European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

**Hugh Brodie** · Tuesday, 3rd November, 2015, 01:53 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

A few European countries are missing from the event. Lack of money at their end?

e.g.

Bulgaria
Bosnia
Portugal
Ireland
Albania
Macedonia
Estonia
Belarus

And isn't Israel usually considered part of Europe in such competitions?

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 3rd November, 2015, 02:02 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship

Everybody and his brother have been in Magnus Carlsen's training camp lately - Ding Liren and Lev Aronian, for example. Boris Gelfand is going to Norway to train the Norwegian team. The news clip below confirms that there will be no Israeli team but not why.

Boris Gelfand To Prepare Norwegian National Team For European Championship

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015

GM Boris Gelfand is expected to arrive in Oslo, Norway this Friday for a four-day training session with the national team of Norway, sjakkbloggen.no reports. The Israeli GM will help the team in preparation for the European Team Championship which is scheduled to take place November 12-22 in Reykjavik. Neither Gelfand himself nor his national team participate in this event.

The Norwegian team, consisting of Magnus Carlsen, Jon Ludvig Hammer, Johan Salomon, Aryan Tari and Frode Urkedal, is 11th on the starting list. Besides the members of the team, several young talented players will also join the training camp with Gelfand.

According to Carlsen's manager, Espen Agdestein, the training session is organized by Norwegian Chess Federation, but the World Champion and his team helped in making the visit happen. "We are happy to have organised this, - Agdestein is quoted by the website. - Gelfand is a very nice and easy-going person who has vast experience and genuine chess knowledge. He has a lot to share. I think that coaching players of this level is a new experience for Boris as well, so he was curious himself and accepted the offer gladly. Magnus is also positive about it, looking forward to this training session."

**Jack Maguire** · Wednesday, 4th November, 2015, 09:30 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

While I'm not the least bit surprised that Russia is the betting favourite, despite having lost 6 consecutive Olympiads and also missing the country's only top 10 player (Kramnik), I am rather shocked that Russia is such an overwhelming favourite at 6/5. Ukraine, which has won 2 of those Olympiads, surely has to be considered the 'better' bet at 10/3.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/?menu=true

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 9th November, 2015, 01:44 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

November 9, 2015

There are photos of Boris Gelfand in a training session with the young Norwegian team at:

http://www.sjakkbloggen.no/2015/11/0...av-landslaget/

They are Magnus Carlsen, Lars Oskar Hauge, Aryan Tari, Johan-Sebastian Christiansen and Frode Urkedal.

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 9th November, 2015, 11:39 PM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

November 9, 2015

According to the official website, the weather could get very cold during the tournament:

http://etcc2015.com/announcement-it-...-in-reykjavik/

From the Organizing Committee

Dear participants and guests. Please be advised that according to long-term weather forecasts, it might get freezing cold in Reykjavík during the tournament, with temperatures as low as -8°C.

Therefore it is worth considering packing some warm clothes for the trip.

________

Colin McGourty at chess24.com has seven talking points about the upcoming team championship.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/7-e...talking-points

1. Can the Russian men finally win a team event?

2. Can Arkadij Naiditsch make Azerbaijan a force to be reckoned with (again)?

3. What can Boris Gelfand teach Magnus Carlsen?

4. Why isn’t Boris playing himself? (The wrong answer to this question is that Israel isn’t in Europe)

5. Who are the dark horses?

6. Will Georgia win another team event?

7. Can this tournament match a previous chess meeting in the same venue? (Hint: 1972)

**Egidijus Zeromskis** · Tuesday, 10th November, 2015, 09:43 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post

4. Why isn’t Boris playing himself? (The wrong answer to this question is that Israel isn’t in Europe)

The Israel team did not get monies for the trip. Somebody estimated that they needed ~40k (probably Euros).

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 10th November, 2015, 11:46 PM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

November 10, 2015

The participation of Israel in the European Team Championship is the subject of this news report on chess-news.ru:

Israeli Parliament Members Express Dissatisfaction With the Israeli Team Missing the ETCC

Oded Forer, the deputy of the Knesset representing Israel is Our Home political party, sent an urgent request to the Minister of Sports and Culture Miri Regev regarding Israeli team's absence at the upcoming European Team Championship, izrus.co. il reports. The team won't participate in the event, whilst its leading GM Boris Gelfand has held a training session with the Norwegian team headed by Magnus Carlsen.

