9th round
Open Section
In the last round we could see 4 quick draws on the match Slovakia – Croatia which meant the later one won the event with 15 match points. It was a well-deserved victory – Croatia played very balanced all the way through the tournament and managed to lose only 2 games out of the 36 played by team. There was a tie for the second place and due to the more individual points collected, Czech Republic managed to get to the 2nd spot after beating Hungary 2½:1½ in the last round and collecting 14 match points. Their fighting chess paid off – they collected the most individual victories over the course of the tournament, 14 altogether. 3rd spot goes for France after they beat Austria 2½:1½. If they have managed to squeeze out an extra half point of Austria actually they could have even gotten to the second place. But even then – they were the only team playing the whole event with the same set-up and lost only 3 individual games – altogether it is a very respectable result. Hungary’s 4th place with 11 match point must be a bit of a disappointment, especially after losing the last 2 matches. Austria managed to finish in the first half of the table even after losing the last match against France. Germany played 2:2 against Slovenia while Switzerland collected its first match victory just in time before the end of the tournament against Italy by winning 2½:1½.
Highlights section at the bottom features:
- A nice finish in Shengelia (AUS) – Bellahcene (FRA)
- A simple tactic with a little twist in Tomazini (SLO) – Keymer (GER)
Results
| Open | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  |
Slovenia (2409) | 2 | – | 2 | Germany (2493) |  |
| 2. |  |
Slovakia (2472) | 2 | – | 2 | Croatia (2486) |  |
| 3. |  |
Switzerland (2446) | 2½ | – | 1½ | Italy (2474) |  |
| 4. |  |
Hungary (2545) | 1½ | – | 2½ | Czech Republic (2502) |  |
| 5. |  |
Austria (2477) | 1½ | – | 2½ | France (2501) |  |
Final Standings
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Croatia | * | 2 | 2½ | 2 | 2½ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 23,0 | 0 |
| 2 | Czech Republic | 2 | * | 1 | 2½ | 3½ | 2½ | 3½ | 2 | 3 | 2½ | 14 | 22,5 | 0 |
| 3 | France | 1½ | 3 | * | 2½ | 2½ | 2 | 2 | 2½ | 3 | 3 | 14 | 22,0 | 0 |
| 4 | Hungary | 2 | 1½ | 1½ | * | 2½ | 2 | 2½ | 3½ | 2 | 2½ | 11 | 20,0 | 0 |
| 5 | Austria | 1½ | ½ | 1½ | 1½ | * | 2½ | 2½ | 2 | 2 | 2½ | 8 | 16,5 | 0 |
| 6 | Italy | 1 | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 1½ | * | 1½ | 2½ | 3½ | 1½ | 6 | 17,0 | 0 |
| 7 | Germany | 1 | ½ | 2 | 1½ | 1½ | 2½ | * | 2 | 1½ | 2½ | 6 | 15,0 | 1 |
| 8 | Slovenia | 1 | 2 | 1½ | ½ | 2 | 1½ | 2 | * | 2½ | 2 | 6 | 15,0 | 1 |
| 9 | Slovakia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ½ | 2½ | 1½ | * | 2 | 6 | 14,5 | 0 |
| 10 | Switzerland | 1 | 1½ | 1 | 1½ | 1½ | 2½ | 1½ | 2 | 2 | * | 4 | 14,5 | 0 |
Women Section
Hungary’s confident 4:0 finish against Czech Republic was rewarded by a tournament victory with 13 match points thanks to the better tiebreaks compared to France, the other team finishing with the same number of points. Even though Hungary didn’t start off that well, they managed to win in the last 4 rounds. They have also collected the most individual points (even including the open section), scoring 24,5 points altogether out of 36 which shows that the victory was well deserved. France came second with the same 13 match points but with worse tiebreaks, collecting 22 individual points. After their amazing, 5 out of 5 start they might had hope for even more, but looking at the rating averages, the second place still seems to be a huge success. Croatia came in 3rd thanks to the last round 2½:1½ victory over Slovakia. They leaped in front of Poland who lost versus Italy 2½:1½ and just missed the podium. Germany came in 5th after a 3:1 versus Slovenia. They might had been shooting for more, but their tournament never really picked up, and even winning the last 3 matches didn’t get them closer to the salvation.
