ETCC - The first round has started

Some of the top players are resting during round one

The first round of the European Team Chess Championship launched off today at 15:30 local time. Some of the teams are playing with the strongest lineup, others are resting top boards and some, like Bosnia and Herzegowina, didn't appear at all. The introductory speeches were given by Mr.George Mastrokoukos, CEO of the organizing committee, and Mr.Boris Kutin, ECU president.

The round started with the empty seats across the Ukranian team as Bosnia and Herzegowina failed to show up. Their teams will be forfeited from both competitions. Russia, top seeded in men group, had a long match against Sweden but eventually pulled the 3.5-0.5 win, while Azerbaijan neutralised Turkish national team with 4-0 on the third table. Powerful Bulgaria faced tough resistance from Lithuania and scored 2.5-1.5, while motivated Montenegro, playing at the international scene for the first time, demolished Poland 3.5-0.5.

Much more surprising results can be found at the women section. Georgia went down 1.5-2.5 against Lithuania and the young team of Azerbaijan beat Ukraine with the same result. Top seeded Russia achieved a comfortable 3.5-0.5 in their match with Israel and Hungary beat Turkey 3-1.

Levon Aronian, Michael Adams, Etienne Bacrot and Peter Heine Nielsen are skipping the first round. Vassily Ivanchuk has to arrive after his rapid match with Peter Leko. The weather is still warm, but with the exception of Michael and Tara Adams, no one of the chess players tried to swim in the sea.

Bosnia and Herzegovina forfeited

As Bosnia and Herzegovina didn't show up for the first round, Sergey Karjakin and Alexander Areshchenko went to the press room to watch the live games. Sergey told us that Ukranian team is hoping for much better performance than in Goteborg 2005 and added that Vassily Ivanchuk is expected to arrive in few days.

The tournament director IA Sotiris Logothetis explained that Bosnian team gave no notice about missing the first round and they also can't be reached on the phone. Even if they do show up, they won't be allowed to continue the Championship.

Results ETCC round 1 men section

RUSSIA RUS 3½ : ½ SWEDEN
BOSNIA I HERCEGOVINA BIH 0 : 4 UKRAINE
AZERBAIDJAN 4 : 0 TURKEY
ROMANIA 1 : 3 ARMENIA
BULGARIA 2½ : 1½ LITHUANIA
FYROM 1 : 3 FRANCE
SPAIN 2½ : 1½ NORWAY
SWITZERLAND ½ : 3½ ISRAEL
NETHERLANDS 3 : 1 ITALY
MONTENEGRO 3½ : ½ POLAND
GEORGIA 3½ : ½ ICELAND
AUSTRIA 1 : 3 HUNGARY
CZECH REPUBLIC 3½ : ½ ESTONIA
FINLAND FIN 1 : 3 SERBIA
GERMANY 4 : 0 BELGIUM
SCOTLAND ½ : 3½ ENGLAND
GREECE 4 : 0 LUXEMBOURG
WALES 0 : 4 CROATIA
SLOVENIA 4 : 0 MONACO
CYPRUS ½ : 3½ DENMARK

Results ETCC round 1 women section

RUSSIA 3½ : ½ ISRAEL
LITHUANIA 2½ : 1½ GEORGIA
UKRAINE 1½ : 2½ AZERBAIDJAN
CZECH REPUBLIC 1½ : 2½ FRANCE
HUNGARY 3 : 1 TURKEY
ENGLAND 0 : 4 POLAND
GERMANY 2½ : 1½ CROATIA
SWITZERLAND 1½ : 2½ NETHERLANDS
SERBIA 3 : 1 AUSTRIA
SWEDEN SWE 1 : 3 ARMENIA
SLOVENIA SLO 4 : 0 ESTONIA
MONTENEGRO ½ : 3½ ROMANIA
GREECE 1 4 : 0 BOSNIA I HERCEGOVINA
FINLAND 0 : 4 0 BULGARIA
SPAIN 4 : 0 0 GREECE 2