ETCC 2023: Germany forges ahead in Open, Azerbaijan and France co-lead women’s event
After five rounds are played at the European Team Chess Championship 2023, Germany emerged as the sole leader of the open section, while France and Azerbaijan are tied for first place in the Women’s Championship. In a clash for the sole lead, Germany convincingly defeated Armenia yesterday by a score of 3-1. GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2721) couldn’t get a better present for his 19th birthday than a team win and an excellent victory over GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2708). GM Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2670) brought the second full point to Germany, stunning GM Hrant Melkumyan (ARM, 2650) with a spectacular queen sacrifice, while the games on the second and the fourth boards were drawn. Team Romania defeated Poland to join the race for the top position. GM Richard Rapport (ROU, 2748) came victorious against GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL, 2668), while GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2700) prevailed over GM Pawel Teclaf (POL, 2571). The games on the other two boards between GMs Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2665) and Mateusz Bartel (POL, 2651) and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (ROU, 2591) vs GM Szymon Gumularz (POL, 2580) were drawn, to set the final score of 3-1. Lower-rated Moldova surprised Norway by tying the match. GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2829) couldn’t break the resistance of GM Ivan Schitco (MDA, 2503), who played a very solid game. GM Victor Bologan (MDA, 2573) defeated GM Lars Oskar Hauge (NOR, 2498), while IM Tor Fredrik Kaasen (NOR, 2471) beat FM Jegor Lashkin (MDA, 2457). With a draw on the second board between IM Andrei Macovei (MDA, 2446) and GM Aryan Tari (NOR, 2620), the teams equally scored two match points. After five rounds of play, Germany leads the Open tournament with 9 match points. They are closely followed by Serbia, Romania, England, and Netherlands, tied for second place, sitting on 8 match points. Today is the free day, and the event will resume at 15:00 CET. The top-board pairings are: Germany (Rtg average 2676) vs Romania (Rtg average 2676) Norway* (Rtg average 2633) vs Switzerland (Rtg average 2508) Belgium (Rtg average 2422) vs Montenegro* (Rtg average 2536) Netherlands (Rtg average 2632) vs England (Rtg average 2671) Serbia (Rtg average 2628) vs Armenia (Rtg average 2667) France and Azerbaijan in the Women’s section won their matches in Round 5 to maintain the lead in the event. Azerbaijan narrowly defeated Germany, thanks to the victory of IM Gunay Mammadzada (AZE, 2441) against GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER, 2473). The other three games ended in draws, although WGM Josefine Heinemann (GER, 2318) had a very good chance to score a full point in a position where she signed the scoresheet. WGM Hanna Marie Klek (GER, 2282) missed the opportunity to gain a decisive advantage, and the game eventually transposed into an equal endgame. The team of France crushed Armenia, scoring a landslide 3.5-0.5 victory. WGM Mitra Hejazipour (FRA, 2323) defeated WIM Mariam Mkrtchyan (ARM, 2347), IM Pauline Guichard (FRA, 2347) was victorious against GM Elina Danielian (ARM, 2413), and IM Anastasia Savina (FRA, 2335) bested WIM Susanna Gaboyan (ARM, 2171). IM Lilit Mkrchian (ARM, 2387) was the only one to score a half-point for the Armenian team, drawing her game against IM Deimante Dulyte-Cornette (FRA, 2369). With Round 5 victories, France and Azerbaijan share the first place with 9 match points each. Bulgaria is trailing the leaders by a single point. After today’s free day, Round 6 will bring interesting encounters tomorrow. The top board pairings in the Women’s section are: Bulgaria (Rtg average 2362) vs Azerbaijan (Rtg average 2392) France (Rtg average 2357) vs Georgia (Rtg average 2471) Netherlands (Rtg average 2320) vs Germany (Rtg average 2385) Greece (Rtg average 2239) vs Armenia (Rtg average 2352) Switzerland (Rtg average 2314) vs Poland (Rtg average 2347) Text: europechess.org Photos: Mark Livshitz Useful links: Pairings, results & rankingsOfficial website of the eventPhoto gallery
Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2023: Day 2 Recap
The second day of rapid started off slow with ten straight draws, before an explosive final round left GM Ray Robson at the top of the standings after an important win over GM Alireza Firouzja. Heading into the final day of rapid, Robson leads with 8.0/12, while GMs Maxime Vachier Lagrave, Anish Giri, and Le Quang Liem trail closely behind with 7.0/12. RAPID | ROUNDS 4-6 While the results didn’t show it at first, the day had plenty of drama as all five games in rounds four and five were drawn, though with several players missing opportunities: Caruana failed to win with an extra exchange against So, MVL botched a winning knight endgame against Nepomniachtchi, and Giri blundered into a draw in a queen endgame with two extra pawns against Liem. But perhaps the biggest miss came from Firouzja, who sacrificed his queen for two pieces in highly creative fashion against So, only to squander a decisive advantage later on. Firouzja-So: 17.Qxf5!? led to wild complications after 17…gxf5 18.Nh6+, with White getting two pieces and tons of compensation for the queen. A near-brilliancy for Firouzja, who remains in second after the day. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes The final round of the day was by far the most decisive, with Caruana defeating the leader, Liem, after turning around a much worse position as Black. Liem-Caruana: After 37…Nc4! White’s position came under serious pressure, as Liem soon started to go wrong. Caruana has struggled so far but notched a key win over Liem in the sixth round. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes The win by Caruana allowed Robson to overtake the lead with a fantastic victory over Firouzja, as Robson built up an irresistible kingside attack before winning an endgame with a queen vs. three pieces: Robson-Firouzja: After 28.Be6, Black’s king was quickly done for on the g-file. Robson won an excellent attacking game to seize the lead. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Also winning to tie for second at the end of the day were Giri, who shockingly won on time against Sevian in a drawn rook vs. bishop endgame (with the bishop!), and MVL, who unleashed a classic Sicilian exchange sacrifice before converting a nice endgame against So: So-MVL: 18…Rxc3! gave Black enormous compensation for the exchange after 19.Bxc3 Bg5. An insanely lucky break for Giri, who had his own misfortune the round before. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes The 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz continues on November 16th, starting at 1:00 PM CDT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, and Tania Sachdev on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Written by IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photos: Lennart Ootes and Crystal Fuller Official website: grandchesstour.org/2023-grand-chess-tour/2023-saint-louis-rapid-blitz