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The 32nd European Club Cup kicked off with a festive opening ceremony. 62 teams start in the open section, 14 teams start in the women's tournament. All in all, 354 players came to play in Novi Sad, 154 of them are grandmasters. Top seed in the open section is the Russian team Syberia, which has Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri and Alexander Grischuk on the top three boards.
Defending champion Syberia, here at the award ceremony in Skopje 2015, is
again favorite. (Photo: europeanchessclubcup2015.com)
But the competition is strong: Alkaloid of Macedonia has six players with 2700+ in its line-up, and Padova from Italy came with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian and Boris Gelfand on the top boards.
Tension before the first round (Photo: Tournament Webpage)
In the first round the top teams came off to a good start and dominated their opponents:
| No. | SNo | Team | MP | Res. | : | Res. | MP | Team | SNo |
| 1 | 32 | Oslo Schakselskap | 0 | 1 | : | 5 | 0 | Syberia | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Alkaloid | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | Schachfreunde Berlin | 33 |
| 3 | 34 | En Passant | 0 | ½ | : | 5½ | 0 | OR Padova | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Mednyi Vsadnik | 0 | 5½ | : | ½ | 0 | KSK Rochade Eupen-Kelmis | 35 |
| 5 | 36 | Club d'Echecs de Geneve | 0 | ½ | : | 5½ | 0 | AVE Novy Bor | 5 |
| 6 | 6 | VSK Sveti Nikolaj Srpski | 0 | 6 | : | 0 | 0 | Perfect | 37 |
| 7 | 38 | JSV SISSA | 0 | 1½ | : | 4½ | 0 | Ashdod | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | SHSM "Legacy Square" Moscow | 0 | 5½ | : | ½ | 0 | SK Modra | 39 |
| 9 | 40 | The Smashing Pawns Bieles | 0 | 0 | : | 6 | 0 | Odlar Yurdu | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | Zhiguli | 0 | 4½ | : | 1½ | 0 | Tammer-Shakki | 41 |
| 11 | 42 | Salon Shakkikerho | 0 | 1 | : | 5 | 0 | Ladya Kazan | 11 |
| 12 | 12 | Beer Sheva Chess Club | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | Skakklubben Nordkalotten | 43 |
| 13 | 44 | Gambit Bonnevoie | 0 | 0 | : | 6 | 0 | Vaalerenga Chess Club | 13 |
| 14 | 14 | Itaka | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | LugPokerChess | 45 |
| 15 | 46 | Nordea Skanderborg | 0 | ½ | : | 5½ | 0 | Schachgesellschaft Zurich | 15 |
| 16 | 16 | AEM Luxten Timisoara | 0 | 5½ | : | ½ | 0 | Cercle d'Echecs Fontainois | 47 |
| 17 | 48 | Ezerelio Vaivorykste | 0 | 2½ | : | 3½ | 0 | Cheddleton | 17 |
| 18 | 18 | CSM Baia Mare | 0 | 4½ | : | 1½ | 0 | Sjakklubben AV 1911 | 49 |
| 19 | 50 | Bronshoj Skakforening | 0 | 1 | : | 5 | 0 | SV Werder Bremen | 19 |
| 20 | 20 | Schachgesellschaft Riehen | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | White Rose | 51 |
| 21 | 52 | DLF Steinitz Roma | 0 | 1 | : | 5 | 0 | SK Dunajska Streda | 21 |
| 22 | 22 | SC MPO Maria Saal | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | Cercle d'Echecs Monte-Carlo | 53 |
| 23 | 54 | Edinburgh Chess Club | 0 | 1 | : | 5 | 0 | LSG IntelliMagic | 23 |
| 24 | 24 | Jelica PEP - Goracici | 0 | 4½ | : | 1½ | 0 | Chania Chess Academy | 55 |
| 25 | 56 | Gonzaga | 0 | 1 | : | 5 | 0 | KSK47 Eynatten | 25 |
| 26 | 26 | SK Rockaden | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | De Sprenger Echternach | 57 |
| 27 | 58 | Abergavenny | 0 | ½ | : | 5½ | 0 | Crvena Zvezda | 27 |
| 28 | 28 | KGSRL Gent | 0 | 6 | : | 0 | 0 | Trinity College Dublin | 59 |
| 29 | 60 | Cardigan | 0 | 0 | : | 6 | 0 | Gambit ASSECO SEE | 29 |
| 30 | 30 | Kennemer Combinatie | 0 | 5 | : | 1 | 0 | Butrinti | 61 |
| 31 | 62 | Hatay Metropolitan | 0 | 0 | : | 6 | 0 | Omladinski Sahovski Klub "Paracin" | 31 |
Only 14 teams start in the women's tournament, but the whole world elite has gathered in Novi Sad. The great favourite is the team of CE Monte Carlo, where Women's World Champion Hou Yifan plays on top board. Behind Hou Yifan follow former Women's World Champion Mariya Muzychuk, her sister Anna Muzychuk, Swedish chess legend Pia Cramling and six-time French champion Almira Skripchenko. The biggest rival of Monte Carlo is probably the Georgian team NONA Batumi.
NONA Batumi won the last two ECCs, this picture was taken in Bilbao 2014 (Phooto: Tournament Webpage)
| No. | SNo | Team | MP | Res. | : | Res. | MP | Team | SNo | ||
| 1 | 1 | Cercle d'Echecs Monte-Carlo | 0 | 3 | : | 1 | 0 | SS Lazio Scacchi | 8 | ||
| 2 | 9 | Ladya Kazan | 0 | ½ | : | 3½ | 0 | NONA Batumi | 2 | ||
| 3 | 3 | "Ugra" Chess Club | 0 | 3 | : | 1 | 0 | ASD C.S.R. Fischer Chieti | 10 | ||
| 4 | 11 | Midland Monarchs | 0 | ½ | : | 3½ | 0 | SHSM "Legacy Square" Moscow | 4 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Odlar Yurdu | 0 | 3½ | : | ½ | 0 | Rishon Le Zion | 12 | ||
| 6 | 13 | ASVOE Pamhagen | 0 | ½ | : | 3½ | 0 | Chigorin Chess Club St Petersburg | 6 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Jelica PEP - Goracici | 0 | 3 | : | 1 | 0 | Kaunas CC Margiris | 14 |
