Reports | November 11, 2011 17:28

Germany wins European Team Championship as favourites tumble

Germany wins European Team Championship as favourites tumble

Germany became the surprising winners at the European Team Championship in Halkidiki, Greece. On Friday they beat Armenia in a match for gold, after they had already won against Azerbaijan the day before. Russia took gold in the women's section with eight wins and one tie.

The gold medals went to Germany who beat Armenia in the final round of the 2011 European Team Championship

All photos © ChessDom

Event 18th European Team Championship 2011 | Chess Results | PGN (Men) PGN (Women) via TWIC
Dates November 3rd-11th, 2011
Location Halkidiki, Greece
System 9-round Swiss Team Competition
Players Top 20 rated players are Aronian, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Topalov, Karjakin, Morozevich, Gashimov, Svidler, Grischuk, Adams, Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi, Caruana, Navara, Ponomariov, Leko, Moiseenko, Bacrot, Giri and Naiditsch
Rate of play 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus 30 seconds increment starting from the first move

This year's European Team Championship will be remembered as the one in which all favourites tumbled, one after another. In the second round, second seeded Ukraine played 2-2 against Bulgaria, a team that normally doesn't play for gold. In the same round the highly successful Armenian team lost to their neighbours Azerbaijan. Then Russia dropped a match point against The Netherlands, and Armenia tied with England.

Half-way the tournament Bulgaria claimed the headlines with a win against Russia, but they were crushed by Azerbaijan, who then went down themselves against Germany in the penultimate round. By then Russia and especially Ukraine had lost their chances for gold (or a medal at all) and the only remaining first-day favourite, Armenia, was in shared first place with Germany.

In a dream final, the two countries met and it was Germany who emerged as the winners. Azerbaijan took silver while Hungary got bronze after crushing Bulgaria 4-0 in the final round.

In the women's section things were less dramatic with Russia cruising to victory and Poland edging out Georgia to take silver.

Thursday, round 8

Azerbaijan seemed destined to win the event after their 3.5-0.5 win against Bulgaria. However, also for them things went wrong: in the penultimate round they suffered a surprising 1.5-2.5 loss against Germany. Three boards ended in draws and on top board Naiditsch beat Radjabov:

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Armenia continued their strong comeback with a 3-1 win against The Netherlands. Here's what happened on board one:

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Aronian chatting with Van Wely at the start of Armenia-Netherlands

Neighbour countries Hungary and Romania tied 2-2 while Bulgaria recovered well with a 3-1 against Italy (who played without Caruana).

Russia beat France with the third consecutive loss for Vachier-Lagrave (against Karjakin) and the following game on top board:

PGN string

With one round to go, Armenia and Germany were sharing the lead with 13 match points (and a slightly better tiebreak for the Armenians). Azerbaijan and Bulgaria followed with 12 points and then Romania and Russia with 11 points, followed by Czech Republic, The Netherlands and Slovenia with 10.

Friday, round 9

Not to mention the fact that they were higher rated on all four boards against Germany, Armenia won so many team competitions in recent years that they just had to be seen as the clear favourites. But everything went a little bit different today.

The Germans managed to hold the draw on three boards and so Meier's win with Black against Movsesian was worth no less than gold.

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There was another hero, though, because with a 2-1 score Jan 'Gusti' Gustafsson was defending an ending an exchange down against Sargissian:

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Silver went to Azerbaijan who easily defeated Romania 3-1

Hungary produced the second surprise of the day with a sweeping 4-0 against Bulgaria. Leko, who played all rounds in Greece and before this game had scored seven draws and a win, avoided a move repetition against Topalov in a topical line of the Grünfeld:

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Russia, clearly back on track but too late, beat Slovenia 3-1. The Netherlands can be satisfied with their tournament thanks to a last round win against the Czech Republic. Stellwagen, who lost in the first round against an IM, could finish the tournament as the one who decided the match with a crushing Black win:

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Horribly out of shape, Vachier-Lagrave was left out of the team for France, who suffered a 1.5-2.5 defeat against Spain.

Shirov was the match winner here:

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Ukraine won their last round against England but Ivanchuk lost to Adams, who thus finished an excellent tournament with 6.5/9 and a 2841 performance

Only Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a higher TPR: 2866 and 7/9!

For the Hungarians Zoltan Almasi was important; he scored 6/8 (2809). The success of the German team was a real team effort, with everyone performing above their rating:

Bo.   Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pts. Games RtgAvg Rp
1 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2712 GER 1 ½ ½ 1 0   ½ 1 ½ 5.0 8 2699 2794
2 GM Meier Georg 2659 GER ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 5.5 9 2678 2758
3 GM Fridman Daniel 2661 GER   ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 4.5 8 2649 2692
4 GM Gustafsson Jan 2633 GER ½   1 1 ½ ½   ½ ½ 4.5 7 2630 2732
5 GM Buhmann Rainer 2612 GER 1 ½       1 ½     3.0 4 2524 2717

Games top boards round 8 (Open)

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Games top boards round 8 (Women)

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Games top boards round 9 (Open)

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Games top boards round 9 (Women)

