European Team Chess Championships 2007

European Team Chess Championships 2007
Crete, Greece / 27 October - 7 November
The participants include 7 of the World Top-10 players: V. Ivanchuk, V. Topalov, A. Morozevich, S. Mamedyarov, T. Radjabov, L. Aronian,
A. Shirov with many more from 40 countries. This is a must see event updated news will be posted as I receive it. LIVE GAMES

Congratulations to all the teams participating I am sure the journey was a fruitful one. I used to live in Crete and just loved the place as I am sure so did all the participants. The top three teams were:

1 RUSSIA (also the Women's team)
2 ARMENIA
3 AZERBAIJAN

The Russian team came in as favorites to win this event, and did so with gusto. Not far behind was Armenia the Olympic gold medalist in 2006. great play by Azerbaijan we can see that the event was well organized and I feel sure that everyone enjoyed themselves.

I will be picking out a player here and there who I think has played well for this event. I am going to draw your attention to Zdenko Kozul (born May 21, 1966) the year England won the world cup in football! Zdenko is a Croatian chess grandmaster and was the 2006 European champion. He played Shirov in round three and it was a great game, typical of the style of Kozul, this is not the first time he has beaten Shirov. In round four he is up against V.Topalov a must see match. I would like to bring your attention to a game played by Kozul in 2004 at Tripoli, Libya. It was a game of great skill a Rook down and by pushing his pawns as you will no doubt agree was a very nice game indeed.
View Gamethat you can download. Z Kozul vs Rublevsky, 2004 1-0

[Round "5"]
[White "Akopian (ARM)"]
[Black "Atalik (TUR)"]
[Result "1-0"]

Vladimir Akopian (Armenia); born December 7, 1971 in Baku) is a leading Armenian chess Grandmaster. In Armenia his surname is more commonly written Hakobyan however, most English texts and the Fédération Internationale des Échecs use a transliteration of the Russian version.

Akopian won the World Under-16 Championship in 1986 at the age of 14 and the World Under-18 Championship at 16.

Akopian was one of the contributing players on the Armenian chess team which won gold at the 2006 Chess Olympiad he is Armenia's number two player, behind Levon Aronian.

Akopian Vs V.Kramnik [1-0] No doubt about it Akopian is worthy to take a close look especially at his style of play when it comes to an end game. I can just imagine anyone confronted playing him will be thinking I have to mate this guy before the end game because I personally think he is dynamic.

Master the End games II (for your pleasure)

Magnus Carlsen (Norway)Magnus Øen Carlsen (born November 30, 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster who came to international attention after winning the C group of the Corus Chess Tournament in January 2004 at the age of thirteen, and winning the B group of the same tournament two years later at 15.

Carlsen became Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 27 days, the third youngest Grandmaster age in world history, surpassed only by Sergey Karjakin and Parimarjan Negi.

[Round "6"]
[White "Carlsen (NOR)"]
[Black "Tiviakov (NED)"]
[Result "1-0"]

Magnus Carlsen has been playing very well indeed, his game in round six just shows that this young man is headed for the top at some point in his career. I have included a game played by Carlsen-Ernst, from the Corus Chess tournament in 2004. It is given with Carlsen's own annotations.

1. e4 c6

A surprise in move one! I had prepared for the Ruy Lopez.

2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 Qa5

13...Nxe4 is possible, followed by 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qd3 Qd5 (15...Qa5 16. Kb1 0-0 causes the continuation) 16. Kb1!? (16. c4 is more common) 16...Nh5 17. Bc1 followed by Ne5 gives good compensation for the pawn.

14. Kb1 O-O 15. Nxf6+ Nxf6

Not 15...Bxf6 16.g4!

16. Ne5

Polgar actually played 16.g4 in this position also - against Anand in last years Wiijk an Zee. I reckoned Ernst was well familiar with this continutation and therefore chose a quieter line.

16...Rad8 17. Qe2

This was the last theoretical move I knew. Still, I had used 45 minutes to decide upon which line to play.

