15th European Women's Championship starts

by Albert Silver
7/7/2014 – The 15th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship has just started, and is being held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria from July 5-18. 116 top female competitors in Europe will be competing over eleven rounds to determine the title. The top seeds are Nana Dzagnidze (2541), Mariya Muychuk (2521), Natalia Pogonina (2508), Valentina Gunina (2501) and more. Get up to speed in this opening report.

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15th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship

This event, organised by the Bulgarian Chess Federation under the auspices of the European Chess Union, is being held in the Plovdiv Hall of the Novotel Hotel in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from July 5 (day of arrival) until July 18 (day of departure) 2014. The tournament is open to all players from chess federations which are members of the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.10), regardless of title or rating. There is also no limit in the number of participants per federation. The European Individual Women’s Championship 2014 is a qualification event for the next World Cup, for which 14 players will qualify.

Schedule 

Saturday 05.07 at 19.00 Opening ceremony
Saturday 05.07 at 22.00 Technical Meeting
Sunday 06.07 at 15.00 1st round
Monday 07.07 at 15.00 2nd round
Tuesday 08.07 at 15.00 3rd round
Wednesday 09.07 at 15.00 4th round
Thursday 10.07 at 15.00 5th round
Friday 11.07 at 15.00 6th round
Saturday 12.07 at 15.00 7th round
Sunday 13.07 Rest day
Monday 14.07 at 15.00 8th round
Tuesday 15.07 at 15.00 9th round
Wednesday 16.07 at 15.00 10th round
Thursday 17.07 at 13.00 11th round
Thursday 17.07 at 20.00 Closing Ceremony

The championship is an eleven-round Swiss. 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. Players may only agree to a draw after the 40th move has been made by Black. Players violating this rule will be forfeited. If a player is offered a draw before the 40th move she should call an arbiter. Her opponent shall be punished for distracting, according to the FIDE Laws of Chess. The zero–tolerance rule will be applied: players who are not seated at the board at the start of a round forfeit the game.

Prizes

The total prize fund is 60,000 Euros, distributed as follows:

1 €11,000
2 €9,000
3 €7,000
4 €5,500
5 €4,000
6 €3,000
7 €2,500
8 €2,250
9 €2,000
10 €1,750
11 €1,600
12 €1,500
13 €1,400
14 €1,300
15 €1,200
16 €1,000
17 €1,000
18 €1,000
19 €1,000
20 €1,000

The first three places will be awarded cups and medals. According to Article 4.4 of the ECU Tournament Rules and regulations, the money prizes will be equally shared among the players with the same score.

In accordance with the ECU regulations, GMs, IMs, FMs (as well as WGMs, WIMs, WFMs) are required to pay a fee of 65 €/person, while other players must make a payment of 130 €/person for participation. The entry fee must be paid by the federations to the ECU before or at the start of the competition. If the entry fee is not paid by the end of round two the participants will not be paired in subsequent rounds. In addition there is an organization fee of 100 Euros per player. This covers the transfer from and to Plovdiv Airport or the railway/bus station to the official hotel, official accreditation, as well as water, coffee and tea for players in the playing hall during the rounds.

Hotel accommodation is provided at the Novotel Plovdiv at the rate of €56 per night in a double room or €74 per night in a single. The price includes half board (breakfast + dinner), with full board available for an additional cost of €12 per day.

Participants

No. Ti. Name FED Rtg
1 GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2541
2 IM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2521
3 WGM Pogonina Natalija RUS 2508
4 GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2501
5 WGM Girya Olga RUS 2493
6 GM Hoang Thanh Trang HUN 2490
7 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2488
8 GM Kosintseva Tatiana RUS 2476
9 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2474
10 GM Socko Monika POL 2462
11 IM Khurtsidze Nino GEO 2460
12 GM Danielian Elina ARM 2458
13 IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2456
14 IM Melia Salome GEO 2454
15 IM Peptan Corina-Isabela ROU 2453
16 GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2451
17 IM Skripchenko Almira FRA 2449
18 IM Mkrtchian Lilit ARM 2446
19 WGM Kashlinskaya Alina RUS 2441
20 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra RUS 2434
21 IM Bodnaruk Anastasia RUS 2429
22 IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2417
23 IM Arabidze Meri GEO 2406
24 IM Milliet Sophie FRA 2406
25 WGM Daulyte Deimante LTU 2405
26 IM Guramishvili Sopiko GEO 2402
27 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta POL 2397
28 IM Foisor Cristina-Adela ROU 2383
29 IM Savina Anastasia RUS 2383
30 IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2380

Click for the complete list of 116 participants

Opening Ceremony

Silvio Danailov opens the tournament with a speech

After the speeches, everyone is treated to a performance by the Three Tenors

The audience is spellbound

This is followed by a performance with three violinists and... an electric cello

Three generations of Foisors (picture by Elizabeth Paehtz)

At the end of the competition, the top three women will be hoisting these

What kind of opening ceremony would it be without plenty of wine? (picture by Elizabeth Paehtz)

Photos by Boyan Botev


Links

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.

Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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