24th European Senior Team Championship 2022 (26th October - 4th November 2022)

And we have our winners....

Veröffentlicht: Samstag, 05. November 2022 00:16 von Ulrike Vogel, Fotos: Karsten Wieland

even though all games stayed interesting until the final board had finished at 3:10pm! Once that had happened the calculations and verifications had to happen.

During the closing ceremony everything got confirmed - the team England 50-1 are the new European Champions amongst the senior teams in the category 50+ with Berlin and Germany in 2nd and 3rd place. Lasker Schachstiftung from Germany took the top spot in the category 65+ with Finland 65 and Germany on the other two top spots. We congratulate both teams to their success!

England 50-1 had the following players: GM Mark Hebden, GM Keith Arkell, GM John Emms, GM Glenn Flear and IM Chris Baker. GM Mark Hebden came top on Board one with a performance of 2531 Elo points. GM Keith Arkell came first on board 2 with a performance of 2453 Elo. The third board GM John Emms got the top spot with a performance of 2466. GM Glenn Flear came second on the 4th boards with a performance of 2327 Elo points. So one can certainly say that it was a very successful tournament for this team!

The second place team Berlin 1 consisted of GM Robert Rabiega, IM Lars Thiede, IM Marco Thinius, IM Alexander Lagunow and Dr Matthias Kribben.

The third place went to Germany with players FM Lutz Fritsche, IM Klaus-Jürgen Schulz, IM Christian Maier, DR Wolfgang Polster and FM Volker Wolf.

A strong performance of the Slovakian Team with GM Lubomir Ftacnik, GM Martin Mrva, Jan Plachetka und FM Karol Motuz got them to into the 4th spot.

There was an extra recognition for the team that had the best improved ranking compared to the start of the tournament and this prize went to England 50-3 with the players Philip Crocker, Peter Hasson, Brian Valentine und Ray Tarling.

The team Lasker Schachstiftung was comprised of GM Rainer Knaak, GM Jakob Meister, GM Sergey Kalinitschew and Dr Gerhard Köhler. Similar to the winners in category 50+ this team also took home some of the individual board prizes.The first two boards took their individual top spots with the 3rd place taking bronze.

For Finland 65, who took 2n place GM Heikki Westerinen, IM Timothy Binham, Timo Tuomala, FM Dietmar Vinke and Pekka Hietala were playing.

Germany 3 came 3rd with IM Yuri Boidman, FM Dr Bernd Baum, IM Klaus Klundt, FM Hans-Joachim Vatter and FM Chrisof Herbrechtsmeier.

IM Nils-Gustaf Reman, Goran Rorvall, CM Per Soderberg, Magnus Wahlbom and FM Bengt Hammar formed team Sweden 1 and took the 4th place.

Siebenlehner SV with Alexander Okrajek, Gerhard Schmidt, Bernd Windisch, Peter Kahn und Dr Andreas Herold were the team that improved their rating the most.

Of course we also made sure our women's teams were recognised for their work.

 Further pictures can be accessed through the German text below.

The penultimate round has concluded

Veröffentlicht: Donnerstag, 03. November 2022 23:59 von Ulrike Vogel

Hard to believe that it's already been a week since our players arrived and started the tournament!

Today started with another simul - this time 10 participants took the chance to take on one of the best German chess players Elisabeth Pähtz. However, she decided all her games in her favour but she also gave a few hints and tips to some of the players after the games had finished.

The penultimate round certainly brought a feeling of slight tension and anticipation in the hall - some teams knew today's games would be important! With in the 50+ games England managed to clinch another 3.5 points against Bielefeld. Germany only got 1.5 points in their game against Slovakia and only one team managed a clean sweep.

Within the 65+ team the Lasker Schachstiftung team took over the lead as they managed to achieve 2.5 points from their game against Germany 3. Sweden 1 gained 3 points against Germany 1 and clinched 3rd place for now whilst two further teams had a clean sweep with 4 points.

It continues to be interesting and the final winners are not quite decided!

We had another German chess player visit the tournament today

Veröffentlicht: Mittwoch, 02. November 2022 23:09 von Ulrike Vogel

The morning today started with a chat with German chess player Elisabeth Pähtz in front of an audience of around 40 people. She presented her book and spoke about what got her inspired to start writing at all. It was a relaxed conversation around all sort of topics, from how Elisabeth started playing in the first place, who are her role models as well as more complicated questions around equality and the role of women in chess. Speaking about her own experiences growing up in a chess family she also spoke about the psycological implications that chess players are faced with these days, which is almost more important than the defending of pieces and more traditional battle on the board itself. Aftwards, the audience had a chance to get a copy of the book and have signed.

Team England 50-1 managed to get another 3.5 points in today's 7th round and they will face Team Bielefeld tomorrow. Germany in the category 50+ fought and got three points from their pairing against Berlin 1.

Amongst the 65+ Germany 3 managed to achieve 2.5 points and continues to stay on top of the current ranking. Team Lasker Schachstiftung had a clean sweep of 4 points against Cercle d'Echecs de Strasbourg and managed to get into second place.

