Welcome to Istanbul!

by ChessBase
6/1/2003 – The 4th European Championship has started in Istanbul and lasts from May 30 until June 14. The men's section has 164 GMs, 31 IMs – and one 13-year-old girl (guess who!). The prize sum is $192,000, in the women's section $44,000. We bring you information, links and lots of pictures of the participants at work and at play.

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4th European Individual
Chess Championships

May 30th – June 14th 2003 in Silivri, Turkey.

Logo designed by Ahmet Yazici. The two knights looking opposite directions symbolise the conflict in chess and the conflict between the two continents Europe and Asia. The tulip between knights symbolises Istanbul connecting two continents to each other and if you turn logo 90 degrees on clock wise direction you see that composition creates an affect of Turkish Flag that is very important for our nation. The direction of the tulip and the shape symbolises reflection of moon on the Bosphorus during the night.

The logo will be used officially on the medals and souvenirs of the big event to be held at the end of this month in Istanbul.

Eurovision triumph

The European Individual Championship in Istanbul comes at a time when Turkey is flushed from the success of pop idol Sertab Erener. Her group made history last week by winning the annual Eurovision song contest, the first-ever win for her country.

Erener’s entry, "Every Way That I Can," with music and words by herself and Demir Demirkan, was performed live in Latvia before an audience of millions across Europe and worldwide. It was Turkey’s first entry in English, the language of most other performers. The historic win means that Turkey will play host to the Eurovision 2004 contest.


Click the picture above to see a video of the prize-winning Turkish song or go to the BBC Eurovision site to see them all.

The championship

The official web site calls it "The Most Strongest Open Tournament of the Chess History Ever!!" And it is indeed a very respectable field:


The men's section has 164 GMs, 31 IMs, 1 WGM (Kateryna Lahno) from 41 countries playing for a total prize fund of $192,000


The women's section has 2 GMs, 63 WGMs, 15 IMs, 31 WIMs from 31 countries playing for $44,000.

Top 50 in the men's section

 1. UKR Vassily Ivanchuk
 2. RUS Alexander Grischuk
 3. GEO Zurab Azmaiparashvili
 4. NED Ivan Sokolov
 5. NED Loek Van Wely
 6. RUS Vladimir Malakhov
 7. RUS Sergei Rublevsky
 8. RUS Vadim Zviagintsev
 9. RUS Konstantin Sakaev
10. MDA Viktor Bologan
11. ISR Ilia Smirin
12. SVK Sergei Movsesian
13. FRA Etienne Bacrot
14. ARM Rafael Vaganian
15. ISR Emil Sutovsky
16. BLR Aleksej Aleksandrov
17. SLO Alexander G Beliavsky 
18. MKD Kiril Georgiev
19. BIH Predrag Nikolic
20. FRA Vladislav Tkachiev
21. RUS Mikhail Kobalia
22. ARM Smbat Lputian
23. BEL Mikhail Gurevich
24. POL Bartlomiej Maceja
25. RUS Alexander G Motylev
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26. RUS Sergei Volkov
27. RUS Pavel Tregubov
28. RUS Alexander Lastin
29. GER Alexander Graf
30. RUS Valerij Filippov
31. UKR Alexander Moiseenko
32. DEN Peter Heine Nielsen
33. NED Sergey Tiviakov
34. SUI Yannick Pelletier
35. LAT Daniel Fridman
36. RUS Pavel Smirnov
37. GER Rustem Dautov
38. SVK Lubomir Ftacnik
39. POL Michal Krasenkow
40. UKR Vladimir Baklan
41. RUS Evgeny Alexeev
42. AZE Shahriyaz Mamedyarov  
43. ARM Levon Aronian
44. ROM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter
45. RUS Sergey Dolmatov
46. RUS Evgeniy Najer
47. RUS Oleg Korneev
48. BLR Alexei Fedorov
49. CRO Zdenko Kozul
50. HUN Peter Acs
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Official web site (with games, results and pictures)

Picture gallery


Arriving at the Venus Princess Hotel


Checking in at the reception


Starting a round of play in the hotel venue


Players on the edge


The only female in the men's section: our heroine 13-year-old Kateryna Lahno


Azmaiparashvili and Ivanchuk still not clear why they are in Istanbul


Sergey Tiviakov waiting for lunch-time in the restaurant


The hotel in which the players stay


A view from the hotel window over the Bosporus


Top chess grandmasters at the poolside...


...and in the pool

Pictures by Galina Tiviakova


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