Budva hosts seven rounds of intense competition

The 41^st European Chess Club Cup and the 30^th 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.

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Open: Leading teams secure convincing victories

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.

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Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
Max Euwe became the fifth World Chess Champion after beating Alexander Alekhine in the 1935 World Championship match. A maths teacher by profession, Euwe remained an amateur throughout his life, but was still the best chess player in the Netherlands, and one of the world's best players. Euwe holds the record for the most Dutch national championships, with twelve. After winning the World Championship, Euwe was also the world's best player for a while. He lost the title again in 1937 in the rematch against Alexander Alekhine.
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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

A couple of tactical shots

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In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves

Abhimanyu Puranik | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Round 2 pairings

...54 boards

All available games

Women: Monte-Carlo overcome young English opponents

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.

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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 7^th seeds Crvena Zvezda and 18^th 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

Round 2 pairings

How to exchange pieces

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Links

• Official website
• SuperChess and Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo claim titles (2025)
• Novy Bor and TAJFUN-SK Ljubljana are European Club Cup champions (2024)
• Carlsen's Offerspill clear winners at European Chess Club Cup (2023)
• Novy Bor and ASVOe Pamhagen are the European Club Cup champions (2022)
• SF Deizisau convincingly win the European Club Cup (2021)