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Round 8 results

Bo. 3 Azerbaijan Rtg - 10 Germany Rtg 1½:2½
1.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2781 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2712 0 - 1
1.2 GM Gashimov Vugar 2757 - GM Meier Georg 2659 ½ - ½
1.3 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2733 - GM Fridman Daniel 2661 ½ - ½
1.4 GM Safarli Eltaj 2630 - GM Gustafsson Jan 2633 ½ - ½
Bo. 4 Armenia Rtg - 9 Netherlands Rtg 3 : 1
2.1 GM Aronian Levon 2802 - GM Giri Anish 2714 1 - 0
2.2 GM Movsesian Sergei 2710 - GM Van Wely Loek 2686 ½ - ½
2.3 GM Akopian Vladimir 2681 - GM Sokolov Ivan 2646 1 - 0
2.4 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2671 - GM Stellwagen Daniel 2627 ½ - ½
Bo. 17 Romania Rtg - 5 Hungary Rtg 2 : 2
3.1 GM Lupulescu Constantin 2657 - GM Leko Peter 2720 ½ - ½
3.2 GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian 2650 - GM Almasi Zoltan 2707 0 - 1
3.3 GM Vajda Levente 2584 - GM Berkes Ferenc 2705 1 - 0
3.4 GM Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula 2553 - GM Balogh Csaba 2662 ½ - ½
Bo. 7 Bulgaria Rtg - 22 Italy Rtg 3 : 1
4.1 GM Topalov Veselin 2768 - GM Godena Michele 2548 1 - 0
4.2 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2650 - IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2475 1 - 0
4.3 GM Delchev Aleksander 2629 - GM Brunello Sabino 2575 ½ - ½
4.4 GM Georgiev Kiril 2666 - IM Rombaldoni Axel 2459 ½ - ½
Bo. 1 Russia Rtg - 6 France Rtg 2½:1½
5.1 GM Grischuk Alexander 2752 - GM Bacrot Etienne 2714 1 - 0
5.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2763 - GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2710 1 - 0
5.3 GM Morozevich Alexander 2762 - GM Fressinet Laurent 2700 ½ - ½
5.4 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2730 - GM Bauer Christian 2641 0 - 1
Bo. 12 Czech Rep. Rtg - 18 Serbia Rtg 2½:1½
6.1 GM Navara David 2724 - GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2636 ½ - ½
6.2 GM Laznicka Viktor 2703 - GM Solak Dragan 2629 ½ - ½
6.3 GM Hracek Zbynek 2628 - GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2563 ½ - ½
6.4 GM Stocek Jiri 2600 - GM Perunovic Milos 2576 1 - 0
Bo. 14 Poland Rtg - 19 Greece Rtg 2 : 2
7.1 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2705 - GM Banikas Hristos 2620 ½ - ½
7.2 GM Socko Bartosz 2635 - GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2621 ½ - ½
7.3 GM Bartel Mateusz 2653 - GM Halkias Stelios 2593 ½ - ½
7.4 GM Miton Kamil 2622 - GM Nikolaidis Ioannis 2554 ½ - ½
Bo. 21 Slovenia Rtg - 26 Switzerland Rtg 3 : 1
8.1 GM Beliavsky Alexander G 2617 - GM Pelletier Yannick 2581 ½ - ½
8.2 GM Lenic Luka 2634 - GM Korchnoi Viktor 2567 ½ - ½
8.3 GM Borisek Jure 2541 - IM Kurmann Oliver 2451 1 - 0
8.4 GM Skoberne Jure 2533 - IM Forster Richard 2458 1 - 0
Bo. 13 Spain Rtg - 27 Latvia Rtg 3 : 1
9.1 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2705 - GM Miezis Normunds 2547 ½ - ½
9.2 GM Shirov Alexei 2705 - GM Sveshnikov Evgeny 2514 ½ - ½
9.3 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2609 - IM Neiksans Arturs 2502 1 - 0
9.4 GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2568 - GM Starostits Ilmars 2456 1 - 0
Bo. 16 Croatia Rtg - 20 Moldova Rtg 2½:1½
10.1 GM Stevic Hrvoje 2612 - GM Bologan Viktor 2665 ½ - ½
10.2 GM Saric Ivan 2648 - GM Iordachescu Viorel 2648 1 - 0
10.3 GM Palac Mladen 2580 - GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2621 ½ - ½
10.4 GM Brkic Ante 2605 - IM Vedmediuc Serghei 2465 ½ - ½
Bo. 25 Sweden Rtg - 29 Montenegro Rtg 2 : 2
11.1 GM Tikkanen Hans 2586 - GM Djukic Nikola 2493 0 - 1
11.2 GM Grandelius Nils 2543 - GM Blagojevic Dragisa 2514 1 - 0
11.3 GM Carlsson Pontus 2502 - GM Drasko Milan 2478 1 - 0
11.4 IM Semcesen Daniel 2490 - GM Kosic Dragan 2502 0 - 1
Bo. 23 Austria Rtg - 15 Georgia Rtg 2 : 2
12.1 GM Ragger Markus 2662 - GM Jobava Baadur 2678 ½ - ½
12.2 GM Kindermann Stefan 2519 - GM Pantsulaia Levan 2588 ½ - ½
12.3 GM Shengelia David 2551 - GM Gagunashvili Merab 2577 ½ - ½
12.4 IM Kreisl Robert 2415 -   Zarkua Davit 2443 ½ - ½
Bo. 2 Ukraine Rtg - 32 Iceland Rtg 3 : 1
13.1 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2723 - GM Danielsen Henrik 2542 1 - 0
13.2 GM Eljanov Pavel 2691 - FM Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn 2452 ½ - ½
13.3 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2715 - IM Thorfinnsson Bragi 2421 1 - 0
13.4 GM Efimenko Zahar 2702 - GM Olafsson Helgi 2531 ½ - ½
Bo. 11 Israel Rtg - 24 Denmark Rtg 3½: ½
14.1 GM Rodshtein Maxim 2645 - GM Hansen Sune Berg 2566 ½ - ½
14.2 GM Sutovsky Emil 2696 - GM Rasmussen Allan Stig 2541 1 - 0
14.3 GM Smirin Ilia 2670 - GM Aagaard Jacob 2522 1 - 0
14.4 GM Postny Evgeny 2640 - IM Glud Jakob Vang 2497 1 - 0
Bo. 8 England Rtg - 28 Finland Rtg 3½: ½
15.1 GM Adams Michael 2734 - GM Nyback Tomi 2631 ½ - ½
15.2 GM Short Nigel D 2698 - IM Sammalvuo Tapani 2492 1 - 0
15.3 GM Jones Gawain C B 2635 - IM Agopov Mikael 2450 1 - 0
15.4 GM Pert Nicholas 2563 - IM Karttunen Mika 2434 1 - 0
Bo. 31 Norway Rtg - 33 Lithuania Rtg 2 : 2
16.1 GM Lie Kjetil A 2560 - GM Sulskis Sarunas 2577 0 - 1
16.2 IM Elsness Frode 2506 - IM Zagorskis Darius 2497 ½ - ½
16.3 GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2515 - IM Sakalauskas Vaidas 2411 ½ - ½
16.4 IM Getz Nicolai 2369 - IM Labeckas Kestutis 2410 1 - 0
Bo. 37 Luxembourg Rtg - 30 FYROM Rtg 2 : 2
17.1 IM Berend Fred 2381 - GM Georgiev Vladimir 2553 1 - 0
17.2   Jeitz Christian 2171 - GM Nedev Trajko 2493 0 - 1
17.3 FM Mossong Hubert 2119 - IM Colovic Aleksandar 2451 1 - 0
17.4 WIM Steil-Antoni Fiona 2104 - GM Stanojoski Zvonko 2470 0 - 1
Bo. 34 Turkey Rtg - 36 Wales Rtg 3½: ½
18.1 IM Yilmaz Mustafa 2515 - FM Williams A Howard 2353 ½ - ½
18.2 GM Can Emre 2465 - CM Jones Iolo C 2282 1 - 0
18.3 IM Firat Burak 2393 -   Kett Tim 2184 1 - 0
18.4 CM Sanal Vahap 2275 -   Pleasants Allan J 2089 1 - 0
Bo. 35 Scotland Rtg - 38 Cyprus Rtg 3 : 1
19.1 FM Morrison Graham 2339 -   Bryan-Vissi Mark 1808 1 - 0
19.2 IM Muir Andrew J 2311 -   Aristotelous Vassilis 1921 1 - 0
19.3 CM Roberts Paul 2222 -   Boulos Vrachimis 0 ½ - ½
19.4   Mitchell Martin 2215 -   Constantinou Pavlos 2068 ½ - ½

