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Master Class Vol.5: Emanuel Lasker
The name Emanuel Lasker will always be linked with his incredible 27 years reign on the throne of world chess. In 1894, at the age of 25, he had already won the world title from Wilhelm Steinitz and his record number of years on the throne did not end till 1921 when Lasker had to accept the superiority of Jose Raul Capablanca. But not only had the only German world champion so far seen off all challengers for many years, he had also won the greatest tournaments of his age, sometimes with an enormous lead. The fascinating question is, how did he manage that?
No fewer than 90 teams, divided in 9 groups, battled online over the weekend in the first stage of the European Club Cup. Two teams from each group advanced to the playoffs, where half of them will be eliminated before reaching the final group. The second stage will be played on Monday, while the final 10-team single round robin will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday — 9 teams will qualify from the playoffs and will join Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, the winners of the European Women’s Club Cup.
In most groups, the two highest-rated teams reached the playoffs, but there were some exceptions. In Group E, the Asnieres Le Grand Echiquier A team (led by Grigoriy Oparin) was bested by the Beer Sheva Chess Club from Israel; while another Israeli team, the Ashdod Chess Ogen Club, did not make the cut in Group F despite having a higher rating average than Svetlana from Belarus, led by Vladislav Kovalev. Other strong teams that were knocked out were Tremblay (Baadur Jobava, Aleksey Dreev) and Beniajan Duochess (David Anton, Sandro Mareco).
The country that has the largest number of representatives in the playoffs is Germany, which counts four squads among the 18 that fared better during the weekend. Russia and Azerbaijan also had good results:
- Germany – 4
- Russia – 3
- Azerbaijan – 2
- France – 2
- Poland – 2
- Belarus – 1
- Czechia – 1
- England – 1
- Israel – 1
- Ukraine – 1
Replay all available games at our server:Group A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
Teams that made the playoffs
Group A
1. Ladya Kazan (RtgAvg:2625, Captain: Ibragimov, Ildar / TB1: 16 / TB2: 29) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Artemiev Vladislav | 2709 | RUS | 7,0 | 9 | 2449 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2665 | USA | 7,0 | 9 | 2370 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Timofeev Artyom | 2594 | RUS | 8,0 | 9 | 2318 | |||||||||||
| 4 | IM | Sharafiev Azat | 2432 | RUS | 7,0 | 9 | 2207 | |||||||||||
2. OSG Baden Baden e.V. (RtgAvg:2715, Captain: Noppes, Sven / TB1: 15 / TB2: 30) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Rapport Richard | 2763 | HUN | 8,0 | 9 | 2458 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Bacrot Etienne | 2678 | FRA | 7,0 | 9 | 2361 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2662 | ESP | 7,0 | 9 | 2298 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2649 | AZE | 8,0 | 9 | 2171 | |||||||||||
Group B
1. Novy Bor (RtgAvg:2712, Captain: Boleslav, Petr / TB1: 18 / TB2: 32) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | 2730 | IND | 1,5 | 2 | 2470 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2726 | IND | 6,5 | 7 | 2513 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Wojtaszek Radoslaw | 2694 | POL | 7,0 | 8 | 2397 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Navara David | 2697 | CZE | 5,5 | 6 | 2317 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2647 | IND | 5,5 | 6 | 2268 | |||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Ragger Markus | 2680 | AUT | 6,0 | 7 | 2224 | |||||||||||
2. Hamburger 1830 (RtgAvg:2592, Captain: Zickelbein, Eva Maria / TB1: 14 / TB2: 25) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2670 | SWE | 5,0 | 7 | 2524 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Svane Rasmus | 2613 | GER | 3,5 | 7 | 2457 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Hansen Sune Berg | 2533 | DEN | 3,5 | 6 | 2396 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Engel Luis | 2553 | GER | 4,5 | 6 | 2290 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Heinemann Thies | 2502 | GER | 4,0 | 5 | 2341 | |||||||||||
