Russia scrape through

Switzerland almost held a strong Bulgaria

There were some close calls in the first round of the European team Championship in Porto Carras, Greece. Alexander Morozevich managed to win a drawn endgame against Dmitry Svetushkin to enable the favourites to beat Moldova 2.5-1.5. Several strong teams only drew with weaker opposition, France, Netherlands and Poland for example. Surprise of the round was Turkey's victory over Georgia.

Veselin Topalov played in the first round, but couldn't win. Indeed Bulgaria were another team that rode its luck on the way to a match victory. The legendary Victor Korchnoi played on board 2 for the Swiss.

Here are the results in detail of the Open event:

Match/ Board	Seed/ Title	White team (on odds)	rating	vs.	Seed/ Title	Black team (on odds)	Rating	Result
Bo.	1	Russia	Rtg	-	20	Moldova	Rtg	2½:1½
1.1	GM	Svidler Peter	2755	-	GM	Bologan Viktor	2665	½ - ½
1.2	GM	Grischuk Alexander	2752	-	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	2648	½ - ½
1.3	GM	Morozevich Alexander	2762	-	GM	Svetushkin Dmitry	2621	1 - 0
1.4	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	2730	-	IM	Vedmediuc Serghei	2465	½ - ½
Bo.	21	Slovenia	Rtg	-	2	Ukraine	Rtg	½ :3½
2.1	GM	Beliavsky Alexander G	2617	-	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2775	½ - ½
2.2	GM	Lenic Luka	2634	-	GM	Eljanov Pavel	2691	0 - 1
2.3	GM	Borisek Jure	2541	-	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	2715	0 - 1
2.4	IM	Sebenik Matej	2518	-	GM	Efimenko Zahar	2702	0 - 1
Bo.	3	Azerbaijan	Rtg	-	22	Italy	Rtg	2½:1½
3.1	GM	Radjabov Teimour	2781	-	GM	Caruana Fabiano	2727	½ - ½
3.2	GM	Gashimov Vugar	2757	-	GM	Godena Michele	2548	½ - ½
3.3	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2733	-	GM	Brunello Sabino	2575	1 - 0
3.4	GM	Guseinov Gadir	2636	-	IM	Rombaldoni Axel	2459	½ - ½
Bo.	23	Austria	Rtg	-	4	Armenia	Rtg	½ :3½
4.1	GM	Ragger Markus	2662	-	GM	Movsesian Sergei	2710	½ - ½
4.2	GM	Kindermann Stefan	2519	-	GM	Akopian Vladimir	2681	0 - 1
4.3	GM	Shengelia David	2551	-	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2671	0 - 1
4.4	IM	Kreisl Robert	2415	-	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert	2586	0 - 1
Bo.	5	Hungary	Rtg	-	24	Denmark	Rtg	3 : 1
5.1	GM	Leko Peter	2720	-	GM	Hansen Sune Berg	2566	½ - ½
5.2	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2707	-	GM	Rasmussen Allan Stig	2541	1 - 0
5.3	GM	Berkes Ferenc	2705	-	GM	Aagaard Jacob	2522	½ - ½
5.4	GM	Gyimesi Zoltan	2652	-	IM	Glud Jakob Vang	2497	1 - 0
Bo.	25	Sweden	Rtg	-	6	France	Rtg	2 : 2
6.1	GM	Tikkanen Hans	2586	-	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	2710	½ - ½
6.2	GM	Grandelius Nils	2543	-	GM	Fressinet Laurent	2700	½ - ½
6.3	GM	Carlsson Pontus	2502	-	GM	Istratescu Andrei	2627	1 - 0
6.4	IM	Semcesen Daniel	2490	-	GM	Bauer Christian	2641	0 - 1
Bo.	7	Bulgaria	Rtg	-	26	Switzerland	Rtg	2½:1½
7.1	GM	Topalov Veselin	2768	-	GM	Pelletier Yannick	2581	½ - ½
7.2	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2650	-	GM	Korchnoi Viktor	2567	½ - ½
7.3	GM	Delchev Aleksander	2629	-	GM	Gallagher Joseph G	2500	½ - ½
7.4	GM	Georgiev Kiril	2666	-	IM	Kurmann Oliver	2451	1 - 0
Bo.	27	Latvia	Rtg	-	8	England	Rtg	1½:2½
8.1	GM	Miezis Normunds	2547	-	GM	Adams Michael	2734	0 - 1
8.2	GM	Sveshnikov Evgeny	2514	-	GM	Short Nigel D	2698	0 - 1
8.3	IM	Neiksans Arturs	2502	-	GM	Howell David W L	2633	1 - 0
8.4	GM	Starostits Ilmars	2456	-	GM	Jones Gawain C B	2635	½ - ½
