ETC R2: Russia wins, Ukraine loses a match point, Azerbaijan beats Armenia
The Russian team made a much better impression in the second round of the European Team Championship in Halkidiki, Greece. The team led by Peter Svidler beat the Czech Republic 3.5-0.5. Ukraine dropped its first match point against Bulgaria while Azerbaijan beat Armenia 3-1.
The start of the match Russia vs Czech Republic, top board of the 2011 European Team Championship's second round
All photos © ChessDom
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Playing under the dome of the Olympic Hall Congress Center in Halkidiki, Greece
Before we start with the second round we'll return briefly to the remarkable Russia-Moldova match of the first round. At the website of the Russian Chess Federation, Vladimir Barsky (who is in Greece) mentioned the important detail that Svidler and Bologan were in severe time trouble around move 35. Furthermore, it looks like the last move (45...Rbh2) wasn't the last move played before the players agreed to a draw; Barsky wrote 'and a few moves later Black offered a draw.'
In the second round the Russians made a much better impression with a 3.5-0.5 against the Czech Republic. Laznicka made life easy for Grischuk in a pawn ending:
[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.04"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Laznicka, Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2703"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp4pp/3k4/8/4KP2/6P1/P6P/8 w - f3 0 39"]
[PlyCount "6"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Czech Republic"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CZE"]
39... h5 $2 40. Kf5 Ke7 41. Kg6 Kf8 42. Kxh5 1-0
Bulgaria, led by Topalov and Cheparinov, did quite well with a 2-2 against the strongest possible Ukrainian team that had four 2700s. The key game was Moiseenko-Delchev where the Bulgarian grandmaster managed to hold an ending a pawn down:
[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.04"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Moiseenko, Alexander"]
[Black "Delchev, Aleksander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2715"]
[BlackElo "2629"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r6/2R2pk1/ppBr2pp/5b2/P7/2P4P/1P3PP1/4R1K1 w - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "Bulgaria"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BUL"]
30... Rc8 31. Rxc8 Bxc8 32. Bf3 Rd2 33. Re2 Rd1+ 34. Kh2 Bd7 35. Re4 Rd6 36.
Kg3 a5 37. Kf4 Rd2 38. Rd4 Rxd4+ 39. cxd4 Kf6 40. b3 Ke6 41. Bg4+ f5 42. Be2
g5+ 43. Ke3 f4+ 44. Kd3 Kd6 45. Kc3 Be6 46. Bf3 Bc8 47. Bg4 Ba6 48. g3 fxg3 49.
fxg3 Bf1 50. h4 gxh4 51. gxh4 b5 52. Bf5 bxa4 53. bxa4 Bg2 54. Bd3 Bc6 55. Bb5
Bd5 56. Bc4 Bc6 57. Bb3 Bb7 58. Kd3 Bc6 59. Ke3 Bb7 60. Bc4 Bc8 61. Ke4 Bd7 62.
Bb5 Be6 63. Be8 Bh3 64. d5 Bg2+ 65. Kf5 Bxd5 66. Kf6 Bb3 67. h5 Bd1 68. Kg6 Ke7
69. Bb5 Kf8 70. Kxh6 Kg8 71. Kg5 Kh8 72. Be8 Kg7 1/2-1/2
Ukraine-Bulgaria, with on board one an interesting draw between Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov
An important match was Armenia vs Azerbaijan - in chess it's not politically tense at all, but the two countries did fight many hard-fought battles in the past. Usually Armenia stayed on top, but this time the two match points went to the Azeris, who didn't lose a single game. Gashimov's king played a key role:
[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.04"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Gashimov, Vugar"]
[Black "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D15"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1q2r1k1/5p2/2p3p1/1pPb2Np/1Pp1PP2/R6P/6PK/Q7 w - - 0 38"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Azerbaidjan"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]
38. Kg3 $5 Be6 39. Nxe6 fxe6 40. Qf6 Qb7 41. Kh4 $5 (41. Qxg6+ Qg7 42. Qxg7+
Kxg7 {is hard to win.}) 41... Qg7 42. Kg5 $1 e5 $6 (42... Rf8 $1 43. Qxg6 Qxg6+
44. Kxg6 Rxf4 45. g3 Rf1 46. Kxh5 Kf7 47. g4 Re1 {gives some drawing chances.})
43. Qxc6 Qe7+ 44. Qf6 exf4 45. Qxe7 Rxe7 46. Kxg6 Rg7+ 47. Kf6 Rxg2 48. c6 Rg7
49. Ke6 Rf7 50. Kd6 Rf6+ 51. Kc5 Rf7 52. Kb6 Rf6 53. Kxb5 1-0
Levon Aronian watching Sergei Movsesian - suspecting things won't go well this day?
