Nihal Sarin, Koneru Humpy clinch individual gold medals at European Chess Club Cup
Indian chess players Nihal Sarin and Koneru Humpy secured individual gold medals at the 2026 European Chess Club Cup in Montenegro. Humpy also led her team, Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo, to a women's team championship victory.
Why it matters
This success highlights the growing dominance of Indian grandmasters in international chess competitions.
Indian Grandmasters delivered impressive performances at the European Chess Club Cup 2026 in Montenegro, with Nihal Sarin and Koneru Humpy winning individual gold medals in the open and women’s competitions, respectively.Nihal, playing on Board 2 for Novy Bor Chess Club, scored five points from six games, recording four wins and two draws.His victories included wins over Jorden van Foreest, Karthikeyan Murali and Maxim Rodshtein, helping him secure the individual gold medal.However, his team Novy Bor narrowly missed out on the team title, finishing second behind Bayegan Pendik Sports Club.Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna, who also represented Novy Bor, claimed the individual silver medal on Board 3. He scored five points from six games.Meanwhile, Karthikeyan Murali secured the individual bronze medal while playing on Board 2 for Team Electroprivreda, the Montenegrin chess club that finished 11th on the leaderboard.
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