Europchess

Europchess 1

The first team achieved its second win of the season, beating the 2^nd team of KBSK Brugge with 6-2. Tom, Victor and Mark (with his third win in a row) ensured an early 3-1 lead, and then Matteo, with his second win in a row clinched already the team point. Frank then scored the decisive win converting a favourable queen endgame. Georgi and Matija then went on trying to get something out of their endgames but both had to settle for draws. With 6 points, Europchess 1 moves up to 4^th place.

Europchess 2

The second team had again a somewhat weaker line-up, but started hopeful into the match with Leuze as the opponents had their problems too, missing several of their strongest players and having to forfeit one game due to illness. On the board, the match turned again to disaster, as all games were lost. With the third heavy defeat in a row, Europchess 2 find themselves in 9^th place now.

Europchess 3

The third team was so far the most threatened of our teams, with only one point. Against Turnhout, they were finally able to score the first win of the season. Luis Parreira continued his recent good streak with a third win in a row. After Turnhout’s equaliser on Board 1 and a draw by Robert on board 4, it was then José María who scored the decisive win to clinch the narrow win. With this, Europchess 3 moves up to 10^th place.

Europchess 4

The fourth team’s opponents had an average of 2010 – not Elo rating, but year of birth! Galin, Jorge and Oren won their games and secured another 3-1 victory. With 5 points, the team is currently 7^th.

Europchess 5

Also the fifth team’s opponents had to cope with last minute dropouts and had to forfeit two games. Bruno and Ioannis won the remaining two games, producing thus a clear 4-0 victory. Europchess 5 is currently in 6^th place.

Europchess 1:

With only five players over 2000, the club’s flagship had an unusually weak line-up, but only slightly lower-rated than their opponents of Zottegem. Frank, with his second consecutive win, Martin, maintaining a perfect score of 3/3 and Matteo with his first win for Europchess, as well as Benjamín and Georgi with draws ensured a point for the team. With 4 points, Europchess 1 is now in 8^th place.

Europchess 2:

The second team had a big challenge as they had to face the division leaders of Caissa Europe, rated on average almost 300 points higher. Serge, Sergio and David were soon one or two pawns and could not recover these disadvantages. However, in the other three games, we had our chances. Luis converted his good position for his second win in a row against clearly higher-rated players. Helge was on a good way to refute his opponent’s opening sacrifice, and even refused a draw offer, as Johannes’ game was still unclear. After a some chances in the middlegame, Johannes had found himself in a losing endgame, but when his opponent tried to finish it off with a sacrifice, it resulted in a draw. Ultimately Helge overlooked a checkmate and lost. Also Europchess 2 is 8^th with 4 points.

Europchess 3:

The third team was also clear underdog in its match against Leuven 3. Luis saved the honour with a draw. Europchess 3 remains in shared last place of Division 4A.

Europchess 4:

The fourth team benefitted from the fact that their opponents were not line-up particularly strong either, and remained unbeaten in all four games. Jorge and Galin with wins and Gabriele and Robert with draws ensured the 3-1 win. With now 3 points, Europchess 4 moved up to 9^th place.

Europchess 5:

Team 5 was also outclassed by their opponents, losing 0-4 for the second time in a row, but is still on 7^th place in its division.

Europchess 1

The first team scored its first win of the season in a tight match against Opwijk. The first games to finish were Pere’s and Mattias’ against Opwijk’s De Block brothers, through which the guests took a 1.5-0.5 lead. This was equalised by Frank, while Tom, Jozsef and Mark added further draws. The decision had to come from the two top boards in the fifth hour of play. First Georgi provided the lead, converting an advantageous queen endgame against Hanne Goossens, then Victor secured the match win in a complicated position with uneven material (rook and bishop pair against queen and dangerous passed pawn), when he managed to force a draw by perpetual check. Europchess 1 climbs to 8^th rank with now 3 points.

Europchess 2

The second team had a comparatively weak line-up, but as Brussels 1 also had to bring in several reserve players, on paper, they were only slight underdogs. On the chessboard though the match became a very clear affair, as Brussels won 5.5-0.5. Michael Vedsø, in his first appearance for Europchess, saved the honour with a draw on board 6. Luckily Europchess 2 has already 4 points and is currently 5^th.

Europchess 3

After two defeats in the first two rounds, the third team conquered their first point of the season with a good 2-2 against a strongly lined-up Opwijk 2. Luis Parreira with a win, and Luis Busquets and Georgios with draws accounted for the points.

Europchess 4

The fourth team though had a tough task with the clearly higher rated DT Leuven 2. In the 0-4 defeat only experience was gained.

Europchess 5

The same result had to be registered for Team 5 who faced the experienced 3^rd team of Brussels Chess Club.

During October, Europchess continued with the lunchtime blitz tournaments every Wednesday at 13.00. Tom Jayes won the 5th October tournament with a 100% result, followed by a group of three players (Johannes Bertram, Rafael del Riego and Benjamín Alberola) with three points each. Frank Hoffmeister won the 12th October tournament, also with a 100% result, followed by Tom Jayes. Anyway, the biggest star during this month was Luis Busquets, who won the last two tournaments of the month. In the first one, on 19th October, he had a 100% result and was followed by Benjamín Alberola and Johannes Bertram, who scored both 3,5 points. On 26th October, Luis tied with Johannes Bertram at 4 points each, but won the tournament as he had a better Buchholz coefficient.

Europchess 1

In a Brussels derby with The Belgian Chess Club from Anderlecht, Europchess 1 was long hoping for a win, but in the end had to be content with a 4-4. Georgi and Mark provided wins, Víctor, Tom, Frank and Matteo (in his debut for Europchess) drew their games.

Europchess 2

The second team did it better, scoring the second win in their second match. The team was somewhat weakened due to some absences and giving two players to Europchess 1, while Echiquier du Centre was able to line up their best 6 players. Martin opened the score after outplaying his opponent. Johannes added a draw in a very equal and symmetrical position. A little setback was Georgios’ loss, as he had a strong and probably winning attacking position, but blundered a piece. David, in his first match for Europchess, provided the lead again, when his opponent made tactical mistakes under time pressure. Also Kristian and Benjamín had promising positions, but settled for draws to secure victory.

Europchess 3

The third team suffered the second loss of the season. Although the rating average put them slightly in the favourite role, in the end a narrow 1.5-2.5 was the result. Alessandro won his game, while José María added a draw.

Europchess 4

Team 4 scored a surprise draw against The Belgian 2, who were rated more than 200 points higher on average. After two losses, the team was already under pressure, but both Marcello and Serge beat their higher-rated opponents to secure the point.

Europchess 5

The third draw of the day was achieved by Team 5. Benefitting from a forfeit on Board 4, the team clinched the point through draws by Jorge and Borin.