A success for Azerbaijan - here Vugar Gashimov, Shakhariyar Mamedyarov, team captain Vladimir Tukmakov and Teimour Radjabov
Croatia and Hungary shared the match points and one board lower we can speak of a small upset: Greece beat the higher rated English team 2.5-1.5. Banikas held Adams to a draw while Mastrovasilis and Papaioannou beat Short and Howell respectively. Gawain Jones did something back with a win against Halkias that makes you wonder whether the moves were transmitted correctly. However, we'll show the pretty finish on board 2 instead:
[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.04"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2621"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1r3nk/p1q4p/4pppP/2B5/1pQ1P3/8/PPPR1PP1/2KR4 w - - 0 25"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Greece"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GRE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]
25. Bf8 $1 Qxc4 26. Bg7# 1-0
England-Greece, a slightly surprising 1.5-2.5
Like in Croatia-Hungary, Germany vs Israel saw four draws. Alexei Shirov took revenge for his first-round loss (against an FM!) by scoring the only win in the match Serbia-Spain. It made chess look easy.
[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.04"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Solak, Dragan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2629"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeam "Serbia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ESP"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SRB"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O Bg6 7. b3 Nf5 8. c4 h5
9. Nc3 Be7 10. Bd3 Nd7 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. g3 Nb8 13. Ne2 Nc6 14. Nf4 Qb6 15. Bb2
O-O-O 16. a3 Kb8 17. b4 Rc8 18. Rc1 a6 19. h3 Bh7 20. Nxh5 g5 21. Nf6 Bxf6 22.
exf6 Qd8 23. b5 axb5 24. Bxb5 Na7 25. Rxc8+ Qxc8 26. a4 Bg6 27. Ne5 Nxb5 28.
axb5 Rxh3 29. b6 Nxg3 30. fxg3 Rxg3+ 31. Kf2 Rh3 32. Qa4 Rh2+ 33. Ke1 Rxb2 34.
Qa7# 1-0
The Netherlands beat Sweden 2.5-1.5 but again lost one game. Sweden's Pontus Carlsson beat a higher rated GM for the second time in a row: Ivan Sokolov.
Anish Giri and Loek van Wely, top boards for The Netherlands
Denmark, with three GMs and an IM, scored a disappointing 2-2 against Scotland that could only bring two FMs and a 2311 IM. The Scotch hero was FM Graham Morrison (2339) who beat GM Allan Stig Rasmussen (2541).
A good result for the Scotch
Few surprises on the top women's boards, with wins for Russia, Bulgaria and Georgia. The Dutch and Germans drew 2-2 on board 4. After their 2-2 against Armenia in the first round, the Czech ladies did even better: a 2.5-1.5 win againt Spain, despite having a lower rating on all four boards!.
