Jan Bednarich, president of the Gambit Bonnevoie Chess Club, described the silver medal as "a historic first" not only for chess, but for Luxembourgish sport overall.
The team clinched second place at the 2026 European Chess Club Cup, held in Budva, Montenegro, from 17 to 23 October.
The tournament, considered the chess equivalent of football’s Champions League, brings together the continent’s strongest clubs to compete for European honours.
The Gambit Bonnevoie women’s team finished the event with six victories out of seven matches, ending on twelve points. The Luxembourg team was thus level with the reigning champions Monte-Carlo and their campaign included a notable win against the Monegasque team.
Club officials highlighted that, in the year marking their 90th anniversary, achieving a European podium was "a dream come true".
In the final round, Gambit Bonnevoie overcame Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) 2.5–1.5 to secure overall second place.
After a narrow defeat the previous day, the team managed to recover and finish the tournament with six wins in seven matches, confirming their status among Europe’s elite chess clubs.
Although Monte-Carlo retained the title following tiebreaks decided by the Sonneborn-Berger system, Gambit Bonnevoie’s direct victory over the champions stood out as a highlight.
Entering as the fourth seed, the Bonnevoie side also defeated second seeds Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica and third seeds SuperChess Romania, thus achieving a run of three consecutive wins over higher-ranked opponents.
In addition to the team’s collective achievement, three players earned individual medals: Elina Danielian finished second on board three, while Klaudia Kulon and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya each took bronze on boards two and four, respectively.
The club extended congratulations to players Anna Ushenina, Klaudia Kulon, Elina Danielian, Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, and Narmin Khalafova, along with coach and team captain Petar Arnaudov.
Officials said the silver medal provides fresh motivation to aim even higher in the future, the team could not be more proud of their achievement, and are filled with optimism for the seasons ahead.
