Big Upset at ECC, SOCAR Shocked by Novy Bor
Friday's 6th round of the European Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece saw a big upset as SOCAR, the top favorites and current cup holders, lost to Novy Bor. On the lower boards SOCAR's Wang Hao and Anish Giri beat their lower rated opponents, but Fabiano Caruana, Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky all lost their games, to David Navara, Radek Wojtaszek and Viktor Laznicka respectively. In the women's section Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo won the gold medal a round before the end.
Photos © Goran Urosevic & Anastasiya Karlovich courtesy of the ECC
That was a stunning victory for the Czech/Polish tean from Novy Bor (Czech Republic) against the defending champion SOCAR! The team led by David Navara took over the lead, and have excellent chances to win the cup as they play the weaker team from Minsk in Saturday's final round.
The start went fine for SOCAR as Anish Giri (not bad to have a top 30 player on last board, is it?) moved to an excellent 4.5/5 with the following pretty win:
Wang Hao beat Zbynek Hracek on board five, and on four Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Krishnan Sasikiran split the point. However, SOCAR's top three boards had a collective off-day which tipped the match in favor of Novy Bor: 3.5-2.5. Below you can replay these games:
David Navara beat Fabiano Caruana on top board
With one round to go SOCAR now shares second place with PGMB-Rostov, Malachite, Saint-Petersburg and Minsk.
European Club Cup 2013 | Round 6 standings
| Rk. | SNo | Team | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 5 | G-Team Novy Bor | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 168 | 24 | 138,5 | 124,5 | |
| 2 | 1 | SOCAR | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 170 | 26 | 124,5 | 100,5 | |
| 3 | 6 | PGMB-Rostov | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 151,5 | 26 | 115,5 | 91,5 | |
| 4 | 2 | Malachite | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 143 | 28 | 107,5 | 83,25 | |
| 5 | 3 | Saint-Petersburg | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 142 | 26 | 116 | 92,5 | |
| 6 | 10 | Minsk | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 136 | 26 | 103 | 83 | |
| 7 | 9 | Clichy Echecs 92 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 137 | 24 | 124,5 | 86,25 | |
| 8 | 8 | Odlar Yurdu | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 152 | 24,5 | 131,5 | 79,5 | |
| 9 | 4 | Ugra | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 145 | 23,5 | 131 | 79 | |
| 10 | 7 | O.R. Padova | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 124 | 20 | 135 | 83 | |
| 11 | 17 | Reichenstein SSB | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 120,5 | 24 | 97,5 | 55,5 | |
| 12 | 15 | S.F. Wirtzfeld | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 111,5 | 21 | 121,5 | 69,5 | |
| 13 | 25 | Asker | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 98 | 25,5 | 86,5 | 49 | |
| 14 | 20 | Besiktas JK | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 98 | 25 | 84 | 51,5 | |
| 15 | 12 | Amay Chess Club | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 114 | 20 | 123 | 62,75 | |
| 16 | 21 | En Passant | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 103 | 19,5 | 117,5 | 58 | |
| 17 | 13 | Schachclub MPO Maria Saal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 96 | 18,5 | 119,5 | 60,25 | |
| 18 | 19 | A.S.I. Bologna | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 95 | 19 | 108 | 53,75 | |
| 19 | 24 | Limhamns SK | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 91,5 | 18 | 122,5 | 62,5 | |
| 20 | 32 | Accres Apeldoorn | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 77 | 16,5 | 130 | 68,5 | |
| 21 | 11 | Peristeri | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 114,5 | 20 | 122 | 56,5 | |
| 22 | 16 | Haladas VSE, Szombathely | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 87,5 | 20 | 92 | 43,75 | |
| 23 | 14 | SK 47 Eynatten | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 87,5 | 19 | 94,5 | 42,5 | |
| 24 | 18 | Kfar Saba Chess Club | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 78,5 | 16,5 | 122,5 | 55 | |
| 25 | 33 | Schachgesellschaft Solingen | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 71,5 | 21,5 | 87 | 35,5 | |
| 26 | 22 | Club d'Echecs de Geneve | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 66 | 15,5 | 115 | 50,5 | |
| 27 | 39 | CE De Sprenger Echternach | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 64,5 | 17,5 | 88 | 41 | |
