European Online Club Cup 2021 Finals R5-9: Only Vidit remains invincible
Novy Bor has seen much better days in various events. European Online Club Cup was nothing short of a disaster for them. Only Vidit remained undefeated throughout the event and in the Finals he scored 5.0/8. All his rest of the teammates had a difficult time finding harmony in the Finals. Wojtaszek scored 4.0/8, Harikrishna 2.5/4, Navara 4.0/9, Sasikiran 2.0/4 and Ragger 1.0/2. The team would definitely want to forget this event and move on to better glorious days ahead. SF Deizisau e.V. won the event with 14.0/18, Clichy Echecs 92 secured the runner-up position with 13.0/18 and Mednyi Vsadnik was placed third 11.0/18 due to better tie-break score. Photo: FIDE
Novy Bor collapses
Novy Bor would like to put this event behind them as on the last day of the European Online Club Cup 2021, the team suffered four consecutive defeat. It shattered all hopes of finishing in top half of the finals, let alone a podium position. The only win they scored was against Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo in the last round. Only Vidit remained undefeated throughout the event. Rest of the teammates could not do as well as they are all capable of.
4NCL Guildford - Novy Bor: 3-1
Vidit made a marathon draw with Adams. At one point in the knight ending, it seemed like Adams might score a victory.
Adams - Vidit, Round 5
The game continued with 54.Kc3. Can you find if there was a better way for white to push for a win after 53...Nf3 ?
Sasikiran lost a completely drawn opposite color bishop endgame against Gawain Jones. This would not have happened if it were an over-the-board event. He probably made a pre-move under time scramble which cost him the game in the final moments.
Poland Hussars - Novy Bor : 2.5-1.5
Vidit made another long draw with Jan-Krzysztof Duda. At some point it felt like, it was Vidit who can go for a win.
Duda - Vidit, Round 6
Black is going to lose the f7-pawn as there is no way to defend it but what is the correct continuation for black here? The game went on with 46...Ra5 and white equalized the position with ease.
GM Vincent Keymer once again held Sasikiran to a short 21-move draw.
Novy Bor - Odlar Yurdu: 1-3
Vidit got a huge advantage out of the opening against Mamedyarov.
Vidit - Mamedyarov, Round 7
Black needed to play 16...Qa7. After 16...Ra7, white regains the material with 17.d5. White also gets a decent advantage.
One of the last chances white had in the game was after 43...Ne4+. Where should white move the king to keep winning chances alive?
Sasikiran lost badly against GM Vasif Durarbayli.
Durarbayli - Sasikiran, Round 7
25...d5 completely wrecks black's kingside after 26.fxe6. Instead black could have played either 25...Nc6 or e5.
Clichy Echecs 92 - Novy Bor: 2.5-1.5
Harikrishna's woes continued as he made an incorrect follow through of a sacrifice against Tata Steel 2021 winner Jorden Van Foreest.
Jorden - Harikrishna, Round 8
Black needed to play 12...c5 as 12...Qxe5 does not help black to recover the knight and there is not enough compensation either.
Vidit scored the sole victory for his team against Parham Maghsoodloo in this round.
Vidit - Parham, Round 8
Find out why 22...Qe7 is a blunder.
Novy Bor - Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo: 4-0
Harikrishna scored a comfortable victory over the reigning Russia women's champion, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina.
Sasikiran checkmated Poland no.1 woman GM Monika Socko.
Replay games of Indian players at the Finals
Final Standings after Round 9
| Rk. | SNo | FED | Team | Group | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
| 1 | 4 | GER | SF Deizisau e.V. | F | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 20,5 | 0 | 118 | |
| 2 | 1 | FRA | Clichy Echecs 92 | F | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 22,5 | 0 | 100 | |
| 3 | 3 | RUS | Mednyi Vsadnik | F | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 22,0 | 0 | 84 | |
| 4 | 10 | POL | Poland Hussars | F | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 20,0 | 0 | 76 | |
| 5 | 9 | AZE | Odlar Yurdu | F | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 19,0 | 0 | 59 | |
| 6 | 5 | GER | Hamburger Schachklub 1830 | F | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14,0 | 0 | 70 | |
| 7 | 7 | ENG | 4NCL Guildford | F | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 18,5 | 0 | 54 | |
| 8 | 6 | RUS | Ladya Kazan | F | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16,5 | 0 | 58 | |
| 9 | 8 | CZE | Novy Bor | F | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 18,5 | 0 | 55 | |
| 10 | 2 | MNC | Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | F | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8,5 | 0 | 0 |
Tournament Format
• Qualification phase (27th-28th of March) – Groups consisting of 8 or 10 teams each, play the Robin round event of 7 or 9 rounds. Groups will be divided according to the average rating of the four (4) basic players, with FIDE March 1st, 2021 list taken in account. Two at least teams of each group qualify for Play-offs.
• Play-offs (29th of March) – The qualifiers from the 1st phase. Best ranked 9 teams proceed to the Finals.
• The final group (30th-31st of March) – 10 teams play Robin round tournament of 9 rounds. The 10th team is invited by ECU, the Winner of European Women’s Online Chess Club Cup - Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo.
Time control of the event is 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment.
Schedule
Saturday 27th March: 7 - 11 p.m. IST
Sunday 28th - Wednesday 31st March: 6 p.m. IST onwards
Prizes
Total Prize fund - EUR 14000. 1st - EUR 4000, 2nd - EUR 3000, 3rd - EUR 2000, 4th - EUR 1500 and 5th - EUR 1000. Individual e-Medals are won by 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place of each board of final Group. The first winner of each Board of the final group will receive 400 euros. Reserve players are calculated on the 5th Board. The best game of the tournament will be awarded 500 euros.
The event is organized by European Chess Union and Monte-Carlo Chess Club, under the high patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Links
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यूरोपियन क्लब शतरंज : विदित गुजराती रहे अपराजित
@ 31/03/2021 by Niklesh Jain (hi) |
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European Online Club Cup 2021 Finals R1-4: Harikrishna's endgame magic
@ 31/03/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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European Online Club Cup 2021 Playoffs: Vidit anchors Novy Bor to the Final stage
@ 30/03/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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European Online Club Cup 2021 R5-9: Novy Bor tops Group B
@ 29/03/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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यूरोपियन क्लब शतरंज - विदित और शशिकिरण का तूफानी खेल
@ 28/03/2021 by Niklesh Jain (hi) |
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European Online Club Cup 2021 R1-4: Vidit and Sasikiran start with a hat-trick
@ 28/03/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |