European Team Chess Championship-2013 |
| Written by Administrator | ||||
| Wednesday, 06 November 2013 | ||||
 Venue: Warsaw, Poland Schedule: 7-18 November 2013 Format: 9-round Swiss Time control: 90 min for 40 moves + 30 min for the rest of the game + 30 sec increment for every move played starting from the first move. Official website  We will be keeping you posted on the tournament by publishing the games and results, odds for the critical matches in the Open section and women's live ratings updates. Introducing the top-5 teams in the Open championship (37 teams total):  The 2011 surprise gold medalists (sic!), Germany, will be seeded 10th and represented by Arkadij Naiditsch (2727), Georg Meier (2623), David Baramidze (2614), Igor Khenkin (2612), Daniel Fridman (2600). Image from the offiial website. 1. Russia, average rating: 2747. Alexander Grischuk (2785), Peter Svidler (2752), Alexander Morozevich (2727), Evgeny Tomashevsky (2722), Dmitry Andreikin (2710). The Russian Chess Federation decided to mix it up a little: Vladimir Kramnik (2793), Sergey Karjakin (2762), Nikita Vitiugov (2742), Ian Nepomniatchi (2721), Dmitry Jakovenko (2721) are not playing. Will we see a totally different team at the World Team Chess Championship later this year?  2. Armenia, average rating: 2715. Levon Aronian (2801), Sergei Movsesian (2700), Vladimir Akopian (2681), Gabriel Sargissian (2676), Tigran Petrosian (2660). Armenia is known for its team spirit and highly professional preparation. They are among the top-3 favorites in any event. 3. France, average rating: 2695. Bacrot Etienne (2749), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2742), Romain Edouard (2653), Vladislav Tkachiev (2637), Hiucham Hamdouchi (2627). France is seriously weakened by Laurent Fressinet's (2711) absence. He will probably be busy helping Magnus Carlsen in the WCC match. 4. Ukraine, average rating: 2694. Alexander Areschenko (2720), Alexander Moiseenko (2709), Andrei Volokitin (2682), Sergey Fedorchuk (2666), Zahar Efimenko (2657). Basically, this is Ukraine Team B, because Pavel Eljanov (2733), Ruslan Ponomariov (2731), Vassily Ivanchuk (2731), Anton Korobov (2713) and Yuri Kryvoruchko (2701) are not participating. 5. England, average rating: 2694. Michael Adams (2752), Luke McShane (2696), Nigel Short (2680), Gawain Jones (2648), David Howell (2644). England is represented by its dream team and has decent chances to win a medal.  In 2011 Russia had the strongest line-up possible: two Kosintseva sisters, Valentina Gunina, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Natalia Pogonina. Image from the official website. The top-5 teams in the women' section (31 team total): 1. Ukraine, average rating: 2498. Anna Ushenina (2492), Kateryna Lagno (2542), Mariya Muzychuk (2491), Natalia Zhukova (2466), Inna Gaponenko (2402). Ukraine is the reigning World Women's Team Chess Champion and a serious candidate to win the ETCC. 2. Russia, average rating: 2491. Valentina Gunina (2509), Alexandra Kosteniuk (2510), Natalia Pogonina (2499), Olga Girya (2447), Alexandra Goryachkina (2438). Russia is the defending Olympic and European Team Chess Champion. However, the unsettled conflict between the Russian chess federation and Nadezhda Kosintseva (2523) & Tatiana Kosintseva (2497) has weakened the team and made Russia drop to an unusual #2 place on the list of top seeds at the ETCC. 3. Georgia, average rating: 2491. Nana Dzagnidze (2556), Bela Khotenashvili (2524), Nino Khurtsidze (2462), Lela Javakhishvili (2423), Meri Arabidze (2374). Even without Maia Chiburdanidze (2500) and Salome Melia (2453) the team is still one of the top-3 favorites to win the event. 4. Poland: average rating: 2410. Monika Socko (2431), Iweta Rajlich (2404), Jolanta Zawadzka (2410), Joanna Majdan-Gajewska (2420), Karina Sczepkowska-Horowska (2382). On home turf the strong team from Poland should be quite capable of winning a medal of any quality. 5. Germany, average rating: 2390. Elisabeth Paehtz (2449), Marta Michna (2357), Tatjana Melamed (2367), Zoya Schleining (2379), Ketino Kachiani-Gersinska. Will the German women's team be able to pull off the same stunt as the German men's team in 2011? We will see.
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