European Club Cup 2010
October 16th - 24th
The European Club Cup is being held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Two clubs per federation are allowed to enter and this year Wales is represented by Cardiff and Nidum Chess clubs.
The tournament is over 7 rounds.
The team from Cardiff Chess club is managed by Stuart Hutchings :
Bd 1 IM Cobb Charles A 2396 ENG
Bd 2 IM Cobb James 2401 WLS
Bd 3 Kett Tim 2219 WLS
Bd 4 Spice Alan 2143 WLS
Bd 5 Trevelyan John 2130 WLS
Bd 6 Wagner Guy 1911 WLS
Bd 7 Harle Bill 0 WLS
The team from Nidum Chess Club is managed by Glyn Sinnett :
Bd 1 FM Jones Richard S 2373 WLS
Bd 2 Garcia Jason 2008 WLS
Bd 3 Gibbons Andrew 0 WLS
Bd 4 Davies Matthew 1973 WLS
Bd 5 May Adam J 0 WLS
Bd 6 Sinnett Glyn 0 WLS
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Round 1
Vesnianka Gran (BLR)[ranked 17th] v Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 41st]
| Vesnianka Gran (BLG) | v | Cardiff Chess Club | ||||||
| GM | Zhigalko Andrey | 2580 | 1 | - | 0 | IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 |
| IM | Stupak Kirill | 2502 | 1 | - | 0 | IM | Cobb James | 2401 |
| GM | Teterev Vitaly | 2511 | 1 | - | 0 | Kett Tim | 2219 | |
| Podolchenko Evgeniy | 2506 | 1 | - | 0 | Spice Alan | 2143 | ||
| IM | Mochalov Evgeny V | 2392 | 1 | - | 0 | Trevelyan John | 2130 | |
| Oblamski Vladimir | 2167 | 1 | - | 0 | Wagner Guy | 1911 | ||
| 6 | - | 0 | ||||||
Round 1 - Report from Stuart
We were always destined for strong opposition, and this turned out to be virtually the Belarus national team (!).
All was going well after a couple of hours, looking good in James’ and Guy’s games and no great problems in the others. Alan’s had started very interestingly when his opponent played Alan’s own favourite French MacCutcheon against him (!),and then uncorked 8... g5 instead of the more usual 8... g6 or 8... Kf8, which Alan had not seen before. Alan got a good position but was first to lose after about 2.5 hours when he was tactically outplayed.
This unfortunately was followed half an hour later by losses in quick succession by James, who from move 30 onwards was playing on 30 second increments only, John who had got a solid though somewhat passive position, and Tim, who had a equal position but ran short of time.
The other 2 games went on for about 4.75 hours, Charles always a bit worse, but Guy unfortunately turned his better position into an equal position then a worse one, finally succumbing after 76 moves.
This is only Cardiff’s 2nd ever 0 – 6 loss in this event over the years, and really quite undeserved.
Hopefully the games will become available soon, they were being keyed (not all of them automatically recorded here !) into the system as we left.
Nidum Chess Club [ranked 48th] v Solingen SG (GER) [ranked 24th]
| Nidum Chess Club | v | Solingen SG | ||||||
| IM | Jones Richard | 2373 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | GM | Sandipan Chanda | 2641 |
| Garcia Jason | 2008 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | GM | Hoffmann Michael | 2510 | |
| Gibbons Andrew | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | IM | Schaefer Markus | 2390 | |
| Davies Matthew | 1973 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Gupta Milon | 2285 | |
| May Adam J | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Scheffner Axel Dr | 2318 | |
| Sinnett Glyn | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | Peschel Andreas | 2173 | ||
| 1 | - | 5 |
Round 1 Report from Glyn
Hi from sunny Plovdiv ( not !! )
Due to only 49 teams only playing, and the refusal of one of the main arbiters / tournament controllers, some teams will only be playing 6 matches. A simple solution would have been to get hold of the local Plovdiv Chess Club to round up the number of team to 50 - but that was to complicated for them !!
