European Individual Chess Championship 2021

The very latest International round up of English news.
Chris Rice
Posts: 3416
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 26, 2021 12:00 am

181 entrants for the European Individual Chess Championship 2021 in Reykjavik. Gawain is top seed, so this is a really great opportunity for him and he drew the White pieces for the first round with the assistance of a little helper... However, that's just an assumption as Round 1 doesn't seem to have turned up on the chess results server at the time of posting.

Image

Besides Gawain England also have, Lorin D'Costa, Malcolm Pein (!) and Edmund Player. Ireland have Tarun and Trisha Kanyamarala but no Scots or Welsh players it would appear.

Image

"The venue this year is at Hotel Natura (previously Hotel Loftleidir), which has a rich history of chess events being held there with several previous editions of the Reykjavik Open, the last one back in 1988. It is safe to say that the atmosphere at these tournaments was something special at the height of the popularity of Icelandic chess. Many Icelandic players are looking forward to revisiting this tournament venue. Bobby Fischer stayed at the hotel during his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky. One can find a replica of the famous chess table used in 1972 at the hotel. The hotel has hosted several other high-level events, including the 1977 Spassky vs Hort candidate match and the GMA World Cup in 1991."

Chris Rice
Posts: 3416
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:25 am

Further piece on the official website indicating that the round 1 pairings should be up around 12.30pm local time (1.30pm BST).

Chris Rice
Posts: 3416
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 26, 2021 2:22 pm

Round 1 pairings now up. Games start at 4pm BST.


Thomas Rendle
Posts: 469
Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:31 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Thomas Rendle » Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:31 pm

It's a pretty fashionable line, in fact the Advanced as a whole is experiencing something of a resurgence - I'm sure I saw quite a few at the recent World Cup.

User avatar
IM Jack Rudd
Posts: 4815
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:13 am
Location: Bideford
Contact:

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:37 pm

Other England openings:

Player-Keymer: 6.h3 Najdorf https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-eu ... er_Vincent
Deac-Pein: Four Knights English with 4.e4 https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-eu ... in_Malcolm
D'Costa-Donchenko: Reverse Benko Gambit https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-eu ... _Alexander

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21291
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:52 pm

Thomas Rendle wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:31 pm
It's a pretty fashionable line,
A new interpretation from move 7 to me at least


I suppose there's a good reason why Black doesn't just play d4xc3 and declare himself a pawn up.

User avatar
IM Jack Rudd
Posts: 4815
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:13 am
Location: Bideford
Contact:

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:58 pm

I think it's probably one of those positions where whoever exchanges pawns transforms the position for the worse.

(Gawain probably plays bxc3 and says "OK, you're a pawn up; how are you developing your knight and bishop?")

Chris Rice
Posts: 3416
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:16 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:52 pm
Thomas Rendle wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:31 pm
It's a pretty fashionable line,
A new interpretation from move 7 to me at least


I suppose there's a good reason why Black doesn't just play d4xc3 and declare himself a pawn up.
I think the main idea is that after 7...dxc3 8 Nxc3 that the Black queen on b6 tends to get a bit exposed which meshes with the old opening principles about not moving your queen out too early!

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Nick Ivell » Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:43 pm

Looks like all the old garbage I've ever played is suddenly becoming hip.

Anyone for the Closed Sicilian now?

User avatar
IM Jack Rudd
Posts: 4815
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:13 am
Location: Bideford
Contact:

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:17 pm

It looks like Edmund Player is having a lot of fun at the moment, and Malcolm Pein isn't.

Nick Ivell
Posts: 1138
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:33 pm

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Nick Ivell » Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:21 pm

Why, by the way, did Malcolm Pein merit an exclamation mark in the original post?

He may not claim to be a serious player these days, but still...

Chris Rice
Posts: 3416
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:56 pm

Nick Ivell wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:21 pm
Why, by the way, did Malcolm Pein merit an exclamation mark in the original post?

He may not claim to be a serious player these days, but still...
Some of my coaching is for CSC and I've known Malcolm for many years and he's always been really busy and I was just shocked he had the time to play. Certainly no comment on his chess ability and I wish him all the best and hope he does really well.

LawrenceCooper
Posts: 7167
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:13 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by LawrenceCooper » Thu Aug 26, 2021 8:38 pm

Chris Rice wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:56 pm
Nick Ivell wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:21 pm
Why, by the way, did Malcolm Pein merit an exclamation mark in the original post?

He may not claim to be a serious player these days, but still...
Some of my coaching is for CSC and I've known Malcolm for many years and he's always been really busy and I was just shocked he had the time to play. Certainly no comment on his chess ability and I wish him all the best and hope he does really well.
He's never had any problem multi tasking :D

Chris Rice
Posts: 3416
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

Re: European Individual Chess Championship 2021

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 26, 2021 11:23 pm

Gawain finally won but it looked like a real struggle.

Jones, Gawain C B (ENG) - Baltag, Iulian (MDA)

European Individual Championship - Reykjavik Open 2021 round 01

1-0

As we all know first rounds are often difficult and there were a few upsets today:

GM Banusz Tamas (2631) 0 - 1 FM Heimisson Hilmir Freyr (2309)
Wecker Martin (2195) 1 - 0 GM Bosiocic Marin (2610)
Kueng Nicolas (2005) 1 - 0 GM Hillarp Persson Tiger (2543)


The Round 2 pairings are up. 4pm start.
Last edited by Chris Rice on Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Post Reply