The request states that the team is missing the event because of the financial difficulties. More specifically, the Ministry hasn't allocated enough money for the team to take part in the competition. According to Forer, the Ministry had to sponsor the Israeli Chess Federation with 250,000 shekels.
__________

250,000 shekels is the equivalent of 84,540 Canadian Dollars. (59,300 euro, 63,830 USD)

I am wondering if this includes an appearance fee for Gelfand, if in fact there is one.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 12th November, 2015, 02:05 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship

November 12, 2015

The Israeli team is going to miss the even. There was a chance of their coming if they got immediate support, but the finances got tied up in bureaucracy.

The captain of the Israel team, Alex Kaspi told chess-news.ru this in an interview:

A.KASPI: "The federation has no money, the balance is unfavorable. Earlier, it was decided that if we participate in the World Championship - and we did play in Armenia - we won't get money for going also to Reykjavik. The budget of the federation simply can't afford it, despite the efforts of some of the sponsors. Our problem is that we can't find sponsors whilst the financial support we get from the government is not enough."

"We have two problems: insufficient funding from the state and inability to find sponsors", Mr. Kaspi noted finally. "There simply aren't enough rich people willing to help chess. Nonetheless, chess is widely discussed. Gelfand's match against Anand created a huge buzz around the game, which is almost impossible to imagine in any other country except Russia or, well, Norway because of Carlsen. Whenever Gelfand went out, people literally followed him to take photos with him. Gelfand did contribute immensely to the promotion of chess. He, as well as other members of the team, regularly took part in different meetings with chess enthusiasts. They also did simuls. They did everything! Unfortunately, it didn't bring any results..."

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/20436
_______

Teams have arrived in Reykjavik for the contest.

Teimour Radjabov had this tweet:

Yes, it exists!

And gives this Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/99dnF4vuMO/

And what do you suppose it is? The table and chess board that Fischer and Spassky played on in 1972?

Oh no, it is the Chuck Norris Grill!

A while ago, we joked about the world’s greatest player, Ivanchuk Norris (see the World Team Championship 2015, Armenia – Round Four). He had memorized the 32-man database among other accomplishments. Perhaps someone will spy him in the Chuck Norris Grill!

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 13th November, 2015, 12:33 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship

November 12, 2015

First Round Pairings, November 13

1. Turkey – Russia
2. Ukraine – Romania
3. Slovenia – Azerbaijan
4. France – Sweden
5. Italy – England
6. Armenia – Iceland
7. Moldova – Hungary
8. Poland – Austria
9. Iceland Legends – Netherlands
10. Germany – Switerland
11. Montenegro – Norway
12. Czech Republic – Denmark
13. Finland – Latvia
14. Spain – Belgium
15. Lithuania – Serbia
16. Croatia – Faroe Islands
17. Scotland – Georgia
18. Greece - Kosovo

See: http://etcc2015.com/open-section/

First Boards

1. Russia – Svidler
2. Ukraine – Ivanchuk
3. Azerbaijan – Mamedyarov
4. France – MVL
5. England – Adams
6. Armenia – Aronian
7. Hungary – Leko
8. Poland – Wojtaszek
9. Netherlands – Giri
10. Germany – Nisipeanu
11. Norway – Carlsen
12. Czech Republic – Navara
13. Latvia – Shirov
14. Spain – Vallejo Pons
15. Serbia – Ivanisevic
16. Croatia – Saric
17. Georgia – Jobava

**Jack Maguire** · Friday, 13th November, 2015, 02:18 PM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

A very nice game by Richard Rapport today who regains his 2700 status (:

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2015-...tushkin_Dmitry

**Jack Maguire** · Friday, 13th November, 2015, 04:44 PM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

Originally posted by Jack Maguire View Post

A very nice game by Richard Rapport today who regains his 2700 status (:

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2015-...tushkin_Dmitry

And with Leko's loss on board 1, the #2 board Hungarian teenager takes over the number one live ranking for Hungary (:

**Jack Maguire** · Friday, 13th November, 2015, 08:18 PM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

The 3-time Olympiad Champion Armenian team, despite their 4-0 win today, are the betting (albeit slight) underdog against France tomorrow.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/?menu=true

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 14th November, 2015, 12:21 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship

November 13, 2015

Round One

The commentators are Simon Williams and Fiona Steil-Antoni. Fiona is a WIM from Luxembourg. I will not tell you the colour of Simon’s hair. His website is gingergm.com.

