Favourites Falter In Euro Club Cup
The top seeds in the 2011 European Club Cup (previewed here), SOCAR Azerbaijan faltered in the third round of the competition, losing to 11th seeds Bosna Sarajevo.
Mamedyarov's loss by a blunder to Predojevic was the decisive result, and this shock match loss will make it very difficult for the SOCAR team to recover in this short seven round competition.
The leaders by just half a 'board point' after three rounds are the St.Petersburg Chess Federation team, headed by recent World Cup winner Peter Svidler (pictured).
In the women's competition, the 4th seeds AEM Luxten Timisoara led by Nana Dzagnidze and Anna Zatonskih lead by the same narrow margin.
A brief selection of games are shown below. More games and information can be found at the official website.
The leading teams after three rounds:
| Team | W | D | L | MP | BP | |
| 1 | Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 17 |
| 2 | Ekonomist SGSEU Saratov | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16½ |
| 3 | OSG Baden Baden | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16½ |
| 4 | SHSM-64 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| 5 | Mika | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| 6 | Ugra | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| 7 | Tomsk-400 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14½ |
| 8 | Bosna Sarajevo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 | SOCAR | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13½ |
| 10 | G-Team Novy Bor | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12½ |
| 11 | Glasinac Sokolac | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12½ |
| 12 | A DAN DZO & PGMB | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 13 | ZSK Maribor | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 14 | Vesnianka Gran | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 15 | SG Zurich | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| 16 | SD Tehcenter Ptuj | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10½ |
| 17 | Beer Sheba | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10½ |
| 18 | SF Berlin | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 19 | Oslo Schakselskap | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9½ |
| 20 | Lunds ASK | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9½ |
| 21 | Tammer-Shakki | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9½ |
| 22 | Jetsmark Skakklub | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8½ |
The scores in the women's competition after three rounds:
| Team | W | D | L | MP | BP | |
| 1 | AEM Luxten Timisoara | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10½ |
| 2 | Mika | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 3 | Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | SHSM-RGSU | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7½ |
| 5 | AVS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Giprorechtrans | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 7 | BAS | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5½ |
| 8 | ZSK Maribor | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3½ |
| 9 | Anatolia | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2½ |
| 10 | Oslo Schakselskap | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | CS R. Fischer Chieti | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2½ |
Boris Gelfand played one of the most spectacular games of the day for SHSM-64
Arnd Lauber ponders his 10th move against Peter Svidler
Anna Zatonskih helped AEM Luxten Timisoara take the lead
Pictures from the official website.
