European Chess Championship

[Mark Howitt]

Should be good chance of win against Switzerland .

[Peter Rhodes]

Is Jo Gallagher Swiss, Irish or British ?

[Mark Howitt]

British turned Swiss- apparently still has British citizenship.

[John Saunders]

The stats provided at chess-results.com are very good. I was just browsing them and noticed something remarkable. The Azerbaijani teams (open and women) are both doing very well, and Mamedyarov has a TPR of 2805. But, strangely enough, he is currently being outgunned by his 2285-rated sister in the women's squad! Zeinab Mamedjarov's current TPR is 2822 for five games. I hope he doesn't accuse her of receiving electronic assistance. Another odd thing is the fact that Mamedyarov (2721) is below Guseinov (2667) in the board order. Who decided that board order, I wonder? Could it be the captain of the Azerbaijan team - Azmaiparashvili? They play Armenia today.

[Mark Howitt]

Mhm... I noticed it early on and it's obv a tactical decision like all the 'random' board orders in the 4NCL.

The big Georgian was asked 'by the President' according to the vid interview to be captain and I'm sure he's enjoying it. His team are favourites to win it now.

[Nick Thomas]

I think we might win this one.
Adams looks very good, Luke I'm not sure but I guess he's going to sac and play e4 and get some play, Conquest unbalanced and interesting and Steve solid and equal.

[Matthew Turner]

Not so sure now, Conquest's game looks a bit complicated and I think Stephen has a slight disadvantage. The next couple of moves will be crucial in that one.

[Nick Thomas]

Yes Steve hasn't quite equalised. Conquest should like that type of position though and Adams must surely love his.

[Matthew Turner]

I think Adams is simply winning and has been doing so for some time. I'm pretty sure stuart is better to, but I thought he had a bigger advantage a few moves ago. I don't think Stephen's position will suit him and I'm a bit fearful

[James Coleman]

I'm sorry if this has been dealt with before : Does anyone know what time controls they are using in this event?

[Matthew Turner]

Live games are down for me, but appears that Adams has drawn

[James Coleman]

I'd take a drawn match now. McShane doesn't look to have an constructive plan and Gordon looks much worse, though I really like Conquest's position.

[Nick Thomas]

The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

Looks like Stuart and Luke had better win then

[Roger de Coverly]

I'm sorry if this has been dealt with before : Does anyone know what time controls they are using in this event?

40 moves in 90 minutes plus an extra 30 to finish but with a 30 second increment for each clock press.

So games can last 5-6 hours if there's a long ending. It's FIDE's most recent standard time control.

[James Coleman]

Thanks Nick & Roger. Yes, fingers crossed that we can pull something out...