European Club Cup: St. Petersburg and AVS are the winners

The 'St. Petersburg Chess Federation' team (Svidler, Vitiugov, Movsesian, Efimenko, Zvjaginsev, Khairullin and Matlakov) won the 2011 European Club Cup on Saturday in Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia. In the last round World Cup winner Peter Svidler lost his first game since August 15th, but his team defeated Mika (Yerevan) 2.5-3.5. St. Petersburg finished on 13 match points out of 7 rounds, one more than SOCAR (Azerbaijan) who beat OSG Baden Baden 2-4. In the women's section AVS finished first.

For more info see also our announcement here.

Rounds 5-7

To refresh your memory a bit: SHSM-64, Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation, Tomsk-400 (all Russia) and OSG Baden Baden (Germany) were the four teams that started with four wins in Rogaska Slatina. We'll take it from there and start with round 5, when these four teams met.

On 'board 1' the German champions beat the Moscovites: Baden Baden-SHSM-64 3.5-2.5. For Moscow only Fabiano Caruana won; the Italian defeated Etienne Bacrot in an ending. Baden Baden's Michael Adams easily held Boris Gelfand to a draw in the 5.Bf4 that was tested heavily in May in Kazan.

The post-mortem between Gelfand and Adams, with Rustam Kasimdzhanov watching.

Alexei Shirov and Arkadij Naiditsch scored full points, against Wang Hao and Anish Giri respectively. Especially the young Dutch GM was treated harshly:

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.09.29"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B91"]
[WhiteElo "2707"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "OSG Baden Baden"]
[BlackTeam "SHSM-64"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7. Nb3 Nbd7 8. Bg2
b5 9. O-O Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 a5 12. Bd2 Nc5 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. c3 Bxe4 15.
Bxe4 Nxe4 16. Qe2 Nxd2 17. Qb5+ Ke7 18. Nxd2 Rd8 19. Nc4 Qf3 20. cxb4 Ke6 21.
bxa5 Be7 22. a6 h5 23. Ra3 Qg4 24. f4 exf4 25. Rxf4 Qd1+ 26. Rf1 1-0

Shirov defeated Wang Hao in this match

St. Petersburg did even better with a 4.5-1.5 win against their compatriots from Tomsk. Ponomariov (Tomsk-400) and Svidler (St. Petersburg, obviously) drew quickly in a Grünfeld and Vitiugov, Movsesian and Khairullin defeated Motylev, Inarkiev and Kurnosov respectively. This was a nice combination on board 6:

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.09.29"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Khairullin, Ildar"]
[Black "Kurnosov, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2648"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/pbr1pp1p/1p4p1/3P4/q2NP1B1/8/PQn2PPP/3R1RK1 w - - 0 22"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation"]
[BlackTeam "Tomsk-400"]

22. Ne6 fxe6 23. Bxe6+ Rf7 24. Qe5 Rc8 25. Rd3 Rcf8 26. Bxf7+ Rxf7 27. Qb8+ Kg7
28. Qxb7 Qxe4 29. Rf3 Ne1 30. Rg3 Nc2 31. h3 e5 32. Qc8 Nd4 33. Re3 Qxd5 34.
Qe8 Nc6 35. Rc3 Nd4 36. Re3 Nc6 37. Rc3 Nd4 38. Rc8 Ne2+ 39. Kh2 e4 40. Rd8 Qf5
41. f4 Nxf4 42. Rd4 Qe6 43. Qxe6 Nxe6 44. Rxf7+ Kxf7 45. Rd7+ Kf6 46. Rxa7 Ke5
47. Rb7 e3 48. Kg1 Nf4 49. Rxb6 e2 50. Kf2 Nxg2 51. Kxe2 Nf4+ 52. Kf3 Nxh3 53.
Rb5+ Kd4 54. Kg3 Ng1 55. Rb2 1-0

After this round seven teams were in shared third place with 8/10: SOCAR, Ekonomist SGSEU Saratov, Ugra, Mika, SHSM-64, A DAN DZO & PGMB and Tomsk-400.

The sixth round saw the big clash between Baden Baden and St. Petersburg. All games ended in draws. (...)

