Indian chess players Nihal Sarin and Koneru Humpy won individual gold medals at the European Chess Club Cup 2026, held in Budva, Montenegro, from 17 to 23 October. Sarin represented Novy Bor Chess Club in the Open section, while Humpy played for Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo in the Women’s section.
European Chess Club Cup
The European Chess Club Cup is a club-level team chess competition organised by the European Chess Union. It is contested in separate Open and Women’s events, with clubs fielding players across designated boards. The 2026 edition took place over six rounds in Budva, a coastal town in Montenegro. In team chess, players are assigned boards within their clubs, and results from individual games contribute to the team’s match score. Individual board awards recognise player performances on a particular board during the competition. The Open and Women’s events have separate team standings and individual board results.
Individual Board Results
Nihal Sarin won the individual gold medal on Board 2 in the Open section with five points from six games. His results comprised four wins and two draws. He defeated Jorden van Foreest and Karthikeyan Murali during the event. Koneru Humpy won the individual gold medal on Board 2 in the Women’s section, scoring 4.5 points from six games. Her club, Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo, won the 2026 European Women’s Chess Club Cup and defended its title.
Club Competition and Chess Terms
Novy Bor Chess Club finished with the silver medal in the Open section, while Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club won the team gold. The Open and Women’s events award team medals separately from individual board medals. A chess draw gives each player half a point, while a win gives the winner one point and the loser zero points. A player’s score in a multi-round tournament is the total of the points earned across the games played.
Important Facts for Exams
- The European Chess Union is the continental chess body for Europe.
- FIDE is the international governing body for chess.
- Standard chess is played on an eight-by-eight board containing 64 squares.
- Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro on the Adriatic Sea.
The 2026 competition ran from 17 to 23 October in Budva, Montenegro. Sarin and Humpy each won an individual gold medal on Board 2 in their respective sections.
