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European Team Chess Championships
#1
A tough start for us over here in Iceland, and despite being buoyed by the news of Craig and Roddy running amok in the Seniors, we couldn't quite replicate the same success here in Reykjavik.

We were up against the strong Georgian team, averaging 2600 over the 4 boards and led by the super-GM Baadur Jobava. I sat out and watched the games live from the hotel nearby, and after a couple of hours play things were looking quite rosy - even later on it looked like we should take a point or 2 from the match.

Alan Tate seemed to be doing OK, Andy Muir was never under pressure while Graeme Morrison's complex position offered good chances too. Steve Mannion's slight advantage had dissipated, but only into what seemed to be a drawn position.

Alas, these 2600 GM's make a living from winning drawish positions, and unfortunately all 4 of our guys went astray. A rather unrepresentative 4-0 loss, as all our boys had played to a high standard barring one dubious move each late in the games.

Tomorrow will see us take on Slovenia - headed by ex-World title Candidate Alexander Belyavsky - and it promises to be another tough match. I will hopefully get my debut (probably as black against a 2540 GM!) and will try my best to help the guys kick-start our campaign.

Reykjavik is an interesting and strangely beautiful place, and the team (including Graham's wife Lynne who many will know from playing in Scotland) have gelled together quite well already. Spirits are high, now we just have to add some points into the mix!

The live games and results can all be accessed here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://etcc2015.com/open-section/">http://etcc2015.com/open-section/</a><!-- m --> and tomorrow ought to see Carlsen put in an appearance for Norway.
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#2
A minute's silence was observed before today's round after the tragic events in Paris the previous evening. The French team decided to play -against Armenia on top board - and came away with a narrow victory after Vachier-Lagrave beat Aronian in the last game of the day to finish.

It was another tough day for the Scots here in Reykjavik as we faced a strong Slovenian GM quartet.

My debut game for my country was somewhat less-than-successful when I took some strategic liberties and was soundly punished for my impudence.

Steve had a tough time against the ex-candidate Alexander Belyiavsky on top board, and although both Graham and Alan had good positions for most of their games, it was an unfortunate repeat of yesterday, leaving us languishing on 0/8 and facing the Latvian 13th seeds tomorrow, quite possibly sporting Alexei Shirov on board 1.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen put in an appearance today to watch his team-mates grind out a win, and Nigel Short spent some of his rest-day in the commentary booth while his team had a steady 4-draws draw.

We're hoping for better things tomorrow as a team, and confidence is still high despite the difficult start; the difference between this tournament and something like the Olympiad being that there are no 'easy' matches to get ourselves going with, but hopefully we can start to take our chances when they appear.
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#3
Hi Andy,

I have a plan...

sneak into the playing venue and swap the Azerbaijan flags with the Saltire.
This should fool the arbiters and Scotland will get some points on the board.

Let me know if this works.

Geoff

(Good Luck.)
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#4
bail money at the ready
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#5
Once again showing how strong this event is and how hard it is to play against strong GMs. Was watching Andy B and at one point it looked like he was pressing hard trying to win the game. However his opponent's defensive skills were up to the task. Despite that Andy could have improved with 55..Rb8! instead of 55...Kb8 which might have held the draw.

Alan Tate also came very close and after 55 moves his opponent had nothing decisive. However these guys just keep grinding away and eventually Alan succumbed (clock trouble perhaps?)
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#6
Andy B's R+R+pawns v R+R+pawns end game really was an interesting one to follow. I was hopeful also he was also going to sneak a draw from it, wasn't to be though. Congrats to him on making his Scotland debut yesterday, sends a good message to all ages, its never too late for titles and international chess.
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#7
Thanks for the posts guys! Always good to know that some of you are following things in Iceland and elsewhere Smile

Today was, unfortunately, the same old story. Another strong team (averaging about 2600) and another match which we should have taken something from.

Steve had a tough one today against the mighty Shirov. In an opening variation which isn't supposed to offer white anything at all, Shirov somehow managed to conjure up an initiative on the k-side which Steve couldn't hold on against.

Andy M had a tricky material imbalance in a main-line Catalan as Black - but it proved too difficult to find safe squares for his 2 pieces versus a rook and passed pawn.

My own game followed my 'orders for the day'. Steady as she goes and try to put something on the board! And I really should have. Taking the safe option at every turn, I finally had a rush of blood to the head and went for a variation I thought was drawing 50.Rb7, and when I realised it wasn't I managed to overlook a blunder 54..c3?? which would have allowed 55.Rb8 with a forced draw (55...g5 56.Rh8+ Kg6 57.Rhh7!)

It was therefore left to Alan to salvage something from the match, and he was much, much better out of the opening, but a bit of indecision let his opponent back into the game. Even at the end though he had a very solid, drawish position - but he saw a ghost somewhere when short of time, sacked a crucial pawn and soon had to turn over his king.

So, 3 matches, 3 losses and not a single half-point on the scoreboard. Hmmm, not good. Tomorrow sees us take on the Faroe Islands and hopefully we can put in a result there. We all know we are playing pretty decent chess, and although a bit embarrassed at our lack of points we are still positive!

I had a wee chat with Simon 'GingerGM' Williams who is providing the live commentary (along with Fiona Steil-Antoni, a popular lass in Scottish circles) and he has promised to give us a shout-out during tomorrow's broadcast to see if it will help our cause!

Elsewhere Aronian beat Carlsen some 10 yards from our match (there was a big crowd around that board and a lot of happy Armenians afterwards as they won the match as well).
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#8
On a rest day for the Seniors, well done Andy B for breaking our duck and putting the first half point on the board in an otherwise unfruitful match against the Faeroes. Losing 0.5 - 3.5 to a country with a population similar to that of Cumbernauld, Hamilton or Glenrothes might seem unlikely, but in this event they outranked us, with a higher average rating and more IMs on site than the Scots were able to muster on this occasion.

Well done, too (for I presume it was you again Andy B!?) for orchestrating a moment of light relief for us spectators when the commentator Simon Williams briefly showed Graeme Morrison's game and announced with something resembling a straight face that he had been reliably informed that said Graeme was none other than the younger brother of Jim Morrison of Doors fame.

Anyone looking for further entertainment could do worse than play through the game Ivanchuk - Svidler on the top table.
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#9
Congratulations to Andy B on breaking our duck.
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#10
As others have mentioned, I finally got the first (half-)point on the board for the team, although it possibly should have been a full one.

Steve once again found himself up against high-class opposition, Helgi Dam Ziska being the Faroe Islands Sports personality of the Year a while back, and also a student in Scotland for a while. It's really tough playing such strong opponents day-after-day and Steve has a well-earned day off tomorrow.

Again, however, the other boards didn't go our way despite having decent positions - at some point we are due a few points in a row when we finally get the hang of converting some of the good play.

I did ask Simon Williams to give us a shout-out during commentary, but the Jim Morrison bit wasn't my doing - honest!

Round 5 tomorrow sees us pitted against Belgium and it would be nice to put a few points on the scoreboard before the rest day. All the guys are up for it, so maybe now's the time to show we can play!
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