17...c5!?

17...Qb6 18.c3 (18.Rd3 was recommended by some commentators, but it looks like it may be possible for black to snatch the pawn, for instance 18...Rxd4 19. Be3 Re4!) 18...c5 was definitely a better choice for black.

18. Ng6! fxg6?

The alternative 18...Rfe8 19.Nxe7+ Rxe7 20.dxc5 was preferable, but black is in trouble here as well.

19. Qxe6+ Kh8 20. hxg6!

Black is actually defenseless.

20. ... Ng8

The best try. 20...Rd7 or 20...Rde8 are both driven back by 21. Rxh6+ gxh6 22. Bxh6 Rg8 23. Qf7 cxd4 24. Bg5! (In the line after 20...Rde8 the response 22...Qb6 fails to 23. g7+ Kh7 24. gxf8=Q Bxf8 25. Qf7+ Kxh6 26. f4! with a mating attack.)

21. Bxh6 gxh6 22. Rxh6+!

The real point of the combination.

22...Nxh6 23. Qxe7 Nf7

The only move.

24. gxf7

Interestingly enough had 24. Qf6+? been played before, but after 24...Kg8 25. Rh1 Nh6 26. Qe7 Nf7 27. Qf6 white only gets a draw.

24...Kg7

After 24...Qb6 25. Qe5+ Kh7 26. Rh1+ Kg6 27. Rh5 black has to give up his queen with 27...Qf6 28. Rh6+ to avoid mate, but the endgame is of course hopeless.

25. Rd3?!

25. Qe5+! Kxf7 26. Rd3 would have forced black to play 26...Qe1+ to avoid mate.

25...Rd6

This loses immediately, but 25...Qb6 26. Rg3+ Qg6 27. Rxg6+ Kxg6 28. d5 is also easily won for white.

26. Rg3+ Rg6 27. Qe5+ Kxf7 28. Qf5+

27...Kh7 28. Qh5+ Rh6 29. Qf5+ Kh8 30. Qe5+ leads to mate.

28...Rf6

Both 28...Ke7 and 28...Ke8 fails to 29. Re3+.

29. Qd7# 1-0

Feast your eyes on this young man Teimour Radjabov, he played Vladimir Akopian in the eighth round playing French advanced and was so strong it must of had some effect on Akopian. Radjabov never made a single mistake well if there was one I never saw it Teimour was brilliant. Radjabov's playing style has been described as attacking and tactically influenced look at this game where he played Gary Kasparov and I must mention he has never lost to Kasparov. 0-1 click here

In 2003, Radjabov defeated Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov with the black pieces. He is probably the first player ever to beat three former and reigning FIDE World Chess Champions with the black pieces in one year

Teimour Radjabov, also spelled Teymur Rajabov, (Azerbaijani: Teymur Rəcəbov; born March 12, 1987 in Baku, Azerbaijan) is a leading chess player from Azerbaijan. On the July 2007 FIDE list, Radjabov had an Elo rating of 2746, ranking ninth in the world and second in his native Azerbaijan. Radjabov earned the title of International Grandmaster in March 2001 at the age of 14, making him the second youngest grandmaster in history at the time. If you don't know what T. Radjabov looks like then visit the photo gallery in round six, M. Carlsen is at the top of the photo gallery who has also moved in front of Alexander Morozevich by half a point and is now leading the event.

