The first round of the Intercercles championship of the Fédération Échiquéenne Francophone de Belgique was played in Marche-en-Famenne on 26 April 2015. As in the last years, Europchess participates with two teams, one in second division and one in third.
In Round 1, both teams got into the competition with average results.
Europchess 1 collected 2.5 points against the teams of CREC Charleroi 3 and Fleurus 2. While Frank Hoffmeister and Jozsef Molnar used the white pieces to outplay their lower-rated opponents, Svetlozar Andreev and Luis Busquets Pérez faced stubborn resistance and could only add another draw.
Europchess 1 | vs. | Team | Result | ||||
1 | Hoffmeister, Frank | 2234 | (White) | Soretti, Vincenzo | 1486 | CREC 3 | 1-0 |
2 | Andreev, Svetlozar | 2097 | (Black) | Pieroni, Severino | 1641 | Fleurus 2 | 0-1 |
3 | Molnar, Jozsef | 2092 | (White) | Artisien, Christian | 1575 | Fleurus 2 | 1-0 |
4 | Busquets Perez, Luis | 1731 | (Black) | Jamar, Marc | 1462 | CREC 3 | ½-½ |
In the second team’s match, things went not so well for White. In the match-up against L’échiquier du Centre 1 from La Louvière and Fleurus 3, all points were taken by the Black side! Ventsislav Petrov and Bruno Gatta lost their games on Boards 1 & 2, but Alessandro Amelotti and Carlo Russian (in his first tournament game!) balanced this with two wins.
Europchess 2 | vs. | Team | Result | ||||
1 | Petrov, Ventsislav | 1670 | (White) | Denivet, Axel | 1846 | LEDC 1 | 0-1 |
2 | Gatta, Bruno | 1383 | (White) | Claude, Julien | 1352 | Fleurus 3 | 0-1 |
3 | Amelotti, Alessandro | — | (Black) | Moffa, David | 1294 | Fleurus 3 | 1-0 |
4 | Russian, Carlo | — | (Black) | Di Pronio, Mario | 1412 | LEDC 1 | 1-0 |
With 2.5 and 2.0 points respectively out of 4, the teams occupy middle positions after the first round and everything is still possible.
The next round is played in Liège on 3 May.