Double edged start of the Greek Chess League

Double edged start of the Greek Chess League
Top GMs stunned, favorite teams winning
Report by Chessdom.com

The strong Greek League 2009 has started in Halkidiki on the 3rd of July. It is one of the top teams competitions of Europe, featuring multiple grandmasters and a boasting number of 600 players.

Round 1 was logical from a team rating point of view. Most of the higher rated teams achieved convincing victories with 4 or more points margin. Looking at individul scores, however, many players were surprised by strong opposition.

GM Ivanchuk met fierce resistance from one of the top Georgian players GM Mchedlishvili and could not get more than a draw. The same happend to the Czech top player GM Navara, who was held by the strong Greek talent GM Papaioannou.

GM Tiviakov followed suit with GM Luka Lenic, while GM Azmaiparashvili defeated one of the 2700 club candidates GM Miroshnichenko.

Other surprised GMs included GM Bojkov, GM Moradiabadi, and GM Evgeny Postny (making draws with IM Shavtvaladze, GM Kempinski, GM Kolev respectively).

Scroll down for the full scores of round 1.

Top pairings for round 2 include Ivanchuk – Rozentalis, Tomashevsky – Nevednichy, Miroshnichenko – Radulski, Wojtaszek – Chatalbashev, Ivanisevic – Kempinski, Braun – Azmaiparashvili, Dochev – Bologan.

Here is more info.