Abdusattorov, Giri and Erdogmus All Lose in Club Cup Round 4

Round four of the 2026 European Chess Club Cup was hard on the big names. GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Anish Giri and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus all lost, to GMs Aydin Suleymanli, Pranav Venkatesh and Karthikeyan Murali respectively.

The consequences differed by team. Abdusattorov’s SuperChess Romania teammates covered for him and won 4-2.

Top seed held

Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club had no such cushion. With Giri and Erdogmus both losing, the top seeds scraped a 3-3 draw against sixth-seed Elektroprivreda.

The Turkish side already had a close call in an earlier round, when a swindle saved them after a top-board loss. Losses from its two highest-rated players in one match is a heavier load to carry, and a draw was a fair result for a team that came close to losing.

None of the matches at the top were easy this round. In another result, 11th-seed Aix-en-Provence tied fifth-seed Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai in a match where every game was decisive. GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi beat GM Pranesh M on top board.

Four perfect scores left

Only four teams still have a perfect score, down from eleven after round three. The surprise package is 12th-seeded SK K CERO INVEST Nitra.

Nitra beat 10th-seed Beer Sheva Chess Club, and the top-board game was the decider in prestige if not necessarily in the score. GM Vasyl Ivanchuk beat GM Victor Mikhalevski. Ivanchuk is famous for his creative, unpredictable play, and a win over a seasoned opponent like Mikhalevski is a good way to anchor an underdog run.

Women’s section

CE Gambit Bonnevoie took the sole lead in the European Women’s Chess Club Cup by beating top seed Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo 2.5-1.5.

GM Elina Danielian won her fourth game in a row, against IM Stavroula Tsolakidou, which clinched the match. Monte-Carlo’s chances had slipped earlier when GM Koneru Humpy let a winning position get away against IM Klaudia Kulon.

Finnish clubs

Aatos (seed 72) beat Cardiff A 4-2, its second win of the event after a 6-0 over St Benildus in round two. It lost its other two matches, ½-5½ to C.A Silla Integrant Col-lectius and 2-4 to SC Erlangen 48/88. Round five brings Hillerod Skakklub.

Etela-Vantaan Shakki (seed 71) had the day’s biggest Finnish score, 5½-½ over SK Weisse Dame Hamburg. It has two wins and two losses, and meets Multi Essence next.

Gambiitti (seed 88) edged Standard de Liege TAL 3½-2½ after a 5-1 win over S.S. Lazio Scacchi in round three. It faces MTK Budapest 2 in round five.

Round five is on Wednesday, October 21, at 8 a.m. ET / 14:00 CEST / 5:30 p.m. IST. The format of the European Chess Club Cup is explained in our event guide.