The 41st European Chess Club Cup and the 30th European Chess Club Cup for Women is set to kick off in Budva, Montenegro!
The 41st European Chess Club Cup and the 30th European Women’s Chess Club Cup officially kicked off today, October 16th, in Budva, Montenegro. The Opening ceremony was held this evening at 18:00 CEST in the playing venue – Hotel Slovenska Plaza – followed by the Technical meeting for team captains. This year’s edition has broken the participation record with 130 registered teams – 108 in the Open section and 22 in the Women’s section – surpassing the previous record of 122 teams set in Rhodes in 2025.
The Opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Sports and Youth of Montenegro Mr. Zoran Jojic, Mayor of the Municipality of Budva Mr. Nikola Jovanovic, the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, President of Montenegro Chess Federation Mr. Jovan Milovic, ECU Honorary Vice President Mr. Veselin Draskovic, ECU Tournament Director Mr. Peter Pisk, ECU Honorary Vice President Mr. Moshe Slav, and other distinguished guests.
Played from October 17th to 23rd in 7 rounds, Swiss system, the event again gathers Europe’s strongest clubs and world’s top players. The Open section is headlined by Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club (2715), defending champions SuperChess Romania (2698), Alkaloid (2686), Novy Bor (2659) and Tuxera Aquaprofit Nagykanizsai (2633), featuring stars like Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wei Yi, Anish Giri, Arjun Erigaisi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In the Women’s section, top seeds are defending champions Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo (2477), Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica (2440), SuperChess Romania (2400), Gambit Bonnevoie (2387) and Odlar Yurdu (2373), with players such as Aleksandra Goryachkina, Humpy Koneru and Polina Shuvalova.
The games start tomorrow at 14:00 CEST with time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes to the end with 30-second increment from move one.
Check Out the moments from opening ceremony:
