The Montenegrin chess team suffered defeats at the start of the European Team Championship in Batumi, Georgia.
The men's national team lost to the defending champions, the Serbian national team, 2,5:1,5. The game on the second board ended first, where the current champion of Montenegro, Nikita Petrov, and the 2023 European champion, Aleksej Sarana, agreed to a draw after 20 moves.
National team debutant Nemanja Vukčević had an excellent position against grandmaster Robert Markuš, but made a mistake in the break, which his experienced rival turned into a point and Serbia's lead with precise play.
Denis Kadrić and Aleksandar Predke played an extremely interesting game, which ended in a draw after a replay.
Grandmaster Luka Drašković missed the chance to equalize the score and earn a point in his duel with his title-winning colleague Velimir Ivić, and a draw was made in the women's final.
Montenegrin chess players were defeated by the maximum score by the Swiss national team, despite their good play.
Alena Skvortsova lost a better position, underestimating the lackluster threats of Maria Manko, while Aleksandra Milović suffered a defeat in a duel with Sofija Hrizlova, after giving the initiative to her opponent.
In the duel on the first board, Aleksandra Žerebcova was defeated by former world champion Aleksandra Kostenjuk, while Nikolina Koljević made a gross oversight after saving the position and when it seemed that her game would end in a draw.
Tomorrow, the second round is scheduled, in which the men's national team meets the Kosovo team, while the women will have a difficult task in a duel with Spain, the seventh seed in the tournament.
Bonus video:
