European Club Cup Rhodes

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 21st October, 2013, 04:26 PM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

European Club Cup 2013

Monday, October 21, 2013

Round Two

There are a number of smaller clubs playing. Edinburgh CC is there and several from England – White Rose, Jutes of Kent and Barbican 4NCL.
It is stated that in accordance with ECU regulations, each federation should pay an entry fee of 300 euros per participating club of the open competition and 200 euros per participating club of the women’s competition.

Further, a registration fee of 55 euros for each participant and accompanying person will be charged which includes accreditation, badges and transfer from Rhodes airport, port to the 5-star Rodos Palace, the official hotel & venue.

Accommodation and meals for all players and accompanying persons will be offered by the organiser with the following special prices per day and per person at the official hotel & venue, the 5-star Rodos Palace:

a) in double room: 53 euros, VAT and full board included (breakfast, lunch, dinner) b) in single room: 78 euros, VAT and full board included (breakfast, lunch, dinner).

Club prizes have the first club getting 9600 euros, the second 4800, third 3600, fourth 2400, fifth 2400 and sixth 1200. There are also board prizes. The whole list of regulations is at:

http://ecc2013.videowink.com/wp-cont...egulations.pdf

I only give such detail because the idea of a Canadian Club tournament was floated here a few years ago.
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It would seem to me that such an event could be part vacation and part opportunity to get titles for some of the players.

Chris Rice writes this in the ECForum:

We receive nothing from the ECF to subsidise our efforts. I'm paying hotel fees (78 euros a night for 8 nights), airfare from UK and Iceland to Rhodes), entry fees (300 Euros) and registration fees (55 euros pp) for 5 of the squad. For that I've managed to get 1 GM, an IM and 2 FM's (the coach is an FM too who is getting nothing for his efforts). The Friends of Chess generously lobbed in 250 quid but as you can see it’s generally a spit in the ocean.

Speaking for White Rose and Barbican as well as the Jutes of Kent, it’s not really worth bankrupting yourself when you're competing against teams sponsored by massive oil companies with unlimited funds.

A reply - It seems logical to concentrate on giving your norm seekers an opportunity rather than paying out to pack your team full of titled players. It is an amazing event so I hope everyone enjoys it.
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On chessbomb, both Nakamura and Caruana attract loads of kibitzers. We are all interested in how high they will rise in the ratings. Usual guess is just behind Carlsen and Aronian.

Today, Hikaru was playing Dragan Soldak, a Turk/Serbian, with a ratings difference of 2783 to 2611.

Soldak-Nakamura, Sicilian Najdorf
Round Two ECC Rhodes, Oct.21, 2013

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qe2 g6 8. O-O-O Bg7 9. h4 h5 10. Kb1 Qc7 11. f4 Nb6 12. f5 Ng4 13. Rh3 Qc5 14. Nb3 Qf2 15. Qd3 Ne5 16. Qd4 Qxd4 17. Nxd4 Nc6 18. Nce2 Nc4 19. c3 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Ne5 21. Bd3 Nxd3 22. Rhxd3 Bd7 23. fxg6 fxg6 24. Rf1 e5 25. Ne2 Rf8 26. Rxf8+ Bxf8 27. c4 Be6 28. b3 Be7 29. Nc3 Rc8 30. Nd5 Bxg5 31. hxg5 b5 32. cxb5 axb5 33. Nf6+ Ke7 34. a3 b4 35. axb4 Rb8 36. Kb2 Rxb4 37. g3 Rb8 38. Rc3 Kd8 39. Ka3 Ra8+ 40. Kb2 Rb8 41. Ka3 Ra8+ 42. Kb2 Rb8 0.5-0.5

Soldak was under severe time pressure from moves 30 to 40. It looked like Nakamura had the edge but it piddled out to a draw in the end. The display program was not using Houdini but Stockfish. Some of the chessbomb guys were following the game with both analytical engines and noticed a difference in evaluation.
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No Svidler or Caruana today. Peter was posting tweets today. My respect for him went higher when I read him say that he is re-watching The Wire and brought the entire Boston Legal with him to watch too. And “1/2 Got thru my 4-month backlog of Colbert and Daily Show (btw, how great was John Oliver?)”.