Bo.	9	Netherlands	Rtg	-	28	Finland	Rtg	2 : 2
9.1	GM	Giri Anish	2714	-	GM	Nyback Tomi	2631	½ - ½
9.2	GM	Sokolov Ivan	2646	-	IM	Sammalvuo Tapani	2492	1 - 0
9.3	GM	Smeets Jan	2615	-	IM	Agopov Mikael	2450	½ - ½
9.4	GM	Stellwagen Daniel	2627	-	IM	Karttunen Mika	2434	0 - 1
Bo.	29	Montenegro	Rtg	-	10	Germany	Rtg	1 : 3
10.1	GM	Djukic Nikola	2493	-	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2712	0 - 1
10.2	GM	Blagojevic Dragisa	2514	-	GM	Meier Georg	2659	½ - ½
10.3	GM	Kosic Dragan	2502	-	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2633	½ - ½
10.4	IM	Kalezic Blazo	2461	-	GM	Buhmann Rainer	2612	0 - 1
Bo.	11	Israel	Rtg	-	30	FYROM	Rtg	3 : 1
11.1	GM	Rodshtein Maxim	2645	-	GM	Georgiev Vladimir	2553	0 - 1
11.2	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2696	-	GM	Nedev Trajko	2493	1 - 0
11.3	GM	Roiz Michael	2651	-	IM	Pancevski Filip	2442	1 - 0
11.4	GM	Postny Evgeny	2640	-	GM	Stanojoski Zvonko	2470	1 - 0
Bo.	31	Norway	Rtg	-	12	Czech Republic	Rtg	½ :3½
12.1	GM	Lie Kjetil A	2560	-	GM	Navara David	2724	0 - 1
12.2	IM	Elsness Frode	2506	-	GM	Hracek Zbynek	2628	0 - 1
12.3	GM	Johannessen Leif Erlend	2515	-	GM	Stocek Jiri	2600	0 - 1
12.4	IM	Getz Nicolai	2369	-	GM	Babula Vlastimil	2565	½ - ½
Bo.	13	Spain	Rtg	-	32	Iceland	Rtg	2½:1½
13.1	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2705	-	GM	Danielsen Henrik	2542	1 - 0
13.2	GM	Shirov Alexei	2705	-	FM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2452	0 - 1
13.3	GM	Salgado Lopez Ivan	2621	-	IM	Thorfinnsson Bragi	2421	1 - 0
13.4	GM	Illescas Cordoba Miguel	2609	-	IM	Thorfinnsson Bjorn	2402	½ - ½
Bo.	33	Lithuania	Rtg	-	14	Poland	Rtg	2 : 2
14.1	GM	Sulskis Sarunas	2577	-	GM	Socko Bartosz	2635	1 - 0
14.2	IM	Zagorskis Darius	2497	-	GM	Bartel Mateusz	2653	0 - 1
14.3	IM	Labeckas Kestutis	2410	-	GM	Miton Kamil	2622	½ - ½
14.4		Klabis Rokas	2100	-	GM	Macieja Bartlomiej	2616	½ - ½
Bo.	15	Georgia	Rtg	-	34	Turkey	Rtg	1½:2½
15.1	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2588	-	IM	Yilmaz Mustafa	2515	1 - 0
15.2	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2636	-	GM	Can Emre	2465	0 - 1
15.3	GM	Gagunashvili Merab	2577	-	FM	Ali Marandi Cemil Can	2275	½ - ½
15.4		Zarkua Davit	2443	-	CM	Sanal Vahap	2275	0 - 1
Bo.	35	Scotland	Rtg	-	16	Croatia	Rtg	1 : 3
16.1	FM	Tate Alan	2334	-	GM	Stevic Hrvoje	2612	0 - 1
16.2	FM	Morrison Graham	2339	-	GM	Saric Ivan	2648	½ - ½
16.3	IM	Muir Andrew J	2311	-	GM	Palac Mladen	2580	½ - ½
16.4	CM	Roberts Paul	2222	-	GM	Brkic Ante	2605	0 - 1
Bo.	17	Romania	Rtg	-	36	Wales	Rtg	4 : 0
17.1	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2650	-	FM	Williams A Howard	2353	1 - 0
17.2	GM	Vajda Levente	2584	-	CM	Jones Iolo C	2282	1 - 0
17.3	GM	Marin Mihail	2534	-		Pleasants Allan J	2089	1 - 0
17.4	GM	Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula	2553	-		Young Alan	2042	1 - 0
Bo.	37	Luxembourg	Rtg	-	18	Serbia	Rtg	0 : 4
18.1		Jeitz Christian	2171	-	GM	Ivanisevic Ivan	2636	0 - 1
18.2		Schartz Alain	2160	-	GM	Solak Dragan	2629	0 - 1
18.3	FM	Mossong Hubert	2119	-	GM	Damljanovic Branko	2597	0 - 1
18.4	WIM	Steil-Antoni Fiona	2104	-	GM	Kovacevic Aleksandar	2563	0 - 1
Bo.	19	Greece	Rtg	-	38	Cyprus	Rtg	4 : 0
19.1	GM	Banikas Hristos	2620	-		Bryan-Vissi Mark	1808	1 - 0
19.2	GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	2621	-		Aristotelous Vassilis	1921	1 - 0
19.3	GM	Papaioannou Ioannis	2600	-		Boulos Vrachimis	0	1 - 0
19.4	GM	Halkias Stelios	2593	-		Constantinou Pavlos	2068	1 - 0