Results round 9

Bo. 10 Germany Rtg - 4 Armenia Rtg 2½:1½
1.1 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2712 - GM Aronian Levon 2802 ½ - ½
1.2 GM Meier Georg 2659 - GM Movsesian Sergei 2710 1 - 0
1.3 GM Fridman Daniel 2661 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2681 ½ - ½
1.4 GM Gustafsson Jan 2633 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2671 ½ - ½
Bo. 3 Azerbaijan Rtg - 17 Romania Rtg 3 : 1
2.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2781 - GM Lupulescu Constantin 2657 ½ - ½
2.2 GM Gashimov Vugar 2757 - GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian 2650 1 - 0
2.3 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2733 - GM Vajda Levente 2584 1 - 0
2.4 GM Guseinov Gadir 2636 - GM Marin Mihail 2534 ½ - ½
Bo. 5 Hungary Rtg - 7 Bulgaria Rtg 4 : 0
3.1 GM Leko Peter 2720 - GM Topalov Veselin 2768 1 - 0
3.2 GM Almasi Zoltan 2707 - GM Cheparinov Ivan 2650 1 - 0
3.3 GM Balogh Csaba 2662 - GM Delchev Aleksander 2629 1 - 0
3.4 GM Gyimesi Zoltan 2652 - GM Georgiev Kiril 2666 1 - 0
Bo. 21 Slovenia Rtg - 1 Russia Rtg 1 : 3
4.1 GM Beliavsky Alexander G 2617 - GM Svidler Peter 2755 ½ - ½
4.2 GM Lenic Luka 2634 - GM Grischuk Alexander 2752 0 - 1
4.3 GM Borisek Jure 2541 - GM Karjakin Sergey 2763 0 - 1
4.4 GM Skoberne Jure 2533 - GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2730 ½ - ½
Bo. 9 Netherlands Rtg - 12 Czech Rep. Rtg 2½:1½
5.1 GM Giri Anish 2714 - GM Navara David 2724 ½ - ½
5.2 GM Van Wely Loek 2686 - GM Laznicka Viktor 2703 ½ - ½
5.3 GM Smeets Jan 2615 - GM Hracek Zbynek 2628 ½ - ½
5.4 GM Stellwagen Daniel 2627 - GM Stocek Jiri 2600 1 - 0
Bo. 6 France Rtg - 13 Spain Rtg 1½:2½
6.1 GM Bacrot Etienne 2714 - GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2705 ½ - ½
6.2 GM Fressinet Laurent 2700 - GM Shirov Alexei 2705 0 - 1
6.3 GM Istratescu Andrei 2627 - GM Salgado Lopez Ivan 2621 ½ - ½
6.4 GM Bauer Christian 2641 - GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2609 ½ - ½
Bo. 16 Croatia Rtg - 14 Poland Rtg 1 : 3
7.1 GM Stevic Hrvoje 2612 - GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2705 ½ - ½
7.2 GM Saric Ivan 2648 - GM Socko Bartosz 2635 ½ - ½
7.3 GM Palac Mladen 2580 - GM Bartel Mateusz 2653 0 - 1
7.4 GM Brkic Ante 2605 - GM Macieja Bartlomiej 2616 0 - 1
Bo. 19 Greece Rtg - 22 Italy Rtg 1½:2½
8.1 GM Banikas Hristos 2620 - GM Caruana Fabiano 2727 ½ - ½
8.2 GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios 2621 - GM Godena Michele 2548 ½ - ½
8.3 GM Papaioannou Ioannis 2600 - IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2475 ½ - ½
8.4 GM Halkias Stelios 2593 - GM Brunello Sabino 2575 0 - 1
Bo. 8 England Rtg - 2 Ukraine Rtg 1½:2½
9.1 GM Adams Michael 2734 - GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2775 1 - 0
9.2 GM Short Nigel D 2698 - GM Eljanov Pavel 2691 0 - 1
9.3 GM Jones Gawain C B 2635 - GM Moiseenko Alexander 2715 ½ - ½
9.4 GM Pert Nicholas 2563 - GM Efimenko Zahar 2702 0 - 1
Bo. 26 Switzerland Rtg - 11 Israel Rtg 1½:2½
