The 40th European Chess Club Cup and the 29th European Women’s Chess Club Cup officially concluded yesterday in Rhodes, Greece.
SuperChess clinched its maiden title in the Open tournament, while Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo won its 8th gold in the Women’s section.
Heading into the final round of the event, SuperChess (Romania) had a perfect score and 1 match point edge over Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk klub (Hungary). The last round was marked with the direct encounter between the two teams, fighting for the top, but SuperChess needed only a draw to secure the trophy. The match finished with the final score of 3.5-2.5 for SuperChess, and they finished the event with perfect score of 14 match points!
Scoring 12 match points each, Alkaloid (North Macedonia) and Novy Bor (Czech Republic) tied for the second place, but Alkaloid won silver medal thanks to the better tiebreak criteria.
Novy Bor (Czech Republic) finished the event in the third place.
Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) clinched their 8th gold in the European Women’s Chess Club Cup! Entering the final round with the perfect score, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo almost secured gold regardless of the yesterday’s result. They played against Turkish Airlines sports club, and drew the match after long and intense fight. Scoring 13 match points, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo finished 3 match points ahead of the runner-up!
Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica (Serbia) claimed silver medal with the score of 10 match points.
While as many as three teams scored 9 match points each to tie for bronze: Tajfun SK Ljubljana (Slovenia), SuperChess (Romania) and CE Gambit Bonnevoie (Luxembourg). Having the best tiebreak criteria, Tajfun SK Ljubljana came third and clinched bronze.
The best individual players in both sections were awarded according to their tournament performance on each board.
The best individual players (Open section):
Board 1: 1. GM Gukesh D; 2.GM Vincent Keymer; 3.GM Anish Giri
Board 2: 1.GM Xiao Tong; 2.GM Wei Yi; 3.GM Ido Gorshtein
Board 3: 1.GM Benjamin Gledura; 2.GM Richard Rapport; 3.GM Parham Maghsoodloo
Board 4: 1.GM Nihal Sarin; 2.GM Alexey Sarana; 3.GM Aravindh Chithambaram
Board 5: 1.GM Nils Grandelius; 2.GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac; 3.GM Daniil Yuffa
Board 6: 1.GM David Anton Guijarro; 2.GM Puranik Abhimanyu; 3.GM Daniel Dardha;
The best individual players (Women’s section):
Board 1: 1.GM Zhu Jiner; 2.GM Aleksandra Goryachkina; 3.GM Anna Ushenina
Board 2: 1.GM Divya Deshmukh; 2.IM Leya Garifullina; 3.GM Nana Dzagnidze
Board 3: 1.IM Stavroula Tsolakidou; 2.IM Nurgyul Salimova; 3.GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
Board 4: 1.FM Liwia Jarocka; IM Alina Kashlinskaya; 3.IM Lu Miaoyi
During the Closing Ceremony, the Special Awards were presented to:
- South Aegean Region – for supporting Chess and European Chess Championships
- City of Rhodes – for supporting Chess and European Chess Championships
- Chess Club Ippotis – For outstanding organisation of European Chess Championships in Rhodes
- Hotel Rhodes Palace – For outstanding hospitality and hosting of European Chess Championships in Rhodes
- Aegean University – ECU Academic Partnership Award
- ECU Fair Play Award – IM Sebastian Poltorak – Offering a draw to his oppenent who needed medical asistastance
The Closing Ceremony took place yesterday evening in Amalfi Club and Restaurant in Rhodes, with the attendance of the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparshvili, ECU Vice Presidents Mr. Jean Michel Rapaire, Mr. Alojzije Jankovic, ECU Tournament Director Mr. Petr Pisk, ECU Secretary General Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, Vice Governor of South Aegean Region Mr. Zisimos Vasileios Delaportas, Vice Mayor of the city of Rhodes Mr. Mixalis Pligos, Vice Mayor of Rhodes Mr. Georgios Patas, Vice President of the Ippotis Chess Club Mr. Kambouropoulos, and other distinguished guests who took part in the Awarding ceremonies.
Final rankings of the event can be found here.