The big winner of the fourth round in the Open section of European Club Cup was Ugra who scored a narrow victory against former champion Saint-Petersburg. Five games were drawn and Anton Korobov defeated Nikita Vitiugov.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri of SOCAR used the white pieces to bring the success in match against Clichy Echecs 92.
Malachite and G-Team Novy Bor were engaged in fearless battle on the table one. Malachite held a 3-2 lead but Viktor Laznicka beat Alexander Morozevich with black pieces to equalize the score.
The young team of Odlar Yurdu allowed only one draw to Austrian side Schachclub MPO Maria Saal, while PGMB-Rostov was ruthless against Tammer-Shakki and won all six games.
Fabiano Caruana said that his game saw a highly theoretical line where he was slightly worse from the opening, but he played accurately and achieved a draw.
This is his first year in SOCAR, he said that “all guys are nice and strong and we should prove our worth”. He further added that he doesn’t feel pressure despite playing the first board in top-seeded team.
Emil Sutovsky explained that he participates in European Club Cup in triple capacity – as player, captain and coach of Odlar Yurdu club from Azerbaijan.
He said that the team is young, talented, they want to gain experience, but they also want to show what they are capable of.
WGM Olga Dolzhikova is playing in the Open section for Oslo Schakselskap, the Central Club of Oslo and team champion of Norway. She explained that the club has many Grandmasters and International Masters but they couldn’t come to Rhodes because they are amateurs and have to attend their regular jobs.
Dolzhikova further explained that the amateur status of chess won’t change any time soon, even if Magnus Carlsen becomes the World Champion. The reason is “that Norway is rich and any kind of job pays better than chess”.
On question about young talented girls with promising future in chess, she mentioned Machlik sisters and Greibrokk sisters.
Speaking about the World Championship Match in Chennai, Dolzhikova was very optimistic: “We all think that Magnus will win. Easily!”
Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo maintains the perfect score in Women section after dispatching the 2nd-seeded SHSM Nashe Nasledie. Top boards Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru brought an early lead and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya could later only reduce the losing margin for the Russian team.
Ugra was very efficient with black pieces and two draws with whites were sufficient for a 3-1 victory against Mika Chess Club.
CS Politechnica-Antibiotice Iasi was convincing against Jelica PEP, the final result was 3,5-0,5 in Romanian favour.
Kosteniuk destroyed Hou Yifan today. She’s no doubt the true chess queen.