13th European Championship has started in Plovdiv

by ChessBase
3/21/2012 – This event, with 300 players, 15 of whom are rated above 2700, is taking place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from March 20th to 31st, 2012. The zero tolerance rule is in force and draw offers are forbidden before move 40. In round one our attention was focussed on two young stars, top seed Fabiano Caruana, 19, and fourth seed Anish Giri, two years his junior. Annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

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The 13th European Individual Championship is taking place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from March 20th to 31st, 2012, with fifteen players rated over 2700. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Communication between players (draw offers) is forbidden until the 40th move has been played. In case of pre-arranged results the chief arbiter can decide that the result of the respective game is 0-0. The zero-tolerance rule is being applied (if a player is not at his board at the starting time of the round he or she automatically loses the game). Finally the ECU dress code rules will be applied at this competition.

The total prize fund is 100,000 Euros, with the top three taking 14,000, 11,000 and 9,000 Euros respectively. According to Bulgarian law all prizes are taxable (10%). If a prize winner is absent during the closing ceremony, the money prize will be reduced by 20% with a minimum of 100 Euros. In accordance with the ECU regulations, GMs, IMs, FMs (as well as WGMs, WIMs, WFMs) are required to pay the ECU a fee of 65 €/person, while other players are pay 130 € each. If the entry fee is not paid until end of round two, the participant will not be paired in subsequent rounds. There is also an organization fee of 100 EUR per player, which covers the transfer from and to Sofia airport (140 km) by bus, transfer from and to railway/bus station Plovdiv by bus, free water, coffee and tea for players in the playing hall during the rounds. Accommodation is provided on a half board basis (breakfast plus lunch or dinner) in the five-star Novotel Plovdiv at a price of 56 Euros for a single and 74 Euros for a double, with a 12 Euro FB supplement.


The playing hall during round one

The Championship started with a few surprises: second seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov drew with white against GM Petar Drenchev, who is over 250 points below him on the Elo scale. GMs Riazantsev, Jobava, Grachev, Navara, Efimenko, Inarkiev and Vallejo suffered similar upsets. All eyes were on the boards of the two young stars, Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, 19, rated 2767 and currently number six in the world on the live rankings, and Anish Giri of the Netherlands, almost exactly two years his junior, rated 2717 and number 27 in the world. Their games have been annotated for us by GM Alejandro Ramirez.


Top seed Fabiano Caruana (right) at the start of his game

Note that on our JavaScript player you can use the cursor keys to play through the main line or click on moves to jump to them on the board. You can also click on the evaluation profile below the board to go straight to critical positions. The ChessBase training DVDs shown below the evaluation profile teach you more about the opening played in the game. The games will be more extensively analysed for the next issue of ChessBase Magazine.


Round two will bring us two interesting encounters between youngsters. Caruana will have white against Hungarian GM Tamas Banusz, who is 22 and rated 2583, while Giri has black against 15-year-old Ukrainian GM Illya Nyzhnyk. Ilya gained international attention when he won the B Group of the 2007 Moscow Open at the age of ten, with a nearly flawless score of 8.5/9 and a 2633 performance. He went on to become the eleventh youngest GM in history (Giri was the 15th youngest).

Results of round one

Sd.
Title
Name Rtg
Result
Title
Name
Rtg
Sd.
175
GM
Kabanov Nikolai 2502
0-1
GM
Caruana Fabiano
2767
1
2
GM
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2752
½-½
GM
Drenchev Petar
2499
176
177
GM
Baron Tal 2497
0-1
GM
Jakovenko Dmitry
2729
3
4
GM
Giri Anish 2717
1-0
GM
Jianu Vlad-Cristian
2497
178
179
GM
Berescu Alin-Mile 2494
½-½
GM
Riazantsev Alexander
2710
5
6
GM
Vitiugov Nikita 2709
1-0
GM
Nedev Trajko
2492
180
181
GM
Soffer Ram 2492
0-1
GM
Bacrot Etienne
2706
7
8
GM
Jobava Baadur 2706
½-½
IM
Paichadze Luka
2491
182
183
GM
Grigorov Grigor 2489
½-½
GM
Grachev Boris
2705
9
10
GM
Malakhov Vladimir 2705
1-0
IM
Filip Lucian
2483
184
185
FM
Fodor Tamas Jr 2482
0-1
GM
Laznicka Viktor
2702
11
12
GM
Movsesian Sergei 2702
1-0
IM
Perunovic Miodrag
2481
186
187
IM
Cioara Andrei-Nestor 2477
0-1
GM
Naiditsch Arkadij
2702
13
14
GM
Navara David 2700
½-½
IM
Kovalev Vladislav
2477
188
189
GM
Can Emre 2476
0-1
GM
Sutovsky Emil
2700
15
16
GM
Dreev Aleksey 2698
1-0
IM
Arnaudov G Petar
2476
190
191
IM
Nigalidze Gaioz 2472
½-½
GM
Efimenko Zahar
2695
17
18
GM
Inarkiev Ernesto 2695
½-½
IM
Stojanovic Dalibor
2471
192
193
IM
Pancevski Filip 2470
1-0
GM
Volokitin Andrei
2695
19
20
GM
Fressinet Laurent 2693
1-0
IM
Jurcik Marian
2467
194
195
IM
Rombaldoni Axel 2464
½-½
GM
Vallejo Pons Francisco
2693
21
22
GM
Andreikin Dmitry 2689
1-0
IM
Nestorovic Nikola
2462
196
197
IM
Dias Paulo 2454
--+
GM
Areshchenko Alexander
2688
23
24
GM
Bologan Viktor 2687
½-½
IM
Hunt Adam C
2454
198
199
IM
Hagen Andreas Skytte 2453
½-½
GM
Akopian Vladimir
2684
25
26
GM
Berkes Ferenc 2682
½-½
IM
Zaslavsky Mikhail
2450
200
201
IM
Simacek Pavel 2447
0-1
GM
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2682
27
28
GM
Korobov Anton 2679
1-0
IM
Bukal Vladimir Jr
2441
202
203
FM
Gabuzyan Hovhannes 2441
½-½
GM
Sargissian Gabriel
2674
29
30
GM
Georgiev Kiril 2671
½-½
IM
Stella Andrea
2439
204

Schedule

Day Date Time Program
Monday March19   Arrival Day, Opening
Tuesday March 20 15:00 Round 1
Wednesday March 21 15:00 Round 2
Thursday March 22 15:00 Round 3
Friday March 23 15:00 Round 4
Saturday March 24 15:00 Round 5
Sunday March 25 15:00 Round 6
Monday March 26   Free Day
Tuesday March 27 15:00 Round 7
Wednesday March 28 15:00 Round 8
Thursday March 29 15:00 Round 9
Friday March 30 15:00 Round 10
Saturday March 31 13:00 Round 11
Saturday March 31 20:00 Closing Ceremony
Sunday April 01   Departure Day

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and some on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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