Euro Teams: Serbia and Greece on 3 out of 3

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
10/8/2025 – After three rounds at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi, clear leaders have begun to emerge in both sections. Serbia and Greece share the lead in the open event, while Poland, Bulgaria and Germany top the standings in the women's tournament, with Germany scoring an upset victory over top seeds Georgia in Tuesday's third round. | Photos: European Chess Union
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Open: Two co-leaders, three chasers

Serbia and Greece, seeded seventh and eleventh respectively, have made the most consistent starts, both scoring narrow 2½–1½ victories in Tuesday's third round to maintain perfect records of 6 match points. Serbia defeated France thanks to a crucial win by Aleksandar Indjic, while the remaining three games ended in draws. Greece achieved the same score against Slovenia, with Antonios Pavlidis providing the decisive victory on board four.

Just behind the leaders are three teams with 5 match points - the Netherlands, Azerbaijan and Ukraine - all considered among the pre-tournament favourites. Each of them has shown steady form so far, combining solid preparation with depth across all boards.

Fourteen teams are tied on 4 match points, including top seeds Germany and third seeds Hungary, both of whom recovered well after suffering first-round defeats. Vincent Keymer, Germany's top board, contributed to his team's resurgence with consecutive wins in rounds two and three, reaffirming his excellent form.

Among the surprises of the day, Montenegro continued their impressive campaign by upsetting Israel. With this victory, the Balkan team joined the large group on 4 match points, underlining the competitive balance of this year's event.

European Chess Team Championship 2025

Lortkipanidze 1-0 Sousa

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Standings after round 3

Rk. Team TB1
1 Serbia 6
2 Greece 6
3 Netherlands 5
4 Azerbaijan 5
5 Ukraine 5
6 Romania 4
7 France 4
8 Turkiye 4
9 Czech Republic 4
10 Slovenia 4
11 England 4
12 Spain 4
13 Montenegro 4
14 Armenia 4
15 Germany 4

...40 teams

All games

Women's: Germany among co-leaders after upsetting Georgia

In the women's competition, three teams lead with perfect scores after three rounds: Poland, Bulgaria and Germany. While Poland and Bulgaria have so far faced lower-rated opponents and recorded comfortable wins, Germany achieved a major success in round three by defeating top seeds and hosts Georgia by 2½–1½. Hanna Marie Klek delivered the decisive point with a determined victory over Nino Batsiashvili, while her teammates held firm on the remaining boards.

Close behind the leaders are Ukraine, Azerbaijan and France, all with 5 match points.

European Chess Team Championship 2025

Standings after round 3

Rk. Team TB1
1 Poland 6
2 Bulgaria 6
3 Germany 6
4 Azerbaijan 5
5 France 5
6 Ukraine 5
7 Switzerland 4
8 Georgia 1 4
9 Armenia 4
10 Estonia 4
11 England 4
12 Israel 4
13 Hungary 4
14 Romania 4
15 Netherlands 3

...36 teams

All games

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.