Games and Tournament Reports
April 13th, 2009Russia ahead of Switzerland and FinlandAuthor: (F.R.), presse@schachportal.at
Before the last round it was clear that Russia is the new European Seniors’ Team Champion. After their win against Korchnoi’s Switzerland and Austria’s draw with Denmark, the Russians couldn’t get caught anymore. So only silver and bronze were up for grabs in the 9th round on Easter Monday. The Swiss were set for 2nd place with them facing Danmark, and the winner of Austria vs. Germany could snatch the third and last remaining medal on offer. But that match ended in a draw.
The Finnish had a great finish (Ouch! You wouldn’t even find that one in a Chrismas cracker!) and hopped on the steps with a nice 3-1 against Leipzig. Then comes an elated Catalonian team in the overall 4th position - they bypassed Austria and Germany with a 3-1 win over Italy. Before the last round Austria was still ahead of Germany, due to Buchholz-technicalities. But in the overall ranking the Germans had the better end to themselves. Which means that Austria, as the only team that got out of a meeting with Russia unbeaten, had failed to make it onto the podium.
The playing hall at the closing ceremony was packed once again, with the organizers, local political dignitaries and officials of Austria’s national chess association bestowing prizes and special awards on teams and players.
The three oldest participants honoured were: Horst Mueller (b. 1923) from Dresden/Germany , Peter Grasser (b. 1926) from Spittal/Austria and Andreas Dückstein (b. 1927) from Vienna/Austria.
In the category “Nestor” (best players, aged 75 years or older) the winners were Viktor Korchnoi, Evgeni Vasiukov, Andreas Dückstein and Otto Rost van Tonningen (who in an emotional speech thanked the organizers for their effort). Korchnoi collected another first place for best player on board 1, closely followed by a not too happy Vitaly Tseshkovsky and a very happy Orestes Rodriguez Vargas from Catalonia (all of them 7,5 points). The best player on board 2 was Erkki Aalto (7) from the Helsinki team, board 3 went to Norbert Stull of Luxemburg (7,5), and on board 4 triumphed Oleg L. Chernikov (6,5) of the Russian team.
The arbiters’ spokesperson Manfred Mussnig thanked the participants for their sportsmanship and pointed out that no troubles on the boards had arisen during the tournament. (He must have missed the incident when your’s truly knocked over the Danes’ vase with flower and flag. The puddle, which formed after this accident, forced Austrian IM Georg Danner and former Danish correspondence chess World Champion Jorn Sloth to move their board to the next table).
On behalf of the ECU, Per Ofstad congratulated the organizers for “a very good job”. He admitted that he had felt “a little nervous”, when the championship after ten years was moved from Dresden to Velden. He had feared that fewer teams would participate. But 54 is a great number. Next year the event will be in Dresden again (February 16-24th). Before that, the individual seniors’ European championship will be not far from Austria - in Rogaska Slatina in Slovenia (July 22-30th). The next event featuring a board game in the Velden Casino, however, will start in two days: a backgammon tournament!
Please find below some links to further information:
Team-Starting rank
Team Pairings Round 9
Board Pairings Round 9
Ranking list after round 9
April 11th, 2009Can Russia be stopped?Author: (F.R.), presse@schachportal.at
After two thirds of the tournament played, it is time to recap the action once again. After Russia beat Germany 2,5-1,5 and Austria defeated the Czech team with the same result in the 4th round, the top pairing of day 5 was clear: Austria was to face Russia. That match ended 2:2 with all four games ending in a draw. Four more draws were produced in the second match Switzerland against Germany. The avalanche of half points also meant, that by the end of the day no player had scored 5 out of 5.
The fifth round also saw the local Carinthian team on table 4 – closely behind the aforementioned top matches and a tough clash on table 3 between Vienna’s seniors and the Danes, which ended 2:2. The air at the top (and after being in 10th position after 4 rounds) proved too thin for the Carinthians. The team SF Katernberg 1913 from Westfalia thrashed them 4:0. Katernberg, by the way, is picking up steam. The seniors of the German bundesliga club won against Sweden in round 6 and are in second position after two thirds of the tournament. Second to – Russia, of course, which means that Saturday’s top pairing is SF Katernberg vs Russia.
But were have the Austrians gone, you might ask? Well, after Georg Danner’s great performance so far – being right up there with Tseshkovsky and Korchnoi regarding individual scoring - the team decided to let him play against Korchnoi in the match against Switzerland. Alas, Viktor had no mercy with “Schorsch”… but was in high spirits during the analysis afterwards. The pleased grandmaster even gave an interview for the Austrian television ORF. Danner’s teammates didn’t cope with their time management too well and the whole affair ended in a Swiss 3-1-triumph. Germany drew with Denmark and Russia defeated Vienna after an initial – let’s call it – misunderstanding regarding team formation. The arbiters sorted it out with the help of local Klagenfurt player Gert Morze as an able interpreter.#
And, as always, a look at the side events: trips to the Carinthian medieval town of Friesach and to the Slovenian resort Bled (complete with castle, lake and church on a quaint island) were well booked. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and everybody is looking forward to some local culinary specialties.
April 8th, 2009Russia after three rounds in the leadAuthor: (F.R.), presse@schachportal.at
During Easter week, Velden on the western shore of Lake Woerthersee is hosting the 11th Senior European Team Championship. The playing hall is in the Casino complex, but games are still decided by the player’s abilities and not by chance. But hold on: chess and the Velden Casino? Doesn’t that ring a bell? Yes, of course! In 1983 the candidate’s quarterfinal clash Smyslov vs Huebner was decided by the roulette ball after a tie in the match. And for 78-year old Viktor Korchnoi the motto is “Velden revisited”. Almost 30 years ago he played and won a candidate’s match here against Tigran Petrosjan.
“Velden is back in the world of chess”, announced the president of the ECU Boris Kutin at the opening ceremony on Sunday. The organisers gave a hearty welcome to around 250 players from 17 countries. For family members and substitute players, the Velden tourism board and the Carinthian Chess Association have devised an accompanying program during the day, but also a number of events after play. A cruise on Lake Woerthersee was the highlight so far. Tonight the culinary adventurous will try a local specialty – “Kasnudel”, a kind of giant tortellini filled with soft cheese. And on Easter Sunday, the traditional ham and horseradish will be served to the sound of “Oberkrainer” music. An exhibition by the Velden arts club is setting the tone in the foyer of the Casino. The theme, not surprisingly, is “The game of kings”.
Back to chess now. Naturally, surprises were rare in the first three rounds, owing to the Swiss system of pairings. After a third of the tournament played, Russia is in the lead, closely followed by Austria and Germany. Round four on Wednesday might straighten things out at the top: Austria is facing title holder Czech Republic, the Russian team, composed of four grandmasters, is facing Germany. Korchnoi’s Swiss team is paired against Finland. Six players have scored three out of three points so far, Viktor Korchnoi among them. Orestes Rodriguez Vargas (Catalonia), Vlastimil Jansa (Czech Rep.), the Russians Vitaly Tseshkovsky and Oleg Chernikov, have also won all their games. The sixth player is the only one, who is not a grandmaster: IM Georg Danner of Austria.
All games are available on www.chess-results.com, along with results and pairings. The Austrian Broadcasting Company ORF is publishing daily a “Game of the round” on their website kaernten.ORF.at, complete with the commentary of young local grandmaster Markus Ragger.
Please find below some links to further information:
Game of the round - commented by GM Markus Ragger
Team-Starting rank
Team Pairings Round 4
Board Pairings Round 4
Ranking list after round 3
Download Games
