Everybody's there – at the European Club Cup in Turkey

Amongst the players (some of whom are arriving late) we have spotted, in no particular order, Anand, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Carlsen, Karjakin, Kamsky, Radjabov, Shirov, Girschuk, Kasimdzhanov, Bologan, Short, Atalik, Adams, Ponomariov, Mamedyarov, Morozevich, van Wely, Sasikiran; and in the women's section Humpy, Cramling, Zhu Chen, Stefanova, Skripchenko, Chiburdanidze, Lahno, Hou Yifan; and many others. It is really a giant event with a collection of stars you only otherwise see at Olympiads.

The Opening Ceremony took place in Limra Hotel on October 2nd 2007. During the ceremony FIDE Vice President and CEO of Global Chess BV Geoffrey Borg, TCF President Ali Nihat Yazici, ECU Board Member Werner Stubenvoll and Deputy Governor of Antalya Fazli Akgün delivered protocol speeches. There was also an impressive openings ceremony stage presentation with song and dance.

Video of opening ceremony – the video in WMV format is 25 MB in size and takes a while to download. You can watch a shorter (3.3 MB) version here. It is quite exhilarating to watch the joy and enthusiasm of the dancers in this modern Muslim nation.

To get you started on this exciting event we provide you with the following useful links:

• Official web site
• List of the men's teams – including all the players
• List of the women's teams – including all the players
• Results of the men's section – results of the women's section
• Live Java broadcast of a selection of the games

Picture gallery

By Andreas Albers

The venue of the European Club Championship in Kemer-Antalya, Turkey

The living quarters of the participants

With temperatures at 30-35°C the pool is an important accessory in this event

The dance performances at the opening ceremony

Drums play an important role in these stage performances

Lights and colours, grace and enthusiasm

The playing hall – actually a small part of one of the sites

Grischuk and Shirov playing on boards 2 and 3 of Ural Sverdlovskaya (Radjabov is board one)

Yep, Brooklyn boy Gata Kamsky

Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Tomsk-400) with Teimour Radjabov (Ural Sverdlovskaya) in the background

Kateryna Lahno, Yifan Hou and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya playing for Southern Ural Cheliabinsk

Natalia Zhukova (wife of Alexander Grischuk) playing for T-Com Podgorica