Bulgaria Lead Euro Team Champs
The Bulgarian team led by Veselin Topalov are leading the European Team Chess Championships after five rounds.
The Bulgarians stunned the competition favourites Russia in round four, beating them convincingly by a 3-1 score. Topalov beat Svidler, Cheparinov beat Karjakin, and Delchev beat Morozevich to complete a shock result.
Second seeds Ukraine also suffered a surprise reversal, losing to Germany by an even bigger 3½-½ margin.
The fifth round then paired Russia and Ukraine in a vital match to stay in contention, and it was the Russian team which won a tight encounter 2½-1½ thanks to a win by Morozevich against Moiseenko.
Topalov beat Svidler on top board as the Russians crumbled against Bulgaria
Ponomariov losing to Naiditsch as Ukraine slump to a heavy defeat
Bulgaria keep up the pace by beating Germany 3-1 to take the lead after five rounds
The Open standings after five rounds:
| Rk. | SNo | Team | W | D | L | MP | BP |
| 1 | 7 | Bulgaria | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 13.0 |
| 2 | 17 | Romania | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 13.0 |
| 3 | 3 | Azerbaijan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12.5 |
| 4 | 6 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12.5 |
| 5 | 19 | Greece | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 12.5 |
| 6 | 4 | Armenia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13.0 |
| 7 | 10 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12.0 |
| 8 | 22 | Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12.0 |
| 9 | 13 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11.5 |
| 10 | 1 | Russia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11.5 |
| 11 | 15 | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13.5 |
| 12 | 14 | Poland | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 12.5 |
| 13 | 5 | Hungary | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11.5 |
| 14 | 9 | Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10.5 |
| 15 | 21 | Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10.0 |
| 16 | 20 | Moldova | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12.0 |
| 17 | 26 | Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11.0 |
| 18 | 11 | Israel | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 19 | 2 | Ukraine | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 20 | 8 | England | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 21 | 27 | Latvia | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 22 | 12 | Czech Rep. | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10.0 |
| 23 | 16 | Croatia | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9.5 |
| 24 | 24 | Denmark | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9.5 |
| 25 | 18 | Serbia | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 12.5 |
| 26 | 30 | FYROM | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10.0 |
| 27 | 29 | Montenegro | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9.5 |
| 28 | 32 | Iceland | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9.0 |
| 29 | 23 | Austria | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9.0 |
| 30 | 25 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9.0 |
| 31 | 33 | Lithuania | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.0 |
| 32 | 28 | Finland | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.0 |
| 33 | 31 | Norway | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7.0 |
| 34 | 34 | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6.5 |
| 35 | 37 | Luxembourg | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4.0 |
| 36 | 35 | Scotland | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6.0 |
| 37 | 38 | Cyprus | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.5 |
| 38 | 36 | Wales | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2.5 |
In the women's competition, the Russian favourites are the clear leaders, being the only team to still have a 100% match record so far. In round four they beat second seeds Ukraine 2½-1½ in a closely fought contest, and then followed that up with a victory in round five against third seeds Georgia by the same score.
The big showdown between Russia and Ukraine ended in a narrow victory for the top seeds
The Georgian team also fell to Russia in another closely fought match in round five
The women's standings after five rounds:
| Rk. | SNo | Team | W | D | L | MP | BP |
| 1 | 1 | Russia | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15.0 |
| 2 | 5 | Poland | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 14.0 |
| 3 | 2 | Ukraine | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 13.5 |
| 4 | 3 | Georgia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 12.0 |
| 5 | 18 | Czech Rep. | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 11.0 |
| 6 | 14 | Serbia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 13.0 |
| 7 | 11 | Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 12.5 |
| 8 | 12 | France | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11.5 |
| 9 | 6 | Hungary | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10.0 |
| 10 | 13 | Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10.0 |
| 11 | 4 | Armenia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10.0 |
| 12 | 7 | Germany | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11.5 |
| 13 | 17 | Azerbaijan | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11.0 |
| 14 | 16 | Greece | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 15 | 27 | Turkey | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 16 | 8 | Bulgaria | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.0 |
| 17 | 15 | Israel | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10.0 |
| 18 | 9 | Romania | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8.5 |
| 19 | 10 | Spain | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10.0 |
| 20 | 19 | Croatia | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8.5 |
| 21 | 23 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9.5 |
| 22 | 20 | Latvia | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9.5 |
| 23 | 26 | Lithuania | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8.0 |
| 24 | 21 | Austria | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.0 |
| 25 | 24 | Montenegro | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7.0 |
| 26 | 25 | Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6.5 |
| 27 | 22 | England | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
| 28 | 28 | Norway | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1.0 |
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.