Bulgaria vs Ukraine, with Stefanova-Lahno on board 1
The Dutch women's team with Zhaoqin Peng, Lisa Schut, Marlies Bensdorp and Anne Haast
Games top boards round 2 (Open)
Games top boards round 2 (Women)
Results Open section, round 2
| Bo. | 12 | Czech Rep. | Rtg | - | 1 | Russia | Rtg | ½ :3½ |
| 1.1 | GM | Navara David | 2724 | - | GM | Svidler Peter | 2755 | 0 - 1 |
| 1.2 | GM | Laznicka Viktor | 2703 | - | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2752 | 0 - 1 |
| 1.3 | GM | Hracek Zbynek | 2628 | - | GM | Karjakin Sergey | 2763 | ½ - ½ |
| 1.4 | GM | Stocek Jiri | 2600 | - | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | 2730 | 0 - 1 |
| Bo. | 2 | Ukraine | Rtg | - | 7 | Bulgaria | Rtg | 2 : 2 |
| 2.1 | GM | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2775 | - | GM | Topalov Veselin | 2768 | ½ - ½ |
| 2.2 | GM | Ponomariov Ruslan | 2723 | - | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2650 | ½ - ½ |
| 2.3 | GM | Moiseenko Alexander | 2715 | - | GM | Delchev Aleksander | 2629 | ½ - ½ |
| 2.4 | GM | Efimenko Zahar | 2702 | - | GM | Georgiev Kiril | 2666 | ½ - ½ |
| Bo. | 4 | Armenia | Rtg | - | 3 | Azerbaijan | Rtg | 1 : 3 |
| 3.1 | GM | Aronian Levon | 2802 | - | GM | Radjabov Teimour | 2781 | ½ - ½ |
| 3.2 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2710 | - | GM | Gashimov Vugar | 2757 | 0 - 1 |
| 3.3 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2681 | - | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2733 | ½ - ½ |
| 3.4 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2671 | - | GM | Guseinov Gadir | 2636 | 0 - 1 |
| Bo. | 16 | Croatia | Rtg | - | 5 | Hungary | Rtg | 2 : 2 |
| 4.1 | GM | Stevic Hrvoje | 2612 | - | GM | Leko Peter | 2720 | ½ - ½ |
| 4.2 | GM | Saric Ivan | 2648 | - | GM | Almasi Zoltan | 2707 | ½ - ½ |
| 4.3 | GM | Palac Mladen | 2580 | - | GM | Balogh Csaba | 2662 | ½ - ½ |
| 4.4 | GM | Brkic Ante | 2605 | - | GM | Gyimesi Zoltan | 2652 | ½ - ½ |
| Bo. | 8 | England | Rtg | - | 19 | Greece | Rtg | 1½:2½ |
| 5.1 | GM | Adams Michael | 2734 | - | GM | Banikas Hristos | 2620 | ½ - ½ |
| 5.2 | GM | Short Nigel D | 2698 | - | GM | Mastrovasilis Dimitrios | 2621 | 0 - 1 |
| 5.3 | GM | Howell David W L | 2633 | - | GM | Papaioannou Ioannis | 2600 | 0 - 1 |
| 5.4 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2635 | - | GM | Halkias Stelios | 2593 | 1 - 0 |
| Bo. | 10 | Germany | Rtg | - | 11 | Israel | Rtg | 2 : 2 |
| 6.1 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2712 | - | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2645 | ½ - ½ |
| 6.2 | GM | Meier Georg | 2659 | - | GM | Sutovsky Emil | 2696 | ½ - ½ |
| 6.3 | GM | Fridman Daniel | 2661 | - | GM | Smirin Ilia | 2670 | ½ - ½ |
| 6.4 | GM | Buhmann Rainer | 2612 | - | GM | Postny Evgeny | 2640 | ½ - ½ |
| Bo. | 18 | Serbia | Rtg | - | 13 | Spain | Rtg | 1½:2½ |
| 7.1 | GM | Ivanisevic Ivan | 2636 | - | GM | Vallejo Pons Francisco | 2705 | ½ - ½ |
| 7.2 | GM | Solak Dragan | 2629 | - | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2705 | 0 - 1 |
| 7.3 | GM | Damljanovic Branko | 2597 | - | GM | Salgado Lopez Ivan | 2621 | ½ - ½ |
| 7.4 | GM | Perunovic Milos | 2576 | - | GM | Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis | 2568 | ½ - ½ |
| Bo. | 34 | Turkey | Rtg | - | 17 | Romania | Rtg | 1 : 3 |
| 8.1 | IM | Yilmaz Mustafa | 2515 | - | GM | Lupulescu Constantin | 2657 | 1 - 0 |
| 8.2 | GM | Can Emre | 2465 | - | GM | Parligras Mircea-Emilian | 2650 | 0 - 1 |
| 8.3 | IM | Firat Burak | 2393 | - | GM | Vajda Levente | 2584 | 0 - 1 |
| 8.4 | CM | Sanal Vahap | 2275 | - | GM | Marin Mihail | 2534 | 0 - 1 |
| Bo. | 6 | France | Rtg | - | 33 | Lithuania | Rtg | 3½: ½ |
| 9.1 | GM | Bacrot Etienne | 2714 | - | GM | Sulskis Sarunas | 2577 | ½ - ½ |
| 9.2 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2700 | - | IM | Zagorskis Darius | 2497 | 1 - 0 |
| 9.3 | GM | Istratescu Andrei | 2627 | - | IM | Labeckas Kestutis | 2410 | 1 - 0 |
| 9.4 | GM | Bauer Christian | 2641 | - | Klabis Rokas | 2100 | 1 - 0 | |
| Bo. | 25 | Sweden | Rtg | - | 9 | Netherlands | Rtg | 1½:2½ |
| 10.1 | GM | Tikkanen Hans | 2586 | - | GM | Giri Anish | 2714 | 0 - 1 |
| 10.2 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2543 | - | GM | Van Wely Loek | 2686 | ½ - ½ |
| 10.3 | GM | Carlsson Pontus | 2502 | - | GM | Sokolov Ivan | 2646 | 1 - 0 |
| 10.4 | GM | Brynell Stellan | 2486 | - | GM | Stellwagen Daniel | 2627 | 0 - 1 |
| Bo. | 14 | Poland | Rtg | - | 28 | Finland | Rtg | 4 : 0 |
| 11.1 | GM | Wojtaszek Radoslaw | 2705 | - | GM | Nyback Tomi | 2631 | 1 - 0 |
| 11.2 | GM | Socko Bartosz | 2635 | - | IM | Sammalvuo Tapani | 2492 | 1 - 0 |
| 11.3 | GM | Bartel Mateusz | 2653 | - | IM | Agopov Mikael | 2450 | 1 - 0 |
| 11.4 | GM | Miton Kamil | 2622 | - | IM | Karttunen Mika | 2434 | 1 - 0 |
| Bo. | 38 | Cyprus | Rtg | - | 15 | Georgia | Rtg | 0 : 4 |
| 12.1 | Bryan-Vissi Mark | 1808 | - | GM | Jobava Baadur | 2678 | 0 - 1 | |
| 12.2 | Aristotelous Vassilis | 1921 | - | GM | Pantsulaia Levan | 2588 | 0 - 1 | |
| 12.3 | Boulos Vrachimis | 0 | - | GM | Mchedlishvili Mikheil | 2636 | 0 - 1 | |
| 12.4 | Constantinou Pavlos | 2068 | - | GM | Gagunashvili Merab | 2577 | 0 - 1 | |
| Bo. | 20 | Moldova | Rtg | - | 37 | Luxembourg | Rtg | 4 : 0 |
| 13.1 | GM | Bologan Viktor | 2665 | - | Jeitz Christian | 2171 | 1 - 0 | |
| 13.2 | GM | Iordachescu Viorel | 2648 | - | Schartz Alain | 2160 | 1 - 0 | |
