- Group 6:
-
The group is currently
lead by the group's favourites "Latvian Gambit" who have scored
13-6 points. The team´s average rating is almost 2500 and they
are followed by 2387 of "Dutchess". Unfortunately the 3rd board
of our friends from the Netherlands had some unlucky results so
far and the team must go some risk now if they want talk with
the other top teams about the first places. Better play of "Aljechin`s
Erben" (Aljechin´s heirs) with 10-5 points. While their 2nd and
4rd board have negative scores, the other two players are doing
very well. Another german team, "SV Signal-Iduna", also managed
to score more than 60% so far. The spanish "Ajemail" lately came
up with more results and now they start to establish themselves
in the top group with 6,5-2,5.
Currently the 1st board
has a clear situation. Mats Larsson who fights for glory in the
name of the "Chess Mail Chigorin" just took the lead with 4/5
and a heir of Aljechin, Helge Verhoef, follows with 3,5/5. Only
one of the three SIMs on the board, Uldis Strautins, has a positive
score (2/3); Jonathan Tait and also the old master from the Netherlands,
Adri de Groot, met strong counterplay and surely currently fight
for better results.
The players of the
second board are still one group; no runaway so far although some
extra-ordinary ratings are seen here: Ron Langeveld with 2524
and SIM Vilnis Strautins 2498 have positive scores nevertheless.
Stan Grayland already has two wins in his in-box, but unfortunately
he also had to report 2 losses to his team "BCCA". Was a "Mysterious
Rook" the reason for the 4 losses of Bodo Wagner? Betker currently
leads with impressive 4/5; he should give some deep analysis to
the game against Cecilio Hernaez Fernandez, TD in the Open Email
Jubilee tournament, who has 3/4 already.
23 results and only
5 draws on board 3 - especially Gerhard Bartsch is responsible
for this with incredible 4,5/5. SIM Aivars Kazoks also makes no
prisoners: 5 victories for him already. I can confirm that the
2 losses which are also on his score-table are sort of an exception:
he just beat the author of these lines in the Jubilee Official´s
tournament. The chief of the ICCF Online Archive, Wes Green, is
someone with his feet on the ground; solid play and 2,5/3 points.
Tom Makowski recently had to accept a number of defeats - no concentration
in the pre- christmas time? Olano Aizpura keeps up to Kazoks and
Bartsch with 2,5/3.
Ulrich Beyer (also
new to ICCF) has a simple strategy on board 4: fast and clear
results; but successful: 5 wins and 2 defeats. Afraid of a team
consisting of 4 SIMs? The 4th board of the "Latvian Gambit" (Artis
Gaujens, 3/4) even and still has 2500 elo points - where else
would new players meet such opponents in their first tournament?
Also worth mentioning is Alan Sutton who has 3 out of 4 like Gaujens
with whome he shared the point already.
I will continue to
bet on the first 3 places of each group:
- Latvian Gambit
- Aljechin's Erben
- BCCA
Group 7:-
Friendship must be
more than a word: "The Chessfriends" prove that it can be of advantage
for your chessgames, too. Amazing 19,5-6,5 points for them and
a clear fisrt place at the moment. Concerning the performance
in percentage only the "International Bishops - CC Team" (75%)
and "Roszada - Polska" (71%) can keep up with them, but they have
less total points. The "Randaberg Vikings" are doing well, but
not as much as their average rating would tell it. The "U.K. Black
Knights", the "Chess Today Knights" and the "Rotary - Gambit"
team were not able to surprise so far; they adorn the group's
last places for the time being.
SIM Wolfgang Schneider
deserves first place at the first board with 5/7. Let´s see what
Ireland's O'Connor does in the rest of his games - he won his
only finished game so far, but this was against SIM Arild Haugen
(3,5/6) who has to defend 2570 rating points. IM Dariusz Sczcepankiewicz
and IM Satici ("Partenopae International Chess Team") are both
on a good way with 2,5/4.
