English Chess Forum

Round 1 match ups include:

Bo. 1 Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo Rtg - 12 She Plays To Win Lionesses A Rtg 0 : 0
1.1 GM Goryachkina, Aleksandra 2536 - FM Sivanandan, Bodhana 2382
1.2 IM Tsolakidou, Stavroula 2451 - WFM Weersing, Abigail Riis 2061
1.3 GM Paehtz, Elisabeth 2404 - WFM Dicen, Elis Denele 2036
1.4 GM Cramling, Pia 2380 - WFM Subramanian, Anusha 2026

Round 1 on 2026/10/17 at 14:00
Bo. 1 Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club Rtg - 55 Blackthorne Rtg 0 : 0
1.1 GM Tabatabaei, M. Amin 2728 - IM Ledger, Andrew J 2315
1.2 GM Rapport, Richard 2711 - IM Bates, Richard A 2287
1.3 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2710 - FM Duncan, Chris R 2179
1.4 GM Gurel, Ediz 2642 - FM Ledger, Dave J 2115
1.5 GM Murzin, Volodar 2656 - FM Nelson, Jonathan P 2113
1.6 GM Yilmaz, Mustafa 2553 - CM Ledger, Stephen C 1999

Bo. 56 Sharks 4NCL Rtg - 2 Alkaloid Rtg 0 : 0
2.1 IM Roberson, Peter T 2438 - GM Erigaisi, Arjun 2746
2.2 FM Holland, James P 2239 - GM Wei, Yi 2758
2.3 FM Varnam, Liam D 2106 - GM Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. 2677
2.4 CM Whatley, Stephen A J 2145 - GM Puranik, Abhimanyu 2622
2.5 Mccarthy, Kevin C 1898 - GM Ivic, Velimir 2581
2.6 CM Bryant, Harry 2099 - GM Stanojoski, Zvonko 2371

Bo. 84 Breidablik Chess Club B-team Rtg - 30 Breidablik Chess Club A-team Rtg 0 : 0
30/1 Briem, Stephan (w) 2154 - GM Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar (b) 2534
30/2 Heidarsson, Arnar Milutin (b) 2104 - IM Heimisson, Hilmir Freyr (w) 2365
30/3 Kolka, David (w) 2043 - FM Johannsson, Birkir Isak (b) 2306
30/4 Johannsson, Markus Orri (b) 1982 - FM Birkisson, Bardur Orn (w) 2264
30/5 Hallmundarson, Birkir (w) 1888 - CM Briem, Benedikt (b) 2239
30/6 WFM Briem, Gudrun Fanney (b) 1927 - CM Birkisson, Bjorn Holm (w) 2234

I thought this pairing was amusing, considering out of 108 teams the exact seedings meant it occurred

Thank you for this, Loz. Any chance of correcting the thread title typo - it makes my eyes bleed.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 11:42 am

Thank you for this, Loz. Any chance of correcting the thread title typo - it makes my eyes bleed.

Ooops! Now amended.

website

Budva, Montenegro

Board pairings for round 1 Open and Women

90+30, 7 rounds, qualification for the European Super League 2027

The European Chess Super League, 2-10 February 2027, brings together eight (8) the strongest chess clubs to compete for a prize fund of €300,000. The event will showcase world-class talent, thrilling matches, and a commitment to sporting excellence and innovation.

Main qualification path is the European Chess Club Cup 2026, 5 teams (out of eight) will qualify through the European Chess Club Cup 2026:

A. The top 4 finishers from the European Chess Club Cup 2026, will qualify for the European Chess Super league 2027.

B. The highest – rated team that is not among the top 4 finishers , will qualify for the European Chess Super league 2027.

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 11:47 am

Board pairings for round 1 Open and Women

How are the teams representing ENG selected? They are drawn from 4NCL squads, but there's a couple of second division teams in there. At one time I thought teams had to finish in the top half of the top division to "qualify for Europe".

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 11:56 am

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 11:47 am

Board pairings for round 1 Open and Women

How are the teams representing ENG selected? They are drawn from 4NCL squads, but there's a couple of second division teams in there. At one time I thought teams had to finish in the top half of the top division to "qualify for Europe".

I believe they changed the rules since COVID restart; yes originally it was only A division teams were eligible; but it has opened up and with the extra allocations available (up from 4 to 6) they offer it down the league structure, so theoretically a Div 4 teams could be eligible to play

Alan Walton wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 1:05 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 11:56 am

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 11:47 am

Board pairings for round 1 Open and Women

How are the teams representing ENG selected? They are drawn from 4NCL squads, but there's a couple of second division teams in there. At one time I thought teams had to finish in the top half of the top division to "qualify for Europe".

I believe they changed the rules since COVID restart; yes originally it was only A division teams were eligible; but it has opened up and with the extra allocations available (up from 4 to 6) they offer it down the league structure, so theoretically a Div 4 teams could be eligible to play

When organisers are asked if federations can enter additional teams which increases the money that they will make from hotel rooms and entry & registration fees they do tend to say yes. At one time England had nine teams due to play in the open this year but a couple weren't able to rasie enough players.

Commentary by GM Simon Williams, WIM Lena Govedarica, WIM Sandra Djukic & WCM Lula Roberts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvjp-91RNUA

I know the England teams on the top tables in the Open for Round 1 (Blackthorne and Sharks) were massively outrated, and it was 12 non-GMs against 12 GMs, but it was still a bit of a shock to open the Lichess broadcast and see a 12-0 wipeout.

Things going a bit better for England players in the Women's section. Bodhana holding her own.

Deleted

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 5:49 pm

I know the England teams on the top tables in the Open for Round 1 (Blackthorne and Sharks) were massively outrated, and it was 12 non-GMs against 12 GMs, but it was still a bit of a shock to open the Lichess broadcast and see a 12-0 wipeout.

Things going a bit better for England players in the Women's section. Bodhana holding her own.

A very good result for Anusha, holding the legendary Pia Cramling to a draw.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 5:49 pm

I know the England teams on the top tables in the Open for Round 1 (Blackthorne and Sharks) were massively outrated, and it was 12 non-GMs against 12 GMs, but it was still a bit of a shock to open the Lichess broadcast and see a 12-0 wipeout.

Things going a bit better for England players in the Women's section. Bodhana holding her own.

Not really a shock, it is more of a shock when you get the 0.5 point in these matches and this draw highly celebrated when it occurs

Yeah, looking at the Blackthorne match line-ups, the individual rating differences were 400 or more on every board, so that's an expected match aggregate score that cannot be higher than 0.48.

LawrenceCooper wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 6:08 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2026 5:49 pm

I know the England teams on the top tables in the Open for Round 1 (Blackthorne and Sharks) were massively outrated, and it was 12 non-GMs against 12 GMs, but it was still a bit of a shock to open the Lichess broadcast and see a 12-0 wipeout.

Things going a bit better for England players in the Women's section. Bodhana holding her own.

A very good result for Anusha, holding the legendary Pia Cramling to a draw.

0.5-3.5 in the end, but so close to a draw on 3 and Bodhana was more or less equal for part of her game.