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First Round: A round of almost no surprises..yet! |
 The first round saw a pretty straightforward affair for the favourites. Although the underdogs gave a good fight in the end they succumbed to their higher rated opponents, which would make Arpad Elo a happy man. There were lots of 4-0 results to be seen however occasionally some points were stolen away from the victors too. Such was the case in the matches of Turkey-Istanbul and Turkey-White against Iran and India respectively.
The first boards of both Turkish teams, obviously enjoying the advantage of playing at home, gave hard times to their much higher rated opponents. Cem Gundogan of Turkey-Istanbul playing white gained an exchange and after some adventures brought the point home whereas Baris Guven of Turkey-White played a solid game from the opening to force his higher rated opponent to find the way to a draw.
Also the young Danish player Thybo made a draw with his strong opponent Cabarkapa from Serbia in an opposite color bishop ending, congratulations! Another interesting match worth to mention was the derby between two local teams, Turkey-Red and Turkey-Red Girls which was won by boys ruthlessly with a clean score; well it is common knowledge that chess players are not good gentlemen at the chessboard.
The second round will start tomorrow at 10.00, keep your fingers crossed for an exciting round! |