10.1 GM Pelletier Yannick 2581 - GM Sutovsky Emil 2696 ½ - ½
10.2 GM Korchnoi Viktor 2567 - GM Roiz Michael 2651 ½ - ½
10.3 GM Gallagher Joseph G 2500 - GM Smirin Ilia 2670 ½ - ½
10.4 IM Kurmann Oliver 2451 - GM Postny Evgeny 2640 0 - 1
Bo. 15 Georgia Rtg - 25 Sweden Rtg 3 : 1
11.1 GM Jobava Baadur 2678 - GM Tikkanen Hans 2586 1 - 0
11.2 GM Pantsulaia Levan 2588 - GM Grandelius Nils 2543 1 - 0
11.3 GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil 2636 - GM Carlsson Pontus 2502 ½ - ½
11.4   Zarkua Davit 2443 - IM Semcesen Daniel 2490 ½ - ½
Bo. 18 Serbia Rtg - 29 Montenegro Rtg 2½:1½
12.1 GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2636 - GM Djukic Nikola 2493 ½ - ½
12.2 GM Solak Dragan 2629 - GM Blagojevic Dragisa 2514 ½ - ½
12.3 GM Damljanovic Branko 2597 - GM Kosic Dragan 2502 1 - 0
12.4 GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2563 - IM Kalezic Blazo 2461 ½ - ½
Bo. 20 Moldova Rtg - 23 Austria Rtg 2½:1½
13.1 GM Bologan Viktor 2665 - GM Ragger Markus 2662 1 - 0
13.2 GM Iordachescu Viorel 2648 - GM Kindermann Stefan 2519 1 - 0
13.3 GM Svetushkin Dmitry 2621 - GM Shengelia David 2551 0 - 1
13.4 IM Hamitevici Vladimir 2428 - IM Kreisl Robert 2415 ½ - ½
Bo. 27 Latvia Rtg - 33 Lithuania Rtg 2 : 2
14.1 GM Miezis Normunds 2547 - GM Sulskis Sarunas 2577 0 - 1
14.2 GM Sveshnikov Evgeny 2514 - IM Zagorskis Darius 2497 ½ - ½
14.3 IM Neiksans Arturs 2502 - IM Labeckas Kestutis 2410 ½ - ½
14.4 GM Starostits Ilmars 2456 -   Klabis Rokas 2100 1 - 0
Bo. 34 Turkey Rtg - 31 Norway Rtg 1½:2½
15.1 IM Yilmaz Mustafa 2515 - GM Lie Kjetil A 2560 1 - 0
15.2 GM Can Emre 2465 - IM Elsness Frode 2506 0 - 1
15.3 IM Firat Burak 2393 - GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2515 ½ - ½
15.4 FM Ali Marandi Cemil Can 2275 - IM Getz Nicolai 2369 0 - 1
Bo. 32 Iceland Rtg - 35 Scotland Rtg 4 : 0
16.1 GM Danielsen Henrik 2542 - FM Tate Alan 2334 1 - 0
16.2 FM Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn 2452 - FM Morrison Graham 2339 1 - 0
16.3 IM Thorfinnsson Bjorn 2402 - IM Muir Andrew J 2311 1 - 0
16.4 GM Olafsson Helgi 2531 -   Mitchell Martin 2215 1 - 0
Bo. 38 Cyprus Rtg - 24 Denmark Rtg 0 : 4
17.1   Bryan-Vissi Mark 1808 - GM Hansen Sune Berg 2566 0 - 1
17.2   Aristotelous Vassilis 1921 - GM Rasmussen Allan Stig 2541 0 - 1
17.3   Boulos Vrachimis 0 - GM Aagaard Jacob 2522 0 - 1
17.4   Constantinou Pavlos 2068 - IM Glud Jakob Vang 2497 0 - 1
Bo. 28 Finland Rtg - 37 Luxembourg Rtg 3½: ½
18.1 IM Sammalvuo Tapani 2492 - IM Berend Fred 2381 1 - 0
18.2 IM Agopov Mikael 2450 -   Jeitz Christian 2171 ½ - ½
18.3 IM Karttunen Mika 2434 -   Schartz Alain 2160 1 - 0
18.4 IM Nyysti Sampsa 2345 - WIM Steil-Antoni Fiona 2104 1 - 0
Bo. 30 FYROM Rtg - 36 Wales Rtg 4 : 0
19.1 GM Nedev Trajko 2493 - CM Jones Iolo C 2282 1 - 0
19.2 IM Colovic Aleksandar 2451 -   Kett Tim 2184 1 - 0
19.3 IM Pancevski Filip 2442 -   Pleasants Allan J 2089 1 - 0
19.4 GM Stanojoski Zvonko 2470 -   Young Alan 2042 1 - 0

