Interclubs 2021/2022: Round 7
Round 7 matches went much better than in the previous round. Europchess 1 scored its largest win of the season so far, against a weakened CREB side. Europchess 2 delivered a very good fight against the clearly higher-rated Echiquier Mosan, losing only narrowly. Europchess 3 scored a useful point against CREB 2. Europchess 4 surprised again by beating a higher-rated team from Boitsfort. Lastly, also Europchess 5 benefitted from CREB being quite decimated this weekend and won 4-0.
Europchess 1:
After an early draw by Frank, on more and more boards the difference in strength started to show, and successively all games went into Europchess’ favour. Only Georgi had to fight on for a long time and settled for a draw in the end. With 7 points, Europchess 1 is the closest rival of leaders Boitsfort, who are two points clear.
Europchess 2:
With opponents rated more than 100 points higher on average, Europchess 2 was surprisingly well in the match. With good draws by Matus, Serge and Johannes and even a win by Kristian, there was justified hope to take one or two match points. After Matthias’ loss on Board 1, all depended on Szymon who once again had the longest game of the day. In a sharp and complicated position anything could still have happened but a favourable tactical sequence decided the game and match in favour of our guests. After three defeats in a row, Europchess 2 is now on the relegation spot 11, and needs to start scoring again.
Europchess 3:
A good day for the white pieces in this match: all games went to the player making the first move. Luis Parreira’s loss was equalised by José Maria. On board 4 CREB took again the lead, but Luis Busquets equalised again for the 2-2. Against the well-placed CREB 2 team, which had only dropped one point until then, this is a decent result. Europchess 3 is in 8th place now, but only one point ahead of the relegation zone.
Europchess 4:
Sergio was under pressure, but was able to turn around the game for an early lead. Nikos and Guus added two further draws against higher-rated opponents. In this situation, a draw in Marcello’s endgame with opposite-coloured bishops would have been enough; but thanks to a passed pawn and play against the opponent’s weakness, he was able to pocket the full point for a 3-1. Team 4 is now in 5th place, 5 points ahead of the relegation zone.
Europchess 5:
Benefitting from a forfeit on Board 4, the team wrapped up the match in style with Galin, Bruno and Jorge all winning their games. With this first win of the season, the fifth team is now 10th.
Round 8 comes already next week. The postponed rounds 3 and 4 will be played in March, which will normally be a very intensive month.