News
About Natalia
Games
Our Team
Articles
Gallery
Chess Links
Play Chess
Pogonina's Chess Shop
Advertise
Contact Us

Highlights

 Follow Natalia on Twitter:

http://www.pogonina.com/images//nat%20twit.jpg

 
Please help Natalia promote chess by making a donation:



 

Link to Pogonina.com

Play chess at ChessOk

365Chess.com Biggest Online Chess Games Database





Check qyto.jp for Japanese bitcoin casinos.

Here you can find Swedish sites without license, Spelkonto utan licens.

Find new casinos at the brand new Online Casinos XYZ site with reviews and ratings of the best gambling sites for UK players.

Play the popular King Kong Cash slot machine at Slot Strike, the new slot site for UK players.

Grab the chance to win big with a high RTP on the goonies slot progressive jackpot.

Goodluckmate.com - made an easier way to find Skrill casinos

Nettikasinot.media lists the best online casinos for Finnish gamblers. For more information visit: https://www.nettikasinot.media/suomalaiset-kasinot/  

Sweden is now a regulated market, which means that as a player you can only play at casinos with a license. See all regulated
casinos in Sweden by Mr casinova.

To find the best casino in Norway take look at
norske casino at CasinoPiloten.

Find the best Norwegian casinobonus at NyeCasinoNorge.org.

Get exclusive access to a
huge range of free spins & no deposit casino offers with Spin Bonus.

Try the exhilarating new 20p Roulette game.
Play it online at thecasinodb and find casinos to play for real money.

Get the best casino bonus information with Casino Gorilla.

Chess games at Gametop

CasinoAdvisers.com For you that want to find online casino strategies, guides and a good casino bonus!

 
   ...


Polls
What's your FIDE rating?

What should Natalia do to make Pogonina.com more interesting for you?

Who is your favorite active top player?

Poker or chess: what do you like more?

What's the largest monetary chess prize you ever won?

How much time per day do you spend on chess-related activities?

Do you have a special chess mascot (pen, badge, toy, etc.)?

Which time control do you prefer for over-the-board tournaments?

The strongest women's chess team in the world is

What is the strongest national chess team in the world?

Will Magnus Carlsen's rating reach FIDE 2900?

Do you think you can become a GM?

Hot EuroCup in Eilat

User Rating: / 6
PoorBest 
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
http://www.pogonina.com/images/stories/1331194621_b_natalja-pogonina-2.jpg
by Natalia Pogonina for her
Chess.com Tuesday column


The European Chess Club Cup is usually held in one of the European countries. This year was an exception it took place on the joint between Asia and Africa. The leading (and not only) clubs fared to Eilat, Israel, to determine the best of the best. Due to the venue choice (long travel; rather expensive city) there were fewer teams at the event than last year. In the womens section there were just 8 clubs, while in the open section 34 teams showed up. The line-up was incredibly strong: 31 players were rated 2700 and above! In case you are interested in the big names, here is a more detailed preview.


My adventures started in Moscow. For well-known reasons Israel is religious about security, so before taking a flight from the Russian capital to Tel Aviv I had to attend an interview with an Israeli security officer. He was rather surprised to hear that I am a professional chess player and started asking me all sort of questions like who is the best chess player in Israel?; who is #1 in Russia?; who is the best player in the world?. The matter was resolved after they decided to do a web search on me. The checkout was even stricter on the way from Tel Aviv to Eilat. They examined every little item in my baggage, including coins. My friend and teammate, ex-Womens World Chess Champion Antoaneta Stefanova, had spent half an hour there. This was the only drawback of the trip. Otherwise, everything was fine.

eilair.jpg

The Eilat airport is located within the city. One can often see planes land there.

Photo by Natalia Pogonina

Eilat is located by the Red Sea on the border of Jordan and Egypt. The weather is always warm, and even in January it is about 20 degrees centigrade, while the temperature of the water is about 22 degrees. During the event it was even hotter over 30 degrees compare it to Moscows 10.
 

The open tournament was a Swiss competition, while we had a round robin with 7 rounds. After the opening ceremony we found out that our path would be challenging, because we were to play all the main competitors in the first few rounds. Here is the list of the teams:

  1. Monte Carlo Chess Club from Monako a dream team with an average rating of 2578 (!) and Womens World Chess Champion Hou Yifan on board 1
  2. AVS from Krasnoturinsk, Russia (2512) my club and the reigning European Club Chess Champion at that moment  
  3. Mika, Armenia (2472)
  4. SHSM-Nashe Nasledie, Moscow, Russia (2444)
  5. Ugra, Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia (2397)
  6. Chigorin Chess Club, St. Petersburg, Russia (2277)
  7. Ashdod, Israel (2228)
  8. Rishon Le-Zion, Israel (2036)