Round 9 results women's section can be found here

Final standings Open

Rk. SNo   Team Fed Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 TB5
1 10   Germany GER 9 7 1 1 15 22.5 183.0 154.50 142.0
2 3   Azerbaijan AZE 9 6 2 1 14 23.0 181.5 139.75 140.5
3 5   Hungary HUN 9 5 3 1 13 23.0 167.5 117.25 128.0
4 4   Armenia ARM 9 6 1 2 13 22.5 172.0 117.25 132.5
5 1   Russia RUS 9 6 1 2 13 21.5 174.5 123.50 134.0
6 9   Netherlands NED 9 5 2 2 12 19.0 180.0 118.25 140.5
7 7   Bulgaria BUL 9 5 2 2 12 18.5 187.5 122.50 146.0
8 14   Poland POL 9 4 3 2 11 22.0 159.0 95.25 124.0
9 17   Romania ROM 9 5 1 3 11 20.0 163.5 87.00 135.0
10 13   Spain ESP 9 5 1 3 11 19.5 183.0 108.50 142.0
11 22   Italy ITA 9 5 1 3 11 19.0 164.0 91.25 135.5
12 18   Serbia SRB 9 5 0 4 10 22.0 152.0 77.50 123.0
13 15   Georgia GEO 9 4 2 3 10 22.0 140.5 71.25 116.0
14 11   Israel ISR 9 4 2 3 10 20.0 170.5 93.25 131.0
15 2   Ukraine UKR 9 4 2 3 10 19.0 172.0 90.25 132.5
16 12   Czech Rep. CZE 9 3 4 2 10 18.5 178.0 97.50 139.5
17 21   Slovenia SLO 9 4 2 3 10 17.5 185.0 101.00 144.0
18 20   Moldova MDA 9 4 1 4 9 20.5 156.0 70.25 125.0
19 6   France FRA 9 3 3 3 9 19.0 179.0 86.00 140.0
20 19   Greece GRE 9 4 1 4 9 19.0 168.5 76.50 140.0
21 16   Croatia CRO 9 3 3 3 9 17.0 178.5 83.25 142.0
22 8   England ENG 9 3 2 4 8 18.5 172.0 71.50 133.5
23 26   Switzerland SUI 9 3 2 4 8 18.5 145.0 56.75 119.5
24 27   Latvia LAT 9 3 2 4 8 18.0 163.0 67.75 124.5
25 29   Montenegro MNE 9 3 2 4 8 18.0 160.5 60.50 128.5
26 32   Iceland ISL 9 4 0 5 8 18.0 159.5 59.50 128.0
27 25   Sweden SWE 9 3 2 4 8 17.5 156.5 61.00 125.0
28 24   Denmark DEN 9 3 2 4 8 17.0 155.0 54.00 126.5
29 31   Norway NOR 9 3 2 4 8 15.5 152.5 63.75 120.5
30 30   FYROM MKD 9 3 1 5 7 18.5 133.5 31.75 105.0
31 28   Finland FIN 9 3 1 5 7 17.0 137.5 38.00 110.0
32 23   Austria AUT 9 2 3 4 7 16.5 162.5 51.00 134.5
33 33   Lithuania LTU 9 2 3 4 7 16.0 167.0 59.75 131.5
34 34   Turkey TUR 9 3 0 6 6 16.0 145.0 33.00 117.5
35 35   Scotland SCO 9 2 1 6 5 13.5 133.5 19.50 106.0
36 37   Luxembourg LUX 9 1 2 6 4 9.5 142.5 17.50 115.0
37 36   Wales WLS 9 0 2 7 2 5.5 137.0 7.50 111.5
38 38   Cyprus CYP 9 0 1 8 1 5.5 138.0 2.75 110.5

 

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Peter Doggers's picture
Author: Peter Doggers

Founder and editor-in-chief of ChessVibes.com, Peter is responsible for most of the chess news and tournament reports. Often visiting top events, he also provides photos and videos for the site. He's a 1.e4 player himself, likes Thai food and the Stones.

