English Chess Forum

The European Youth Chess Championship starts on 5th September and runs to 14th September. The event is a 9 round FIDE rated tournament for U8s through to U18s. The venue is Mamaia in Romania.

The England delegation is 12 players and 3 coaches. The team can be viewed at:

http://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/euro ... -the-team/

The event website is https://ecuyouth2017.ro/

The facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/ecuyouth2017

The chess-results link for the event (tab across for your chosen age group) is:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr296071. ... =30&wi=984

Latest news, photographs etc can be seen via the twitter feed : @ECFJuniors2017

No twitter account? You can follow the twitter feed via this link https://mobile.twitter.com/ECFJuniors2017

Unfortunately the team will be down by 1 as Zoe is in hospital from a nosebleed that wouldn't stop. Although after 3 days and an op in early hours this morning, she is hopefully going to be discharged later today, she is not allowed to fly (for obvious reasons).

Obviously very disappointed. All the best to the rest of the team.

[Update 5/9/17 - Zoe came home on Saturday 2 Sept as hoped and is well on the mend. Thank you to those who know her and contacted me for your best wishes which I have passed on.]

Round 1 pairings are up:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr296071. ... =30&wi=984

The round starts at 3pm local.

The organisers say that 100 live boards will be running on this link:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/1/1/1

The ECF junior web pages features this event:

http://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/eycc-2017/

Round 2 pairings are up:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr296071. ... =30&wi=984

Round 2 live boards link:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/2/1/1

John Higgs wrote:Round 2 live boards link:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/2/1/1

Hopefully with the colours right this time!

Round 1 report from Simon Metcalfe:

We are underway and team England have had a great start.

Our thoughts were obviously with Zoe Varney who sadly couldn't join us; we all wish her a speedy recovery.

Shreyas was first to appear without the slightest hint of jet lag having not long returned from his superb performance in Brazil. Shlok Verma was out minutes later with a smile that told you everything. Both of them had secured strong positions from the beginning which they quickly converted into wins. Since both are highly seeded they were on live boards. Judging by the way they are playing, I am sure we will be watching many of their games.

Savin Dias was next to appear having secured win number three with some sharp play from the beginning against his Lithuanian opponent. Charlie Metcalfe notched up our win number four against a home player before Kian Shah appeared having secured a great draw against a higher rated French player. A great start to his first England outing.

Our England v England pairing saw Alex Golding come out on top in well fought game against Shyam Modi. Ravi Haria continued his great form from the British Championships and we were up to 6 wins but it was Lavanya Maladkar who had the best result of the day having battled for over 5 hours before triumphing in an epic endgame.

At the end of a long and dramatic day, team England had 7 wins and 1 draw - a great start to the competition.

Round 2 report from Simon Metcalfe (Head of Delegation):

Round 2 was another good day and this time it was Shlok Verma out first with that infectious smile. His game was straightforward from an early advantage; it was great watching Shlok's game on the live board. Similarly, we had been following Shreyas Royal. He had a comparatively comfortable position from the start and eased through the middle game into an endgame where his 'storming central pawns' led to his opponent's resignation.

Lavanya Malakar's second game was shorter but no less entertaining. Although giving up a1-h8 diagonal she did have a Bishop guarding g7 and her King. However, the position looked 'quite scary' as she looked to have a d6 weak pawn. Her opponent, the U12 Armenian Champion, started a direct attack on d6 but Lavanya used her a, b, and c semi-open files for a counter-attack and won a piece by threatening a checkmate and a fork. From then on it was solid play to win number two.

It isn't so unusual to see the younger players finish after an hour or so but Akito Oyama (U18 boys) was out so quickly we almost missed him. He executed his plan perfectly, quickly establishing a strong position which he carried through the game to comfortably win his first point.

Alex Golding was up against a player who had beaten the top seed in the first round. Although Alex went an exchange up, the position was double-edged and so after careful consideration of the risks and benefits, Alex forced a draw. His Armenian opponent played well and is clearly resourceful in tricky positions, as his previous day's result also showed.

