The Swiss team

Number 1 on the team list

• Round 1 against IM Ezra Paul Chambers A draw with Black, carried by two only moves and a precisely calculated liquidation. ½-½
• Round 2 against IM Nderim Saraci A Catalan, thirty moves of patience, and an ending where bishop and king are faster. 1-0
• Round 3 against GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov A Ruy Lopez against the world elite: one passed pawn on a4 and twenty-five moves it dictates. 0-1
• Round 4 against IM Leonardo Valdes Romero Playing Black for the a-file, twice declining the capture, and ending by repetition. ½-½
• Round 5 against IM Frederick Waldhausen Gordon A French: a pawn and a half down, then 18.d5, 20.Qe5 and a passed pawn on a2 that never gets taken. 1-0
• Round 6 against GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus A Semi-Tarrasch against 2716: the only move twice, two extra pawns on move 50, and three minutes that were not enough. 1-0
• Round 7 against IM Jun Ying Tan A Richter-Rauzer: 17.g4 one move too early, the buy-back with 26.e6, and 37.Bb3 instead of 37.Re4 in the scramble. ½-½
• Round 8 against IM Saidakbar Saydaliev An English: 12...Nb8 to regroup, 17.Ne2 punished after the move-16 h4 attack, and a move-35 rook that would already have been enough on move 29. 0-1
• Round 9 against GM Alexey Sarana A Nimzo-Indian against a 2666: after 21...c4 no second wing left, six king moves without a plan, and thirty-eight seconds short at move forty. 1-0
• Round 10 against IM Sanjin Culum A Sicilian with 5.Bd3: the tactical error 21.Nd3, the king in the middle, and on move thirty-six not the only save 36.Rxh7. ½-½
• Round 11 against GM Georg Meier A Four Knights Scotch: the queen trade on move fourteen, the last knight on move eighteen, the practical rook move 24.Rg1, and the repetition that puts the half point down on board one. ½-½

Number 2 on the team list

• Round 2 against FM Endrit Uruci A Ruy Lopez into the ending: a stubborn half point with Black against a well prepared opponent. ½-½
• Round 3 against GM Aydin Suleymanli A Nimzo-Indian, fifteen faultless moves, and then a knight move that forgets the f5 square. 1-0
• Round 4 against IM Emmanuel Jimenez Garcia A Maróczy Bind, a retreat to d1, and the only rook move that keeps the win: 26.Rb3. 1-0
• Round 5 against IM Andrew N Greet An English: the bishop trade on g2, a check that forces f3, and an advantage that vanishes with 22...Kh8. ½-½
• Round 6 against GM Ediz Gurel A Najdorf: an extra pawn that costs the bishop pair, a bishop sacrifice on h3, and on move 55 the rook to the wrong square. ½-½
• Round 7 against IM Kim Yew Chan A Catalan: a knight for three pawns, a double attack on move 19, and 21...c5, the only move that holds. ½-½
• Round 8 against IM Bakhrom Bakhrillaev A Queen's Gambit: the d5 square after 22.Bxe4 dxe4, the move 35.b4 in forty-eight seconds, and 38.Ne2 twice instead of 38.h4. ½-½
• Round 9 against GM Aleksandar Indjic The passed pawn on b6 on move 37, three minutes 43 before the queen trade 38.Qd4, and on move 50 a pawn advance to a square the bishop was already watching. 0-1
• Round 11 against IM Facundo Vazquez A Catalan Open: 7...Bxa3 in twenty-two seconds, fourteen minutes for 21...Na4, and the pawn that comes back with 27...Nxa2. ½-½

Number 3 on the team list

• Round 1 against Wilfried Ntamatungiro A king attack in 29 moves, decided by the quiet 21.Qh3. 1-0
• Round 2 against FM Muhamet Asllani A quiet Alapin, an exchange at the right moment, and a technically clean ending. 1-0
• Round 3 against GM Mahammad Muradli The Poisoned Pawn against 2653: a trap sidestepped and the only move 33.Kh1. ½-½
• Round 5 against FM Rishi Vijayakumar A Scotch: one knight move takes the queen off, and the right bishop lands on d5. 1-0
• Round 6 against GM Isik Can A Four Knights: a queen trade declined, a pawn and a half down, and 27...Qe2, the only move that holds. ½-½
• Round 8 against IM Almas Rakhmatullaev Two Knights, Polerio: thirty moves of third-of-a-pawn manoeuvring, then 32.Rxf6 with one minute twenty-three left, and a move-forty rook that walks itself to the end of the a-file. 0-1
• Round 9 against GM Alexandr Predke A slow Italian: the freeing 13...d5, twenty-eight minutes for 20...c5, and an opposite-coloured bishop ending that could no longer be won. ½-½
• Round 10 against IM Rijad Burovic An Italian with 4.d3: 15...f6 opens the diagonal, eleven minutes for 20...Bb4 and twenty-one minutes for 23...Kh7. 1-0

Number 4 on the team list

• Round 1 against Mutabazi Hugues The king stays in the centre, the g-file opens, and 26...Rg2 ends the game. 0-1
• Round 3 against GM Rauf Mamedov Playing 13...Bh2+, a move hardly anyone finds, and holding against 2631. ½-½
• Round 4 against IM Sebastian Mihajlov A Najdorf, two chances let go, and at the end a rook sacrifice that leads to perpetual check. ½-½
• Round 5 against FM Murad Abdulla A Najdorf against a rook move: the wing attack answered in the centre and the repetition accepted. ½-½
• Round 7 against FM Zhuo Ren Lim A Najdorf: a rook that takes the fourth rank, 18.h4 instead of 18.h3, and the king move 20.Kg2 that makes the attack possible. 1-0
• Round 8 against IM Mukhammadali Abdurakhmonov An Exchange QGD: the double queen trade on move 10, the bayonet 11.h4 without castling, and a knight sacrifice 32.Ng3 that liquidates into the draw. ½-½
• Round 9 against GM Velimir Ivic Caro-Kann Advance against a 2601: sixteen minutes for 15.Rc1 instead of 15.Nd6, under five minutes from move twenty-seven, and a rook ending that had to be held. ½-½
• Round 10 against IM Dejan Marjanović A French Steinitz: a window for Black after 12.Rd1, fourteen minutes for 16.Nd4, and the bishop move 28.Be8 that ends the game. 1-0
• Round 11 against IM Luis Ernesto Rodi An Italian Two Knights: 16.Nd5 occupies the outpost, 28...Rd1+ is the simplification that was none, and the passed pawn goes through with 51.b8=Q. 1-0

Number 5 on the team list

• Round 1 against Rukundo Joe Stephane Queenside space, one missed break, and the breakthrough with 30.f5. 1-0
• Round 2 against CM Korab Saraci Meeting the Alapin with 5...g5, winning material and driving it home in the ending. 0-1
• Round 4 against FM David Alejandro Cabezas Solano A Rossolimo, a knight sacrifice over nine forced moves, and three extra pawns that are not enough. ½-½
• Round 6 against GM Emre Can A Caro-Kann: an attack that vanishes with 24.Bg5, and two legal moves on move 38, one of which draws. 0-1
• Round 7 against CM Yi Chen Chow A Najdorf: 13...Bh6, twenty-eight minutes for a rook move, and a knight that goes to e5 thirty-two seconds before the time control. 1-0
• Round 10 against FM Ismet Mesic A Queen's Gambit Exchange: 17...g6 as a small drift, the declined queen trade 19...Qe6, and a two-knight ending that secures the half point. ½-½
• Round 11 against IM Bernardo Roselli Mailhe Cambridge Springs, Rubinstein: 17...c5 as the human second-choice move, the reply 18.Nxc5 did not come, and the repetition on move thirty-four puts the half point down. ½-½