Turkish İş Bank Chess leauge: Adana Truva the Invincible

After the fourteenth round, Adana Truva Chess Club claimed the championship title with one round to go. The Adana Club won all of its games and has 28 points.

There is still a close fight for the second place between Turkish Airlines and Manisa Doruk college but the latter side has an advantage in board points with 2.

The smoke on the question of relegating teams are also cleared and four teams which are relegating are now certain. Round-by-round reports between round 10-14 are below. 

Round 10: Hope Remains for Turkish Airlines After Winning Against Doruk College

One of the key games of the season in the fight for the top three spots was between Manisa Doruk College and Turkish Airlines.  Turkish Airlines had to win in order to fight for top two spots or the championship title. Turkish Airlines lost 2.5-1.5 on the top boards but thanks to victories of Muzychuk sisters and Yargıcı they got the victory.

One of the last three games was between IM Can and GM Savchenko. GM Savhcenko won and equalled the game with the 4-4 score. IM Muzychuk's game was an the key game since Ertan and Şirin were close to a draw on the junior board. IM Anna Muzychuk was a pawn up in a rook endgame and close to victory against WGM Stepaiova.

This is sisterhood...Mariya Muzychuk watching her sister Anna leading her team to the victory. Thanks to her crucial victory THY defeated Manisa Doruk College 5.5-4.5.

Adana Truva won comfortably against Bursa Tophane with 8-2 and continued its consistent march towards the championship. Now, they are the sole leaders since Manisa Doruk lost and the next round game between the two is the crucial one and Manisa Doruk has to win in order to have a chance to fight for the title. Now, Truva has 20 points followed by Manisa Doruk with 18 and THY with 16 points.

The exciting game closely kibitzed by a large number of people including President of TCF Ali Nihat Yazıcı.

Another close game was the derby of Istanbul between Beşiktaş and İTÜ. On the final board, the game between two youth national team trainers FM Yağız and FM Erdoğan decided the match and FM Yağız was able to create the decisive counterplay with his rook and queen against Erdoğan's bishop pair and rook on the a file. Before the final counterplay, white had to be winning somewhere but FM Erdoğan could not manage to.

After the game , the players stayed still...Not being able to get out of the mood of the game, full of tension and stress.

Denizli Erbakir won a crucial game against Denizli Servergazi with 5.5-4.5 while Antalya Deniz Gençlik outscored Selçuk University with a 6-4 win. İSEK Aquamatch won a comfortable game against Antalya Çallıspor reaching 13 points.

Round 11: Truva Defeats Manisa Doruk, Takes The Big Step Towards The Championship Title

The derby of the season between Manisa Doruk and Adana Truva took place in the eleventh round. Manisa Doruk Koleji had to win against Adana Truva in order to catch up with their opponents since they lost against Turkish Airlines previous round. The GMs made quick draws but another match which ended quickly was IM Haznedaroğlu's win over IM Erturan. On the fourth board IM Esen won against FM Seçer and the slight score advantage on youth boards did not save the Manisa team from losing the key game of the season.

IM Erturan and IM Haznedaroğlu in a blind post-mortem session

Turkish Airlines won after suffering against ITU with 5.5-4.5 and caught up with Manisa Doruk College on the standings table. Turkish Airlines were two points ahead before the last three games but WIM Topel won against IM Salome as Güner did against IM Kılıçaslan. Kınsız and IM Erdoğdu were the last ones to determine the outcome of the match. Erdoğdu was a pawn up but Kınsız got close to a draw, however in the end Erdoğdu managed to win and helped his team to take the full points.

Just after the game, GM Gagunashvili showing the draw to the players,however...

THY players also celebrating the close victory and congratulating their team mate.

Beşiktaş was another side who suffered in the path to the victory after surpassing TED College only by one. Another close game which was determined by the outcome of the game between FM Karadeniz and IM Atakişi. FM Karadeniz had to be content with the draw after Atakişi's stubborn defence and cede the win to Beşiktaş by only 5.5-4.5, however, he found a study-like win in the end.

Bursa Tophane won against İSEK Aquamatch 7-3 thanks to the crucial wins of IM Karakehajov over GM Banikas and FM Gürcan's win against FM Demirel.

Pamukkale University got a close victory against Selçuk University, the only team without a single win. Servergazi Municipality defeated Antalya Çallıspor with 7-3 and reached 16 points.

