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Nov 14, 2015 | 08:58 by Colin McGourty

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Euro Teams 1: Early shocks

A celebration of European chess has started in Iceland, although the first day was overshadowed by the
terrible events that followed in Paris. On the board the top six-seeded teams all won more or less
smoothly, but a little lower down the likes of Hungary and Poland were held to draws, while Carlsen-less
Norway, the Czech Republic and Latvia all lost against weaker teams. Saturday's Round 2 already sees
some top teams meet.

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Traditionally the first round of a big Swiss team tournament sees the favourites given easy opponents,
but the level has risen so much that even the lower-rated teams are quite capable of causing upsets.
The big guns therefore took their opponents very seriously, with Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and England
all taking the traditional approach of drawing with Black on two boards and winning with White on the
others for 3:1 victories.

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Peter Svidler, for instance, only took a draw when he saw that Evgeny Tomashevsky had played

a winning move - 24.Bf6! (with Rg3 to follow)

Turkey actually beat Russia in Round 2 of the 2013 European Team Championship, but this time Svidler-led Russia scored a
very convincing 3:1 win | photo: Einar la, official website

Alexander Ipatov fought on, but there was escape.

It should perhaps be added, though, that Englands 3:1 victory was far from as smooth as the scoreline,
with Luke McShane pulling off his party trick of playing on increment from around move 25 in a bad but
highly complex position and winning!

Alexander Grischuk didn't play Round 1, but he had a ready time-trouble

junkie replacement in Luke McShane | photo: Einar la, official website

Germanys 2.5:1.5 victory over Switzerland also defied belief, with Germany looking sure to lose on at
least two boards. The most dramatic escape came for the young GM David Wagner, who was in deep
trouble with Black against IM Richard Forster:

The spectacular 38.Rxb7+! is the computers preferred way to claim the full point, but 38.Rd6+ Kxa7
39.Qa2+ Qa6 40.Rxa6+ looks like the easiest win. Instead after 38.Qb3+?! Bb5! 39.Raa1? Nxf2+ it
turned out there was nothing more than a draw.
Losses for 2700 stars Peter Leko (vs. Viorel Bologan) and Radek Wojtaszek (vs. Markus Ragger), saw
Hungary and Poland held to 2:2 draws by Moldova and Austria. It was a bit of an anticlimax for Poland
after their intro video:

David Navaras loss cost the Czech Republic defeat against Denmark. 23.Na4? was loose, and Sune Berg
Hansen found the fine sacrifice:

23Bxd4!! 24.exd4 Nxd4 25.Qd1 Qa5! Blacks two pawns for the knight grew to three and later four,
which was more than Navara could handle with his king also in danger.

A tough start for David Navara and the Czech team | photo: Jsep, official website

Latvias 2694-rated Igor Kovalenko won a beautiful game with Black against Levon Aronian in the World
Rapid Championship in Berlin, but was on the other side of the board against 2452-rated Finn Mikael
Agopov:

Things had already gone wrong for White, but 29Bxh2+! was a spectacular killer blow. 30.Nxh2 Qg3!
wins since 31.Qd5 Qe3+! picks up the c1-rook. Although Igors teammate Alexei Shirov won that wasnt
enough to stop Latvia falling to a 2.5:1.5 defeat.
Norways Johan Salomon missed a trick when he played 14.f3?

14Bxb2! and White had simply lost a pawn due to the double attack 15.Kxb2 Qf6+. Johan was gutted:
But that was harsh self-criticism. Johan was rated about the same as his opponent, while his three
teammates outrated their opponents but failed to win. Norways prospects could of course also have
been improved by including World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who now also sits out the second round.

The pairings for Round 2 already feature top clashes, though perhaps this wasnt the ideal time for
France to be paired against perpetual team event challengers (and 4:0 winners in Round 1), Armenia.
Their team captain spoke for all:
"The French team is in Iceland but our hearts are in Paris"
In the womens event the favourites were untroubled. Since the Muzychuk sisters missed a connecting
flight to Iceland Ukraine had to suffer a forfeit loss on board one, but they still managed to beat England
2.5:1.5.

It was definitely the easiest game of the event for England's Jovanka
Houska | photo: skar, official website

Ukraine now face Poland in a hugely important match in Round 2. Don't miss all the action here on
chess24 from 16:00 CET: Open | Women

You can also follow the games in our free mobile apps:

See also:
Official website
European Team Championship games on chess24: Open | Women
7 European Team Championship talking points

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