European Club Cup & Club Cup for Women 2023

[LawrenceCooper]

Regulations: https://clubcup2023.com/wp-content/uplo ... y-ECU-.pdf

Dates: 1st-8th October

Location: Durres, Albania

[LawrenceCooper]

There are a total of 80 teams (incl 4 English) in the open and 23 in the womens (including 2 English).

https://chess-results.com/tnr774133.asp ... ES&flag=30
https://chess-results.com/tnr775458.asp ... ES&flag=30

[LawrenceCooper]

Train strikes tomorrow will make internal travel more challenging for those English based players heading for airports.

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 1 is about to start in both events. Relevant links:

https://chess-results.com/tnr774133.asp ... ilen=99999
https://chess-results.com/tnr775458.asp ... ES&flag=30

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 023/1/25/1
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2023/1/9/1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9MjCWshjmU

[John Moore]

David Howell doing the commentary. His picture on Chess24 makes him look increasingly like a young Vishy Anand to my mind. Probably my eyesight is going.

[Ian Jamieson]

Wood Green have got a tough pairing in round 2 - Offerspill - the number 4 seeds and their women’s team have an even tougher pairing in Superchess - the number 3 seeds.

[LawrenceCooper]

Wood Green have got a tough pairing in round 2 - Offerspill - the number 4 seeds and their women’s team have an even tougher pairing in Superchess - the number 3 seeds.

These are the pairings that make going to these events worthwhile though and at least it means they will be on the live boards. Will Magnus play?

[LawrenceCooper]

Wood Green have got a tough pairing in round 2 - Offerspill - the number 4 seeds and their women’s team have an even tougher pairing in Superchess - the number 3 seeds.

These are the pairings that make going to these events worthwhile though and at least it means they will be on the live boards. Will Magnus play?

Magnus plays!

[Simon Myles]

Ravi has black against Magnus!

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Ravi has black against Magnus!"

Ideal pairing - nothing to lose and should have white next game.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Celtic Tigers in round 2 have been paired against the Irish team Gonzaga.

https://chess-results.com/tnr774133.asp ... ES&flag=30

Interestingly, there are five Irish teams, and the number of IRL players overall is 32, more than Norway and England, and the hosts Albania, and the country with the third-most number of players, behind the Netherlands (42) and Germany (60) - there are six Dutch team and seven German teams.

(I know that some of these players are playing for clubs from another country.)

Impressive total of 599 players.

(Those are the stats for the Open. In the women's event, 121 players, the largest number of players (9) is joint between England, Sweden and Ukraine.)

[Nick Burrows]

Magnus Carlsen Vs Ravi Haria

Ding ding - jackpot!!

The gold coins await

[Kevin Thurlow]

Dishman draw Kamsky is a result...

[MJMcCready]

Magnus Carlsen Vs Ravi Haria

Ding ding - jackpot!!

The gold coins await

I thought the Knight sac Haria played in it was a bit suspicious but his position seemed to be getting steadily worse before it. Hardly surprising since he didn't generate any counter play. I'm certainly not an expert but I have played the French all my life and even I know if you don't generate counter play, you are going to get squashed and sat on. Definitely not a good idea to sac a knight when all you are left for back up for the queen is a bad bishop that isn't even in the game.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Definitely not a good idea to sac a knight when all you are left for back up for the queen is a bad bishop that isn't even in the game."

Possibly he reached a stage with which I am very familiar, "Groan, what do I do now? Oh let's try this."