Nidum 1-5 Solingen ( Germany - seeded 24 )
Richard Jones played GM Chanda Sandipan on bd 1, and at one stage was three pieces down, but with huge possibilities of mate OR material balance, in the English Attack of the Scheveningen. Having missed a few clear wins, his Indian opponent bailed out with a draw.
Jason Garcia played a solid Slav vs his GM opponent on bd2, and deserved his draw in the queen and pawn ending. On bd 3 Andrew Gibbons was outplayed in the opening, missing the correct continuation, and losing two pieces for a rook.
On bd 4, Matthew Davies held an equal position in his Slav, before going astray in time trouble and dropping a pawn on the time control. On bd 5, Adam May was giving his FM opponent a torrid time, before again missing a few tactics to let him off the hook !
On bd6, i missed a clear draw in the ensuing rook and pawn ending, but chose to go down a lost queen and rook ending. The score line does not do us any justice !
Due to us being seeded 48, we have the bye in rd2, even though 13 teams finished below us after round 1. Not too happy about that, but there is nothing we can do about it. Here's looking to a tough rd3 match.
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Round 2
Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 41st] v Asker Sjakklubb NOR [ranked 36th]
| Cardiff Chess Club | v | Asker Sjakklubb | - | |||||
| IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 | 0 | - | 1 | GM | Ostenstad Berge | 2462 |
| IM | Cobb James | 2401 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | GM | Tisdall Jonathan D | 2422 |
| Kett Tim | 2219 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Aulin-Jansson Joran | 2228 | |
| Spice Alan | 2143 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Grotnes Nils | 2197 | |
| Wagner Guy | 1911 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Diesen Bruce | 2166 | |
| Harle Bill | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | CM | Hammerstad Asmund | 2208 | |
| 0.5 | - | 5.5 |
ROUND 2 - Report from Stuart
Tim was the first to lose, after his opponent, who was always better in a queenless middlegame/ending, which he had played very quickly, showed the strength of the 2 bishops.
Within another 45 minutes we were again already 0 - 4 down. In order, Bill, who had been on the back foot for a while against W’s strong mobile centre, followed by Charles, who got outplayed in complications after being down to just increments from move 25 onwards, then Alan whose rook was no match for W’s 2 knights.
A further loss followed not long afterwards, when Guy, with his position starting to crumble, went for a tactical solution which was easily parried.
It was left to James to get us on the scoreboard, with a very hard fought and uncompromising draw against his GM opponent.
All in all, to lose so heavily to a team seeded just 5 places above us, was a bit of a shocker, and we now have 0 match points and a meagre 0.5/12 game points. We have to get some match points soon (hopefully round 3) otherwise we will end up
having the bye, so frustrating and unnecessary in such a prestigious event, which our friends from Nidum unfortunately had a bye today.
Nidum Chess Club bye
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Round 3
Aarhus Skakklub/Skolerne DEN [ranked 42] v Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 41]
| Aarhus Skakklub/Skolerne | v | Cardiff Chess Club | ||||||
| IM | Skytte Rasmus | 2400 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 |
| FM | Boe Mads | 2349 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | IM | Cobb James | 2401 |
| Rendboe John | 2288 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Kett Tim | 2219 | ||
| Husted Peter | 2140 | 0 | - | 1 | Spice Alan | 2143 | ||
| Christensen Klaus | 2039 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Trevelyan John | 2130 | ||
| Skytte Torill | 1958 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Harle Bill | 0 | ||
| 2.5 | - | 3.5 |
ROUND 3 - Report by Stuart
I must admit that round 2 was one of the low points in my recent years as captain of Wales or Cardiff, so a good portion of TLC from myself, aided and abetted by a nice Italian meal and a couple of bottles of the local red wine, and our spirits had soon picked up, with the team ready to make amends in round 3.
We played the team seeded just one below us so a very evenly played match was anticipated, and so it turned out to be.
Within 30 minutes of the start we had doubled (!) our game points when Charles’ opponent as W offered a draw on move 9 (thanks very much !).
