Even in the Monday round, the youngsters at the EYTCC did not spare the nerves of the spectators. Fights were fought, there were numerous decisive matches and in some age groups teams fired their way out of the title fight.

Romania is still on course in the U18 Open. The Austrian opponent had to accept an early defeat on board 3, because Marc Morgunov lost a bishop early and had to give up immediately. Not much better was his brother Dirk, who could not avert a defeat on the fourth board. Thus Romania's success was almost impossible to take away. Because board 1 had no view for any side on a full point, accordingly the peace pipe was smoked in a dead draw rook end game. Romania had collected the necessary 2.5 board points and the result on board 2 no longer played a role.

The match between Poland and Germany 1 was much more exciting. Roven Vogel again confirmed his strong form with an excellent game and led his team on the way to victory. Raphael Lagunow, however, had to give up because his opponent unleashed an irresistible attack in his match with unevenly colored bishops. In the game Julian Martin vs. Pawel Teclaw, the German seemed to have to fight for the equalizer. Therefore the scoring was a reasonable result, especially because Vincent Keymer could call a clear winning position on the board his own. But he made his life much harder than it would have been necessary. However, victory was important for the team and if you realize that you didn't treat the positions perfectly, you just have to "get over the fight". Vincent did so and turned the game into a team victory for Germany 1.

Germany 2 was leading 2-0 very early. The top boards Emil Schmidek and Valentin Buckels simply won against their Israeli opponents. But on the back two boards the Germans had a much harder time. Both Konstatin Urban and Jonas Roseneck had to manage worse positions. According to the motto "One man gets through" Jonas Roseneck reached the draw and secured Germany 2 a 2.5 victory.

At Belarus, Olga Badelka won once more, but the Belarusian board 2 Mihail Nikitenko also lost another time, who suffered 2 defeats after 3 victories at the beginning. So it was to secure at least one more team point on boards 1 and 4. Board 4, however, could not withstand the pressure of the Slovenian and gave up. So it all hung on board 1, IM Zarubitski did a good job and brought Belarus at least the 2:2.

Turkey were on top again, and showed what they were made of. Here, too, the boiling point was quickly reached, at 1.5: 1.5 everyone stood around the third board of the encounter, where Tomas Hurdzan tried to win the rook bishop final against his Turkish opponent. In vain, the final score was 2:2.

Germany 3 could book a victory. Thanks to victories by Luis Engel and Alexander Rieß on boards 1 and 2, where the Danes are actually more at eye level than the two boards behind. Jakob Pajeken was able to play his position in a draw, good news for the German fans, as this secured the team's victory. It didn't matter anymore that Daniel Kopylov lost on the last board.

Hungary remain the unlucky side of the championship. The defeat against Slovakia with a close 2.5: 1.5 ended all hopes of damage limitation.

In the U18 female Poland continues to go round in circles. Julia Antalok won her game again and Brett 2 drew enough to win the match in Polish favor. Thus Slovenia 2 could not give the hoped support for Slovenia 1. Slovenia did everything they could to pass Poland by winning 2-0 against Germany 3 without any danger.



Jana Schneider receives the prize for Fighter of the Day today. After a short time she was at a loss, her rook had got lost in the enemy camp and could not get out. So she was forced to sacrifice him for only one pawn and continue to play the position. But somehow her opponent could not really handle the extra rook. Gave back material until the position was a draw. This half point was important because, as in all rounds so far, Fiona won her game today and led the team to victory and thus further in sight of a medal place.

The day of Germany 2 was very bitter, against the number 1 of the tournament Serbia it set a very annoying 2-0 defeat, which also means a day off tomorrow.

In the U12 Germany 2 could fight a draw against the strong French. After Jonas Eilenberg won his game quite quickly, it was to bring this point home to the others. Dominik Laux contributed a draw. So there were 2 more games and it didn't look good for the German representatives. But Bui Bao rescued himself into the division of points based on an ingenious idea that captured a team point. Nikita Schubert already stood very badly at this time, due to a extra-figure of his opponent in the form of a knight. He fought again, but it didn't help. Germany 3 had to accept the hard defeat, the Hungarians knew no mercy and won all 4 boards.

Turkey, on the other hand, are becoming a real candidate for the title, with the Turks leading 2-1 against the Czech Republic and needing half a board point on the last board to win the match.What's better than half a board point? A whole! This sealed Turkey's 3-1 victory and their lead in the U12.

Just like Germany 2, Germany 1 did not exceed 2:2. The opponent was Belarus and the draw was reached thanks to Leonardo Costa's victory.

In the U12 female, Hungary was about to lose the next team point. After their board 2 Molli Markus only managed a draw and board 1 Zsoka Gaal had to manage a rook endgame with high draw chances. But from now on the position tipped over and Zsoka could still collect the full point, very impressive as the young Hungarian repeatedly bends over her positions in the final.

Germany 1 won, again with 1.5: 0.5: This time against Germany 3, Margarete Wagner took the half point for Germany 3.

Germany 2 was not too satisfied with its result. The French women, who played at eye level, could not be defeated despite their good positions. The focus of the U12 female remains on Germany 1, who are about to become European Champion!

The main focus tomorrow will be on the top pairing in the U18. Where Germany can regain the lead against Romania or to describe it from the Romanians' point of view: Romania can become European Champion!