Six draws between St. Petersburg and Baden Baden

On boards 1-5 the players all seemed very cautious, and without much excitement the games headed to the draws. Board six also ended peacefully, right after White had sacrificed on f7:

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.09.30"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"]
[Black "Khairullin, Ildar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E53"]
[WhiteElo "2638"]
[BlackElo "2642"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r1rnk1/1b3p2/p3p1pB/1pq1N2n/7b/P1N5/1P2QPP1/1B1RR1K1 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "OSG Baden Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation"]

24. Nxf7 Kxf7 25. Be4 1/2-1/2

This way the two teams kept the lead, with 11/6. St. Petersburg topped the rankings with one board point more. SOCAR, Ekonomist, SHSM-64 and Mika followed in shared third place, one match point behind the leaders. In that sixth round Radjabov won a nice ending against Ponomariov:

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.09.30"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1nk1/1p1n1pp1/p2Rr2p/2p1p3/P3P3/1bP1B2P/1P2BPP1/R4NK1 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "SOCAR"]
[BlackTeam "Tomsk-400"]

28. Bxc5 Bxa4 29. Rd2 Bc6 30. f3 Ree8 31. Bf2 Ne6 32. b4 Nf6 33. Bc4 Nf4 34.
Ra5 Rc8 35. Ne3 Bd7 36. Rc2 Be6 37. Bf1 Red8 38. Rxe5 b5 39. Nf5 Bxf5 40. Rxf5
Nd3 41. Bb6 Rd6 42. Ba5 Nd7 43. Rd5 Rxd5 44. exd5 N3e5 45. d6 Rc6 46. f4 Ng6
47. c4 bxc4 48. Bc7 Nxf4 49. Rxc4 Rxc4 50. Bxc4 Kf8 51. Bxa6 Ke8 52. b5 Ne6 53.
b6 Nxb6 54. Bxb6 Kd7 55. Bc4 Kxd6 56. Bxe6 Kxe6 57. Kf2 Kf5 58. Kf3 f6 59. Bd4
Kg5 60. Be3+ Kf5 61. Bd2 h5 62. g3 Ke5 63. Bc3+ Kf5 64. Bb2 Kg5 65. Ke4 Kg6 66.
Kf4 Kf7 67. Kf5 g6+ 68. Ke4 Ke6 69. Bc3 Kf7 70. Kd5 Ke7 71. Bd4 Kf7 72. Kd6 g5
73. g4 1-0

In the last round Baden Baden lost their first match, to SOCAR of Azerbaijan. Radjabov beat Adams with Black using an opening he popularized: the Jänisch/Schliemann. Grischuk beat Shirov with powerful play in an Archangelsk Ruy Lopez.

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2713"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "SOCAR"]
[BlackTeam "OSG Baden Baden"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4
Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 O-O 12. Be3 Ra8 13. Nbd2 Re8 14. Re1 h6 15. Qc2
Bb7 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Rxe5 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 19. f4 Re7 20. e5 Qe8 21. Nf3
dxe5 22. fxe5 Nd7 23. e6 fxe6 24. Qf5 Kh8 25. Rxe6 Rxe6 26. Bxe6 Nf6 27. Nd4
Be4 28. Qe5 Qg6 29. g4 Ra8 30. Rf1 Re8 31. Qxc7 Qg5 32. Qf4 Qc5 33. Kh2 b4 34.
Bf7 Rc8 35. Ne6 Qe7 36. g5 Qxf7 37. Qxe4 Nxe4 38. Rxf7 Nxg5 39. Rc7 Re8 40.
Nxg5 hxg5 41. cxb4 Re2+ 42. Kg3 Rxb2 43. Rb7 Kh7 44. Kg4 Kh6 45. Kf5 Rf2+ 46.
Ke5 Rf4 47. Kd5 Kh5 48. Kc5 Kh4 49. Rxg7 Rf5+ 50. Kb6 Rf6+ 51. Ka7 1-0

Sutovsky won against Naiditsch in a Berlin Wall and Kasimdzhanov beat Nisipeanu in a 9.Nd2 King's Indian. Baden Baden's Bacrot and Nielsen saved the German's honour, winning against Mamedyarov and Volokitin respectively.