Also a joke, which I haven’t heard before:
. 1) Go to Starbucks
. 2) Order coffee
. 3) Tell them your name is Waldo
. 4) Leave
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Teimour Radjabov was playing first board for SOCAR. His opponent was Bjorn Ahlander of Limhamns SK (Sweden). The game is

Ahlander-Radjabov, King’s Indian Benoni
ECC Rhodes, Oct. 21, 2013

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. d4 c5 4. d5 d6 5. e4 Nf6 6. Bd3 O-O 7. Nge2 e6 8. O-O exd5 9. exd5 Ng4 10. f4 Qe7 11. Rf3 f5 12. h3 Nf6 13. Re3 Qd8 14. Bd2 Na6 15. a3 Bd7 16. Qc2 Qb6 17. Re1 Rae8 18. Ng3 Qd8 19. Qb3 b6 20. Nb5 Bxb5 21. Qxb5 Nc7 22. Qc6 Nd7 23. Bc3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Rxe3 25. Rxe3 Re8 26. Nf1 Rxe3 27. Nxe3 Nf6 28. Kf2 Qe7 29. Qb7 Kf7 30. Qc8 Nce8 31. g4 Ne4+ 32. Bxe4 Qxe4 33. Qd7+ Kf8 34. gxf5 Qxf4+ 35. Ke2 Qh2+ 36. Kd3 Qxh3 37. Qxa7 gxf5 38. Qd7 Qh5 39. Nxf5 Qd1+ 40. Ke3 Qe1+ 41. Kd3 Qd1+ 42. Ke3 Qe1+ 43. Kd3 Qd1+ 0.5-0.5

I give this only because in the transmission I was watching 44. Ke4 was shown made to avoid perpetual but leads to white being mated. That was not the official score it seems.
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The standings after two rounds are: 1) Malachite (RUS), 2) Saint-Petersburg (RUS), 3) Odlar Yurdu (AZE), 4) PGMB-Rostov (RUS), 5) SOCAR (AZE) and 6 Ugra (RUS). Edinburgh is at 28, White Rose at 33 and the Jutes of Kent at 39.
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What could be more restful than a Mediterranean resort at this time of year? Well, actually..

Most of the participants flew to Rhodes on October 19, but there also were those who took even more time for acclimatization. For instance, part of the SOCAR team checked in Rodos Palas several days earlier, much like women's team Ugra (this year it strengthened by Pogonina and Ushenina).
Those who arrived earlier could observe an unusual "sightseeing". Pavel Lobach, the coach of Ugra, tells us how it was:
"Our team arrived at Rhodes on October 15. The Russian Superfinal finished on a previous day, so Pogonina and Kovanova needed some time to recover and adapt after a hard tournament. The weather was perfect up to two days, but I saw something incredible on October 17 after I woke up at 8 in the morning. There were several waterspouts in the sea, the water and the sky mixed, we saw thunder, black clouds, hurricane like wind... I have never seen such a rain before... the storm changed direction close to 10 o'clock and people started cleaning the area near the hotel."

Photos of the aftermath at http://www.chess-news.ru/en/node/13733

**Hugh Brodie** · Monday, 21st October, 2013, 04:46 PM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

I sometimes get suspicious of these "club" events. Those clubs that have money can use literally anyone on their team. Others are limited in their composition. They should be restricted to club members who play all games in the club championship (not just 2 games as in the rules).

12.8.1 The teams shall be composed of six players all of whom must be members of the club and
were entitled to play for the club in the national team championship of the federation which was
organized within one year before the start of the current European Club Cup. However, players who
are foreigners to the federation in which the national team championship is organized, must have
played at least two games in this championship. Foreigners are defined as those which are either
belonging to another federation in the FIDE Rating List valid
at the start of the national team
championship or have a permanent residence outside the federation in which this national team
championship is organized.
12.8.2 If a participating club wants to include a player who
does not fulfill the requirements of
article 1.2 the club has to pay an amount of 2500 Euro (1000 Euro for the
women event) to ECU.
These players have to be announced to the Tournament Director
before the deadline for nomination
of teams and the extra fee has to be paid to ECU before start of the competition. In the open
competition no more than two players, in the women's competition no
more than one female player,
may be replaced.

12.8.3 Players, who are considered as foreigners according to
F.1.2, and who have been playing at
least three times for the same club in previous European Club
Cup competitions are exempted from
the obligation to play at least two games in the championship of the federation for this club.

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 22nd October, 2013, 04:57 PM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

European Club Cup Rhodes

Round Three October 22, 2013

Today SOCAR was paired against Padova, which meant we got to see Caruana versus Nakamura. From a Ruy Lopez, Berlin, it seemed that Fabiano was always behind on time. He advanced his pawn to e7 on move 33 and it was there until Hikaru took it on move 89. Two moves later a draw was agreed. It seems like both will always be vying for the number four position on the rating list behind Carlsen, Aronian and Kramnik.

On the lower boards Radjabov drew with Harikrishna and Wang Hao with Danyyil Dvirnyy. The latter is listed as Italian. You may recall that he and Aman Hambleton shared first place at Forni di Sopra in June. On his Linkedin page he says that he is a professional chess player, grandmaster from Italy, that he speaks Russian, Italian, English, Spanish, Ukrainian and German. He will give you professional chess lessons. A name to conjure with!