In the Women's event, there were also some notable matches.

Armenia's draw with the Czech Republic was unexpected, and could easily have been worse. The Ukraine were pushed close by Greece, and Anna Muzychuk's Slovenia went down to an inspired Switzerland.

Match/ Board	Seed/ Title	White team (on odds)	Rating	vs.	Seed/ Title	Black team (on odds)	Rating	Result
Bo.	1	Russia	Rtg	-	15	Israel	Rtg	3 : 1
1.1	GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	2546	-	WIM	Porat Maya	2299	1 - 0
1.2	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	2526	-	WIM	Efroimski Marsel	2230	1 - 0
1.3	IM	Gunina Valentina	2514	-	IM	Borsuk Angela	2257	½ - ½
1.4	WGM	Pogonina Natalija	2451	-	WIM	Vasiliev Olga	2305	½ - ½
Bo.	16	Greece	Rtg	-	2	Ukraine	Rtg	1½:2½
2.1	IM	Dembo Yelena	2468	-	GM	Zhukova Natalia	2427	½ - ½
2.2	WGM	Botsari Anna-Maria	2313	-	IM	Ushenina Anna	2463	½ - ½
2.3	WGM	Makropoulou Marina	2201	-	IM	Gaponenko Inna	2435	½ - ½
2.4	WIM	Fakhiridou Ekaterini	2180	-	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	2460	0 - 1
Bo.	3	Georgia	Rtg	-	17	Azerbaijan	Rtg	2½:1½
3.1	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2475	-	WGM	Mamedjarova Zeinab	2314	0 - 1
3.2	WGM	Paikidze Nazi	2422	-	WIM	Kazimova Narmin	2241	1 - 0
3.3	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	2440	-	WIM	Mammadova Gulnar	2290	1 - 0
3.4	IM	Melia Salome	2392	-	WGM	Mamedjarova Turkan	2277	½ - ½
Bo.	18	Czech Republic	Rtg	-	4	Armenia	Rtg	2 : 2
4.1	WGM	Kulovana Eva	2297	-	GM	Danielian Elina	2507	0 - 1
4.2	WGM	Nemcova Katerina	2276	-	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2469	½ - ½
4.3	WIM	Havlikova Kristyna	2285	-	IM	Galojan Lilit	2383	1 - 0
4.4	WIM	Olsarova Tereza	2232	-	WGM	Kursova Maria	2315	½ - ½
Bo.	5	Poland	Rtg	-	19	Croatia	Rtg	3 : 1
5.1	GM	Socko Monika	2479	-	WGM	Golubenko Valentina	2293	1 - 0
5.2	WGM	Zawadzka Jolanta	2326	-	WIM	Franciskovic Borka	2280	1 - 0
5.3	WGM	Majdan-Gajewska Joanna	2386	-	WGM	Medic Mirjana	2236	0 - 1
5.4	WGM	Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina	2379	-	WIM	Saric Kristina	2255	1 - 0
Bo.	20	Latvia	Rtg	-	6	Hungary	Rtg	1½:2½
6.1	WGM	Reizniece-Ozola Dana	2281	-	IM	Madl Ildiko	2399	1 - 0
6.2	WGM	Berzina Ilze	2320	-	WGM	Rudolf Anna	2347	0 - 1
6.3	WGM	Erneste Inguna	2218	-	WGM	Gara Ticia	2375	½ - ½
6.4	WFM	Ungure Liga	2066	-	IM	Gara Anita	2340	0 - 1
Bo.	7	Germany	Rtg	-	21	Austria	Rtg	3½: ½
7.1	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	2457	-	IM	Moser Eva	2448	1 - 0
7.2	WGM	Michna Marta	2382	-	WFM	Exler Veronika	2124	1 - 0
7.3	WIM	Ohme Melanie	2361	-	WIM	Kopinits Anna-Christina	2276	½ - ½
7.4	WIM	Hoolt Sarah	2286	-	WFM	Newrkla Katharina	2131	1 - 0