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Nielsen, Peter Heine"]
[Black "Volokitin, Andrei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D82"]
[WhiteElo "2687"]
[BlackElo "2686"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b3k1/pp3pbp/q3pnp1/6N1/1n2PB2/1BN4P/PP3PP1/3Q1RK1 b - - 0 17"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "OSG Baden Baden"]
[BlackTeam "SOCAR"]

{Black is not doing well, lacking behind in development. His next move,
however, is a blunder.} 17... Nd3 18. Bc2 (18. Bc2 Nxf4 19. Qd8+ Bf8 20. Qxf6)
1-0

This meant that a win for St. Petersburg would yield them the cup. They managed, despite a loss for Svidler on top board against Sargissian. It was Svidler's first loss since he was beaten by Alexander Morozevich on August 15th - that was at the Russian Championship, also in the last round.

Sargissian beats Svidler, but St Petersburg wins the match | Photo Vladimir Barsky for the RCF, more here

Three games ended in a draw, and so the two wins by St. Petersburg's Vitiugov (against Petrosian) and Zvjaginsev (against Andriasian) made their team the winning team.

[Event "27th ECC"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Vitiugov, Nikita"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran L"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2649"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5p2/2b4p/3k4/pP2N2P/P3KP2/8/8 w - - 0 44"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation"]
[BlackTeam "Mika Yerevan"]

44. b5 Bxb5 45. Nc3+ Kc4 46. Nxb5 Kxb5 47. Kd4 h5 48. Kd5 Kb6 49. f4 Kc7 50.
Kc5 Kd7 51. Kb5 Ke6 52. Kxa4 Kf5 53. Kb5 Kxf4 54. a4 f5 55. a5 Ke3 56. a6 f4
57. a7 f3 58. a8=Q f2 59. Qg2 Ke2 60. Kc4 1-0

Silver went to SOCAR, who recovered well from their surprising loss to Bosna Sarajevo in round 3. The bronze medals were surprisingly won by Novy Bor. They had suddenly popped up among the top teams thanks to a 5.5-0.5 victory against the relatively weak Haladás VSE in the last round - such things can happen in a Swiss with 62 teams that only play 7 rounds!

ECC 2011 | Final standings (top 30)

In the women's section the cup went to AVS. The team with GM Antoaneta Stefanova, GM Kateryna Lahno, GM Viktorija Cmilyte, IM Mariya Muzychuk and WGM Natalia Pogonina won six matches and lost one. In the last round they defeated Giprorechtrans, with three draws and the following attractive win by Kateryna Lahno:

[Event "16th ECC w"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina SLO"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Lahno, Kateryna"]
[Black "Munguntuul, Batkhuyag"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2554"]
[BlackElo "2465"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[WhiteTeam "AVS"]
[BlackTeam "Giprorechtrans"]

1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. cxd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxd5 6. Nf3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Qc7
8. d4 g6 9. Bd2 Bg7 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O Nc6 12. Rc1 Be6 13. Ng5 Bxa2 14. Ra1
Bd5 15. Nxh7 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Kxh7 17. h4 Qd6 18. h5 Qd5+ 19. f3 f5 20. hxg6+ Kxg6
21. Qe2 Rh8 22. Rh1 Qd6 23. Qe3 e6 24. Bc4 Kf7 25. Rae1 Rae8 26. Rxh8 Bxh8 27.
Qg5 Nd8 28. Qxf5+ Kg8 29. Qg6+ Kf8 30. Bh6+ Ke7 31. Qh7+ Kf6 32. Re5 Nf7 33.
Rf5+ 1-0

Kateryna Lahno scored an important victory for AVS

ECC (Women) 2011 | Final standings

Teimour Radjabov played the best on board 1. For SOCAR he scored 4.5/5 and a 3019 performance rating.

Top boards for Zurich: Viktor Korchnoi and Yannick Pelletier, who both played all seven rounds and both scored 4.5 points

Alexei Shirov also scored 4.5/7

Loek van Wely was top board for Gros Xake Taldea and scored 4.5/6

Former World Champion Aleksandra Kosteniuk scored 2.5/5...

...and some more credits, performing as Almira Skripchenko's styliste!

The men had a good time too in Rogaska Slatina

The ladies' winning team: AVS - Antoaneta Stefanova is holding the cup

Bronze in the men's went to Novy Bor...

...silver to SOCAR - another second place for Grischuk...

...and the gold medals to St Petersburg - another first place for Svidler, who is holding the European Club Cup:

Most photos © Vladimir Jagr for www.nss.cz & official website