Four rounds have been already played at the European Chess Club Cup 2025 in Rhodes, Greece!
Three teams emerged on the top of the Open section scoring maximum 8 match points: Alkaloid from North Macedonia, SuperChess from Romania, and Novy Bor from Czech Republic, while Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo emerged as the sole leader of the Women’s event as the only team with the perfect score.
North Macedonian team Alkaloid scored a 4-2 win today against Vugar Gashimov team from Azerbaijan. GM Chithambaram Aravindh (Alkaloid) was victorious against GM Ahmad Ahmadzada (Vugar Gashimov), GM Abhimanyu Puranik (Alkaloid) defeated IM Vugar Manafov (Vugar Gashimov), and GM Yu Yangyi (Alkaloid) took down GM Aydin Suleymanli (Vugar Gashimov). The Azerbaijani team was victorious on the fifth board, where IM Read Samadov (Vugar Gashimov) scored against GM Velimir Ivic (Alkaloid). The games on the top two boards finished with draws.
Defending Champions, Novy Bor, scored a strong 4.5-1.5 win over Rishon Le Zion from Israel. GM Vincent Keymer (Novy Bor) scored a very nice win over GM Boris Gelfand (Rishon Le Zion), GM Pentala Harikrishna (Novy Bor) outplayed GM Nitzan Steinberg (Rishon Le Zion), and GM Nils Grandelius (Novy Bor) scored his fourth consecutive win in the event, defeating GM Yahli Sokolovsky (Rishon Le Zion) today. The games on the other three boards were drawn.
Led by Gukesh D on the top board, SuperChess was victorious against Kfar Saba from Israel. Reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (SuperChess) scored his second win in the tournament, defeating GM Max Warmerdam (Kfar Saba) today. GM Daniel-Bogdan Deac (SuperChess) also scored a full point for his team, beating IM Guy Levin (Kfar Saba), while the other four games finished in draws.
The Open section leading trio is now followed by five teams who score 7 match points each: Bayegan Pendik chess sports club from Turkey, Turkish Airlines sports club from Turkey, Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub from Hungary, Limhamns SK from Sweden, and CE Nyon from Switzerland.
The top-seeded Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo emerged as the sole leader of the Women’s tournament after today’s crushing 3.5-0.5 victory over Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica from Serbia. GM Divya Deshmukh (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo) broke the ice today and won the game against IM Leya Garifullina (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica) in 1.5hour and after only 22 moves! GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo) was next to deliver a win, and she scored against IM Teodora Injac (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica). IM Alina Kashlinskaya (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo) defeated WGM Govhar Beydullayeva (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica), while IM Nurgyul Salimova (Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica) drew against IM Alexandra Kosteniuk (Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo).
Four teams trail by the leader for two match points, tying for second place: Tajfun SK Ljubljana from Slovenia, Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica from Serbia, Crvena Zvezda from Serbia and De Stukkenjagers from the Netherlands.
All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.
Clashes of the leaders expect us tomorrow in the fifth round, with Alkaloid against Novy Bor, and SuperChess against top-seeded Bayegan Pendik chess sports club in the Open section. In the Women’s section, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo faces Crvena Zvezda, Tajfun SK Ljubljana plays against Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica, and DeStukkenjagers plays versus SuperChess.
Interesting matches and strong individual encounters will be closely followed by our commentators GM Alojzije Jankovic, WIM Sandra Djukic and WIM Lena Govedarica. Live broadcast can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel or ECU TV platform.
During the live broadcast, ECU TV studio hosts top players for interviews, and all the interviews can be replayed on the ECU YouTube channel.