| 6 | FM | Kramer Julian | 2419 | GER | 4,5 | 5 | 2156 | |||||||||||
Group C
1. Mednyi Vsadnik (RtgAvg:2698, Captain: Bykov, Vladimir / TB1: 17 / TB2: 28,5) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2687 | RUS | 5,5 | 7 | 2478 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2688 | RUS | 4,5 | 5 | 2434 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Vitiugov Nikita | 2715 | RUS | 4,0 | 6 | 2500 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Esipenko Andrey | 2701 | RUS | 6,5 | 8 | 2399 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Shimanov Aleksandr | 2597 | RUS | 4,0 | 5 | 2151 | |||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Ponkratov Pavel | 2619 | RUS | 4,0 | 5 | 2204 | |||||||||||
2. SF Deizisau e.V. (RtgAvg:2641, Captain: Noppes, Sven / TB1: 15 / TB2: 28) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | 2670 | GER | 6,0 | 7 | 2480 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Donchenko Alexander | 2659 | GER | 4,5 | 7 | 2476 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Heimann Andreas | 2606 | GER | 5,0 | 7 | 2318 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Keymer Vincent | 2591 | GER | 7,0 | 8 | 2311 | |||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | 2598 | GER | 5,5 | 7 | 2261 | |||||||||||
Group D
1. 4NCL Guildford (RtgAvg:2682, Captain: Emerson, Roger / TB1: 18 / TB2: 32) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Adams Michael | 2716 | ENG | 5,0 | 7 | 2519 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Howell David W L | 2658 | ENG | 7,5 | 8 | 2451 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | McShane Luke J | 2674 | ENG | 6,0 | 7 | 2363 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2670 | ENG | 6,5 | 7 | 2293 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2667 | BUL | 7,0 | 7 | 2171 | |||||||||||
2. C’Chartres Echecs A (RtgAvg:2596, Captain: Sobry, Sebastien / TB1: 15 / TB2: 26) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Ivanchuk Vasyl | 2678 | UKR | 5,5 | 6 | 2543 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Lagarde Maxime | 2640 | FRA | 5,5 | 9 | 2423 | |||||||||||
| 3 | IM | Maurizzi Marc Andria | 2461 | FRA | 4,5 | 7 | 2321 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Medvegy Zoltan | 2527 | HUN | 5,5 | 7 | 2317 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Guliyev Namig | 2538 | AZE | 5,0 | 7 | 2220 | |||||||||||
Group E
1. Odlar Yurdu (RtgAvg:2676, Captain: Agaragimov, Djakhangir / TB1: 18 / TB2: 29) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2770 | AZE | 5,0 | 5 | 2534 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Guseinov Gadir | 2665 | AZE | 6,5 | 9 | 2424 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Abasov Nijat | 2664 | AZE | 4,5 | 7 | 2354 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Durarbayli Vasif | 2606 | AZE | 6,5 | 7 | 2227 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Safarli Eltaj | 2598 | AZE | 6,5 | 8 | 2258 | |||||||||||
2. Beer Sheva Chess Club (RtgAvg:2575, Captain: Klenburg, Michael / TB1: 15 / TB2: 26,5) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Mikhalevski Victor | 2552 | ISR | 6,0 | 8 | 2468 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Roiz Michael | 2579 | ISR | 3,5 | 7 | 2417 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Postny Evgeny | 2605 | ISR | 5,0 | 8 | 2376 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Steinberg Nitzan | 2553 | ISR | 5,5 | 6 | 2292 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Huzman Alexander | 2561 | ISR | 6,5 | 7 | 2213 | |||||||||||
Group F
1. Clichy Echecs 92 (RtgAvg:2673, Captain: Bonvalot, Isabelle / TB1: 15 / TB2: 25) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2676 | IRI | 5,0 | 7 | 2469 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Amin Bassem | 2695 | EGY | 6,0 | 8 | 2361 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | van Wely Loek | 2620 | NED | 6,5 | 9 | 2287 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Hamdouchi Hicham | 2561 | MAR | 6,0 | 9 | 2230 | |||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Delorme Axel | 2480 | FRA | 1,5 | 3 | 2243 | |||||||||||