Peter Doggers is their producer.

The tournament is coming from the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavik, the site of Fischer-Spassky 1972.

They say that there are 36 teams in the Open Section, with 133 GMs, 32 IMs and 11 FM. The Women’s Section has 30 teams with 13 GMs, 37 WGMs, 27 IMs and 27 WIMs.

They discuss the missing – Gelfand (no money for the Israeli team), Topalov (confusion at his federation), Caruana and Nakamura are playing their Match in the States and they can’t have a team anyway, also Kramnik and Karjakin aren’t here.

Carlsen is rested in the first round.

(Steil-Antoni) - The top three seeds in the Open Section are Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, while in the Women’s Section Georgia is the top seed, followed by Russia and Ukraine. The defending champions are Azerbaijan in the Open Section and Ukraine in the Women’s Section.

Today’s first round proved what a tough competition the ETCC is, as we witnessed the first upsets. In the Open Section, the 7th seed Hungary (who are captained by a certain Judit Polgar) was held to a draw by Moldova and 8th seed Poland was held to a draw by Austria. On boards 11-13, we had three even bigger surprises, as Montenegro beat Norway, Denmark beat the Czech Republic and Finland beat Latvia. On board 15, Lithuania held Serbia to a draw, while it is also worth noting that the lowest seeded team, Kosovo (who only recently became a member of the ECU), only lost to Greece by the smallest margin.

In the Women’s Section, the biggest shock was Anna Muzychuk defaulting her game against Jovanka Houska, as she missed her connecting flight in Frankfurt. Her team Ukraine still managed to overcome their opponents, as did most of the favourites. There were only three small upsets in the Women’s Section: Montenegro held 7th seed Germany to a draw, as did Switzerland against 9th seed Hungary and Lithuania against 10th seed Netherlands. Tomorrow’s 2nd round already sees the first big clashes, as in the Open Section, Armenia face France on the top board, while on board 2 England are paired against Georgia and on board 3 Netherlands play against Croatia. In the Women’s Section the top three pairings are Spain-Serbia, Italy-Azerbaijan and Georgia-Turkey.

Results of Round One

1. Turkey-Russia 1-3
2. Ukraine-Romania 3-1
3. Slovenia-Azerbaijan 1-3
4. France-Sweden 3-1
5. Italy-England 1-3
6. Armenia-Iceland 4-0
7. Moldova-Hungary 2-2
8. Poland-Austria 2-2
9. Iceland Legends-Netherlands .5-3.5
10. Germany-Switzerland 2.5-1.5
11. Montenegro-Norway 2.5-1.5
12. Czech Rep.-Denmark 1.5-2.5

and 6 more pairings.
________

European Team Championship 2015
Round 1, Nov. 13, 2015
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Lupulescu, Constantin
C37 QBD, 4.Nf3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Qc2 O-O 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Na6 9.e3 Nb4 10.Qb3 Bf5 11.Rc1 c5 12.dxc5 Qa5 13.Nd4 Nd3+ 14.Bxd3 Bxd3 15.c6 Bc4 16.Qa4 Qc5 17.cxb7 Rab8 18.b3 Bd3 19.Kd2 Bg6 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Ne4 Qe7 22.Nc5 Be5 23.g3 Bd6 24.Nd7 Bb4+ 25.Ke2 Bh5+ 26.Kf1 Bd2 27.Rc2 Rxb7 28.Nxf8 Rb4 29.Rc8 Qe4 30.Nfe6+ Kh7 31.Nf8+ Kg8 32.Ng6+ Kh7 33.Rh8+ Kxg6 34.Qc6+ f6 35.Qe8+ Qxe8 36.Rxe8 Bc3 37.Nc2 Re4 38.Rxe4 dxe4 39.Nd4 Bf3 40.Nxf3 exf3 41.g4 h5 42.gxh5+ Kxh5 43.Rg1 g5 44.Rg3 g4 45.h3 1-0

