SK Alkaloid begins defence of domestic double with opening wins
Alkaloid's men and women both opened with wins as the team championships began in Struga.
SK Alkaloid kicked off the defence of its domestic double with convincing wins at the team national championships that opened this weekend in Struga.
The men’s event arrived with noticeably increased strength: 21 grandmasters signed in, along with 13 international masters and 15 FIDE masters. Of the 100 registered players, 49 hold an official chess title compared with 36 in 2025. The average rating on the men’s board is 2119, while the women’s event averages 1847; the women’s field counts 38 competitors, 14 of them with international titles.
Alkaloid’s men began the defence with a 5:1 victory over the Štip side Nov Napredok in round one and followed with a 4:2 win against SK Prilep in round two. The squad line-up remains the same as in previous seasons; the team fields GMs Aleksandar Indjić and Velimir Ivić on the top two boards, while the younger IMs Emil Risteski, Toni Lazov, Filip Panchevski and Dejan Stojanovski will carry much of the load ahead of veteran GMs Trajko Nedev, Dragoljub Jaćimović and Zvonko Stanojoski.
The women’s team is also unchanged from recent years. On the top two boards Alkaloid deploys Georgian IM Lela Javakhishvili and GM Bela Kotenashvili, with WFM Monika Stojkovska, WFM Monika Zezhovska, WIM Gabriela Koskoska and Lea Eftovska rotating on the other boards. Alkaloid recorded two opening victories: 4:0 over SK Kapablanca and then a derby triumph in round two, 3.5:0.5, against SK Negotino.
"We expected and prepared for a hard-fought match because on the opposing team's first board plays the new star of women's chess in Bulgaria, WGM Nadya Toncheva. Their lineup also includes a young player from Israel and former Macedonian national team member Vesna Sekulovska. The first-board game looked the most dangerous for us, but with tactical play in the ending IM Lela Javakhishvili managed to turn the result in her favor and bring the first point of the match. On the third board the game was positional and in a rather tough encounter WFM Zezhovska and WFM Sekulovska split the point. On the second board the position was unclear and unpredictable, but GM Bela Kotenashvili outplayed her opponent. The match finished with a win on the fourth board, where WIM Koskoska succeeded in creating and converting an advantage," analysed GM Vlatko Bogdanovski, the women's team captain.
For the second year in their brief history SK Multi Esens—an outfit that gathers young players from SK Alkaloid’s school—also competes at the team championships. Reinforced by GMs Leon Livaic and Luka Drshaković on the top boards, the roster includes Mihail Jordanov, Mateo Eftovski, Stojan Velkoski, Nikola Pavleski, Kiril Nikolovski and Dino Tabakovski. Multi Esens opened with a 4:2 victory over GŠK Kumanovo and followed with a 4.5:1.5 win against Shkupi without conceding a match loss.
The women’s tournament is played over seven rounds, while the men contest nine rounds in total.
Photo: press material from the event