2. Svetlana (RtgAvg:2584, Captain: Kul, Ivan / TB1: 14 / TB2: 25) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Kovalev Vladislav | 2648 | BLR | 4,5 | 6 | 2519 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Azarov Sergei | 2604 | BLR | 4,0 | 5 | 2376 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Agrest Evgenij | 2568 | SWE | 2,0 | 4 | 2313 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Zhigalko Andrey | 2517 | BLR | 5,5 | 8 | 2273 | |||||||||||
| 5 | IM | Kazakouski Valery | 2476 | LTU | 5,5 | 8 | 2343 | |||||||||||
| 6 | IM | Meribanov Vitaly | 2406 | BLR | 3,5 | 5 | 2284 | |||||||||||
Group G
1. Polonia Wroclaw (RtgAvg:2569, Captain: Bartel, Mateusz / TB1: 17 / TB2: 27,5) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Bartel Mateusz | 2635 | POL | 4,5 | 6 | 2496 | |||||||||||
| 2 | IM | Gumularz Szymon | 2517 | POL | 6,0 | 8 | 2403 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Mastrovasilis Dimitrios | 2609 | GRE | 5,5 | 8 | 2406 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Tazbir Marcin | 2513 | POL | 5,0 | 6 | 2275 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Wieczorek Oskar | 2498 | POL | 2,5 | 4 | 2237 | |||||||||||
| 6 | WGM | Zawadzka Jolanta | 2399 | POL | 4,0 | 4 | 1976 | |||||||||||
2. New Old Boys (RtgAvg:2654, Captain: Kobalia, Mikhail / TB1: 15 / TB2: 28) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Grachev Boris | 2619 | RUS | 6,0 | 8 | 2432 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Motylev Alexander | 2641 | RUS | 7,0 | 8 | 2350 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Najer Evgeniy | 2648 | RUS | 4,0 | 6 | 2307 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | 2587 | RUS | 4,5 | 6 | 2197 | |||||||||||
| 6 | IM | Murzin Volodar | 2478 | RUS | 6,5 | 8 | 2301 | |||||||||||
Group H
1. Greco-Notary Chess Team (RtgAvg:2650, Captain: Maly, Alexey / TB1: 17 / TB2: 27,5) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | 2699 | UKR | 6,0 | 7 | 2483 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2672 | UKR | 5,0 | 7 | 2439 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | 2642 | UKR | 6,0 | 7 | 2410 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Baklan Vladimir | 2587 | UKR | 5,5 | 7 | 2310 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Brodsky Michail | 2524 | UKR | 3,5 | 5 | 2079 | |||||||||||
| 6 | IM | Maly Alexey | 2371 | UKR | 1,5 | 3 | 2178 | |||||||||||
2. SV 1930 Hockenheim (RtgAvg:2606, Captain: Wagner, Dennis / TB1: 16 / TB2: 26) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Banusz Tamas | 2631 | HUN | 5,5 | 9 | 2478 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Braun Arik | 2609 | GER | 7,0 | 9 | 2396 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Wagner Dennis | 2581 | GER | 7,5 | 9 | 2336 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Buhmann Rainer | 2580 | GER | 6,0 | 9 | 2208 | |||||||||||
Group I
1. Poland Hussars (RtgAvg:2644, Captain: Bartel, Michal / TB1: 16 / TB2: 28) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Duda Jan-Krzysztof | 2729 | POL | 0,0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Moranda Wojciech | 2618 | POL | 5,0 | 8 | 2440 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Socko Bartosz | 2618 | POL | 5,0 | 5 | 2400 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Tomczak Jacek | 2610 | POL | 7,0 | 9 | 2372 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Klekowski Maciej | 2510 | POL | 6,5 | 8 | 2275 | |||||||||||
| 6 | IM | Teclaf Pawel | 2507 | POL | 4,5 | 5 | 2177 | |||||||||||
2. Tehsil Idman (RtgAvg:2489, Captain: Ibrahimov, Rasul / TB1: 15 / TB2: 25) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Games | RtgAvg | ||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Iskandarov Misratdin | 2535 | AZE | 5,0 | 8 | 2502 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Ibrahimov Rasul | 2527 | AZE | 0,0 | 2 | 2563 | |||||||||||
| 3 | IM | Muradli Mahammad | 2449 | AZE | 6,0 | 8 | 2387 | |||||||||||
| 4 | IM | Mammadzada Gunay | 2443 | AZE | 3,5 | 5 | 2352 | |||||||||||
| 5 | IM | Shahaliyev Ismayil | 2413 | AZE | 3,0 | 4 | 2231 | |||||||||||
| 6 | IM | Bashirli Nail | 2382 | AZE | 7,5 | 9 | 2287 | |||||||||||
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