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Comments

DirkBredemeier's picture

DirkBredemeier

1 year 7 months ago

Thanks Jan! Tough defence against Sargissian! Germany rules ;-)

Thomas Richter's picture

Thomas Richter

1 year 7 months ago

"Two heroes" was actually a recurrent theme for Germany in the last three rounds:

Round 7 against Romania: Fridman winning, Naiditsch somehow holding a draw three pawns down in the ending - even chess-results had the expected result Lupulescu-Naiditsch 1-0 for a while ... .

Round 8 against Azerbaijan roles reversed: Naiditsch winning, Fridman holding a study-like draw against Mamedyarov (see game viewer)

Round 9 against Armenia: see report.

In the final round, I can imagine the crowd around "Gusti's" board: not just the two teams but also Hungary rooting for Germany (as they needed this result to get bronze), and Azerbaijan rooting for ... Armenia as a match draw would have meant gold for them.

Oh and BTW, your "final standings" are the ones after round 8 !

Coco Loco's picture

Coco Loco

1 year 7 months ago

Did Mamedyarov and Vajda (round 9) both miss 27...Ng4 winning on the spot (instead of 27...Nxd3 losing on the spot?) Seems strange, but I can't figure out where the transmission error might have been.

redivivo's picture

redivivo

1 year 7 months ago

27. ... Ng4+ 28. Kg1 Nxh6 29. Rg7+ Kf6 30. Nh5+ Ke5 31. Re7+ Kd4 32. Nf4 Be6 33. Rxe6 Nxc4 34. Nce2#

Rudi Matai's picture

Rudi Matai

1 year 7 months ago

The table shown is the one before the final round since under the Games column the number is 8, not 9, and Armenia is leading the field, not Germany. Other than that, compliments on your excellent tournament coverage which has given me much pleasure.

Peter Doggers's picture

Peter Doggers

1 year 7 months ago

Thx, standings corrected!

noyb's picture

noyb

1 year 7 months ago

Deutschland Uber Alles! Great report by CV also.

RealityCheck's picture

RealityCheck

1 year 7 months ago

Uff geht's Deutschland!

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

Can't Aronian dress up a little and shave? He looks like a slob. Being number three in the world, you would expect him to look a little dicent.

Levon's picture

Levon

1 year 7 months ago

It's chess that counts :)

Anonymous's picture

Anonymous

1 year 7 months ago

Chess is more important, but appearance counts too.
He is usually well dressed though.
Players seem more lax in team competitions

Bartleby's picture

Bartleby

1 year 7 months ago

He looks shaven and crisp in the last round picture. Aronian is the wrong guy to pick on because he dresses very well and clearly thinks about presenting himself. There are many worse examples.

sulutas's picture

sulutas

1 year 7 months ago

I think this is the biggest success in chess for Germany after E. Lasker's winning the crown:-) Congratulations!

Bartleby's picture

Bartleby

1 year 7 months ago

Congratulations to the German heroes. A genuine team success. They saw their chance and took it. The last rounds showed how good team strategy, a little luck, and awareness of what the other boards are doing can overcome the numerical odds in a team event.

Mikamesch's picture

Mikamesch

1 year 7 months ago

Yeah Germany !! What a great success! You guys Rock!!

MamedyarovFan's picture

MamedyarovFan

1 year 7 months ago

In the Round 9 game of the 18th European Chess Championship 2011 between GM Mamedyarov and GM Vajda, Coco Loco's question and Redivivo's reply above emphasise the depth of Shak's cunning mating ideas starting with 27. Nf4! At TWIC, Mark Crowther states that even earlier after 21...Bd7, "this position is actually remarkably difficult for black to hold".
Shak had the highest number of points (7/9) in the tournament, and -- as indicated by Peter Doggers above -- his TPR of 2866 was also the tournament's highest.

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

For instance Carlsen on his apparence. Ok he is young, but when you look at Anand and Kramnik they do look like World Champions, not Carlsen. I mean it's as well credibility, not only on the board, but as well, what you want to reflect to others. I think it's time for Carlsen, to wear a dicent suit with a nice tie, he has the money for that! Gstar, is a nice brand for kids with an attitude problem, not for a future World Champion. Cut the contract with Gstar, and get a nice dark blue Dior suit, with a uniform blue or red tie. And try to comb your hair for once.

Alfonso's picture

Alfonso

1 year 7 months ago

Nicholas, I am no sure if you are simply joking here, because there is zero relationship between ties, Dior suits, and decency or credibility. I imagine that in your particular world the guys working at Lehman Brothers were the epitome of honorability with their Armani suits and elegant Rolex.

Poek's picture

Poek

1 year 7 months ago

Well said!

columbo's picture

columbo

1 year 7 months ago

LOL !

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

@Alfonso

Being well dressed reflects on the chess image. Being top in the world, you have a duty to respect the game, and promote it. If you are half shaved, you lose credibility. There are dressing codes, and when I see Aronian, number three in the world playing against the Dutch team, I'm shocked.

