2015 European Senior Chess Championship

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Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Thu May 07, 2015 12:29 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
LawrenceCooper wrote:Nunn halved out in 9 moves to guarantee himself a medal (I think).
Oh, he took less time than I did to calculate the tie-breaks... :oops:
Very strange. Maybe John didn't realise he could win the tournament if Sturua slipped up?

Now Sturua can just offer a draw and be champion - unless Smolin turns it down.

My calculations were added later to my earlier message.
Christopher, you have overlooked the "cut one", my figures were:
Sturua 21299-2141 = 19158
Nunn 21397-2151 = 19246
Arkell 21391 - 2138 = 19253
etc.
Curiously, the lowest ranked opponent of Smolin, Berkovich and Petran was not in round one.
Tim Harding
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LawrenceCooper
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by LawrenceCooper » Thu May 07, 2015 12:44 pm

I suspect that his thinking was that he has less chance of winning than Sturua and a loss would drop him out of the medals altogether.

Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Thu May 07, 2015 12:58 pm

LawrenceCooper wrote:I suspect that his thinking was that he has less chance of winning than Sturua and a loss would drop him out of the medals altogether.
I suppose you are right. The professional approach, with Black especially, is to take the bird in the hand and assure yourself of a satisfactory result.

Keith's game is pretty wild, and Smolin is not playing for a draw either. (Maybe for a loss.)

In the 65+ Stokes has just drawn with Peter Hohler of Switzerland, a solid player whom I drew with in last year's Worlds.

A good overall result for Stokes but Muratoglu of Turkey (sub-2000) must have gained the most Elo points at this tournament. He held on for a long draw yesterday, a pawn down against Rooze, and plays Vasiukov today.

Both Rooze and Kupreichik have to go for wins; I'm not sure who the tiebreak favours as I don't trust the figures at chess-results.com.
Tim Harding
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Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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Mick Norris
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Mick Norris » Thu May 07, 2015 4:31 pm

Sturua won, Keith drew
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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Thu May 07, 2015 4:40 pm

Congratulations to GM Zurab Sturua - a clear and worthy winner. I think John Nunn gets silver and Keith Arkell gets bronze? (Berkovich looks unlikely to win).

Brian Towers
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Brian Towers » Thu May 07, 2015 5:39 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:(Berkovich looks unlikely to win).
You have to hand it to Bruno and Berkovich. That was truly dedicated wood pushing, playing an extra 25 moves in a position they both knew was a stone cold draw.
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now.


Mick Norris
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Mick Norris » Thu May 07, 2015 5:55 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Congratulations to GM Zurab Sturua - a clear and worthy winner. I think John Nunn gets silver and Keith Arkell gets bronze?
Yes, congratulations to all 3

I'm sure Keith will be disappointed, but at least he has gained rating points

2 more medals at senior level, which would be a good return on the ECF's investment, if they were actually making any
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Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Thu May 07, 2015 6:10 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Congratulations to GM Zurab Sturua - a clear and worthy winner. I think John Nunn gets silver and Keith Arkell gets bronze?
Yes, congratulations to all 3

I'm sure Keith will be disappointed, but at least he has gained rating points

2 more medals at senior level, which would be a good return on the ECF's investment, if they were actually making any
Agreed. As I foresaw, Rooze has won the 65+ from Kupreichik (on tiebreak) and 3rd Vasiukov. Very impressive fourth by Muratoglu of Turkey off a 1960 rating. If his TPR is high enough this could be an IM norm as he played two IMs and two GMs. This shows there's hope for us all.

Nona easily won the 65+W but there was a close fight in the 50+W won by Svetlana Mednikova with 5.5/9. Why did no women from western Europe enter?

Roll on the Worlds in Italy (November) which, if last year's fields are anything to judge by, will be significantly stronger in the 65+ but only a bit stronger in the 50+. The GM title for the winner (if he's not already a GM) is some incentive; some have gained their title that way when it was a 60+ event. There will probably be enough female entries for a separate tournament in the Worlds.
Tim Harding
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Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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Chris Rice
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Chris Rice » Mon May 18, 2015 7:02 am

A nice photo report from ChessBase and the reason for John Nunn's short draws reveals itself. "Eretria and the hotel not exactly conducive to vicious battles on the chessboard. You go for nice walks, enjoy the sunny, warm weather, the scenery, the sea, and then you tend to allow a tame draw in the afternoon."


http://en.chessbase.com/post/european-s ... in-eretria

Tim Harding
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Re: 2015 European Senior Chess Championship

Post by Tim Harding » Mon May 18, 2015 5:05 pm

Chris Rice wrote:A nice photo report from ChessBase and the reason for John Nunn's short draws reveals itself. "Eretria and the hotel not exactly conducive to vicious battles on the chessboard. You go for nice walks, enjoy the sunny, warm weather, the scenery, the sea, and then you tend to allow a tame draw in the afternoon."

http://en.chessbase.com/post/european-s ... in-eretria
Eretria is set to be the venue for next year's European Senior Team Championship - no dates yet. John's recommendation should make it easier to raise an Irish team!

(I also note that Armenia have submitted a proposal for the 2016 European individual.)
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com

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