On board No.2 Klaus
Keuter impresses with 4,5/6. I would love to have a look at his
game against ICCF treasurer Carlos Flores Gutierrez; the IM who
plays for the "Old Masters" has 3/4 so far. Most other results
are draws on this board.
The opposite on the
next board. The "Caballeros del Tablero" are probably satisfied
with their 3rd board: Soto Conde from Peru has taken all 3 points
in his finished games. But strong players keep up with him: IM
Raymond Boger and Witoslaw Sczcepankiewicz both with 3,5/4 and
W.Bauer with even 5/6! At this board the ratings really reflect
the player´s performances.
Board 4 waits for us
with a very interesting situation: nearly no players with intermediate
performances so far; you either surprise in a positive or a negative
way. Mendez Raynalte and Email Tournaments Administrator Rudolf
Hofer (both 3/3), Dr.Voetter (5/7), Werner (5,5/7) and Ciborowski
(3/4) belong to the first group. Thor Harestad, Stephane Fombonne
and Derek Coope cannot be too happy at the moment, but the games
they play against each other are still unfinished and there is
no reason to lose the concentration: their team might need every
half point in the end for a better league.
My bet for the first
3 places:
- The Chessfriends
- Roszada - Polska
- International Bishops
- CC Team
Group 8: -
The "Zeitnot Chess
Team" is the only team that lost the contact to the group a little
bit; all others fight around the 50% mark. On the whole the "White
Bishop Chess Team" has the lead at the moment, which is kind of
a surprise. Many teams have balanced scores right now. "Potaissa
Turda" raised their voices long before the tournament start, saying
that they would be met in the CL A the next time. The "ALFA Team"
is summarized in a rating of nearly 2500, but so far they have
only finished 4 games (nevertheless 75%).
More than 2600 elo
points - Rudolf Sevecek teaches chess on board 1. So far only
Miss Arline Taffijn ("Stansco.com NetChess Knights") got a lesson,
while Nowak from the "September Malbork Cup" and Bellmann (whose
team "Zugzwang Bocholt V" is on a good way) reached a draw against
the Grandmaster. Panman is the only one to score two wins already,
but he already had to accept a defeat against Flores from "E.C.
da Benedita".
On board 2 Ray Wuerzebesser
who plays for the "FARM" team of the german CC club "Rochade 5171"
can be satisfied with his 2,5/3 so far. One draw he reached (or
had to accept?) against IM Demian, who will soon come up in a
new position at the Email Tournament Office. FIDE player G.Agomeri
even has 2/2; IM Svacek still has all his 10 games unfinished.
Giancarlo Marcotulli
just sent in THE surprise: a win over +2400-FIDE player Marius
Ceteras on board 3. Marcotulli himself obtains an ICCF rating
of 1980 meanwhile. Marius on the other site accepted this defeat
like a gentleman (see discussion on The CC Message Board) and
his answer is a win against the current group leader McLeod (3,5/5)
who plays his first ICCF tournament. The groups favourite Sedlacek
has a clean slate (1/1).
Board 4 shows no results
so far for Michalek and Toma who can both be expected at the top
in the end. All other results are more or less unspectacular,
though the games behind them might have been thrilling.
Currently I would put
my money on the teams:
- ALFA Team
- Chess Club Potaissa
Turda
- CC-Salzburg
Group 9:-
Finally favourites
who walk at the front from the beginning on: "Champagne Chess"
- it tastes good with 7-3 points. Strong german teams follow the
french; "SK Essen - Holsterhausen" and the "Ratinger SK" have
currently an even better score than "Antares 2002", the italians
nevertheless don´t have to get nervous with their 60% performance.
The "Chess Mail Bears" might give sleepless nights to manager
Tim Harding, but their individual strength can make him optimistic.
The "Four Brave Englishmen", already a legend in ICCF team tournaments,
have a little crisis.
Svavar Viktorsson from
"TGGT-b" is the greenhorn on board 1, but he plays like a professional
already: 2,5/3. IM Spitz with 2542 has 3/4 with two draws against
the board´s FIDE players, Daus and Klengel. Daus knows this result
and he has six more of them. Klengel also shared the point six
times already but he also won his game against Draba from polish
team "Warmia i Mazury". The other IMs on the board (Siviero, Albano,
Chambers) are doing okay.
