2017 European Club Cup and European Club Cup for Women have officially ended with the closing ceremony. Organizers took full advantage of the mild climate of Antalya and the beautiful tournament venue for a ceremony outdoors. It was another well thought-out detail in a European Club Cup of exceptional organizational quality.

While in the background different video material from sponsors and highlights from tournament beautifully edited by the broadcasting team European Chess TV were shown,opening speeches were given by Mrs. Gulkiz Tulay, president of the host federation and Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, president of ECU. Both speakers underlined the high level of organization in 2017 European Club Cup; praising the organizing team for a fine job.

After speeches it was time to award the prizes. Firstly individual board prizes were given for women and open sections. It was basically a shower of stars on the stage; you can find yourself who they were in the open and women sections by checking the board prizes tab.

The ceremony continued with the team prizes being distributed. The prizes for the top three teams in women section Batumi Chess Club Nona, Odlar Yurdu and Bossa Nova were awarded by FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and TCF president Gulkiz Tulay whereas in the open section FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos and ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili came to the stage for giving out the medals, cups and prize money cheques to the deserving teams, namely Globus, Alkaloid and Odlar Yurdu.

Finally Mr. Ozgur Solakoglu, the general director of the tournament, came to the stage. With a gesture of taking out his accreditation card he expressed that the tournament and the ceremony is over but the entertainment will continue with live music on stage followed by a party in disco.

Although chess players have no objection to music or disco, in the end it’s the love of chess which prevails. If you were in the hotel lobby about 2 am what you would see was basically Mamedyarov-Nepomniachtchi team playing blitz vs Grischuk-Mamedov with players in each team changing turns on each move, watched by a huge audience with a high ELO average. Simply a great entertainment and perhaps a fitting end to a week filled with the beauty of chess!

Once again thanks to all teams, captains and players who participated in 2017 European Club Cup and 2017 European Club Cup for Women. Hope you had a nice time in Antalya and are leaving with nice memories! See you again in another organization!