I felt a flush of optimism as England began our final game at the European Team Championships, held in Batumi earlier in October. The previous evening, my teammate Gawain Maroroa Jones had escaped with a draw in a marathon six-hour game, tying the match against a strong Dutch team. That left us paired against the leading team, Ukraine, in the final round. On paper it was an even match, but Ukraine had suffered a setback against Azerbaijan in the previous round, so we had realistic hopes of a podium finish – and even a theoretical chance of gold if the stars aligned.
I knew not to underestimate my 16-year-old opponent, Ihor Samunenkov, who was unbeaten in the tournament so far. The attractive finish to his first round game appears below. Alas, my attempts
to complicate the game backfired, and my loss in the final match saw our team shunted down the standings to ninth place on tiebreak.
Irakli Akhvlediani (Georgia 2)-Ihor Samunenkov (Ukraine)
European Team Championship, Batumi, 2025
23…Ne4! Forking queen and bishop, so White must capture. 24 fxe4 Bxe4+ 25 Kg1 Rg6+ 26 Ng3 Bd6 27 Rf1 f6 Coolly securing the pawn, in preparation for Qd7-h3. 28 Be1 Qh3 There is no defence. After an imminent capture on g3, hxg3 is met by Qh3-h1 mate. 29 Qe2 Bxg3 30 Bxg3 Rxg3+ 31 hxg3 Qxg3+ is no help. 29 Qf3 Bxf3 30 Rxf3 h5 31 dxc5 bxc5 White resigns
It was a consolation that Ukraine’s victory was so well deserved. Besides Samunenkov, their other top scorer in Batumi was Igor Kovalenko, an experienced grandmaster who has hardly played in years, having been a soldier on the front lines in Ukraine. Ukraine’s women’s team also won silver in their event, behind Poland.
England’s best performer, Gawain Maroroa Jones, won an individual bronze medal. In this position, many would have rushed to capture the bishop on e4, but a clever series of threats was far more effective in ramping up the pressure.
Titas Stremavicius (Lithuania)-Gawain Maroroa Jones (England)
European Team Championship, Batumi, 2025
29… Bg5 30 f4 Bf6 Now Bf6-d4 is a menace. 31 Kh2 b5! Energetic play, since 32 cxb5 d5! mobilises a strong pawn front. 32 Qd3 Bd4 33 b3 a4! Striking at the foundations of White’s b3-c4 pawn chain. 34 bxa4 fxe4 35 Rxe4 bxc4 36 Nxc4 Qf5 The Re4 is pinned, and short of time White now makes a decisive mistake. 37 Rxd4? 37 Nd2 d5 looks like it must be avoided, but 38 g4! is an unlikely save. 38…dxe4 39 gxf5 exd3 40 fxe6 Kg7 41 Kg3 favours White: 41…Be3 42 Nc4 d2 43 Nxe3! covers d1 just in time. cxd4 38 Qxd4 Qc5 39 Qd3 Re1 40 Qd2 Re4 41 Nxd6 Rd4 42 Nb7 Qd5 43 Qc3 Rxf4 44 Na5 Qd6 45 Nb7 Qb8 White resigns
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