Four rounds have been played at the European Club Cup 2017 which takes place in Avantgarde Hotel Resort in Antalya, Turkey from 7th-15th October and the top of the standing lists of the Women’s and Open sections are still crowded.
Top seeded “Globus” (RUS), having players with an amazing average rating of 2772, activated in the 3rd round the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grishchuk on the big excitement of the visitors, guests and spectators. After a tough match in the 3rd round which finished with the minimum result 3.5-2.5 thanks to the Karjakin Sergey who took the victory in the match against “AVE Novy Bor” (CZE), “Globus” crashed 5,5-0,5 “Gambit Asseco See” (MKD) in the fourth round . With four matches won, Globus leads the tournament together with the strong club Odlar Yurdu (AZE).
The two leaders in the Open section will meet at the fifth and decisive round, which starts today at 15:00 (local time). Third place is currently in the hands of “SHSM Legacy Square” (RUS) with 7 match points, 3 victories and one draw.
Open Section- Pairings, Results, Standings
In the Women’s section no team achieved to win all matches and four teams are tied for the first place with the same number of match points. “SHSM Legacy Square” from Russia , has 2 victories and 2 draws. They are tied with the European Club Cup winner in 2015, “Batumi Chess Club Nona” from Georgia, which has 3 victories and one lost match against “Odlar Yurdu” from Azerbaijan in the second round. “Odlar Yurdu” has 3 victories and one loss against “Bossa Nova” from Belarus which also has 3 victories and one lost match against “SHSM Legacy Square”.
The leading teams will fight between them in the 5th round when Odlar Yurdu will play against SHSM Legacy Square while Batumi Chess Club Nona will meet with Bossa Nova. Since the leaders are followed by “UGRA Chess Club” from Russia who lags behind for only one match point, and 3 teams with only two match points in remnant, the final three rounds excepted to be very interesting and with a lot of turnovers.
Women’s Section- Pairings, Results, Standings
The fifth, one of the last and decisive rounds, will be played today at 15:00 (local time). Intense fights, big battles and very interesting games can be followed live with live analysis by GM Bartlomiej Heberla and IM Can Arduman, as well as the live stream from the playing hall, all through the official website of the Championship, or through the ECU website, section LIVE.
Photographs by: David Llada