A strong German player awaited Charlie Metcalfe. Although falling for a tactic early on to drop a pawn, Charlie fought back swapping off to opposite coloured bishops in the end game and subsequently to a drawn position.

It was another tough pairing for Elliott Cocks who had narrowly missed out to a FM in round 1. Elliott was clearly in a determined mood and playing black, started well. From this solid base he was secure for the remainder of the game. Despite the efforts of both players to gain advantage, the game was eventually drawn. A satisfying days work for Elliot to set himself up for day 3.

Shyam Modi was content with his play. The game had ebbed and flowed and throughout he felt he had opportunities for the win but in the end with an outcome increasingly unclear, settled for a draw to open his account.

In Ravi Haria's game, he had an established an advantage out of the opening which looked promising. Unfortunately a small error let his Slovakian opponent back in, who then defended well to half the game.

Spirits are high with day 2. Our England Flag was now hanging from the playing hall second floor balcony and team England had finished on 4 wins and 5 draws.

Round 4 today:

Pairings:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr296071. ... =30&wi=984

Live board link:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/4/1/1

Why not watch Ravi (5), Alex (49), Shreyas (99) & Shlok (100).

A lively scrap in Ravi's game, and just how old is Shreyas Royal again?!

Bad day at the office for Alex, but White's 18 Bf6 was very nice and belongs in tactics manuals.

Jonathan Rogers wrote: just how old is Shreyas Royal again?!

Eight years seven months (1 January is the Fide qualifying date, of course). Shreyas has 4/4 but there are still six players on maximum points.

He has yet to meet the two top seeds, the Russian Vetokhin who he beat in the 2016 World Schools and the lightly raced Ukrainian Samunenkov, whose high Fide rating seems based on a single tournament where he didn't win a game, scoring 5 draws and 2 losses against 1800s and 1900s.

Today Samunenkov convincingly beat the Russian from Moscow's Botvinnik school who recently began the U2000 group B at Barcelona with 5/5, hence this Ukrainian is no mug.

Tomorrow's top pairing is Samunenkov v Shlok Verma, live online from 1 pm.

Round 3 report from our Head of Delegation Simon Metcalfe

Day 3 and the strength and depth of the chess was on the up!

Ravi and Elliott both had wins in time scrambles. These were difficult games; in Ravi's game his opponent succumbed to the pressure as both clocks counted down allowing a breakthrough on the kingside. Elliot had played well through the game gaining the upper hand against a higher graded opponent. In the end game he kept his cool to press home his advantage.

Savin Dias was back to winning ways when his opponent made a fatal error which Savin quickly punished.

Shyam Modi emerged with a smile chatting with his opponent. They had clearly had a good game, played in a fine spirit. Shyam was happy with his win but had clearly enjoy the contest.

Younger brother Kisham Modi has been battling away without much luck. He is undeterred and is confident about his next match.

Akito's opponent looked as if he was about to play the Benoni which was not expected but Akito found a novelty pawn sacrifice which then confused his opponent. Akito took control in a pawn up endgame but unfortunately could not convert with the time remaining and ended in a draw.

Kian had a great game. Both players played excellent moves each cancelling out the other. A draw was a fair result but the coaches were struck by the quality of the game by both players.

The Shlok and Shreyas juggernaut just keeps going. Both won again to keep their perfect scores going.

Finally, Alex had a fine win to bring his tally to 2.5/3 with his opponent playing into one of his strengths.

Overall, a great day with 6 wins and 3 draws.

Round 5 (of 9) starts at 1pm UK time today.

Live board link (boards not loaded yet but hoping that England players will feature):

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/5/1/1

Pairings:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr296071. ... =30&wi=984

Tomorrow is the rest day.

Shreyas has won convincingly, Shlok has a clear edge against the No1 seed, while the Serb v the Russian, both also on 4/4, is level.

So the possibility is there for the two English boys to be leading the European championship on their own with 5/5.