Play on the other 5 boards continued past the 3 hour mark, with Bill having put his remaining 7 pawns on black squares and looking in trouble and Alan having sacrificed the exchange for some 2 bishop pressure.
There then followed a flurry of results with:
1. John having played well to nullify his opponent’s space advantage and agree a draw,
2. Alan converting his pressure into a winning attack on the king, albeit Rxf5 would have been much quicker than Bxf5,
3. Bill’s opponent, an attractive young lady (perks for the WCU Exec Dir !) not making the most of her advantage and the game was agreed drawn having reached a rook and opposite bishop ending,
4. Tim, who had played with controlled aggression throughout, realising the sudden sequence of events shrewdly offered a draw in a position where he was no worse but which could become unclear, to secure at least a drawn match.
James’ opponent, who had been down to the 30 second increment from move 24, was visibly starting to panic, and James in a slightly better position offered a draw which was difficult to decline to ensure the team’s victory.
An excellent match which the team had approached with more confidence, a noticeable improvement in their speed of play, and an awareness of the overall match situation for a well deserved win, and no individual loss.
What is it they say about red wine being good for you .....
Shqiponja KSH EUR [ranked 49] v Nidum Chess Club [ranked 42]
| Shqiponja KSH | v | Nidum Chess Club | ||||||
| Ferati Muje | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | IM | Jones Richard | 2373 | |
| Makoli Perparim | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | Garcia Jason | 2008 | ||
| Koka Osman | 2235 | 1 | - | 0 | Gibbons Andrew | 0 | ||
| Hoxha Faruk | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | ||
| Haxha Bali | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | May Adam J | 0 | ||
| Rushiti Halit | 0 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Sinnett Glyn | 0 | ||
| 3.5 | - | 2.5 |
Round 3 - Report from Glyn
Rd 3 Nidum 2.5 Ksh Shqiponja 3.5
A little bit disappointing, after blowing some promising positions.
Richard completely blew his opponent apart in a King's Indian on bd1, whilst Adam May got mated down the h file in a Caro Kann. Andrew Gibbons had a nice position, failing to convert his advantage with f5, and got slowly ground down. Jason Garcia also had a fine position, but in time trouble, his position collapsed. Matthew Davies won a piece in mutual time trouble, leaving me to try and win my game to draw the match. I missed a few better attempts, but could only draw the ensuing rook and knight ending.
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Round 4
Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 41] v Solingen SG [ranked 24]
| Cardiff Chess Club | v | Solingen SG | ||||||
| IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 | 0 | - | 1 | GM | Sandipan Chanda | 2641 |
| IM | Cobb James | 2401 | 0 | - | 1 | GM | Hoffmann Michael | 2510 |
| Kett Tim | 2219 | 0 | - | 1 | IM | Schaefer Markus | 2390 | |
| Spice Alan | 2143 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Michalczak Thomas | 2368 | |
| Wagner Guy | 1911 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Scheffner Axel Dr | 2318 | |
| Harle Bill | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | Peschel Andreas | 2173 | ||
| 0 | - | 6 |
ROUND 4 - Report from Stuart
Unusually for me, I’m struggling for words (!), another 0 – 6 loss, this time against the team to whom Nidum had lost 1 – 5 (and unlucky not to score more) in round 1. I’m disappointed for the players, they are trying their best, but they just can’t seem to put a whole good game together, no doubt this is mostly due to the very strong opposition and the fast time control.
Briefly commenting on the games in the sequence in which they finished:
1. Alan played a lot of theory very quickly, but his opponent either knew even more or worked it out very well, and once the dust had settled Alan was pawn(s) down and his pieces stuck on the back rank.
2. Guy had played a solid opening and had a comfortable position before falling for a big tactic in the centre of the board with his pieces awkwardly placed.
3. Conversely, Bill had got a poor opening but fought back well only to blunder a critical pawn. He still valiantly created counter chances but with both kings exposed, his opponent was always going to mate first.
4. Tim lost a pawn very early, but also played well to reach a reasonable position, only to go wrong in the R + P ending in time trouble, and indeed lose on time despite the increment.