Round 1, Nov. 13, 2015
Bologan, Viktor – Leko, Peter
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Rd1+ Ke8 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.h3 Ng6 12.b3 Be7 13.Bb2 h5 14.Ne4 a5 15.Re1 Kf8 16.Rad1 h4 17.Nd6 Rh5 18.Nxc8 Rxc8 19.Re4 Rd8 20.Rxd8+ Bxd8 21.Kf1 c5 22.Rg4 Ke7 23.Ng5 f5 24.exf6+ gxf6 25.Re4+ Kd7 26.Ne6 Be7 27.Ng7 Rh7 28.Nf5 Bd8 29.Ke2 Rh5 30.Rg4 Rxf5 31.Rxg6 Ke6 32.Rh6 Rg5 33.Kf1 Rd5 34.Rxh4 Rd2 35.Re4+ Kf7 36.Re2 Rd1+ 37.Re1 Rd2 38.Rc1 c4 39.bxc4 Be7 40.Bc3 Rd6 41.Re1 Rc6 42.Re4 a4 43.Ke2 a3 44.g4 Rb6 45.Rd4 Bd6 46.Rd5 Rb1 47.Rf5 Be7 48.g5 Kg6 49.gxf6 Bd6 50.Rf3 Kf7 51.Rd3 Rc1 52.c5 Bf8 53.Rd2 Ke6 54.Bd4 Bh6 55.Be3 Bxe3 56.fxe3 Kxf6 57.Kd3 Rh1 58.Kc4 Ke6 59.Rd3 Rxh3 60.Rxa3 Kd7 61.Kb5 Rh5 62.Rd3+ Kc8 63.a4 b6 64.Rc3 Re5 65.a5 bxc5 66.Kc6 c4 67.Ra3 c3 68.a6 Kb8 69.a7+ Ka8 70.Rxc3 Re7 71.Ra3 Re6+ 72.Kd5 Rd6+ 73.Ke4 Rd2 74.c4 c6 1-0

Round 1, Nov. 13, 2015
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw – Ragger, Markus
E60 King’s Indian, 3.Nf3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 d5 6.Qb3 O-O 7.O-O Qb6 8.Nc3 Rd8 9.Na4 Qxb3 10.axb3 Na6 11.Bf4 Ne8 12.Nc3 Nac7 13.Ra4 a6 14.Rd1 Be6 15.h3 Rac8 16.c5 h6 17.g4 g5 18.Bh2 f5 19.gxf5 Bxf5 20.Ne5 Nf6 21.Raa1 Rf8 22.e3 Ne6 23.f3 Rcd8 24.b4 Nd7 25.Nxd7 Rxd7 26.Rd2 Bg6 27.Ne2 Nd8 28.Rf1 Nf7 29.f4 e6 30.Kh1 Kh7 31.Ng1 gxf4 32.exf4 Nh8 33.Re1 Bf5 34.Nf3 Ng6 35.Ne5 Bxe5 36.fxe5 Nh4 37.Bg3 Nxg2 38.Kxg2 Rg7 39.Kh2 Be4 40.Rg1 Rf3 41.h4 Bf5 42.Rgg2 Rg4 43.Bf2 Rh3+ 44.Kg1 Be4 0-1

The longest-named variation of an opening ever?

Round 1, Nov. 13, 2015
Mannion, Stephen – Jobava, Baadur
B32 Sicilian, Labourdonnais-Loewenthal (Kalashnikov) Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 g6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Bg7 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.O-O Be6 11.Kh1 Rc8 12.Nd5 Nd7 13.Be3 O-O 14.Qd2 f5 15.Bg5 Qe8 16.Rae1 f4 17.f3 h6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Bf2 h5 20.b4 Ne7 21.Bc2 g4 22.Nxe7+ Qxe7 23.Rd1 Qg5 24.Bb3 Rf6 25.c5 Kh7 26.Bxe6 Rxe6 27.Nc4 Rg6 28.Rg1 Bf8 29.Nxd6 Bxd6 30.cxd6 Rc6 31.a4 Qf6 32.b5 Rxd6 33.Qe2 Rg7 34.Bh4 Qe6 35.Rxd6 Qxd6 36.bxa6 bxa6 37.Rd1 Qe6 38.Bd8 Nf8 39.a5 Ng6 40.Qf2 Rd7 41.Qe2 Kh6 42.Bb6 Rxd1+ 43.Qxd1 Qc8 44.Kg1 Kg7 45.Kf2 Nh8 46.Qd3 Nf7 47.Ke2 Ng5 48.Bf2 Qc6 49.Bh4 Ne6 50.Bf2 Kf6 51.Bb6 Ke7 52.Qa3+ Qd6 53.Qc3 Kd7 54.Qc4 Qc6 55.Qd3+ Ke7 56.Qa3+ Kf7 57.Qd3 Kg6 58.Qb3 h4 59.h3 gxf3+ 60.gxf3 Kh5 61.Qd3 Ng5 62.Kd2 Qc8 63.Bd8 Nf7 64.Bb6 Ng5 65.Bd8 Qxh3 66.Bxg5 Qg2+ 67.Kc3 h3 68.Bxf4 exf4 69.e5 Qg6 70.Qd7 Kh4 71.e6 h2 72.Qf7 Kg5 73.Kd4 0-1

