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Re: European Team, Crete 2017
European Team Crete 2017
November 6, 2017
Controversy about Arranged Draws
Peter Doggers at chess.com:
Azerbaijan played 2-2 vs Ukraine and had some scary moments as Russia beat Germany 3-1 and reached the same amount of match points. At the end of the day the tiebreak worked out well for the Azerbaijani, who won gold at the European Team Championship but not without a controversy about arranged draws.
After several hours of play, the situation was as follows. The Kryvoruchko-Radjabov and Kuzubov-Mamedov games had ended in (fairly balanced) draws. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had failed to get an initiative going vs Pavel Eljanov and was defending a worse position. A draw seemed the most likely result though, and Arkadij Naiditsch had reached a winning position with brilliant play.
Sources told Chess.com that they saw the two team captains, GM Eltaj Safarli for Azerbaijan and GM Alexander Sulypa for Ukraine, talking to each other and then approaching the chief arbiter. Then, almost at the same time, a draw was agreed in the last two games that were still going, and the match ended in 2-2.
The chief arbiter in Crete, Takis Nikolopoulos, couldn't comment to Chess.com whether the captains had made an agreement because he didn't see such a thing. Russia's Alexander Grischuk, who had finished his game, witnessed the moment and then joined live broadcast, said: "I cannot speak about this."
Video footage shows Safarli and Sulypa shaking hands when Mamedyarov-Eljanov has been agreed to a draw, but before Naiditsch-Ponomariov ended.
The controversy didn't blow up to a full scandal for the fact that the final positions in both games were drawn. However, especially in Naiditsch-Ponomariov White could have played on a bit more, and Black needed to find some accurate moves.
During the broadcast Grischuk felt that 3-1 might be just enough for Russia to overtake Azerbaijan in the standings, but it wasn't.
The tiebreak rule, which kept the Azeri's in first place, was the "Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break without lowest result," meaning that big victories against lower ranked teams matter less than wins against direct competitors.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/azer...st-controversy
The four games:
European Team Crete 2017
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 1
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Eljanov, Pavel
D27 QGA, Classical
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.O-O a6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.Nc3 b5 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10.Rd1 Bb7 11.e4 c4 12.Bc2 Qb6 13.e5 Nd5 14.Bg5 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qd8 16.Be4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 O-O 18.h4 Nb6 19.g3 Qd5 20.Qe2 f6 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Re1 Rae8 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Nd2 e5 25.dxe5 Rxe5 26.Ne4 Kh8 27.Rad1 Qe6 28.Qd2 Re8 29.Qd4 Nd5 30.Kh2 Rxe4 31.Rxe4 Qxe4 32.Qxe4 Rxe4 33.Rxd5 Re2 34.a4 Rxf2+ 35.Kh3 bxa4 36.Ra5 Ra2 37.Rxa6 a3 38.Kg4 Ra1 39.Kh5 a2 1/2-1/2
Final position Board 1
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 2
Kryvoruchko, Yuriy – Radjabov, Teimour
