24 November 2015

Vladimir Putin congratulated Russia’s national chess teams

Russian President is very pleased with the confident victory in the European Championship.

Vladimir Putin congratulated Russia’s national chess teams on their victory in the 2015 European Team Chess Championship in Iceland.

The message reads, in part:

“I am truly very pleased that our two national teams – the men’s and women’s teams – have represented Russia so worthily at this prestigious competition and, with their confident victory, continue the Russian chess school’s legendary traditions. You demonstrated excellent training, skill and team spirit in this fierce competition, and you deserved your place on the winner’s podium.”

Russian men's team won the first European championship since 2007. Russia won six matches, drew three, and collected 15 match points. The winning team is formed by Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Dmitry Jakovenko. They started by beating Turkey 3-1, Greece 3-1, Spain 2.5-1.5, Ukraine 3-1, then drew with Azerbaijan 2-2, defeated Georgia 2.5-1.5 and France 2.5-1.5, and concluded the event with two draws with Armenia and Hungary.

Russian women's team won eight matches and drew one, thus collecting 17 points out of 18. The team members are Alexandra Kosteniuk, Ekaterina Lagno, Valentina Gunina, Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Anastasia Bodnaruk. Russia defeated Greece 3-1, Armenia 3-1, Italy 3-1, Georgia (top rated team of the championship) 3.5-0.5, and France 3-1. Then there was a draw with Ukraine, followed by wins over Hungary 3-1, Poland 2.5-1.5, and Germany 3-1.