The 41st European Chess Club Cup and the 30th European Chess Club Cup for Women is set to kick off in Budva, Montenegro!
The event will be played in Hotel Slovenska Plaza, from 17th October to 23rd October 2026. Today is the arrival day and the Opening ceremony of the event is scheduled for this evening with the start at 18:00 CEST.
Both European Chess Club Cup and the European Chess Club Cup for Women will be played in 7 rounds, swiss system, with the time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes until the end of the game, with 30-second increment for each move, starting from the move one.
With 130 registered teams – 108 teams in the Open section and 22 in the Women’s section, the event broke the participation record previously set in Rhodes in 2025 where 122 teams participated.
Continuing the tradition, the European Club Cup gathers strongest Chess Clubs and Teams of Europe, and the Open section line-up is this year headlined by teams: Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club (Turkey, average rating of players 2715), defending champions SuperChess Romania (Romania, average rating of players 2698), Alkaloid (North Macedonia, average rating of players 2686), Novy Bor Chess Club (Czech Republic, average rating of players 2659), and Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai (Hungary, average rating of players 2633).
The top seeds in the Women’s section are: defending champions Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo (Monaco, average rating of players 2477), Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica (Serbia, average rating of players 2440), SuperChess Romania (Romania, average rating of players 2400), CE Gambit Bonnevoie (Luxembourg, average rating of players 2387), and Odlar Yurdu (Azerbaijan, average rating of players 2373).
The teams are represented by Europe’s and World’s best Grandmasters, including the following players in the Open section: GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (SuperChess Romania, 2780), GM Wei Yi (Alkaloid, 2758), GM Anish Giri (Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club, 2752), GM Arjun Erigaisi (Alkaloid, 2746), GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club, 2731), GM Amin Tabatabaei (Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club, 2728), GM Jorden Van Foreest (SuperChess Romania, 2716), GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (Novy Bor Chess Club, 2712), GM Richard Rapport (Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club, 2711), and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club, 2710).
The field of the 2026 European Women’s Chess Club Cup includes: GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, 2536), GM Humpy Koneru (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, 2518), IM Polina Shuvalova (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica, 2509), GM Nino Batsiashvili (SuperChess Romania, 2459), IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo), IM Nurgyul Salimova (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica, 2429), IM Leya Garifullina (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica, 2418), IM Olga Badelka (Gambit ASEE, 2408), IM Injac Teodora (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica, 2405), and GM Elisabeth Paehtz (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, 2404).
Starting lists of teams and players can be found here.
The total prize fund of the Championship is 40.000 EUR, with 26.000 EUR prize pool in the Open section, and 14.000 EUR prize pool in the Women’s event. The best-ranked three teams in each section will receive trophies and medals, and the best individual players for each board will receive a prize.
The top 4 finishers from the European Open Chess Club Cup 2026, will qualify for the new ECU event – European Chess Super league 2027 which will be held from 2-10 February 2027. The highest rated team that is not among the top 4 finishers, will also qualify for the European Chess Super league 2027.
The opening ceremony of the European Club Cup 2026 will take place today at 18:00, and the Technical meeting for the Captains will take place afterwards, at 20:30, in the playing venue of the event – Slovenska Plaza Budva.
The games start tomorrow, on Saturday, 17th of October, starting at 14:00 CEST and live broadcast of the games can be followed through all major broadcasting platforms. Live video commentaries by GM Simon Williams, WIM Sandra Djukic, WIM Lena Govedarica and WCM Tallulah Roberts can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.
