2014 European ch. led by 16-year-old Artemiev

The championship is an eleven-round Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Laws of Chess. and is held in Yerevan, Armenia from March 2 (day of arrival) until March 15 (day of departure) 2014. The tournament is held at the Elite Plaza Business Centre.  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.

The tournament does not allow players to draw before the 40th move, and the controversial zero-tolerance rule will be in effect. In case of pre-arranged results the Chief Arbiter can decide that the result of the respective game is 0 - 0. If a prize-winner is absent during the closing ceremony, then the money prize will be reduced by 20%.

The total prizefund is 160 thousand Euros, with 20 thousand for first place, 16 thousand for second, down to 1000 for 25th place. There are also prizes for the best overperformer, meaning the player who performs highest over his rating.

The European Individual Championship 2014 is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 23 players will qualify.

Rounds two and three

The grandiose locale

The mastermind behind the massive event: GM Smbat Lputian

The first rounds of an event such as the European Championship have little or minimal meaning for the final standings, since although a good start is promising, what matters the most is the finish, and who is left hoisting trophies at the end. This is not to say a good start is not helpful, merely that eleven rounds has a way of letting Elos re-establish the balance of power. Still, who can forget Vladimir Potkin’s fantastic run in 2011, to name but one.

2011 European Champion GM Vladimir Potkin

The very creative Baadur Jobava (2716) is one of the top seeds

Remarkably, after two rounds, no fewer than 28 players had perfect scores, but after round three, that group had been whittled down to just five players with 3.0/3. At the top of the group, by virtue of tiebreak, is IM Vladislav Artemiev (2625), who turned 16 today, and beat Denis Khismatullin (2714). It is worth noting that he has been in clear ascension, having gained 126 Elo in the last 12 months, won the Russian under-21 championship, and less than a month ago, won the Men’s Student Grandmaster Cup in the 2014 Moscow Open with 8.0/9 and a 2869 performance.

IM Vladimir Artemiev had a perfect 16th birthday

Here is Artemiev's win in round two:

In such a large tournament, there will be no shortage of brilliancies, and blunders. In the following one, White overlooked a small move that changed the evaluation from drawish to mate.

Also at 3.0/3 and 100% are Alexander Riazantsev, Ilia Smirin, Evgeny Najer and Igor Kovalenko. The top female player is Judit Polgar unsurprisingly with 2.5/3.

Alexander Riazantsev (right) was one of the few to keep a perfect score

Savchenko and the zero-tolerance rule

Of special note was an episode involving GM Boris Savchenko. As is known, the regulations state that the zero-tolerance rule is in effect, a rule that is not short of controversy. Due to travel arrangements gone astray that were quite out of his control. Savchenko knew he would not arrive in time, and advised the organizers and his opponent. Did this mean a zero and end of story? No, as the organizers sympathized with his plight, as did his opponent, and he was allowed to arrive late, after which he and his opponent agreed to a fairly quick draw. It is heartening to know that while the importance of discipline and rules is not doubted, fair-mindedness and sportsmanship take precedence.

The arbiters and organizers hard at work

Vladimir Akopian, one of Armenia's top players. In 1999, he made it
to the final of the FIDE KO World Championship

Denis Khismatullin has had a great few months winning over 50 Elo

The beautiful Lillit Mkrtchian was one of the heroes of round
one, when she beat Ivan Popov (2660)

The playing hall

Even the security forces cannot avoid being infected with the chess fever

A short video of the opening ceremony

Standings after three rounds:

Click for complete standings

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.