| 13.3 | GM | Svetushkin Dmitry | 2621 | - | FM | Mossong Hubert | 2119 | 1 - 0 |
| 13.4 | IM | Hamitevici Vladimir | 2428 | - | WIM | Steil-Antoni Fiona | 2104 | 1 - 0 |
| Bo. | 32 | Iceland | Rtg | - | 21 | Slovenia | Rtg | 1 : 3 |
| 14.1 | GM | Danielsen Henrik | 2542 | - | GM | Beliavsky Alexander G | 2617 | 0 - 1 |
| 14.2 | FM | Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn | 2452 | - | GM | Lenic Luka | 2634 | 0 - 1 |
| 14.3 | IM | Thorfinnsson Bragi | 2421 | - | GM | Borisek Jure | 2541 | ½ - ½ |
| 14.4 | IM | Thorfinnsson Bjorn | 2402 | - | IM | Sebenik Matej | 2518 | ½ - ½ |
| Bo. | 22 | Italy | Rtg | - | 36 | Wales | Rtg | 3½: ½ |
| 15.1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2727 | - | FM | Williams A Howard | 2353 | 1 - 0 |
| 15.2 | IM | Dvirnyy Daniyyl | 2475 | - | Kett Tim | 2184 | ½ - ½ | |
| 15.3 | GM | Brunello Sabino | 2575 | - | Pleasants Allan J | 2089 | 1 - 0 | |
| 15.4 | IM | Rombaldoni Axel | 2459 | - | Young Alan | 2042 | 1 - 0 | |
| Bo. | 23 | Austria | Rtg | - | 27 | Latvia | Rtg | 1 : 3 |
| 16.1 | GM | Ragger Markus | 2662 | - | GM | Miezis Normunds | 2547 | ½ - ½ |
| 16.2 | GM | Kindermann Stefan | 2519 | - | GM | Sveshnikov Evgeny | 2514 | ½ - ½ |
| 16.3 | GM | Shengelia David | 2551 | - | IM | Neiksans Arturs | 2502 | 0 - 1 |
| 16.4 | IM | Kreisl Robert | 2415 | - | GM | Starostits Ilmars | 2456 | 0 - 1 |
| Bo. | 24 | Denmark | Rtg | - | 35 | Scotland | Rtg | 2 : 2 |
| 17.1 | GM | Hansen Sune Berg | 2566 | - | FM | Tate Alan | 2334 | ½ - ½ |
| 17.2 | GM | Rasmussen Allan Stig | 2541 | - | FM | Morrison Graham | 2339 | 0 - 1 |
| 17.3 | GM | Aagaard Jacob | 2522 | - | IM | Muir Andrew J | 2311 | 1 - 0 |
| 17.4 | IM | Glud Jakob Vang | 2497 | - | Mitchell Martin | 2215 | ½ - ½ | |
| Bo. | 26 | Switzerland | Rtg | - | 31 | Norway | Rtg | 2 : 2 |
| 18.1 | GM | Pelletier Yannick | 2581 | - | GM | Lie Kjetil A | 2560 | ½ - ½ |
| 18.2 | GM | Korchnoi Viktor | 2567 | - | IM | Elsness Frode | 2506 | ½ - ½ |
| 18.3 | GM | Gallagher Joseph G | 2500 | - | GM | Johannessen Leif Erlend | 2515 | ½ - ½ |
| 18.4 | IM | Forster Richard | 2458 | - | IM | Getz Nicolai | 2369 | ½ - ½ |
| Bo. | 30 | FYROM | Rtg | - | 29 | Montenegro | Rtg | 1½:2½ |
| 19.1 | GM | Georgiev Vladimir | 2553 | - | GM | Djukic Nikola | 2493 | ½ - ½ |
| 19.2 | IM | Colovic Aleksandar | 2451 | - | GM | Blagojevic Dragisa | 2514 | ½ - ½ |
| 19.3 | IM | Pancevski Filip | 2442 | - | GM | Kosic Dragan | 2502 | 0 - 1 |
| 19.4 | GM | Stanojoski Zvonko | 2470 | - | IM | Kalezic Blazo | 2461 | ½ - ½ |
Round 2 results women's section can be found here
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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