Mar del Plata

Alireza Firouzja produced a momentous performance for France at the European Team Championships, held in Slovenia last month. The 18-year-old, originally from Iran, had taken first place at the Fide Grand Swiss in Latvia just a few days earlier. In Slovenia, his seven wins and two draws was a staggering achievement, earning him an individual gold medal and propelling him to second place in the world rankings. In the overall team standings, it was Ukraine that took gold, finishing narrowly ahead of France on tiebreak.

The England team got off to a shaky start, and we didn’t come close to repeating our bronze-medal-winning performance from the previous edition in 2019. But 22-year-old Ravi Haria made a confident debut, crossing the rating threshold to earn his grandmaster title during the event. Meanwhile, Gawain Jones earned an individual silver medal for a splendid performance on third board. Appropriately, his most exciting game was fought in the Mar del Plata variation (literally, ‘sea of silver’).