European Team Chess Championship
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The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ETC) is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more or less accords with the wider definition of Europe used in other events such as the Eurovision Song Contest and includes Israel, Russia and the former Soviet States. The competition is run under the auspices of FIDE.
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[edit] Championship history
The idea was conceived in the early 1950s, when chess organisers became aware of the need for another international team event. Consequently, a men-only Championship was devised and held every four years, with the intention of filling in the gaps between Olympiads. More recently, the Championship has grown in importance and popularity and is regarded as a prestigious tournament in its own right, providing for male and female participants.
The first Championship Final was held in Vienna and Baden bei Wien in 1957 (August 22-28). It was a double round robin and notable for the surprise victory of the Yugoslav team over the mighty Soviet team in their second encounter.
For the next twenty years, Championships occurred at four-year intervals, although the Kapfenberg event was delayed by a year. Since 1977, successive tournaments have mainly been held on a three and then a two-year cycle. A Women's Championship, following the same cycle and venues as the men's, was established at Debrecen in 1992.
[edit] Championship format
Over the early years, the formula altered incrementally, to allow the participation of a growing number of teams. At the inaugural event, only four places were made available for the Finals and some teams expected to do well, simply failed to qualify from the preliminary rounds. By 1973, the competition had expanded to roughly double the size and there were twenty-four nations in the preliminaries, competing for eight places in the Finals, held in Bath. Conversely, over the same period, the number of boards played in a match was reduced from 10 to 8, presumably to reduce costs for organisers and participatory federations.
Into the new millennium, the format has changed radically and is now based on a Swiss system in 9 rounds, on the model of the Olympiad, with one section for the men's teams and one section for the women's teams, considered as separate competitions. At Gothenburg in 2005, the men's competition comprised 40 teams (including Sweden B and Sweden C) and the women's competition, 26 teams (including Sweden B). Each round was contested over 4 boards and squads included a reserve.
Historically, teams played for the pleasure of winning the Europa Cup, but nowadays this has been overshadowed by the popular medal-winning format of the 'Olympics' and Chess Olympiad. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded to the top 3 teams and also as board prizes for outstanding individual performances.
Plovdiv 2003 heralded a major change in the scoring methodology. Both the men's and women's events were, for the first time, scored by total of match points, rather than game points as had previously been the case. Game points are still recorded for purposes of tie-splitting.
The 2009 event will be held in Novi Sad, Serbia.
[edit] Summary of results
[edit] Men's team medals
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Year Location Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal 1957 Vienna USSR 41 Yugoslavia 34 Czechoslovakia 24.5 1961 Oberhausen USSR 74.5 Yugoslavia 58.5 Hungary 53 1965 Hamburg USSR 66 Yugoslavia 57 Hungary 57 1970 Kapfenberg USSR 52.5 Hungary 41 East Germany 39.5 1973 Bath USSR 40.5 Yugoslavia 34 Hungary 33 1977 Moscow USSR 41.5 Hungary 31 Yugoslavia 30 1980 Skara USSR 36.5 Hungary 29 England 28.5 1983 Plovdiv USSR 38 Yugoslavia 33 Hungary 31 1989 Haifa USSR 36 Yugoslavia 33 West Germany 31.5 1992 Debrecen Russia 25 Ukraine 22.5 England 21.5 1997 Pula England 22.5 Russia 22.5 Armenia 22 1999 Batumi Armenia 22.5 Hungary 22 Germany 21 2001 León Netherlands 24.5 France 23 Germany 22 2003 Plovdiv Russia 17 Israel 15 Georgia 13 2005 Gothenburg Netherlands 15 Israel 14 France 13 2007 Crete Russia 17 Armenia 14 Azerbaijan 13
[edit] Women's team medals
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Year Location Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal 1992 Debrecen Ukraine 13.5 Georgia 13 Azerbaijan 12.5 1997 Pula Georgia 13 Romania 12 England 12 1999 Batumi Slovakia 12.5 Yugoslavia 12 Romania 12 2001 León France 12.5 Moldova 12 England 12 2003 Plovdiv Armenia 14 Hungary 14 Russia 13 2005 Gothenburg Poland 15 Georgia 14 Russia 12 2007 Crete Russia 17 Poland 13 Armenia 13
[edit] References
- Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information
- Rules of ETC - FIDE Handbook
- Sunnucks, Anne (1970). The Encyclopaedia of Chess. Hale. ISBN 0709110308.
- Kazić, Bozidar M. (1974). International Championship Chess. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-2795-7.
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