4th round
Open Section
In the 4th round there were a surprisingly low number of decisive games – 5 altogether. That made all those wins very important. The solid Croatia scored another significant win over France thanks to Tica beating Gozzoli on board 4 while all the other games are being draws. Tica has 4 out of 4 and has a crucial role so far in Croatia’s confident lead. Czech Republic beat Italy with the smallest margin as well thanks to the only decisive game on the first board being in their favor. They are on the 2nd spot one match point behind Croatia. On the 3rd place, one match point apart from the Czechs, Hungary follows after a 2:2 against Slovakia. Germany finally scored their first win (having Kunin on the team, thus playing with the strongest line-up probably helped) versus Switzerland. Austria versus Slovenia is the first match so far which ended in 4 draws.
Highlights section at the bottom features:
- An atypical version of the typical Greek gift sacrifice in the very well-played game Mazur (SLO) – Hoang (HUN)
- An endgame disaster in tricky rook endgame in Heimann (GER) – Studer (SWI)
Results
| Open | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  |
Germany (2493) | 2½ | – | 1½ | Switzerland (2446) |  |
| 2. |  |
Hungary (2545) | 2 | – | 2 | Slovakia (2472) |  |
| 3. |  |
Austria (2477) | 2 | – | 2 | Slovenia (2409) |  |
| 4. |  |
France (2501) | 1½ | – | 2½ | Croatia (2486) |  |
| 5. |  |
Czech Republic (2502) | 2½ | – | 1½ | Italy (2474) |  |
Standings
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Croatia | * | 2 | 2½ | 2½ | 3 | 7 | 10,0 | 0 | |||||
| 2 | Czech Republic | * | 1 | 3½ | 3½ | 2½ | 6 | 10,5 | 0 | |||||
| 3 | Hungary | 2 | * | 2 | 3½ | 2 | 5 | 9,5 | 0 | |||||
| 4 | France | 1½ | 3 | * | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8,5 | 0 | |||||
| 5 | Slovakia | 2 | * | 1½ | 2½ | 2 | 4 | 8,0 | 0 | |||||
| 6 | Slovenia | ½ | 2½ | * | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7,0 | 0 | |||||
| 7 | Germany | ½ | 2 | 1½ | * | 2½ | 3 | 6,5 | 0 | |||||
| 8 | Austria | 1½ | ½ | 2 | * | 2½ | 3 | 6,5 | 0 | |||||
| 9 | Italy | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 1½ | * | 2 | 7,0 | 0 | |||||
| 10 | Switzerland | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1½ | * | 2 | 6,5 | 0 |
Women Section
The French team has continued its winning streak by beating Croatia, and now they are at 4 out of 4 leading with sizeable 3 match points. The pack chasing France from the distance consist of Hungary (played 2:2 against Slovakia), Slovenia (after beating Austria 2½:1½) and Czech Republic (played 2:2 versus Italy). Germany vs Poland also ended in 2:2 after exchanging wins on all boards.
Highlights section at the bottom features:
Results
| Woman | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | |
Germany (2228) | 2 | – | 2 | Poland (2215) |  |
| 2. | |
Hungary (2280) | 2 | – | 2 | Slovakia (2098) | |
| 3. | |
Austria (2155) | 1½ | – | 2½ | Slovenia (2167) | |
| 4. | |
France (2144) | 2½ | – | 1½ | Croatia (2180) | |
| 5. | |
Czech Republic (2079) | 2 | – | 2 | Italy (2221) | |
Standings
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | * | 3½ | 2½ | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12,0 | 0 | |||||
| 2 | Hungary | * | 3 | 1½ | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9,5 | 0 | |||||
| 3 | Slovenia | 1 | * | 2 | 2½ | 3½ | 5 | 9,0 | 0 | |||||
| 4 | Czech Republic | ½ | * | 2½ | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8,0 | 0 | |||||
| 5 | Poland | 2 | * | 1½ | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8,5 | 0 | |||||
| 6 | Croatia | 1½ | 2½ | 2½ | * | 1 | 4 | 7,5 | 0 | |||||
| 7 | Austria | 1½ | 1½ | 3 | * | 2 | 3 | 8,0 | 0 | |||||
| 8 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 2 | * | 4 | 3 | 8,0 | 0 | |||||
| 9 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | * | 2 | 6,0 | 0 | |||||
| 10 | Slovakia | 2 | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 3,5 | 0 |
Highlights
A very good game which helped Slovakia to hold Hungary to a tie was played by Mazur in the following encounter:
Mazur,Stefan (2472) – Hoang,Thanh Trang (2459) [C11]
Mitropa Cup – Open (4.2), 20.09.2017
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 0–0 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.0–0–0 a6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.Bxc5 Bxc5 13.Bd3 Nb4 14.h4 b5?
