Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club won the European Club Cup in Budva, Montenegro, after beating defending champions SuperChess Romania 3½–2½ in Friday's final round. The Turkish club finished with 13/14 match points, level with Novy Bor Chess Club, who secured a 4½–1½ victory over Elektroprivreda. Bayegan Pendik claimed the title thanks to their superior tiebreak score. Rishon LeZion A finished third, one match point behind the leading pair.
Three teams entered the seventh round tied for first place, with Bayegan Pendik and SuperChess facing each other in a clash of co-leaders. The Turkish representatives secured the match victory thanks to wins by Anish Giri and Amin Tabatabaei, who defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Haik Martirosyan, respectively. SuperChess collected their only full point through Jorden van Foreest, who beat 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus on board two. The remaining three games ended in draws.
Giri's victory was somewhat surprising, as the Dutch grandmaster had struggled earlier in the event. He had lost two of his previous three games, against Indian grandmasters Pranav Venkatesh and Pranesh M, before facing Abdusattorov, the highest-rated player in the competition. Despite those setbacks, Giri delivered a full point on the top board when his team needed it most.
The crucial SuperChess v. Bayegan Pendik encounter | Photo: Gerd Densing
Meanwhile, Novy Bor defeated Elektroprivreda 4½–1½ to finish level with Bayegan Pendik on match points. The Czech club collected victories on boards two, three and six, with Nihal Sarin beating Karthikeyan Murali, Pentala Harikrishna defeating Velimir Ivic and David Navara overcoming Nikola Djukic.
Novy Bor finished the competition undefeated, with six wins and one draw, the same record as the eventual champions. However, Bayegan Pendik's tiebreak score of 261.5 was 8.5 points higher than Novy Bor's 253.0, leaving the Czech club in second place.
Several Novy Bor players also enjoyed successful individual tournaments. Nihal scored 5/6 and earned the gold medal on board two with a performance rating of 2859. Harikrishna also collected 5/6, taking silver on board three.
Novy Bor, with team captain Petr Boleslav and David Navara holding the Czechian flag during the awards ceremony | Photo: Gerd Densing
The bronze medal went to ninth seeds Rishon LeZion A, who defeated Cheddleton Savills Catering 5½–½ in the final round. The Israeli team, whose squad featured veteran GM and former World Championship challenger Boris Gelfand, finished with 12/14 match points. Their only defeat came against Novy Bor in round four, and they won their remaining six matches.
Cheddleton, seeded 16th, had entered the final round with a chance to reach the podium after collecting five victories in their first six matches. English international master Richard Pert had contributed six consecutive individual wins to his team's campaign, but suffered his first defeat in the final round. Cheddleton eventually finished twelfth on 10/14 match points.
SuperChess Romania finished fourth with 11/14 match points, ahead of Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai and Alkaloid on tiebreaks. Although they could not defend their European Club Cup title, the Romanian representatives secured a place in the inaugural European Chess Super League, scheduled to take place in 2027.
Rishon LeZion A, the ninth seeds, took home the bronze | Photo: Gerd Densing
The top individual performers on board one: Marc'Andria Maurizzi (Aix-en-Provence), Vaclav Finek (SK Dunajska Streda) and Aydin Suleymanli (Vugar Gashimov) | Photo: Gerd Densing
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 261,5 | |
| 2 | Novy Bor Chess Club | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 253 | |
| 3 | Rishon LeZion A | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 227,5 | |
| 4 | SuperChess Romania | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 259 | |
| 5 | Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 239,5 | |
| 6 | Alkaloid | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 237,5 | |
| 7 | Ashdod chess club | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 227,5 | |
| 8 | Aix-en-Provence | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 205 | |
| 9 | Beer Sheva Chess Club | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 189 | |
| 10 | Vugar Gashimov | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 224 | |
| 11 | Elektroprivreda | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 212,5 | |
| 12 | Cheddleton Savills Catering | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 182 | |
| 13 | Sigil Fund Pardubice | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 180 | |
| 14 | TJ Slavia CAISSA Cadca | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 180 | |
| 15 | Schachfreunde Berlin 1903 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 172,5 | |
| 16 | Marseille Echecs | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 172 | |
| 17 | Rishon LeZion B | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 161,5 | |
| 18 | Crvena Zvezda | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 155 | |
| 19 | SK Dunajska Streda | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 170 | |
| 20 | Riehen | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 165,5 |
Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo successfully defended their title in the women's European Club Cup, securing a ninth tournament victory after defeating Davit Jojua's Chess Club 4–0 in the final round. The Monaco-based team finished with 12/14 match points, level with CE Gambit Bonnevoie, who defeated Crvena Zvezda 2½–1½. As in the open section, the title was decided by tiebreaks, with Monte-Carlo finishing ahead of the Luxembourg representatives.