Bo.	22	England	Rtg	-	8	Bulgaria	Rtg	1 : 3
8.1	IM	Houska Jovanka	2415	-	WGM	Videnova Iva	2297	0 - 1
8.2	IM	Ciuksyte Dagne	2327	-	WGM	Voiska Margarita	2328	½ - ½
8.3	WFM	Yurenok Maria S	2106	-	WGM	Djingarova Emilia	2309	½ - ½
8.4	WFM	Bhatia Kanwal K	2087	-	WGM	Nikolova Adriana	2286	0 - 1
Bo.	9	Romania	Rtg	-	23	Italy	Rtg	3 : 1
9.1	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	2418	-	IM	Sedina Elena	2343	½ - ½
9.2	WGM	L'ami Alina	2364	-	IM	Zimina Olga	2338	1 - 0
9.3	WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	2335	-	WIM	Brunello Marina	2221	½ - ½
9.4	WIM	Bulmaga Irina	2334	-		Messina Roberta	1964	1 - 0
Bo.	24	Montenegro	Rtg	-	10	Spain	Rtg	1 : 3
10.1	WGM	Vojinovic Jovana	2346	-	IM	Alexandrova Olga	2423	0 - 1
10.2	WFM	Milovic Aleksandra	2171	-	WGM	Vega Gutierrez Sabrina	2327	½ - ½
10.3	WFM	Stojanovic Marija R	2095	-	WGM	Calzetta Ruiz Monica	2301	½ - ½
10.4		Blagojevic Tijana	1925	-	WFM	Pascual Palomo Lucia	2104	0 - 1
Bo.	11	Slovenia	Rtg	-	25	Switzerland	Rtg	1½:2½
11.1	IM	Muzychuk Anna	2557	-	WIM	Seps Monika	2198	1 - 0
11.2	WGM	Krivec Jana	2291	-	WIM	Heinatz Dr Gundula	2205	0 - 1
11.3	WGM	Srebrnic Ana	2219	-		De Seroux Camille	2056	0 - 1
11.4	WIM	Rozic Vesna	2263	-		Stoeri Laura	1939	½ - ½
Bo.	26	Lithuania	Rtg	-	12	France	Rtg	1 : 3
12.1	WGM	Daulyte Deimante	2238	-	IM	Milliet Sophie	2386	0 - 1
12.2	WIM	Zaksaite Salomeja	2200	-	WGM	Maisuradze Nino	2315	1 - 0
12.3		Batkovskyte Dominyka	2102	-	WGM	Guichard Pauline	2305	0 - 1
12.4		Vanagaite Giedre	1958	-	IM	Collas Silvia	2287	0 - 1
Bo.	13	Netherlands	Rtg	-	27	Turkey	Rtg	2½:1½
13.1	GM	Peng Zhaoqin	2379	-	WIM	Yildiz Betul Cemre	2301	1 - 0
13.2	IM	Lanchava Tea	2320	-	WIM	Ozturk Kubra	2239	0 - 1
13.3	WIM	Bensdorp Marlies	2242	-	WCM	Kaya Emel	2005	½ - ½
13.4	WIM	Haast Anne	2268	-		Menzi Nezihe Ezgi	1911	1 - 0
Bo.	28	Norway	Rtg	-	14	Serbia	Rtg	0 : 4
14.1	WFM	Johnsen Sylvia	2028	-	IM	Bojkovic Natasa	2396	0 - 1
14.2		Reppen Ellisiv	1949	-	WGM	Chelushkina Irina	2276	0 - 1
14.3		Carlsen Ellen Oen	1931	-	WIM	Drljevic Ljilja	2273	0 - 1
14.4		Hansen Erle Andrea Marki	1762	-	WIM	Eric Jovana	2236	0 - 1

The strating time of 3pm in Greece is equivalent to 2pm in Paris and Madrid, 1pm in London, 3pm in Moscow.

Official site: http://euro2011.chessdom.com/

You can also find the team composition, results and statistics here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr57856.aspx?art=8&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30

And for the women event's: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr57855.aspx?art=8&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30