The 37th European Chess Club Cup and the 26th European Women’s Club Cup concluded yesterday in Mayrhofen, Austria, with Novy Bor Chess Club clinching the title in the Open section and ASVOe Pamhagen winning the Women’s tournament.
The Czech team Novy Bor defeated Asnieres Le Grand Echiquier from France in the thrilling last round to score impressive 7/7 and 14 match points. Harikrishna Pentala and Anton Guijarro David brought the important victories to the winning team, as Vidit Santosh Gujrathi lost to Esipenko Andrey on the second board. With other three games finishing in a draw, Novy Bor narrowly won the match and secured gold.
The French team Clichy-Echecs-92 won their last round match against Magnus Carlsen’s Offerspill Chess Club. Maghsoodloo Parham had very good chances against World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, but the game eventually finished with draw. The heroes of the French team were Amin Bassem and Vocaturo Daniel who won their games on the third and fourth board (respectively) for the final 4-2 result. With 12 match points, Clichy-Echecs-02 claimed silver medal.
In another last-round game for the medals, German Schachclub Viernheim 1934e.V. prevailed against Vugar Gashimov. Fedorchuk Sergey and Tarlev Konstantin scored for Viernheim 1934e.V. while the other games ended in a draw. With 11 match points, the team from Germany won bronze.
Austrian ASVOe Pamhagen drew against the Polish team BGK KS Gwiazda Bydgoszcz in the last round to score 12 match points and become the sole winner of the 26th European Women’s Club Cup. Danielian Elina lost her game on the first board to Kashlinskaya Alina, but Osmak Iulia delivered a crucial victory to Pamhagen as the other two games finished in a peaceful manner – draw.
In the other two matches for the medals, both favourites Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo and CSU ASE Superbet (Romania) won their matches against Ukrainian Blue & Yellow and England’s Wood Green (respectively). Monte-Carlo and CSU ASE Superbet tied for the second place with the score of 11 match points, each, but the tiebreak criteria ( Olympiad Sonneborn Berger) determined the Romanian team silver.
Cercle d’Echecs de Monte- Carlo claimed bronze.
The Closing ceremony of the event took place yesterday evening with the attendance of the ECU treasurer Ion Dobronauteanu, ECU Tournament Director Petr Pisk, and Chief Organiser Johann Poecksteiner.
The 37th European Chess Club Cup and 26th European Women’s Club Cup took place from 2nd – 10th October in Mayrhofen, Austria. With participation of 87 teams (70 in open section and 17 women’s section) the event broke the participation record.