It is interesting to see Wang Hao with a rating of 2733 on sixth board. Just how do you get on the SOCAR team anyway? Wang Hao joined recently after approaching Teimour Radjabov at the tournament in Norway and asking “if the club needs him”. Last year he missed the European Club Cup because he had problems with his visa but this time he arrived directly form the Kings Tournament in Bucharest and was happy to grab three rest days in between.

In the casual chat, he said that Wang Yue and himself are already considered veteran players in China. There are many good youngsters, like Wei Yi and Yu Yangyi, but they are forced to travel to Europe to play in tournaments, and this costs a lot.

Just to complete the story of this match Topalov and Kamsky beat their opponents so the overall score was 4.5-1.5 for SOCAR.
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Malachite beat Tammer-Shakki 6-0 (Grischuk, Karjakin, Shirov, Malakhov, Riazanisev and Bologan all winning) and Saint-Petersburg beat Peristeri 5-1. Peter Svidler had little trouble with Ioannis Papaloannou.

The standings now are:

1. Malachite(RUS)
2. SOCAR(AZE)
3. Saint-Petersburg(RUS)
4. Ugra(RUS)
5. G-Team Novy Bor(CZE)

In the Women’s section Hou Yifan beat Anna Ushenina on top board of Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo vs Ugra. The Monte-Carlo team has Hou Yifan, Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk and the ageless Pia Cramling. If they don’t win all, it will be a major disaster.
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ChessVibes comments:

- Nobody plays for their own country.  What a fake championship!

- Nobody? Among the teams that currently have 6-0 or 5-1 match points:  Malachite has six Russians (plus Shirov and Bologan who won't find a strong club in their own country)  SOCAR is the only 'random' team , St. Petersburg has 5/8 Russians , Ugra has 6 Russians,  Novy Bor has 4 Czech players , Odlar Yurdu has 7 Azeris, plus Sutovsky (originally from Azerbaijan) on board  Clichy has 5/7 French players, plus Tregubov who has certain ties with the French federation,  Maria Saal (so far rather lucky with their pairings) has 7 Austrians plus Buhmann currently living in Austria.

It isn't as bad as it seems (or as you make it) ...

- Dude, admit it: everybody in this competition is hired and paid to play. Or would you consider Kamsky as European?

- Of course, players from the top teams are professional chess players "hired and paid to play" (for a club, but also when they play for their national teams). BTW, many other teams have mostly or only amateurs who might even have to pay their own travel expenses (I know that's the case for the German clubs), who enjoy chess, sunny Rhodes and the opportunity to face strong international opposition.

- Kamsky isn't European, neither is Nakamura - but these may be the 'worst' teams in that respect: SOCAR from Azerbaijan with a few Azeri players, Padova from Italy with four Italians on the lower boards. - Come on, look at soccer and basketball teams in Europe. Arsenal is full of non-English players and there are Premier League teams who do not have a single English player in their starting 11. CSKA Moscow, arguably one of the best basketball teams in Europe, is not different (combo of American+Slavic players). I look at this tournament as one for which not only the top GMs but also relatively moderate ones get paid and find a chance to make a living in chess, which is arguably more necessity compared to the aforementioned soccer and basketball examples. We have world and continental team championships for national pride anyway besides the biennial Olympics, right?
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It has been a while since I studied ancient history, so I have refreshed my memory of the Colossus of Rhodes from Wikipedia:

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. Before its destruction in the earthquake of 226 BC, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (98.4 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 24th October, 2013, 12:12 AM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

European Club Cup Rhodes

Round Four October 23, 2013

From the official website:

The big winner of the fourth round in the Open section of European Club Cup was Ugra who scored a narrow victory against former champion Saint-Petersburg. Five games were drawn and Anton Korobov defeated Nikita Vituigov.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri of SOCAR used the white pieces to bring the success in match against Clichy Echecs 92.

Malachite and G-Team Novy Bor were engaged in fearless battle on the table one. Malachite held a 3-2 lead but Viktor Laznicka beat Alexander Morozevich with black pieces to equalize the score.

The young team of Odlar Yurdu allowed only one draw to Austrian side Schachclub MPO Maria Saal, while PGMB-Rostov was ruthless against Tammer-Shakki and won all six games.
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One of the most talked about games today was this:

Morozevich-Laznicka English, ECC Round 4

1. g3 e5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. e3 d5 6. cxd5 Nb4 7. Nf3 Nd3+ 8. Ke2 Nxd5 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Qe4 N5b4 11. a3 Bc6 12. Qc4 b5 13. Qg4 Nc2 14. Qxg7 Rf8 15. Ra2 b4 16. axb4 Ncxb4 17. Ra5 Qd6 18. Qg4 Bb6 19. Ra3 Rd8 20. Ne4 Qe7 21. Qf5 f6 22. Nh4 Bb5 23. Kf3 Nc2 24. Rxd3 Rxd3 25. Qh5+ Kd8 26. Nf5 Qb4 27. Kg4 Rd7 28. Kh3 Bd3 29. Qf3 c6 30. g4 h5 31. gxh5 Rh7 32. Neg3 Rfh8 33. e4 Qc4 34. Kh4 Kc7 35. b3 Qxb3 36. Bb2 Qxb2 37. Qxd3 Rd7 38. Qf3 Nb4 39. Ne3 Bxe3 40. dxe3 Nd3 41. Rd1 a5 42. Bh3 Rd6 43. Qg4 Rhd8 44. Qg7+ Kb6 45. h6 Qxf2 46. Rb1+ Nb4 47. h7 Qxe3 48. Bf5 Rd2 49. Rh1 Qg5+ 50. Qxg5 fxg5+ 51. Kxg5 a4 52. Kf6 a3 53. Be6 R2d6 54. Nf5 Rxe6+ 55. Kxe6 Rh8 56. Kxe5 a2 57. Ra1 Rxh7 58. h4 Ra7 59. Ne3 Kc5 60. Rc1+ Kb5 61. Ra1 Ra3 62. Nf5 Kc4 63. h5 Nc2 64. Rxa2 Rxa2 65. h6 Ra7 66. Kf6 Nd4 67. Ne7 Ra1 68. h7 Rh1 69. Kg7 Ne6+ 70. Kg8 Rg1+ 71. Kf7 Ng5+ 72. Kg6 Nxh7+ 73. Kxh7 c5 74. Nf5 Re1 0-1
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There was loads of kibitzing in the game Nakamura-Raznikov. The chessbomb people were rooting for the young Israeli master Danny Raznikov. He is playing for the Kfar Saba Chess Club. He seemed to stand better for most of the game but it ended in a draw on move 76.

One of the comments during the game was this “Aliens have taught us their game of chess just to see if we can solve it”. I tried to track the quote down but the closest I came were articles relating Ilyumzhinov, aliens and chess. It sounds like it could be a good basis for a science fiction story. I wonder how long we have to completely solve chess?
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After four rounds these are some of the scores on top board: Caruana 1.5/3 (SOCAR), Jakovenko 3/4 (Ugra), Navara 2/4 (G-Team Novy Bor), Sutovsky 2/3 (Odlar Yurdu), Grischuk 3/3 (Malachite), Svidler 1.5/2 (Saint-Petersburg)…Nakamura 1.5/3 (OR Padova).

It is much tougher playing top board that I thought.

This list also gives the order for the top six clubs. Nakamura’s Padova is twelfth.
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The English team Jutes of Kent was playing the Norwegian team Asker and the English team was not doing well. The guys back in England were watching the games being transmitted. One of the hopeless games was Hammerstad-Stebbings:

Bogo-Indian, ECC Rhodes Round 4, Oct. 23, 2013

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4 4. Bd2 a5 5. a3 Bxd2 6. Qxd2 d6 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. e4 e5 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O c6 11. b4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Qb6 13. Nc2 Ne5 14. Na4 Qc7 15. f3 Be6 16. Ne3 axb4 17. axb4 Ra7 18. Nb2 Rfa8 19. Rxa7 Rxa7 20. Rd1 Qb6 21. Bf1 Ne8 22. Qc3 f6 23. Kh1 Ra2 24. f4 Ng4 25. Nxg4 Bxg4 26. c5 Qa7 27. cxd6 Nxd6 28. Rxd6 Qf2 29. Qc4 Kf8 30. Nd1 Qxf4 31. Rd4 Rc2 32. Qd3 Rd2 33. Kg1 Rxd3 34. Rxd3 Qxe4 35. b5 Bxd1 36. bxc6 Bg4 37. h3 Be6 0-1

The online Stockfish evaluation after black’s 30…Qxf4 was +10. Stebbings is dead in the water. Then white, instead of playing Rd8+, plays 31.Rd4 and the evaluation changes to -5. Jubilation back in England. If it happened at the club, everyone would go out to the pub afterwards to celebrate. “How did you pull that off, mate?”

Still, the final score was Jutes of Kent 1.5, Asker 4.5.
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Tomorrow in Round Five SOCAR plays Ugra, Odlar Yuru plays Malachite, Novy Bor plays SK 47 Eynatten and Saint-Petersburg plays O.R. Padova. That last could mean a possible matchup between Svidler and Nakamura.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 24th October, 2013, 12:50 PM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

European Club Cup Rhodes

Round Five, October 24, 2013

This competition is not a good spectator sport for someone at home. There are no live videos of the players and no press conferences. You just get the transmission of the games period. It is for the viewer to find the interesting games.

