As a world super-power, Europe sometimes seems a little divided. Unlike the United States, where each individual state (generally) speaks the same language and enjoys a similar cultural heritage, Europe is a patchwork quilt of languages and cultures. This is one of its great strengths, but it sometimes leads to rather trickier communication than might be the norm in other parts of the world.
Here at the European Championships, then, it is a testament to the quality of the game and the judging staff that there have been relatively few communication issues between players. They seem more concerned with bringing their ‘A’ game to the table than worrying greatly about where their opponents were from. Whether they are running [Royal Decree] is more of a concern than language, which has proven to be scant barrier to good games, for everyone but the reporters, who have had to get used to cards in at least five different languages!
The top tables today hold representatives from a good mix of nations. As we write this article in the midst of round 10 the Italian champion, Dario Longo is sitting at the top of the Swiss with Mohamed Ali, his fellow countryman, just behind him in second. Austria and German are occupying the next two spots while the Netherlands also have a strong showing in the Top 8.
It looks like Italy are currently in the more dominant position in the tournament, with four out of the top ten players currently hailing from there. Germany, despite having numbers on their side in a tremendous way, has only been able to match Italy so far. With over 100 extra invites than any other country, they were expected to run over the tournament due to sheer numbers, but it will be in the next two rounds that the countries are split open and the top players will be decided.
Each country present also has with them a national champion, and the main question in the back of most people’s minds coming in to this tournament was “How are these Championship winners going to shape up against the rest of Europe?”
The answer, quite simply, is not too well. Dario Longo is currently sitting pretty on 9-1, looking like a lock for the Top 8. The talk amongst the reporters frequently seems to move to the quality of his play, where it seems that he hasn’t made a wrong turn all weekend. The other national champions, however, are not doing as well as they would have liked. The closest anyone is to Dario is the German national champion, Michel Gruner. He is currently in 27th place and fighting for a small chance of Top 8 contention. Baran Guntekin, the Belgian champion, is at 34th, and that’s about as good as it gets for National Champions. The only other winner on six wins and with a glimmer of hope of representing Europe in Tokyo is Darren Walsh from Ireland.
With two rounds to go before the Top 8 is decided, this tournament really has become a Trial of Nations, and it’s time to pick sides on which country will proceed to take out the rest of the competition and become European Champion 2006. Remember that the top four competitors all receive invites to the World Championship so there’s loads to play for still and more action to come than in any of the summer blockbusters.