European Club Cup: Crowded at the top

by Johannes Fischer
10/19/2026 – A total of 108 teams are competing in the European Club Cup in Budva in the open section, with 22 in the women's competition. On paper, the favourites in the open are Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club from Turkey, with an average Elo rating of 2715. Bayegan are also the only team with an average rating of 2700 or higher, although four other teams - Alkaloid, SuperChess Romania, Novy Bor and Tuxena - have averages of at least 2600. These five teams are also among the 25 in Budva that have won both their matches in the first two rounds. | Pictured: Alkaloid's Wei Yi | Photo: Gerd Densing
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Budva hosts seven rounds of intense competition

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.

Open: Two out of two for the favourites

Only three teams have won both their matches 6–0: Vugar Gashimov, Tuxena and Alkaloid.

The European Club Cup is a prestigious tournament, and numerous top players have travelled to Budva to help their teams compete for the title. The highest-rated player in the field is Nodirbek Abdusattorov, with an Elo rating of 2780, currently ranked fifth in the world. He is followed by Wei Yi (2758), Anish Giri (2752), Arjun Erigaisi (2746) and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (2731).

Abdusattorov and Giri have yet to play in the first two rounds, but Wei Yi, who is registered on board two for Alkaloid behind Erigaisi, has already played twice and won both games. In round two, he scored an attractive victory against Iceland's Hilmir Heimisson.

Among the 25 teams that have started with four match points out of a possible four are Schachfreunde Berlin, 15th in the starting rankings with an average Elo rating of 2421. The field will quickly thin out over the coming rounds - and with 108 teams competing over just seven rounds, a single slip-up could put an end to any team's title hopes.

Standings after round 2

Rk. Team TB1
1 Vugar Gashimov 4
2 Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai 4
3 Alkaloid 4
4 C.A Silla Integrant Col-lectius 4
5 SuperChess Romania 4
6 Pausa Chess Club 4
7 Beer Sheva Chess Club 4
8 Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club 4
9 Elektroprivreda 4
10 Sigil Fund Pardubice 4
11 Aix-en-Provence 4
12 Marseille Echecs 4
13 Buducnost 4
14 Rishon LeZion A 4
15 Cheddleton Savills Caterling 4
16 Novy Bor Chess Club 4
17 Ashdod chess club 4
18 SK Rockaden team 1 4
19 TJ Slavia CAISSA Cadca 4
20 SK K CERO INVEST Nitra 4
21 Schachfreunde Berlin 1903 4
22 MTK Budapest 1 4
23 SK Dunajska Streda 4
24 Koninklijke Wetterse Vrijpion 4
25 Hillerod Skakklub 4

...108 teams

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Women: Monte-Carlo, Mitrovica and Bonnevoie co-leaders

Only 22 teams are competing in the women's tournament. It is also played over seven rounds, but with four boards per match. On paper, the favourites are Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, with an average Elo rating of 2477. Monte Carlo are one of three teams to have started the tournament with two wins. Mitrovica and Bonnevoie are the other two.

The highest-rated female player in the field is Aleksandra Goryachkina, with an Elo rating of 2536. She plays on board one for Monte-Carlo. Also competing in Budva is Bodhana Sivanandan, who plays on board one for the English team She Plays to Win Lionesses A. She lost to Goryachkina in round one, but managed to outplay her opponent in the endgame in round two.

Bodhana Sivanandan

Bodhana Sivanandan | Photo: Gerd Densing

Standings after round 2

Rk. Team TB1
1 Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica 4
2 CE Gambit Bonnevoie 4
3 Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo 4
4 Crvena Zvezda 3
5 SuperChess Romania 3
6 Club Ajedrez Linares 3
7 Zenski sahovski klub NAPREDAK Zenica 3
8 Gambit ASEE 2
9 Velikova Chess Club 2
10 Odlar Yurdu 2
11 SG 1871 Loeberitz 2
12 Davit Jojua's chess club 2
13 She Plays To Win Lionesses A 2
14 GASCO Pardubice 2
15 Klub Kolner Schachfreunde 2
16 Gostivar 2
17 Klaipeda 1
18 Wasa SK 1
19 She Plays To Win Lionesses B 0
20 Oslo Schakselskap 0
21 SK Radnicki 0
22 Accademia Scacchistica Romana 0

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Topics: European Club Cup 2026
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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