Ukraine and Poland grab gold at European Team Championships

Open: Ukraine beat England, Serbia beat Azerbaijan

Ukraine secured overall victory in the open section after defeating England 2½–1½ in Tuesday’s decisive final round. Though the scoreline was narrow, the Ukrainian team maintained control throughout the match and never appeared in serious danger of losing the top spot. The decisive result came on board four, where 16-year-old Ihor Samunenkov delivered the key victory by beating Luke McShane with the black pieces.

The young grandmaster demonstrated excellent maturity and precision in a dynamic position with opposite-side castling and all six major pieces still on the board. The turning point came after McShane’s inaccurate 42.Qa3

Samunenkov seized the initiative with the precise 42…Rxf2 43.Rh7+ Kg5 (correctly avoiding 43…Kxh7, which would lose to 44.Qe7+) 44.Re1 Qf6 45.Rd7 Qf5

White could have resisted longer with 42.Rh8+ Kg5 43.Re1, when Black would still stand better but require accuracy to convert. In the game, Samunenkov simplified at the right moment into a rook ending, which he converted cleanly to clinch both the game and the gold medals for his team.

Ukraine v. England

Samunenkov completed the event with an undefeated 5½/8 score, a 2714 performance rating, and the individual gold medal on board four – i.e. an extraordinary achievement for the 16-year-old. His teammate Igor Kovalenko, playing on board three, was another of Ukraine’s stars, finishing on 6½/8 with a 2827 TPR, the third-highest of the entire tournament, and taking individual gold on his board. Kovalenko’s steady and energetic play throughout the event proved decisive in several crucial matches.

This victory marked Ukraine’s second European Team Championship title in the open section, following their success four years earlier at the 2021 edition held in Čatež ob Savi, Slovenia. Notably, two members of that winning team – Anton Korobov and Andrei Volokitin – returned in Batumi, now playing on boards two and three.

The European champions

Ukraine had entered the final round tied on match points with Azerbaijan, who had beaten them earlier in the event. However, the decisive factor came on the last day, as Azerbaijan lost 3–1 to the defending champions Serbia. That match featured no draws, with Serbian players Alexey Sarana, Aleksandar Indjic and Robert Markus all scoring wins, ensuring Serbia finished on a high note.

The result left both Serbia and Azerbaijan with 13/18 match points, but Azerbaijan claimed the silver medals on tiebreak thanks to a higher Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger score (excluding the lowest result). Serbia thus took bronze, a strong result for the seventh seeds.

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

Team Azerbaijan

Team Serbia

A single match point behind the medal positions were Germany, Romania, and Georgia 2, all finishing on 12/18. The second Georgian team was by far the revelation of the event: entering as the 29^th seeds, they produced a number of upsets and capped their campaign with a remarkable final-round victory over Armenia.

Germany, the top-seeded team, also ended positively, defeating the second seeds from the Netherlands 2½–1½. Their victory was anchored by Matthias Bluebaum’s well-executed win over Loek van Wely on board three (analysed below by GM Karsten Müller).

Bluebaum 1-0 Van Wely

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Final standings

…40 teams

All games

Women’s: Poland beat Azerbaijan to secure outright win

An outright winner was also determined in the women’s championship, where the second seeds from Poland confirmed their dominance by defeating Azerbaijan 2½–1½ in the final round. The result meant that Poland finished on 16/18 match points, securing their second European title in the women’s event. Their first triumph came twenty years earlier, at the 2005 European Team Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden – remarkably, Monika Socko was a member of both victorious squads.

The final-round victory over Azerbaijan was earned in controlled fashion. Draws were agreed on three of the boards, while Oliwia Kiolbasa provided the decisive result on board three by defeating Gulnar Mammadova (game analysed below).

Poland v. Azerbaijan

From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!

Kiolbasa’s consistent play throughout the tournament made her the top scorer for Poland, and her 2473 performance rating earned her the individual gold medal on board three. Alina Kashlinskaya, Aleksandra Maltsevskaya and Socko all contributed important points over the course of the nine rounds, and the team’s unity and balance across all boards proved decisive in their title run.

Poland’s triumph capped an exceptional campaign: they began the tournament with six consecutive wins, were narrowly defeated by Ukraine in round seven (2½–1½), but recovered immediately to win their final two matches, against France and Azerbaijan. Their final tally of eight wins and one loss reflected their dominant form from start to finish.

The triumphant Polish squad

Second place went to Ukraine, who finished with 14/18 match points and, notably, were the only team in either section to remain undefeated (five wins and four draws). Their reliability across all boards was underlined by three individual medals: Anna Ushenina took gold on board two, Natalia Zhukova earned silver on board four, while Bozhena Piddubna secured silver on board five.

Germany took the bronze medals, ending just behind Ukraine on tiebreak. The German team had been in strong contention throughout but suffered a setback in the final round, losing 2½–1½ to Bulgaria. Despite the defeat, their earlier results proved sufficient to stay on the podium. Two of their players won individual medals: Hanna Marie Klek took silver on board two, while Kateryna Dolzhykova secured gold on board five.

Team Ukraine

The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

Team Germany

Kiolbasa 1-0 Mammadova

Final standings

…36 teams

All games

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