Well, today Nakamura played Svidler and Hikaru won in 29 moves! If the chessbomb people are correct, the score between the two of them is 2-6=3 in Svidler’s favour.

ECC 2013 Round Five
Svidler-Nakamura King’s Indian, Makagonov System

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6 7. f4 Nh5 8. Nge2 c5 9. d5 b5 10. cxb5 Nc7 11. a4 Rb8 12. g4 Nf6 13. Ng3 h6 14. Bh4 Nh7 15. Qd2 a6 16. Bc4 axb5 17. axb5 Bd7 18. e5 Bxb5 19. Nxb5 Nxb5 20. Qa5 Qe8 21. O-O g5 22. Nf5 gxh4 23. Rae1 dxe5 24. Rxe5 Bxe5 25. fxe5 e6 26. Nxh6+ Kg7 27. Qd2 Qd8 28. Rf6 Nd4 29. Nxf7 Nxf6 0-1

Comments:

- two wins in a row for Hikaru
- yes and this one wasn’t some endgame swindle. Svidler gambled and got outplayed
- did naka actually beat Svidler?
- second time this year
- I’m playing over the game now. Naka played great. Houdini changed its analysis after Naka moved to a better evaluation
- yes, Naka out-thought Houdini at this depth
- Svidler’s 18 e5 was punished
- 29…Nf6 was a nice finishing touch
- Brilliant win for KID!! Naka’s 14..Nh7! is a move even the engine missed
- Ka-ching!
- wow, just 29 moves too!
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ChessVibes: It was the kind of game Garry Kasparov liked to play (before he gave up on the KID) and so it was nice to see the 13th World Champion, who briefly coached Nakamura, reacting on the game via Twitter:

Great win by Nakamura in the King's Indian today. ..Nh7, ..a6, the queen to e8 then back to d8, typical Hikaru, very nice game!
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Standings at the end of Round Five

1. SOCAR (AZE) 5-0-0 [+=-]
2. G-Team Novy Bor (CZE) 4-1-0
3. Odlar Yurdu (AZE) 3-2-0
4. Ugra (RUS) 4-0-1
5. Saint-Petersburg (RUS) 4-0-1
6. Malachite (RUS) 3-2-0
7. Minsk (BLR) 4-0-1
8. PGMB-Rostov (RUS) 4-0-1
9. S.F. Wirtzfeld (BEL) 4-01
10. Clichy Echecs 92 (FRA) 3-1-1

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 25th October, 2013, 04:44 PM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

European Club Cup Rhodes

Round Six October 25, 2013

The Novy Bor team met SOCAR today. The paid gunslingers on the top three boards for SOCAR went down to defeat. One must commend captain Petr Boleslav of the Czech Republic team for having his guys up for the match.

Novi Bor players in boldface:

David Navara-Fabiano Caruana 1-0
Veselin Topalov-Radoslaw Wojtaszek 0-1
Viktor Laznicka-Gata Kamsky 1-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov-Krishnan 0.5-0.5
Zbynek Hracek-Wang Hao 0-1
Anish Giri-Mateusz Bartel 1-0

The games on the top three boards:

Navara-Caruana ECC Rhodes Round Six
Oct.25, 2013 Ruy Lopez C84, Closed

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. c3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qb8 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. dxc5 dxc5 15. Qd5 Nb7 16. axb5 Be6 17. Qc6+ Bd7 18. Qd5 Be6 19. Qd1 axb5 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Na3 Qa5 22. Nxb5 Bc4 23. Nd6+ Nxd6 24. Qxd6 Bxf1 25. Kxf1 Qb5+ 26. Ke1 c4 27. g3 h5 28. h4 Be7 29. Qxe5 Qxe5 30. Nxe5 g5 31. Ba4+ Kf8 32. hxg5 Bxg5 33. Bc6 h4 34. gxh4 Rxh4 35. Nxc4 f5 36. Ne5 Rh1+ 37. Ke2 Rb1 38. Nd3 fxe4 39. Bxe4 Ke7 40. f4 Bh6 41. b4 Bg7 42. Kd2 Ra1 43. Bd5 Kd6 44. c4 Bd4 45. Kc2 Ra3 46. f5 Rc3+ 47. Kd2 Ra3 48. Be4 Ra2+ 49. Kd1 Be3 50. c5+ Ke7 51. Ne5 Rb2 52. Bc2 Bg5 53. c6 Ra2 54. b5 Be3 55. f6+ Kd8 56. f7 Bc5 57. b6 Ra1+ 58. Ke2 Ra2 59. Kd3 Rb2 60. Nc4 Rb5 61. Bd1 1-0

