15th European Women's Championship starts

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 

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:

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

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 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.