European Team Championships was held in Crete, Greece from 27 October to 7 November 2007. There were 40 men's and 30 women's, each one comprised of four players and a reserve. The system of play was nine round Swiss and the final order was decided by match points while game points were controversially used for purposes of tie-splitting (it is commonly believed Buchholz is more fair as tie-break).

The event drew most top European players, including Topalov, Svidler, Morozevich, Adams, Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk and Shirov. As much as 66 men were rated +2600.

In the men's teams tournament, Russia conquered the title after showing excellent performance scoring 8 wins and one draw. Svidler scored magic 6/7 at top board while player #2 was Morozevich with 6/8. The victory against Israel in the last round's decider was crucial for Armenia who finished second (best player Sargissian 6.5/9). The young Azeri team took bronze after beating France in the last round edging out Poland who recovered greatly after miserable start. Incumbent champions Holland finished in poor 19th.

In the women's teams event, Russia scored 6 wins and 3 draws to take their first title ever (no nation managed to win the title more than once!). Poland, the titleholders, came second while bronze was taken by surprise Armenia. Best individual result was scored by Nemcova of the Czech republic - 7.5/9.

FINAL RESULTS MEN (see details here):
1. Russia 17
2. Armenia 14
3. Azerbaijan 13
4. Poland, Ukraine, Israel 12
...(40)

FINAL RESULTS WOMEN (see details here):
1. Russia 15
2. Poland 13
3. Armenia 13
4. Ukraine, Georgia, Slovenia 12
...(30)

See OlimpBase info&result page: men, women
See European Team Championship all-time statistics: men, women

See tournament home page
See daily report at chessdom.com

by Jerzy @ 18 Nov 2007 06:00 pm

Oh, I can see Polish teams at the top. How nice :)