Round Two Pairing

1. Armenia-France
2. England-Georgia
3. Netherlands-Croatia
4. Spain-Germany
5. Russia-Greece
6. Montenegro-Ukraine
7. Azerbaijan-Denmark
8. Hungary-Finland
9. Moldova-Poland
10. Serbia-Austria
11. Norway-Lithuania
12. Sweden-Czech Republic
13. Latvia-Italy
14. Switzerland-Faroe Islands
15. Kosovo-Iceland Legends
16. Belgium-Turkey
17. Romania-Iceland
18. Scotland-Slovenia

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 15th November, 2015, 01:41 AM

Re: European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Chess Championship 2015

Round Two

November 14, 2015

(Fiona Steil-Antoni) - The two top pairings of the Open Section today kept all their promises. The encounter between France and Armenia was particularly exciting and only concluded at 8.30 in the evening, with the first board clash between Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave being the last to finish and deciding the outcome. After the match had first looked promising for the Armenian team, it was finally France who came out on top after a last-minute blunder by Aronian. This must have somewhat lifted the spirits of the French team after the terrible events in Paris last night.

The board 2 and 3 matches between England in Georgia as well as between Netherlands and Croatia both ended in hard-fought 2-2 draws. The top three seeds of the tournament, Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, all won today. Spain scored a small upset as they overcame Germany 2.5-1.5. This means that after two rounds, there are only five teams left on 2/2: Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, France and Spain.

Tomorrow, the 2nd and 3rd seeds face off on the top board, as defending champions Azerbaijan take on Ukraine. On board 2 Russia plays against Spain, while France is paired against Hungary.

In the Women’s Section we had two draws amongst the early leaders, on top board between Spain and Serbia and on board 6 between France and Romania. On board 2, Italy somewhat surprisingly beat Azerbaijan, while on board 3 Turkey put up stiff resistance against top seed Georgia, but eventually lost 1.5-2.5. Ukraine however didn’t give any chances to their Polish opponents as they cruised to a 3.5-0.5 victory. Russia scored a similarly high victory as they beat Armenia 3-1. So after two rounds, the four leaders are the top three seeds Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, as well as Italy.

Tomorrow Russia faces Italy and Ukraine takes on Georgia.

European Team Championship 2015
Round 2, Nov. 15, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A48 King’s Indian, Torre Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.c3 d6 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.e4 c5 7.d5 h6 8.Bh4 e6 9.dxe6 Bxe6 10.Be2 Nc6 11.O-O Qc7 12.Re1 Rfe8 13.Qc2 a6 14.Nf1 d5 15.Bg3 Qb6 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Rad1 Bf5 18.Qc1 Rad8 19.N1d2 Na5 20.h3 Qc6 21.Nh4 Bc8 22.Qc2 b5 23.Bf1 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Re8 25.Rxe8+ Qxe8 26.Ne4 Nb7 27.Qd3 Be6 28.Nf3 Bf5 29.Qxd5 Qxe4 30.Qxe4 Bxe4 31.Nd2 Bc6 32.Bd3 c4 33.Bc2 f5 34.f3 Kf7 35.Kf1 Ke6 36.Ke2 Nc5 37.Bf2 Nb7 38.a3 Nd6 39.Bb6 Bf6 40.Nf1 Nc8 41.Bc5 Ne7 42.Ne3 h5 43.Bb1 h4 44.Nc2 Nd5 45.Bd4 Bg5 46.Ne3 Nf4+ 47.Kf1 Nd3 48.Bxd3 cxd3 49.Ke1 Bd5 50.Kd2 Bc4 51.Bb6 Kd7 52.b4 Bf4 53.Bd4 Ke6 54.Bb6 g5 55.Bd4 g4 56.hxg4 fxg4 57.fxg4 Bg5 58.Ke1 Bb3 59.Kd2 Bc4 60.Ke1 Bd5 61.Kf2 d2 62.Nd1 Bb3 63.Ke2 Bc4+ 64.Kf2 Bb3 65.Ke2 Kf7 66.Nb2 Kg6 67.c4 bxc4 68.Bc3 Bf4 69.Bxd2 Kg5 70.Nd1 Kxg4 71.Ne3+ Kh5 72.Nd5 Be5 73.Bc3 Bh2 74.Nf6+ Kg6 75.Ne4 Ba4 76.Nd2 Kf5 77.Nf3 Bg3 78.Be1 Kg4 79.Bxg3 Kxg3 80.Kd2 Bc6 81.Nxh4 Kxh4 82.Kc3 Bb5 0-1