Topalov-Wojtaszek ECC Rhodes Round Six
Oct. 25, 2013 Sicilian Najdorf B90, Byrne Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 h5 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 Qc7 12. c4 g6 13. O-O-O Nb6 14. Qa5 Bh6 15. Bxh6 Rxh6 16. Kb1 Nfd7 17. Qd2 Rh8 18. Rc1 Na4 19. Be2 a5 20. Na1 Kf8 21. Nc2 Kg7 22. Na3 Nf6 23. Nb5 Qe7 24. Rhe1 Nc5 25. Bd1 Nfd7 26. b3 Qf6 27. Bc2 h4 28. Rf1 b6 29. Rce1 Rae8 30. a3 Re7 31. Qc3 Ree8 32. Kb2 Nb7 33. b4 Qf4 34. Rh1 Nf6 35. Bb3 Rh5 36. Re2 Rg5 37. Bc2 Rc8 38. Be4 Nh5 39. Rc2 Nf6 40. Qe1 Nd7 41. Qf2 Kg8 42. Bd3 Rh5 43. Qe2 Kg7 44. Kb1 Rhh8 45. Qf2 Ra8 46. Nc3 axb4 47. axb4 Ra3 48. Kb2 Rha8 49. Rd2 Nbc5 50. bxc5 Nxc5 51. Be4 Rb3+ 52. Kc2 Raa3 0-1

Laznicka-Kamsky ECC Rhodes Round Six
Oct. 25, 2013 QGD, D15 Slav Accepted

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. e3 Qa5 8. Nd2 Bb4 9. Qc2 e5 10. Bh4 exd4 11. exd4 O-O 12. Be2 Re8 13. Nb3 Qc7 14. O-O Bd6 15. Kh1 Ne4 16. Bd3 dxc4 17. Bxe4 cxb3 18. Bxh7+ Kh8 19. Qd3 Re6 20. Rae1 Nf8 21. Be4 Rh6 22. Bg3 Bg4 23. Kg1 Ne6 24. Qc4 Bxg3 25. fxg3 Qb6 26. a5 Qxa5 27. h3 Qc7 28. hxg4 Qxg3 29. Qd3 Qh2+ 30. Kf2 Qh4+ 31. g3 Rf6+ 32. Kg2 Qxg4 33. Rxf6 gxf6 34. Ne2 Qg5 35. Qxb3 Kg7 36. Qxb7 Rd8 37. Qxc6 Qe3 38. Bf3 Nxd4 39. Qc3 Re8 40. Qxe3 Rxe3 41. Bh5 Re5 42. Kf2 Rxh5 43. Nxd4 Rh2+ 44. Kf3 Rxb2 45. Re8 Rb4 46. Nf5+ Kg6 47. g4 Kh7 48. Ra8 Rb6 49. Kg3 Rb3+ 50. Kh4 Rb6 51. Ra7 Kg6 52. Ne7+ Kh6 53. Nd5 Rd6 54. Nxf6 Kg6 55. Ne4 Rc6 56. Ng3 Rb6 57. Nf5 Re6 58. Ra8 Rb6 59. Rh8 f6 60. Re8 1-0

The chessbomb guys think that SOCAR underestimated their rivals and so left Radjabov off the team today and that led to their defeat.

Giri’s miniature:

Giri-Bartel ECC Rhodes Round Six
Oct. 25, 2013 Queen’s Pawn D02

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 a6 3. Bg5 c6 4. e3 Qb6 5. Bd3 Qxb2 6. Nbd2 Qa3 7. O-O Bg4 8. Qb1 b5 9. c4 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 e6 12. e4 Be7 13. Bc1 Qa5 14. d5 exd5 15. exd5 Nf6 16. d6 Bxd6 17. Re1+ Kf8 18. Qf5 Nbd7 19. Bxf7 Ne5 20. Rxe5 Bxe5 21. Bb3 Re8 22. Be3 b4 23. Bf4 1-0

From the official website: G-Team Novy Bor from Czech Republic stunned the defending champion SOCAR in round six in the Open section of European Club Cup to take over the lead with one round to go.

SOCAR had a good start with Anish Giri’s beautiful victory but in the later stage of the match things went wrong for the team from Azerbaijan. With three wins on the top boards Novy Bor tipped the final score in their favor – 3,5-2,5.

Malachite didn’t have much trouble to defeat S. F. Wirtzfeld by 4-2, but it should be noted that FM Ufuk Tuncer beat the 300-elo points difference to score against Viktor Bologan.

The inspired team of Odlar Yurdu went down 2,5-3,5 against the powerhouse Saint-Petersburg. Nikita Vitiugov and Maxim Matlakov put the Russians ahead, while Rauf Mamedov only reduced the losing margin.

Minsk signed a narrow win against Schachclub MPO Maria Saal thanks to their junior Vladislav Kovalev, while PGMB-Rostov won the Russian derby against Ugra.