Position after 14.-b5
White to move and win
15.Bxh7+! Kxh7 16.a3! [this additional move is needed to make the Greek gift sacrifice work – now black either gives back the piece on b4 but still having problems with the king – or brings the knight back vacating the control of the d3 square leading to some textbook type tactics]
16…Nc6 [16…f6 for example with the idea of stopping Ng5 ideas doesn’t really help 17.axb4 Bxb4 18.Ng5+! (other moves are good too, but this one is the flashiest) 18…fxg5 (18…Kg8 19.Nxd5+–) 19.hxg5+ Kg6
(19…Kg8 20.g6 Bxc3 21.Qd3+–)
Position after 19.-Kg6
White to move and win
20.f5+!! (this move would not be that easy at all to find over the board and it is actually the only road to the victory) 20…Kf7 (20…Rxf5 21.g4 Rxe5 22.Rdf1 is winning as the g6 king doesn’t have anywhere to hide) 21.fxe6+ Bxe6 22.Qf4+ Kg6 23.Qxb4 is winning as well]
17.Ng5+ Kg8 18.Qd3 f5 19.Nxd5! [black’s position is hopeless]
19…Qa7 20.Qf3 Rd8 21.Qh5 exd5 22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.h5 Ne7 24.h6 Ng8 25.Qh8 Qe7 26.Nh7+ Kf7 27.Qxg7+ Ke6 28.Ng5+ Kd7 29.Rxd5+ Kc7 30.Rxc5+ Kb6 31.Qg6+ Kxc5 32.b4+ Kd4 33.Qb6+ and mate in 3 follows no matter what
Position after 33.Qb6+
1–0
An endgame mistake which eventually gave Germany their first match victory versus Switzerland:
Heimann,Andreas (2578) – Studer,Noel (2478) [A28]
Mitropa Cup – Open (4.1), 20.09.2017
Position after 58.f6
Black to move and draw
58…Ke6! [After suffering in a worse rook endgame for a long time, black didn’t manage to find the relatively easy salvation and instead played 58…Rb7? and quickly lost after 59.Kg6 Rb6 60.Rd1 Rb3 61.f4 Ke4 62.f7 Rg3+ 63.Kf6 Rf3 64.Kg5 Rg3+ 65.Kh4 1-0]
59.Rxd4 Kf7 60.Rd7+ Kf8 [leading to the well-known Philidor position. The extra pawn on f3 doesn’t make any difference, it is still an easy draw]
An unlucky game for Hungary which spoiled the win versus Slovakia in the Women Section:
(2078) Gara,Ticia (2332) – Repkova,Eva (2315) [A30]
Mitropa Cup – Women (4.1), 20.09.2017
Position after 37.-Rh3
What should white play: 38.Kg2 or 38.Kg1
38.Kg2? [After playing a good game and building up a winning advantage white faced a choice in the time scramble and spoiled the win. If she had played 38.Kg1+– the whole game would have been a very nice performance. 38.-Qa8 might look scary at first, (38…e4 with the idea of Rg3 leads to a nice forced mate in 4 39.Rf8+ Bxf8 40.Qg6+ Bf7 (40…Ke7 41.Bf6#) 41.Qc6+ Ke7 42.Bf6#)
but actually after 39.Qg6+ Ke7 40.Rf7+! black simply getting mated in every line, for example 40…Bxf7 41.Qxd6+ Ke8 42.Qxe5+ Kf8 43.Qxc5+ Ke8 44.Re1+ Kd8 45.Ba5+ Kd7 46.Re7#]
38…Qa8+! [the black queen joins the fight via the corner and the position is actually = now]
39.Rf3 Qe4! 40.Rdf1? [one more mistake right before the time control gives the whole point for black]
[40.Rxd6 Qe2+ 41.Rf2 Rh2+ 42.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 43.Kh1 Qf1+ 44.Kh2 Qf2+ with a perpetual check and a draw; 40.Qf6 Qe2+ 41.Rf2 Qe4+ 42.Rf3 (42.Qf3?! Rxg3+!! 43.Kxg3 Qg6+ 44.Kh2 e4+ picking up the queen – it might still be a draw but white is the one who has to be careful) 42…Qe2+ is another way to get to a perpetual check]
Position after 40.Rdf1
Black to move and win
40…Rh7! [possible thanks to the previous Qe4 move, and now Bd5, Bg4, Bh3 looming in the air turning the tables completely]
41.Qg5 Bh3+ 42.Kg1 Bxf1 43.Qf6 Bc4 44.Qxd6 Qb1+ 45.Kg2 Qh1+ 46.Kf2 Qf1+
0–1