England teams for 2011 European Team Championship

[Christopher Kreuzer]

yes, the Azeris may be messing up their tournament here...,

All is not lost. Azerbaijan have played Germany, Armenia and Bulgaria. So if Mamedyarov wins, they'll still be tied on matchpoints with Armenia, and could have a two-point downfloat against a team like Romania or Hungary. If they get white v Romania, I think they'd settle for that in the final round!

The sticking point there appears to be the "if" (the first one).

[Jonathan Rogers]

(writing a bit later) but there may be an issue whether Black can perpetually attack White's bishop?

[Michael Jones]

(writing a bit later) but there may be an issue whether Black can perpetually attack White's bishop?

(Probably also a bit later - namely move 51)

If he does, surely White can just play g7+ Kg8 B checks and then the g-pawn promotes?

[Alex Holowczak]

Germany beat Azerbaijan. If Germany beat Armenia tomorrow (which looks like it could be a pairing), they will win the tournament!

[Alex Holowczak]

Pairing predictions for Round 9 on England's scoregroup (I've kept Israel and Sweden apart so they don't have three whites in a row; they didn't do this for Spain...):
Switzerland v England
Montenegro v Israel
Georgia v Ukraine
Serbia v Sweden

Predictions at the top (again, a bit of guesswork going on here):
Germany v Armenia
Azerbaijan v Romania
Hungary v Bulgaria
Slovenia v Russia
Netherlands v Czech Republic

Predictions of England's pairing in the Women's competition (again some guesswork due to floats):
England v Turkey

[Jonathan Rogers]

Yes, for those who missed it, the women beat the similarly rated Montenegro team from 1.5-0.5 down, with wins from Kanwal and Dagne. This means, variously, that

1) Mark Howitt has nothing to write about
2) Dagne has had another excellent performance from England, and that it is possible for one to play with one's children at the venue
3) Glenn Flear was proven right to play Kanwal on 4 today
4) An English team actually gained matchpoints from the last game to finish! That, I think, is the first time that this happened for either team all tournament, and must be a morale booster.
5) there is a real chance that they may exceed their seeding tomorrow.

A wonderful day all round? Pretty much, though it would have been better still if one of the five winners had been Adams.

[Alex Holowczak]

Well, I got the pairings at the top spot on.

I got England's pairings wrong. I got all the white and black seekers correct, but got the wrong pairings. Maybe I should have started from the extreme ends and work towards the middle, rather than vice versa.

The women was wrong because I thought Slovenia and Serbia had already played.

[Alex Holowczak]

I got England's pairings wrong. I got all the white and black seekers correct, but got the wrong pairings. Maybe I should have started from the extreme ends and work towards the middle, rather than vice versa.

I should have done. This may have explained previous errors.

Working from the extreme ends towards the middle, you get:

Attempt 1
Serbia v Montenegro
Georgia v Sweden
Israel v Ukraine -> fails, already played

Attempt 2
Serbia v Montenegro
Georgia v Sweden
Israel v Switzerland -> no other option in the bottom half; and Israel have played England in any case
England v Ukraine -> two remaining teams

Doh.

[Mark Howitt]

Yes, for those who missed it, the women beat the similarly rated Montenegro team from 1.5-0.5 down, with wins from Kanwal and Dagne. This means, variously, that

1) Mark Howitt has nothing to write about
2) Dagne has had another excellent performance from England, and that it is possible for one to play with one's children at the venue
3) Glenn Flear was proven right to play Kanwal on 4 today
4) An English team actually gained matchpoints from the last game to finish! That, I think, is the first time that this happened for either team all tournament, and must be a morale booster.
5) there is a real chance that they may exceed their seeding tomorrow.

A wonderful day all round? Pretty much, though it would have been better still if one of the five winners had been Adams.

Oh believe you me I have plenty to write about!

[Paul Cooksey]

We literally have not had the luck of the draw in the open event

[Alex Holowczak]

Some permutations for tomorrow:

(1) If either of Armenia or Germany win, they are the champions.

(2) If Germany and Armenia draw, then Azerbaijan will have to beat Romania 4-0 or 3.5-0.5 to be champions. They might also be able to win 3-1 and be champions, but I don't know what tie-breaker is after gamepoints. Azerbaijan seem to be ahead of Armenia and Germany on the other tiebreakers shown in the standings at the moment, so a 3-1 win may be enough.

(3) Bulgaria cannot be champions. If they won 4-0 to get to 14/22.5, then (1) rules them out, and if Germany and Armenia draw, then Armenia will get to 14/23, which is still ahead of Bulgaria.

[Paul Cooksey]

I think with the correct last round result, all of Germany, Armenia and Azerbaijan could claim to be worthy winners.

Does anyone know Germany's sponsorship situation? They had difficulties last year

PS

Oh belive you me I have plenty to write about!

Believe

[Ola Winfridsson]

We literally have not had the luck of the draw in the open event

Is the Ukraine really a bad draw, considering the tournament they've had?

[Alex Holowczak]

We literally have not had the luck of the draw in the open event

Is the Ukraine really a bad draw, considering the tournament they've had?

I'm not sure that's the right question.

Is Ukraine a bad draw, relative to the other teams on the scoregroup we could have drawn? Wouldn't you rather have played Switzerland or Montenegro than an out-of-form Ukraine?

[Mick Norris]

Starting with Mickey's chance of a board prize, we have the current position here:
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr57856.a ... ES&flag=30

Aronian has black against (presumably) Naiditsch, who beat Radjabov today
Topalov has black against (presumably) Leko

Chances for 2 draws there

Mickey has white against (presumably) Ivanchuk who was rested today (played 6 drawn 6) - given Ivanchuk's 2775 rating, a win for Mickey should do it

So, yes, I think it is a good draw

The other point is that the team isn't going to finish in a brilliant position, but a win (or draw) against Ukraine when added to the draw against Armenia (particularly if they win the event) would be good compensation, and whoever Loz picks gets to play a strong opponent in the last round, which is good experience