Top 12: Bischwiller and Clichy still perfect

by Klaus Besenthal
6/26/2021 – The French Team Championship, also known as Top 12, is taking place in Châlons-en-Champagne. Only two teams have managed to score victories in the first two rounds: Bischwiller, with Markus Ragger and Etienne Bacrot on top boards, and the team from Clichy, led by Jorden van Foreest. | Photos: Official site
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Championnat de France 

Not all the registered top stars have played yet at the French Team Championship, which is nothing unusual in such team competitions. The best-known player who actually sat down at the board for a game was Veselin Topalov. The Bulgarian’s team, Chalons-En-Champagne, defeated C’Chartres Échecs in Round 2 — the former FIDE World Champion drew against Christian Bauer.

So far, the most dominating team has been Bischwiller. The team led by Markus Ragger, Etienne Bacrot and Arkadij Naiditsch defeated two clearly lower-rated teams by convincing scores of 6-0 and 5-0. The leaders will have a tougher task in round 3, when they will face Mulhouse Philidor, a squad led by Matthias Bluebaum and Grzegorz Gajewski.

In the first round, Bluebaum defeated Maxime Lagarde (C’Chartres Échecs). Lagarde tried a stormy attack, which Bluebaum refuted with a cool head:

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,172,27354%2421---
1.d4951,24355%2434---
1.Nf3283,16356%2440---
1.c4182,99656%2442---
1.g319,77556%2427---
1.b314,39754%2427---
1.f45,92048%2377---
1.Nc33,83450%2384---
1.b41,76548%2379---
1.a31,22854%2405---
1.e31,07449%2409---
1.d395850%2378---
1.g466746%2361---
1.h445753%2378---
1.c343651%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411560%2464---
1.f39646%2431---
1.Nh39166%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Qa5+ 7.Nd2 e6
8.Ne2 8.Ngf3 is the most frequently played move here. White has to decide whether he wants to attack the black centre (or advance on the queenside) with c2-c4, or whether he simply wants to hold his own centre with c2-c3. Lagarde decides to go for the former, as the alternative of an attack on the kingside doesn't look very promising either. 8...Ne7 9.0-0 Castling perhaps should not have been the priority here. There were more aggressive moves - even 9.b4 was possible: Qxb4?! Better is 9...Qb5 10.Rb1 Qa4 11.Rxb7 and White is better. 9...Qa6 10.c4 Nf5 11.b3?! This also looks too tame. 11.Rb1 was perhaps better here. 11...c5 11...Nxh4 was possible. 12.dxc5 Nc6 13.a3?! White plays another "slow" move. Good was 13.Qc3 13...Bxc5 13...Nxe5 14.Qc3 Be7! 14.b4
It might not look so, but the position is already advantageous for Black. 14...Nxe5 14...Bxb4 15.axb4 Qxa1 16.cxd5 Rd8 was also good for Black. 15.Qb1 Nxc4 Or simply 15...Be7 16.bxc5 Nxd2 17.Bxd2 Qxe2 18.Qxb7 0-0 19.Bf4 Qg4 20.Bd6 Nxh4
At least White was able to prevent a black rook from moving to b8, but apart from that the attacker's stormy attempt was a failure. Two pawns are gone and the badly positioned white pieces are harmless. 21.g3 Or 21.Bg3 Rfb8! 21...Nf3+ 22.Kg2 Qe4 23.Kh1 White is trying to avoid getting mated. Ne1+ 24.f3 Nxf3 25.Rf2 Ne5+ 26.Rg2 Rfc8 27.Rf1 f6 28.Rf4 Qe3 29.Rff2
29...Ng4 With 29...Qe1+ Black could directly take a whole rook. 30.Re2 Qd3 31.Re1 Ne3 32.Rge2 Nc2 33.Rxc2 Qxc2 34.Rxe6 Qd1+ 35.Kh2 Re8 36.Re7 Kh8 37.c6 Rac8 38.Qd7 Red8 39.Qe6 Qc2+ 40.Kh3 Qe4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lagarde,M2648Bluebaum,M26690–12021B12FRA-chT Top 12 20211.33

Matthias Bluebaum had to settle for a draw against Thibault Fantinel (Elo 2380) in round 2

Standings after round 2

Decisive matches give 3 points to the winning team and 1 point to the losing squad, while a draw grants 2 points to each team. Only decisive games are considered for the board point calculation (draws are not included).

Pl. Equipe Pts j. d. p. c.
1 Bischwiller 6 2 11 11 0
2 Clichy Echecs 92 6 2 6 9 3
3 Grasse Echecs 5 2 4 7 3
4 Asnieres - le Grand Echiquier 5 2 3 6 3
5 Mulhouse Philidor 4 2 3 5 2
6 Vandoeuvre Echecs 4 2 0 5 5
7 Chalons-En-Champagne 4 2 -1 4 5
8 C'Chartres Echecs 4 2 -1 3 4
9 Villejuif 4 2 -3 5 8
10 Club 608 - Paris 2 2 -5 3 8
11 Echiquier de l'Erdre 2 2 -7 2 9
12 Agen 2 2 -10 0 10

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  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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