Highlights section at the bottom features:
Results
| Women | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | |
Slovenia (2167) | 1 | – | 3 | Germany (2228) | |
| 2. | |
Slovakia (2098) | 1½ | – | 2½ | Croatia (2180) | |
| 3. |  |
Poland (2215) | 1½ | – | 2½ | Italy (2221) | |
| 4. | |
Hungary (2280) | 4 | – | 0 | Czech Republic (2079) | |
| 5. | |
Austria (2155) | 1½ | – | 2½ | France (2144) | |
Final Standings
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hungary | * | 2½ | 1½ | 1½ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 24,5 | 0 |
| 2 | France | 1½ | * | 2½ | 1½ | 3 | 3 | 2½ | 3½ | 2½ | 2 | 13 | 22,0 | 0 |
| 3 | Croatia | 2½ | 1½ | * | 2½ | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3½ | 1 | 2½ | 12 | 20,5 | 0 |
| 4 | Poland | 2½ | 2½ | 1½ | * | 2 | 1½ | 2 | 2½ | 2 | 3 | 11 | 19,5 | 0 |
| 5 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | * | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 20,0 | 0 |
| 6 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 2 | * | 2½ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 16,0 | 0 |
| 7 | Slovenia | 1 | 1½ | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1½ | * | 3½ | 2½ | 3½ | 7 | 17,5 | 0 |
| 8 | Czech Republic | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1½ | 3 | 2 | ½ | * | 2½ | 2½ | 7 | 13,0 | 0 |
| 9 | Austria | 0 | 1½ | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 1½ | * | 2½ | 6 | 15,0 | 0 |
| 10 | Slovakia | 2 | 2 | 1½ | 1 | 0 | 2 | ½ | 1½ | 1½ | * | 3 | 12,0 | 0 |
Highlights
A nice finish from the only decisive game of the match Austria-France:
Shengelia,David (2567) – Bellahcene,Bilel (2493) [A40]
Mitropa Cup – Open (9.1), 25.09.2017
Position after 21.Rd3
Black to move and win
21…Rxf3+! 22.Rxe3 Rxe3 [and white either leaves the e4 knight at its place and loses it and subsequently the game as well or continues with]
23.Ng5 Rxg3+ 24.Kf1 Ne3+ [losing the queen]
0–1
A simple tactic with a little twist from the match between Slovenia-Germany:
Tomazini,Zan (2395) – Keymer,Vincent (2419) [B22]
Mitropa Cup – Open (9.3), 25.09.2017
Position after 18.-Qh5?
White to move and win
19.g4! [with the simple idea of trapping the bishop on f6 with g5]
19…Qg6 20.g5 Bc6! [black is still losing, but at least here white have to find one more good move for being up a piece
Position after 20.-Bc6
What is the only winning continuation for white?
21.Qxc6! [is the last precise move needed, but there no more trickeries and black loses a piece] Qxd3 22.Qe4
22…Qc4 23.gxf6 gxf6 24.Kh1 Qxa2 25.Qf4 Nd5 26.Qh6 Kh8 27.Bg5 fxg5 28.Nxg5 Qc2 29.Nxf7+ Kg8 30.Rg1+
1–0
A missed defense in an interesting position from the Austria – France match:
Haussernot,Cecile (2136) – Exler,Veronika (2134) [B12]
Mitropa Cup – Women (9.2), 25.09.2017
Position after 39.Rb5
How should black proceed?
39…Rg2+? [black is losing after this – 39…Rd4+! 40.Bxd4 (40.Kc3? f2 41.d7+ Kd8 42.Rb8+ Ke7 43.Rxg8 f1Q -+ and the rook on d4 covers the d8 promotion square) 40…Nxd4 41.Rb7 Nxc6 42.Rc7+ Kd8 43.Rxc6 could have led to a draw; 39…Rh7 is a funnier way to stop white plans 40.Kc3! renewing the threat of d7 (it could have been taken by a check on the previous move)
Position after 40.Kc3
What is the only move for black to stay in the game?
40…Rd7!! only way to deal with the threat of d7 41.c7 Rxd6 42.Bxd6 Kd7 43.Rb8 Rc8 and here white could try on but most probably would lead to a draw and 44.c6+? Kxd6 45.Rxc8 f2 would lose for white on the other hand]
40.Kc3 Nxd6 41.Bxd6 1–0