Round 12: Adana Truva etting Closer to the Title With Yet Another Win

Truva won comfortably against İSEK Aquamatch with 7.5-2.5 and now is very close to the title since they defeated almost all of the strongest teams in the league. Their strongest opponent yet to face in the upcoming rounds is Servergazi. Manisa Doruk College crushed İTU with 8.5-1.5.

Turkish Airlines won comfortably against TED College with 9-1 and reached 20 points. The only upset would have come from the national team  manager FM Solakoğlu against IM Erdoğdu, but FM Solakoğlu who was the winning side in rook vs. rook+two pawns ending lost his rook and had to resign. Servergazi won 6.5-3.5 against Bursa  Tophane and now has 18 points.

Mersin Ezgi - Antalya Çallıspor game was a crucial game in terms of determining the relegating teams.  Çallıspor got a close victory with 5.5-4.5 and threw their opponents into the middle of fire. However, they are now safely away from relegation.

Beşiktaş won comfortably against Antalya Deniz Gençlik with 7.5-2.5 reached 16 points and consolidated its position at fifth place while looking for more if Servergazi loses in the next rounds.

Tarsus Zeka won against Pamukkale University with 6-4 and now has 11 points. In the fight of GMs, Solak and Abbasov' victories were crucial to help the Tarsus side to collect 6 points.

Truva now has 24 points followed by Turkish Airlines and Manisa Doruk College with 20 points. However, Manisa has more board points which means they have better tie-break so this means if the leauge ends this way they are the side to qualify for the European Club Cup.

GM Mamedov and IM Atakişi in a very late post-mortem with the rock-solid first board of ITU, FM Selim Çıtak stating that he plays the strongest tournament of his life with a pack of GMs in his opponent list.

FM Selim Gürcan, the editor and the founder of Turkish chess website Satranç Okulu and its sub-domains helping Tophane with an individual score of 1.5/2.

Round 13: Truva Fearing Its First Loss but Not in the End

Truva almost lost against İTU but they managed to survive and went on to win the match with 5.5-4.5 and extended their winning streak to 13.  Adana Truva was supposed to be losing at some point according to the natural outcomes of the positions but able to save it. FM Çıtak won against GM Safarli on the first board but on the fourth board ,Gür couldn't win against Gücin even tough he was two pawns up at some point so it was a missed opportunity for the technical university club.

İSEK Aquamatch defeated Servergazi with a 5.5-4.5 win. Servergazi lost most of its hope of filtrating into the first three. Beşiktaş surpassed Pamukkale University with 6.5-3.5 and reached 18 points. Turkish Airlines crushed Antalya Deniz Gençlik which helped them to narrow the gap of board points with Doruk College down to 1.5 points. Since Manisa Doruk College and Turkish Airlines have the same number of match point, board points (individual scores) make the difference. Doruk College defeated TED Ankara College with a 7.5-2.5 win. Tarsus Zeka won comfortably against Tarsus Zeka and moved to the the seventh place. Antalya Çallıspor won against Selçuk University (6-4) which meant Selçuk University is the first team that relegated from the İş Bank Chess League.

GM Seferli and FM Çıtak, quick analysis with the heat of the game.

Round 14: Truva Claims the Title

Truva won against Servergazi and claimed its title with the close 5.5-4.5 victory. The closest teams to Truva, Manisa Doruk College and Turkish Airlines are still in a contest for the second place. The board point gap is still 2 points after Manisa Doruk College won against Antalya Deniz Gençlik with 8-2, while Turkish Airlines scored 7.5 points against Pamukkale University.

Erbakır stunned Beşiktaş with 5.5-4.5 win so the ex-champions missed the opportunity to take the sole fourth place. Bursa Tophane won comfortably against Selçuk University, which already relegated, and reached 12 points.

Mersin Ezgi made the upset of the round, holding İSEK Aquamatch with a draw thanks to the victory of Göksel against GM Atalik and Duman's draw against GM Papaiannou. This extra points did not save the Mersin side from relegation.

TED and ITU who have been rivals for many years played their last match for some time in the league since TED relegated after losing to ITU 6.5-3.5.

Tarsus Zeka won comfortably against Pamukkale University.

With one round to go the smoke completely cleared around the championship contest and the struggle not to relagate. Apart from Selçuk University, TED College, Mersin Ezgi and Antalya Deniz Gençlik relegated.