Poek's picture

Poek

1 year 7 months ago

That's your problem I guess. He looks better in the first picture than in the second one.

PP (NL)'s picture

PP (NL)

1 year 7 months ago

You must have been shocked with what Steve Jobs was wearing. He was responsible for the worlds most valued company! ;-)

Anonymous's picture

Anonymous

1 year 7 months ago

If Steve jobs were to be invited to a formal dinner party at the white house I'm sure he would dress appropriately.
Dress has nothing to do with character or ability. But everything has its place. I don't wear slippers to church.

You can't point to misbehaving bankers in suits and argue that we should all dress sloppily.

By the way, aronian is my favorite player

Alfonso's picture

Alfonso

1 year 7 months ago

In fact, the players in the photos are not in a "formal dinner party at the White House". They are at work.

Navak's picture

Navak

1 year 7 months ago

Correct. But the point is every venue requires appropriate attire.
To your point. I work for a corporation that has many divisions. I belong to an engineering group; so I actually dress like Steve Jobs. Our sales personelle however wear suits.
So the question is what is the appropriate attire for a chess tournament. We can debate on how formal that should be.

Alfonso's picture

Alfonso

1 year 7 months ago

Ok, I agree, certainly we can debate it. But who has to decide finally? You? Me? Danailov? The funny guy abduced by the aliens? Or maybe the players themselves?

And in your example, I find that a chess player is more related to an engineer than to a sales representative. Is not a chessplayer a combination of sportman, scientist and artist? We should leave the decision about how to dress to each player, and occupy ourselves with the games they play.

Navak's picture

Navak

1 year 7 months ago

Yes. They are more like scientists and engineers.
But most scientists are not video taped, interviewed and subject of scrutiny while they are working. (Bleieve me I would dress better if that were the case) Also there are obligations to the sponsors and organizers.
Read the Aronian interview on WhyChess.org. Armenian GMs receive a generous salary from the State. Private benefactors put up generous prizes for the Armenian chess victories (Comparable to Major tournament prizes). So you see Aronian has obligations toward to his country as well. To Armenia, he represents the nation. If he looks bad, the nation looks bad. It is not just what he wants to do. To put it bluntly, he should not forget who pays his bills.

Alfonso's picture

Alfonso

1 year 7 months ago

If he looks bad, how is it possible then that he receives help from his country and from benefactors? Maybe because he does not look bad? Do you see the flaw in your logic?

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

"I don't wear slippers to church." :)

Not sure Alfonso would agree on that one. After all, it's the belief that counts, not what you wear!

Tomorrow, I'll go to work in pyjamas, and see if my boss agrees.

Why do you think he will refuse Alfonso? So why can't these players dress up? Some of them just don't know how to. If FIDE just explained, maybe it would make things better.

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

In Nanjing for instance, players were forced to wear a local costume. They were not upset. FIDE should just have a nice uniform written the motto "Gens una sumus", and force players to wear it. If a player doesn't want to, he can pay a fine.

Alfonso's picture

Alfonso

1 year 7 months ago

I would like to suggest you to begin your crusade by yourself: Do not analyze games by Aronian, Carlsen or anyone unless their games are played with ties and suits.

Alfonso's picture

Alfonso

1 year 7 months ago

Oops, I have missed the photo of Aronian playing in pyjamas...could you provide a link?

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

"Horribly out of shape, Vachier-Lagrave was left out of the team for France, who suffered a 1.5-2.5 defeat against Spain."

There is a question concerning this player who has won the Junior World Championship. His old trainer, Mister Hauchard was guilty of cheating with Mister Feller, last edition of the same competition.

So seeing his bad results here, may indicate something. He is obviously not playing with the same strength. I don't deny he's a good player, but I would not be surprised if they had the same connection during top events.

Thomas Richter's picture

Thomas Richter

1 year 7 months ago

Vachier-Lagrave did pretty well in Wijk aan Zee (7.5/13, same score as Nakamura the year before) - his first event without Hauchard as he knew earlier than outsiders which bomb was going to explode. So even if "lack of connection" with his former coach plays a role, it would refer to legitimate connections between events rather than forbidden ones during games.

Or it might simply be that, for some reason, he doesn't do well in team events representing France: He also had a relatively bad Olympiad result, though it was acceptable until losses against Ivanchuk and Aronian in the final rounds - according to French sources at the time, he was simply exhausted when facing the toughest opposition. In Greece, each loss by itself (against Cheparinov, Movsesian and Karjakin) wasn't a disaster, only these three consecutive ones were too much.

columbo's picture

columbo

1 year 7 months ago

in between you armani suits and your gossips, that's where you hide mister N

columbo's picture

columbo

1 year 7 months ago

just check Lagrave games and you´ll see that he has a way to play chess, like few others, and certainly not a computer

Daniel's picture

Daniel

1 year 7 months ago

Congrats to Germany! Really nice team effort!

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

I heared an interview with Vachier-Lagrave after his success at the World Junior Championship. And it seemed as something went wrong in the last game, where the title was decided. He said "my opponent proposed a draw, and that was a mistake, because I started playing all the best moves." For me, there is subject of doubt on that performance. If Mister Hauchard was receiving his usual phone calls from Mister Marzolo, than maybe something happened. Obviously I can't prove it and the French Federation hasn't said anything on the matter. But the fact that Mister Vachier-Lagrave separated from his coach as he did, makes me think something happened in top events.

