
Crete is an island part of Greece which has more than 300 sunny days per year.
As far as players of the 8th European Club Cup are concerned, it was sunny every
day, which allowed them to enjoy the sea and pool (outside of chess preparation
and games, which for many was not much).

Alexandra Kosteniuk enjoying the sun on the Greek island of Crete
The
women's Cup took place in a different hotel (the Creta Marine-Creta Panorama
complex) from the men's (the Creta Star, about a 5-10 minute drive away). That
turned out to be quite fortunate for the women, as the hotel was more comfortable,
the playing room much better than the men's.
On top of that, the pre-cup captain's meeting took a vote on the length of
play, and while the men selected traditional time limits and 7-hour games, the
women (a smart move) picked the faster time table of G/90 and 30 seconds per
move added. So as the men started at 2PM and went till 9, the women would start
at 3 and end by 7.
Some men lived and had their meals in the Creta Marine with the women (for
example Kasparov), and the women would see them at lunch and dinner. Of course
in reality it was not that convenient to be separated from the men, women chessplayers
in general do not like to be only among themselves, it would have been better
if the organizers could have found a hotel with facilities to host both men
and women. Also, the two hotels are about 10-15 kilometers from the city, so
it's like living in a ghetto, most players stayed in the hotel complex and did
not see anything of Crete.

The Internet CG Podgorica team at the start of the tournament
So the women competition
started, with 13 teams of 4 players + 1 reserve player. We knew from the beginning
that the title would be between the strong Georgians NTN
Tbilisi (average rating 2409, led by Dzagnidze 2446, fourth player with
2386 ELO), the Serbian team Internet
CG Podgorica made out of a mix of Russians and Serbs, in particular the
Russians Svetlana Matveeva (2478) and Vice-Champion of the World Alexandra Kosteniuk
(2457), and last year's winners BAS
Beograd, with Bojkovic (2408) on the first and down to Manakova (2365) on
the 4th.

The playing hall of the women's tournament
Internet CG got to a good start in the European Club Cup, with two 4-0 wins.
In round
four the key match Internet CG vs NTN Tbilisi Georgia saw Alexandra Kosteniuk
missed a winning 74...Qh1+ against Lomineishvili. Instead Alexandra lost the
exchange, the game and her team lost the match.

The match BAS Beograd vs Internet CG Podgorica
With three rounds to go Internet CG was three match points behind NTN Tbilisi,
seemingly too much to recoup in the last three rounds. But the Georgians lost
to the BAS Beograd in round
six, and to St. Petersburg Lentransgaz in the final
round. At the same time Internet CG beat South Urals Cheliabinsk 3-1 in
round six and last year's winners BAS Beograd 2½-1½ in round seven
to take the first place.
Picture Gallery

Irina Chelushkina (SCG 2362), Svetlana Matveeva (RUS 2478)

Ana Matnadze (GEO 2287), Evgenija Ovod (RUS 2307)

Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL 2503), Svetlana Petrenko (MLD 2346)

Almira Skripchenko (FRA 2489), Maria Nepeina Leconte (FRA 2302)

Marie Sebag (FRA 2432), Alisa Galliamova (RUS 2502)

Iulia Mashinskaya (RUS 2183), Natasha Bojkovic (SCG 2408)
Gudfridur Lija Gretarsdottir (ISL 2058), Tatiana Shumiakina (RUS 2355)

The winners Internet CG Podgorica with captain Dusanka Jovicevic

The silver medalists NTN Tbilisi of Georgia

The Ladya Kazan team from Russia took bronze.
All pictures were supplied by Pufichek by courtesy of www.kosteniuk.com.
You will find a lot of fine portraits (of all the female participants) on the
special European
Club Cup page.
Links