Russian teams arrive as favorites
The 23rd edition of the European Team Championships will take place from 12 to 21 November in Toplice Hotel in the Terme Čatež spa complex, located near the town of Brežice, in eastern Slovenia, in the lower Sava valley.
An open championship and a women’s championship will be contested simultaneously, each event being a Swiss 9-round tournament. The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with 30 second increments for each move from the first move.
Each member of the ECU has the right to enter a team of four players plus a reserve in the open competition, and a team of four players plus a reserve in the women’s competition. A total of 39 teams have registered to participate in the open, while 31 teams will battle for first place in the women’s event.
Calendar
- Rounds 1 to 5: November 12-16
- Day off: November 17
- Rounds 6 to 9: November 18-21
The action kicks off daily at 3:00 p.m. CET (9:00 a.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. IST)
Ready for the event – the Russian Federation in Slovenia | Photo: Artem Pugachev
Open section
A total of 13 players rated 2,700 or higher will participate in the tournament, with as many as 66 players breaking the 2,600 rating barrier in the open section. Still, only the reigning champions of Russia can boast of having all 2700+ ranked players in their roster.
The 5 best teams according to the average of the scores:
After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3, the author examines in detail a daring line with 7 … cxd4 8. Nd4 Qb6, thus than the quieter plans with 7 … nxd4 8. Nd4 Bc5, and the main line with 7 … a6 and b5.
| 1. Russia (RtgAvg: 2728) | |||
| 1 | DG | Grischuk Alexander | 2773 |
| 2 | DG | Dubov Daniil | 2714 |
| 3 | DG | Alekseenko Kirill | 2710 |
| 4 | DG | Artemiev Vladislav | 2699 |
| 5 | DG | Esipenko Andrey | 2713 |
| 2. Azerbaijan (RtgAvg: 2717) | |||
| 1 | DG | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2765 |
| 2 | DG | Radjabov Teimour | 2763 |
| 3 | DG | Mamedov Rauf | 2673 |
| 4 | DG | Guseinov Gadir | 2665 |
| 5 | DG | Abasov Nijat | 2634 |
| 3. France (RtgAvg: 2708) | |||
| 1 | DG | Firouzja Alireza | 2770 |
| 2 | DG | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2766 |
| 3 | DG | Bacrot Etienne | 2647 |
| 4 | DG | Lagarde Maxime | 2647 |
| 5 | DG | Moussard Jules | 2632 |
| 4. Poland (RtgAvg: 2678) | |||
| 1 | DG | Duda Jan-Krzysztof | 2756 |
| 2 | DG | Wojtaszek Radoslaw | 2700 |
| 3 | DG | Piorun Kacper | 2634 |
| 4 | DG | Moranda Wojciech | 2623 |
| 5 | I AM | Teclaf Pawel | 2543 |
| 5. England (RtgAvg: 2671) | |||
| 1 | DG | Adams Michael | 2714 |
| 2 | DG | Mcshane Luke J | 2667 |
| 3 | DG | Jones Gauvain CB | 2654 |
| 4 | DG | Howell David WL | 2648 |
| 5 | I AM | Haria Ravi | 2497 |
In the Russian team, Daniil Dubov and Kirill Alekseenko were part of the team that won gold in Batumi two years ago. At the time, Ukraine were in second place – this time they are seeded seventh, with the absences of Pavel Eljanov and Vasyl Ivanchuk. England finished third in Batumi, when they featured the same players in the first four draws as in this edition.
A big attraction for chess fans will be seeing how the France team fares with Alireza Firouzja at the top. France has never obtained a gold medal in this championship. Likewise, Poland will seek a first medal (of whatever nature) in a European team championship – while France will have the Swiss Grand winner in mind, the Poles will be able to play with the last winner of the World Cup as a leader.
Women’s section
On the women’s side, Russia will also arrive in Slovenia as the defending champion and seed of the standings. They will be nearly 100 points ahead on average over Georgia, as they will send a star formation, with only Alexandra Kosteniuk missing.
The 5 best teams according to the average of the scores:
The Accelerated Dragon – a sharp weapon against 1.e4
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6! leads to the so-called “accelerated dragon defense”. On this DVD, the Russian grandmaster and top player Nadezhda Kosintseva reveals the secrets of her favorite opening.
| 1. Russia (RtgAvg: 2538) | |||
| 1 | DG | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2604 |
| 2 | DG | Lagno Kateryna | 2550 |
| 3 | DG | Gunina valentina | 2480 |
| 4 | I AM | Chouvalova Polina | 2515 |
| 5 | I AM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 2482 |
| 2. Georgia (RtgAvg: 2446) | |||
| 1 | DG | Dzagnidze Nana | 2524 |
| 2 | I AM | Javakhishvili Lela | 2446 |
| 3 | I AM | Arabidze Meri | 2441 |
| 4 | I AM | Melia Salome | 2371 |
| 5 | I AM | Gvetadze Sofio | 2302 |
| 3. Poland (RtgAvg: 2410) | |||
| 1 | WGM | Zawadzka Jolanta | 2429 |
| 2 | I AM | Cyfka Karina | 2416 |
| 3 | WIM | Kiolbasa Oliwia | 2403 |
| 4 | DG | Monika sock | 2393 |
| 5 | I AM | Kulon Klaudia | 2328 |
| 4.Ukraine (RtgAvg: 2400) | |||
| 1 | DG | Ushenina Anna | 2426 |
| 2 | I AM | Osmak Iulija | 2423 |
| 3 | I AM | Buksa Natalia | 2410 |
| 4 | I AM | Gaponenko Inna | 2339 |
| 5 | DG | Joukova Natalia | 2331 |
| 5. Azerbaijan (RtgAvg: 2383) | |||
| 1 | I AM | Mammadzada Gunay | 2459 |
| 2 | I AM | Mammadova Gulnar | 2395 |
| 3 | WGM | Balajayeva Khanim | 2369 |
| 4 | WGM | Fataliyeva Ulviyya | 2309 |
| 5 | WIM | Beydullayeva Govhar | 2278 |
Russia is clearly the favorite among women, both in terms of audience and all-time highs in this competition. They won gold in six of the previous seven editions – they got silver in 2013, behind Ukraine. Four of the five players from the team that won the championship in 2019 will play, with Polina Shuvalova replacing Olga Girya this year.
Georgia will also field four of the five players of the silver medalist team in the previous edition, with Sofia Gvetadze replacing Bela Khotenashvili.
The continuous flow of new ideas in Sicilian makes 1..c5 the most popular answer to 1.e4. On this DVD I give an introduction to the most important Sicilian systems.
