SuperChess wins European Club Cup 2025
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (4/5) powered SuperChess (14 match points) from Romania to the Open title in the European Chess Club Cup 2025 at Rhodes, Greece. In the women’s section, top seeds Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo from Monaco (13 match points) emerged a deserving champion winning their first six matches before drawing their final round. This glamour event organised by the European Chess Union & Greek Chess Federation carried a total prize fund of Euros 40,000. The Open section receives Euros 26,000 with Euros 14,000 going to the Women’s section.
In the crucial final round, SuperChess defeated fifth seed Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub from Hungary 3.5-2.5 thanks to the wins in the 4th & 5th boards from GMs Alexey Sarana & Deac Bogdan-Daniel. Second seeds Alkaloid from North Macedonia and defending champions Novy Bor from Czech Republic finished with 12 match points sharing the second spot.
Captained by legendary GM Ivan Sokolov who famously led Uzbekistan to the Olympiad team Gold in Chennai 2022, SuperChess lost just one of it’s 42 games. World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju on the top board came up with an impressive 4/5 score. The rest ably supported viz., Jorden van Foreest 4/7, Parham Maghsoodloo 4.5/6, Alexey Sarana 5.5/7, Deac Bogdan-Daniel 4.5/6, Daniel Dardha 5.5/7, Constantin Lupulescu 2.5/3 & Ivan Sokolov himself 1/1.
In the women’s section, top seeds Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo (13 match points) drew their final round taking the title with a whopping three point margin over Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica from Serbia (10 match points). Defending champions Tajfun SK Ljubljana shared the third place along with SuperChess and CE Gambit Bonnevoie at 9 match points. Led by IM Almira Skripchenko the champions swept away to the title thanks to Aleksandra Goryachkina 3.5/6, Divya Deshmukh 4.5/6, Alexandra Kosteniuk 4/6, Alina Kashlinskaya 5/6 and Elisabeth Paehtz 2.5/4.
Final Standings (Open): SuperChess 14, 2-3 Alkaloid, Novy Bor 12, 4-7 Bayegan Pendik chess sports club, Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub, Kfar Saba, CE Nyon 11, 8-10 Vugar Gashimov, Turkish Airlines sports club, Rishon Le Zion #1 10 match points.
Final Standings (Women): 1. Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo 13, 2. Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica 10, 3-5 Tajfun SK Ljubljana, SuperChess, CE Gambit Bonnevoie 9, 6-10 Turkish Airlines sports club, Crvena Zvezda, C’Chartres échecs, SK Zmaj, Streatham & Brixton 8 match points.
Round 7 Results (Open): Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub lost to SuperChess 2.5-3.5, Alkaloid beat Rishon Le Zion #1 4.5-1.5, Vugar Gashimov lost to Novy Bor 1.5-4.5, Kfar Saba drew with Turkish Airlines sports club 3-3, Bayegan Pendik chess sports club beat Kavala 6-0, CE Nyon beat Guzelbahce Satranc Spor Kulubu 3.5-2.5
Round 7 Results (Women): Turkish Airlines sports club drew with Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo 2-2, Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica lost to SuperChess 1.5-2.5, Tajfun SK Ljubljana drew with CE Gambit Bonnevoie 2-2, C’Chartres échecs beat She plays to win Lionesses #1 3-1, Crvena Zvezda beat De Stukkenjagers 4-0, Ippotis Rhodes chess club lost to SK Zmaj 0.5-3.5
Sarana Alexey (2661) – Volokitin Andrei (2617) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Ne2 d5 6. a3 Ba5 7. dxc5 dxc4 8. Bd2 O-O 9. Ng3 b6 10. Bxc4 bxc5 11. O-O Bb7 12. Qe2 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Ne5 14. e4 Nfg4 15. Ba2 Qh4 16. h3 Nf6 17. Qe3 c4 18. Qc5 Qxg3 19. fxg3 Bb6 20. Na4 Bxc5+ 21. Nxc5 Bc6 22. Bc3 Nd3 23. Nxd3 cxd3 24. e5 Ne4 25. Rxd3 Rad8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Ba5 Rc8 28. g4 Bb7 29. Rd1 h5 30. gxh5 Rc2 31. Bb1 Rxb2 32. Rd8+ Kh7 33. Bd3 Kh6 34. Rh8+ Kg5 35. Rh7 g6 36. Bd8+ Kf4 37. Rxf7+ Kxe5 38. h6 Bd5 39. h7 Rxg2+ 40. Kxg2 Ng5+ 41. Rf3 Bxf3+ 42. Kg3 Nxh7 43. Kxf3
43…Kd5 1-0
Mamedov Rauf (2655) – Keymer Vincent (2755) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Nd7 7. O-O Be7 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxd4 Nb8 10. Qf3 c5 11. Nb5 Bb7 12. c4 Nc6 13. Qg3 d4 14. Re1 a6 15. N1c3 dxc3 16. Qxg7 Rf8 17. Bh6 axb5 18. e6 fxe6 19. Qxh7 Rf6 20. Bg5 Qd4 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Rad1
22…Nd4 0-1
Images courtesy: European Chess Union
