Euro Club Cup 18-24 October 2015 Skopje Macedonia

[Matt Mackenzie]

Wow, this has to be the best run he has had since the 2013 Candidates......

[LawrenceCooper]

women very tough pairing

Good luck to all

Could have been worse, their board 1 could have been selected! It's gradually dawning on us that we might not play the other Israeli team as big downfloats come into play to pair everyone.

A not entirely expected outcome today albeit, like in round 1, we let a half slip away. This time it was board 1 where we close to a win before time trouble intervened and the game finished in perpetual. Still a very good result. A piece blunder on board 4 ended any norm hopes for the team.

[John Moore]

Is Postny a particularly unpleasant individual. I don't understand why anyone would play on with K and 2Ns vs K at any sort of level, let alone this.

[John Moore]

The game is from the Cheddleton match.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I have no idea. His opponent had arguably been trying to get blood from a stone for some time himself, but that was different because he was trying to save the match.

Cheddleton were doing well in this match, but something happened in keith's game. Stockfish wanted him to play Nxg6 when he had the chance; but I was surprised that it took such an instant dislike to Keith's position when he declined to do so. A shame, they would have got a very interesting pairing tomorrow if they had won today.

How do the English teams stand, going into the last round?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

How do the English teams stand, going into the last round?

Not that well.

For the Open event:

http://chess-results.com/tnr188529.aspx ... =30&wi=821

Cheddleton on 7 points, on table 8 in the final round.
White Rose on 6 points.
Blackthorne Russia on a lowly 4 points.

Adam Hunt will likely get his third GM, but his loss today means even if he wins in the last round the rating performance (assuming that is about the average rating) will only be about 2530. Nowhere near the 2600 needed.

Ezra Kirk has played 2 IMs and 2 GMs and a performance so far of 2493. Looks set for an IM norm. In the last round, his team are paired with an Austrian team who have a 2439 IM on board 3, so a draw or a win would definitely be enough.

Michael Adams turning in a 2900+ performance for SOCAR (overall 4th-best performance by rating and 1st or 2nd for board 4 medal so far, depending how you calculate it - competing with Aleksandar Colovic of Cheddleton for that prize!).

[Matt Mackenzie]

Is Postny a particularly unpleasant individual. I don't understand why anyone would play on with K and 2Ns vs K at any sort of level, let alone this.

It has been known before at master level - I'm not aware of any good player ever letting themselves be mated, though

[MartinCarpenter]

Look like mostly decent performances mind - some good to very good, some so so. Mostly just an incredibly tough competition.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

If Kramnik plays today, and draws with Leko, I think his TPR will be something like 3105, one of the best ever. Only over 5 games, but still incredibly impressive. If Kramnik manages to get 5/5, the old debate about how to approximate a TPR for 100% scores will come up again.

[Mick Norris]

Kramnik above Nakamura at number 4 in the live ratings - another 5 point rating gain over Giri yesterday

Projected average rating gap was 8.7 points now down to 3.6 so Giri very much still favourite for the Candidates place (although Vlad may get the wildcard if the new rumours about Switzerland bidding are true)

[Mick Norris]

women very tough pairing

Good luck to all

Could have been worse, their board 1 could have been selected! It's gradually dawning on us that we might not play the other Israeli team as big downfloats come into play to pair everyone.

See that you finally are playing them - must have a decent chance today

Bo. 9
MIDLAND MONARCHS (ENG) Rtg - 10 RISHON LEZION (ISR) Rtg
5.1 WGM Srebrnic, Ana 2234 - WIM Efroimski, Marsel 2255
5.2 WIM Chevannes, Sabrina L 2081 - Lahav, Michal 2015
5.3 Manelidou, Maria 2074 - Reprun, Nadejda 1969
5.4 Keen, Cosima 1986 - Vardi, Shlomit 1906

[Mick Norris]

board pairings round 7

Kramnik - Leko, Karjakin - Aronian, Grischuk - Nakamura

Giri- Dominguez

Mickey Adams - Matlakov

[Jonathan Rogers]

Look like mostly decent performances mind - some good to very good, some so so. Mostly just an incredibly tough competition.

Yes. This cannot be emphasised strongly enough. Jonathan Speelman himself described it as "ridiculously strong" in 2002, and it has only got stronger since. Several top Chinese and Americans players are there too; only their clubs need to come from European countries. I wonder whether only Carlsen and Anand are missing from the elite?

I haven't checked Blackthorne's results, but it is perfectly possible to have 2/6 (or 4/12) without much underperforming. They will probably have a close enough to par performance if they win today.

[Mick Norris]

You can see the individual results here
"ENG" teams
and here
ditto

Cheddleton seeded 18 are 16th, WR 34 are 30th, BR 28 are 42nd

[Jonathan Rogers]

Cheddleton suffering at the moment, and over most of the boards. Is Keith still suffering from dental problems?