Best Players (according to points)

Round One Results
Round Two Results
Round Three Results
Round Four Results
Round Five Results
Round Six Results
Round Seven Results
Round Eight Results
Round Nine Results


Round One Results (Women)
Round Two Results (Women)
Round Three Results (Women)
Round Four Results (Women)
Round Five Results (Women)
Round Six Results (Women)
Round Seven Results (Women)
Round Eight Results (Women)
Round Nine Results (Women)

Standings and Statistics

Download Games Round One in pgn
Download Games Round Two in pgn
Download GamesRound Three in pgn
Download Games Round Four in pgn
Download Games Round Five in pgn
Download games Round Six in pgn
Download games Round Seven in pgn
Download games Round Eight in pgn
Download games Round Nine in pgn

PHOTO GALLERY

Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Round Eight
Round Nine

Host Site in Crete

Rudolf Rezso Charousek

The short story, The Last Round by Kester Svendsen, was concurrently based on a most wonderful game I have seen in a long time. The game containing 3 sacrifices, two of which were Queens maybe the most poetic of games. The vividly game was apparently played between Rudolph Charuosek (White) and Jakob Wolner in Kaschua, 1893. Charuosek beat lasker quite easily and Lasker commented that he would have to play him again for the world title.

(Hungarian: Rezső Charousek) (Praga, 19 September 1873 – Budapest, 18 April 1900) was a Hungarian-Jewish chess player. A brilliant player, he had a tragically short career, dying from tuberculosis at 26. Reuben Fine described him as the John Keats of chess.

It was not long ago I wrote an article on another brilliant chess master IM Rashid Nezmehtdinov who could not play Lasker as contender for the world championship because of poverty. This was also the case with Charousek, he was so poor I doubt if he were still alive at the time would he have been able to afford to play Lasker.

Well here is the most wonderful game that has definitely made me a Charousek fan.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bc5 6. Nxc3 d6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Ng5 h6 9. Nxf7 Rxf7 10. e5 Ng4 11. e6 Qh4 12. exf7+ Kf8 13. Bf4 Nxf2 14. Qe2 Ng4+ 15. Kh1 Bd7 16. Rae1 Nc6 17. Qe8+ Rxe8 18. fxe8=Q+ Bxe8 19. Bxd6++

Download the game in pgn here
Puzzles from Charousek's games here

Smith-Morra Gambit

In chess, the Smith-Morra Gambit (or simply Morra Gambit) is a gambit against the Sicilian defense distinguished by the moves 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3. It is not common in grandmaster games, but at club level chess it is an excellent weapon.

The gambit is accepted by:

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3

White sacrifices a pawn to develop quickly and create attacking chances. In exchange for the gambit pawn, White has a piece developed and a pawn in the center, while Black has nothing but an empty space on c7. The plan for white is straightforward and consists in putting his bishop on c4 with attack on f7, and control of both lines c and d with rooks taking advantage of the fact that the black queen can hardly find a suitable place.

The Smith-Morra is named after two players, the Pierre Morra from France (1900-1969), and Kenneth Ray Smith of the United States (1930-1999). Hence in Europe the name Morra-Smith gambit is preferred; names like Tartakower Gambit and Matulovic Gambit have disappeared. I wonder why that is, I always thought whoever played the gambit first ought to have it named after them! any comments? It is also the game of the week!

Morra published a booklet and several articles about the Smith-Morra around 1950. Smith wrote a total of nine books and forty-nine articles about the gambit. When Ken Smith participated in the international tournament against several top grandmasters in San Antonio in 1972, Smith essayed the Smith-Morra three times, against Donald Byrne, Larry Evans and Henrique Mecking, but wound up losing all those games. In fact, when Mario Campos Lopez played the French Defense (1...e6) instead of the Sicilian against Smith, Bent Larsen gave Lopez's move a question mark along with the comment "stronger is 1...c5 which wins a pawn". Did you know that Kenneth Ray Smith was one of very few people whom Bobby Fischer trusted and had sign a contract with him to help organize and arrange tournaments.

Here is a nice opening trap that can be used as Black. It is against the Smith Morra Gambit. The position comes from the following moves:
1. e4 c5
2. d4 cxd4
3. c3 dxc3
4. Nxc3 e6
5. Bc4 Nc6
6. Nf3 Qc7
7. Qe2 Nf6
8. O-O Ng4
9. h3??

The Hedeghog

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 d6. This is the mainline Hedgehog where White has fianchettoed his/her Queen bishop. See the game of the week for for a different idea, the placement of Black's double fiancheto Bishop's is worthy of serious attention. It is good to learn these positions as a nice change of pace because black gets a much bigger piece of the center than usual.

