European Chess Club Cup: Big matches coming up after quiet first two rounds
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,


We have a nice report from www.chessvibes.com for the European Chess Club Cup championships in the open and women’s sections. Only two rounds have taken place so far and big clashes are still to come.



Legendary Viktor Korchnoi at the event for Zurich team.

After two rounds at the European Club Cup in Slovenia the strongest teams haven’t faced each other yet. In the men’s section the favourites haven’t dropped points so far, but the reigning champions in the women’s tournament surprisingly lost in the first round. Teams consist of six players with the first team prize in the men’s section being €12,400 and in the women’s €4,000.

We have some great names playing in Slovenia, such as Ponomariov, Grischuk, Radjabov, Gelfand, Mamedyarov, Svidler, Adams, Wang Hao, Vitiugov, Moiseenko, Giri and Nepomniachtchi. The legendary Viktor Korchnoi plays on board 2 for the Zurich team, behind Yannick Pelletier.

The first rounds of a team tournament are usually not too interesting and this year’s European Club Cup is not an exception. With no less than 62 teams in the men’s section, obviously the Swiss system resulted in strong teams facing much weaker teams. There were lots of 6-0’s, 5½-½’s and 5-1’s in both the first and the second round! The big exception was the 1.5-2.5 loss of reigning champ Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo against Giprorechtrans on the first day.

We will keep you updated.


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