After round six G-Team Novy Bor is leading the race with 11 match points, while five teams are sharing the second place with 10 points each – SOCAR, PGMB-Rostov, Malachite, Saint-Petersburg and Minsk.

Top round seven pairings are Minsk – G-Team Novy Bor, SOCAR – Saint-Petersburg, PGMB-Rostov – Malachite and Besiktas JK – Clichy Echecs 92.
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In other games Svidler drew with Sutovsky (St. Petersburg-Odlar Yurdu 3.5-2.5) and Nakamura drew with Papaioannou (Padova-Peristeri 3.5-2.5)
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I am always interested in the tournament site and its countryside. You can find a phototrip around Rhodes given at

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/13750

There is Olga Dolzhikova who plays for the Norwegian men’s team windsurfing, a two-thousand year old tree, where Putin’s daughter got married, Pink Floyd’s house, a pomegranate tree, a fig tree, an old olive tree which is all roots and no olives, the former dacha of Benito Mussolini and wining and dining on Rhodes. I’d forget about waterspouts and earthquakes – this is not a bad vacation spot!

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 27th October, 2013, 02:04 AM

Re: European Club Cup Rhodes

European Club Cup Rhodes

October 26, 2013

Seventh and Final Round

From the official site: G-Team Novy Bor from Czech Republic defeated Minsk 4,5-1,5 in the final round in the Open section of the European Club Cup to take a clear first place and win the prestigious trophy.

G-Team Novy Bor won six matches, including the clash with the previous champion and top-seeded SOCAR, and tied only Malachite to conclude the event with 13 match points, one point ahead of the chasing pack.

Malachite took the silver medal thanks to the 4-2 win against PGMB-Rostov. Top two players Alexander Grischuk and Sergey Karjakin decided the match.

SOCAR split the points with Saint-Petersburg (six draws) which was enough for the bronze medal on best tie-break: Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger.
Also on 11 points but with weaker tie-break are Clichy Echecs 92 and Saint-Petersburg.

In the Women section the winner was decided after the penultimate round when Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo clinched their fifth European title.
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From SOCAR-Saint Petersburg
Caruana-Svidler
ECC Rhodes, Round Seven, Oct. 26, 2013
B48 Sicilian, Taimanov var.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Be7 9. f3 b5 10. g4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bb7 12. Kb1 O-O 13. Qf2 Rac8 14. Rg1 Bc6 15. Bd3 b4 16. Ne2 d5 17. g5 Nh5 18. exd5 Bxd5 19. Rg4 e5 20. Be3 Qc6 21. Rf1 g6 22. Nc1 f5 23. gxf6 Nxf6 24. Rgg1 Nh5 25. Qd2 Bxf3 26. Nb3 Rfd8 27. Qf2 Rf8 28. Bh6 Rf7 29. Qe3 e4 30. Nd4 Qd5 31. Nxf3 exd3 32. Qxd3 Qxd3 33. cxd3 Bf8 34. Bd2 Bd6 35. Ng5 Rxf1+ 36. Rxf1 Bxh2 37. Bxb4 Be5 38. Ne6 Ng7 39. Re1 Bg3 40. Re4 Re8 41. Nc5 h5 42. Bc3 Rxe4 43. Nxe4 Bf4 44. Kc2 Nf5 45. Kd1 Kf7 46. Bd2 Be5 47. b4 Ke6 48. a4 Ng3 49. Nxg3 Bxg3 50. b5 axb5 51. axb5 Kd5 52. Be3 Bd6 53. Ke2 Bc5 54. Bg5 Bb6 55. Kf3 Kc5 56. Ke4 Bc7 57. d4+ Kxb5 58. Kd5 Bg3 59. Be3 Kb4 60. Ke6 h4 61. d5 Kc4 62. d6 Bxd6 63. Kxd6 Kd3 64. Bg1 Ke4 65. Ke6 g5 66. Kf6 Kf4 67. Bh2+ Kg4 68. Kg6 Kh3 69. Kxg5 Kxh2 70. Kxh4 0.5-0.5

The question is whether Svidler wins the game if he plays 59..h4. [59.... h4 60. Ke4 h3 61. Kf3 h2 62. Kg2 Kc4 63. Kh1 Kd3 64. Bg5 Kxd4]
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From the match Asker-Padova
Ostenstad-Nakamura
ECC Rhodes, Round Seven, Oct. 26, 2013
E90 King’s Indian, 5. Nf3

