European Chess Club Cup 2015 for Men and Women is ongoing in hotel Aleksandar Palace in Skopje/FYR Macedonia. Traditionally the strongest tournament in the ECU calendar, this year’s competition with 25 out of 30 top players in the world promises a great tournament.
Three rounds have been played so far, and in Open section 6 teams won all of their matches, among whom the defending champion SOCAR from Azerbaijan and the rest of the top seeders.
Although all the favorites justified their roles so far, we witnessed few individual upsets in the first three rounds: Anish Giri (SOCAR) lost Vlastimil Babula (SV WERDER BREMEN), which was the only lost point for SOCAR of all 18 games played. The highest rated player in Skopje, Hikaru Nakamura (OVIETTIVO RISARCIMENTO PADOVA) lost to Yannick Pelletier (SCHACHGESELLSCHAFT ZURICH).
Standings after round 3:
SOCAR (AZE), AVE NOVY BOR (CZE), ALKALOID (MKD), MEDNYI VSADNIK (RUS), SIBERIA (RUS) and OBIETTIVO RISARCIMENTO PADOVA (ITA) 3 points, etc.
Top pairings of the 4th round:
1-6 SOCAR vs OBIETTIVO RISARCIMENTO PADOVA, MEDNYI VSADNIK vs SIBERIA, ALKALOID vs AVE NOVY BOR, UNIVERZITY-BELORECHENSK vs VAALERENGA, SHSM LEGACY SQUARE vs HAMBURGER SCHACHKLUB VON 1830 E.V., etc.
7-23 ODLAR YURDU (AZE), SHSM LEGACY SQUARE (RUS), UNIVERZITY-BELORECHENSK (RUS), SCHACHGESELLSCHAFT ZURICH (SUI), LSG LEIDEN (NED), WORLDTRADINGLAB CLUB 64 MODENA (ITA), BEER-SHEVA (ISR), RISHON LEZION (ISR), GAMBIT ASSEKO SEE (MKD), KSK 47 EYNATTEN (BEL), TAMMER-SHAKKI (FIN), OSLO SCHAKSELSKAP (NOR), SV WERDER BREMEN (GER), SC MPA – MARIA SAAL (AUT), HAMBURGER SCHACHKLUB VON 1830 E.V. (GER), VAALERENGA (NOR) and GENEVA CHESS CLUB (SUI) 2 match points, etc.
In the women’s section the defending champion and the 1st seed NONA from Georgia is the only team who scored maximum match points after 3 rounds.
Chess Club named after the Georgian player Nona Gaprindashvili is heading towards the second title, as they defeated the main rival SHSM LEGACY SQUARE from Russia in the second round with 2.5-1.5.
Standings after round 3:
1 NONA (GEO) 3 match points
2-5 UGRA (RUS), GAMBIT ASSEKO SEE (MKD), DE STUKKENJAGERS (NED), and SPB (RUS) 2 match points, etc.
Top pairings of the 4th round:
NONA vs UGRA, DE STUKKENJAGERS vs GAMBIT ASSEKO SEE, SPB vs SHSM LEGACY SQUARE, etc.
Round 4 is on schedule on 21st October at 3.00 pm, with live broadcast and commentary at the Official Website
Photos by Maria Emelianova