Chess Base's picture

Chess Base

1 year 7 months ago

Who would have guessed that Germany was such a chess superpower in the European circuit and would win it!
Congrats Germany.

columbo's picture

columbo

1 year 7 months ago

team work always been the key for Germany

Septimus's picture

Septimus

1 year 7 months ago

"Horribly out of shape, Vachier-Lagrave "...sounds like the poor guy is some kind of super-fat bastard who can't even move. Perhaps "out of form" is more appropriate here. :)

Ravanan's picture

Ravanan

1 year 7 months ago

Viva Germania!!
What a clinical finish!!!
Total team performance!
Each player rose to the occasion. Gusti against Hungary (Rnd 3), Fridi against Romania(7th), Nadi against Azerbijan(8th) and Meiri against Armenia(9th).
To beat reigning champions Azeris and world champions Armenians in the last rnds.
As a long term hard core fan of German soccer team, never expected this from you.
Vow! I salute!!!!!
Joby Mathew George, India

Ravanan's picture

Ravanan

1 year 7 months ago

Viva Germania!!
What a clinical finish!!!
Total team performance!
Each player rose to the occasion. Gusti against Hungary (Rnd 3), Fridi against Romania(7th), Nadi against Azerbijan(8th) and Meiri against Armenia(9th).
To beat reigning champions Azeris and world champions Armenians in the last rnds.
As a long term hard core fan of German soccer team, never expected this from you.
Vow! I salute!!!!!

sirschratz's picture

sirschratz

1 year 7 months ago

hm, germany winning the european championship is rather a surprise, indeed. it would be justified to ask if really the strongest team is the winner or if this maybe also might be due to favourable circumstance, as it were (there are several).

i wonder, though, if the favourites tumbled without germany in any way contributing to this, as your article seems to insinuate. your report about the result of the european championship is remarkably void of any word about possible strengths of the european champion. it seems it all came about because the really strong teams lost, not because germany won. (except you mentioning the last round win against armenia)

ukraine, you point out, "tumbled" "because it played 2-2 against bulgaria". that's all you say about the ukraine. so the ukraine couldn't challenge germany - lucky them.
but hold on, don't you forget the tiny little detail - unsignificant as it may seem - that germany won 3,5:0,5 against ukraine? i'm not an expert or even a journalist so i can't really say what is important or not, but purely mathematically a different story seems so suggest itself.

it all sounds like you state that spain won the football world championship and then you go on writing about brasil, argentinia, italy and, oh yes (in this case), the netherlands :-) wouldn't then one want to read more about spain and what they contributed?

chessvibes is such a wonderful website but i couldn't help smiling when reading this article :-)
and i thought i might just dare asking a few question....

Thomas Richter's picture

Thomas Richter

1 year 7 months ago

In general, I would say Peter Doggers' Chessvibes report gives due and sufficient credit to the German performance - discussing the key wins against both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and pointing out that all five German players overperformed. Though the 3.5-0.5 against Ukraine might have been worthwhile mentioning as the final report sort of recapitulates the whole event - and from an Ukrainian point of view 2-2 against Bulgaria wasn't yet a disaster ruining the entire tournament, their subsequent results (later came 1-3 against Switzerland) were.

Only the title is a tiny bit odd: While Ukraine and Russia underperformed, Azerbaijan and Armenia didn't except in their match against Germany. The only "flaw" on the German victory might be that they didn't have to play top seed Russia - but this wasn't their fault ... . Would Peter (or anyone else) have considered "Nakamura wins as favorites tumble" for the final Tata Steel report?

I find the TWIC report (mentioned by Mamedyarov Fan) more puzzling, it seems that Mark Crowther wanted other teams to win?

"Azerbiajan were perhaps the most impressive team in the event but they blew it all against Germany in Round 8" - at least this would be an unlikely choice of words if the match had taken place under opposite circumstances (Germany leading before the match, happy with a 2-2 but falining to reach the - minimum - desired result).

"Earlier in the event Veselin Topalov warned of Bulgaria's habit of self-destruction late in team events and this was a terrible example of what he meant. To be fair to Bulgaria it all went wrong very late in the day." - hmmm, final positions determine the result, not the outcome of the opening or the positions at any other moment of the games. If anything, it was more painful for Bulgaria that Topalov couldn't hold an endgame that seemed just slightly worse, Cheparinov wrongly avoided a move repetition and Georgiev lost a probably drawish rook endgame. They weren't outprepared but outplayed, simple as that.

Nicholas's picture

Nicholas

1 year 7 months ago

Germany is a big federation, with many talented players. Germans enjoy the game, and this reflects best with the ChessBase company, which produces excellent products for all chess lovers.

So therefore, I'm not that surprised by their performance. I believe Germany has a big potential to become a great chess nation.

What lacks in Germany are players in the top 50, and actually, knowing how things are moving there, I expect this to change fast. They must just coordinate their efforts as the Russians do, in producing +2750 players.

Philipp Somrowsky's picture

Philipp Somrowsky

1 year 7 months ago

Who would would have expected the Germans to pull this off? Congratulations.

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