Three teams had entered the seventh and final round sharing the lead on 10/12 match points: Monte-Carlo, Gambit Bonnevoie and Odlar Yurdu. The three clubs had already faced each other earlier in the competition, meaning they met lower-ranked opponents on Friday.
Monte-Carlo, the top seeds, faced 15th seeds Davit Jojua's Chess Club of Georgia. The defending champions secured all four individual points, although Humpy Koneru on board two encountered considerable difficulties against Nia Donghvani before eventually winning her game. Monte-Carlo's convincing result ensured that the team would finish with a strong tiebreak score, regardless of the results of their rivals.
The Monaco-based club suffered their only defeat against Gambit Bonnevoie in round four. Monte-Carlo won their other six matches, concluding the competition with a tiebreak score of 159.5, compared with Gambit Bonnevoie's 145.0.
Elisabeth Paehtz following the games of her teammates Aleksandra Goryachkina and Humpy Koneru | Photo: Gerd Densing
All smiles for the champions - Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | Photo: Gerd Densing
Gambit Bonnevoie secured their sixth match victory by defeating seventh seeds Crvena Zvezda 2½–1½. Anna Ushenina and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya scored the decisive wins for the Luxembourg team, while Elina Danielian lost to Adela Velikic.
The fourth seeds thus finished second despite having beaten each of the three highest-rated teams in the competition. Gambit Bonnevoie defeated SuperChess Romania in round three, Monte-Carlo in round four and Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica in round five. Their only loss came against Odlar Yurdu in the penultimate round, a result that allowed their closest pursuers to catch them in the standings.
CE Gambit Bonnevoie grabbed silver after recovering from a painful loss in the penultimate round | Photo: Gerd Densing
The bronze medal went to second seeds Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica, who defeated Odlar Yurdu 3½–½. The Serbian team collected three victories and one draw against their Azerbaijani opponents, finishing with 10/14 match points. Odlar Yurdu also finished on 10 points but had to settle for fourth place due to inferior tiebreaks.
Third seeds SuperChess Romania completed the tournament in fifth place with 9/14 match points, followed by Gambit ASEE and Crvena Zvezda on eight points. The top seven seeds eventually occupied the first seven places, although not in their original ranking order.
Bronze goes to Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica | Photo: Gerd Densing
Monte-Carlo also collected three individual gold medals. Aleksandra Goryachkina finished as the best player on board one, Humpy Koneru received gold on board two and Elisabeth Paehtz was the second highest-performing player on board four (which also includes the reserve board). Nurgyul Salimova of Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica took gold on board three.
Still, the most notable achievement of the event came from 11-year-old English star Bodhana Sivanandan, representing She Plays To Win Lionesses A. Sivanandan defeated Sweden's Viktoria Johansson with the black pieces in the final round to complete her third and final international master norm. She finished the tournament with 5½/7 points, comprising five wins, one draw and one defeat.
Having also surpassed the required 2400 rating threshold during the competition, Sivanandan fulfilled the requirements for the IM title at the age of 11 years, 7 months and 16 days. She became the youngest female player to achieve this distinction, surpassing a record held by Judit Polgar since 1988. Formal confirmation remains subject to FIDE's title approval process.
Sivanandan's individual result helped She Plays To Win Lionesses A finish 11th among the 22 participating teams, one place above their initial seeding. The English squad concluded the competition with 7/14 match points.
Arne Kaehler interviews Bodhana Sivanandan at the ChessBase studio
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 159,5 | |
| 2 | CE Gambit Bonnevoie | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 145 | |
| 3 | Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 136 | |
| 4 | Odlar Yurdu | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 107 | |
| 5 | SuperChess Romania | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 117 | |
| 6 | Gambit ASEE | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 104 | |
| 7 | Crvena Zvezda | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 103 | |
| 8 | Davit Jojua's chess club | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 80 | |
| 9 | Velikova Chess Club | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 65,5 | |
| 10 | Club Ajedrez Linares | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 90 | |
| 11 | She Plays To Win Lionesses A | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 82,5 | |
| 12 | Zenski sahovski klub NAPREDAK Zenica | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 66,5 | |
| 13 | SG 1871 Loeberitz | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 63,5 | |
| 14 | Klub Kolner Schachfreunde | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 62,5 | |
| 15 | GASCO Pardubice | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 53 | |
| 16 | Gostivar | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 46,5 | |
| 17 | SK Radnicki | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 37 | |
| 18 | Oslo Schakselskap | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 41,5 | |
| 19 | Wasa SK | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 34 | |
| 20 | She Plays To Win Lionesses B | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 31,5 | |
| 21 | Klaipeda | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 23,5 | |
| 22 | Accademia Scacchistica Romana | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 27 |
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