The 4th round had been played yesterday at the European Team Chess Championship 2017 in Creta Maris resort, in Hersonissos.
Hungary shocked the overnight leader and defending champion- Russia, thanks to the Viktor Erdos’ (HUN, 2624) win against Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS, 2733). The other three match games finished in a draw.
In the same pattern, Croatia won against Israel, the decisive blow being delivered by Marin Bosiocic (CRO, 2619) after which Croatia goes on today’s round as leader together with Armenia who came out on the top with a victory of a 2.5-1.5 versus Netherlands.
Germany and Poland exchanged a pair of victories to tie the match 2-2, while Turkey overwhelmed the multiple Olympic champion- Ukraine as 19 years old youngster, Vahap Sanal (TUR, 2549), made a sensation by beating Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR, 2690) on the 4th board.
The matches Czech Republic – Serbia, England – Italy and Romania – Georgia were all even after pairs of wins were traded between the respective teams.
The derby match of the 4th round in Women’s Section was played between Russia and Georgia, the two top seeded teams. Russia emerged victorious to maintain the perfect score and move into the sole lead. Kateryna Lagno (RUS, 2541) and Valentina Gunina (RUS, 2502) won for Russia, while Lela Javakhishvili (2438) scored for Georgia.
On the top table Spain and Poland played out four decisive games, all won by white, to eventually tie the match. It looks like the Spain’s amulet -squirrel, didn’t bring them luck.
Armenia and France scored narrow wins against Greece 1 and Israel, respectively. Maria Gevorgyan (ARM, 2262) won for Armenia, and Almira Skripchenko (FRA, 2399) was the hero for France.
Ukraine bounced back with a solid 3-1 victory against Hungary, while Italy beat Netherlands by the same score.
Before the resting day, the fifth round will take place at 15:00 (local time) and all the teams will give the best of them and try to take a short leisure with the best possible result.
Top round 5 pairings in Women’s section are: Russia – Spain, Italy – Poland, Armenia – Georgia and Ukraine – France.
Top round 5 pairings in Open section are: Hungary – Armenia, Croatia – Germany, Poland – Belarus and Russia – Turkey.
All the pairings, results and standings can be found here.
