Nidum in the European Club Cup 2011
24th - 2nd October
2011 EUROPEAN CLUB CUP , Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia
A number of players were unavailable to participate in this competition for various reasons, but Nidum Chess Club managed to take 7 players, who all shared the duties by playing six games each. The players who took part in board order were Richard S Jones, Jason Garcia, Gareth Harley-Yeo, Matthew Davies, Andrew Gibbons, Robert Moore and Vaness Reid.
It was a tough tournament, with one high and many lows !
Round 1
| 1.27 | 58 | Nidum Chess Club | ½ - 5½ | 27 | KSK Rochade Eupen-Kelmis | ||
| 1 | FM | Jones Richard S | 2388 | ½:½ | GM | Berelowitsch Alexander | 2563 |
| 2 | Garcia Jason | 2019 | 0 : 1 | GM | Glek Igor | 2408 | |
| 3 | Harley-Yeo Gareth | 2006 | 0 : 1 | Fiebig Thomas | 2417 | ||
| 4 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | 0 : 1 | FM | Ahn Martin | 2290 | |
| 5 | Gibbons Andrew | 1835 | 0 : 1 | FM | Meessen Rudolf | 2278 | |
| 6 | Moore Robert | 0 | 0 : 1 | Foerster Sven | 2208 | ||
Richard managed to draw with his grandmaster opponent in a complicated endgame. Bob managed to lose a completely won game by first being an exchange to the good, then missing a win of a rook.
Round 2
| 2.24 | 39 | Voerendaal | 4½ - 1½ | 59 | Nidum Chess Club | ||
| 1 | IM | Bitalzadeh Ali | 2409 | 0 : 1 | FM | Jones Richard S | 2388 |
| 2 | FM | Sielecki Christof | 2391 | 1 : 0 | Garcia Jason | 2019 | |
| 3 | IM | Lemmers Oscar | 2382 | 1 : 0 | Harley-Yeo Gareth | 2006 | |
| 4 | FM | Driessens Patrick | 2311 | 1 : 0 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | |
| 5 | Bus Tom | 2186 | ½:½ | Gibbons Andrew | 1835 | ||
| 6 | Merx Bob | 2093 | 1 : 0 | WFM | Reid Vaness | 1832 | |
Richard again showed good form, completely outplaying his IM opponent in a King’s Indian. Andrew comfortably held his opponent on board 5.
Round 3
| 3.31 | 59 | Nidum Chess Club | 2 - 4 | 56 | Butrinti Saranda | ||
| 1 | FM | Jones Richard S | 2388 | ½:½ | IM | Seitaj Ilir | 2388 |
| 2 | Garcia Jason | 2019 | ½:½ | Dhame Petraq | 1979 | ||
| 3 | Harley-Yeo Gareth | 2006 | 0 : 1 | Mihasi Erald | 1805 | ||
| 4 | Gibbons Andrew | 1835 | ½:½ | Mejdini Murat | 2076 | ||
| 5 | Moore Robert | 0 | ½:½ | Mihasi Lime | 2021 | ||
| 6 | WFM | Reid Vaness | 1832 | 0 : 1 | FM | Karkanaqe Ilir | 23 |
Richard’s live grade was now an agonising 2399.4, so playing an identical graded player meant he needed a win to go over 2400. A draw ensued so there was no movement in grades. Jason’s game was dead, but Gareth had a won position from the opening but went astray quickly and lost. Boards four and five were drawn, but Vaness was unfortunate to lose her game which she could so easily have won.
Round 4
| 4.30 | 51 | Slavoj Ostrava Poruba | 4 - 2 | 59 | Nidum Chess Club | ||
| 1 | IM | Klima Lukas | 2370 | 1 : 0 | Garcia Jason | 2019 | |
| 2 | FM | Malik Jan | 2352 | 1 : 0 | Harley-Yeo Gareth | 2006 | |
| 3 | Bolacky Jiri | 2269 | 1 : 0 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | ||
| 4 | Kufa Pavel | 2224 | ½:½ | Gibbons Andrew | 1835 | ||
| 5 | Vasiliadis Grigorios | 2004 | ½:½ | Moore Robert | 0 | ||
| 6 | Dostal Petr | 1921 | 0 : 1 | WFM | Reid Vaness | 1832 | |
Richard decided to take the bye now, as it was probably a better chance of him getting his IM title with the white pieces. The top three had a tough time, with boards four and five involved with short draws. Vaness played a nice solid game, and mated her opponent by trapping it on the f6 square.
