Favourites Sweep as Grandelius Falls on Day One of the European Club Cup

The 41st European Chess Club Cup began in Budva, Montenegro, on Saturday, and round one went much as the seedings said. The top three teams all won 6-0, even while resting players such as Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Anish Giri and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus.

The event runs until 23 October: seven rounds of a team Swiss, six boards a side in the Open, four in the Women’s. There are 108 teams in the Open and 22 in the Women’s, from the strongest professional clubs to ordinary club players, with €40,000 in prize money. This year the top four Open teams also qualify for a new eight-team European Chess Super League in Bucharest in February 2027.

The one big upset

The star who did not escape was Nils Grandelius. Sweden’s number one lost to 55-year-old Serbian CM Slobodan Filipovic, rated about 450 points below him, who ground out an endgame after Grandelius went wrong in time trouble. The loss took Grandelius below 2600 on the live rating list for the first time in a decade, but his team, Novy Bor, still won 5-1.

Elsewhere, Ivan Sokolov was held to a draw by Norway’s Bogi Palsson, rated 500 points lower, and Arjun Erigaisi won his opponent’s queen in a time scramble against IM Peter Roberson. The most unusual opening of the day came from 59-year-old FM Dave Ledger, who answered GM Ediz Gürel’s 1.d4 with the Kilkenny Gambit, 1…Nf6 2.g4?!, and made the 17-year-old think for almost seven minutes after move two. Gürel still won quickly.

Women’s: the Lionesses push Monte-Carlo

In the Women’s Club Cup, defending champions Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo beat the young English team She Plays To Win Lionesses A 3½-½, but the score flatters them. WFM Anusha Subramanian held GM Pia Cramling to a draw, and 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan defended for 77 moves on board one before losing her way near the end. GM Elisabeth Paehtz then squeezed out a late win to complete the score.

The Finnish clubs

Three Finnish clubs are in the Open, all seeded in the lower half, which in a Swiss means a much stronger opponent in round one. Etelä-Vantaan Shakki (seed 71) lost 6-0 to the Dutch club LSG, whose team averages about 2400 to their 2100. Aatos (seed 72) lost 5½-½ to C.A. Silla, with Tuomo Halmeenmäki drawing on board four. Gambiitti (seed 88) also lost 5½-½, to Mornar Split, Kimmo Karvinen taking the half point on board three.

The pairings get kinder from here. In round two, Etelä-Vantaa play the Norwegian club SK1911, Aatos meet St Benildus and Gambiitti face SK Rockaden’s second team.

Round two is on Sunday, October 18.