Thomas Neuer writes
the rules for board 2 with fantastic 6,5 out of 8. This is his
first ICCF tournament, but meanwhile he has also started an Email
Higher Class section. Neuer won against IM Knebel who himself
cannot complain because of his 5/7 - congratulations. IM Sowden
becomes the draw king of the board. SIM Vinot is the only player
who has not yet finished a game, while Liban Van Damme sends his
team from sunshine to rain with 2 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws.
On board 3 Murlasits
and Schramm play a good tournament with 3 wins already and 4 respectively
3 draws. Diotallevi follows with 3,5/5 and Muller has 2,5/4. This
looks like a relatively strong third board and I hope that former
ICCF General Secretary Alan Rawlings is not too angry with the
tournament's organizer. Correa de Almeida, Ingolfsson and Tegi
had to give away all their finished games so far while argentinian
IM Alvarez Villar should be able to defend his scalp.
Castellano, Vossenkuhl
and Bee lead the board 4 which is not a surprise at all, but IM
Viard is on their track. Bradley, Neatherway and Galazka play
their first ICCF tournament and got to know the playing level,
but meanwhile they should be acclimatized and work on their first
points.
Unofficial bet on the
first 3 places:
- SK Essen - Holsterhausen
- Champagne Chess
- Ratinger SK
Group 10:-
Again two german teams
are at the front: the "SF Gerresheim 1986" and the "Chess Rubbers".
"Sofia Chess" also has scored 75%, but with less games. The "Latvians"
and "The President's Chessmen" complete the top group. The last
mentioned team consists of four ICCF senior officials with the
president himself on board 4.
Board 1 only shows
9 results so far. Philippe St.Amour from "Bergetti.com" lost 5
games already; well there are almost 300 rating points between
him and the rest of the group if you exclude FIDE and new players.
The two SIMs, Sapundiev and E.Lüers, still fight in all their
games. Top rated player IM Ruemmele won against Lüers in the german
national league before, but the position in this game here looks
balanced. Dmitry Morozov from Russia (team "MagnitChess") has
no published ICCF rating yet, but the nine results which are in
for him so far are only wins (in the Open Email Jubilee P/198)!
SIM Bergmann leads
the board 2 with 3,5/5. Eberl, 350 elo points behind reached a
draw against him. IM Christov from Bulgaria won his only finished
game against Zunke from "Zitadelle Spandau C". ICCF Title Tournaments
Commissioner Josef Mrkvicka successfully holds contact to the
title holders with 2/3.
The new players dominate
the board 3. Wolfgang Utesch 4,5/6, Schneider 3/4, Petricci 1/1
and Felzmann 1,5/2 all have a positive score until now. Gobleja
who plays his first tournament outside Latvia does everything
that is possible = 2/2. ICCF Qualification Commissioner George
Pyrich's is probably closely watched by the president on board
4. Has George already gambled away his credit from his win against
Murray Marchant with the loss against the newcomer Utesch?
But no, the president
is a person of mercy. At least concerning ICCF officials: his
opponents on board 4 learn that he can also carry things through
- 2,6 out of 3 for IM Alan Borwell. It´s no board for blitz players:
Rivest has already finished all his games, but overshoot the mark
(0,5 points). Funke has one game left (2 points) and so does Petruzelli
but the italian at least has 2 more points on his score card.
Baum can be more happy, if he wins his last remaining game, he
would finsih the tournament with a remarkable total score of 8
points. Böcher lost his game against the "Chess Rubber", but he
still has all the chances because he already scored 5 wins! Dimov
might be the one to challenge them concerning the first place
in the group with current 4,5/6. Jesus Sanchez Carol ("Caballeros
64") has really concentrated on the layout and updating of the
ICCF webtables in recent months. I´m sure his next performances
will be much better than his current score in the Champions League.
Thanks for your work, Jesus!
My bet for the first
3 places:
- Chess Rubbers
- Sofia Chess
- Latvians