The 39th European Chess Club Cup and the 28th European Women's Club Cup are in full swing in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia. Both events with classical time control, brought together 102 teams (84 in the Open section and 18 in the Women's section). Teams in the Open section consist of 6 players + 2 reserves, while the Women's tournament features 4 players + 1 reserve.
After three rounds of tough battles in the Open section, the top eight seeded teams are tied for the top position, winning all three matches. These teams include SuperChess (headed by Gukesh D and Abdusattorov), Alkaloid (led by Erigaisi and Wei Yi), Novy Bor Chess Club (with Vidit and Keymer on top boards), Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club (headed by Bu Xiangzhi and Radjabov), Turkish Airlines (led by Andreikin and Maghsoodloo), Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai Sakk Klub, Sentimento Ajka BSK, and TAJFUN-ŠK Ljubljana.
Round 4 promises to be exciting, with clashes between the leaders across the top four tables.
In the Women's section, the rating favorites Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo (led by Goryachkina and Vaishali) drew their second-round match with the fifth seed Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica and now share third place with their opponents. Meanwhile, second and third-seeded TAJFUN SK Ljubljana (headed by Dzagnidze and Ju Jiner) and Ajka BSK (with Assaubayeva and Deshmukh on the top boards) lead the field, both scoring three straight wins.
Since TAJFUN SK Ljubljana and Ajka BSK will face off in Round 4, we can expect a sole leader to emerge in the women's competition.
Photos: European Chess Union
Official website: clubcup2024.com/
