Five rounds have been played at the European Team Chess Championship 2025 and the tournament reached its midpoint. Heading into the 6th round, Ukraine emerged as the sole leader of the Open section, while Poland took the sole lead in the Women’s Championship.
The team of Ukraine defeated the defending Champions – Serbia. GM Ihor Samunenkov (UKR, 2568) brought the initial lead to Ukraine, after defeating GM Robert Markus (SRB, 2535). The position was roughly equal when Markus badly blundered a mating motive, and the Ukrainian didn’t spot it at first. When his opponent repeated the mistake, Samunenkov seized the opportunity and won the game. GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2618) and GM Igor Kovalenko (UKR, 2669) played a very complex and interesting game. Everything was hanging on the board, with both Kings sitting in the center. However, Indjic broke the thin ice after going for the unsound piece sacrifice, and Kovalenko defended well, eventually scoring a win. The games on the first two boards finished in solid draws, with neither side having realistic chances for a better result.
Netherlands scored a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory over Spain, with GM Anish Giri (NED, 2759) and GM Loek Van Wely (NED, 2630) scoring wins against GM Alexei Shirov (ESP, 2636) and GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP, 2621). GM David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2631) won for Spain against GM Max Warmerdam (NED, 2582), but it wasn’t enough since the game between GM Maksim Chigaev (ESP, 2634) and GM Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2697) finished in a draw.
France was victorious against better-rated England’s team. GM Laurent Fressinet (FRA, 2602) defeated GM Michael Adams (ENG, 2646), and GM Maxime Lagarde (FRA, 2617) won against GM Luke McShane (ENG, 2614). GM Nikita Vitiugov (ENG, 2654) brought his team a point from the game against GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (FRA, 2624), but France won the match thanks to a draw on the third board in the game between GM Gawain Jones Maroroa (ENG, 2643) and GM Pierre Laurent-Paoli (FRA, 2570).
Netherlands, Serbia and France now score 8 match points each to tie for the second place, trailing the leader by one match point.
Poland took the sole lead in the Women’s section after defeating Germany. IM Oliwia Kiolbasa (POL, 2388) was the wizard of the Polish team, winning against FM Lara Schulze (GER, 2319) while the other three games finished in draws. IM Dinara Wagner (GER, 2410) and IM Alina Kashlinskaya (POL, 2450) played a very interesting game on the top board, but both players missed their winning chances, and the game ended with a draw. The games on the second and the fourth board were rather solid, and neither of the players made major mistakes.
Georgia 1 won the match against France, with GM Nino Batsiashvili (GEO, 2469) defeating IM Sophie Milliet (FRA, 2360), and three draws on the other boards.
Ukraine scored a convincing 3-1 win over Bulgaria, with GM Natalia Zhukova (UKR, 2305) and WFM Bozhena Piddubna (UKR, 2265) scoring against WGM Nadya Toncheva (BUL, 2332) and WGM Viktoria Radeva (BUL, 2292). The games on the top two boards were drawn.
Georgia 1, Germany and Ukraine now score 8 match points each, tying for the second place after five played rounds.
All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.
The 6th round will be played tomorrow at 15:00 (local time), and it will be the final round before players head onto the well deserved free day. Live video broadcast with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili can be followed through the ECU TV platform or the ECU YouTube channel.