5. James played very well for most of the game and it was unfortunate that he lost the thread late in the first session.
6. It was too late for Charles to salvage anything as he had been on the back foot, and a pawn down, in a Q + N ending, which he resigned when the queens were forced off.
And unfortunately it is not going to get any easier (!). Briefly looking ahead to round 5, the pairing system pits same match scores followed by best versus worst game scores against each other. As our game score is so bad (round 2 coming back to haunt us), we will inevitably be paired against the best game score in our group, and after losing in round 0 – 6 against the 24th seed in round 4, we now find ourselves against the comparably strong 27th seed in round 5 (!).
Nidum Chess Club [ranked 42] v Expik Klubi I shahut [ranked 47]
| Nidum Chess Club | v | Expik Klubi I shahut | ||||||
| IM | Jones Richard | 2373 | 1 | - | 0 | . | Ajvazi Ramadan | 2240 |
| Garcia Jason | 2008 | O.5 | - | 0.5 | Zymberi Astrit | 2175 | ||
| Gibbons Andrew | 0 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Budima Armend | 0 | ||
| Davies Matthew | 1973 | 1 | - | 0 | Hamiti Gani | 2302 | ||
| May Adam J | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | Bislimi Mentor | 0 | ||
| Sinnett Glyn | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | Dushi Burim | 0 | ||
| 4 | - | 2 |
Round 4 Report from Glyn
Nidum 4-2 Expik ( Kosovo )
I was first to finish making an error, and dropping a pawn in a French Exchange. Soon afterwards, Adam May won his first game by totally destroying his opponent winning a queen for a Rook in a Sicilian O'Kelly. Andrew Gibbons drew on bd3 to keep the score balanced, but all hell broke loose on bd4, when Matthew Davies missed a win of a piece, and instead sacrificed an exchange for a murderous attack which ended with mate to follow. At one stage, there were 7 pieces tied up in a 3x3 square !!
The last two games we held small pluses in, and Richard pulled in the full point in a B+2 vs B+1 ending. Jason Garcia was a pawn up with just increments left on his clock, and played it safe, although his opponent went a little haywire trying to win, and ended up 3 pawns down. With more time i'm sure Jason would have carried on, and taken the full point !
First match win, and spirits are high !
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Round 5
Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova ITA [ranked 27th] 10.5 pts v Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 41] 4pts
| Obiettivo Riscarcimento Padova | v | Cardiff Chess Club | ||||||
| IM | Collutis Duilo | 2447 | 1 | - | 0 | IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 |
| IM | Arlandi Ennio | 2430 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | IM | Cobb James | 2401 |
| FM | Valsecchi Alessio | 2331 | 1 | - | 0 | Kett Tim | 2219 | |
| FM | Luciani Valerio | 2212 | 1 | - | 0 | Spice Alan | 2143 | |
| Navarro Stefano | 2274 | 1 | - | 0 | Trevelyan John | 2130 | ||
| Quaranta Critiano | 2116 | 1 | - | 0 | Harle Bill | 0 | ||
| 5.5 | - | 0.5 |
Round 5 Report from Stuart
Although seeded 27th, our opponents rested their 2685 top board, which gave us a glimmer of hope with the rating difference on each board now down to ‘only’ about 100.
Once again we passed the magic 2 hour mark without mishap, with the team showing more resolve than the previous round. Games in the order they finished:
1. Bill had played a steady game but lost control of some key squares and was forced back to lose in 2.75 hours.
2. John got a very passive position, and when his opponent changed the focal point of the attack John’s king was left over-exposed.
3. Tim had played well for some time in a complex game, but his opponent took control in the latter part of the first session, and in an awkward position Tim inadvertently lost on time for the second round in a row.
4. Alan was worse for some while in a R + N ending with his opponent having good squares from which to attack Alan’s over-extended pawns, inevitably resulting in an easily won N + P ending.
5. James, really the only consistent player throughout this tournament, pressed hard but let his advantage slip around the time control when his opponent was able to force the queens off, and had to concede a draw.
