Kick off at the European Club Cup

by Marco Baldauf
11/6/2016 – The European Club Cup, the strongest club tournament of the year, began this weekend in Novi Sad, Serbia. The event lasts from 5th to 13th November and attracted 20 of the world's best 30 players, among them Vladimir Kramnik, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian. The best player in the Women's Tournament is reigning Women's World Champion Hou Yifan.

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The European Club Cup started

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:

Results of round 1

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 : 0 OR Padova 3
4 4 Mednyi Vsadnik 0 : ½ 0 KSK Rochade Eupen-Kelmis 35
5 36 Club d'Echecs de Geneve 0 ½ : 0 AVE Novy Bor 5
6 6 VSK Sveti Nikolaj Srpski 0 6 : 0 0 Perfect 37
7 38 JSV SISSA 0 : 0 Ashdod 7
8 8 SHSM "Legacy Square" Moscow 0 : ½ 0 SK Modra 39
9 40 The Smashing Pawns Bieles 0 0 : 6 0 Odlar Yurdu 9
10 10 Zhiguli 0 : 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 : 0 Schachgesellschaft Zurich 15
16 16 AEM Luxten Timisoara 0 : ½ 0 Cercle d'Echecs Fontainois 47
17 48 Ezerelio Vaivorykste 0 : 0 Cheddleton 17
18 18 CSM Baia Mare 0 : 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 : 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 : 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

Source: chess-results.com...

Games of round 1

 

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)

Results of round 1

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 : 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 : 0 SHSM "Legacy Square" Moscow   4
5 5   Odlar Yurdu 0 : ½ 0 Rishon Le Zion   12
6 13   ASVOE Pamhagen 0 ½ : 0 Chigorin Chess Club St Petersburg   6
7 7   Jelica PEP - Goracici 0 3 : 1 0 Kaunas CC Margiris   14

Source: chess-results.com...

Games of round 1

 

Tournament page


Marco Baldauf, born 1990, has been playing since he was eight. In 2000 and 2002 he became German Junior Champion, in 2014 he became International Master. He plays for SF Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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