In his “Game of the Week” show #536 Merijn van Delft looks at a fascinating game Magnus Carlsen played in round 2 of the European Club Cup in Mayrhofen, Austria. The World Champion had White against the German Grandmaster Alexander Naumann and impressed with surprising maneuvers in the opening and a couple of pawn sacrifices for positional compensation. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target=" blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
No major upsets were seen in round 2 of the European Club Cup in Mayrhofen, with the favourite teams mostly securing comfortable wins. Superbet’s Vishy Anand was rested, while Offerspill’s Magnus Carlsen played and beat Solingen’s Alexander Naumann. In the women’s event, the top two teams, Monte-Carlo (pictured) and Superbet, scored wins. Both teams will face difficult challenges in round 3, as they will play Pamhagen (third seeds) and Odlar Yurdu (fourth seeds) respectively. | Photos: European Chess Union
The European Club Cups kicked off in Mayrhofen, Austria, with 70 teams in the open and 17 teams in the women’s tournament. There were no major upsets in the open, as the top teams mostly got easy wins. On the other hand, among the women, the favourites from Monaco won by the smallest of margins. Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen both drew with the black pieces. | Photos: European Chess Union