Armenia Lead Euro Team Champs
Armenia have moved into first place on the penultimate day of the European Team Chess Championships in Greece.
Armenia beat the Netherlands 3-1, with Lev Aronian and Vladimir Akopian beating Anish Giri and Ivan Sokolov respectively.
Former leaders Azerbaijan narrowly lost 2½-1½ to Germany, with Arkadij Naiditch striking the decisive blow against Teimour Radjabov on top board.
That win puts Germany into second place, and they will meet Armenia in the final round tomorrow in a championship decider. A draw favours Armenia, who lead on board points, but that could allow Azerbaijan to pip them for first if they beat Romania by at least a 3-1 score.
Lev Aronian (left) beat Anish Giri as the Armenians hit the front with one round remaining
Arkadij Naiditch (right) beat Teimour Radjabov to send Germany into 2nd place
The Open standings after 8 rounds:
| Rk. | SNo | Team | W | D | L | MP | BP |
| 1 | 4 | Armenia | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 21.0 |
| 2 | 10 | Germany | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 20.0 |
| 3 | 3 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 20.0 |
| 4 | 7 | Bulgaria | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 18.5 |
| 5 | 5 | Hungary | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 19.0 |
| 6 | 17 | Romania | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 19.0 |
| 7 | 1 | Russia | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 18.5 |
| 8 | 12 | Czech Rep. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 17.0 |
| 9 | 9 | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 16.5 |
| 10 | 21 | Slovenia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 16.5 |
| 11 | 14 | Poland | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 19.0 |
| 12 | 6 | France | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 17.5 |
| 13 | 19 | Greece | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 17.5 |
| 14 | 13 | Spain | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 17.0 |
| 15 | 22 | Italy | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 16.5 |
| 16 | 16 | Croatia | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 16.0 |
| 17 | 18 | Serbia | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 19.5 |
| 18 | 15 | Georgia | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 19.0 |
| 19 | 11 | Israel | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 17.5 |
| 20 | 8 | England | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 17.0 |
| 21 | 26 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 17.0 |
| 22 | 2 | Ukraine | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 16.5 |
| 23 | 25 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 16.5 |
| 24 | 29 | Montenegro | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 16.5 |
| 25 | 20 | Moldova | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18.0 |
| 26 | 27 | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 16.0 |
| 27 | 23 | Austria | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 15.0 |
| 28 | 34 | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 14.5 |
| 29 | 33 | Lithuania | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 14.0 |
| 30 | 32 | Iceland | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 14.0 |
| 31 | 24 | Denmark | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13.0 |
| 32 | 31 | Norway | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13.0 |
| 33 | 30 | FYROM | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 14.5 |
| 34 | 28 | Finland | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13.5 |
| 35 | 35 | Scotland | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13.5 |
| 36 | 37 | Luxembourg | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 9.0 |
| 37 | 36 | Wales | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5.5 |
| 38 | 38 | Cyprus | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 5.5 |
In the women's championship, the Russian team (EDIT: ALMOST!) almost clinched first place with a round to spare by beating France 3-1. It is still just possible for Poland to catch them in the unikely event they lose in the final round against 21st seeds Austria.
Nadezhda Kosintseva (nearest camera) and Natalia Pogonina (furthest) won their games for Russia
The women's standings after 8 rounds:
| Rk. | SNo | Team | W | D | L | MP | BP |
| 1 | 1 | Russia | 7 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 22.5 |
| 2 | 5 | Poland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 21.0 |
| 3 | 2 | Ukraine | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 20.5 |
| 4 | 3 | Georgia | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 20.0 |
| 5 | 12 | France | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 18.0 |
| 6 | 4 | Armenia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 17.0 |
| 7 | 7 | Germany | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 18.5 |
| 8 | 18 | Czech Rep. | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 17.0 |
| 9 | 15 | Israel | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 17.0 |
| 10 | 8 | Bulgaria | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 16.5 |
| 11 | 21 | Austria | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 16.5 |
| 12 | 9 | Romania | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 15.0 |
| 13 | 14 | Serbia | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 18.0 |
| 14 | 11 | Slovenia | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 16.5 |
| 15 | 6 | Hungary | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 15.0 |
| 16 | 10 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 16.0 |
| 17 | 22 | England | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 16.0 |
| 18 | 17 | Azerbaijan | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 15.5 |
| 19 | 27 | Turkey | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 15.5 |
| 20 | 13 | Netherlands | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 15.0 |
| 21 | 19 | Croatia | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14.5 |
| 22 | 23 | Italy | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 15.5 |
| 23 | 26 | Lithuania | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15.0 |
| 24 | 16 | Greece | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 14.5 |
| 25 | 20 | Latvia | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15.5 |
| 26 | 24 | Montenegro | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 12.0 |
| 27 | 25 | Switzerland | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11.5 |
| 28 | 28 | Norway | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2.5 |
Pictures from the official website.
The European Team Chess Championships run from 3-11 November 2011 in Halkidiki, Greece.
This is the 18th edition of the championships, with 30 players rated over 2700 Elo taking part. There are 38 national teams in the Open event, and 28 in the separate women's event. Each team consists of 4 players and a reserve.
The format for both the Open and women's competitions is a 9-round Swiss, with time controls of 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes to finish, with a 30 second increment from the start of the game. The rounds start each day at 15:00 local time (13:00 UTC) except the final round which is 2 hours earlier. Live games are available at the official website.