The main favorites were the club from Monte Carlo and our team, but the tournament went terribly wrong for us. In the first round we were paired against Ugra. Not a bad team, but obviously lower-rated than ours. Antoaneta Stefanova decided to take a day off. The board pairings were the following: 1. Lahno vs. Kovanova, 2. Girya vs. Cmilyte, 3. Pogonina vs. Romanko, 4. Shadrina vs. Muzycuk M. We have arrived the evening before the playing day, so most of us were rather exhausted. Viktoria Cmilyte quickly lost to Olga Girya. Kateryna Lahno had to work hard to beat Baira Kovanova. I played rather poorly and eventually drew against Marina Romanko. After a tiresome defense, Marya Muzychuk blundered a pawn breakthrough and lost to Tatiana Shadrina.  1.5-2.5 in our opponents favor that was not the start we were expecting.
 

Here is an example:
 


DSC_0974.JPG

Photo of you know who by Alina Kashlinskaya

The central match of Day 1 was Monako vs. SHSM-Nashe Nasledie. On board one Sasha Kosteniuk managed to outplay Hou Yifan once again and clinch an important point. However, Valentina Gunina lost to Konery Humpy, Alina Kashlinskaya to Pia Cramling, and Ekateryna Kovalevskaya escaped from Anny Muzychuk. Monte Carlo Chess Club won 2.5-1.5.

 



houkoneil.jpg

Hou Yifan and Koneru before the round. Photo by Anastasia Karlovic

Other results: Mika Rishon Le-Zion 3-1; Ashdod Chigorin Chess Club 2.5-1.5.
 

A disappointing upset for us in round one was followed by a match against the main competitor Monako. Last year we defeated them thanks for Antoanetas win over Hou Yifan. This year was a reversal: Antoaneta lost to Hou, while all the other games were drawn. In my game vs. Pia Cramling I missed decent winning chances, made some inaccurate moves and had to defend a worse endgame.

 



Another important match was Ugra vs. Mika. Ugra won. Baira Kovanova lost to Elina Danielian, but Olga Girya and Tatiana Shadrina stroke back.


koveil.jpg

Ugra headed by Baira Kovanova. Photo by Anastasia Karlovic

SHSM-Nashe Nasledie vs. Chigorin Chess Club ended in a tie.


In a clash between the two Israeli clubs the higher-rated one dominated. Ashdod won 3-1.
 

After two rounds we had already lost any chances to keep the title. But what about the other medals? We were paired against SHSM-Nashe Nasledie. After two tough games I had a day off and spent it at the beach swimming in the sea. After having eaten tasty ice-cream I decided to take a look at our girls boards. Marya Muzychuk won quickly, but then things went astray.



shsmavs.jpg

Everyone is in a good mood. Photo by Natalia Pogonina

Antoaneta Stefanova had an edge against Alexandra Kosteniuk, but the game ended in a draw after Eti let the advantage slip away in time trouble. Viktoria Cmilyte had a worse position vs. Ekateryna Kovalevskaya, but the game was also drawn. Final game, Kateryna Lahno against Valentina Gunina. Alas, at some point Valyas initiative became too dangerous, and Katya wasnt able to defend the position. The match was tied.
 

Ugra wasnt able to continue winning. Ashdod held them to a draw.

 


Monako was victorious again. Hou Yifan toppled Elina Danielian; Monaco-Mika 2.5-1.5.


Chigorin Chess Club scored 3 points vs. Rishon Le-Zion.


The atmosphere in our generally friendly team was so-so: everyone was very upset with such a terrible performance. We had just 1 match point out of 6. AVS still had minimal chances for a medal, but after another loss (to Mika) they evaporated.


The only decisive game occurred on board 4. Marya Muzychuk got a bad position from the opening and then blundered.



After this match it became obvious that we didn't have any chances to earn a decent place in the event.  Surprisingly, all of us seemed to be in bad form.
 

And the powerhouse from Monako kept crushing one opponent after another. Ashdod was wiped out with a 4-0 score. It wasnt easy though:



Other results: SHSM-Nashe Nasledie vs. Rishon Le-Zion 3-1; Ugra vs. Chigorin Chess Club 2.5-1.5.
 

Standings after four rounds:
 

  1. Monako 8 points
  2. Ugra 7
  3. Ashdod - 5

4-5. SHSM-Nashe Nasledie, Mika - 4

6. Chigorin Chess Club - 3

7. AVS - 1

8. Rishon Le-Zion 0

men1eil.jpg

The open tournament was held nearby. Photo by Natalia Pogonina

To be continued

Bookmark and Share





Be first to comment this article

Write Comment
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:Web AddressEmail AddressBold TextItalic TextUnderlined TextQuoteCodeOpen ListList ItemClose List
Comment:



Code:* Code

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 23 October 2012 )
 
< Prev   Next >