The 41st European Chess Club Cup and the 30th European Women's Chess Club Cup got underway on Saturday, 17 October, in Budva, Montenegro. The competitions have attracted a record 130 teams, with 108 participating in the open section and 22 in the women's event. Both tournaments follow a seven-round Swiss system, with six boards per match in the open and four in the women's competition. The final round is scheduled for Friday, 23 October.
Most of the leading teams began with comfortable victories, although there were several individual upsets. Some clubs rested their strongest players for the opening round, while others fielded their leading grandmasters from the outset.
Top seeds Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club of Türkiye began with a 6–0 victory over England's Blackthorne. The Turkish team, which includes Anish Giri, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Richard Rapport and Amin Tabatabaei, did not need to field Giri or Erdogmus to secure the maximum score.
North Macedonia's Alkaloid, the second seeds, also registered a 6–0 victory, defeating Sharks 4NCL of England. Wei Yi and Arjun Erigaisi both played and won their games in convincing fashion. Elektroprivreda likewise scored six individual victories against SK Rockaden's second team, while Hungary's Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai defeated Niksic by the same margin.
Defending champions SuperChess Romania, whose squad includes Nodirbek Abdusattorov, defeated Iceland's Akureyri Chess Club 5½–½. Abdusattorov was rested, while well-known coach and former elite player Ivan Sokolov conceded the team's only half-point when he drew with the considerably lower-rated Bogi Palsson.
Novy Bor Chess Club of the Czech Republic also won comfortably, defeating Luxembourg's Gambit Bonnevoie 5–1, but suffered the day's most notable individual upsets. Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius lost to 55-year-old Serbian candidate master Slobodan Filipovic, who was rated approximately 450 Elo points below his opponent. Experienced Czech grandmaster David Navara was among the winners for Novy Bor.
Elsewhere, Vugar Gashimov and Beer Sheva Chess Club recorded 6–0 victories, while Ashdod Chess Club defeated Gambiet Opwijk 5–1. Rishon LeZion A also made a successful start, beating Cercle des Echecs Dudelange 5½–½.
Ediz Gürel playing for top seeds Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Novy Bor's Nils Grandelius was defeated in what turned out to be the biggest individual upset of the day | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Abhimanyu Puranik | Photo: Mark Livshitz
| No. | Team | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crvena Zvezda | Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club |
| 2 | Alkaloid | Breidablik Chess Club A-team |
| 3 | Elektroprivreda *) | Mornar Split |
| 4 | KBSK Brugge | SuperChess Romania |
| 5 | Novy Bor Chess Club | Chessclub Differdange |
| 6 | De Sprenger Echternach | Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai |
| 7 | Mimoza | Ashdod chess club |
| 8 | Vugar Gashimov | SDP Wachtebeke |
| 9 | Dardania | Rishon LeZion A |
| 10 | Beer Sheva Chess Club | FC St. Pauli 1910 |
| 11 | SC Erlangen 48/88 | Aix-en-Provence |
| 12 | SK K CERO INVEST Nitra | Wasa SK |
| 13 | Sigil Fund Pardubice | Kingston Kings |
| 14 | Multi Essence | Schachfreunde Berlin 1903 |
| 15 | Cheddleton Savills Caterling | Schaakstad Apeldoorn |
Defending champions Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo, the top seeds in the women's competition, defeated She Plays To Win Lionesses A of England by 3½–½. Despite the convincing final score, the English team provided considerable resistance, particularly on the first two boards.
Aleksandra Goryachkina, the highest-rated player in the women's competition, faced none other than 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan and obtained a difficult win on the top board. On board two, Anusha Subramanian secured a draw against experienced Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling. The remaining two games went to Monte-Carlo, with Stavroula Tsolakidou and Elisabeth Paehtz defeating their young opponents.
The rating favourites and defending champions from Monte-Carlo ended up prevailing against the young English team | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Several other leading teams recorded maximum scores. Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica defeated Klub Kolner Schachfreunde 4–0, while SuperChess Romania beat Gostivar by the same margin. Azerbaijan's Odlar Yurdu also collected all four points against Wasa SK, as did Gambit ASEE against SK Radnicki.
The most notable team result came in the meeting between 7th seeds Crvena Zvezda and 18th seeds Velikova Chess Club, which finished in a 2–2 draw. Meanwhile, Club Ajedrez Linares defeated Oslo Schakselskap 3½–½, and CE Gambit Bonnevoie achieved the same result against Davit Jojua's Chess Club.
With only 22 teams competing in the women's tournament, the leading contenders will meet relatively early. Monte-Carlo will face fifth seeds Odlar Yurdu in Sunday's second round, when Humpy Koneru is likely to make her first appearance for the defending champions.
The second round of both competitions takes place on Sunday, 18 October, starting at 14.00 local time.
Pia Cramling playing for Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | Photo: Mark Livshitz
Teodora Injac playing for Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica | Photo: Mark Livshitz
| No. | Team | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odlar Yurdu | Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo |
| 2 | Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica | Gambit ASEE |
| 3 | Club Ajedrez Linares | SuperChess Romania |
| 4 | CE Gambit Bonnevoie | SG 1871 Loeberitz |
| 5 | GASCO Pardubice | Crvena Zvezda |
| 6 | Velikova Chess Club | Zenski sahovski klub NAPREDAK Zenica |
| 7 | She Plays To Win Lionesses A | SK Radnicki |
| 8 | Oslo Schakselskap | Klub Kolner Schachfreunde |
| 9 | Gostivar | She Plays To Win Lionesses B |
| 10 | Accademia Scacchistica Romana | Davit Jojua's chess club |
| 11 | Wasa SK | Klaipeda |
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