The free day at the European Team Championship was good for the Montenegrin men's national team, which consolidated after two consecutive defeats, defeating Portugal 3-1 in today's seventh round. Grandmaster Nikita Petrov and FIDE master Nemanja Vukčević signed the triumph.
Petrov proved with his precise play that the sacrifice of Jose Barria's quality was unjustified in an interesting game in which the Sicilian defense was played. Nemanja Vukčević treated the Italian opening well, having a minimal advantage throughout the game, however Gustavo Ribeiro weakened his king with careless play, which our national team player punished and ended the game with checkmate. Draws by Denis Kadrić and Dragan Kosić were enough for the final result and a return to the middle of the table ahead of the last two rounds.
Our national team is currently ranked 24th, three places better than its initial rating. Ukraine leads the table with 13 points, while Azerbaijan has two points less, and it seems that their duel in the eighth round may determine the new champion of the old continent.
Our ladies played very well, but lacked sportsmanship and were defeated by the Lithuanian team, with a minimum score of 2,5-1,5. The only triumph was achieved by Aleksandra Milović, who, after an originally played opening, showed her strength and precisely led an attack on the opponent's king, and after a precise combination, she captured the opponent's rook, so Simona Limontaite could only admit defeat. Aleksandra Žerbcova drew with Salomeja Zaksaite after both sides played fairly, while gross errors led to the defeat of Alena Skvortsova and Katarina Đukić.
Our ladies are currently 32nd, which is four places lower than their initial rating, and we hope that they will have good luck in the last two rounds. At the top of the table is the Polesie team with 12 points, while the Ukrainian and German teams have one point less.
The eighth round is scheduled for tomorrow.
Bonus video:
