The battle at the European Club Cup open section continues at full throttle. Following the first three rounds, eleven squads remain tied at the top of the standings with a flawless 6/6 match points. Nearly all of the top twelve seeded teams maintained their clean record, with the tenth seeds, Beer Sheva Chess Club, being the sole exception to drop a match point.

Major Upset by the Slovakian Side

The Israeli team, Beer Sheva Chess Club, crossed swords with 27th seeds SK Dunajska Streda of Slovakia in round three. Despite entering the encounter as clear rating favourites across most boards, Beer Sheva was held to a dramatic 3-3 draw, losing valuable ground in the race for the title.

Interestingly, Dunajska Streda enjoyed a rating edge on the top board, where 16-year-old Czech grandmaster Vaclav Finek outrated his opponent Viktor Mikhalevski by more than 100 Elo points and duly delivered a win with the white pieces. Although the Slovakian squad was outrated on the remaining five boards, Hungarian international master Aron Pasti caused a major shock on board two by defeating Israeli grandmaster Eytan Rosen. Beer Sheva salvaged victories on boards four and six, but with the other two games ending in draws, the match concluded in a 3-3 tie.

Clash of the Heavyweights Ahead

The remaining top-ten seeded sides secured comfortable victories to preserve their perfect match scores. However, round four marks the start of high-stakes direct encounters, headlined by a showdown between SuperChess and Bayegan Pendik as the title race heats up.