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 Na6 9. Be2 Qe8 10. Nd2 Nd7 11. a3 f6 12. Bh4 Nb6 13. b3 Bh6 14. Rb1 Nc5 15. b4 axb4 16. axb4 Nca4 17. Nb5 Qd7 18. Qb3 Kh8 19. Nf3 f5 20. O-O fxe4 21. Nh2 Bf4 22. Bg4 Qg7 23. Bxc8 Rfxc8 24. Rfe1 g5 25. Bg3 Qg6 26. Rbd1 Nd7 27. Nf1 Nab6 28. Nc3 Nf6 29. c5 Nbd7 30. Qc4 Rd8 31. Nxe4 Nxe4 32. Rxe4 b5 33. cxb6 Nxb6 34. Qd3 Ra2 35. f3 Rda8 36. Bf2 Rb2 37. Bxb6 cxb6 38. Rb1 Rba2 39. Qc4 h5 40. g3 Qf5 41. g4 hxg4 42. fxg4 Bh2+ 0-1

- nakamura back to world number 4 and since there are no more events in october for top players he will be world #4 on the official november list on nov 1st congrats naka!
- it will be his highest official rating ever I think
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From the match Malachite-PGMB Rostov
Karjakin-Cheparinov
ECC Rhodes, Round Seven, Oct. 26, 2013
B51 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Re1 c4 9. a4 e5 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 12. Na3 Be7 13. Nxb5 O-O 14. Qe2 Rc8 15. d4 cxd3 16. Bxd3 Nc5 17. Nd2 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Ba6 19. c4 Bxb5 20. cxb5 Qb7 21. b3 Rb8 22. Bb2 Qxb5 23. Qxb5 Rxb5 24. Rc1 Rb8 25. Kf1 Kf8 26. Ke2 Ke8 27. f3 Kd7 28. Kd3 Ne8 29. Kc2 Bg5 30. Bc3 Nc7 31. Ra1 Bxd2 32. Bxd2 Kc6 33. Ra4 Nb5 34. Kd3 Nc7 35. Kc4 g6 36. Ra7 Kb6 37. Be3+ Kc6 38. b4 d5+ 39. exd5+ Nxd5 40. Bc5 Nc7 41. g4 f5 42. g5 Ra8 43. b5+ Kd7 44. Rxa8 Nxa8 45. h4 Nc7 46. b6 Ne6 47. Kd5 Nxc5 48. Kxc5 Kc8 49. Kd5 e4 50. fxe4 f4 51. Kd4 Kb7 52. Kd3 Kxb6 53. Ke2 1-0
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Final Ranking

1 CZE G-Team NovyBor
2 RUS Malachite
3 AZE SOCAR
4 FRA Clichy Echecs 92
5 RUS Saint-Petersburg
6 RUS Ugra
7 RUS PGMB-Rostov
8 BLR Minsk
9 SUI Reichenstein SSB
10 ITA O.R. Padova
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Individual Board Prizes

Board One
1. GM Alexander Grischuk Malachite
2. GM Maxime V-Lagrave Clichy Echecs 92
3. GM Hikaru Nakamura O.R. Padova
Board Two
1. GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek G.Team Novy Bor
2. IM Vladislav Kovalev Minsky
3. GM Sergey Karjakin Malachite
Board Three
1. GM Sergei Zhigalko PGMB Rostov
2. GM Nikita Vitiugov Saint-Petersburg
3. GM Veselin Topalov SOCAR
Board Four
1. GM Alexei Shirov Malachite
2. GM Sergei Rublevsky Ugra
3. GM Sergei Movsesian Saint-Petersburg
Board Five
1. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov SOCAR
2. GM Maxim Matiakov Saint-Petersburg
3. GM Daniele Vocaturo O.R. Padova
Board Six
1. GM Dmitry Kryakvin PGMB Rostov
2. GM Anish Giri SOCAR
3. GM Wang Hao SOCAR
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Title Norms Achieved in ECC

GM Norm:
IM Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson
IM Avital Boruchovsky
IM Manuel Bosboom
IM Andreas Heimann
IM Vladislav Kovalev
IM Mads Andersen

IM Norm:
FM Vincent Riff
Jan Willem Van De Griendt
Stefan Schneider
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There has been some discussion on the pairings of the teams by the Swiss method – that the ECC system differs from that used in the Olympics. To me a Swiss is a Swiss and that is that. However the full regulations for the ECC can be found at:

http://www.europechess.net/index.php...id=9&Itemid=15

There are 37 WORD pages if you do the download. One would expect the fullest of regulations where Silvio Danailov is concerned.
The very complete Dress Code occupies a couple of pages and interesting it is.

Anyway, skip to page 26 et seq for the Swiss Pairing Rules and explanation.
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A footnote for 50-year-olds

From ChessVibes - Let's finish this report with the news that IM Manuel Bosboom scored a 7-game GM norm in Rhodes. The 50-year-old IM already has one norm which he scored somewhere in the 1990s, and it's hard to believe that he'll ever pass 2500 (which he never managed; he's 2390 at the moment) but it's a nice result anyway.

A photo of the smiling Dutch master can be seen at

http://www.chessvibes.com/novy-bor-w...opean-club-cup

Congratulations!