that ends well, our captain and team leader Alexander Shabalov posted on our WhatsApp group as the author of these words was about to board a Minneapolis-bound plane at Frankfurt Airport. My plans were made far in advance, and my teammates were aware they would have to cover for me in the last round. (The bad things is, I'm MIA on the Championship photo!) But cover they did, defeating Canada by the count 3-1.
The North American derby: USA vs Canada
It wouldn't have been enough, however, had the English team not stumbled at the finish line by losing to Germany 1. The decisive margin was provided by IM Karsten Volke who beat James Plaskett in a smooth game. The Germans actually held an advantage on all boards except for board one, where GMs Schlosser and Speelman drew quickly.
Considering that fact that even a tie in that match would see our team finishing first on tie-breaks (most board points scored), it wasn't really such a nail-biting wait for the US team. My teammates took advantage of the free hours between the end of their games and the closing ceremony to take another short car trip to downtown Dresden.
Pl. | Mannschaft | ELO | Man.Pkt. | Brt.Pkt. | SoBerg | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | United States | 16:2 | 28 | 310 | ||
1. | Alexander Shabalov | 2567 | 7.5:0.5 | 43.5 | 37.25 | |
2. | Joel Benjamin | 2544 | 6:2 | 46.5 | 34.5 | |
3. | Jaan Ehlvest | 2536 | 5.5:2.5 | 47.5 | 30.25 | |
4. | Alex Yermolinsky | 2505 | 6:1 | 44 | 29.25 | |
5. | Sergey Kudrin | 2468 | 3:2 | 42.5 | 17.5 | |
2. | England 1 | 15:3 | 26.5 | 282.5 | ||
1. | Jon S Speelman | 2493 | 4.5:2.5 | 46.5 | 24 | |
2. | John M Emms | 2488 | 5:2 | 45.5 | 26.75 | |
3. | H James Plaskett | 2455 | 5.5:2.5 | 44.5 | 27.75 | |
4. | Mark L Hebden | 2423 | 5:2 | 47 | 27.25 | |
5. | Keith C Arkell | 2406 | 6.5:0.5 | 43.5 | 30.5 | |
3. | Lasker Schachstiftung GK | 15:3 | 26 | 268.5 | ||
1. | Alexander Graf | 2561 | 6:2 | 43.5 | 28.25 | |
2. | Artur Jussupow | 2580 | 5:3 | 44.5 | 25 | |
3. | Felix Levin | 2468 | 6.5:1.5 | 43.5 | 33.75 | |
4. | Jakob Meister | 2432 | 6:2 | 47 | 30.75 | |
5. | Dr. Gerhard Koehler | 2181 | 2.5:1.5 | 39.5 | 12.5 | |
4. | Germany 1 | 14:4 | 24.5 | 245.5 | ||
1. | Philipp Schlosser | 2501 | 6:3 | 41 | 26 | |
2. | Uwe Boensch | 2560 | 4.5:2.5 | 44 | 22.5 | |
3. | Klaus Bischoff | 2510 | 4:2 | 45 | 19.5 | |
4. | Karsten Volke | 2474 | 5:2 | 43.5 | 25.5 | |
5. | Raj Tischbierek | 2436 | 5:2 | 47 | 29.25 | |
5. | Thüringen | 13:5 | 23 | 226 | ||
1. | Peter Enders | 2445 | 5.5:3.5 | 45 | 24 | |
2. | Thomas Paehtz | 2347 | 3.5:1.5 | 42 | 16.5 | |
3. | Joachim Brueggemann | 2293 | 6.5:2.5 | 41.5 | 30.75 | |
4. | Thomas Casper | 2354 | 5:2 | 43.5 | 26.75 | |
5. | Rudolf Ruether | 2118 | 2.5:3.5 | 44 | 11.5 |
...67 Teams
In terms of individual board winners, Shabalov won on first board with 7½/8, and I captured the fourth board with 6 out of 7. Aside from losing against England in Round 4, the US team won their remaining matches by at least the count of 3 : 1, including decisive wins over the Lasker team and Germany 1, where the score was 3½ : ½.
The English played very well, and they could have won it, but there's no doubt in my mind our team was the class of the field.
Alexander Shabalov had a stellar event
Going back to round-by-round coverage, I mention that Round 7 didn't give us any grounds for optimism. Both teams that were ahead of us, England 1 and Lasker Schachstiftung, whitewashed their opponents, while we surrendered one point to the Thuringen team thanks to a rare Ehlvest loss.
Unfazed, we took a car ride to one of the numerous castles in the Dresden area and surveyed the hunting grounds about.
At the castle | Photo: Alex Yermolinsky
The next day was to answer if we were to stay in contention. The US team rose to the occasion by defeating the Lasker team. The only draw was given on board three, where Ehlvest couldn't get the game off the ground against the determined Felix Levin. The rest of the games went massively our way.
Then there was a nice win for Benjamin over Jussupow. After the game, Joel expressed his surprise at Artur's opening choice of a horribly passive line in the French Defense. I hoped to get Joel's notes to the game, but I guess Daddy was missed too much for the last couple of weeks for the kids (9 and 7) to let him sit at chess the first day back home.
I chipped in with a solid effort of my own.