6. Charles, who had been down to his last 5 minutes by move 15 (!), then increments only from move 20, sacrificed a piece for good play. W conceded 3 pawns to avoid a perpetual check, but the piece proved superior once the queens had come off, and Charles’ try to give back some pawns to get connected passed pawns down the board, eventually proved unsuccessful.
So another heavy defeat, but probably close to a par result against higher rated and experienced opposition.
Looking ahead to round 6, we are paired with the team seeded 2 below us, a win or a draw against them will guarantee we will not have the bye in the last round. The die is cast .....
Amay GER [ranked 35th] 8.5pts v Nidum Chess Club [ranked 42] 10.5 pts
| Amay | v | Nidum Chess Club | ||||||
| GM | Bojkov Dejan | 2552 | 1 | - | 0 | IM | Jones Richard | 2373 |
| IM | Zaragatski Ilja | 2490 | 1 | - | 0 | Garcia Jason | 2008 | |
| IM | Burg Twan | 2455 | 1 | - | 0 | Gibbons Andrew | 0 | |
| FM | Buscher Michael | 2388 | 1 | - | 0 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | |
| Memeti Kastriot | 2210 | 1 | - | 0 | May Adam J | 0 | ||
| Noiroux Kevin | 2150 | 1 | - | 0 | Sinnett Glyn | 0 | ||
| 6 | - | 0 |
Round 5 Report from Glyn
Rd 5 - AMAY ( Belgium ) 6-0 Nidum (Bad day at Black Rock ! )
Andrew Gibbons got completely crunched in an Accelerated Dragon. Adam May was outmanouvered in a Dutch Irregular. Richard Jones got outplayed in a Sicilian Bb5+ just before the first time control. I got ground down in a Nimzo Indian.
Matthew Davies however got a nice position from the opening in a Nimzo, but dropped his g pawn, and the game went pear shaped. Jason Garcia was completely winning, and missed the winning try, before dropping a bit in time trouble.
There is always tomorrow !!
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Round 6
Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 43] v Dudelange (LUX) [Ranked 43]
| Cardiff Chess Club | v | Dudelange | ||||||
| IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | IM | Wirig Anthony | 2477 |
| IM | Cobb James | 2401 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | WGM | Berend Elvira | 2184 |
| Kett Tim | 2219 | 1 | - | 0 | FM | Mossong Hubert | 2148 | |
| Spice Alan | 2143 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Schartz Alain | 2187 | ||
| Trevelyan John | 2130 | 1 | - | 0 | Koch Dirk | 2057 | ||
| Wagner Guy | 1911 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Fattebene Pierre | 1934 | ||
| 4 | - | 2 |
ROUND 6 - Report from Stuart
So there were 3 teams who could get the bye in round 7, the loser of our match (where a drawn match was also OK for us), or Chanion playing in the match below. It was in our hands, and it turned out to be a fluctuating struggle.
The games in the sequence in which they finished, as usual nothing before 2.5 hours:
1. Alan was a bit worse in a Q + 2R ending but his opponent was happy to split the point without trying for more. Match score 0.5 - 0.5.
2. Charles had again played very slowly and might have had a little edge, but sensibly accepted the draw offer. Match score 1.0 – 1.0.
3. After about 3 hours play, John was being slightly pushed back, but his opponent erred in offering the exchange of queens to increase his advantage. Although the queen was defended by 2 pieces, John was able to deflect one and capture the other to leave the queen undefended and win a piece.
Match score 2.0 – 1.0 to Cardiff.
4. After another half an hour, Tim, in a very complex position with both players running low on time, seemed to be getting the upper hand with his well co-ordinated pieces, when his opponent put his queen en prise. Match score 3.0 – 1.0 to Cardiff, so I could now breathe more easily, as at least a drawn match was guaranteed which meant we avoided the last round bye.
5. Another half hour later, and Guy miraculously saved a game he had earlier looked like losing in short order. He managed to battle through the early complications to reach an ending where he had R + 3P against B + 6P, and showed real fighting spirit to hold this ending. Match score 3.5 – 1.5 to Cardiff.