| 28 | 43 | Edinburgh Chess Club | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 16 | 105,5 | 47 | |
| 29 | 36 | White Rose | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 15,5 | 116 | 44,5 | |
| 30 | 37 | Expik Kosova | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 60 | 17,5 | 91 | 42 | |
| 31 | 34 | Sautron | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 58,5 | 15 | 120 | 51 | |
| 32 | 35 | SK Advisory Invest Baden | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 56 | 15,5 | 105,5 | 42,5 | |
| 33 | 27 | Oslo Schakselskap | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 79 | 15 | 114,5 | 40,75 | |
| 34 | 31 | Chess Club Velhot | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 68 | 18,5 | 94 | 27,75 | |
| 35 | 23 | Jetsmark | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 67,5 | 18,5 | 85 | 30,25 | |
| 36 | 29 | Barbican 4NCL | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 66 | 12,5 | 136,5 | 51,25 | |
| 37 | 38 | The Smashing Pawns Belvaux | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 64,5 | 18,5 | 86,5 | 28,5 | |
| 38 | 30 | Viking Chess Club | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 62 | 17 | 90,5 | 32,5 | |
| 39 | 47 | Istogu Chess Club | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 49,5 | 13 | 104 | 36,75 | |
| 40 | 26 | Tammer-Shakki | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 13 | 125,5 | 38 | |
| 41 | 48 | Adare | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 75 | 15,5 | 97 | 34 | |
| 42 | 28 | Jutes of Kent | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 59 | 13,5 | 124,5 | 37 | |
| 43 | 44 | SV Voerendaal / KNSB | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 52,5 | 16 | 88 | 22,5 | |
| 44 | 41 | Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 13,5 | 106 | 33 | |
| 45 | 42 | Chess Club Eppingen | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 45 | 15,5 | 87,5 | 21,5 | |
| 46 | 51 | Klubi Sportiv Butrinti | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 10,5 | 100,5 | 10 | |
| 47 | 46 | Gonzaga | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 13 | 88 | 10,5 | |
| 48 | 49 | SV Muelheim Nord 1931 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 12,5 | 81 | 10,5 | |
| 49 | 52 | Cardigan | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 27,5 | 9,5 | 86 | 10,5 | |
| 50 | 40 | Nordea Skanderborg | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 55 | 11,5 | 125 | 19 | |
| 51 | 45 | Edinburgh West Chess Club | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 48 | 12 | 97 | 13 | |
| 52 | 53 | Ippotis Rodou | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 45 | 10,5 | 69,5 | 0 | |
| 53 | 50 | White Knights Chess Club | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 35,5 | 10 | 75,5 | 0 |
Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo has secured the gold medals with a sixth straight win. On Friday they were far too strong for MRU - Vilniaus Fortas, whom they crushed 4-0. The top four of the best players list consists of Monaco players: Hou Yifan & Humpy Koneru with 5.0/6 and Anna Muzychuk & Pia Cramling with 4.0/5.
Star-studded Monaco clinched gold in round 6
European Club Cup 2013 | Women | Round 6 standings
| Rk. | SNo | FED | Team | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 |
| 1 | 1 | MNC | Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 112,5 | 19,5 | 79,5 | 79,5 |
| 2 | 5 | RUS | Ugra | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 62,5 | 14 | 81,5 | 54,5 |
| 3 | 2 | RUS | SHSM Nashe Nasledie | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 87,5 | 15 | 81,5 | 41,25 |
| 4 | 4 | ROU | CS Politechnica-Antibiotice Iasi | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 77 | 16 | 77,5 | 36,5 |
| 5 | 3 | ARM | Mika Chess Club | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 71,5 | 12,5 | 67 | 33,5 |
| 6 | 8 | LTU | MRU - Vilniaus Fortas | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 38,5 | 12 | 63,5 | 21,5 |
| 7 | 6 | SRB | Chess Club BAS | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 39 | 10 | 63 | 16 |
| 8 | 9 | ITA | Fischer Chieti | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 10,5 | 54 | 11 |
| 9 | 7 | SRB | Jelica PEP | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 51,5 | 11,5 | 61,5 | 11,5 |
| 10 | 10 | BIH | Rudar Prijedor | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 18,5 | 7 | 56,5 | 4 |
| 11 | 11 | AUT | ASVOE Pamhagen | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 4 | 51 | 0 |
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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