How to play the Queen's Gambit
Garry Kasparov took to the Queen’s Gambit at a relatively late stage of his chess career, but then had the best training anyone could imagine: in his first match for the world championship against Anatoly Karpov, this opening appeared on the board no less than 19 times. Now he shares his knowledge with you.
This crushing win all but assured the US team of finishing at least second. The rest of the day was split between watching the third-place match of the World Cup and a nice dinner in a downtown Dresden cafe “Alyonushka”, which features Russian cuisine.
The US Team headquarters | Photo: Alex Yermolinsky
Actually, I got lucky with my choice of room. Having what used to be called a "Murphy bed" proved useful when my room was used for team gatherings and meals.
On the morning of the last round, Shabalov drove me to Dresden Hauptbahnhof, where I boarded a fast train to Frankfurt, leaving my teammates to finish the business.
The Sicilian Tajmanov-Scheveningen
The Sicilian has been known for decades as the most reliable way for Black to obtain an unbalanced but good position. Among the most popular Sicilians at the top level the two that certainly stand out are the Najdorf and the Paulsen.
The over 65 age group was a clear and unambiguous affair. The Russian team won with 9 wins and 18 : 0 points tally. The gap to the following teams, St. Petersburg and Germany 1 is a whopping four points. "Germany 2" with Vlastimil Hort on board 1 finished fourth.
The winners of the 65+ group, Russia in the back row | Karsten Wieland
Pl. | Mannschaft | ELO | Man.Pkt. | Brt.Pkt. | SoBerg | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Russia | 18:0 | 27 | 282 | ||
1. | Evgeny Sveshnikov | 2464 | 7.5:1.5 | 41 | 33.75 | |
2. | Yuri S Balashov | 2423 | 5.5:1.5 | 42.5 | 25.75 | |
3. | Nukhim Rashkovsky | 2483 | 5.5:1.5 | 43 | 27 | |
4. | Vladimir V Zhelnin | 2453 | 3.5:2.5 | 44 | 18.5 | |
5. | Nikolai Pushkov | 2311 | 5:2 | 46 | 26.25 | |
2. | Saint-Petersburg | 14:4 | 23.5 | 242.5 | ||
1. | Vadim Z Faibisovich | 2312 | 5:4 | 41 | 24.25 | |
2. | Nikolai M. Mishuchkov | 2311 | 5:4 | 45 | 25.5 | |
3. | Vladimir I Karasev | 2337 | 6:3 | 45.5 | 31.75 | |
4. | Vladimir Shushpanov | 2198 | 7.5:1.5 | 39.5 | 31 | |
3. | Germany 2 | 14:4 | 22 | 233.5 | ||
1. | Jefim Rotstein | 2318 | 4:4 | 44 | 20 | |
2. | Yuri Boidman | 2358 | 7.5:1.5 | 40.5 | 34.75 | |
3. | Anatoly Donchenko | 2301 | 2.5:3.5 | 41 | 13.25 | |
4. | Boris Khanukov | 2273 | 5:3 | 42 | 24.25 | |
5. | Boris Gruzmann | 2176 | 3:2 | 43 | 12.25 | |
4. | Germany 1 | 13:5 | 22 | 212.5 | ||
1. | Vlastimil Hort | 2421 | 5.5:2.5 | 42 | 24.5 | |
2. | Bodo Schmidt | 2344 | 5:4 | 44.5 | 26 | |
3. | Stephan Buchal | 2329 | 4:4 | 45 | 19.5 | |
4. | Ulrich Schulze | 2313 | 5.5:1.5 | 45 | 25.5 | |
5. | Juergen Haakert | 2302 | 2:2 | 36.5 | 9 | |
5. | England 1 | 13:5 | 21.5 | 224 | ||
1. | Robert Bellin | 2333 | 3.5:4.5 | 45 | 17.75 | |
2. | Stephen H Berry | 2298 | 4:3 | 42 | 20.5 | |
3. | Nigel E Povah | 2245 | 7:1 | 41 | 33.25 | |
4. | Anthony J Stebbings | 2257 | 5:2 | 45 | 25 | |
5. | Roger Emerson | 2211 | 2:4 | 40 | 9.75 | |
6. | Schwäbische Franken | 13:5 | 21 | 196.5 | ||
1. | Klaus Klundt | 2318 | 5:4 | 37 | 22.75 | |
2. | Rainer Oechslein | 2228 | 3.5:3.5 | 42 | 15.5 | |
3. | Prof. Dr. Peter Krauseneck | 2147 | 4.5:2.5 | 38.5 | 19.25 | |
4. | Dr. Hubert Seibold | 2113 | 4:3 | 42 | 19.75 | |
5. | Horst Weisenburger | 2096 | 4:2 | 41.5 | 17 | |
7. | France | 12:6 | 24.5 | 248.5 | ||
1. | Anatoly Vaisser | 2502 | 5.5:1.5 | 45 | 30.25 | |
2. | Mehrshad Sharif | 2353 | 5.5:1.5 | 39.5 | 24 | |
3. | Jean-Luc Seret | 2353 | 3.5:3.5 | 41.5 | 18.25 | |
4. | Nicolas Giffard | 2260 | 5:2 | 41 | 22.5 | |
5. | Christophe Bernard | 2253 | 5:3 | 41.5 | 23.75 |
...61 Teams