Gukesh, Giri win, Yu Yangyi upset @ Rhodes
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (SuperChess) was off to a winning start after the third round in the European Chess Club Cup 2025, Rhodes. GM Yu Yangyi (Alkaloid) went down to IM Schmidek Emil (Schachfreunde Berlin 1903) in the biggest upset of the round. Victories from GMs Erigaisi Arjun, Wei Yi and Aravindh Chithambaram pulled former champions Alkaloid through to a 4-2 win. FIDE Grand Swiss Champion Anish Giri turning out for top seeds Bayegan Pendik chess sports club defeated Australian GM Bobby Cheng helping his team sweep SV Werder Bremen 6-0.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju playing for Team SuperChess started with a win over veteran Armenian Grandmaster Sergei Movsesian (Sigil Fund Pardubice). It turned out to be a match of generations, for Movsesian had become a Grandmaster in 1997 long before the youngest world champion in history was born.
Going for the King’s Indian Attack Keres Variation, Gukesh went for the initiative from the start. Fluent middle game play saw the Indian give up exchange for activity. Finding himself in all knots Movsesian gave up his material, but the ensuing two bishops versus rook ending was not too difficult to convert for the world champion. Gukesh landed his win on the 63rd turn and moved on to World No. 10 in LIVE ratings.
IM Schmidek Emil (Schachfreunde Berlin 1903) carved out a fine win over GM Yu Yangyi‘s (Alkaoid) Advanced Caro-Kann. Surviving the opening onslaught by the Chinese Grandmaster Emil steered the ship clear largely through his highly active queen. When Yu preferred to repeat, the German chose to continue & his courage was rewarded. With precise endgame play Emil got the better of the higher rated Grandmaster after 53 moves.
Nine teams shared the lead with six match points in the Open section, while the women’s section saw teams Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo & Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica on top of the leader-board. The fourth round starts today by 3 PM local time.
Key fourth round pairings: Giri – Fedoseev, Eljanov – Mamedyarov, Rapport – Gledura, Volokitin – Nihal, Mamedov – Erigaisi, Wei Yi – Suleymanli, Keymer – Gelfand, Rodshtein – Vidit, Warmerdam – Gukesh, Boruchovsky – Sarana, van Foreest – Gorshtein.
Round 3 Results (Open): SV Werder Bremen lost to Bayegan Pendik chess sports club 0-6, Alkaloid beat Schachfreunde Berlin 1903 4-2, SG Riehen lost to Novy Bor 1.5-4.5, SuperChess beat Sigil Fund Pardubice 5.5-0.5, Silla-Integrant Col.lectius lost to Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub 1.5-4.5, Vugar Gashimov beat LSG Leiden 5-1.
Round 3 Results (Women): Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo beat Tajfun SK Ljubljana 2.5-1.5, SuperChess drew with Turkish Airlines sports club 2-2, Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica beat CE Gambit Bonnevoie 2.5-1.5, C’Chartres échecs drew with SK Zmaj 2-2, She plays to win Lionesses #1 lost to Crvena Zvezda 0.5-3.5, MSK Centar ASEE lost to De Stukkenjagers 1.5-2.5
Yu Yangyi (2720) – Schmidek Emil (2427) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. g4 Be4 6. f3 Bh7 7. e6 Nf6 8. Nc3 fxe6 9. g5 hxg5 10. hxg5 Bxc2 11. Qxc2 Rxh1 12. Nh3 Qb6 13. gxf6 Qxd4 14. f7+ Kxf7 15. f4 Rxh3 16. Bxh3 Qg1+ 17. Bf1 Qg3+ 18. Kd1 g6 19. Bd2 Nd7 20. Ne2 Qf3 21. Ke1 Bg7 22. Bc3 e5 23. fxe5 Nxe5 24. Nd4 Qe3+ 25. Qe2 Nd3+ 26. Kd1 Nf2+ 27. Ke1 Nd3+ 28. Kd1 Nf2+ 29. Ke1 Bxd4 30. Bxd4 Nd3+ 31. Kd1 Qxd4 32. Qxd3 Qxd3+ 33. Bxd3 Rh8 34. Kd2 Rh2+ 35. Kc3 e5 36. Rf1+ Kg7 37. Re1 e4 38. Be2 c5 39. Bg4 Kf6 40. a4 Rg2 41. Bc8 b6 42. Rf1+ Ke5 43. Rf8 d4+ 44. Kb3 d3 45. Bb7 Kd4 46. Rd8+ Ke3 47. Re8 Rg4 48. Kc3 g5 49. Re5 d2 50. Rd5 Rg1 51. Rxd2 Rc1+ 52. Rc2 Rxc2+ 53. Kxc2
53…g4 0-1
Gukesh Dommaraju (2752) – Movsesian Sergei (2600) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 Nd7 4. h3 Bh5 5. O-O c6 6. d3 Ngf6 7. c4 Bxf3 8. exf3 g6 9. f4 Bg7 10. Nd2 Nc5 11. Nf3 dxc4 12. dxc4 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Nfd7 14. Be3 Bxb2 15. Rab1 Bf6 16. Rxd7 Nxd7 17. Rxb7 Nb6 18. Ne5 O-O 19. Nxc6 Nxc4 20. Bc5 Kg7 21. Nxe7 Rfd8 22. Nd5 Nd6 23. Rb1 Rac8 24. Bxa7 Nf5 25. Bb6 Rd6 26. Nxf6 Kxf6 27. a4 Rc2 28. a5 Ra2 29. Bf1 Nd4 30. Kg2 Nc6 31. a6 Ne7 32. g4 Nc8 33. Bc5 Raxa6 34. Rb8 Rac6 35. Rxc8 Rxc8 36. Bxd6 Ke6 37. Be5 f6 38. Bd4 Rc1 39. Be3 Rc3 40. Bd4 Rc1 41. f5+ gxf5 42. gxf5+ Kf7 43. Be2 Kg7 44. h4 Rc2 45. Kf3 Ra2 46. Ke3 Ra8 47. h5 h6 48. Bf3 Ra5 49. Ke4 Ra8 50. Kd5 Rd8+ 51. Kc5 Rc8+ 52. Bc6 Rd8 53. Bd5 Rc8+ 54. Kd6 Rd8+ 55. Ke6 Re8+ 56. Kd7 Re1 57. Be3 Rd1 58. Ke6 Rd3 59. Bc5 Rd1 60. f3 Re1+ 61. Be4 Ra1 62. Bd4 Ra6+
63. Ke7 1-0
Photo courtesy: European Chess Union