61.Kf2? better is 61.Kd2

Sebastien Mazé ‏ - Cette équipe est phénoménale. Dos au mur contre une grande Arménie, on n'a rien laché! Ce match restera gravé dans nos têtes.
_______

Round 2 Nov. 14, 2015
Adams, Michael – Jobava, Baadur
B12 Caro-Kann Defence

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.c4 e6 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Qe2 Ne7 11.Bd2 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 a5 13.Rd1 Qxa2 14.Qg4 O-O 15.Bc4 Qa4 16.O-O Ba6 17.b3 Qa2 18.Rd2 Qa3 19.Ra1 Qc5 20.Rxa5 Bb5 21.Rda2 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Rd8 23.h4 h6 24.h5 Nf5 25.Qf3 Qe7 26.Bxb5 cxb5 27.Ra8 Qe8 28.Ra7 Rd5 29.Kh2 Qb8 30.Ra5 Ne7 31.Ra6 Rd8 32.g3 Nd5 33.Bd4 Qc8 34.Rd6 Re8 35.Qd3 Qb7 36.Bc5 b4 37.Be3 Rc8 38.Bd2 Qa7 39.Kg2 Qa1 40.Qe4 Qd1 41.Bxb4 Qxh5 42.Bc5 g5 43.b4 g4 44.Rd7 Kg7 45.Be3 Qg6 46.Qxg6+ Kxg6 47.Bc5 h5 48.Ra7 Nc3 49.Rd7 Ne4 50.Ba7 Rc1 51.Be3 Rb1 52.Rb7 Nc3 53.Bc5 Ne2 54.Rb8 Ng1 55.Rg8+ Kf5 56.Rf8 Nf3 57.Rxf7+ Kxe5 58.Rxf3 gxf3+ 59.Kxf3 Rb3+ 60.Kg2 Ke4 61.Kh3 Kf5 62.Be7 e5 63.Kh4 Rb2 64.Bc5 Rb1 65.Kh3 e4 66.Be7 Rd1 67.Bc5 Rc1 68.Be7 Rc2 69.Bc5 Rc4 70.Be7 Rc7 71.Bc5 Rd7 72.Be3 Rd5 73.Bb6 Rd1 74.Bc5 Re1 75.b5 Rh1+ 76.Kg2 Rb1 77.b6 Kg4 78.Be3 Rb3 79.Bd4 1/2-1/2

Pairings for Round Three

1. Ukraine-Azerbaijan
2. Russia-Spain
3. France-Hungary
4. Georgia-Poland
5. Serbia-Netherlands
6. Croatia-England
7. Norway-Armenia
8. Slovenia-Greece
9. Turkey-Iceland Legends
10. Iceland-Germany
11. Italy-Montenegro
12. Denmark-Switzerland
13. Finland-Czech Republic

Russia has been playing with Peter Svidler, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Dmitry Jakovenko so far; Alexander Grischuk skipped the first two rounds.

This went somewhat unnoticed, as there's another player who hasn't made an appearance for his team yet: Magnus Carlsen. He saw his team mates GM Jon Ludvig Hammer and IMs Aryan Tari, Frode Urkedal and Johan Salomon lose in the first round, but win in the second. Armenia awaits, so we should see Carlsen tomorrow against Aronian.

European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015

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