Round 5
| 5.31 | 59 | Nidum Chess Club | 2½ - 3½ | 54 | Gonzaga Chess Club | ||
| 1 | FM | Jones Richard S | 2388 | ½:½ | IM | Collins Sam E | 2436 |
| 2 | Garcia Jason | 2019 | 0 : 1 | Freeman Gordon | 2161 | ||
| 3 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | 1 : 0 | Mc Morrow John | 2040 | ||
| 4 | Gibbons Andrew | 1835 | 0 : 1 | Hayes Peter J | 2054 | ||
| 5 | Moore Robert | 0 | 0 : 1 | Byrne Ray | 2054 | ||
| 6 | WFM | Reid Vaness | 1832 | 1 : 0 | Jackson Carl | 0 | |
Richard drew in 10 moves to secure his IM title awaiting ratification with FIDE. Jason, Andrew and Bob were outplayed, Matthew made hard work of a won position and Vaness having a nice position was helped by her opponent who self mated himself.
Round 6
| 6.31 | 59 | Nidum Chess Club | 2 - 4 | 61 | Veleciku | ||
| 1 | FM | Jones Richard S | 2388 | ½:½ | Shabanaj Saimir | 2120 | |
| 2 | Harley-Yeo Gareth | 2006 | 0 : 1 | CM | Paci Aleksander | 2150 | |
| 3 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | 0 : 1 | Guxho Clirim | 2044 | ||
| 4 | Gibbons Andrew | 1835 | 0 : 1 | Zekaj Dritan | 2068 | ||
| 5 | Moore Robert | 0 | 1 : 0 | Salihaj Ferit | 0 | ||
| 6 | WFM | Reid Vaness | 1832 | ½:½ | Duli Mehdi | 0 | |
Richard was fortunate to draw this game, having gone into a worst endgame. Matthew was better, but then inexplicably dropped a rook. Bob was worst, but created a little confusion in his opponent’s camp with a passed g pawn to bring home the point.
Round 7
| 7.31 | 58 | Chess Club Expik | 3½ - 2½ | 59 | Nidum Chess Club | ||
| 1 | Ajvazi Ramadan | 2207 | ½:½ | FM | Jones Richard S | 2388 | |
| 2 | Budima Armend | 2247 | ½:½ | Garcia Jason | 2019 | ||
| 3 | Zymberi Astrit | 2154 | ½:½ | Harley-Yeo Gareth | 2006 | ||
| 4 | Hamiti Gani | 2152 | 0 : 1 | Davies Matthew | 1973 | ||
| 5 | Bislimi Mentor | 0 | 1 : 0 | Moore Robert | 0 | ||
| 6 | Ardian Jashari | 0 | 1 : 0 | WFM | Reid Vaness | 1832 | |
Jason played his best game of the tournament and was very unfortunate in missing a few wins in his own time trouble. Matthew had an edge which his opponent allowed him to steer into a won king and pawn endgame. Bob was a few pawns up, but then played a few weak moves and lost – a game we should have won.
Team
P 7 W 0 D 0 L 7 MP 0 GP 13 Position 62nd
Personal scores
FM Richard S Jones 6 1 5 0 3.5/6
Jason Garcia 6 0 2 4 1/6
Gareth Harley-Yeo 6 0 1 5 0.5/6
Matthew Davies 6 2 0 4 2/6
Andrew Gibbons 6 0 3 3 1.5/6
Robert Moore 6 1 2 3 2/6
WFM Vaness Reid 6 2 1 3 2.5/6
Summary from Glyn Sinnett