Not just one event took place in Dresden last Sunday.....

Veröffentlicht: Dienstag, 01. November 2022 17:38 von Ulrike Vogel, Fotos: Karsten Wieland

....which created a meeting of chess and marathon! The Dresden Marathon took place for the first time since the start of the Pandemic and the International Congress Centre was the registration and finishing point for it.

Our chess players are still facing their own kind of marathon as the tournament is going into the final third. After five played rounds England 1 is in the lead in the category 50+ and Sweden 1 and Germany 3 are on the top amongst the category 65+. Selected games can still be followed online for 50+ and 65+. All the games of the registered womens' teams are also being broadcast to honour the year of the woman in chess.

Dresden has been presenting itself in the most glorious late autumn sunshine so far, which have made the excursion during the free time even more enjoyable. So far some of the chess friends have tried their hands at porcellain painting, as well as taking part in guided and bus tours to see what the Saxon Capital has to offer.

Results Blitz Tournament

Veröffentlicht: Montag, 31. Oktober 2022 16:16 von Ulrike Vogel

We were very happy to have 42 chess friends take part in a Blitz tournament this morning. Within just under 2 hours there were 9 rounds of chess and thanks to the generous support from Chessbase there was a little something for every participant to take home with them.

The top 5 were as follows:

1. Place - Cliff Wichmann

2. Place - Lars Thiede

3. Place - Karsten Schulz

4. Place - Christian Maier

5. Place - Andreas Druckenthaner

The remaining results can be found here.

Almost halfway through the tournament

Veröffentlicht: Sonntag, 30. Oktober 2022 23:43 von Ulrike Vogel, Foto: Karsten Wieland

and the day started with a presentation by Dr Robert Hübner. 40 chess friends were in attendance and asked some really interesting questions. It was a very inspiring start into the day with some fascinating insights presented with Hübner's humour. The GM, who is said to be the strongest German chess player since Emanuel Lasker. Across his illustrious chess career he has achieved a whole load of things - for 17 consecutive years he was amongst the top 20 players in the world, in 1981 peaking on third place.

There were some very interesting games during today's round and no doubt that the extra hour of sleep was of advantage for the one of other player as every team was fighting for every half point. In the 50+ category Slovakia and England 1 are starting to break away a bit from the rest of the teams. Germany 3 is currently in the lead in the 65+ category but Sweden, Cercle d'Echecs de Strasbourg and Finland are right behind them.

The next round of the European Seniors Team Chess Championship was played today

Veröffentlicht: Samstag, 29. Oktober 2022 23:35 von Ulrike Vogel

... but the day started with a different chess event - German chess player Dr Robert Hübner played a simul against 17 chess players - one of the games ended in a draw, one player won their game, all others ended in favour of Dr Hübner.

At the start of round 3 he then made the ceremonial first draw on the first board of the game England - Germany in the category 50+. The game ended in favour of the English team, who won their games 2.5 to 1.5.

The only team achieving a clean sweep of 4 wins, deciding the round clearly in their favour were the Germany Women 2 team. At the top of the table there was a bit more movement today and it will be interesting to see how things will continue to develop as we are going into the second third of the tournament.

In between the rounds players have had the chance enjoy the sights of Dresden in beautiful October sunshine.

The 24th European Senior Team Chess Championship is in in full swing

Veröffentlicht: Freitag, 28. Oktober 2022 23:18 von Ulrike Vogel, Foto: Karsten Wieland

and we have set a new record  - 76 teams with around 350 participants playing their games over the board we are delighted to have had such a great response to this tournament.

The 2nd round was played already and across the two rounds there have been 11 perfect results and currently Sweden 1 is in the lead in the 65+ category and England 50-1 in the category 50+

45 of the participating teams are from Germany and a further 15 countries are here: Sweden, France, Finland, Belgium, England, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Scotland, Kosovo, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia and Liechtenstein.

The next few days will also see some extra chess events take place in addition to the tournament and Dr Robert Hübner and Elizabeth Pähtz will grace us with their presence.

Further reporting and pictures will be published over the next few days.

First round of the European Seniors Team Chess Championship is not far off from starting

Veröffentlicht: Donnerstag, 27. Oktober 2022 13:50 von Ulrike Vogel

With almost all players here in Dresden now the anticipation is growing ahead of the first round starting at 3pm today.

All pairings will be available throughout the tournament on Chess Results - the relevant groups can be selected towards the top of the page.

You can also follow selected games live online - for the 50+ and the 65+. Please note that the broadcast will start with a 15 minute delay.

Less than a week until the start of the European Seniors Team Chess Championship...

Veröffentlicht: Freitag, 21. Oktober 2022 19:48 von Ulrike Vogel

... and preparations are in full swing.

We are very excited to be hosting one of the most remarkable European Team Chess Events of 2022 here in Dresden. For the Seniors Team Chess Championship we are expecting almost 380 participants making up 80 teams and representing 17 federations.

Throughout the tournament a few chess themed events will be taking place. Further details will be published over the next week.

We hope all participants, accompanying people and arbiters will have a safe journey to Dresden!