The ideas behind the Hedgehog were originally developed in the English Opening, (hence the game of the week). The Hedgehog Defence in particular refers to a variation in the Symmetrical English. (1.c4 c5) where Black adopts this setup: 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.Nc3 e6 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6. Other openings where Black often uses the setup include the Queen's Indian Defence and the Taimanov and Kan Variations of the Sicilian Defence.

It is also possible for White to adopt a Hedgehog setup, but this happens more rarely. However, this did occur in the game Fischer - Andersson, Siegen 1970, one of the first games to feature this method of development. Fischer's crushing victory in this game, in which the Kh1/Rg1/g4 method of attack was vividly demonstrated, so impressed Andersson that he would later become one of the foremost Hedgehog exponents himself.

Some people get confused that the Marcozy Bind is almost the same as a *Hedgehog* set-up! But this is not true, the Maroczy Bind is a set up by White, the Hedgehog is a setup by Black. The Maroczy can be used both against the Hedgehog and against the Accelerated Dragon. The Hedgehog does not blatantly stop being a Hedgehog if White meets it with a Maroczy Bind.. any comments?

IM Rashid Nezmehtdinov 1912-1974

IM Rashid Nezmehtdinov 1912-1974 Was well known as a chess wizard, he played some really fantastic games (including 3 wins against Mischa Tal!). Some people say that his win with black against Lev Polugajevsky at Sochi 1958 is the best chess game ever played! Here is what Tal and Bronstien had to say about him.

Although Rashid Nezhmetdinov was not widely known in the West, his games have a great reputation among connoisseurs of attacking chess. Among his many distinctions in chess are his score of six wins, nine draws and five losses against World Champions.

As former World Champion Mikhail Tal wrote: “With the passage of time, tournament tables tend to lose interest, but some games played in these tournaments live forever, and in this respect Nezhmetdinov is one of the most richly endowed players. His games reveal the beauty of chess and make you love in chess not so much the points and high placings, but the wonderful harmony and elegance of this particular world. I have played four games with the Tatar master and the score was 3-1 in his favor.” David Bronstein too, sang his praises: “Rashid Nezhmetdinov is a virtuoso of combinational chess.”

[Event "Sochi 28th RSFSR ch"]
[Site "Sochi 28th RSFSR ch"]
[Date "1958.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Polugaevsky, L."]
[Black "Nezhmetdinov, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A53"]
[Annotator "Fritz 5.00 (5s)"]
[PlyCount "66"]

