After five played rounds in the European Chess Club Cup 2025, only two teams in the Open section maintained the perfect score and co-lead with only two rounds to go: Alkaloid and SuperChess, while Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo kept the sole lead in the Women’s event.
Alkaloid from North Macedonia was convincing against the defending Champions Novy Bor from Czech Republic. Alkaloid won the match with the final score of 4-2, with wins by GM Arjun Erigaisi who crushed GM Vincent Keymer, while GM Yu Yangyi defeated GM Pentala Harikrishna. The games on the other four boards finished in draws.
SuperChess was victorious against the top-seeded Bayegan Pendik sports club, with the final score of 4-2. GM Parham Maghsoodloo was victorious against GM Richard Rapport, and GM Dardha Daniel defeated GM Volodar Murzin, while the other four games ended in draws. Interesting game was seen on the top board between GM Gukesh D and GM Anish Giri, where Giri had a clear advantage with Blacks out of the opening and massive one hour edge on the clock, but Gukesh found a way out and defended to a draw.
Alkaloid and SuperChess are the only two teams with maximum score in the Open section, while Turkish Airlines sports club and Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub tie for third place scoring 9 match points each.
Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo continued with the perfect streak with a win over Crvena Zvezda from Serbia. GM Divya Deshmukh and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk brought wins to Monte-Carlo club, while WIM Jovana Srdanovic made a huge individual upset against GM Elisabeth Paehtz. Draw on the top board for Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo was enough for a 2.5-1.5 match victory and sole first place with only two rounds left to be played.
Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica from Serbia crushed Tajfun SK Ljubljana with the score of 3.5-0.5. IM Leya Garifullina, IM Nurgyul Salimova, and WGM Xeniya Balabayeva won the games, while IM Teodora Injac drew against GM Zhu Jiner.
Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo now scores perfect 10 match points, Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica follows with 8 match points, and SuperChess is third with 7 match points.
All rankings, results, and pairings can be found here.
The penultimate 6th round starts tomorrow at 14:00 CEST, and live video broadcast can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic, WIM Sandra Djukic and WIM Lena Govedarica.