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.Nd2 c6 8.Ba4 d6 9.c3 Bb6 10.Nc4 Bc7 11.Bc2 O-O 12.Bg5 d5 13.Nxe5 dxe4 14.d4 c5 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Bxe4 cxd4 17.cxd4 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.Qc2 g6 20.Rfe1 Qa5 21.a3 Qb6 22.Qc3 Bd7 23.Qb4 Qxb4 24.axb4 Rfe8 25.g3 Bc6 26.Bxc6 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 bxc6 28.Rc1 Rd8 29.Rxc6 Rd4 30.Ra6 Rxb4 31.Rxa7 Rxb2 32.Kg2 1/2-1/2
Final position Board 2
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 3
Naiditsch, Arkadij – Ponomariov, Ruslan
B07 Pirc Defence
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.h3 Bg7 6.Nge2 b5 7.a3 O-O 8.g4 e5 9.d5 Bb7 10.Ng3 a6 11.g5 Nfd7 12.h4 Re8 13.h5 Nb6 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Nf5 cxd5 16.Bxb6 Qxb6 17.Bxb5 gxf5 18.Bxe8 Qd8 19.Qh5 Qxe8 20.exf5 Qe7 21.f6 Bxf6 22.gxf6 Qxf6 23.O-O-O d4 24.Ne4 Bxe4 25.Qg4+ Kf8 26.Qxe4 Ra7 27.Rd3 Nd7 28.Rf3 Qg5+ 29.Kb1 Ke7 30.Qc6 Nf6 31.Rh8 Qg1+ 32.Ka2 Qg4 33.Rh6 Qe4 34.Qxe4 Nxe4 35.Rxf7+ Kxf7 36.Rh7+ Ke6 37.Rxa7 Nxf2 38.Kb1 e4 39.Rxa6 e3 40.Kc1 d3 41.cxd3 Nxd3+ 42.Kd1 Nxb2+ 43.Ke2 Nc4 1/2-1/2
Final Position Board 3
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 4
Kuzubov, Yuriy – Mamedov, Rauf
B36 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Marcy bind
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 O-O 10.Qd2 a5 11.Rc1 a4 12.f3 Be6 13.Nb5 Nd7 14.O-O Qa5 15.Rfd1 Rfc8 16.Nd4 Nc5 17.Qxa5 Rxa5 18.Nxe6 Nxe6 19.Rd5 Nc5 20.Rb1 Ra6 21.Rd2 Rb6 22.Rc2 Rb4 23.Rd2 Bc3 24.Rc2 Bg7 25.Rd2 Ra8 26.g3 h5 27.Kg2 Bc3 28.Rc2 Bg7 29.Bd2 Rb6 30.Be3 Rb4 1/2-1/2
Final position, Board 4
__________
Stockfish evaluates the final positions as 0, except for Naiditsch-Ponomariov, which has 0.56 for White.
European Team Crete 2017
November 6, 2017
Controversy about Arranged Draws
Peter Doggers at chess.com:
Azerbaijan played 2-2 vs Ukraine and had some scary moments as Russia beat Germany 3-1 and reached the same amount of match points. At the end of the day the tiebreak worked out well for the Azerbaijani, who won gold at the European Team Championship but not without a controversy about arranged draws.
After several hours of play, the situation was as follows. The Kryvoruchko-Radjabov and Kuzubov-Mamedov games had ended in (fairly balanced) draws. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had failed to get an initiative going vs Pavel Eljanov and was defending a worse position. A draw seemed the most likely result though, and Arkadij Naiditsch had reached a winning position with brilliant play.
Sources told Chess.com that they saw the two team captains, GM Eltaj Safarli for Azerbaijan and GM Alexander Sulypa for Ukraine, talking to each other and then approaching the chief arbiter. Then, almost at the same time, a draw was agreed in the last two games that were still going, and the match ended in 2-2.
The chief arbiter in Crete, Takis Nikolopoulos, couldn't comment to Chess.com whether the captains had made an agreement because he didn't see such a thing. Russia's Alexander Grischuk, who had finished his game, witnessed the moment and then joined live broadcast, said: "I cannot speak about this."
Video footage shows Safarli and Sulypa shaking hands when Mamedyarov-Eljanov has been agreed to a draw, but before Naiditsch-Ponomariov ended.
The controversy didn't blow up to a full scandal for the fact that the final positions in both games were drawn. However, especially in Naiditsch-Ponomariov White could have played on a bit more, and Black needed to find some accurate moves.
During the broadcast Grischuk felt that 3-1 might be just enough for Russia to overtake Azerbaijan in the standings, but it wasn't.
The tiebreak rule, which kept the Azeri's in first place, was the "Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break without lowest result," meaning that big victories against lower ranked teams matter less than wins against direct competitors.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/azer...st-controversy
The four games:
European Team Crete 2017
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 1
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Eljanov, Pavel
D27 QGA, Classical
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.O-O a6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.Nc3 b5 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10.Rd1 Bb7 11.e4 c4 12.Bc2 Qb6 13.e5 Nd5 14.Bg5 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qd8 16.Be4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 O-O 18.h4 Nb6 19.g3 Qd5 20.Qe2 f6 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Re1 Rae8 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Nd2 e5 25.dxe5 Rxe5 26.Ne4 Kh8 27.Rad1 Qe6 28.Qd2 Re8 29.Qd4 Nd5 30.Kh2 Rxe4 31.Rxe4 Qxe4 32.Qxe4 Rxe4 33.Rxd5 Re2 34.a4 Rxf2+ 35.Kh3 bxa4 36.Ra5 Ra2 37.Rxa6 a3 38.Kg4 Ra1 39.Kh5 a2 1/2-1/2
Final position Board 1
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 2
Kryvoruchko, Yuriy – Radjabov, Teimour
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.Nd2 c6 8.Ba4 d6 9.c3 Bb6 10.Nc4 Bc7 11.Bc2 O-O 12.Bg5 d5 13.Nxe5 dxe4 14.d4 c5 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Bxe4 cxd4 17.cxd4 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.Qc2 g6 20.Rfe1 Qa5 21.a3 Qb6 22.Qc3 Bd7 23.Qb4 Qxb4 24.axb4 Rfe8 25.g3 Bc6 26.Bxc6 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 bxc6 28.Rc1 Rd8 29.Rxc6 Rd4 30.Ra6 Rxb4 31.Rxa7 Rxb2 32.Kg2 1/2-1/2
Final position Board 2
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 3
Naiditsch, Arkadij – Ponomariov, Ruslan
B07 Pirc Defence
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.h3 Bg7 6.Nge2 b5 7.a3 O-O 8.g4 e5 9.d5 Bb7 10.Ng3 a6 11.g5 Nfd7 12.h4 Re8 13.h5 Nb6 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Nf5 cxd5 16.Bxb6 Qxb6 17.Bxb5 gxf5 18.Bxe8 Qd8 19.Qh5 Qxe8 20.exf5 Qe7 21.f6 Bxf6 22.gxf6 Qxf6 23.O-O-O d4 24.Ne4 Bxe4 25.Qg4+ Kf8 26.Qxe4 Ra7 27.Rd3 Nd7 28.Rf3 Qg5+ 29.Kb1 Ke7 30.Qc6 Nf6 31.Rh8 Qg1+ 32.Ka2 Qg4 33.Rh6 Qe4 34.Qxe4 Nxe4 35.Rxf7+ Kxf7 36.Rh7+ Ke6 37.Rxa7 Nxf2 38.Kb1 e4 39.Rxa6 e3 40.Kc1 d3 41.cxd3 Nxd3+ 42.Kd1 Nxb2+ 43.Ke2 Nc4 1/2-1/2
Final Position Board 3
Round 9, Nov. 6
Azerbaijan-Ukraine, Board 4
Kuzubov, Yuriy – Mamedov, Rauf
B36 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Marcy bind
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 O-O 10.Qd2 a5 11.Rc1 a4 12.f3 Be6 13.Nb5 Nd7 14.O-O Qa5 15.Rfd1 Rfc8 16.Nd4 Nc5 17.Qxa5 Rxa5 18.Nxe6 Nxe6 19.Rd5 Nc5 20.Rb1 Ra6 21.Rd2 Rb6 22.Rc2 Rb4 23.Rd2 Bc3 24.Rc2 Bg7 25.Rd2 Ra8 26.g3 h5 27.Kg2 Bc3 28.Rc2 Bg7 29.Bd2 Rb6 30.Be3 Rb4 1/2-1/2
Final position, Board 4
__________
Stockfish evaluates the final positions as 0, except for Naiditsch-Ponomariov, which has 0.56 for White.
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