October 3, 2023

European Club Cup round 2

The 26th European Club Cup continued Monday with the round two games. The top rated teams continued the winning row, but there were several closely contested matches. The 2nd-seeded St.Petersburg Chess Club narrowly defeated Yugra thanks to Vassily Ivanchuk’s victory on the first board against Dmitry Jakovenko. The remaining games between all-Russian players were drawn.

The Ukrainian team of A DAN DZO & PGMB – Chernigiv also earned a tight victory versus Werder Bremen, where Anton Korobov scored against another Ukrainian – Alexander Areshchenko. Jon Ludvig Hammer brought a valuable two points for his team of Olso, wh managed to overcome Viking Stockholm.

Top round three matches are SOCAR Azerbaijan – A DAN DZO & PGMB Chernigiv, Mika Yerevan – St.Petersburg Chess Club, Baden-Baden OSG – ShSM-64 Moscow, Ashdod Elite CC – Economist-SGSEU-1, Bihac CK – Oslo Schakselskap and Ural – G-Team Novy Bor.

Results and standings / Photos and Videos / PGN

The second round of the 15th European Club Cup for Women saw the defending champion Cercle d’Echecs de Monte Carlo stunned by the compact team Samaia Tbilisi. Former World Champion Maia Chiburdanidze made a debut in this competition and held the top rated player, Humpy Koneru, to a draw. Yifan Hou won the game on the second board, but the Georgian ladies struck back on third and fourth, thus bringing a big 2.5-1.5 victory to Samaia.

AVS walked past BAS Belgrade by gaining full points on the white boards, while the same strategy worked well for Mika Yerevan to convincingly defeat the 3rd-seeded St.Petersburg Chess Club.

Round three pairings are AVS – Giprorechtrans, Samaia Tbilisi – MIKA Yerevan, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte Carlo – CS Fischer Chieti, BAS Beograd – USV Volksbank Halle, St.Petersburg Chess Club – Herzliya Chess Club, Lokomotiv 2000 – KSC Komarno and Oslo Schakselkap – Ashdod Elite CC.

Results and standings / Photos and videos / PGN