6. James had played another good game, only to slip just before the time control to lose a pawn, but then showed exemplary technique to draw the rook and pawn ending. Match result 4 – 2 to Cardiff
Well played the team in scoring a crucial win in tense circumstances. As it turned out Chanion won their match easily, so it was really was all up to us. Our strange run of results continued, 2 won matches without a single individual loss, and 4 lost matches with just 2 draws in total. Our dreadful game points (minus 19 !) means in the last round we have the toughest pairing of our match points total, this time against the strong English team Betsson, seeded 32, but the team are ready and willing for one final effort.
Nidum Chess Club [ranked 42] v Etala-Vantaan Shakki FIN [ranked 35th]
| Nidum Chess Club | v | Etela -Vantaan Shakki | ||||||
| IM | Jones Richard | 2373 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | IM | Sepp Olav | 2485 |
| Garcia Jason | 2008 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Kokkila Tero | 2327 | |
| Gibbons Andrew | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | Hamalainen Sami | 2261 | ||
| Davies Matthew | 1973 | 0 | - | 1 | Salo Heikki | 2254 | ||
| May Adam J | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | FM | Kujala Auvo | 2225 | |
| Sinnett Glyn | 0 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Vihinen Teemu | 2127 | ||
| 1 | - | 5 |
Round 6 Report from Glyn
Nidum 1-5 Etela-Vantaan ( Finland )
A few promising positions went astray.
Matthew Davies lost early, losing in a Slav Defence. Richard Jones drew with his Im opponent on bd 1. I drew in a King's Indian Attack on bd6. Andrew Gibbons lost a very interesting game on bd3 in a Clarendon Court. Adam May had a Sicilian Bb5, and slowly got ground down, but what was disappointing was Jason Garcia losing a drawn ending in an Alekhine in 108 moves !!
Tomorrow we play in the final round vs Butrinti of Albania.
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ROUND 7
Betsson ENG [Ranked 32nd] v Cardiff Chess Club [ranked 48th]
| Betsson | v | Cardiff Chess Club | ||||||
| IM | IM Ledger Andrew J | 2430 |
0.5 |
- |
0.5 |
IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 |
| IM | IM Bates Richard A | 2374 |
0.5 |
- |
0.5 |
IM | Cobb James | 2401 |
| FM | FM Duncan Chris R | 2317 |
0.5 |
- |
0.5 |
Kett Tim | 2219 | |
| Nelson Jonathan P | 2237 |
0.5 |
- |
0.5 |
Spice Alan | 2143 | ||
| FM | FM Ledger Dave J | 2234 | 1 | - | 0 | Trevelyan John | 2130 | |
| Ledger Stephen C | 2072 | 1 | - | 0 | Wagner Guy | 1911 | ||
| 4 | - | 2 |
Final Round - Report from Stuart
The games in the sequence in which they finished, once again nothing before 2.5 hours:
1. John conceded an early space advantage and this coupled with his weak pawns was enough to concede the first score.
2. Tim’s game was steadily played by both sides before being agreed drawn.
3. Charles always looked solid and at last moved at a reasonable rate to maintain the balance and draw by repetition.
4. Past the 4 hour mark and James, after again playing very well, missed a couple of chances to improve and had to concede a draw in a R + N ending.
5. Alan had also been a bit better, but his opponent defended resourcefully and even won a pawn, but Alan had enough to hold the draw.
6. Guy who had been struggling throughout but hanging on tenaciously, eventually succumbed in a hopeless opposite bishop ending.
So a 2 – 4 loss, quite reasonable under the circumstances, and the sort of result we could have hoped for in our round 2 encounter against similar strength opposition. Our final position was 43rd, 2 below our seeding, but our game score of 3 wins, 15 draws and 24 losses showed how tough it really was this time.