1. d4 Nf6 {Opening = A53 - Altindisch /Old Indian Defence} 2. c4 d6 3. e4 e5 4.
Nc3 exd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 6. Qd2 {out of book} g6 7. b3 Bg7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Bd3 Ng4
10. Nge2 (10. Nf3 f5 $11) 10... Qh4 11. Ng3 Nge5 12. O-O $17 (12. Be2 $5 f5 13.
Nd5 $11) 12... f5 $11 (12... Ng4 $5 13. h3 Nxf2 14. Rxf2 Bh6 $15) 13. f3 $2 $17
(13. exf5 $142 $5 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Bxf5 15. Nxf5 Rxf5 16. Rae1 $15) 13... Bh6 $15
{Black prepares the advance f4} (13... Nxd3 $5 14. Qxd3 Bd4+ 15. Kh1 Be5 $17)
14. Qd1 f4 15. Nge2 g5 16. Nd5 g4 $16 (16... Rf7 $142 $11) 17. g3 $4 $15 (17.
Nxc7 g3 18. h3 Bxh3 19. gxh3 (19. Nxa8 $4 Bxg2 20. Nxg3 fxg3 21. Kxg2 Qh2#)
19... Qxh3 20. Rf2 gxf2+ 21. Kxf2 Qxf3+ 22. Kg1 $19) 17... fxg3 {
Threatening mate: Qxh2} 18. hxg3 Qh3 19. f4 Be6 $2 $18 (19... Nf3+ 20. Kf2 Qh2+
21. Ke3 Bg7 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Nxc7 Rb8 $18) 20. Bc2 $4 $15 (20. Nxc7 Rxf4 21.
Rxf4 (21. Nxf4 Qxg3+ 22. Kh1 Bxf4 23. Rxf4 Qxf4 24. Bxe5 Nxe5 25. Nxa8 Qh6+ 26.
Kg2 Qh3+ 27. Kf2 g3+ (27... Nxd3+ 28. Ke2 Nc5 29. Qd4 $15 (29. Qxd6 $2 Qf3+ 30.
Ke1 Qc3+ 31. Ke2 Qxa1 32. Qxc5 Qxa2+ 33. Ke3 Qxb3+ 34. Kf4 Qc3 $19)) 28. Ke3
g2+ 29. Kd4 Nf3+ 30. Kc3 g1=Q 31. Qxg1+ Nxg1 32. Rxg1+ Bg4 $19) (21. Nxa8 $4
Rxf1+ 22. Qxf1 Be3+ 23. Qf2 Nf3#) (21. Nxe6 $4 Rxf1+ 22. Qxf1 Be3+ 23. Qf2 Nf3#
) 21... Bxf4 22. Nxf4 (22. gxf4 g3 23. Nxg3 Qxg3+ 24. Kh1 Qh3+ 25. Kg1 Nxd3 $19
) 22... Qxg3+ 23. Ng2 $19) 20... Rf7 21. Kf2 {With the decisive threat Rh1}
Qh2+ {Black is in command} 22. Ke3 Bxd5 $16 (22... Qh5 23. Nxc7 Nxc4+ 24. bxc4
Qc5+ 25. Nd4 Rxc7 26. Bb3 $15) 23. cxd5 (23. exd5 Re8 $1 24. Be4 Rfe7 $19)
23... Nb4 24. Rh1 $4 $19 (24. Bb1 $142 Qh3 25. a3 $14) 24... Rxf4 {
Threatening mate... how?.} (24... Nxc2+ $4 25. Qxc2 Qg2 26. Rxh6 $18 (26. Bxe5
$6 Bf8 27. Bd4 Re8 $18)) 25. Rxh2 (25. gxf4 $143 Bxf4+ $1 26. Nxf4 Nxc2+ 27.
Qxc2 Qxc2 28. Bxe5 dxe5 $19) 25... Rf3+ 26. Kd4 Bg7 $4 $18 (26... c5+ $142 27.
dxc6 b5 $19) 27. a4 $19 (27. Bc3 b5 28. Bxb4 Nc6#) 27... c5+ 28. dxc6 bxc6 $1 {
The mate threat is c5} 29. Bd3 Nexd3+ 30. Kc4 d5+ $1 31. exd5 cxd5+ $1 32. Kb5
Rb8+ 33. Ka5 Nc6+ (33... Nc6+ 34. Ka6 Rb6#) 0-1

Download 374 Rashid Nezhmetdinov Gamesin CBH to view these files you will need Free ChessBase Light 2007 download here

Almira Shripchenko-Lautier

Almira Skripchenko (born 17 February 1976) is a French chess player who has achieved the FIDE Woman Grandmaster title. She won the second European Open Women's Chess Championship in 2001.
Born in Kishinev (today Chişinău, Moldova) in 1976, Almira Skripchenko married French Grandmaster Joel Lautier in 1996, and has since lived in France. Despite separating from Lautier later on, she became a French citizen in 2001 and continues to make France her home. In chess databases and tournament reports, she is generally known as Almira Skripchenko-Lautier. A daughter of pedagogues, both chess coaches, Almira started playing chess when she was 6 years old.

More info on Almira. Thank you to Michalis Kaloumenos.
More info on MOST PHOTOGENIC PLAYERS, TORINO 2006 please do a site search.