EGC 2011 - 1st Round

The EGC opening ceremony took place yesterday, but it was only today that the main tournament started.

In my opinion, the biggest sensation from yesterday was Artem's victory against Catalin Taranu 5p and Ilya Shikshin 7d (the current European Champion), in the Pandanet European Team Championship. Artem ('Artem92' on KGS) has improved a lot, and his style continues very "polite and elegant" (in the words of 'MilanMilan'). His solid and careful style is as impressive as his determination and hard study. There is no question that he has what it takes to become the next European Champion!

Unfortunately, today he had to face Kim Youngsam ('Korondo' 9d) right in the first round. Artem wasn't able to beat him, so it was not the best possible start for the young Ukrainian star. Nonetheless, it goes to show that 'Korondo' really is serious (he said he wants to win the EGC!), so it will be very exciting to see if there is any European player who can surpass him.

The games of the main tournament are going to be relayed (live) on KGS by EuroGoTV (please check the accounts 'EGC2011B1', 'EGC2011B2','EGC2011B3', etc). You can find the 1st round pairings at http://eurogotv.com/tournament/EGC2011MAIN/ronde1.pdf.

Above is the game played today by Ilya Shikshin 7d, on the first board. He chose the Chinese Fuseki as Black, which is normal for him, as it suits his aggressive style well. His opponent, Dusan Mitic 6d (from Serbia) was not afraid to fight, but the difference in strength became apparent later. White overplayed a couple of times and in the end some of his groups ended up being captured. It is important to always be very careful when playing Ilya (more photos of the players in the Congress: http://eurogotv.com/index.php?menu=Photos&picasafotomapnaam=EGC2011Day1)!

So far there were no big surprises (except, perhaps, on board 4, where Svetlana Shikshina - 'redrose' 3p on KGS - was defeated by Dmytr Bohatskyi 6-dan, from Ukraine). The Results page still isn't up, but it should soon be in the EGC-2011 website.

We wish good luck to all participants!