Butrinti ALB [ranked 46] v Nidum Chess Club [ranked 42]
| Butrinti | v | Nidum Chess Club | ||||||
| IM | IM Seitaj Ilir 2390 | 2390 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | FM | Jones Richard | 2373 |
| FM | FM Karkanaqe Ilir 2377 | 2377 | 1 | - | 0 | Garcia Jason | 2008 | |
| Mihasi Lime 2038 | 2038 | 1 | - | 0 | Gibbons Andrew | 0 | ||
| Mejdini Murat 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | ||
| Dhame Petraq 1988 | 1988 | 1 | - | 0 | May Adam J | 0 | ||
| Mihasi Erald 1806 | 1806 | 0.5 | - | 0.5 | Sinnett Glyn | 0 | ||
| 5 | - | 1 |
Final Round - Report from Glyn
Nidum 1-5 Butrinti ( Albania )
Richard's game was first to finish in a Sicilian c3, where the R+N vs R+B ending cancelled each other out. Matthew Davies had a great position again out of his white side of a Nimzo Indian, dropping a pawn in the tactics before the time control. Andrew Gibbons had a nice position in a Sicilian Accelerated Dragon, but went astray and incorrectly sacced a piece. Adam May dropped a pawn in the opening, and never recovered, and lost the rook and pawn ending. I was completely winning in a Semi Slav, went a pawn to the good, and then instead of consolidating, by putting a rook to a better square, grabbed a second which allowed a knight sack swindle to give perpetual. Jason was last to finish again and deserved something again from his game, but went down in a queen and opposite coloured bishop ending.
We finished 47th - one place above our seeding.
Final crosstables and a few photos from Stuart
43. Cardiff Chess Club (RtgAvg:2200, Captain: Stuart Hutchings / TB1: 4 / TB2: 10,5)
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | Rp | |
| 1 | IM | Cobb Charles A | 2396 | ENG | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,5 | 7 | 2491 | 2261 |
| 2 | IM | Cobb James | 2401 | WLS | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2,5 | 7 | 2412 | 2310 |
| 3 | Kett Tim | 2219 | WLS | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 2,0 | 7 | 2321 | 2163 | |
| 4 | Spice Alan | 2143 | WLS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 7 | 2264 | 2106 | |
| 5 | Trevelyan John | 2130 | WLS | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | 5 | 2199 | 2050 | |||
| 6 | Wagner Guy | 1911 | WLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0,5 | 5 | 2131 | 1764 | |||
| 7 | Harle Bill | 0 | WLS | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0,5 | 4 | 2114 | 1792 |
47. Nidum Chess Club (RtgAvg:1659, Captain: Glyn Sinnett / TB1: 3 / TB2: 12,5)
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | Rp | |
| 1 | FM | Jones Richard S | 2373 | WLS | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 3,5 | 6 | 2251 | 2437 | |
| 2 | Garcia Jason | 2008 | WLS | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,0 | 6 | 2180 | 1944 | ||
| 3 | Gibbons Andrew | 0 | WLS | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,5 | 6 | 2097 | 1696 | ||
| 4 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | WLS | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,0 | 6 | 1938 | 1935 | ||
| 5 | May Adam J | 0 | WLS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,0 | 6 | 1857 | 1584 | ||
| 6 | Sinnett Glyn | 0 | WLS | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,5 | 6 | 1776 | 1583 |
Overall Final Results: All Results
1 RUS Economist-SGSEU
2 RUS Yugra
3 UKR Dan Dzo & PGMB - Chernigiv
43 WLS Cardiff Chess Club
47 WLS Nidum Chess Club
Photos:

Cardiff from board 1(r to l) Charles Cobb, James Cobb, Tim Kett, Alan Spice, John Trevelyan, Bill Hunt (not playing Guy Wagner).

Cardiff from board 6 (l to r) Bill Hunt, John Trevelyan, Alan Spice, Tim Kett, James Cobb (Charles Cobb hidden).

Cardiff non-playing captain Stuart Hutchings with Nidum's Andrew over his right shoulder and Glyn, Adam and Matthew over his left.

Nidum from board 1 (r to l) Richard Jones, Jason Garcia, Andrew Gibbons, Matthew Davies, (looking away - Adam May, hidden - Glyn Sinnett).

Relaxing in a local bar after a match, Cardiff players analyse before dining out.
All Open Games

